Thursday

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,

as though you were working for the Lord

and not for people. 

~Colossians 3:23 TEV~

The Landon Estay family is thankful to have two children who have successfully completed surgery and are both doing well.

is scheduled to leave ICU today.  Thank God for the progress he has made since liver transplant surgery.

Timothy Schwartz was able to being his mother, Ruby, home yesterday afternoon.  Pray that Jimmy and Ruby are well enough to stay at home for a while.

Mr. Frank Erwin went to North Oaks yesterday because of pneumonia.  Pray for a swift recovery for Mr. Frank.

Lloyd Hayden is not feeling his best.  He is at home.  Prayers for him would be very appropriate.

Pray for Caroline Cutrer and her family as they continue the battle before them.

Continue to pray for Chloe Neyland as she faces hospitalization Monday and surgery Wednesday at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans.

Sherry Day and Adrian Phillips are both doing well and are back to normal schedules.  Thank God for their progress.

You are invited to participate in the Tangipahoa Crusade for Christ which will be Sunday night through Wednesday night at the Florida Parish Arena in Amite.  Services begin at 6:45 each night.  The pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church and Vice-President of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. Fred Luter, Jr. will be preaching.  Local Gospel groups will lead the singing.

AWANA as started for the new year.  It is now under the direction of Stephanie McKenzie.  FBC, Kentwood is glad to be able to provide this opportunity to our children again this year.

Thought for the Day: Planning Ahead

The story is told of Morris, a Russian man, who saves his rubles for twenty years to buy a new car. After choosing the model and options he wants, he’s not the least bit surprised or even concerned to learn that it will take two years for the new car to be delivered. He thanks the salesman and starts to leave, but as he reaches the door he pauses and turns back to the salesman. “Do you know which week two years from now the new car will arrive?”

The salesman checks his notes and tells the man that it will be two years to the exact week. The man thanks the salesman and starts out again, but upon reaching the door, he turns back again.

“Could you possibly tell me what day of the week two years from now the car will arrive?”

The salesman, mildly annoyed, checks his notes again and says that it will be exactly two years from this week, on Thursday.

Morris thanks the salesman and once again starts to leave. Halfway though the door, he hesitates, turns back, and walks up to the salesman.

“I’m sorry to be so much trouble, but do you know if that will be two years from now on Thursday in the morning, or in the afternoon?”

Visibly irritated, the salesman flips through his papers yet another time and says sharply that it will be in the afternoon, two years from now on Thursday.

“That’s a relief !” says Morris. “The plumber is coming that morning!”

We often have to make plans far in advance so as to avoid any conflicts. Before making any commitments — you know the routine — we have to pull out the date book. “The kids have got a soccer game that night at 7:00, but the next night is free.” Planning ahead isn’t wrong; in fact, it’s a scriptural principle. What makes it wrong, though, is planning ahead without any thought of God.

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ ” (James 4:13-15).

Go ahead! Make your plans! Fill in that date book! Just make sure that God hasn’t been left out.

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
Boone Church of Christ
Boone, NC

Stand in the storm.  When it gets rough, make adjustments, but keep standing.

Anna Lee