Popcorn time

We're on for popcorn this Sunday night. 6pm. Swing by if you're able!

Broken Arm

It's just above her wrist. Not bad at all. Should only be in cast for 4 weeks or so:

And it's her left arm, so there's no mercy on school work :-)

For the joy set before us

Nice little post from Amy's Humble Musings:

Enduring hard things

My pastor here in Florida gave an illustration this morning that was so good that I want to share it with you. Now, since I am doing this from memory, I want to first absolve him of any theological error I might convey or of any responsibility for my spiritual state. Here was the gist.

There are two men. Imagine the first man sentenced to working in a locked room for a year, where the conditions are awful: very little sleep, grueling labor every day, and just horrendous existence. The reward for him at the end is $15,000. He’d probably quit after the first week. I mean, it’s just not worth the “reward” at the end.

Now imagine the second man sentenced to the same awful conditions–suffering for a year of hard labor–but at the end of his year, he is paid $150 million —tax free, even! (The tax free part is my embellishment.) This second man would endure to the end, knowing that the reward at the end was worth the suffering he endured at the time.

We can endure suffering in the present because of our promise for the future. For the Christian, the reward is infinitely greater than a paltry $150 million (even in a deflationary environment) or anything the world can offer us. If we believe that the glory awaiting us is really what God says it is, what is suffering in this life in comparison? Romans 8:18 says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that when the pain is very deep, but this illustration reminded me that it is worth enduring to the end, asking God to give us faith to believe in a future promise. For those who believe in Jesus, the reward will be worth it.