Caleb The Knight Reader

This past week each class passed out certificates to students for the most improved student of the year, Knight Writer, and Knight Reader. Caleb received the award for Knight Reader in his class.

After everyone received their certificates, they were allowed to go back to their seats except for the Knight Readers. They were seated in chairs on stage. The principal then came forward and presented them each with a new book to read.

He then dubbed them each individually as a Princeton Knight Reader. Caleb was the last one to be dubbed and by the time the principal got to him he was already so absorbed in reading his new book that when he was dubbed by the sword he was stunned. We got a good laugh out of that. The principal said that is why Caleb made Knight Reader in the first place because when there is a book at hand to read, you can be sure Caleb will be the first one to reach for it.

Way to go Caleb!

Use Them Or Lose Them

“Use what talents you possess, the woods will be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” - Henry van Dyke

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing." Psalms 100: 1-2

I'm sure most of us are familiar with the parable in Matthew 25: 14-30 about "a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

"The one that received five talents traded and made another five talents. He that received two talents, gained two more. But he that received one went and dug a hole and hid his talent."

After a long time the lord of those servants came back. When he saw what the one with the five talents and two talents had done he was pleased and said to them; "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."

But when he came to the servant who buried his talent he said to him; "Thou wicked and slothful servant,"... verse 26

"Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents." verse 28

Whatever your talent is that God has given you, use it for His glory. Whether it be teaching a Sunday School class, Bible study, witnessing, prayer warrior, church cleaning, bulletin board decorating, singing, song leader, preaching, musician, youth leader, kids choir leader, etc. Whatever it is, DON"T bury your talent.

I don't want the Lord to take my talent from me and give it to anyone else. I want to use what He has given me for the Kingdom of God. I want to multiply my talents for His glory. I do not want to hear Him say; "Thou wicked and slothful servant,"... but rather, I want to hear; "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."

Think About It

The most destructive habit……………………………………....Worry

The greatest joy……………………………………………………….Giving

The greatest loss……………………………………………………...Loss of self-respect

The most satisfying work………………………………………….Helping others

The ugliest personality trait……………………………………...Selfishness

The most endangered species…………………………………...Dedicated leaders

Our greatest natural resource…………………………………...Our youth

The greatest problem to overcome……………………………..Fear

The most effective sleeping pill………………………………....Peace of mind

The most crippling failure disease……………………………..Excuses

The most powerful force in life………………………………....Love

The most dangerous pariah……………………………………...A Gossiper

The world’s most incredible computer……………………....The brain

The worst thing to be without ………………………………….Hope

The deadliest weapon……………………………………………...The tongue

The two most power-filled words……………………………..”I can”

The greatest asset…………………………………………………...Faith

The most worthless emotion…………………………………....Self-pity

The most beautiful attire…………………………………………Smile

The most prized possession……………………………………...Integrity

The most powerful channel of communication…………….Prayer

The most contagious spirit……………………………………….Enthusiasm

Author Unknown

A HEARTILY PRAYER

"Is not prayer a study of truth, a sally of the soul into the unfound infinite? No man ever prayed heartily without learning something."— Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I read this quote it brought my pastor to mind. Pastor Allard has been heavily stirred in his spirit and I can see it in his countenance. He has been speaking to us as of late on the importance of prayer. Not just a Now I lay me down to sleep prayer, or a prayer when you sit down at a meal to eat, or a quick 5 minute prayer at the altar after the preaching of the Word. But an honest to goodness soul searching prayer. A prayer where you really get a hold of the horns of the altar. Deep soul searching prayer. Prayer that will reach the throne of God. A prayer that will cause a life changing experience. Like the quote says above, "No man ever prayed heartily without learning something."

When I first came to the Lord it was in prayer that He led me to the whole truth. It was through prayer that God opened up my understanding and showed me the way. I have always found the answers to the most critical needs in my life in prayer. Financial needs have been met, sicknesses have been healed, doors have been opened, loved ones have been saved all through the power of prayer.

I looked up words that go with heartily and this is what I found: vigorously, energetically, thoroughly, excessively, completely, forcefully, enthusiastically, strongly, dynamically, robustly, with gusto, and powerfully. All of these explain how we should really pray.

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16) Yes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, A HEARTILY PRAYER is the way to go.

In Memory Of My Mom On Mother's Day

LEONA MAE ROGERS

Some of the most beautiful things in my life have
come in twos, dozens, and hundreds. Dazzling
sunsets, starry nights, colorful rainbows, friends,
and family. Yet as my youth fades, my love
droops, and the leaves of friendships fall. I
always find myself led back to the
single most beautiful thing in the world......MOM.

Mom Is......A heart where thru the years
I have deposited all my hurts and worries, and
shared my joys. A place where the quality of
love has been central to my being.. An area where
patience may have worn thin, but there was still
room for me to be less than perfect.
Mom........I love and miss you!

(author unknown)

July 21, 1926 - Dec 27, 2001

I Wish I Was A Christian

I pulled into the school parking lot to drop Caleb off this morning. He asked me if he was going to get to see his counselor this afternoon. I explained that he saw him yesterday so he won't see him until next Monday. Then Caleb says "Grandma, is papa my granddaddy or my daddy?" I told him of course that papa is his granddaddy. Caleb then expresses for the first time that he wishes he had a dad.

My daughter is single. She works full time with Special Ed children, does Foster Care, and adopted Caleb. She has never met Mr. Right. I told Caleb that if he wanted a dad then he needed to pray about it. Tell Jesus that he wants a good Christian dad. A dad that will love him and his mom like a Christian is suppose to love his family. A dad that will take them places and do things with them. Tell Jesus you want a dad that will teach you all about the things of God and will pray with you like a Christian dad does. Caleb then replies; "I WISH I WAS A CHRISTIAN."

My heart melted right there on the spot. Tears were instantly running down my face. I wanted to crawl over the seat and gather him into my arms and pray for him to become a Christian right then and there. I told Caleb that he could be a Christian. I told him he had to obey Acts 2:38. The bell rang at that time and he had to go to class. All I wanted to do was take him home and give him the story of salvation. When I picked him up from school and we returned to the house he started up with more questions about being a Christian. So we snuggled on the couch and I began answering those wonderful questions.

Lord, let that desire to be a Christian continue to grow in Caleb's heart. Don't ever let it wither away. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Send Him Back?

This is my grandson, Caleb and I wouldn't trade him for all the money in the world. He is adopted. We consider him a SPECIAL gift from God. I could not love this little boy any more if he was my own flesh and blood. He came to us at 6 weeks of age with two black eyes and a swollen nose. The poor child had to sleep in his carrier for about a month after we got him because he could not lay down flat or he would have trouble breathing. It was definitely love at first sight when we all laid eyes on this child. My daughter knew in her heart that she was going to be his mom when she took him into her home.

Caleb is a very intelligent child. He excels in school. He is a great reader, does well in spelling and is one of the smartest first graders in science I have ever seen. Yet, Caleb does have some problems. He suffers from what they call Sensory Processing Disorder and Dyspraxia. Now you may be wondering what that is so I will give you a brief description.

Sensory Processing Disorder has two types: Sensory-Avoiding children and Sensory-Seeking children. Caleb suffers from Sensory Avoiding disorder. He tries to avoid or minimize sensations by avoiding being touched. He hates certain material and therefore won't wear certain clothes. He has fear of movement and heights, is very cautious and unwilling to take risks or try new things, feels uncomfortable in loud or busy environments such the mall, or convention centers, and is an extreme picky eater and overly sensitive to food smells and loud music. Has extreme fear of water.

Dyspraxia includes poor balance, poor fine and gross motor co-ordination, difficulty with throwing and catching a ball, poor awareness of body position in space, difficulty hopping, skipping or riding a bike, sensitive to touch, intolerance of having hair or teeth brushed, nails and hair cut, slow to learn to dress themselves, finds some clothing uncomfortable, slow to learn to speak, and very impatient.

This next statement is so true and describes my grandson so well. Children with Dyspraxia are more often above average intelligence but are often behavior immature. They try hard to fit in to socially accepted behaviour when at school but often throw tantrums when at home. They find it difficult to understand simple logic and reason.

My daughter works with Special ED children and knew from the experience of her job, that Caleb had some problems. So she took him to a neurologist. This is how we found out his diagnosis. Caleb is such a joy and delight to have in the family yet, he can be quite a handful at times. This child does have his moments, let me tell you. Are we sorry we adopted him with the problems he has and the hard times that come with his bad moments? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Someone made the comment, "To bad you just can't send him back." When I heard that, it made my blood boil. My daughter and this family would never, in a million years, even consider the thought of sending this precious child back. He is ours! God knew what He was doing when He placed Caleb in our family. My daughter's experience in working with Special Ed children has prepared her in helping Caleb. He has come along way in the past year. With the counselling he is getting and the love of his mom and the rest of the family, CALEB WILL SUCCEED.

I got to thinking about what this person had to say about sending Caleb back because of his imperfections. I would like to ask this individual how they would feel if Jesus would decide to send them back to the world because they are not perfect. I ask this individual to think about it; when they had a bad attitude or said or did the wrong thing, when they went somewhere they should not have gone, or looked down their nose at someone in a unchristian way, had an ungodly thought, or gossiped, or just simply didn't worship or pray like they should have, so Jesus turns to them and says, "That's it, you're out of here. I'm sending you back". How would they feel? I would like to ask this individual, "Do you think Jesus ever regrets taking you in and giving you His Name? I don't think so and yet, you're not perfect. You still make mistakes. You still have to hit the altar and ask for forgiveness every now and then and in spite of all of your shortcomings He still loves you and because the Lord still loves you HE WILL HELP YOU SUCCEED. Let me ask you, Do you think He should send you back?"

My daughter took Caleb into her home and gave him her name. He is her son, my grandson. We have no regrets whatsoever of taking this child in. He is ours and we love him. Send him back? NEVER!!!