J. Randal Matheny

Life is made up of ups and downs. But some still seem surprised when they hit the speed bumps, when the curve ball comes their way, when the bottom drops out.A study was just released about success and failure in children's lives. When they are told that problems are to be expected and that failure is a part of the process of growth, they do better.

If that is true of kids, it is also true of adults.

Here are four opportunities that the trials of life afford us.

Read the article HERE.#life #problems #opportunities #Christian

A writer has to be an editor, too, says this op-ed piece in the WSJ. Note the emphasis on rereading, which I constantly tell FMag and TFR writers.

One of the means to assure such things is constant rereading. I reread from the top—or some similar landmark if the work is long—whenever I take a significant break from writing, and that doesn't just mean overnight but includes eating lunch, going to the bathroom, answering the phone and searching for elusive facts.Rereading not only ferrets out problems, but it also ensures continuity of voice, as well as that elusive quality dear to both writers and rappers: flow.

h/t Richard Mansel #writing

Sin by Ron Thomas on etsop95

When love operates as God has designed for it to operate there will be consequences. There is a positive consequence to love and there is a negative consequence to love. Both consequences should produce in the recipient a better understanding and further improvement in one’s behavior.

Ron Thomas gets down to the nitty-gritty of love.

Obstacles or Opportunities by TFRStaff on The Fellowship Room

Is this God’s way of telling us that what we’re attempting to do is not His will? Or could it be something else trying to hinder us? It can’t be the former, because we know what the divine will is – go, preach, make disciples. So we press on.

One of the most amazing articles I've read in a while. Deserves multiple readings.

Check out my late-Sunday-night poem, "The Lord who Made the Perfect Rose," over on the Christian Poets site. #poetry

Have you seen the look on a young man's face or a young woman's face, when you mention the one he or she loves? When I perform weddings, it is quite obvious that the groom and bride delight in each other.What happens inside of you when someone mentions God? Are you embarrassed, or delighted?
To say we can delight in the Almighty is not the same as knowing that He exists, or that we believe in Him. We can know He exists, but wish that He did not. We can believe in Him, but regret that we do. Delighting in God means that we are glad that He exists. We know how dreadful life would be without God.

My friend Don has more delightful words to share on his ezine "The Bible Meditator." Read the whole post here.

Yet another entry in this light-hearted collection of one-liner definitions.

My friend Tim has thoughtful messages worth your while. Today, he ponders how our games are more serious than just a game.

http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=868a93ebed32bb71e218407cf&id=71d2a8922a&e=720dd43936 on Campaign-archive2