True Friends or Just Acquaintances

As I often told my boys when they were teens, water finds the lowest level. . .and it's the same with friends.


Will you choose friends who will cause you to "lower" yourself to become like them. . .it's very rare to find that "true" friend. . .the one who will hold you to a higher standard. . .who will encourage you to be more than you are. . .


A friend's daughter says it perfectly in her blog post: They're not Healthy for You. . .let 'em go!  I hope you will take a few moments to check out and read her thoughts on the subject.  It has given me pause. . .


I loved the translation of 2 Corinthians 6:17 that she used. . .


The (KJV) King James Version says. . .come out from among them and be ye separate. . .


The (MSG) Message Version says. . .don't link up with those who will pollute you. . .


here is the entire quote from the MSG. . .found here:

2 Corinthians 6:17

The Message (MSG)

^14-18Don't become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That's not partnership; that's war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God's holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way:

   "I'll live in them, move into them;
      I'll be their God and they'll be my people.
   So leave the corruption and compromise;
      leave it for good," says God.
   "Don't link up with those who will pollute you.
      I want you all for myself.
   I'll be a Father to you;
      you'll be sons and daughters to me."
   The Word of the Master, God.


Wow. . .can it get much more clear than that?


I love when I read something that makes me think. . .and today's thought from Susan Hill aka the bossy Mom definitely made me think. . .thanks Susan, I'm learning a lot from you. . .keep up the good work!

Falling in Love With Jesus: Counting Your Blessings

My sister in law recently returned from a missions trip to a third world country. . .I keep begging her to stop going to these places. . .but God uses those who are willing. . .and she just happens to love it. . .

As I read this article listing 10 Basic Blessings You Should Be Thankful For, I thought of two stories she told us about her trip.

First, they were caught up in the crisis of a baby’s delivery with complications.  Talk about a God thing, one of the ladies in her group was a pediatrician, and the other was a critical care nurse of some sort.  My sis also happens to work in the medical field, so here you have three people who know how to stay calm in an emergency. . .who just happen to be in the right place at the right time.

Here they are delivering an in crisis baby in a tent. . .nothing sterile. . .nothing to tie off the cord, so they used a shoe string. . .nothing to deliver the placenta into. . .so they used a gallon ziploc bag. . .no gloves, no blankets to wrap the baby, who was blue, in. . .can you even imagine being in that situation?

Had that group not been in that exact place, with that exact interpreter, at that exact moment. . .that baby probably would not have survived. 

All I can say is. . .God must have something awesome planned for that child’s life. . .

And then. . .on their “off day,” they decided to go sightseeing to a specific tourist attraction. . .without going in to the details of that experience. . .what caught my attention was the fact that when they forded the river in their open air vehicles. . .she witnessed the women lining the river bed. . .washing their clothes. . .

We are so spoiled and so blessed. . .I cannot even fathom that in the 21st century. . .there are still places in the world that could be so destitute. . .so again, when I read the article, it required me to actually STOP. . .and to be thankful. . .to be really, really thankful. . .

I pray that you will take just one moment to read the article. . .and to just share briefly your thankfulness for God’s many blessings. . .what did we ever do to be this blessed?