(Home after a few days away - more about that tomorrow. Hope that your new year is off to a good start!)

Run Your Own Race

By Max Lucado

"A little boy named Adam wanted to be like his friend Bobby. Adam loved the way Bobby walked and talked. Bobby wanted to be like Charlie. Something about Charlie's stride intrigued him. Charlie on the other hand, was impressed with Danny. Charlie wanted to look and sound like Danny. Danny, of all things, had a hero as well. He wanted to be just like Adam. So Adam was imitating Bobby, who was imitating Charlie, who was imitating Danny, who was imitating Adam. Turns out all Adam had to do was to be himself.

"Stay in your own lane. Run your own race. Nothing good happens when you compare and compete. God's yardstick for measuring faithfulness is how faithful you are with your own gifts. You are not responsible for the nature of your gift. But you are responsible for how you use it!

***

If you are around Clarion or watching our comings and goings on facebook pages the past week or so, you know that two of my sisters and I went to California with the goal of working on a couple Rose Bowl floats. We also watched the parade, visited a couple of points of interest, and walked on several beaches.

It was fun!

One of the things which I did was to take some dried flowers with me which our son-in-law Ed had left a couple of months ago on our daughter Merry's grave. I also took some dried roses from Jim's funeral and celebration of life service.

My goal was to toss them in the Pacific Ocean, symbolizing how life 'ebbs and flows' and continues!

That is what I did on Santa Monica beach one of the first days we were there.

I tossed them in and the waves brought them back to the beach! I picked them up and tried again! It took several times before the water took them into the bigger body of the ocean.

It made me stop and think about how God operates. If we give Him our lives, our time, our plans, our thoughts,our loved ones........He many times returns them to us over and over again! We learn that we can trust Him, about His care and His love!

The three of us walked farther down the beach and then returned in part of an hour. The flowers were all gone except for one rose petal! God takes care of us and leaves behind for us His love and a 'rose petal' of good memories!

This is something written by Corrie ten Boom, referring to mentally handicapped people. Ever noticed how sometimes they appear happier and less harried than us 'normal' people. They are a blessing to have in our lives.

Speak Simply, Be Simple

"Whenever you come in contact with mentally handicapped people, please tell them that God loves them. They can often enjoy God's love better than people who have problems because of intellectual doubt.

"Has not God made the wisdom of this world to look foolish? For it was after the world in its wisdom had failed to know God, that He is His Wisdom chose to save all who would believe by the 'simplemindness' of the Gospel message."

~ I Corinthians 1:20-21 Phillips

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"Lord, give us the courage to speak the truth simply, so all can understand. Some will ridicule our lack of sophisticated thinking, so we will need your courage to remain simple. But we know that your 'foolishness' is wiser than the wisdom of men."

***

Something written by Anne Graham Lotz. A good one as we get closer to lots of campaigns and elections. Voting and elections are important but so is Jesus and the extra dimension that He offers to all of us:

Just Think on Jesus!

"He love us and has freed us from our sins by his blood."

~ Revelation 1:5b NIV

"Jesus is the most important Man, not just in our nation, not just on planet earth, but in the entire universe! And He isn't just for four years or eight years, but forever and ever and ever! Furthermore, the most important Man in the universe thinks I am so important, He gave His own life for me! How can I feel depressed by the smallness of my life when the most important Man in the universe died for me, rules over me now, and will one day return for me? In the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ, I am important. I am of value. How can I consider myself anything less?

"Do you feel depressed by the smallness of your life? There is an antidote for feelings of smallness. Just think on Jesus!"

***

My favorite Bible is a Life Application one. It was printed in 1971 and given to me by my Aunt Helen around that time.

Today's Karen's Korner talks about 'nuclear blasts'; seems it is something we have been thinking about and threatened by for decades.

"God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble. And so we need not fear even if the world blows up, and the mountains crumble into the sea.

Let the oceans roar and foam; let the mountains tremble!"

~ Psalms 46:1 - 3

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Bible Commentary:  "The fear of mountains or cities suddenly crumbling into the sea by a nuclear blast haunts many people today. But the psalmist says that even if the world ends, 'We need not fear!' Even in the face of utter destruction, he expressed a quiet confidence in God's ability to save him. It seems impossible to face the end of the world without fear, but the Bible is clear---God is our refuge even in the face of total destruction. He is not merely a temporary retreat; he is our eternal refuge and can provide strength even in the face of global destruction."

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I had the opportunity on Saturday afternoon to visit my aunt and uncle who live in senior housing in Mason City. Dick will be 95 next week; Ruth will be 94 in March. They celebrate their 73rd wedding anniversary in May.

They started to retell the story of son Brian when he was four years old. He was sick with what they thought was the flu for several days. But he wasn't getting better. A trip to the doctor was the next step. "Take two of these and he should be better," or something like that, was what the doctor told them.

Within the next day or two, Brian wasn't any better. So Mom recalled the doctor, "You need to give the medicine more time to work," was the doctors reply. Ruth was insistent, "He is sick!" While doctors have medical degrees, sometimes parents know when things aren't right.

They took Brian in and put him in the hospital. Testing and time was passing. All everyone knew was that he was a very sick little boy. Eventually the doctor told Dick, they believed he didn't have more than two weeks to live!

Christians (and sometimes non-Christians) ask all kinds of people to pray for him/them; it included their church prayer group and other groups. Of course, everyone was asking for Brian to be healed and once again well.

Ruth said one day she left the hospital to be home to get lunch for their two older boys. Dick stayed back with Brian. "I was telling God how he HAD to heal Brian," she said. "But God reminded me of the Lord's prayer and asking 'for His Will' to be done. I didn't want to hear that or think about it. But I can remember praying and asking God for His Will. 'But, God, if You want Brian now to be with You, You are going to have to help me'!"

After lunch, she returned to the hospital and found Brian curled up in his dad's arms as nurses were changing the sheets on his bed. Dick had prayed somewhat of a similar prayer. And the first thing Dick said to Ruth, "He's going to be fine!"

Things started to change for all of them. Not knowing what 'fine' would look like. The family was told he had an advanced stage of mono and some of the treatments were beginning to work. The hospital stay last eleven days!

Brian is now 58. He has recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis which some think might be an off-shoot of his four-year-old illness. Maybe not. But you can't discount 50 good years of health and life for Brian.

Even Lazarus, who Jesus raised from the dead, died! God is the great healer!! We sometimes ask Him for more time. And He many times gives it to us.

But He has an ultimate plan for all of us. And it includes His Home. His Love. His Care. Him serving as our Heavenly Father for eternity! What a plan!

This is today's Max Lucado; delivered into my email box:

Jesus Became Like Us!

"John 1:14 says, 'The Word became flesh and lived among us.' The God of the universe left the glory of heaven and moved into the neighborhood. Our neighborhood! Why? Because He loves to be with the ones he loves!

"There is a remarkable story about a man injured in a fire. While attempting to save his parents, his face was burned and disfigured. He wouldn't let anyone see him, including his wife. When she went to a plastic surgeon for help, the doctor assured her that he could restore her husband's face. But she wasn't there to restore her husband's face. She wanted her face disfigured so she could share in his pain.

"It's the way God feels about us. He took on our face, our disfigurement. He became like us--to show us h far he will go to be with the ones he loves!"

***

As I was walking down the ag hall of our local high school recently, I spotted this saying on one of the bulletin boards:

"You are setting the banquet table

for the feast you are going to eat

the rest of your life."

I am quite sure the words were meant for teenaged decisions of what to or not to do---about studying, career choices, things which might enhance or destroy their lives.

But I couldn't help but think about us and our Christian faith, whether we feast with Jesus in heaven or not. He has prepared the feast, set the table, and put out the invitation.

Have we sent back in our RSVP or not? Ultimately, it's our decision. Not His!

"...a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed,

'What a privilege it would be to get into the

Kingdom of God!'"

~ Luke 14:15 LB

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This is a Max Lucado for the day; enjoy!

God Uses Failures

"What was I thinking taking this job? I should have done better. It's all my fault. The voices---you've heard them all. When you lost your job, flunked the exam, or when your marriage went south......when you failed. The voices began to howl, laughing at you. You heard them and you joined them. You disqualified yourself and berated yourself. You sentenced yourself to hard labor in the Leavenworth of poor self-worth. Oh, the voices of failure. Failure finds us all.

"But God's Word is written for failures. It's full of folks who were foul-ups. David was a failure, yet God used him. Jonah was in the belly of a fish and God heard his prayer. Perfect people? No. Perfect messes? You bet! A surprising and welcome discovery of the Bible is this:  God uses failure! Miss this truth and you miss your Glory Days. God's grace is greater than your failures."

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OUR ONE FOUNDATION

"No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."

~ I Corinthians 3:11 NIV

"All around us we see lives collapsing with broken hearts and broken homes and broken hopes -- with shattered minds and shattered emotions and shattered bodies. What has gone wrong? The foundation on which the majority of people are building their lives is cracked and flawed.

"The Bible tells us there is only one foundation for individual or national life that will last, regardless of the crisis or pressure, and it is the foundation of Jesus Christ: 'For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.'

"Jesus Christ never changes (Hebrews 13:8). He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Nothing can ever separate you from His love (Romans 8:35-39). So make sure you are prepared for the storms of life because your life is built on the Solid Foundation of Jesus Christ."

~ By Anne Graham Lotz

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An entry from Sarah Young's "Jesus Calling:  Enjoying Peace in His Presence"; its a 365 flip calendar as if Jesus is talking directly to its readers. Every day is good; this one was yesterday's:

"MY PEACE is the treasure of treasures, the pearl of great price. It is an exquisitely costly gift, both for the Giver and the receiver. I purchased this Peace for you with My blood. You received this gift by trusting Me in the midst of life's storms. If you have the world's peace---everything going your way---you don't seek My unfathomable Peace. Thank Me when things do not go your way, because spiritual blessings come wrapped in trials. Adverse circumstances are normal in a fallen world. Expect them each day. Rejoice in the face of hardship, for I have overcome the world."

~ Words taken from Matthew 13:16; James 1:2; John 16:33

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"He fills me with strength and protects me wherever I go.

He gives me the surefootedness of a mountain goat upon the crags.

He leads me safely along the top of the cliffs.

He prepares me for battle and gives me strength to draw an iron bow!"

~ Psalm 18:32 - 34 LAB

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Bible Commentary:  "God promises to give us strength for life-building challenges and protection from life-threatening troubles. But he doesn't promise to eliminate our troubles. If God promised no rough roads, no mountains to climb, and no battles, we would not grow. But with these life-building challenges, he sends strength to overcome. If he left us alone with life-threatening troubles, we would not survive. But God sends his protection. We need his protection to survive life's impossible threats and his strength to grow as we respond to life's challenging circumstances."

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Today's 'korner' is a Max Lucado writing. You can tell he is a favorite of mine. Simple truths that anyone can understand:

God's Gift to Each One of Us

"Call it what you wish. A talent...a skill set...a gift. The terms are different, but the truth is the same. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:7, ' The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.'

"You aren't the only person with your skill. But you are the only person with your version of your skill. You entered the world uniquely equipped. Psalm 139:13-15 describes it as 'knit together, woven together in the dark of the womb, intricately and curiously wrought.'

"Each of us! Not some of us, a few of us, or the elite among us. EACH of us has a beauty that longs to be revealed and released. It is you at your best! When you stand a the intersection of your skill and God's call, you are standing at the corner of Promised Land Avenue and Glory Days Boulevard!

Whenever a friend Pam Tate sends out a note, she always includes "Philippians 1:3" in a note at the bottom.

Want to know what that verse says?

"I thank my God every time I remember you."

Pam says friends and their friendship mean so much to her. So she likes to thank God for them!

When life happens to us and if we live long enough, sometimes we have a 'bunch of stuff' in our past. The Tates have had their share; maybe more than their share. With the aging process, she has lost both of her parents. She was one of four; a sister and two brothers have all died. She and her husband are parents of four children; two of them are deceased.

And I am not referring to someone who is in 90s. I am guessing them to be in their 60s (hope I am generous with the age!)

Because of some of her losses, 'friends mean more and more to me!'

So Pam and I want to tell Karen's Korner readers today:  "We thank God as we remember you today!"

Be blessed.

I finished reading the book "Each New Day" by Corrie ten Boom. While it is a daily devotional with 365 entries, I read it more like a novel; reading more than one 'each day'. But lucky for me (and you), I have marked some of my favorites and want to share them now and then in the days and weeks ahead.

Here is September 25's entry:

The Greatest Adventure Begins with This

Faith is a:

Fantastic

Adventure

In

Trusting

Him

"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act."

~ Psalm 37:5 RSV

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"Lord, we may do wondrous things through trusting in you. Our lives become one continuous adventure, and we know that the safest place in the world is the center of your will."

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