Ivy Sue and You

Our 20+ year old dining room floor has become very weak causing concern for sometime now. We finally decided to rip it out and replace it this weekend. We could tell where water had run under from heavy rains over the years compromising the integrity of the wood. Continually allowing moisture to reside near wood will inevitably lead to rot. We had to clear out the room, roll up the linoleum, remove the decking, reinforce the joists and add pillar supports; we then had to replace the decking and roll back the linoleum. It was a lengthy process but each step was necessary. Continually allowing sin to reside in a life will lead to rot. Ok, maybe your body won't rot away but your mental and emotional stability will. We cannot just ignore it and hope it will fix itself, had we done this with our dining room we likely would have fallen through the floor sooner or later. Removing sin from our lives is of high importance "bad company corrupts good character" 1 Corinthians 15:33. It may be a bit of a lengthy process but God will help with each step and He promises to restore you unto himself. "In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation." 1 Peter 5:10 NLT

Ball season has come to a close for us this year. Since April, we have been with these girls twice a week at practices and then games. We've taught them the basics of softball, like how to hit, field and throw the ball but the most important thing we try to teach them is good character. Our motto is "win or learn" meaning that in all situations we learn from them, good and bad; to hold their head high and keep a good attitude through it all. Last night, on our last game, negativity crept in, the other team said some ugly things and it really got to these sweet girls; they turned on each other, they said ugly things about each other; they played terribly because of it. Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:33 "Bad company corrupts good character" It is so important that we not allow negative influences to corrupt our good character, we must make sure we are encouraging, loving and kind to all so that

 1. We don't become the bad company ourselves and 2. So that when bad company comes around we have a defense against their schemes to attack us "Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good." Romans 12:21 ... We had a nice little "chat" the girls and I and I set them straight that this is not how they are to act and that their character means far more to me than winning a ball game, that they are a team and they should lift each other up and be kind... and guess what, they turned it around and played as a very strong team the rest of the game, we still lost but their heads were high and their character was restored. Proverbs 18:24 "There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother."