Christians - By Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Clay Balls

A man was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake.

They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.

He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him.He had been on the beach a long time.

He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn’t look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.

We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy but we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.

There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them.

I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with each of you. Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel.

The Four Seasons of Life

I love the different seasons of the year. Spring, my favorite, the buds begin to be seen on the trees. The snow is melting; birds are back, and good ol’ ‘Spring Cleaning’…yuck!!

Summer. My favorite, brings warmth then downright hot days. Swimming, hiking the trails through the forest, white-water rafting and nice cold diet lemon Nestea. Hmmmm.

Autumn comes next (my favorite) with the leaves falling from the trees, raking huge piles of leaves, then running to jump in the middle of what’s just been raked. Apple-picking, time to open the windows and let the cool breezes in, and just driving the country side to see the beautiful fall-foliage.

Then Winter my very favorite comes with the birds flying south. The snow flurries begin, all the hats, scarfs, mittons and coats come out of the closet along with the winter boots. All the trees look like they have absolutely died, but then you know Spring is just around the corner with new life…….oh yes, this is my very favorite time of the year. It reminds me of my ‘new life’ in Jesus Christ.

These four seasons remind me of our ‘seasons’ of our spiritual life:

Spring- a little child, just saved:

I Peter 2: 2; "As newborn babes , desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you
may grow thereby".

Summer- a youth: reading and studying the Bible:

II Timothy 2: 15, "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of God".

Autumn - an adult, witnessing, working for God, telling others about the Love of Jesus:

I Timothy 1:12, "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me, for that
He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry."

Winter- old and ready to meet God:

Psalms 116: 15; "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."

What season are YOU in, in your walk with God? I love it all, even the valleys for it’s there I receive my strength.

Candace Mills

From Focus on the Family "The Love List" by Drs. Les & Leslie Parrott

Gary Smalley was one of the speakers at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland , Oregon , where 15,000 people had assembled for a mega-marriage seminar.

He captivated the crowd by holding up a crisp 50 dollar bill and asked the massive audience. Who would like this 50 dollar bill? Hands started to go up everywhere. He said, "I am going to give this 50 dollars to one of you, but first let me do this." He proceeded to crumple up the bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" The same hands went up in the air.

Well he replied" What if I do this?" He dropped it on the ground & started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, crumbled & dirty. Now who still wants it? Again, hands went into the air.

Now you have all learned a valuable lesson, Gary said. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It is still worth 50 dollars.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumbled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you well never lose your value in God's eyes. Dirty or clean, crumbled or finely ceased, you are priceless to him.

No matter what, Jesus Loves YOU!