Tag You’re It!

At my school, I’m the new teacher which is lots of fun. I’m blessed to be able to teach both the middle school and high school choirs. So I’m just a part-time teacher, which leaves me time to help take care of the grandbabies and do some music writing.

The other day one of my new teacher friends told me something along the lines of “I just want you to know that we’re relying on you to help keep us fresh and new. We’ve been teaching here so long and we’ve gotten into a complaining rut and we need someone to dig us out. Just letting you know that you are it.” I was tagged!

Have you ever played that game? The person who is “it” has to run around trying to catch someone else so that they can be “it” and you’re off the hook, then you just have to stay away from the person who is doing the tagging. I always kinda liked to get tagged. I guess it just felt more purposeful or meaningful than just running away. But I also got really frustrated when I couldn’t “tag” someone after awhile.

I think that sometimes we do that with new believers, or new-to-us Christians in our circle. They see things from a fresh perspective and it reminds us of our “first love” with Christ, which is great as long as we don’t get into the rut of running away and never being “it”.

You see we each of us has something that God wants for us to “tag” another person with. Only the game as God sees it, is that the “tagger” never really gets to stop tagging. The rule in His game is that you “tag” someone and keep to keep on “tagging” as many people as you can. And if someone “tags” you with a new message or insight or encouragement, then you just have more stuff that you can use to “tag” others with.

Actually the Bible calls it encouragement. So I encourage you to “tag” someone today with a fresh insight, a fresh reminder of God’s grace and mercy and hope. Here’s some verses to help you get started.

• When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. Romans 1:12
• If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Romans 12:8
• Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:11
• I have sent him to you for this very purpose--to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you. Ephesians 6:22
• So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
• Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. 2 Timothy 4:2
• And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25
• I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother. My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God's grace for you. Stand firm in this grace. 1 Peter 5:12

Swirls and Patterns
by Barbara Chadwick

I dropped my jar of foundation in the bathroom sink. You know there are two seconds before you can respond. Your brain is screaming, "I can't believe you did that!" before your hand can move calmly toward the sink and retrieve it.

To clean it up I turned the water on. I thought the water would just wash it all down the sink. Instead it started to make swirls and patterns. As I watched it I thought of how our lives make swirls and patterns. Some are disturbing but God can take ugly patterns and make something beautiful

"I dropped the ball. It was my responsibility and I waited too late to begin planning. I kept thinking I would have time later. Later came and went. I'm sorry. I apologize to all of you. I am just a procrastinator." This life pattern never gets anything accomplished. Someone else has to pick up the pieces and try to make something of it.

One swirl kept going round and round.

"Mommy, do you love me?" the little girl asked. Recounting this her mother said, "It made me so sad that she had to ask me." This mother was so busy with church activities that she had little time for her own children. This pattern for her life was unhealthy spiritually. She was so busy she had no personal time for God. It was unhealthy physically because there was no time to take care of her physical needs. It was unhealthy emotionally because all her emotions were tied up in meetings at the church. After a divorce she was able to see how this pattern in her life had actually been harmful instead of redemptive. She was doing things from her own mind and strength and not from the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Some swirls went down the drain immediately.

"I don't even recognize myself anymore. Life as we knew it is gone. We used to have people over all the time and we used to be so involved in the church." She had become so engrossed in her illness and the response of her body to it that she could no longer respond to others in their joys or sorrows. But now she recognized that she wasn't at the same place spiritually she used to be. Through prayer her spirit is being renewed.

Two patterns kept swirling around each other as the water flowed through the foundation. I was reminded that Jesus is the Living Water. He told the woman at the well in Samaria, "Whoever drinks from the water that I give will never get thirsty again... the water I give will become a well of water springing up within for eternal life!" John 4:14

Have you heard someone say to you or to another, "Your life and your testimony have inspired me to..."

"do my best"
"help others"
"live with this person"
"try harder"
"accept Jesus Christ"

Let us allow the Living Water that Jesus gives flow through our lives to make swirls and patterns that touch others and make His love and grace beautiful in their lives.

Prevent the FLU !!

Do I have the Flu? What is the flu? Well, it’s not a cold, but it is a viral respiratory infection. Which means that you breath in the infection and it begins to multiply like crazy and then it spread throughout your body. http://health.howstuffworks.com/question744.htm

Every flu season brings sad, scary stories of how many people have come down with the flu and how many have died from the flu. But let us remember that it is God who gives and takes life Job 1:21. And God has a plan for our lives from beginning to end Psalm 139:16 & Jeremiah 29:11. So let us use our time wisely Psalm 90.

After reading the things that prevent the flu in our physical bodies, I got to thinking about the kinds of things that produce weakness, disease, and death in our spiritual bodies and what we could do to prevent them. Our enemy keeps “mutating” his viruses so that we are often caught unawares. The symptoms are: a critical spirit & sarcasm, disinterest in spiritual matters, avoiding fellowship, an arrogant spirit, etc. And I’m sure you’ve seen how quickly viruses spread in a group of believers. Here are some things that you can do during this spiritual flu season to keep you healthy and productive spiritually.

1. FREQUENT PRAYING Never stop praying. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

2. JUST DON’T Gripe, Complain, or Whine Do everything without complaining or arguing, Philippians 2:14

3. PRAISE GOD WITH YOUR MOUTH for all you’ve got, for all He’s given you, for all He IS give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

4. BREATH DEEPLY of the knowledge of your freedom in Christ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

5. BOOST YOUR SPIRITUAL IMMUNE SYSTEM by FELLOWSHIPPING REGULARLY with Godly encouraging people Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25

6. DRINK IN GOD’S WORD as much as you can But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14-17

.........................................................................

Someone sent me some very helpful information regarding preventing the flu in our physical bodies. I hope you find it beneficial. God bless you!

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W). The following message given by him, I feel makes a lot of sense and is important for all of you to know

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. FREQUENT HAND-WASHING (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "HANDS-OFF-THE-FACE" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. GARGLE TWICE A DAY WITH WARM SALT WATER (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. CLEAN YOUR NOSTRILS AT LEAST ONCE EVERY DAY WITH WARM SALT WATER.

· Use Yoga asanas (Jala Neti or Sutra Neti) to clean nasal cavities),

· Blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.

· Over the counter saline nasal sprays are simple and cheap and will have the same effect used 3 times daily.

5. BOOST YOUR NATURAL IMMUNITY WITH FOODS THAT ARE RICH IN VITAMIN C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. DRINK AS MUCH OF WARM LIQUIDS AS YOU CAN. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

There are many sites with very useful information regarding preventing the flu. Below are a few that seemed to offer sound practical advise.

http://www.preventtheflu.com/

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/12-tips-prevent-cold-flu

Here We Are. Send Us!
By Barbara Chadwick

Last night at our On Mission Rally, John Forester from Kotzebue said that when that church invited him to come as pastor his wife asked on the way home in the plane, “What are you going to do? Here you have an association in Georgia wanting you as DOM and a church in the Arctic wanting you as pastor, what are you going to do?” He replied, “I’m going to the Arctic.” Immediately she said, “Not without me. I’m going with you.”

Mike Proctor said that his wife had once told him, “If you feel God is calling you to that place I will go with you.”

When Kenneth and I were young married and starting out in the ministry I told him that what I wanted to do was to help him be the most that he could be for Christ and that I would go wherever God led.

This morning in Sunday School a woman asked for prayer that God would give her and her husband direction in how to follow him. They both feel called to the mission field but she has health problems that seem to be preventing them.

The essential thing in each couple is surrender. Give up to God everything that is in you and let Him work out the details. He can do miraculous things in your life when you give up. If God is in control all we can do is follow.

God sometimes calls a person to spend his/her life alone in service to Him. A surrendered life is a beautiful thing. We have outstanding examples in Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong and Valeria Sherard.

But when God calls a couple into service to him He calls both of them. A Couple = Two. God doesn’t call just one of a couple.

If you feel God calling you to missions and your spouse isn’t responding, keep praying. God will reveal it to the other in His time. Pray without ceasing for the eyes of your spouse’s heart to be opened.

Who should I send? Who will go for us? I said: Here I am. Send me. Isaiah 6:8

As couples let us say, “Here we are. Send us!” then watch as God uses us to touch the lives of people in many different ways.