Bad News

Hope this finds you well.
  My family and and I are presently stranded in Kiev Ukraine, we came here for a vacation, we were having a good time until last night when we got robbed on our way back to the hotel we are staying, it was a brutal and scary scenario, all cash on us were taken including credit cards and phones, I have been able to cancel our cards so its useless to them now, the good thing is that we are alive and with our passport.
 
I have been to the police and embassy here but the are being reluctant to my report, I was asked to come back in two weeks.

Our return flight would leave soon but I am having problems settling our outstanding hotel bills and getting a cab to the airport, Please I need you to help me with a loan to settle the hotel and get a cab to the airport, I will pay back upon my return unfailingly, please let me know if you can give me the loan then I will tell you how to get it to me. All I need is $1,950 USD

Thanks 

William Clark

Day 40: The Relationship Principles of Jesus

I usually pick one or two statements that make an impression on me for the day and talk about them.  Not today, the whole day's reading is powerful.  It is a summation of the whole book.  Today is the day for you if you struggled reading daily or didn't read at all.  This sums everything up.  The most powerful part for me was when he talked about what the world would be like if we applied the relationship principles of Jesus.  It was a beautiful picture, one that can be a reality in each of our individual spheres of influence.

Day 39: Forget the ideal, Go for the Real

If I could embrace this truth, this day could be the most life changing day in the 40 days of love.  I spend a lot of my time in the ideal.  I think about the ideal job, ideal church, ideal abf, ideal life, not ideal wife (she's already perfect).  Obviously, I am disappointed just about everyday when I don't have the perfect bible time,where God comes alive followed by meaningful prayer where God speaks volumes to me everyday and then Holly and I share how God's working in our lives over breakfast, while the kids soak in everything we are saying.

God meets me right in the middle of this life of mine and loves me anyway.  I need to accept God's love and redirect it through all the distractions and imperfect relationships at work, home, and church, recognizing that ideal/perfect left the day Adam and Eve were thrwon out of the garden.

Day 38: Love your Enemies

Does the love I exhibit in my life look any different than the love of a non-believer?  I love my wife, so does he (not my wife, he better not love my wife).  I love my kids, so does he.  I love my friends, so does he.  The bible says what makes me different is I should love my enemies.  Do I really?  I don't want to love my enemies.  That's going too far isn't it? If you wrong me, its hard to love you.  It is only through total dependence and connection with Jesus that I even have a chance of loving my enemies.  I have to recognize his tremendous love for me, even when I wrong Him, and let His love for me flow through me to my enemies.

Powerful statement in the book: "The Golden Rule must be applied not only when the relationships are going right, but also when they are going wrong."

Day 37: Love is Sacrificial

"The world needs to see sacrificial love."

What can I do to show sacrificial love?

I decided to do some things at work and home that could show sacrificial love.  At work, I vacuumed the floor, windexed the cases, and cleaned the front bathroom.  At home, I carried on the bathroom theme and cleaned our master bathroom and helped with dinner.  What can you do today or tomorrow to show sacrificial love?

Day 34 - 36

Blogged verbally at the beach with guys from class, sorry I didn't post, but had a great time hanging out with some brothers in Christ, watching basketball, and ordering from the senior citizen menu.

Day 33: How Humility Handles Our Relationship with God

How could I possibly have a do-it-yourself attitude with my relationship with God when I don't have a do-it-yourself attitude when it comes to all those manly projects Holly wants me to tackle around the house?  I find myself easily slipping into "I can handle this God." or Bible study (check), prayer (check), serve at church (check).  Okay God bless me.  The author's message today is very simple:  Trust God to meet your needs.