This may be so simple that most have already thought of doing it...but I only thought of it last summer, after I had spent a bundle on freezer bags.  If you use freezer bags to store serving portions of meat in the freezer for your family, and then reuse the bags...you could be asking for trouble. (food poison isn't fun I have heard!) Many people get it ever year.

Since freezer bags are a little pricey to just use once and throw away, it is tempting to just use bleach and reuse them. But a safer way to store small portions of meat is to buy sandwich bags. There's about 300 or more to a box and so inexpensive for the number you get, that you can just rinse them and throw them in the trash, without guilt.

Just put the meat in them and wrap in freezer paper or a freezer bag, where the juices won't run into it...and you can toss the sandwich bag and use the freezer bag again.  Using the little bags even if you have a large family is good...because small amounts thaw out faster.

This works for me even when storing large amounts of meat...because you can take out the amount you need.

We choose our own lifestyles and no matter which kind we choose to live, we can find encouragement from someone very readily.

If you wish to live a good, wholesome and righteous life, you will seek out and cling to those kind of people who want to live right too. They will also seek you out.

On the other hand, if you choose to live worldly and wish to never think of the life beyond this one, sadly, you can find even more encouragement on that side in the world today. Most have figured out where to go to get their strokes that they need to fuel this kind of lifestyle.

The Bible teaches that "Bad company corrupts good morals" and I have seen that in my own life a few times. I don't know what it is about wanting to be like those around us...But the Bible is true on that point as it is on all points! No matter how strong we think we are, adults too, become like those whom they are around.

Young people need to be very careful of the kinds of things they do and see and the kind of people they hang out with. It is easy to be a Christian when you are around your family and friends who puts God first in everything.

Parents need to pay attention to their children's activities and know who they will be with and what they will be doing. A prophet of God, Jeremiah, said, "I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps." Jeremiah 10:23

If this is true for a grown man and especially a prophet of God, how much more for young people? People who give their children too much freedom are not doing them any favors and those who want to be a buddy to their children instead of a parent are making a mistake.  They do not need a 'buddy system' in their homes. They have their buddies. They NEED parents! 

It is much harder for a young person to be faithful when they are surrounded by friends who do not care for that kind of thing or even adults who may ridicule them for their faith and commitment.

The advice from here is: Hang tough and hang on to those friends and acquaintances who want the same good things out of life that you do...And don't ever give up when you fall. It is so easy to fall, but you can get right up and start over.

LET’S NOT PLOW UP WHAT WE PLANTED.

I heard a story once about a farmer who hired a young man to run a tractor, cultivating his corn field. The farmer helped the young man get the tractor serviced and hooked up to the cultivator.

The farmer then helped the young man adjust the plows and he gave him strict instructions to take his time and be very careful as he cultivated the field to not to damage the growing corn crop.

As the young man began to plow he paid no attention to the instructions of the farmer. He was easily distracted and carelessly allowed the cultivating plows to get into the rows of growing corn.

After a couple of hours the farmer came to check on the young man and as you can imagine was terrible upset to see that the young man had plowed up much of the crop that the farmer had worked so hard to plant. Did you know that this same thing can happen in the Lord’s kingdom?

We sow the seed of the kingdom, the Word of God, bringing new converts to Christ and bringing our children up in the teaching of the Lord. yet, when we live our lives carelessly and we allow things to distract us from our service and commitment to Christ, we are plowing up what we are planting.

When our children and those young in the faith see us as older Christians teaching one thing and living another, we are plowing up what we are planting.

Jesus warns his disciples in Matthew 18:6-7, But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!

By Wendell Ingram, 2005

"May Your Home

Be Gentle Enough

To Keep Love In

And Strong Enough

To Keep Evil Out."

How can people watch a sunrise

And not believe in God;

Or look into a baby's eyes

Or till the earthly sod.

How can they breathe life giving air

And still a skeptic be?

While their body houses a spirit

That will live eternally!

Dubious thoughts surround us

When dark shadows come our way;

But how our doubts should vanish

With the coming of the day!

By Edna L. Ingram