Spring Has Sprung

Just for grins, I looked at one our flower beds today, just to see if by chance anything was trying to make it's way up thru the cold ground. I couldn't believe my eyes!! Our crocus, daffodils and even some tulips were peeking their heads up out of the mulch!! Spring is just around the corner!! It made me want to fire up the lawn mower and go do some yard work!! NAAAAH!

Break It In

I bought my son a new ball glove for his birthday (shhh, don't tell him!!). He needed a new one as he starts his high school baseball career anyway, so it's a win-win deal!!

I don't know how many of you have bought a new glove before, but when you get one, it is usually stiff as a board. The leather is fresh and smells great, but the glove is almost useless, because it is stiff and you can't open and close it very well. It's hard to catch a ball in it when you can't close the glove around it.

The first thing I always do when I get a new glove is to get out my can of shaving cream and just totally cover it, rubbing the shaving cream into the leather until it is all worked in. Then I spend literally hours just working the glove with my hands. As I tug and pull and twist the leather, it starts to become softer and more pliable. Eventually, the glove is "broken in", and is ready for use.

As Christians, we are sometimes like this new glove. We're fresh and full of ideas (hopefully we smell good), but oftentimes we're in need of some working by God to make us ready for service to Him. As we pray, read the scriptures, fellowship with others, and seek God's will, we become "broken in" and useful. Just like a broken in glove catches a baseball much better than a stiff new one, so we will be more likely and able to catch souls for God when we've been properly prepared by our spiritual discipline. Now that you're properly broken in, go out there and.....PLAY BALL!!

De Colores

You Are So Beautiful To Me

Dennis Rainey has a radio spot called FamilyLife Today (go to www.familylife.com) , and recently he had a very interesting discussion with Bob Lepine about romance and relationships. On this particular program, Bob Lepine made a very interesting comment that all us guys should really take to heart. It went something like "If a woman is beautiful under the age of 40, she has something to do with it. If she is beautiful after the age of 40, her husband has something to do with it."

Did you catch that guys? A large part of a women's self esteem and sense of beauty lies with our ability to reinforce those qualities in their eyes. The more compliments we give her, the more we pay attention to her, the more we reinforce that she is the most beautiful person in our eyes, the more confident she will be with herself. Too often we hear on the news about physical and mental abuse of women, and how that can leave lasting emotional scars, and that makes me sick. However, our neglect of reinforcing the beauty of our wives on a daily basis can also slowly build scars of low self esteem that are hard to heal.

Need some help? Look at the chapters in the Song of Solomon, and see how many times he called his wife beautiful. Better yet, read this book out of the bible to her!!

As our thoughts turn to Valentine's Day, and all the things we are planning on doing to romance our wives, give some serious thought to making every day Valentine's Day. Try complimenting her on something at least once a day, and see how she responds. I'll bet you it will be positive!!

De Colores

Abundance

Have you ever noticed how many times in the bible that when someone asked God or Jesus for something, they got more than they asked for?

In Exodus, the Israelites complained to God about not having food while they were wondering in the desert. God sent quail and manna, and it says that it covered the ground. God instructed the people to only take what they could eat for that day.

In John, Jesus was asked to help out with a problem at a wedding. It seems the wine ran out, and Jesus' mother wanted him to fix the problem. Did he just make a pitcher or two? No!! He made over 100 gallons!!

In Luke, Simon had been fishing all day, but couldn't catch any fish. Jesus instructed him to throw his net on the other side of the boat, and not only did he catch fish, it says that there were so many fish in the net, it nearly sunk the boat!!

I guess my point is, too often we don't see just how abundantly God has blessed us. I know that He has blessed me way more than I deserve to be!! Lots of times I have asked God for something, and don't realize how He has supplied for that need, and much more.

Look at the blessings of your life. Are your pitchers running over, is your net full? Give thanks to God, for He has blessed you richly.

De Colores