What Is My Purpose?
In Daniel Schaeffer's book on Esther, Dancing With A Shadow, he summarizes with a single sentence the lives of each of the main characters in that wonderful Old Testament book. For Ahasuerus, the powerful warrior king of Persia, it was: "Success in life is all in the planning." For the faithful Mordecai: "The price of obedience is never too high." And for Queen Esther: "What I am is more important than what I have." She proved it when she risked her crown (and life) to intercede with Ahasuerus on her people's behalf.
Strong Convictions
During an interview, a former network news anchorman said that a "doctrinaire" person cannot be a good news reporter. He then defined a doctrinaire person as someone who has deep convictions of absolute truths in the areas of politics or religion.
Magnets And Mothers
A teacher gave her class of second- graders a lesson on the magnet and what it does. The next day, in a written test, she included this question: "My name has six letters. The first one is m. I pick up things. What am I?" When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with the word mother.
True Faith
Some things in life call for us to be absolutely accurate—to do exactly as the directions say. For instance, I can't fill out my tax returns any old way I want. I have to do exactly as the tax code requires, or I'll spend a lot of time explaining myself. Even in a land of liberty, we are bound to follow certain rules.
God Still Reigns
There's a story from the Eastern Roman Empire of a Christian monk who was horrified by the wickedness of the emperor. He prayed to God and asked, "Why did You allow that evil man to become emperor?" God replied, "Because I couldn't find anyone worse!"
Perhaps Today!
As we approach a new millennium, many Christians speak of the "soon return of Christ" as if it will happen in their lifetime. And it may!
How To Treat A Friend
Suppose an old acquaintance stops by unexpectedly at your home during breakfast. You offer to take the day off, but he insists that you keep your regular schedule. So you invite him to go with you to work, and he accepts. How would he feel if you then ignored him completely—didn't converse with him, failed to acknowledge his presence at coffeebreaks and lunch, and neglected to introduce him to anyone? We would all agree—that's no way to treat a friend!
Spring Beauty
As we strolled through the woods together, my 9-year-old granddaughter taught me something about plants. I had scarcely noticed, until Kelsey pointed it out, that the forest floor was painted light pink with thousands of tiny flowers. "Those are spring beauties," she informed me. She went on to show me dogtooth violets, Dutchman's-breeches, and trillium.
Interview With A Gerbil
With appealing humor, Ron Hutchcraft, busy author, speaker, and counselor, tells about his battle with stress. One day Ron decided to "interview" the family gerbil.
