March 2004
  What a wonderful time spent together at our annual church dinner in January. I hope everyone had a great time. Isn't it nice to be able to fellowship like that together with friends and family. Doesn't look like we were too rowdy, I imagine Hometown Buffet just might let us back again for next year. We sure appreciate them as well for their hospitality. I'm not sure what the final count was, but seems we had a really nice turnout.Ladies, if your interested, Maranatha Baptist Church in Newcastle will be having their annual Ladies Retreat April 2nd and 3rd. If possible please try to attend, you will receive a blessing from it. You can see Sister Betty for more information about times and directions.Well, looks like Hat Sunday (still open to suggestions on a different name for this) will be Mar. 14th. I know alot of you ladies enjoy this, and thanks to Sister Judy for the tradition. Vicki Goff 3-2Amanda Henry 3-4Aaron Brown 3-6Jean Walton 3-12Tommy McLain 3-28Laura Mangham 3-29Lela Brown 3-30 March 1/Deuteronomy 4-62/Deuteronomy 7-93/Deuteronomy 10-124/Deuteronomy 13-165/Deuteronomy 17-196/Deuteronomy 20-227/Deuteronomy 23-258/Deuteronomy 26-289/Deuteronomy 2-3110/Deuteronomy 32-3411/Joshua 1-312/Joshua 4-613/Joshua 7-914/Joshua 10-1215/Joshua 13-1516/Joshua 16-1817/Joshua 19-2118/Joshua 22-2419/Judges 1-420/Judges 5-821/Judges 9-1222/Judges 13-1523/Judges 16-1824/Judges 19-2125/Ruth 1-426/1 Samuel 1-327/1 Samuel 4-728/1 Samuel 8-1029/1 Samuel 11-1330/1 Samuel 14-1631/1 Samuel 17-20 There were two blonde guys working for the city council. One would dig a hole, the other would follow behind him and fill the hole in. They worked furiously all day without rest, one guy digging a hole, the other guy filling it in again. An onlooker was amazed at their hard work, but couldn't understand what they were doing. So he asked the hole digger, "I appreciate the effort you are putting into your work, but what's the story? You dig a hole and your partner follows behind and fills it up again. The hole digger wiped his brow and sighed, "Well, normally we are a three-man team, but the guy who plants the trees is sick today." |  Dog's story illustrates God's 'fence' When I opened the gate, he lunged into the back yard. The boarded fence that surrounded the perimeter no longer seemed like a hindrance to freedom. In light of what had just happened, the barrier became a friend instead of a foe. Our young dog, Streak, seemed thrilled to be locked up.Most days, he fought his leash during the final few blocks of our walk. Thanks in part to the predictable route I travel, he sensed the end of our journey when we walked past the elementary school and tried to delay being confined.After I removed his collar once we were inside the yard, he usually stared longingly at the gate while I make my exit. The big world out on the streets pulled at his juvenile heart.That passion was curbed by our encounter with a Rottweiler during our walk. Since the day he began accompanying Spike, the older cocker spaniel, and me on our walks, Streak had heard and seen the beast but never feared him.When we unavoidably passed by its home on the corner by the elementary school, the Rottweiler ran at us with teeth bared, barking at the top of his lungs. He always stayed safely in the distance when it hit the end of his chain.How shocked I was when the chain came loose on this particular morning. The 80-pound mass of muscle and teeth charged across the street and attacked the older dog, Spike. I kicked and yelled until I finally convinced the monster to leave my cocker spaniel alone.Dog attacks are not pretty. In all the excitement, I dropped Streak's leash. By the time the dogfight ended, he was nowhere to be found. I stopped a passing car and asked whether they had seen a small black-and-brown dog. the told me they saw him headed east.When Spike and I made it home, guess who we found waiting patiently near the back gate? Streak wanted to get back inside the fance. His experience with danger had given him a new perspective.He had no idea that such hurtful creatures sometimes get off their chains and seek to destroy. Amazingly, the same fence he had viewed as restrictive and bothersome became protective and desirable. What had cramped his style now guarded his life.In the same way, God's commandments "fence us in," not to limit our freedom but to protect us from danger. The devil roams the Earth, seeking people to destroy.Only the naive and foolish prance around, daring him to attack, while living outside the protective walls of God's commandments. We are wise to stay within the boundaries set for us by God in His Word. He established those boundaries to help us, not hurt us.Pastor Earl Stephenson  "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming, 'Wow, what a ride!'" |