HOW KIDS DEFINE LOVE - Lorna Seilstad shares

A group of professionals posed this question to a group of 4 t0 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?"

A few of their answers:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on after shave and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 6
"Love is when you kiss all the time. And then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My mommy and daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss." Emily - age 8

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay." Chrissy - age 6

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well. " Tommy - age 6

"I was on stage for my piano recital and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and then I saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy - age 8.

"Love is when my mommy sees my daddy all smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 7

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend you Hate." Nikka - age 7. (Yes, we need a few million more Nikkas on the planet.)

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out." Karen - age 7

"You shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot." Jessica -age 8


SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST:

A four-year-old lived next door to an elderly man who had recently lost his wife. One day the boy saw his old neighbour crying. He went over, climbed into the old man's lap and just sat there.

When he came home, his mother asked what he had said to the man.

"Nothing," he said. "I just helped him cry."

We could all learn from that little boy's compassion. And as they say...'out of the mouths of babes...'

Thanks, Lorna, for sharing these lovely insights. You can follow Lorna at  http://inkspirational messages.com

The Silversmith Refining and Purifying - An Inspiring Truth

There was a group of women in a Bible Study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three which says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about 

the process of refining silver and get back to the group a their next Bible study. That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest or her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot- then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered "yes," he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eye on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh that's easy. When I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of deep disappointment, betrayal, pain, loss of a loved one, or financial reverses, just remember that God has his eyes on you and holds you securely.

CAN INFANTS BE ATTRACTED at the VERY, VERY FIRST SIGHT??

Regina Merrick shares her story when asked, "When did you two meet?"

When I was about six months old, I was taken to a church picnic.

A toddler wanted to trade his brother for me, because I was cuter and more active than his brother.

But it was his OLDER brother, all of five-years-old, who snuck up to his mother’s ear and asked how old he would be when I was eighteen. He knew that eighteen was the magic number, since his mother was eighteen when SHE married! Well, as it happens, I didn’t get the oldest brother, or the youngest, though I love them as much as if they were my own brothers. I got the middle brother. Funny thing that!

We grew up together, went to church together, went to the same schools with him being three years ahead of me, grade-wise. After years of playing together after church, and my being considered his younger brother’s contemporary, we started to “notice” one another when I was a freshman, and he was a senior in high school. Our youth group put together a play, and of course both of us were in it. I couldn’t figure out WHY I seemed to stammer and giggle my way through my part every time we were on stage together.

We didn’t start dating until after school was out for the year. I kid him that he just didn’t want to be known for dating a freshman in high school, so he waited until I was officially a sophomore.

So that’s the story of how we met. The rest, as they say, is history . . . .

About Regina: Regina is Christian, wife, mother, musician, librarian, writer . . . still trying to connect the dots and constantly in wonder at how they all fit together.” A follower of Jesus since age 8, Regina has been a wife to the love of her life since age 19, a mother since age 25, and a college graduate since age 35.

Thanks for sharing your sweetly amusing story, Regina!

GOD HAD OTHER PLANS - A Romantic Ever-After by Anne Greene

While at the beach gaining a tan, I met Don.

Soon, I was dating him and other guys in my life faded into the background. We dated two years. I discovered his leadership qualities, his wonderful family, his love, his integrity, and oh, yes, the man did have a temper. We shared a similar life outlook, though he was a farm boy and I was a city girl. We were both Christians, and he was baptized in my Church. We married, followed the Lord together, had a beautiful daughter and a wonderful son.

One day we were jogging together, he had a massive heart attack and died. I felt I had been split in two. Our marriage had been so sweet, but so short. But I will see him again. He will meet me at the heavenly gates when I go to be with the Lord.


I thought my life ended, but God had other plans.

Two years later, I entered a new Singles  Fellowship Class at a new Church and was immediately surrounded by a group of men. One man stood out. We started talking. He grew up near where my book, Trail of Tears, had occurred. He knew all about the things I had written. He was easy to talk with and I was immediately attracted. But he took two long months before he asked me out.

Our first date he flew me in a little Cessna to a lodge on a lake and we had a romantic dinner. Impressed me! We went roller-skating and to art galleries and really fun places. He took my picture—a lot. That impressed me. He had so many good qualities and was a committed Christian. His two sons were loveable and well-behaved. And he didn’t have a temper. He could fix anything around my home—and did. We fell in love. When a hurricane struck the night of our wedding, I almost backed out. Did I mention, I almost backed out of my first marriage? Really cold feet both times.
  
Second marriages, with children on both sides, require really difficult adjustments. But our God is good. Larry Greene and I learned together that we can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us. We have a truly romantic happily-ever-after.


About Anne: ANNE delights in writing about wounded heroes and gutsy heroines. She writes both historical and suspense novels. After falling in love with several countries and their people, Anne set a number of her books in exotic locations. She and her hero husband, Army Special Forces Colonel Larry Greene, have visited twenty-five countries, including three communist countries.

Thanks ANNE for sharing this wonderful story of God's grace.
     

THE RING Jennifer Rogers Spinola

In Brazil Jennifer's engagement ring is worn on the right hand

While interviewing volunteers and speaking to Brazilians through interpreters, I felt something come alive in my heart. Something amazing, bold, beautiful that I’d only hinted at in my dreams. What if? What if? I began to wonder, as I put down my notebook scribbled with notes and interviews, and linked dirt-smudged hands with settlers’ brown-skinned children.  

What it would be like to say yes? To take a step further? To leave my job and comfortable American surroundings behind and set foot in foreign soil, committing years of my life to serving God through international missions? I went out on the flat hotel roof, still warm from the sun, overlooking orange adobe tile roofs and houses fading in the twinkling golden sunset, and sat with God.

As I began to sort through the now-open boxes in my life, packing and questioning and praying and saying good-bye, the tables shifted suddenly. Instead of sending me back to Brazil as I’d hoped, God seemed to be opening the way to… Japan? Yes, Japan. Through past relationships, coincidences, thoughts, and prayers. Chance meetings with Japanese Christians who urged me to tell the Japanese people about Christ.

So instead of boarding the plane for Brazil, I waited anxiously in the cold terminal of Newark Airport for a plane bound for Tokyo. Shivering with fear and nerves, and wondering if I’d ever find my way back to the country of my dreams. The country where God called me. Where smiles ran in our veins like blood. Hand clasps and kisses and hugs and tears.


I’ll never forget the day I sat there at my computer, staring at a blinking row of text: “I want you to meet someone there in Sapporo,” an acquaintance from Tokyo had written, knowing nothing about my past or my secret plans. “He’s a really wonderful Christian! You’ll like him. And he’s from Brazil! I’ve told him about you, and he’s waiting for you to call!”   My heart stood still.
         
 Of course it started before that, back when I was serving as a short-term missionary in Sapporo, Japan, and nearly ran smack into that nice Brazilian foreign exchange student an acquaintance from Tokyo had mentioned. Right in the middle of a (very rare, in Buddhist Japan) Christian bookstore. Athos and I had spoken on the phone a couple of times, including one talk that lasted until around five in the morning. Never, ever in my life have I talked that long to any man. Probably to any female, for that matter.

Our wonder and questions bloomed, over the following months, into something sparkly and nerve-tingling, always alive with the awareness that in my missionary program, crafted especially for young singles, dating was disallowed. Completely. No smooching, no make-out sessions, no getting engaged and making promises. We could meet, of course, in ministry or as friends, which we did with increasing frequency.

But after boarding my final flight to the U.S, suddenly, here we were: continents apart. Yet the following morning I answered the phone to Athos and we talked about this mystery called marriage. “I've been in a jewelry store,” he said. “Looking for engagement rings." I felt my heart leap into my throat, mouth too dry to speak. We had never discussed rings. Never talked about engagement. Not yet.


We had never kissed on the lips. Even once. Only on the cheek. Even the day he brought out that beautiful ring into the sunlight, glinting there in its box, and slipped it on my finger.

Why did we forgo kissing? I don’t know. I’m not such a wise or holy woman. I have made my share of mistakes and messes. But this time we wanted something new. Something different. Something neither of us had ever done, all fresh, like an unbroken path set out before us.

Which is what took us to the front of my Richmond, Virginia church on Valentine’s Day. February 14. Candles quivering, the sanctuary smelling of flowers.We had sung, prayed, joined hands, and stood before the church, presented now as a married couple in the sight of God and friends and family. A calling as glorious and heavy as the silver wedding band I slid on his finger.
            “You may now,” said the pastor, “kiss the bride.”

Jennifer is married to Athos, her Brazilian husband, who she met while serving as a missionary in Japan. Athos studied politics and law at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, where he met Jennifer, and is a political analyst at the Embassy of South Korea in Brasilia. She’s lived in Brazil since 2004. They have one son, Ethan, who they’re in the process of adopting from Brazil. Athos and Jennifer are active in Brasilia International Church, where they’ve been members since 2005.




 

Humour & Hard Work Won Her Heart - Grant and Verna O'Donnell

Grant & Verna  -  Montreal, May 1997

Verna was born in Montreal and came to Australia in May 1996 on a working holiday with a good friend.  They came to work at Teen Ranch, a Christian youth camp, located outside of Sydney. 

At my prompting, she tells her story:

"While there, with a little bit of adjusting to the Australian lifestyle/culture, my friend and I loved meeting these incredibly  

hospitable Australians, eager to show off their wonderful country. And Grant was one of the full-time staff members.

It wasn’t love at first sight, but I think we both experienced a certain curiosity towards each other. I had been told that a fair few girls had chased him in his short time at the Ranch, so I kept my distance for a while – even though there was always an unmistakable nervousness whenever we were around each other.

Grant was a quietly funny guy – he and a few of his friends were often ‘bunging it on’, keeping my friend and me constantly amused!  Humour was big in my family, so in some ways my initial attraction to Grant was probably because he could make us laugh. He was also a very hard and conscientious worker – a trait I noticed right away. He worked harder than most - very obvious in a place where people came and went so often it was easy to not carry your load … and it showed me that he took the work of the Lord seriously.

While these qualities were important, it was discovering how hungry he was for God that really drew me to him. And after being there for a few weeks, we got the opportunity to hear him lead morning devotions for the staff, where his knowledge and passion for the Lord was profoundly evident. This made it increasingly difficult to ignore the growing attraction I was having for him – he really stood out.

We both knew that this relationship was very different than anything else we had experienced, and we had no doubts of God’s hand in bringing us together. Grant took me up to Chinchilla, Queensland, in the October holidays to meet his family, and while we were up there he proposed. My parents flew us back to Canada for two weeks, so that Grant could then meet all of my family. We were married in Montreal, at my home church, on May 17, 1997. Grant’s immediate family flew over, and we had a few other Aussies at the wedding too, which was neat.

With Hudson, Kelsey and Rory

 We returned to Australia at the end of July, and settled into our life back at the Ranch, only now as a married couple. There were plenty of ups and downs, of course, being newlyweds in communal living. In many ways it wasn’t ideal, but knowing God was behind our relationship helped us through many of the more difficult times. Our first child, Hudson, was born in 2000. I became an Australian citizen in 2002, the same year as our daughter, Kelsey, was born. Our youngest son, Rory, was born in 2005.

Not knowing what we were going to do in the immediate future, Grant enrolled in Bible College for 2 years. He has always had a heart for ministry work, so this seemed a logical step. Meanwhile, I became involved in leading the church's music ministry. Then, after college, our church offered Grant part-time support as he ministered as a hospital chaplain and in various capacities within and without our congregation."

I always wondered how these two met, so thanks, Verna, for sharing your story! 

A WONDERFUL HERITAGE Deborah Raney

Wedding Day, August 11, 1974

After a rebellious year during high school, I gave my life wholeheartedly to the Lord. One of the first things I felt God asking me to do was break up with my boyfriend, who wasn't a Christian. I was heartbroken, but at peace because I knew I was being obedient to God. Still, I'd always dreamed of marriage and a large family (I wanted 12 kids!) so I prayed that God wouldn't make me wait too long to find a husband.

The summer before I went off to college, my best friend was dating a guy from a neighboring town. This guy just happened to have an older brother who'd recently broken up with his girlfriend. He was heartbroken, and my friend and her boyfriend figured the two of us may as well be heartbroken together, so they set us up on a double date with them. I'm not sure I believe in love at first sight, but it was definitely "intense like" at first sight. One of the first things I discovered about this guy was that he'd given his life to the Lord about the same time as I had. So we had much in common, and just really liked each other from the get-go.

 

Even though Ken and I parted ways at the end of the summer to go off to different colleges, we kept in touch through daily letters and occasional visits, and at Thanksgiving, 6 months after we met, we got engaged. We were married 10 months later. Best decision I ever made!

 

Ken and Deborah now

Ken and I have raised four amazing children and now God has blessed us with four precious grandchildren! (All under 5!) We celebrated our 37th anniversary in August and if we match Ken's grandparents' long, long marriage, we still have 45 more years to go!! His grandparents fell 18 days short of celebrating their 83rd wedding anniversary before Grandma died this year at the age of 100. God willing, Grandpa will turn 102 later this year. They've left us quite a legacy!

 

 

 

Next May, on the weekend that would have been Grandma and Grandpa's 84th anniversary, our youngest daughter will get married. Ah, the circle of life. : )

 

Thanks for sharing your story, Deb.