Rice and Beans of Life: Strong Tower

"I got dressed first!"

"Finally!" ... He stretched, hoped, waited with great anticipation and finally ... He's arrived at the 5 foot mark on the measuring line! It seems a fitting birthday gift from Father for our deep thinking, contemplative, engineer minded 14 year old. Although his physical stature might be less than most of his friends, his spiritual stature stands tall. A few years ago Father gave me a new name for each of our boys ... Joseph's name is Strong Tower. He is a loyal friend in which many have found refuge, many are drawn to him for his quiet strength and his laughter that invites all who hear it to join in. Last week he shared an insightful devotional which captivated my thought process for the better part of the week and therefore ... I've chosen to share his sacred thoughts here.

"I'm guessing that most of you have heard of the show, "The Biggest Loser". It's a show in which people try to loose the most amount of weight. So just like them, Christians have to be losers! Now you're probably thinking that I'm crazy, but you just have to hang on here. So in order to be a Christian, you have to leave or "lose" some things. In this sense, I am talking about sins. So what is something that you can lose? ... (wait for their answers) ... Those are all good examples.

Also, just like the contestants get all the healthy food manuals to stay healthy, we need some of those in our lives too. For instance, the Bible. It gives us a good foundation for us to work off of. Another good example is having good Christian friends. They can help you with problems that you may have. So for becoming a Christian, these are some necessities.

I'm guessing that in the show, the people get really tempted to go back to what made them heavy or fat. This also goes with Christians. Not the fat part, but the part where they get tempted. Once you become a Christian, you leave sins behind. Sometimes you are tempted to go back to those sins. So you have to build up faith to endure those temptations. The way you can build up faith is by reading your bible, praying, and trusting that He will come through. When the contestants finally finish and get through, they are so happy to have lost all the weight they have. The same goes for Christians. Even though it will take a lot of faith and perseverance, the reward that God gives is better than anything. It will bring you more joy than anything you have ever experienced. The verse I picked out for today is 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone, then new is here!"

Biggest loser ... Strong Tower ... losing the weight of worry

Life on the Mountain
Pray continually, it felt like a week where all I could do was pray ... The students as the faced Reto Nehemia ... Jessica, Guadalupe El Nido director, in the hospital in Ecuador ... A new cook and cleaning person for Casa VidaNet ... Olivia Grace battling AFM ... Martha's financial situation ... Adam's double ear infection and upper respiratory infection ... friends marital struggles ... my boys ... the El Nido Eye Clinic ... Jedidiah's exams ... Byron ... Luis ... Kara ... Salvation for those close to our hearts ... If a name came to my spirit, I cried and prayed.

Praises
The pulmonary embolism in Jessica's lungs dissolved
Medicine to help Adam feel comfortable as the infection cleared up
Black paint from a neighbor ... one of those Random God moments
A hubby who puts his day aside to chauffeur around a sick boy and exhausted mama
Each one of you ... we're not in this alone!

Prayers
Olivia Grace, the precious daughter of a friend in Akron https://m.facebook.com/Olivia-Grace-341785483056981/
Complete healing for Jessica and for her to be able to come home to CR
Someone to bless Casa VidaNet with their gift of cooking and cleaning
Healing for Kaitlyn's knee
Healing for Samuel's eye
Lots of extra activity at Casa VidaNet the next two weeks ...
-Eye clinic, Vision Tour, Board Meeting, Hosting Central American church leaders