Usually I start with a few stories and work from there but when all the stories coming in center around the same theme, you definitely know that God is behind it. Lately we have been taking on a theme throughout the whole issue and this issue seems to center around our attitude.

I remember when I received my healing of depression 11 years ago. Though God did something miraculous in me that day, it was really a matter of perspective and attitude. I woke up one morning and said, “I’m not going to be like that anymore!” And it’s a daily ritual for me, kind of like a pepp talk. Maybe it works for some and not for others but it’s worth a try! There might even be days it doesn’t work, and that’s when I have a wonderful husband who cheers me on and helps me get through the day. Most often the thing that helps me most is when I’m in worship or listening to that good Christian music. It also helps me to remember to “count my blessings” instead of my troubles. And we have 2 wonderful blessings with our granddaughters Selah and Amethyst and a grandson who will arrive in a few short months. When you look at these marvelous creations God has entrusted to us you can’t help but know you are blessed!

Until next time,
Blessings and more blessings,
Kris

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings. Wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

CHORUS:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

“Blessings crown the head of the righteous.”
Proverbs 10:6

THE WELL MINISTRIES:

A story has been told of a missionary speaking in his home church. One day while he was caring for an injured man, the man confessed that he had been part of a group who wanted to attack and rob the missionary. The man and his friends followed the missionary to his campsite but when they approched the area they saw that campsite was being protected by 26 armed guards so they ran away. At this point in his message a man in the congregation stood up to tell that on the same date he felt led to call together a group of men to pray for the missionary. He asked all those men to stand — there were 26 of them.

Whether this story is true or not is not the point but the fact is that missionaries need our prayer support. Do you or your church have specific missionaries that you support?

Many people think that missionaries are only in foreign countries but do you know that foreign countries send more missionaries to the United States than we send there? They know we need the work of missionaries here in the USA as much as any foreign country!

Did you know that every Christian is a missionary? Jesus says in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” He has sent each one of us on a mission. You don’t have to wait for your pastor to give you some certificate or special blessing. You have already received that from the King of Kings!

Where is your mission field? Is it your workplace, your child’s school, your grocery store, your neighborhood? There are so many possibilities to reach the lost for Christ and you don’t have to go far to do it. It doesn’t take any schooling and you don’t have to even recite Scripture to do it. A gentle smile, a warm greeting, a helping hand, dinner to a lonely widow, a phone call, a greeting card, visit to a shut-in, are all ways you can be a missionary in your own city! Let people see the love of Jesus in and through you with your actions and attitudes.

Become the missionary Christ intended for you to be!

The Well Ministries itself is a missionary for Christ and we have been doing this for 11 years now! We reach out to the lonely and depressed, to the ones who need encouraged, to the hurting…and we could use your help. We are in need of support both prayerfully and financially.
Many churches, missionaries and non-profit organizations are suffering financially because of the economy and we are no different. Please help us and pray that God will send workers to help in His harvest!

Will you consider sponsoring all or part of printing this publication? Would you be willing to sponsor Chalice or Puppets for the King to reach out to your church or another church, neighborhood, community, or nursing home? Would you commit to pray for our ministry?

Last year Chalice did 39 music programs. The Puppets did 15. We printed and distributed 3 issues of The Well totalling about 9000 copies. In the 11 years of ministry we have produced and distributed nearly 160,000 copies of The Well!

You can help us in our mission of “Providing a Drink of Living Water to a Dry and Thirsty World” – consider sponsoring an issue of The Well by donating all or part of the money required to produce it. Maybe you would like to donate enough to cover the postage to mail them out. ($200) Maybe you would like to donate enough to cover the cost of the paper. ($250) Maybe you would like to donate enough to cover the cost of the printing. ($1400) Maybe you would like to donate enough for the whole shebang! ($1850) For every $1850 we get that is marked for The Well Production we will be able to get an issue out. Wouldn’t it be nice to get out 6 issues this year? ($11,100) Sure, that’s alot of money, oh ye of little faith! With God, all things are possible!

There was a couple who took a trip to England to shop in a beautiful antique store to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups. Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked “May we see that? We’ve never seen a cup quite so beautiful.”

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, “You don’t understand. I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, “Don’t do that.” “I don’t like it!” “Let me alone,” but he only smiled, and gently said; “Not yet!”

Then WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. “Stop it! I’m getting so dizzy! I’m going to be sick!”, I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, quietly; ‘Not yet.’

He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself and then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. “Help! Get me out of here!” I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to side, ‘Not yet’.

When I thought I couldn’t bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool.. Oh, that felt so good! “Ah, this is much better,” I thought. But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over The fumes were horrible.. I thought I would gag. ‘Oh, please, Stop it, Stop, I cried. He only shook his head and said. ‘Not yet!’.

Then suddenly he put me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering “What’s he going to do to me next?”

An hour later he handed me a mirror and said ‘Look at yourself.’ And I did. I said, That’s not me; that couldn’t be me. It’s beautiful. I’m beautiful!!!

Quietly he spoke: ‘I want you to remember, then,’ he said, ‘I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you’d have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life.

If I hadn’t put you back in that second oven, you wouldn’t have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you.’”

The moral of this story is this: God knows what He’s doing for each of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us and expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect will.

So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life seems to “stink”, try this: Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest tea cup, sit down and think on this story and then, have a little talk with the Potter.

Remember to be thankful today and always, no matter what your circumstance!

June 1953 was hazy, hot and humid in the little coal mining village of Blackfield, PA. The only wood framed church did not have electric, water or gas. The longer days in June were perfect for traveling preachers to stop for “revival” meetings.

Our parents did not attend church, but we children did! I was 5, my sister Ann was 4, my brothers Tommy was 3 and Jim was 8.

We stopped in front of the church to see a very large man trying to squeeze thru the very narrow outhouse door! We howled and laughed till it hurt to see such a sight! He was surely picking splinters that night after church.

We hurried into the church, ran all the way to the front and sat in the little pews for the choir just right of the lectern. Suddenly, to our surprise, in walked the large man straight down the middle and only aisle to the front. I knew he was coming for me! He was the PREACHER!

When he gave the call to accept Jesus, I stood instantly! We were already in front of the church. I dragged my brother and sister with me. Oh, what joy…the greatest give of all, salvation thru the Christ!
The little white wood framed church still stands (about 25’x25’). The outhouse is still there. They both will pass away someday, but the free gift of God given on that day will never pass away! Glory be to God for Jesus!

As we are now into the winter season, I can’t help but notice the beauty of the flocked trees and the awesome flakes that fall from the sky. Did you know that each snow flake is different just like you and I? Although, I am one who appreciates all four seasons, I personally prefer spring, summer and autumn over winter. Winter however is a season the Lord has used to show me some revelation.

As autumn fades and winter comes, we see a dying off of the beautiful leaves. (Did you know that the leaves, at their brightest colors got there because of dying process?) I often look at the trees when all leaves have faded and think everything looks so dry and dead. All the beauty has gone.

We’ve all walked through seasons of winter in our lives, when things that once looked and felt so wonderful all of a sudden appear dry and dead. To the natural eye, it seems all beauty has faded until the snow comes and blankets everything. This is the winter in ones life. However Jesus Christ even in our personal seasons of winter, comes and blankets us with his precious Holy Spirit, covering us with his beauty and providing us rest, making us white as snow!

Oftentimes, we forget that in the winter when things look dead, it is actually a time of preparation for spring. The trees appear dead but life is still flowing in it. Flowers seem to fade but are actually preparing to bud again.

It is in these moments, that I sit and wonder what God will do next in the winter seasons of my life. One should not sit and complain about the winter seasons of life, but rather choose to walk through that winter season with wonder of what the Lord will do through you.

In the book of Psalms, we read of many winter experiences that David went through. In one verse he said “Yeah though I WALK through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” So even in his winter season of life he chose to walk, his heart filled with wonder of what God would do. What others may have viewed as death, David saw as a shadow. We must not despise the winter seasons that come, but rather allow God to use them to beautify us in his sight. So, today if you are walking in a winter wonder land, choose to walk in faith knowing God makes all things beautiful in his time! Even in seasons that are uncomfortable, there is still beauty to be found.

Prayer:
Lord I thank you for your presence in my life. I pray that each one reading this would feel Your presence surround them. I ask that as they walk through their season of winter, that they would not give up or give in, but rather walk in wonder of who You are! You are more than able to accomplish what concerns us today. May our hearts not be motivated to praise You by our present situations but may our hearts be motivated to praise You by the love we have for You. We ask this in Your precious holy Name, the name of JESUS! Amen!

Ron Jones went to church on Sunday morning. He heard the organist play an arrangement of “A Mighty Fortress is our God” and he thrilled to the majesty of it. He heard a young girl take a moment in the service to speak her simple moving message the difference her faith made in her life. He was glad to see the church was sharing in a special offering for the hungry children of Ethiopia. He especially appreciated the sermon that Sunday – it answered a question that had bothered him a long time. He felt a genuine warmth in the hearts of the people at worship and he thought as he walked out the door of the church, “How can a man come here and not feel the presence of God?”

BOTH men went to the SAME church on the SAME Sunday morning. Each found what he was looking for!

When he reached the usher, he removed his tattered old brown hat in respect. His hair was a long, dirty, tangled mess. He had no shoes on his feet, and wore only soiled, black socks.

The usher put his fingers to his nose and glared at the old man and said, “Ooh, I’m sorry sir, but I’m afraid we can’t let you in. You will distract the congregation and we don’t allow anyone to disrupt our service. I’m afraid you’ll have to leave.”

The old man looked down at himself and with a puzzled look on his face, he placed his old brown hat back upon his head and turned to leave. He was sad as he loved to hear the choir sing praises to the Lord. He loved to watch the little children get up in front of the church to sing their little songs. He carried in his pocket a small worn out Bible and loved to see if the minister preached a passage from the Bible that the old man had underlined. He was respectful enough and didn’t want to cause any commotion, so he hung down his head and walked back down the steps of the big brick church.

He sat down on the brick wall near the edge of the church yard and strained to listen through closed doors and windows to the singing going on in the church. Oh how he wished he could be inside with all the others. A few minutes had passed by when all of a sudden a younger man came up behind him and sat down near him. He asked the old man what he was doing.

He answered, “I was going to go to church today, but they thought I was filthy and my clothes are old and worn, and they were afraid I would disrupt their service. Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. My name is George.”

The two gentlemen shook hands and George couldn’t help but notice that this man had long hair like his. He wore a piece of cloth draped over his body tied with a royal purple sash. He had sandals upon his feet, now covered with dust and dirt.

The stranger reached out to touch George’s shoulder and said, “Hello, George, don’t feel bad because they won’t let you in. My name is Jesus, and I’ve been trying to get into this same church for years, and they won’t let me in either.”

“Just a minute,” answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940’s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase.

The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

“Would you carry my bag out to the car?” she said.

I took the suitcase to the cab, and then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”

“Oh, you’re such a good boy,” she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”

“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” she said. “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.”

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. “I don’t have any family left,” she continued. “The doctor says I don’t have very long.”

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. “What route would you like me to take?” I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.”

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. “How much do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into her purse.

“Nothing,” I said.

“You have to make a living,”she answered.

“There are other passengers,” I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

“You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,” she said. “Thank you.” I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life. We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

Webster could not possibly include all the filters we sift our feelings through that encompass how each of us defines love. Our definition of love can be so easily distorted due to everything from smothering affection to horrific abuse. For some love is about hanging in there at all costs and for others it winds up being about letting go no matter how much it hurts. For some love is completely nurturing, while for others it becomes about taking a difficult tough love stance.

Some hang on to one basic hope to get through and that is that God loves them, while others go through things that cause them to doubt God ever loved them at all. Different experiences, different definitions, different demonstrations shape and form, sometimes twisting and distorting what true love really is.

Ever had your love tested? I have. Some days I find myself on top of the world in love and others I find myself wondering whether I’ve ever loved or been loved at all. I’d ask if you’ve ever felt like that but assuming if you’re reading this you are human, I know you have. If you are in relationship with any human being there are issues that arise to test the depth of your feelings. It is easy to love someone when they fit the hidden checklist of our expectations. Don’t think you have that checklist? Time for a little self-examination and honesty, don’t you think? It’s also easy to love someone when they don’t act outside our invisible boundaries. When someone walks, talks and acts like we want them to, love comes easily. When they treat us the way we want to be treated, we eat them up. When they give us much and require little, love comes easily. But what happens the minute they step outside the boundary of our definition of love? What happens when we step outside the boundaries we’ve set for ourselves? We do that too and that’s where self-loathing or self-hatred sets in. It’s a crazy thing, this love and I truly believe the topic cannot be exhausted nor do I believe there are any two opinions exactly the same on the subject.

But, I will say this. As elementary a principle as it seems, I have one true belief. That pure love comes from Agape love, the love of God toward us. If we gain a true understanding and allow the truth of God’s love for us to become rooted in our hearts, the other branches of love will grow healthy and full. The heartaches we’ve experienced and the devastating pain that human love or lack of causes us will all be healed when we truly understand love from God’s perspective and from the perspective of Jesus who gave all in love toward us.

I John 3:16 says, “By THIS we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” It is simple – by this we know it and by this we should show it. The Word goes on to explain that if we have the goods of this world, see someone in need and shut up our hearts from them, we don’t get it. That means our material goods AND our ability to love another. If we do that, love, the God kind of love or Agape is not in us. I John 3:18-19 says, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.”

I know you’re hurting. I know that while on one hand you are loving and being loved, on yet another you are finding it hard to love and feeling extremely unloved and forgotten. That’s just how it is when you are human. God knew that. That is why he so carefully gave us His Word. He knew we’d need it along the way and we should refer to it often. It’s a little like refreshing yourself on game plays or taking a refresher course to boost your skills. Sometimes we just need to be reminded and set straight again.

Today, with all the many definitions of love and with all the loving and not loving that is going on in the world, I just want to remind you . . . By this we know love . . . He laid down His life for us and He says we should do the same for others. If you are doing that today, you cannot go wrong. If in the process you get hurt, remember it hurt him but look at the joy it brings Him every time we share His love with another! And if you’re feeling unloved today or wondering if God loves you, remember this . . . He laid down His life for you . . . laid it down, voluntarily, gave it up . . . for you.

Reprinted with permission from Angi’s blog: faithamidchaos.blogspot.com