Good Things

by E. Christian, McAlester, OK
Friday, June 8, 2012

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
7 When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. - Proverbs 16:7(New King James Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
6 For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; 8 He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. - Proverbs 2:6-8(New King James Version).

A QUOTE
As Christians we are free to choose our master - whether sin or God. But we are never free to choose the consequences of our choices. - George Lyons -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER The parent's life is the child's copy-book. - From Proverbs for Daily Living - To enjoy life you don't need wealth or power, but a song in your heart. - From Home is Where the Heart Is -

BILL OF RIGHTS FOR CATS
Each cat has the inalienable right to dig in the garden of his or her choice. - From Cats Rule -,br /> All cats have the right to a clean litter box . - From Cats Rule -,br />
NOTES
Today has been a sunny day in McAlester, Oklahoma, with a high temperature of 86 degrees and a low temperature of 64 degrees. June and I had lunch with Charley and my pastor, J. T. Carnell. June and I went to the post office. I took my nap this afternoon with Little Girl and Smokey. While I napped June went to a Dollar General Store and some other places, then she took a short nap which is very rare for her to nap in the afternoon. We sat outside with the cats and read this evening for over an hour. The cats had their treats and then did various things from resting in a chair to chasing each other around the yard. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read Good Things. Thanks also to those who write to me. I will include three pictures tonight. I think everyone is receiving the pictures now. Let me know if you are not receiving them.
The cats are fine. Little Girl is asleep on a blanket on the sofa. The other cats are doing other things at present. Most of them are outside. We have seen all of the cats this evening.
I will see you next time,
In Christian Love, Everett.

Nan's Calendar

by Nan Forehand, Statesville, NC
June 8, 2012

Work is a liaison office between our desires and their fulfillments. Napoleon Hill

It was and continues to be my sincere desire to help sick children. This desire was manifested in the physical form of soft, cuddly bears. It has taken many hours of work, purchasing, repairing, cleaning, and making my deliveries to the hospital on a weekly basis since last summer. To date, more than 800 teddy bears have been given to those in need of comfort. I cleaned another 25 bears last night in preparation for delivery today. In my home, awaiting their turn, are approximately 300 more teddies. I know this, because my daughter and I reorganized the bears in my attic this week and took a head count! LOL! Plus, there are teddies in Ashley's room downstairs, some of which were given to me yesterday. This ministry will continue as long as God puts teddy bears in my hands.

If you are led to donate teddies or want to send a monetary contribution, please let me know through the following email address and I will be glad to give you more information. The email address is www.nansgoodwillbears@yahoo.com I am a very frugal shopper. Should you decide to send money, you can rest assured that I honor your generosity and stretch each dollar to acquire as many bears as possible. Also, remember that each bear must pass my high standards of quality. I only select gently loved teddies.

A few months ago, I found in my stash, a beautiful teddy with a copyright date of 1984 on the tag. There was a hole in the face where an eye was removed. Other than the hole, it's condition is amazing! At some point later, I was given a teddy wearing a Harley-Davidson outfit. Since I use naked bears, I took the shirt and "leather jacket" off of the bear. I took the boots (amazing as it sounds!) and made an eye patch for the 1984 teddy! I am submitting a photo for your viewing pleasure.

The bottom line here is to remember that we must first do the work in order to reap the reward. Earlier this week, I received two emails from moms whose young daughters received teddies during their stay in the hospital. The subject of one of the emails was "You Made A Smile!". Mom emailed me a photo of her beautiful daughter holding her teddy as she sat in her hospital bed. Mom said that Nana Bear, as they call it, has become a very special member of their family. To bring a smile to a sick child's face is priceless! Each and every child is priceless!! Because these mothers contacted me, they warmed my heart and brought a smile to my face, too! Thank you so much!

Sometimes, it still boggles my mind at the multitude of teddies God has provided for this ministry He planted in my heart. It was fertilized by my trust in God and my faith in Him. Yes, it has required many hours of work to make all of this happen. I have no earthly idea how much of my own money I have spent purchasing teddies. It's not about the money and it has never been about the money. It is about sharing God's love in the form of a soft, cuddly teddy bear. My priorities are always shifting to accommodate the continuation of the ministry. When I shall die, I will know God's purpose for me has been fulfilled. Nan's good will bears is a legacy of love.

Daily Jewel

by pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
June 8, 2012

“Encourage…Not Enable!”
“A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest!” – Proverbs 6:10-11 (The Message)

“If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” That may sound hard, but the wisdom of the Scripture is seen in the story of one New York man. According to the Associated Press, this thirty-six-year-old resident of New York was quoted as saying, “I like to live decent, I like to be clean.” Nothing wrong with that; the only problem was he did not like to work. So he found other ways to satisfy his cultured tastes.
He would walk into a fine restaurant, order top cuisine and choice liquor, and then when the check arrived, shrug his shoulders and wait for the police. The sometimes homeless man actually wanted to end up in the slammer, where he would get three meals a day and a clean bed. He has pled guilty to stealing a restaurant meal thirty-one times. In 2004 he served ninety days at the Rikers Island jail for filching a meal from a café in Rockefeller Center.
New York taxpayers have paid more than a quarter of a million dollars over five years to feed, clothe, and house one lazy man.
Jesus said it best when He said we would always have the poor among us. Those who are “less fortunate” have been a part of life and probably always will—but as we have been learning over the past few days there is a big difference between the “less-fortunate” and those who are just plain lazy. The difference between the two is how we respond to them. How we approach our assistance or a solution to the “problem.” It is the difference between being encouragers and not enablers.
I have known a great number of individuals through the years that needed help from time-to-time. They were hard working, well-meaning people who did everything in their power just to survive—and even then were unable to make ends meet as the saying goes.
One such couple I will never forget. They were in sixties and because of the bad choices of two of their daughters they were raising three of their grandchildren—one a teenager and two in their pre-teens. She was no longer working due to a bad heart and he was a mechanic working six days a week. Both were hard workers in the church, serving on the Church Board, coming at night to help work on the building—while at the same time trying to help their grandchildren stay in the family. At times, if it were not for the generosity and kindness of people in the church and community, they may have not been able to do what they did. It was certainly not out of effort. To help people like that is not “enabling” them—it is saying we believe in you! On the other side of the coin are those that all of us are all too familiar with. Those who refuse to do anything to help their condition. They survive off of the sweat and toil of others and whose conscience is not seared at all by that thought. What is even more disturbing (to me) is this trend continues to grow while those willing to “enable” them grows…and I think I know the reason—it is easier to enable than encourage. To provide a handout rather than a hand up. I believe in being a giver. I have stated before and will do so again, I have been the recipient of people’s kindness and I have had the opportunity to give to those in need. I believe God has rewarded our hard work and efforts when we were unfortunately unable to meet our needs through other’s generosities and by the same token He has used to us to do the same for others. That to me is what it means to be an encourager. As the Word is saying, we must always be careful in these regards to be “encouragers” instead of “enablers.”
Pastor J. T. Carnell

Good Things

by E. Christian, McAlester, OK
Thursday, June 7, 2012

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
3 "Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth. ” - Hosea 6:3(New International Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
8 He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good. - Proverbs 19:8(New King James Version).

A QUOTE
A friend is one who respects and honors. - Glenda Hotton, M.A. -
THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER
If misfortune comes, she brings along the bravest virtues. - From Proverbs for Daily Living -
So much of what we learn of love we learn at home. - From Home is Where the Heart Is -

FOR CAT LOVERS AND PENDING CAT LOVERS
Random strands of white cat hair tend to drift toward the newest black dress. - From Cats Rule -
All cats are born adorable, but some more so than others. - From Cats Rule -

NOTES
As you know, there were no Good Things last night and I wrote that I would send out 15 pictures each night. That has to be changed because all computers will not receive that many pictures. So here is what I will do. Instead of sending the pictures separate, I will send them with the Good Things. There will only be three pictures each night. I want everyone to receive everything I send out. Here are names of three more people who like the pictures: Lucille, Tiyan and Pat Hessdorfer. June and I had lunch with Charley and Bill. June and I went to the post office. Around 3:00 p.m. we went to an attorney's office to transact some business for the time I will become incapacitated. We sat out with the cats for over an hour this evening as they had their treats and did cute things for us. Beau had to lie in my lap for a few minutes while I was reading.
The cats are fine. Little Girl is the only one in the den at present. We have seen them all this evening including Lucy and Tony.
I will see you next time,
In Christian Love, Everett.

Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
June 7, 2012

“Being Uncommon”
“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.” – Proverbs 6:10-11
,br /> It has been said that the twentieth century—with all of its advances in science and technology—was really the Century of the Common Man. The word often used to describe it was “entitlements.” Do you remember the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965? Or the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994? Do you remember the national debate in the early 1990s over universal health-care? These were all intended to improve the quality of life of America’s children, their teachers, and families. They brought into focus America’s obsession with creating a common ground for everyone.
Today those themes are being played again. Some politicians believe that we all are entitled to whatever is most desired in education, housing, health-care, job security, minimum wage, and retirement benefits.
Seventy-eight years ago President Herbert Clark Hoover promoted the idea that there were solutions to all social and economic problems. But Hoover also believed that America was in danger of developing a “cult of the Common Man, which means a cult of mediocrity.” In challenging this mentality, Hoover called for the creation of a nation of “uncommon people”—men and women committed to excellence. In an essay that appeared in Words to Live By, edited by William Nichols (Simon and Schuster, 1949), Hoover said, “Let us remember that the great human advances have not been brought about by mediocre men and women. They were brought by distinctly uncommon people with vital sparks of leadership.” Hoover continued,
“It is a curious fact that when you get sick you want an uncommon doctor; if your car breaks down you want an uncommonly good mechanic; when we get into war we want dreadfully an uncommon admiral and an uncommon general. I have never met a father and mother who did not want their children to grow up to be uncommon men and women. May it always be so. For the future of America rests not in mediocrity, but in the constant renewal of leadership in every phase of our national life.”
If Hoover’s challenge is valid, why must we limit it to national interests? Mediocrity exists everywhere. It certainly exists in the home, where about one-half of marriages end in divorce. It exists in the world of sport, where athletes yield to temptation to enhance their strength and speed by using illegal drugs. It exists in business, where corporate heads manipulate earnings reports to make their companies more attractive to investors. It exists in local and state governments; it exists in the motion-picture industry; it exists in law-enforcement agencies; it exists in the military; it exists in health-care operations; it exists in America’s judicial system; it exists in religious organizations that agree to settle out of court rather than punish the immoral behavior of some of their clergy; it exists in the nation’s media.
It is time for a national repentance—a directional change of about 180 degrees. It is time for us to elect state and national leaders that are committed to setting straight the crooked course we have taken as a people. We are no longer world leaders; we follow the latest moral trends, wherever they lead. It is time for America to start producing uncommon leaders with the courage to point us in the direction that our former leaders took us—men and women who paid the price to make America great.
On January 25, 1974, then-governor Ronald Reagan addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference with these words: “We cannot escape our destiny, nor should we try to do so. The leadership of the free world was thrust upon us two centuries ago in that little hall of Philadelphia. In the days following World War II, when the economic strength and power of America was all that stood between the world and the return to the dark ages, Pope Pius XII said, ‘The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. Into the hands of America God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.’” What we need are more uncommonly good men and women with vital sparks of leadership. Isn’t time for all of us to stop folding our hands? Don’t settle for okay, especially in your spiritual life when we are called to excellence!
Pastor J. T. Carnell

Posted to Religious by Quentin Clingerman @ 1:24 pm EDT

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