THAT'S WHAT LOVE IS... SOMETIMES TOUGH... ALWAYS PATIENT AND KIND....

Yesterday was a very rich day for our church family. It was full of our christian heritage and precious memories. The women heard an incredible testimony in our class. But first we prayed for two of our church family

• Kristy almost bled to death on Saturday morning after giving birth to her 4th son in 5 years. Kristy ended up having an emergency hysterectomy and lost so much blood that it ended up more than a complete replacement of her blood by transfusion. (The latest I heard last night is that she is off the ventilator and talking; she is very bloated and her body is still not making blood on it's own). Please join us in continuing to pray for Kristy and her extended family!
• Jo-Ann's husband Rich (in his 40's and the contractor of our new building) had his first heart attack last August. This past week, his main artery had a blood clot and a tear and then complications with his heart cath to fix the artery. He's having a difficult time rebounding from it all (which is to be expected).

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After our time in prayer and hearing a sister's testimony, we worshipped together, celebrated our seniors, and later moved the church offices to our new temporary location. It was almost dark when I got home.
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Yesterday I observed love. My church family is known for their love. I also witnessed the results of tough love. I saw the patience and kindness of tough love at work. Can I just say, "My church family rocks!"
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Dan preached The Truth . He minced no words as he talked specifically to our 7 graduating seniors, as their dads and moms and the entire congregation listened. He asked the seniors to stand and he put them on the spot with this question, "What is a milestone that you have achieved that you can share with us?" Here are their answers:

• When I was baptized.
• I have a second chance at life.
• Getting my driver's license.
• When I began to talk.
• Getting accepted into GC IT.
• Making it through High School.
• Getting accepted into Pepperdine University.

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Dan emphasized that there are many milestones, but timing is very important. Dan has just returned, with over 20 others, from a trip to Israel and Egypt. He showed pictures of a few "milestones" made by the group: Cheryl and Lucy were baptized in the Jordan River... many of them saw Jerusalem for the first time... rode camels for the first time... saw the pyramids for the first time...

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Dan said to the seniors that there would be many firsts in their lives. God wants us to put first things first: HIM. When it comes to sin, He wants us to stay away from having "firsts". In other words, DON'T EVEN GO THERE! Don't have sex out of marriage. Don't cheat or lie. Don't even experiment with things that are bad for you. Don't steal...

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Love does not delight in evil

but rejoices with the truth. .

It always protects,

always trusts,

always hopes,

always perseveres. .

Love never fails... .

It reminded me of a conversation I've had several times in the past 6 months with several people. "When did we stop calling sin - sin?" Dan's lesson was strong! He spoke it out of love for our seniors... for our church family. He connected his trip to Israel / Egypt to the powerful story of Joseph, in the Old Testament, at the age of 17. He shared ten things to be learned from the life of young Joseph. Here are a few:

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• Dream big ("Use wisdom about who you share your dreams with!)
• Be prepared for sibling rivalry ("...even after you leave home!")
• Overcome strong sexual temptation ("Be like Joseph and choose to remain pure!")
• Persevere ("Life is not fair!)
• Endure ("Bad things happen to good people!")
• Be faithful to the end (Finish Strong!)

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After second service, we honored our seniors and their families with a luncheon. This was organized by our deacon of youth and his wife, Tim and Melody. We do not have a "youth minister" like most churches. Tim and Melody (both have jobs of their own and 3 children) organize and lead Bible study, application, and fellowhip times for our youth.l

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Each senior got up, one at a time, to be presented with a Bible. Each spoke afterwards. There were a lot of tears. Yet, what struck me was the diversity of the family units. What bonded us together was our LOVE for God and LOVE for God's people. As we listened, we heard snippets of tough love over the years. (As family, we'd been on a lot of their journeys with them!)

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• Two seniors live with both their christian dad and mom at home and attend church together as a family (although one of the mothers has been ill a lot lately)
• One senior lives with both christian parents, but does not always attend with them. He was so thankful as to how he was honored yesterday.
• One senior lives only with her dad; her mom went on to be with the LORD in January.
• One senior's mom passed away and she has been living with her aunt and uncle (who stood in as her parents yesterday).
• One senior came with her mom; her dad does not attend
• One senior (a handsome young black man) was adopted by a white christian couple when he was young. (He and his father discussed the challenges that they've had over the years).

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My hubby was the last to speak! He challenged the seniors to read their Bibles. In fact, he challenged them to SEEK WISDOM! He said, "Start today and read Proverbs 13... tomorrow read Proverbs 14. Read the chapter in Proverbs for whatever day of the month it is. Then, when you finish 30 or 31, start over with chapter one on the first day of the month..."
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Join me today in meditating on the life of young Joseph and his love for his family. In spite of how they treated him, he took the high road of agape love.
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Join me today in considering Proverbs. Here's the first verse from Proverbs 14:
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The wise woman builds her house,

but with her own hands

the foolish one tears hers down.

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LOVE IS...
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...PATIENT

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...KIND

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