2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Paul’s perspective is profound. Light and momentary? Prison, beatings, alienation, shipwrecks, etc. Paul knew what was important and of real, eternal value. What he prized was his relationship with Christ and living out the purpose for which he was made.

He saw life’s troubles as simply preparation for eternity in heaven.

Is it possible for us to live our lives the same way? Can we avoid becoming cynical, beat down, hopeless, bitter, or unhappy? Yes! Yes! Yes!

Paul had learned to direct his focus on his savior and master. He’d developed a very deep love for Jesus and he had been shown the difference between eternal and temporal things. He didn’t deny that we have troubles, but he knew that our future in heaven is so bright to make it all worthwhile.

Are you getting stuck in the present? Have you forgotten who you are and the future that is promised to you? He is with you. He understands it is tough. He is there to help in your troubles.

Lord, help me embrace what you are producing in me during these light and temporary troubles, and may my response be a genuine joy, peace, and hope.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

dave@youronedegree.com

Matthew 19:29 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”

Jesus is saying that those who follow him will never be short-changed, and, in fact, will receive much more than they have given and sacrificed.

He will never have us do something that contradicts his written word. He will often ask us to do things that will stretch our faith and reveal our motives and priorities. He wants us to trust him totally for ourselves, for our families, and for all we hold dear.

Most of our reward will be in heaven, but much of it will be here. We must be steadfast, persevering, and boldly confident of our future in Christ. We will never be sorry for truly following him and seeking to do his will alone. Whatever sacrifices we make will seem insignificant compared to his blessings.

Lord, sometimes I feel sorry for myself and wonder why I have to sacrifice. Please forgive my lack of faith and my self-focus. May I see things as you see them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

dave@youronedegree.com

Next time you're washing your hands and the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s.

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children -- last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs -- thick straw -- piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof -- hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying "dirt poor."

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway, hence, a "thresh hold."

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite awhile. Hence the rhyme, "peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Most people did not have pewter plates, but had trenchers, a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Often trenchers were made from stale bread which was so old and hard that they could be used for quite some time. Trenchers were never washed and a lot of times worms and mold got into the wood and old bread. After eating off wormy, moldy trenchers, one would get "trench mouth."

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."

And that's the truth. . . (Who ever said that History was boring)?

The Images of Mother:



4 YEARS OF AGE... My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE... My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE... My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE... Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either!

16 YEARS OF AGE... Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE... That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE... Well, she might know a little bit about it.

35 YEARS OF AGE... Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE... Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE... Wish I could talk it over with Mom. . .

A West Texas cowboy was herding his cattle in a remote pasture when
suddenly a Brand new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban
sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, "If I
tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will
you give me a calf?"

The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his
peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers,

"Sure, Why not?"

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects
it to his AT&T cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet,
where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix
on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans
the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it
to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds, he
receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed
and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC
connected excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a
few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full color, 150 page report on his Hi-tech,
miniaturized HP Laser Jet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and
says, "You have exactly 1586 cows and calves."

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says the
cowboy.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused
as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then the cowboy says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly
what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why
not?"

"You're a consultant for the Federal Government." says the cowboy.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required." answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even
though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already
knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter
than me you are; and you don't know anything about Cattle . Now give
me back my dog."