Christian Devotionals and Scripture Applied to Everyday Life

When faced with difficult tasks, it is always helpful to look past the hardship and focus on the benefit to come. When I was growing up, Grandma would console me when I didn’t want to face an unpleasant, but paying, job by saying, “Just think of the money!” By saying this she was encouraging me to move past the unpleasantness of the task at hand by keeping my reward in mind. Focusing on the wages was a great motivation to get moving and finish what I needed to do.

A good teacher is often hard to find. Anyone can get up and share facts about a particular subject, but a gifted teacher knows how to motivate her students. A good teacher knows how to give life to a subject and stimulate a pupil to think. Thinking, problem solving, and reasoning are skills that are necessary all through life. These abilities will guide you, help you to grow, and protect you. Without a good teacher a person is headed for big trouble.

Yesterday was a big day! John-Keith had a birthday and this year he turned twenty-one. Twenty-one is the year a kid is officially considered an adult. It is the year one’s driver’s license is printed sideways instead of up and down. It is the year of new beginnings and greater responsibilities. Congratulations, John-Keith! You made it!

Things are not always what they seem. In a world where solid truth has dwindled away to almost nothing it is not prudent to trust everyone we meet. Instead we must be wary and check the facts carefully . . . and rely on our Great Fraud Detector to find the truth. I read a good book a number of years ago.  Catch Me If You Can tells the story of Frank William Abagnale, Jr., a brilliant con artist. Between the ages of fifteen and twenty-one, this young man fraudulently posed in numerous professional capacities. Without significant trouble he masqueraded as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, a Louisiana lawyer, and a US Bureau of Prisons crime agent. Somehow he pulled the wool over peoples’ eyes for a short time. But eventually each charade unraveled, and he had to escape to his next identity. After being caught and imprisoned, Abagnale developed a successful business to help other professionals recognize fraud.

Well, they did it again! Abigail and her high school friends have pulled off another fabulous drama production. They spent many weeks and days practicing and preparing for these performances and they did not disappoint. They treated their audiences to an enjoyable weekend at the Iowa State Fair. Belly laughs filled the high school auditorium Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night as we followed the loveable and hilarious Frake family’s adventures at the Iowa State Fair. The plot, though filled with crazy love affairs for the youngsters, the elder Frakes, and even their prize hog Blue Boy, was closer to real life than one might expect. Ordinary life events confronted each character and forced them to make choices as to how they would respond to each circumstance.

Our world has a deep belief in entitlement. Somehow over the years, we have come to the conclusion that everyone has a right to whatever they want. It is my right to think what I want, believe what I want, express what I want, and obtain what I want. No one may stand in the way and deny me my rights. While this may seem enticing, it is not healthy or possible. First of all, one person’s desires may stand in the way of someone else's receiving their desires. For example, there may only be one lead in a theatre production. A talented actor's getting the spot necessarily leaves another, who might want the part just as badly, to take a lesser role. This decision does not downplay anyone’s importance as a person, but makes a distinction based on talent, role casting, or maybe even just hard work. Also, the attitude of believing ourselves entitled to certain things necessarily exalts us above everyone else. Love and consideration of others is lost when we strive for this place of honor.