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WITandWISDOM(tm) - April 19, 2001 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in. One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson Source: Awesome Quotes, www.coolnewsletters.com ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: PLUGGING IN By Michael W. Smith My brain's going to explode. That's how I felt when I was about four months into working on my most recent record. We still had about two months to go before the record would be completed. I was working 12-hour days, we were over budget, and I wasn't sure if the record would be finished on time. I was overwhelmed. It had been awhile since I had met with the guys from my prayer group. Our prayer group has seven couples in it, and the women meet every Tuesday without fail. Sometimes the guys put off our meetings. But I need those guys in my life to keep me accountable in my Christian walk. So one day at the recording studio I said to my co-producer and engineer, "I'm going to lunch, and I don't know how long I will be gone." I met the guys in the boardroom at a nearby restaurant. It was perfect; we were away from everyone else. One guy had been struggling spiritually but had not told anyone. He began to weep. I confessed that I too had been struggling. We prayed for each other. Little did the people in the offices down the hall know that in the boardroom we were weeping and crying out to God. That day healing took place. Restoration took place. And afterward I thought, "Why did we wait so long? We need each other so much." Satan comes to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10). Christian marriages are breaking up and families are falling apart; people aren't plugged in anywhere. Some people may attend church, but most of the time people aren't really plugged in to a group to help them to live for Christ. We have a lot of "lone rangers" who try to make it on their own. But we all need to find a family, a safe place, friends who will hold us accountable. Sometimes it is difficult to get together. We are so busy, and it seems as if we don't have time. But we need to nurture the relationships that God has given us. We need to be open, to admit our struggles, to be honest about what's going on in our lives. I don't know anyone who can make it on his or her own. We need to plug in, and I thank God for helping me to plug into an amazing group of brothers in Christ. They pray for me - and they hold me accountable to live for Jesus Christ. - Michael W. Smith is a Christian contemporary-music artist. In 1999 he received the Dove Award for Artist of the Year and the Dove Award for Producer of the Year. He and his wife, Debbie, are parents of five children and live in Franklin, Tennessee. Source: Decision, April 2000, Copyright (c) 2000 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, www.graham-assn.org/decision ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: WOMEN'S ANTI-STRESS DIET This is a specially formulated diet designed to help women cope with the stress that builds up during the day. BREAKFAST 1 grapefruit 1 slice whole-wheat toast 1 cup skim milk LUNCH small portion lean, steamed chicken with a cup of spinach 1 cup herbal tea 1 Hershey kiss AFTERNOON TEA The rest of the kisses in the bag 1 tub of Hagen Daas ice cream with choc-chip topping DINNER 4 bottles of pop 2 loaves garlic bread 1 family size supreme pizza 3 snickers bars LATE NIGHT SNACK Whole frozen Sarah Lee cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer) REMEMBER: Stressed Spelled Backwards Is "Desserts" Send this to all the women you know or ever knew, and you will immediately lose 10 pounds. Source: Clean Laugh, cleanlaugh- subscribe@egroups.com ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A woman took a package to the post office to mail and was told it would cost $2.40 for fast delivery or $1.30 for slower service. "There is no hurry," she told the clerk, "just so the package is delivered in my lifetime." He glanced at her and said, "That will be $2.40, please." Source: Saturday Smile http://www.coolnewsletters.com/saturdaysmile.htm ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: "Electronic blackboards are the latest device being used to expand and improve public school education .. The blackboard operates over two telephone lines. One circuit, amplified in the classroom, carries conversation. The other transmits blackboard images. The distant lecturer draws on a transmitting console with his electronic "pen," and electrical impulses carry his writing to a receiving set that reproduces it in the finest detail on the electronic blackboard screen. Carbon County, Wyoming, paid $14,500 for the seven receivers, two transmitters and installation materials, and officials calculate that operation costs about $56 an hour. A closed-circuit TV system would cost much more - about $5,800 an hour to operate, according to school officials." - "Grit" magazine in early 1967 http://grit.com/ Source: The Timothy Report, Copyright (c) 2000 Swan Lake Communications, www.swanlake.twoffice.com |