Jeremiah 29:11

I am not sure what you meant by composted (mixed maybe) and commutation means the act of substituting one thing for another so in general I am not sure
what you were trying to say.

RLSH700

No problem. I really appreciate this section as it makes me think about things that I normally don't think about.

I think what Nero was saying is you have to sacrifice and subsitute what you really want to happen in your relationship and life in order to give your family what is really in their best interests instead of your own as part of the give and take process.

Jeremiah 29:11

Well guys, I wasn't sure where to post this one. I thougth about posting it on "Finals are over, now packing up!" but
I will probably just reference it there.

Read the below email from my youngest son in college and you will see how my wife and I have been so blessed.
It is a little lengthy but so has the trial and tribulation he went through.

I pray that all of you are blessed with children like I have.

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Hi everyone,

I just want to thank you all for your prayers and encouragement during this trying time I had to go though. Let me tell you that God has answered your prayers and has delivered me through this trial.

The project was completed (nearly) and God blessed me with an 80 on it. . . Not even a 70, as in barely passing, but an 80. After spending several weeks on it prior and then really trying to finish the project from Wednesday of the previous week until Thursday of this week, I spent around 50-60 hours working on it... and that doesn't count the time I worked on my other classes either.

<<Okay, if you're not one for reading long e-mails, you can stop there knowing that things turned out fantastic; however, if you want to know what God showed me in regards to what was really going on this past week, keep reading.>>

This has been one of the most trying times I've had in a very long time, and the best part about it was, in all, I don't think this whole situation was just about me getting the project finished. Now, you may think: "What? I thought he needed this lab to pass the class and graduate." That's actually true and I praise God that He got me through this all; however, what I mean is that, from a spiritual perspective, this was about what would happen if a Christian was pressed on all sides.

After I turned in the lab, I was wrestling with why it seems like at college I've struggled so much more than others and why I am in Electrical Engineering if I am going to go through this much. I still believe that God wanted me in Electrical Engineering; however, really I believe that God allowed me to go through so much in order to refine me as a Christian. . . Sort of like Paul, after he converted to Christianity, where spent 3 years seeking God and being trained by Him (Galatians 1:11-24).

Today, I was praying asking God if I had messed up in choosing Electrical Engineering because I had hoped that it would be something that I was able to easily learn and grasp. That's when God prompted me to pick-up my Bible and read it. Now, normally, I try to pray and read my Bible in the morning and at night for my alone times with God, so it was unusual for me to do this during the day, but because God asked me to, I would. So I picked up where I had last left off (for my Quiet Times, I usually just read through the New Testament throughout the year and do it over again when I finish). The first thing I read was this:

"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man." Luke 21:34-36

This made sense to me because I know that my Father in Heaven never wants me to worry or be weighed down by the matters of life, but this past week of struggle was something that had to happen in order for me to pursue what I believed God's Will was for me: to graduate with a degree in Electrical Engineering. It was the next page over that really struck me:

[b]"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your

RLSH700

God helps us with our tasks even if He helps us in ways that we don't understand. When you put in the time that he put in for a hard project like that, it is a blessing to see it work. Giving us struggles in life builds character. I had a similar project that I had to work on this past semester.

I had a huge group Marketing Research project that covered approximately 70% of the grade. I don't have a clue how much time I spent on this project, but it was quite significant. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Our campus's "President's Office" was supposed to upload a online survey and they messed it up big time. There were tons of spelling errors, the questions weren't properly numbered, the data report they returned to us had tons of innaccuraces in it, etc. They were also supposed to print off 1000 copies of our two separate surveys and place them ready to send in separate envolpes. They mixed the two surveys together and didn't make changes we told them to make, so we had to restuff 2000 envolpes, along with placing the addresses on the envolpes, seal them, etc. When we were about halfway though, it was discovered that we accidently filled the wrong envolpes with the wrong surveys so we had to do it all over again.

When the people finally gave us the surveys back, we discovered something quite interesting, many people couldn't fill out a survey accurately if their lives depended on it. We asked for their "primary" source of what we were studying, and most marked all that applied. We asked them to rank the importance of different topics from 1-7 and these answers were quite amazing. Many people again marked all that applied or they couldn't count to 7. Some people wouldn't answer the questions or would lie (if they are not lying, I'd love to know how someone my age is able to make over $85K without working, a common answer).

The program we used (SPSS) gave us all kinds of headaches when we made graphs. It did not want to display the numbers of the respondents for this and that.

So what does this have to do with this topic. I was very frustrated and concerned about this class and this project through the semester. Although the members of the groups were friends of mine, I sometimes felt upset with them. I prayed for patience to keep from losing my temper with them when I felt they were being unfair to me and cutting my work out of the project and I was able to get through it. Despite all the problems we had, I got around a 89 on the project and over a 91% in the class.

I was also blessed this semester with the best instructor that I have had in college so far. She was someone that I could actually talk to about things going on in my life and everything. She is one of the few who actually sees my deep faith in God as being something good and valuable, instead of a disease like others have expressed. I needed someone who I could talk to about certain things and I finally had my outlet.

Last semester I was blessed with strength to get through a tuff finals week. After I had finished the first day of finals, I felt as though I had been dragged through the dirt for an hour. I tried to study for a class I was on the border between a B and C and I couldn't focus (partly because I was so tired) so I decided to go pray for a while. As I was praying I felt my strength returning. When I got back to my room, I noticed my instructor had dropped one of my low grades which improved my chances. When I finished my exam the next day, I discovered that dropped grade was responsible for me getting a B instead of a C. Talk about a blessing.

I could go on but I need to get to bed sooner or later.

lear4406

Great news, I bet it feels like the world has been lifted off your shoulders. The hand of GOD is present in every aspect of our lives. All we need to do is look. Take time out to reflect and give thanks to HIM for all our blessings. Take care and enjoy your victory.

purnrg

Do what you wish brother and those that wish can participate and those that don't wish don't.
Sounds like a plan doesn't it?
Everytime I read what you write I want to go home and hug my family.
pg

RLSH700

Yes, and it gets even better. Just look! https://dodgechallenger.com/forums/m..._/tm.htm#12040

It was a pure act of God. I don't know how it was possible for me to get an A in my Sales & Sales Management course, but God blessed me with one anyways. I'm also pleasantly surprised with my Bus. Finance course, I'm also not sure but it wasn't a long shot like my Sales & Sales Management course. Praised be God's name for his abundant blessings.

Jeremiah 29:11

Amen to all of that. You guys are awesome!

RLSH700

Thank you, Jeremiah! It helps to have someone cheering us on when the times get rough. You're a great friend and an outstanding Christian.

Jeremiah 29:11

True character is revealed not by what a man does when people are watching but by what he does when nobody is around.

Point Man – Week #7 A Bible study on a man leading his family based on the Steve Farrar book.

Sorry I missed doing a lesson last week but the last 2 weeks I took a short vacation with my wife and friends to New Mexico and last weekend we celebrated my son’s 25th birthday. We had fun with his new .22 rifle and scope and went shooting at the rifle range. This was certainly a father and son bonding time.

A couple of weeks ago we talked about the power of prayer and being in prayer through out your life (Being a Christian is not a 100 yard dash but a life long marathon). This week we will talk about a husband and wife as a team in marriage.

What is a team? A team is a group organized to work together for a common purpose. Teams normally have members with complementary skills and generate synergy through a coordinated effort.

Examples of teams:

NFL – Joe Montana/Jerry Rice (Quarterback/Receiver)

1st Space Shuttle - John Young and Robert Crippen (Pilot/Co-Pilot)

Gulf War - Norman Schwarzkopf and Dick Cheney (General/Secretary of Defense)

Football – Tom Landry and Roger Staubach (Coach/Quarterback)

What did they all have in common? They had a goal and were successful at accomplishing it. Even though one was the leader, they both worked together.

Marriage should be the same way. The husband is the spiritual leader for his family but they both work together for a common goal. Now here is a supporting scripture:

Ephesians 5: 22-24

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church…, Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Now that does not mean you are to be a dictator. None of us escape submission. We are all under some authority. Spiritual leaders are over congregations, governing authorities over citizens, husbands over homes, parents over children, children over pets. I think you get the idea.

For the wife, it should be said that the form her submission takes will vary according to the quality of her husband’s leadership. If her husband is a godly man who has a biblical vision for the family and leads the family in the things of the Spirit, a godly wife will rejoice in this leadership and support him. This is all about trust, men. Trust is what motivates people to follow our leadership, whether at home, work, or play. Trust must be earned. Keep this in mind guys.

We should also love our wife.

Ephesians: 5:25-33

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

The husband has been given authority in the home by God, just as a quarterback has been given authority in the huddle or the airline captain has in the cockpit. Male authority in the home is not a popular idea and maybe that is why the American family is in such trouble. Scripture indicates that God holds the man responsible for decisions made in the family just as the quarterback is responsible for the decisions on the field and the airline captain is responsible for decisions in the cockpit.

When Eve succumbed to temptation first in the book of Genesis, God sought out Adam first because of his headship position since he was ultimately responsible for those sinful choices.

We know when