Contents:

1.           Something for Your Heart

2.           Surf Report

3.           UN-Forgettable Fact

4.           Potent Quotables

Ø    Something for Your Heart

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble."                (1 Peter 3:8)

Peter is writing to a group of Christians, some of whom are being (or about to be) mistreated because they follow Jesus.  He's about to give them some guidelines for how Christians can live in an honorable way even when we're going through hard times. 

He starts with, "Treat each other right.  No, no, no, that doesn't go far enough.  What he really says is to, ‘Treat each other as close family.'"  It's easy when you're living through a painful season to excuse meanness.  It's easy to say to yourself, "Everyone will just have to understand how much I'm "Hurting"; I don't have the energy to be nice."

What Peter tells us is that this (see the last sentence above) is exactly backwards. God can make our suffering count for something, especially if we'll live like we're His in the middle of the suffering.

So be with others, friends and family you trust.  Look for ways to show compassion to others (not just yourself).  Be kind and humble.  Give them "family access" to your heart (and visa versa). 

Think: 

Do you live in harmony with your family, friends, and those other people you run into during your day? When you're hurting, do you get closer or pull away from those who care about you? Why?

Pray: 

Ask God to help you to treat others in life the way 1 Peter 3:8 describes.

Do: 

Look up the word "harmony" in an online dictionary and write down the definition.

Ø       Surf Report

Movie review of Flipped [Christianity Today]

Ø    UN-Forgettable Fact

The Pacific island of Nauru economy is almost entirely based on bird droppings.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauru and check under economy.

An aerial image of Nauru in 2002 from the U.S. Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program. Regenerated vegetation covers 63% of land that was mined.

Ø    Potent Quotables

The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.
~ Joe Paterno

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure.   ~ Colin Powell

Ø    Uh, That's Funny?

Two dogs were walking down the street.  The one dog says to the other, "Wait here a minute, I'll be right back." He walks across the street and sniffs this fire hydrant for about a minute, and then walks back across the street.

The other dog says, "What was that about?"

The dog first dog says, "Oh, I was just checking my messages."