MY FRIEND written by Donna (Ensign) Woods

My Friend is always beside me

To share in all I do and see.

Behind me to guard my back,

From Satan's plan of attack.

In front of me to lead the way

Lighting my path for each day.

He is under me---for strength to stand

For trials and joys He has planned

Up over...to release blessings rain

Showering me with mercy....soothing my pain.

In my heart... He lives within

An awesome Friend, I have in Him.

Under, Over, Beside, Behind....

In front of me, to ease my mind.

My Friend protects me under His wing...

Forever gives me a song to sing.

Daily refills my cup of hope

Renewing my strength to laugh and cope.

I feel His arms hug me tight.

For me....I know He'll fight.

He shares in my laughter and my tears,

Calming my doubts, and my fears.

My friend is always very near,

To whisper His truth in my ear.

Caressing my aching soul,

When trials of life take their tole.

When I stumble and fall

I hear Him gently call.

.....Or if I lose my way

....Close by me He will stay.

Long ago.....He went before me

....So my heart could see

.....His forever love....on Calvary.

Learning to Trust God in All Things by Joyce Schafer

After spending the last few weeks cleaning, painting walls and finishing floors I have come to a few conclusions. First of all I am definitely not as young as I think I am. I used muscles that had been dormant for a long time.

Secondly, how great it is to have family and friends that will help you. Our kids were great helping to tear up carpet, sand floors and moving the heavy items. Our grandsons helped us tear out the old brush and our granddaughters helped us put in the new flowers and trees. Plus everyone made lots of trips back and forth carrying things from the old place to the our new home. My brothers who just live down the road from us now were in daily to check on us to see if we needed anything and our church friends prayed us through all of it-the closing of this house, the renovation and the selling of our place in town.

After the hard work was done it was time to celebrate with a party. It was so nice to see our former neighbors and our new neighbors, our relatives on both side of the family and our friends all coming together to share in our happiness at being back in the country. Once again our kids and grandkids pitched in with the cleaning and cooking. We are truly blessed.

The most important thing I learned through all of this is if you put everything in God's hands he will take care of you. This happens in his time not my time. I am an impatient, Type A personality that expects instant results to all my problems and goals. If I pray about it in the morning by nightfall I should see results. I am working on this and it has been one of my personal goals for the year. I need to keep reminding myself to pray and trust that God will answer my prayers in his way and in his time.

One of my favorite verses in the bible is James. I always feel like he is speaking directly to me. James 1:2-6 reads: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. but when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."

Life Happens During the Interruptions by Theresa Zuber

For the most part, interruptions drive me CRAZY! I have MY agenda, my plans, my projects and I don’t have time to be interrupted. Not only that, but I’m busy doing what I need to be doing; and if I get interrupted, that means it won’t get done. (Sound familiar to you?)

Let’s look at a day in Jesus’ life. He started out teaching his disciples, then the Pharisees were there putting their twist on things. And then….

Matt 9: 18While he was saying this, (Jesus had been teaching in the previous passage) a ruler came and knelt before him and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live." 19Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. 20Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." 22Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment. 23When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, 24he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him. 25After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26News of this spread through all that region. 27As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" 28When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" "Yes, Lord," they replied. 29Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; 30and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." 31But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region. 32While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." (NIV)

Jesus was interrupted constantly during his ministry. The passage above lists 5 interruptions in only 16 verses! A few more examples: the man that was lowered through the roof, while Jesus was trying to teach (Luke 5:18); blind Bartimaeus who wouldn’t stop calling Jesus’ name (Mark 10:46); Nicodemus, the Pharisee, questioning Jesus at night (John 3); the sinful woman who washed his feet with tears and dried them with her hair while Jesus was attending a dinner in someone else’s home (Luke 7:36-50).

But you see that’s just another difference between Jesus and me. Each time that Jesus was interrupted, he didn’t say, “Yeah, I’ll be with you in a sec.” OR “I can maybe get to that next Tuesday.” Not “You’ve got to be kidding. Can’t you see I’m swamped here?” When Jesus was interrupted, someone’s life was changed.

Have you ever noticed? Interruptions are what define our life and our memories. It’s not the business of going to work everyday. It’s not vacuuming. It’s not doing the laundry. It’s the interruptions. It’s the sudden phone call from a friend who has found out she has breast cancer. It’s the terminal illness of your parent. It’s the nearly fatal car wreck of your spouse. It’s standing for an hour at a funeral visitation. It’s the tiny hospital room where you sat by your child’s side for days on end. In those “interruptions,” we have a chance to be Jesus to someone. No, you can’t give sight to the blind and make the lame walk; but you can show love, give comfort, empathize, and sometimes- just be there.

Why do we let interruptions in our life upset us? These events, annoyances, disasters, crisis are the things that our lives are made of. Are we missing opportunities, because we view them as interruptions to OUR plans? Since when did God say life was going to go according to OUR plans??

“Eph 2: 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (NIV)

This week as life throws you a curve ball, remember to take the opportunity God has given you to change someone’s life. It’s what Jesus Would do!

As I look back over my life, I can see that it’s the “interruptions” that I remember most. God, help me to embrace these opportunities to “do good works.” And God, when I become an interruption to others, Help them have the patience and the right words to be Jesus to me. Never let me be SO SELFISH that I miss a chance to show Your love to someone who desperately needs You at that very moment in my life. Help me see that how I respond to these “opportunities”defines who I am and how important YOU ARE to me.

Friends by Joyce Schafer

I have often thought that friends are special angels that God sends to help us and teach us here on earth. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them we have for a short time and some we have for a lifetime.
The first friends I remember making were in second grade. These two little girls and I were best friends all through grade school. We played together, had sleepovers and most importantly shared the same opinion of boys. They were Stupid! One friend was Catholic, one was Lutheran and I was Methodist. God was teaching me at a very young age that we are all His children.
Then in high school there were six of us that became really close. We met in Home Ec. Class. A class all of us were taking not because we wanted to but because our mothers insisted. Thankfully we had a wonderful teacher that made the class bearable. As everyone knows, as a teenager your life consists of a lot of highs and lows and we helped each other through all these phases.
By Senior year things really started changing and some of the six decided boys were not so stupid and started becoming couples, leaving little time for their girlfriends. Another valuable lesson was learned. Friends change and not all friendships survive.
As a young adult another special friend came into my life. She eventually got married and moved out of state. Lesson #3: friendships can survive long distances.
About this same time I met someone who has been my best friend for almost 40 years. This friend has been there for me through the bad times and the good times. The most important lesson I have learned is it is truly a gift from God when you marry your best friend.
My life has always been and continues to be blessed by friends. They truly are my angels on earth and I thank God everyday for sending them to me.