I was told that the reason I was having problems .....aka afflictions...aka tribulations....and I think I qualified....my wife was divorcing me...my 6 kids didn't have a clue who dad was cause I was always out philandering or getting wasted.....both of which really complicate ones life...my business was coming down around my ears...it was going wrong even when it couldn't possibly go wrong...I was losing more money every week than most of the world earns in a week...

Tribulation....that's a fancy word for affliction.  We do not escape it. I do not preach the Gospel of come to Jesus and all your problems will end....nor the gospel of come to Jesus and you will be prosperous, as in make tons a bunches of money... drive a BMW.....have every selfish desire and dream you ever had come true...be some kind of big shot...or any of those other false gospels....we are promised in the scripture that in this  world, we will have tribulation.

I really do love it when this kind of stuff happens....I get an email from John Eldrege every day....his daily reading .... I find his stuff so inspirational for me... look at what just came in...it fits so incredibly with what I have been trying to communicate....maybe this will make something click for you as well. He is quoting from one of his books.


" And here’s where we run into a problem.

For most of us, life feels like a movie we’ve arrived at forty-five minutes late.

Randy and Peggy have gone back home....I was telling Jeff about our time with them...remember.... Jeff and Randy.... both have those steel trap computers for a brain where most of us only have computers from the early 90's that we hope will remind us to look  at our Daytimers before we miss our next appointments!  ...ooops...Ellen just reminded me that I am supposed to be at the dentist in 10 minutes ...I also forgot to brush my teeth after lunch....not that I had that written on my calendar...but the dentist appointment was there! ...I need to put it in another gear..  :)

There is another side to the snowflakes I mentioned yesterday. When Randy told me about how that little old unique snowflake could be totally taken apart, melted down, seemingly destroyed and then could be put back together just exactly the same way it was created....I'll tell you...my muser  got totally engaged!    :)

I have often wished I could just sprinkle some wiffle dust  into the air over people and somehow...magically.... eyes would be opened and they would understand just how significant and important each and every one of is.  You and me...?  Yes...even us two!  We have each been placed here on this earth very specifically.....put here in time and space for a very specific purpose by our creator.  We are each totally unique.  There is only one of each of us.  Just like every snowflake...one of a kind.

I promised I would get to this....I think it is very significant when we look at questions like....what is the meaning of life...why are we here...what's it all about anyway..... God actually did spell this all out to the prophet Isaiah a long, long time ago.  It is recorded in chapter 61.....the seven things that God had anointed the Messiah to do when He came to earth.Let's start with simply the list.

1 -to bring good news to the afflicted

2 - to bind up the brokenhearted

3 - to proclaim liberty to captives

Somehow as the year draws quickly to its conclusion, I find myself thinking about the casualties we've seen during 2008.  Yes....there have been casualties.....there are always casualties.  Our enemy is vicious...he does  prowl around around like a ravenous lion...to devour...looking for our weaknesses....lieing, cheating, stealing and deceiving....destroying hearts anyway he can....

News from the Village Victorian Bed and Breakfast

Our last newsletter just made it in time for the 4th of July!

This whole thing about the war....that's another mystery our brain has trouble with... we do struggle with spiritual concepts....a world we don't see with our physical eyes is bad enough...but a war we don't actually see going on around us?....come on Philip....you don't really expect me to believe that...do you?