Stuff That Matters in Life

You paid for it with your tax dollars.

You might as well make use of it.

It has comfortable seating, the temperature is always set just right – cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It contains the resources you need to learn about any topic you want. You can also choose to laugh, or cry, or experience suspense and mystery. You can even find out the current celebrity gossip.

Your local library has it all.

If you have some free time, don’t sit and watch TV. The library is a much better place to spend your time. Read a magazine that you would not normally buy like Handyman Quarterly, or Architectural Digest. I never waste money on People Magazine, but wasting 15 minutes to read about who is divorcing who or who is the worst dresser is within my limit.

I also like to browse a chapter or two from books by authors I have not heard of. I usually pick ones with a pretty cover.  A few pages is enough to determine if I want to check it out or put it back. This way I don’t have to take home a whole stack and not finish them.

I feel guilty when I spend my time at the library.  It’s so relaxing, so enjoyable, so educational, and it’s all free…it’s just not right!

At 18 years old, Audrey started working at her first job.

Her first paycheck was $20.

But the gain cannot be measured by money.

She said, “I met some really nice people. And I am not so afraid of approaching people to talk to them anymore.”

She also learned to dress a little more professionally, learned to fold shirts and towels beautifully, and learned to use an electronic cash register.

She learned what’s it’s like to keep a schedule, what it’s like to get tired from working, what’s it’s like to deal with difficult people, what it’s like to work with people, and work under a boss.

All this she learned without having to pay tuition!

Work is not just about a paycheck.

I thought it was all up to me.

I thought I was the only one who could do the job.

I thought the burden was all on me.

I was wrong.

God always brings along help. He always provides a way better than what I expected.

I witnessed several examples recently:

God brought 3 of the best women to help with the college girls group when I thought I was the only one with the passion for those girls. I am not the only one.

God brought extra people to help with Vacation Bible School, people who are willing to sacrifice time and effort and distance. I am not the only one.

God brought just the right person to help an old lady who asked me to find someone to assist her. I asked everyone I could, and couldn’t find anyone. Then she told me today that a lady who helped her in the past called her to offer help. I am not the only one who could help her.

God gave me my husband to help me with everything I ask him to do, though he has enough burdens of his own. I am never alone.

Whenever there is a need, God provides the help and resources.

This must be what He meant when He said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

With great freedom comes great responsibility.

We have the whole summer free – no summer school, no schedule to keep, no particularly time to wake or sleep.

But with freedom comes wasted time. We’ve slept too late, watched too much TV, read too much forwarded email.

So Amy and I made a list of goals we want to accomplish each week and set a time schedule for ourselves.

The idea of total freedom is attractive, but ironically when we have it, we need it to be a little less free.

Violent persecution [of Christians] focuses the mind on the fact that the kingdom of his world is an enemy to the kingdom of God. When there hasn’t been any persecution for a long time – as in our part of the world – many Christians start expecting the world to be a friend. They slip into seeking the world’s approval instead of Gods. When the world denies its approval … they go hollow inside.

This is from the book How to Stay Christian in College by J. Budziszewski – his name is not misspelled, in case you were wondering.

That is a good insight.
It is no wonder the church is not much different from the world in many respects – divorce rate, pornography use, premarital sex.

It is no wonder Christians are afraid to share their faith for fear of rejection and ridicule by the world.

There is a very subtle enemy at large.