Psalm 127:1a “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it”

This nation was blessed at its founding because the people that were involved sought the direction of God. The earliest settlers came to these shores with the desire to worship God free from persecution. There are those today that would rewrite that history. The names and the dates would stay the same but the motives and desires would be omitted. The prayers that were prayed would be left out. There are those that would take God out of our fine history. As God is taken… Read more

There was once a king who offered a prize to the artist who could paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures but there were only two that he really liked and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was blue sky with puffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought it was the perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains too, but they were rugged and bare.… Read more

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four-year-old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing … I just helped him cry.”

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger.

“God, how… Read more

A woman received a phone call from her sitter that her daughter was sick with a high fever. She left work and stopped by the pharmacy for medication. Returning to her car, she found she had locked her keys inside. She didn’t know what to do.

She called her home to talk to the sitter, and was told her daughter was getting worse.

The sitter said, “Find a coat hanger and use that to open the door.”

The woman found an old rusty coat hanger on the ground, then looked at the hanger and said, “I don’t know how to… Read more

Ruth went to her mail box and there was only one letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address.

She read the letter:

Dear Ruth
I’m going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I’d like to stop by for a visit.

Love Always, Jesus

Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. “Why would the Lord want to visit me? I’m nobody special. I don’t have anything to offer.”

With that… Read more

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.

He said, “Sir,… Read more

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully, and before it blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom and also the thorns. And he thought, “How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?” Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and before it was ready to bloom, it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The God-like qualities planted in us at birth grow amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves… Read more

The story is told of the man caught by rising floodwaters. As he looks out the second story window of his house, a man in a rowboat spies him and calls out, “Hey! Get in and I’ll save you!”

The man replies, “Thank you, but no, I’m waiting for the Lord.”

The waters continue to rise and now the man has scrambled out onto his roof, where he is seen by a man going past in a speedboat. This man roars up to the house and yells, “Hey! Get in and I’ll save you!”

The man on the roof replies,… Read more

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter.

We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in.… Read more

A group of frogs were hopping contentedly through the woods, going about their froggy business, when two of them fell into a deep pit.

All of the other frogs gathered around the pit to see what could be done to help their companions. When they saw how deep the pit was, they agreed that it was hopeless and told the two frogs in the pit that they should prepare themselves for their fate, because they were as good as dead.

Unwilling to accept this terrible fate, the two frogs began to jump with all of their might. Some of the… Read more

The Master was searching for a vessel to use;
On the shelf there were many — which one would He choose?
“Take me,” cried the gold one, “I’m shiny and bright,
I’m of great value and I do things just right.
My beauty and luster will outshine the rest
And for someone like You, Master, gold would be the best!”

The Master passed on with no word at all;
He looked at a silver urn, narrow and tall;
“I’ll serve You, dear Master, I’ll pour out Your wine
And I’ll be at… Read more

You may be wondering what has happened to “The Well” as there hasn’t been an issue for awhile. You may be wondering if you are still on our mailing list because you haven’t received one for many months.

Let me start by saying that “The Well” was intended to be a monthly publication but financial roadblocks have prohibited that. Printing and distributing this publication does cost money and we just don’t have the resources yet to produce it monthly.

You might say, “But I give a donation,” and that may be true but we are not getting enough donations to… Read more