The Greatest Gift - Life

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written; the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. Psalm 139:13-16

Snow Day

Snow days are Magical!  I've spent most of my life in the south, where snow days are treasured like precious gems.  The anticipation usually begins a few days out with the mention of possible snow on the 6:00 p.m. news.  That starts the buzz.  Will it really snow?  How many inches?  Do you think we will get out of school?  Kids (and teachers) begin to imagine the thrill of seeing their school's name on the ticker of school closings.  As each school name scrolls by in alphabetic order all eyes are watching . . . and waiting.  Finally, there it is!  We get a snow day.  And the rejoicing starts.

Snow days are also bothersome!  Daycares close, so parents have to miss work or scamble around and find suitable care for their children.  Tests get postponed and lesson plans get scrapped.  Church services, ball games, and civic activities get canceled.  Parking lots have to be cleared.  Vehicles get dirty.  Back yards get soggy.  Roofs leak.  Well . . . you get my point.  Did I mention that . . .

 . . . Snow days are Magical!  Even with all the inconveniences, they really are special..  Even at 53 (yep I am on the other side of the half century mark) I still love snow days.  To me, they are still magical.  Last Monday was the first (and maybe the only) snow day of the year.  Since Hutch's daycare was closed, Jan kept him.  At lunch I want home, picked him up and we drove through the country looking for deer, bears and alligators.  You should know that it was his idea to look for the gators.  We then made our way to Burger King for some lunch.  Finally, we came home and played in the snow.  Mostly, he played and I watched.  I did need to get back to work.  It was a great day.

Snow days are Magical!  So . . . bring on the snow.  We need at least one more snow day this year.

Violence against Christians

The middle east remains one of the most volatile regions in the world. And it is arguably the most important, especially from a spiritual, prophetic perspective. If you would like to stay up-to-date on important developments in that area I want to commend to you Joel Rosenberg's blog. Here is a short portion of his most recent post.

It is not receiving nearly enough attention in the mainstream media, but a disturbing development is underway in the Middle East: followers of Jesus Christ in the epicenter have endured a dramatic surge of violence and persecution at the hands of religious and political extremists in recent weeks and months.

In Iraq, Christians have been attacked and killed in their homes and in public, forcing nearly a thousand families to flee from Baghdad and Mosul to the safer Kurdistan region in the north. A separate siege on a Baghdad church on October 31 killed 58 followers of the Lord Jesus and wounded 67 others.

In Israel, extremists firebombed an Arab Christian church in Jerusalem in November. In December, Kristine Luken, an American evangelical Christian was stabbed to death not far from Jerusalem in what many believe to have been an act of terror. Her friend, Kay Wilson—an Israeli believer in Jesus—was also severely wounded in the attack.

None of this is surprising. Jesus made it clear that his followers would be persecuted and would receive the same kind of treatment by the world that He received. However, most believers in America are so insulated from these types of threats that we forget that they are real for many believers around the world.

To read his entire blog go to http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/.

Please join me in praying for fellow believers who are suffering in difficult places.