Stained Glass - El Salvador Mission Book

I've learned a lot about people and myself over the years, one of the most interesting observations I have made is realizing that there are really only two kinds of people in this world...givers and takers.  That's right, there are those who feel compelled to give and others who are obsessed with taking.  Granted, they may not know this about themselves but in the end we know who they are.  We learn this when we have been taken for granted or when we find ourselves isolated and alone because people start to avoid us.  I believe there is good in everyone and that if people really knew the effects of their behavior they would stop the behavior.  How do we know if we are a giver or a taker?  It's easy, look at your life.  Do find that people don't call you anymore or don't want to work with you, or do you spend every opportunity thinking about how you can make someone else happy or better off?  If you are the ladder, you are a giver, if you are the former, you're

Each person was created for one purpose and one purpose only, to do the will of his Father.  Now I'm sure there are a great many people who really don't believe this is the case because if they did they'd have to do something about it.  For those of us who do believe we have one eternal purpose...to do God's will, the question becomes, "what is God's purpose or will for me, and how do I figure that out?"  For non-believers this question is moot, they live their lives acquiring what they can, or making ends meet but at the end of the day when lying in bed those last few moments before falling asleep they reflect backwards.  As Christians we are expected to live in the present, not lamenting over the past or worrying about the future, but instead we are to do the best with what we have right now.  I believe the will of our Father can be found in these present moments, the now moments of our life.  "What is God asking of me right now?"  Maybe it is

     I thought I would give my readers some food for thought.  I'm sure every good Christian understands "love thy neighbor" and all that that entails, but the question is, how?  The Bible tells us that it is easy to love those who are good to us, aka our friends, but if we love only those who love us what merit is there in that for us?  Something that I have always found to be very interesting is that Jesus had good friends, he even called 12 men to be his closest friends.  He traveled from town to town giving people a new way to live and helping them to understand what they need to do to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Many people loved to listen to him preach and they loved his message even more.  His 12 closest friends even gave up their lives to follow him!  But at the end of the day, when Jesus was forced to walk the road to Calvary and then ultimately was lifted high on the cross, what did he see?  3 faithful women and one courageous man, John the apostle.  Where wer