Life is Hard!

I am a strong believer that God uses everything that happens in life to teach us something about Himself if we will just listen to His Spirit and allow Him to instruct us. Then I search God’s Word to see what God has specifically said regarding what the Spirit has impressed upon my mind.

I am a pen turner and I love to work at my lathe. I have learned many things about life as I work at my lathe. Each step of the process in turning a piece of wood or antler into a pen is painful to the material with which I am working. The process includes cutting, drilling, shaping, sanding, polishing, friction, and pressure. But when the process is complete the material has been transformed; it has new beauty, value, and purpose. Something of little value now has greater value, all because it endured a painful process! Life is full of difficulties and it easy to become overwhelmed. But there is a purpose behind each hardship; they are all part of a process to shape and mold us into some of greater value and purpose. My desire in writing this blog is to encourage and maybe stir up some conversation with the lessons that God has been teaching me through the painful process of life. Life is hard, but God is good. May He continue working His process in my life.

If you are going to read any of my posts be sure to ready "Introduction to Lessons from the Lathe". In that post I lay out the basis for all the other blogs.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

October Baby

My wife,  Brenda and I had the opportunity to go on Family Life Ministries' "Love Like You Mean It" cruise. It is a cruise especially designed give married couple the opportunity to spend a week together; enriching their marriage with great sessions taught by leading Christian speakers, fantastic performances by top Christian artists, and all the excitement that comes with a week long cruise! It was fantastic.

One of the activities they offered was a preview of the movie "October Baby". It deals with the story of a survivor of a failed abortion. Here is the synopsis of the story, as found on the movies web site:

"You saw me before I was born." Psalm 139:16 (NLT)

As the curtain rises, Hannah hesitantly steps onto the stage for her theatrical debut in college. Yet before she can utter her first lines, Hannah—unscripted—collapses in front of the stunned audience.

After countless medical tests, all signs point to one underlying factor: Hannah's difficult birth. This revelation is nothing compared to what she then learns from her parents: she was actually adopted … after a failed abortion attempt.

Bewildered, angered, and confused, Hannah turns for support to Jason, her oldest friend. Encouraged by his adventurous spirit, Hannah joins his group of friends on a Spring Break road trip, embarking on a journey to discover her hidden past … and find hope for her unknown future.

In the midst of her incredible journey, Hannah finds that life can be so much more than what you have planned.

You can check out the movie at their web site: http://www.octoberbabymovie.net/# or on their Face Book page: https://www.facebook.com/OctoberBabyMovie or on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/octoberbabymovie.

Spread the word and plan on attending the opening on March 23; better yet take a group or rent out the theater for the show. I will do all I can to make sure the people I know get a chance to see this movie.