Making A Difference

"A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference to that one!”

The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved."

— Adapted from The Star Thrower
by Loren C. Eiseley

You may only lead 1 person to The Lord in your life, or you may lead 1,000 to The Lord. Either way you have allowed God to use you to make a difference in the world.  So just keep trying your very best to get those starfish in the water. People may think your attempts are pointless but just keep doing it. God doesn't judge us by our fruit but by our faithfulness.

*We're Baaaaaack*

A lot has been going on in the Rochester family this past year. Between me graduating this year and MaryBeth getting married in March,we haven't had much time to do much writing. My goal is to have a blog every Saturday starting January 16. We appreciate those who take the time to read our blog and for those that have asked when we are starting back! 

*~Put Your Armor On~*

We all know, (unless you've been hiding under a rock somewhere) that the devil is on the war path right now. He knows his time is quickly coming to an end. He's after our minds, our families, and our churches. I've heard of so many families lately that are going through things that I can't even begin to imagine. You may say, "I would never fall into sin like that!" Or maybe, "that will never happen to me or my family!" Well let me remind you that NO ONE is incapable of commiting ANY sin. Take David for instance. He was a man after Gods own heart and yet he was guilty of commiting adultery and murder! It could happen to anyone! Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have our up and down days. If truth be told, we have all been close to things we are ashamed that we've even thought about doing. It's human nature! We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You may get discouraged sometimes but there is a way to make it harder for Satan to get to you! The Bible says in Ephesians 6:11, "Put on the whole armour of God, that Ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." You see, God knew that in the last days we were going to have to fight harder than we ever have before. Thankfully, He not only told us how withstand against the "fiery darts" of the wicked, but he has given us the equipment we need to do it! All we have to do is daily put our armor on! First of all, we are to have our loins gird about with truth. The bible says in Philipians 4:8, "“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” We need to fill our minds with things that are true! Maybe it's listening to godly music, or preaching, or the Bible itself! Next comes the breastplate of righteousness. I believe that's talking about living right. It's much easier not to sin when you don't put yourself in positions to where it would be easy to sin. You know what they say, if it doesn't look right, it probably isn't!                  The Bible also speaks of having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We need to always be ready to share the gospel with those around us. Chances are, when you have your mind on getting the gospel out, your mind won't have time to get into mischief. Most of all in our lives we need the shield of faith! When the devil throws darts of fear and hate, you're going to need to hold up your faith shield! Then there is the helmet of salvation. If you are going to stand against satan, you are going to have to know, that you know, that you're born again! No man can serve two masters. You can not live for God if you're not even saved! Last of all this passage talks about the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God! Any time you are being attacked in your spiritual life, the best way to fight back is through Scripture! And in order to know the Scriptures, you've got to read them! So from now on, determine in your heart that you're going to put your armor on every day and fight! It's not an easy battle. This battle against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places! Its time to stand up for what we believe more than ever, and do it for the honor and glory of Christ! 

*It Happened In A Church Van*

The Church vans are an adventure all on their own. We have been in MANY nice church van's, but we've also been in a few interesting ones. If we were to take all the interesting church vans and put it into one, it would be something like this...........                                           First, you get into the van and there is that smell. You know what smell I'm talking about! Where it's like 15 teenage boy's just played basketball for 2 hours and they all left their socks in the van. Secondly, you go go to turn on the air and feathers start flying out of the air vents and all over the van. You look up and you realize the problem. There is a dead bird about to fall out of the air vents! So you take care of that problem and you try to turn back on the air but it's blowing out extremely hot heat! So after 5 minutes of messing with the knobs, you finally realize that it's set backwards. The heat turns on the air, and the air turns on the heat! Finally you get on the road and you go to make the first turn and water starts pouring out of the ceiling like someone turned on a faucet above your head! By the time you get to where you are going, the water has stopped. Probably because it's already poured all the water out. LOL! Then you go in to wherever you are going and come back out and start the van but it won't crank. You can't get anyone on the phone so you have to go into the store and ask someone if they can jump the battery off. After all of that, all you have in your mind is to get back to wherever your bus is parked!                                  Now that is a funny picture but honestly we are so thankful for the vehicles that churches let us borrow! Without them, we would be stuck on the bus all day and trust me, that isn't fun! We've had WAY more nice vehicles than we've had interesting ones! Even though I must say, the interesting ones are pretty fun;) 

~While You Are Waiting~

 There are three ways the Lord answers our prayers. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it's no, and sometimes He just wants us to wait and trust Him. Sometimes God wants to give us what we have asked for but its not the right time yet. Waiting isn't easy but it is worth it! I think the hardest part of waiting is not knowing what to do with yourself. Well, here are a few things you can do while you are waiting!                  First of all keep working! 2 Timothy 3:14 "But continue thou in the things which though hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." A lot of times while we are waiting we get discouraged and something inside of us says, "God isn't answering your prayer so must not be working in your life. You might as well just quit!" Well my friends, that is the VERY last thing we need to to do! We need to continue doing everything that we know the Lord wants us to do. Not only does it please Christ, it also helps you keep your mind off your troubles and on HIM. You might even want to pray and ask the Lord if there is MORE you can do for Him!                                                  Secondly, don't worry! Psalm 56:3 says   " What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee." I know how it is to wait. Sometimes you wonder why you have to wait and others seem to be getting everything they want in life. People will say that if you are right with the Lord and you have reached some kind of spiritual plateau, the Lord will answer your prayer the way you want Him to. While it is true that sometimes God is waiting for us to display some faith, sometimes it is just not the right time for Him to give us what we desire! It doesn't make anyone a lesser Christian! Now don't get discouraged when things take longer than we expect because His ways are perfect.He has never had and never will have bad timing!                                 And last but not least, don't wait to    worship! How many times have we said "If God ever does this, Im going to really worship Him!" Well that sounds good, but that is not the way things work. God was worthy of all the worship we could give him when He saved us! Everything else He does more than that is just extra benefits of being saved! My dad always says, "you can't worship and worry at the same time!" We just have to put our trust in His plan and worship Him knowing that whatever happens will be okay! The Lord has everything under control. So you might want to just go ahead and worship while you are waiting because he is worthy! Psalm 40:1-3 " I waited patiently got the Lord and he inclined unto me, he heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath but a new song in my heart."

*A Life Worth Living*

My heart is so heavy thinking about the burdens that so many are carrying. I think about the elderly person in the nursing home that everyone seems to have forgotten about and the loneliness that they must face. I think about the moms and dads that sit up and cry all night over their children that have gone astray from the faith. Or what about the teenage girl that called "fat" at school and now she is so broken that she starves herself till she feels like she can fit in with the popular girls. I think about the boy who has started using drugs and it has gotten so out of control he's thinking about taking his own life just to end the pain. Or sometimes I'm reminded of all the little boys and girls who are growing up in emotionally and physically abusive homes where their parents are drunks or drug abusers. Perhaps one of the greatest battles that goes on in today's society is the battle of the mind. Satan doesn't play fair. He knows exactly how to get you to do what he wants you to. He may be telling you things like, "no one cares about you. No one cares if you live or die so you might as well just end it all right now." Well my friend, that is a VERY big lie! You may think, "nobody knows what I'm going through!" Your momma doesn't seem to care, your daddy doesn't seem to care, your friends can't understand the struggle that you are facing. The bible says in Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not a high priest which cannot be touch with the feelings of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." That means that we will never go through anything that Jesus didn't go through himself. Even on the cross when He was experiencing the greatest pain and the biggest burden any other human has had or felt, His Father literally turned His back on Him. So I guess you could say He knows how you feel. In Psalm 55:22a the Bible says, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee." That word "sustain" means to carry. You see, not only does He understand what you're going through and cares about you, He's also going to carry you through! You never have to walk alone! So is your life worth living? Well, the Creator of the universe thought your life was so important that He came to this wicked world and died on a cross so that you might have life! So I guess if my life is important to God then its a life worth living!

It's Just A Little Longer

I find myself feeling uncomfortable and out of place in this world. I look around and see all of this evil and it seems that the only thing that is desirable is heaven. My heart longs for something that this world can not give me, so I know  that heaven is my home and is waiting for me.:) This world longs for joy to last forever but it passes away. They want peace and comfort forever, but without The Lord, it's only for a season.  But I am looking for a city where the soul never dies and where the Son always shines. It makes me think of the song Mary Beth and I wrote when I was 8 and she was 12 , "Its just a little longer till I see my Jesus. It's just a little while till I see my Lord. I'll walk upon heavens golden shores, it's just a little longer till I see my Lord." 

Since the post today was kind of short I would like to take a moment and say thank you to all that read our blog. Every week we have people tell us "hey we read your blog" and that is amazing!!! I cannot tell you how much it encourages us. Thank you all again and have a blessed day!