“For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called Wonderful,

Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.”

~Isaiah 9:6~

Stacey Scarle

Thanks for all the prayers they really worked. Stacey’s surgery went well and she did not have much pain or discomfort. We came home this afternoon with drains and a pain pump but still not too bad. The best news is that there did not appear to be any involvement in the lymph nodes! We find out for sure tomorrow. God is so good. I know that all the prayers made on Stacey’s behalf were heard. Thanks again to everyone.

Pray for Stacey as she waits for the lab results and continues to recover from surgery.

Ashlyn Neal will be seen be a concussion specialist today.  Please continue to pray for Ashlyn as she has ten days of “brain rest”.

Alan Smith’s Thought for the Day

The following story sounds like an “urban legend”, but it’s true:

Roy Collette and his brother-in-law exchanged the same pair of pants as a Christmas present for 25 years – and each time the package got harder to open.

It all started in 1964 when Collette received a pair of moleskin trousers from his brother-in-law, Larry Kunkel. Kunkel’s mother had given her son the pants the year before. He wore them a few times, but they froze stiff in cold weather and he didn’t like them. So he gave them to Collette. Collette didn’t like them either, so he wrapped them up and gave them back to Kunkel for Christmas the next year.

The friendly exchange continued each year until one year Collette twisted the pants tightly, stuffed them into a 3-foot-long, 1-inch wide tube. And so the game began. The next Christmas, Kunkel compressed the pants into a 7-inch square, wrapped them with wire and gave the “bale” to Collette. Not to be outdone, the next year Collette put the pants into a 2-foot-square crate filled with stones, nailed it shut, banded it with steel and gave the trusty trousers back to Kunkel.

The brothers agreed to end the caper if the trousers were damaged. But they were as careful as they were clever.

Kunkel had the pants mounted inside an insulated window that had a 20-year guarantee and shipped them off to Collette. Collette broke the glass, recovered the trousers, stuffed them into a 5-inch coffee can and soldered it shut. The can was put in a 5-gallon container filled with concrete and reinforcing rods and given to Kunkel the following Christmas.

Kunkel installed the pants in a 225-pound homemade steel ashtray made from 8-inch steel casings and etched Collette’s name on the side. In turn, Collette found a 600-pound safe and hauled it to Viracon Inc. where the shipping department decorated it with red and green stripes, put the pants inside and welded the safe shut. The safe was then shipped to Kunkel, who is the plant manager for Viracon’s outlet in Bensenville.

One year, the pants were trucked back to Collette in a drab green, 3-foot cube that once was a 1974 Gremlin with 95,000 miles on it. A note attached to the 2,000-pound scrunched car advised Collette that the pants were inside the glove compartment. And so it went until 1989, when the pants were finally damaged in an attempt to encase them in 10,000 pounds of jagged glass. They have now been turned to ashes and sit in an urn on Kunkel’s mantle.

I imagine more than a few of you will receive some presents at Christmas that you don’t really want, and you would like to have the opportunity to ship them back. However, we can’t say that about the gifts that come from God.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17)

God’s gifts are as wonderful as they are bountiful. I hope that you’ve taken the time to thank him lately. May we especially give thanks for the blessing of God’s incarnation. Jesus came to be with us so that we might someday be with God — he was born into a world of sin to redeem us from the power of that sin. Praise God for His wonderful gift!

–Alan

Birds of a feather

Rural areas near Peddie, South Africa, are tough places to live, but it’s home to the Xhosa [KO-sah] people. Many of their houses have just one or two rooms. Outside, there’s plenty of heat and rocks. Even the dirt isn’t good enough for growing vegetables.

What could survive these conditions? Ostriches and IMB missionary Bob Morris. The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering makes it possible for him to be on the field at about 8 cents per minute.

Ostriches can take the heat because they’re native to Africa. Bob Morris and Martin Fick, a farmer from Zimbabwe, work with ostriches while they’re still babies. South African farmers purchase the baby birds to raise and provide a source of income. Ostrich feathers, for example, are used to make feather dusters (just like the ones your mom cleans the house with) and lots of decorative items.

Every batch of ostrich babies is delivered to the farmers with a prayer. Bob and Martin show how the ostrich manure enriches the soil to help vegetables grow. Also, they and a few local folks train farmers, using Bible-based principles. They build relationships with the Xhosa farmers with a goal to plant churches among them. With more than 60 farmers being cared for and a couple hundred more on a waiting list, Bob, Martin and the birds are off to a good start.

International Mission Board

Lottie Moon Offering for International Missions

Get the birthday candles ready.  It almost time for Jesus’ birthday!

Anna Lee