When God stands as witness to the covenant promises of a marriage it becomes more than a merely human agreement. God is not a passive bystander at a wedding ceremony. In effect he says, I have seen this, I confirm it and I record it in heaven. And I bestow upon this covenant by My presence and My purpose the dignity of being an image of My own covenant with My wife, the church.
John Piper

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Cast Iron Skillet

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#1 · February 14, 2003, 11:43 am

Posted by: bigguyhereagain <bigguyhereagain@...>

+++ Cast Iron Skillet +++
 
I've learned to seek a message in some simple, homey ways,
And I've found many lessons in the dreariest of days.
So one day in my kitchen, I began to sing a song
About the iron skillet that I've cooked with for so long.
Oh, I've had other vessels of different shapes and brands...
Bowls with copper bottoms, and shiny pots and pans,
But when I need a frying pan, each time I seem to choose
The black cast iron skillet...the one I always use.
No, its not much to look at; its been around awhile,
And in a modern kitchen, I suppose it's out of style.
But it's just the thing for corn bread, or frying up some taters,
So I'll save my stainless steel pans. Could be I'll use them later.
 
The world is like a kitchen; its people, pots and pans.
Each vessel made for a special use, and not by human hands.
Precious golden chalices and fancy silver cups,
And crystal glasses, waiting for the Lord to fill them up.
Now I'm not much to look at, but the Lord must have a need
For a common country person who moves at her own speed...
Whose clothing isn't fancy and whose manners are quite plain:
If I feel He can use me, then my life is not in vain.
Each person has a purpose...and if only we will see,
God has a plan for everyone, and there's a plan for me.
So maybe now you understand why I can shout and sing:
I'm a cast iron skillet in the kitchen of a King!
 
x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x
 
+++ Hot Water+++
 
A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so
hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to
give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed just as soon as
one problem was solved, a new one arose.
 
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water
and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil.
 
In one, he placed carrots; in the second, he placed eggs; and the last, he
placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.
 
The daughter impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about
twenty minutes, he turned off the burners.
 
He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out
and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a
bowl.
 
Turning to her he asked, "Darling, what do you see?"
 
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
 
He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted
that they were soft.
 
He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell,
she observed the hard-boiled egg.
 
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its rich
aroma.
 
She humbly asked, "What does it mean Father?"
 
He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water,
but each reacted differently.
 
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected
to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
 
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid
interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became
hardened.
 
The ground coffee beans were unique however. After they were in the boiling
water, they had changed the water.
 
"Which are you?" he asked his daughter.
 
"When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot,
an egg, or a coffee bean?"
 
How about you?
 
Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with pain and adversity do you wilt
and become soft and lose your strength?
 
Or are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? Were you a
fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a divorce, or a layoff have you
become hardened and stiff? Your shell looks the same, but are you bitter and
tough with a stiff spirit and heart?
 
Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water, the thing
that is bringing the pain, till its peak flavor reaches 212 degrees
Fahrenheit. When the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better.
 
If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and
make things better around you.
 
When people talk about you, do you give praises to God?
 
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, does your
worship elevate to another level?
 
How do you handle adversity?
 
Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
 
x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x
 
+++ Beautiful +++
 
I may never see tomorrow; there's no written guarantee
And things that happened yesterday belong to history.
I cannot predict the future, I cannot change the past,
I have just the present moments, I must treat it as my last.
 
I must use this moment wisely for it soon will pass away,
And be lost forever, as part of yesterday.
I must exercise compassion, help the fallen to their feet,
Be a friend unto the friendless, make an empty life complete.
 
The unkind things I do today may never be undone,
And friendships that I fail to win may nevermore be won.
I may not have another chance on bended knees to pray,
And I thank God with a humble heart for giving me this day.
 
Have a Blessed Day
Dave and Barbara
 

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