November 30, 2007

Good morning! The last day of November is upon us, and we have but one month to go this year. I am glad that Jesus watches over us each and every day. Thinking back over the years, I often realize that God has protected and guided me even when I have been far from Him spiritually. All of us can recall instances where we might have perished or been hurt through our own mistakes, but somehow we escaped. In our unbelief we might have commented on how "lucky" we were at that time; now we know better. We know that God protected us then, we should know better than to doubt now. I am guilty too! Those doubts are whispered to us and sometimes we grab onto them, even knowing that we should not. Trust means that we will grow to have complete confidence in the Lord and His providence, at all times and in all situations. Let us try to grow our trust a little each day.

Praise God for His infinite mercy!

Bucky

November 29, 2007

Good Thursday morning! Last night at Bible study we reviewed some of the prophets. Jeremiah was one who complained to the Lord that he was too young. That gave me a thought, that at least I thought was funny, did anyone in the Bible think that they were perfect for the Lord's will? Abraham was too old, Jeremiah was too young, Moses was too shy, and Elijah was too scared. All of our great heroes of the faith were too something or not enough of the other thing. Only Jesus stands alone in the Bible as one who did God's will from the start without complaining that He was too something or other. So often we think of serving the Lord in some way and stop with an "I can't" or "I'm too..." Do you think that David didn't feel a strong urge to panic when facing Goliath? "Lord, what if I miss?" The Bible is wonderful in that all of our heroes, save our Lord Jesus, are just like us (and Jesus is who we want to be like). One perfect example to follow, and then a whole bunch of imperfect ones to show us God's love for us in whatever condition we find ourselves. Praise the Lord! Like you, I can think of a great many things that I am too much of, or don't have enough of, but one thing we all must remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

The love of the Lord Jesus is with you this day!

Bucky

November 28, 2007

Good morning! Today is a new day in the Lord Jesus! Praise the name of our Lord. In looking for a benefit to our troubles in this life, I came upon one thing that I can hold on to, understanding. It is more than just experience. Many will experience one thing or another and come through unchanged. "Oh, yeah. I did that too and it's no big deal." They might say, meaning they have put away the experience and gained no understanding. In coming to the place of understanding, we gain compassion, empathy, and the ability to help that other person who is going through what we have already experienced. I believe that Jesus grants us understanding when the world simply puts the experience behind. I don't mean that we constantly relive the event, only that in facing someone who needs help, Jesus gives us an understanding mind.

My list of understood events might read almost like a confession of sins, and some of them were sins. When someone comes to me and tells me that he or she has a problem with this because of that, I often understand. It doesn't excuse the sin, but Jesus understands the problem. Why do you think He came to earth? Not only does He understand, but He offers the grace of His forgiveness, paid for by His own sacrifice!

May God grant us wisdom in this.

Bucky

November 27, 2007

Good morning in Christ Jesus! I feel the love today. I am watching possible storm clouds roll in this morning; it may be a large weather front with a lot of snow and wind, or it may only be a passing small group of clouds. The view outside this one window is too small to show the entire truth. So it is with our view of the universe and God. We are just too caught up in our tunnel vision to see the entire story right now. Trusting in Jesus means that we believe in His word. He has a better view than ours, and His love extends beyond what we can see and remember. That regret or failing you experienced years ago, let it go. Those worries and fears for the future, leave them with Jesus. Let us instead keep our eyes upon the maker and author of our faith, the Lord Jesus. In Isaiah 49 the Lord reminds us, "At just the right time, I heard you." Waiting for that time is not only difficult, but is beyond our vision. The time will come, trust in God for that!

Praise, honor, and glory to our Lord Jesus!

Bucky

November 26, 2007

Good morning... ow. I am feeling the aftershocks of trying to do actual work yesterday. Wow, getting old kind of hurts. Why does it seem that whenever I am ready to complain, and have good reason to do so, something like today's devotional comes along? (see Love Worth Finding). Does stiff and sore count as trouble I wonder? :-) Most of us get to go back to work today, though I have seen a few taking Monday off as well, extending their weekend a bit longer. Tomorrow marks four weeks until Christmas, tonight if you anticipate Christmas Eve as I do. It hardly seems very long ago that I wrote about how Christmas had just passed for another year. Thanksgiving has gone by once more and even the Scroogiest cannot say that it isn't the Christmas season now. Hallelujah for our Savior, born more than 2,000 years ago on this earth. Great and glorious is our Lord Jesus, born in a manger and now sitting on a throne in Heaven! It is time to celebrate His wonderful birth and to give a few gifts in honor of the gift given to us, eternal life in Christ.

Praise our victorious Lord Jesus on this fine day!

Bucky

November 25, 2007

Good Sunday morning! The Thanksgiving holiday weekend comes to a close today and it has been a good one for me. Do you have trouble waiting on the Lord? I know that I do; patience and humility while waiting on the Lord are difficult to learn. At times I ask "what should I do?" over and over when I should be asking "What would you have me to do, Lord?" The answer might be to just wait, to rest, and to meditate on the Lord. We don't always want to hear that answer. We have been brought up to work, to do, to act decisively in all things. I don't think the Lord would have us rushing about like that well-known headless fowl. Resting, waiting, and meditating are part of life in Jesus, just the same as witnessing, cleaning the church, and performing are for those called to His name.

Jesus Saves!

Bucky

November 24, 2007

Good morning! I hope your fondest shopping dreams were fulfilled yesterday, or at least you found a good deal. The news looks good for retailers today, perhaps our economy is not ready to give up just yet! Enjoy the remainder of the Thanksgiving weekend and let us pray for those who will be returning home from a Thanksgiving trip in the next couple of days.

Have you ever felt kind of fat, faithless, and filthy at the end of a day? Just one of those days where you were lazy, saw or watched something that made you feel dirty, and just didn't feel close to the Lord that day. I had one like that yesterday and would just as soon not repeat that experience. To help with that, I am up and getting something positive done this morning, starting with the writing of this devotional! The day is just dawning, which in the winter does not make it that early on the clock. We are into the darkest two months of the year, with the shortest day about one month from today. Pray for a wonderful Christmas time; one where Christ comes first in Christmas for everyone.

Have a wonderful, merry Christmas!

Bucky

November 23, 2007

Good afternoon! Thanksgiving has given way to the Christmas season as many of you are probably shopping today. I am doing some serious goofing off today, not even having started on my school paper yet. Alas, this cannot go on forever, but it is fun to do once in a while. It looks as though our football team will be home for Christmas. We might as well invite an offensive player( narrows it down eh?) over for dinner, as there doesn't appear to be a defense. :-) There is a silver lining though, just think of all the good comic material we have for the next year!

Pastor Rogers was fond of noting that the world is becoming gloriously dark. He wanted us to note in the gathering darkness the imminent arrival of our Savior, for the second time. In the season of celebration for His arrival the first time, I always like to look forward to that second Christmas, the one where Jesus will come in the clouds to take up His sovereign realm on the new Earth. It sounds very fantastic, and I cannot help but thing that is a good word. It will indeed be fantastic when He arrives, and wonderful, magical, beautiful, glorious. and ... I cannot come up with enough words to describe how it will be on that great day. Praise God for the glory of His coming realm!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Bucky

Thanksgiving 2007

Happy Thanksgiving! We have made it to another day of giving thanks to the Lord for what we have been granted through the year. In our discussion forum in this class, we were asked what our favorite holiday is. It might come as a complete shock to you that mine is Christmas, or perhaps that isn't so shocking. :-) Another student noted Thanksgiving as his favorite, and do you know why? It is a secular holiday. I suppose in a secular celebration of giving thanks, you thank your friends, family, employer, ...and then leave out God. Once I believed in Jesus, I could not give thanks without thanking the creator of all things for my blessings. Today I even thought of the most difficult thing to thank God for. What did I come up with? Thank you, Lord, for my life just as it is. After a bit, it settled on me just how difficult we find that. No wantings for this, that, or the other thing at Wal-mart, no wishes for the many changes that we wish would happen, just a simple "Thank You" to the Lord for what is in our lives right now. We are constantly looking forward and off to the sides of the path that Jesus leads us on. The Apostle Paul had learned to be content, whether in feast or famine, wealth or poverty, and we too need to learn contentment, and that starts with a heartfelt "Thank You!" for life, just as it is now.

Thank You, Lord Jesus for my life and your life, just as it is now, may we have your peace this day of Thanksgiving.

Bucky

November 21, 2007

Good morning! Last night's e-mail went out, so I have added a few more this morning. It seems that I will need to get an unsubscribe option and a sign up method available at some point. Is the declining number a bad sign? Not necessarily, the Holy Spirit can reach the entire population of the planet, any time day or night, and all at once. Yet, we know that many will not believe. Numbers alone are not the answer and neither is technology. It is unlikely, but very possible, that one day I could be hand writing these devotionals and carrying them from shelter to shelter in some remote place. We do not know what tomorrow may bring. Isaiah speaks of "rivers of difficulty" and doesn't that seem to be an appropriate metaphor at times? We go through times when it just seems like one thing after another comes against us, other times it seems like they all come at once! :-)

May God be praised this wonderful Thanksgiving!

Bucky

November 16, 2007

Good Friday morning! The week of a thousand years is coming to a close at last. Yes, my work week has been one of those that seemed to last forever. You have, I am sure, experienced the same phenomenon from time to time, a week where it seems that the end just won't arrive; the train will not pull into the station and the plane sits on the tarmac. In case you couldn't tell, I am glad that Friday has arrived at last this week. What can I say? Next week is that wonderful holiday where we get to pause and thank the Lord for all that He has blessed us with this year. We are still here! Is that a blessing or a curse? Some of both I should think. There is no question that this life is very difficult for us, but at the same time a great work is going on, the spread of the Good News that Jesus Christ is risen. We are caught up in monumental times, and soon we will be caught up to meet Jesus. There is much to be grateful for in this life and even more to look forward to in the next.

To God be the glory forevermore!

Bucky

November 15, 2007

Good Thursday morning, one week from a wonderful day of giving thanks and expressing our gratitude to the Lord. My fingers do not want to cooperate with my typing today. You won't see it, but I had to go back twice to correct things on that last sentence alone. It is a very crisp morning out here, about 7º according to my thermometer. I suppose that I should have my hoses in and my sprinkler system shut off, but I have been slow in that regard this year. Some bug or other is going around again, I was feeling ill last night and crashed at 8:00pm. This morning I feel much better for it.

Today I read a wonderful chapter in Isaiah, the one about the Highway of Holiness leading to Zion. I wondered, what song would we be singing on that highway? Probably it won't matter; some will be singing Joy to the World, some belting out Blessed be the Name, Martin Luther's What a Mighty Fortress, and still others singing Amazing Grace. In this world that would sound just awful, a cacophony of many different voices singing different songs, but somehow I think that several trillion people, marching to Jerusalem on the Highway of Holiness in that great day of the Lord, could sing a million different tunes and it would be a glorious harmony of praise to our Lord. How can this happen? Look at it this way: some time ago, God spoke the universe into existence in six days. Ponder the clouds, the atoms, electrons, flowers, forests, the Earth, planets, solar systems and stars. Six days! Now realize that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us and will return when all is ready. He left almost 2,000 years ago. Six days, two thousand years, just how wonderful will this new heaven and earth be?

Praise God for His everlasting love!

Bucky

November 14, 2007

Good morning, today is another great day in the Lord! The sun is rising well to the south this morning; how did the season sneak up on me so fast? Thanksgiving is a week away; some of you will be traveling at this time next week. Christmas is but six weeks from yesterday. The year will soon pass into the history books. All of us will be that much closer to meeting our Lord in Heaven. No worries, mate! The Lord watches over us moment by moment, and only He knows what is around the next corner. As for me, God willing, I will attend another Bible study this evening. It seems that more often I like to keep the plans simple. It is easy to try leaping ahead of the Lord, after I finish this, then I'll do this, and go there, and do that, and on and on it goes. The Bible warns us about making all those plans without seeking God's will first. One day at a time sounds pretty good right now. I think that I will just worry about today.

Praise God for the Victory!

Bucky

November 13, 2007

Good morning! The trip to Denver went well and we are safely home. Last night I had a dream that sent a clear message to me. This doesn't happen often and so I thought that I should share with you. The dream was simply about me having a temper tantrum. What happened was that in having that tantrum in hopes of impressing one girl, my dream self lost them all. It came to me as I lay thinking about the dream that a temper tantrum produces the clanging sound of loneliness in the empty tin can of regret. Ambrose put it another way; "Speak in anger and you will make the best speech that you will ever regret." I try to remember that saying, and now the dream, to remind myself that throwing a tantrum or speaking out in anger will usually produce the opposite result from what we desire. I speak of that rage type of anger, the one where our mind shuts down and restraint goes out for lunch. When Jesus cleared the moneylenders from the temple, He did not lose control. There is a place for anger, but not for rage, or the more childish version, tantrums. Pray for God's all-encompassing peace in your heart today.
May the wonderful joy of the Lord shine through us,
Bucky

November 12, 2007

Good Monday morning and welcome to another work week! Ouch, that hurts this early on a Monday morning. I am up early for a meeting in Denver today; I hope that it is worth the trip. Ah, attitude adjustment! It is an opportunity to get away from the office for a day and perhaps enjoy a view of the mountains. The Huskers set a record in the opposite direction this weekend; they really do need to check who those players were, Tom may have snuck a few of his own in there.
Today is the observance of Veteran's Day. A big thank you to all of you who served our country on this day. Gotta get going, hope you forgive the shortness of this today.
Bucky

November 11, 2007

Good Sunday morning! Where does the message go? Does the message arrive or does it go astray? A couple of disconcerting bounces in the e-mail for yesterday. In this I must trust in the Lord. I cannot control all of the Internet and it seems that we are caught up in a war, a conflict, that is beyond my imagination. Praise God that we have the sovereign Lord to watch over us!
Today I am thinking of the power of movies and books, our entertainment media of choice. Whether you watch electronic media, movies, games, or television shows, or read print media such as magazines and books, there is a certain freedom, power, and responsibility inherent in these forms of media. Learn about new movies coming out, especially that aimed at children. I hear the writer of the trilogy behind the new movie "The Golden Compass" has an ulterior motive. Try to find out what that is before letting the kids go. Don't simply take my word for it, that's why I'm not telling you what I heard, search and be informed on your own. We shouldn't read or watch everything that comes our way. There are many media works that I must avoid, and some that you should as well. They will differ in form. You may not be tempted by the same things that are weaknesses for me. In all things we must come to the Lord and trust in Him. Reading in Isaiah again this morning, the Lord chastised Israel for trusting in an alliance with the Egyptians after He had told them not to. You know what He said? That He would save them anyway, and not through the Egyptians, who would betray the Israelites, but through His own mighty power. That story ends in Sennacherib's loss of his army before the gates of Jerusalem, without a human warrior lifting a finger in combat. Yep, when the Lord tells us to trust in Him, we might want to step back out of the way!
God bless you this fine day!
Bucky

November 10, 2007

Good Saturday afternoon! I spent the morning as a busy person, and now I am ready for an afternoon nap; guess I'm not as young as I think! Happy Marine Corps Birthday to everyone! MSNBC shows Nebraska ahead 52-10 in the third quarter, if that is correct they may want to inspect the players for ringers. There are probably fans in the stands wondering, "who are these guys?" :-)
I had hoped to make it through a not-on-call weekend without a call, nope, didn't happen. Got caught last night at about ten minutes to six pm. It was a simple problem, but still a call from work. Do I have anything important to write about today? No, not really. Sometimes the Holy Spirit speaks strongly through my writing and at other times it is more of a note to let you know that someone out here still cares about you. In a way you might say that the first Christmas was just that, a note from God letting us know that He still cares. Okay, so it was a note accompanied by heavenly hosts, a glorious star in the sky, and a virgin birth; my notes cannot produce quite those kind of special effects, but I hope you enjoy the writing.
God bless you!
Bucky

November 9, 2007

Good Friday morning! We can only hope for some kind of renaissance for our football team this weekend. Reading in Isaiah 29 today and came to this discussion of evolution.
How stupid can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you. You are only the jars he makes! Should the thing that was created say to the one who made it, "He didn't make us"? Does a jar ever say, "The potter who made me is stupid"?
That is something we are assaulted with almost daily, "you are an accident of the universe" No, we are beloved creations of an almighty God. If you come upon, or are experiencing, a difficult moment today, remember that you are beloved of God. I see a suggestion in Guideposts this month that we spend 15 minutes each day being grateful, or listing those things in our life that we are thankful to God for providing to us. I think that will barely scratch the surface of God's blessings, but it should pay huge rewards in improving me to an "attitude of gratitude," as I hear now and again. It is much easier to dwell on the problems in this life, after all those problems tend to throw themselves in our face moment by moment. Let us fight back with gratitude!
God bless and keep you this weekend!
Bucky

November 8, 2007

Good morning! What a wonderful Bible study last night; I am glad in my heart for all of you who enjoy a group study of the Word each week. The story of the Red Sox victory is already gone from the headlines, replaced by the alleged sale of Lindsey Lohan's Benz on Ebay. Now I do not miss any more stories on the Red Sox, and even had the Rockies won the story should not receive overmuch attention in light of the serious problems in our world. However, to be replaced by the sale of some gal's car? Where are our values these days? If it is the public's demand for such stories that drives the headlines, what does that say about our public?
Last night I also watched a news story on two very different approaches to bringing attention to the war in Iraq. One group of Iraqi War veterans staged mock patrols through Washington D.C., detaining volunteers, wearing camo fatigues, and pointing their imaginary weapons at people. They did it to show the people in Washington what it was like to work and live in Baghdad. However, I see a problem in that approach. Here in the U.S., where there is no war or occupation, it is more likely that the people will see their act as an interesting novelty, probably an irritating one. The other veteran brought attention through meeting with his congressional representative. A very different and more valid approach, as we are in a constitutional republic and do elect representatives to govern us. What does it all mean? We are in a world in constant conflict. The next election here will have far reaching consequences; pray earnestly for guidance in our voting.
God be with you this day,
Bucky

November 7, 2007

Good morning! What is my hope? These days we ask "what do you hope for?" We look toward a house/farm/ranch in the country, away from the rush of cities and our own hectic daily life. We hope for retirement and that we have enough money saved up to actually retire. We hope for a new car, or a boat, or a ... You can see that "hope" has become different for each of us, but still similar. The world hopes for the things of the world. We can easily get caught up in these kinds of hopes. "If only I can save enough", or have that house "over there", or "if I could get a car that lasts past the final payment", and others. Jesus calls us to place our trust in Him; in Him there is no possibility of disappointment as there is with all of the world's hopes. That house or farm could become a money pit that burdens you financially, that dream job may have a boss that makes your life miserable; the things of this world do not satisfy and are always prone to disappoint us. In examining our lives, it is always good and quite interesting to see what we may be putting our hopes in before God. Can a dream or hope be a graven image? Certainly it can be just as bad if we do not trust God first in our lives.
God bless you this fine day!
Bucky

November 6, 2007

Good morning! Today in prayer I thought about two-way communication. Often it seems that I come to God with an unending list of needs and wants, both for myself and others, that is such as rush as to prevent God from getting in a word edgewise, as we like to say. Prayer is a two-way communication, we should listen as well as speak. We are told that God wants to have a relationship with us. How are we going to have a relationship if I try to drown out His voice with my own? Jesus spoke of peace and patience, waiting on the Lord. In remembering to listen for His voice, I also thought of how in every ministry there is also two-way communication. Did you ever feel that you can never offer the pastor of your church advice on anything? This is God's anointed messenger to me; how can I possibly offer anything to him or her? All ministry since Jesus death rent the veil is two-way; our ministers do not know everything, they do not have every message, and above all they earnestly desire shared communication with each of us. Just the same as our Father in Heaven earnestly desires that shared communication. He has wonderful things to say to each of us, if we will let Him. Our ministers in this life want to do more than just preach on Sunday; they also want to speak with us on a personal level, a sharing level. This also goes for every Christian brother and sister in this life. It is about sharing and caring for each other; we are never alone in this life in Christ, and we have each other too!
God bless you all this day!
Bucky

November 5, 2007

Good morning, time to head back to work, although the sky does look oddly light today, like I'm late or something. Drat that time change anyhoo! Yes, woke up just after 4:00am this morning, wondering why the music had not started. In jolly old England they celebrate Guy Fawkes day today. It seems that in 1605 he tried to blow up the houses of Parliament. Whether that would have been good or bad I will leave up to you to decide. Sometimes I think a complete refreshing of our Congress would be good for the country, but not through violence, simply one of those vote 'em all out every 20 years or so things.
Today, the football fans out here get another dose of humility... any more humble and we will have to take up another sport. Yes, both the Huskers and the Broncos suffered very embarrassing losses this weekend. The scores do not bear repeating in polite company, but Kansas set a points scored record against the "No-Shirts" defense of the Huskers. Some fans might believe that God has forgotten them in this season, but this is a game not life or death.
In Lamentations, we read where Jeremiah mourned deeply for Israel as he saw Jerusalem destroyed and the population led away in captivity or left to starve. Remember that this Jerusalem was the glorious city built by Kings David and Solomon, a wonder of the world in any time, though there was not enough evidence left to show the world of its glory. The inhabitants had trusted in the mighty walls and fortifications of the great city, after all was not God's great temple there? However, after years, even centuries, of warnings about their sin and disobedience, God finally turned his back on Judah, the remaining part of Israel, and the mighty city was destroyed. Lamentations is a short, but heart breaking, book in the Bible. Jeremiah lists the sins, and the punishments, of a nation gone wrong. The list kind of makes you think of some other land and time.
Pray daily for our nation and rest in God's grace,
Bucky

November 4, 2007

Good Sunday morning! Our great college football team, the Huskers, continues to stun us with failure and futility. The newspaper critics are calling for not just the coaches head, but his entire staff as well. That is life in Nebraska, we demand greatness from a college football team. Whatever happened to going to college to get an education? The world is upside down in more ways than college football. The darkness comes in this world, praise God for the light that shines in the darkness.
This weekend, or at least beginning last night, I resolved to think about work as little as possible. This is to learn to relax from my job on the weekend. Now there are the calls for equipment problems, but learning to not think about those work problems is of great importance to all of us. In our class, we are going to interview our fellow workers about the amount of leisure time they experience now versus several years ago. Just how much is work affecting our home lives? I think too much, but I am not supposed to leap to conclusions ahead of the survey results. How is it with you? Do you spend time on the weekend worrying over work problems? Does your work, like mine, call you on the weekends to help prevent complete relaxation.
I pray the Lord will bring us to His place of peace in this life.
Bucky

November 3, 2007

Good Saturday morning! I love the Lord Jesus and am grateful for all that He has done for me. Last night I thanked God for as many things as I could remember before falling asleep. I can't help but think that it was a wonderful way to begin a good night's sleep. Even after one very tiring week at work, it was good to thank the Lord. Perhaps that should be "especially after..." This month we celebrate a holiday devoted to giving thanks and expressing our gratitude to the Lord for His blessings. Why just one day though? Let's give thanks the entire month! The secular world sees Thanksgiving as a holiday of eating, football, and family gathering - forgetting or ignoring the main reason for the day of celebration. As we gather this month, let us remember to thank the Lord in a special way on Thanksgiving, and thank Him every day for the blessings He has poured out upon us.
Thank you Lord for life everlasting!
Bucky

November 2, 2007

Good Morning! Today is another fine day in the Lord! We are all ministers and witnesses to our risen Lord Jesus. What is the difference? I think that a ministry comes from the head and the heart. We learn from our elders, the Bible, and from other ministers. Some ministers go to college to learn even more. We also learn from living. Witness comes from the heart, from listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and from telling what God has done for us. All of who believe in Christ have both a witness and a ministry. You and I may not stand up in front of groups on Sunday morning as ordained pastors of churches, and may God bless and guide those who do, but we have little ministries of our own as we speak to coworkers, children, friends, and neighbors first through our witness and then through our ministry. Is it really, really important that we distinguish between the two? Not really, in letting God guide us through His Holy Spirit, we will share the Good News is just the right way for any person or situation. Will everyone be saved? No, we already know from the Bible that some will choose not to believe until their dying day. That is why we look up to Jesus and not down to despair. I pray that each of you will have a wonderful day at work and a great weekend!
God bless and keep you my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus!
Bucky

November 1, 2007

Good morning on this fine November day. Yes, I said November. Halloween has passed and we are now in the eleventh month of another year. How the time does fly toward that great day when Jesus shall come! The big days continue to come, we have another department moving today and a big clean up of our own tomorrow. When will the fun slow down a bit?

Last night, between the hordes of trick 'r treeters, I watched a story about a young woman who died in an accident. She did not know that her body carried a virus that often triggers mononucleosis in teenagers. Apparently a person can carry the virus with few ill effects unless they get run down from stress or overwork, then the mono is triggered. I was taken back this morning to a friend in high school. He was then a member of what would be known as the "in" crowd. Successful in sports, academics, and most anything else he chose to participate in. One of the people most of us envied. Yet, he suffered from this illness. So what stresses or overwork would this person have suffered from? It brings me to the realization that often we don't think someone who appears to "have it all" can be as stressed or overworked as we are. The outward signs of success may mask a soul and mind in desperate need of the peace of Jesus that I spoke of yesterday. It is so easy to get caught up in me, my problems, and my situation that we miss what is going on around us. Perhaps that is why Jesus tells us to throw all of our problems on Him. Not only is He more than capable of bearing that which is too much for each of us, but through giving up our worries we are free to look at the pain in the friends and neighbors around us. What pain can I ease today with a kind or understanding word?

May the name of our Lord be praised forevermore!

Bucky