June 1, 2009

"For now we see in a mirror and are baffled; but someday we are going to see Him in His completeness, face to face. As yet my knowledge is incomplete, but then I shall know in full, as I have been fully known." I Corinthians 13:12

My house is decorated with beautiful pictures my wife has cross-stitched. We even have a joint venture of a clock I built and she made the face for. Beautiful works of art that tell stories and preserve memories. But if you take one of these pictures down from the wall, turn it around and hang it back up, you will have a ugly mass of colors, twisted yarn and knots that are most often un-discernible. On one side her beautiful needlework crafted in skill and meticulous work. On the other side an unattractive, disjointed and rather ugly mess of strings. The problem is that we can only see the backside of our lives. We do not share in the Master Artist's vision of producing something beautiful. God does not always share with us His specifics of what He is doing in our lives. However, He does promise us that His will for us is perfect and beautiful. He will never give us second best. Many things will happen to us in our lives that on the surface appear to be ugly and confusing. Some things will happen in our lives that we will not understand at all. We may understand later and we may have to wait until we get to heaven. But be assured, just as my wife patiently wove the thread into the cloth to create a beautiful picture, your Father is working in the background, planning and implementing events that will make your life everything He wants it to be. Be patient looking at the back side for now. One day you will grace His home as a choice work of art, just like the pictures in my house.

Thought for the week: One is tempted to define man as a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.  -- Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Artist, part 2, 1891

Funny for the week: "School Days "

Early one morning, a mother went in to wake up her son. "Wake up, son. It's time to go to school!"

"But why, Mom? I don't want to go."

"Give me two reasons why you don't want to go."

"Well, the kids hate me for one, and the teachers hate me, too!"

"Oh, that's no reason not to go to school. Come on now and get ready."

"Give me two reasons why I should go to school."

"Well, for one, you're 52 years old. And for another, you're the Principal!"

I remember him………………………… Chaplain Barnes

Last week’s answer: Complete the following verse: "I am the way, the truth and the life……" "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." (John 14:6)

This week’s question: What kind of wood was Noah’s ark made of?