Janette Oke

Treasure the moments, her heart whispered. If you don't learn to treasure the moments, you'll never be able to treasure the memories.

I'm not saying that suffering is our fault. I believe we suffer because sin has taken hold of the world. And with sin comes selfishness and heartlessness and wickedness. But I also think there will be a day of reckoning, Nick, when God lays out all we've done and judges our actions. That's not as popular to talk about anymore, I suppose. We all like to hear about a God who loves and forgives rewards. But He isn't holy and just if He doesn't deal with all those wrongs. I would never want to stand before God without having done everything in my power to extend His mercy to the people around me whenever I could.

It's not that somehow we may discover something in how we view ourselves or our environment that we'll find suitably fulfilling, that will help us rise above the daily struggle for existence. I'm saying that everything in the natural world proclaims there's a reason behind everything we see. Just look around. It doesn't take a college degree to see it." Phillip gestured in the darkness and up toward the stars hanging as if within reach." We aren't the center of it all. But I do belive we're of inestimable value, because we were made in the image of a loving and creative God. That's where our sense of self and dignity comes from-from the marvelous Creator who filled the world with such incredible beauty and gave it to us for a time. I all underscores the value He places on us, His creation.

It's not that somehow we may discover something in how we view ourselves or our enviroment that we'll find suitably fillling, that will help us rise above the daily struggle for existence. I'm saying that everything in the natural world proclaims there's something infinetly more-some wisdom and reason behing everything we see. Just look around. It doesn't take a college degree to see it.

Those who choose to be servants know the most about being free.

He must be suffering, too. She had noted the weary sag of his shoulders, the quivering lips, the tear- filled eyes. Somehow she had never thought of him as hurting- of being capable of understanding how she felt.

My name be Clark Davis", he hurried on,"an it peers to me thet you an' me be in need of one another".

She sat silent, looking straight ahead. What did he care about the hot sun on her head? What did she care? Nothing worse could possibly happen to her.

Blessings sometimes show up in unrecognizable disguises.

If she remember right, people who had a God didn't seem to hold to drinking' an' beating' their women. With a little luck maybe she wouldn't have to put up with that anyway.

Feel fee to be a usin' anythin' in the house, an' if there be anythin' thet ya be needin', make a list. I go to town most saturdays fer supplies, an' I can be a pickin' it up then. When ya feel more yerself like, ya might want to come along an' do yer own choosin'.

Without that forgiveness, that peace, no heart is ever happy. There is always an inner struggle. Pain. Only when God has been invited in-to manage one's life, to direct one's thinking, to be in control-can one ever get away from all the conflicts inside. We have to stop struggling against His will before we can find real joy.