Friday

Hello, ladies. Summer is finally here - well, at least the school vacation part of it. Do we want to continue through the summer? Let me know your thoughts.

Thursday

Yesterday I read 1 Peter. What struck me was the encouragement to stand in the midst of suffering. He is warning them they are about to enter a time of extreme persecution and he wanted them to know that the hope they had in Christ was worth the pain they were about to endure. It seemed especially pointed to me as earlier in the day I had watched the video of a young girl being berated and called names by her bus driver because she had told another child she believed marriage was between a man and a woman only. The bus driver has received no negative consequences and the school district is standing behind her. As our society becomes more and more secular, these things will happen more often. 1 Peter is a reminder that we should be ready to endure these things and continue to do what is right so that God's glory will shine through the pain and cause even the persecutors to see we have something precious. It's a sobering thought. And a privilege.

Wednesday

Well, you all probably know by now that Lauren was baptized during the night. What a great victory! I know you are all rejoicing with me.

Yesterday I read about true religion: visiting the fatherless and the widows. We only have a few of those in our congregation so that's pretty easy for us. I encourage you to do this - it is actually a pleasant thing and is pleasing to God.

Tuesday

I've been thinking a bit lately about just what it means to walk in faith. As I read in James I see that acting on that faith is what shows you really have faith. Paul assures us we aren't saved by works, but James reminds us that working is still important. We are, after all, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

What are your thoughts from your readings?

It's a holiday!

I hope you have a great day today but don't forget to feed your soul. I'll be reading James today. Let me know what you did!