Intentional Encouragement

     Well, it's been 2 weeks (again) since I've made my weekly blog post.  It's been a bit of a roller coaster for me that I won't take time to explain right now.  I received the following from my daughter just a little bit ago and I thought I'd share it with you.  It came from one of her profs in grad school, who relayed it from someone named Samantha Reed, so I acknowledge that it is not original with me, but it sure spoke to my heart this evening and thought it might be a blessing to some of you as well.      "Then Job replied to the LORD: 'I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.' ...My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." Job 42:1-2, 5 (NIV)      Sometimes I don't fully trust God has prepared good things. For me; for family; for friends; for others.      This past year was riddled with home foreclosures, loss of businesses, empty cupboa...

     It seems appropriate to share some thoughts about this day in history.  I have been dwelling on it a little this morning and decided to go back and see if I wrote anything about it last year.  It turns out that my thoughts are much the same.  I am reproducing them here with some minor adjustments.  I hope it's a blessing to you.           Today marks the 11th anniversary of a day most Americans remember vividly. I know exactly where I was when I heard the news of the first tower being hit. I remained glued to my TV all day long, wondering what would possess a person to perpetrate the murder of more than 3,000 people. I visited ground zero some months after the attack and was stunned once more by the significance of the event. In a matter of a hours, and over the course of the next days, thousands of people were thrown into their worst nightmare as they received news confirming their fears...

     It has been 3 weeks since I preached my last sermon at our church in Newport News, VA.  God gave us 9 years of ministry there; more than any place we had been previously.  I am grateful for all that he accomplished while we were there and for all that he did in our hearts during that time as well.  When we came; our oldest daughter was 16 and just learning how to drive.  Now she (almost finished with grad school) and her sister (a couple of years out of college) are sharing an apartment about 10 miles from us.  Their brother (the oldest of 2) is a senior at Liberty University, studying for the ministry.  The youngest is now 18.  Since he is special needs, we will have the ongoing joy of caring for him for many years to come.       A couple of weeks ago, I blogged some of the thoughts from what would be my closing sermon to our church family.  It was a sermon about faith; stepping out when you...