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| November 1, 2005
Joy Over One
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Many Christians have succumbed to the false notion that their witness to one individual doesn't count for much. But that certainly isn't supported by what we read in the Gospels. Even though Jesus' public ministry was limited to a little more than 3 years, He was never too busy to deal with one person at a time.
It's true that Jesus preached to multitudes in Judea, fed 5,000 people gathered by the Sea of Galilee, and ministered to the large crowds in Capernaum. Yet He never lost sight of the value of one soul!
We are encouraged when we read of His conversation at night with one man named Nicodemus (John 3); of His visit with one woman at a well in Samaria (John 4); and of His personal interest in one man named Zacchaeus, who had climbed up into a sycamore tree to get a better look at the Lord (Luke 19). How thrilled he must have been when Jesus singled him out of the multitude and said, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house" (v.5).
If you are ever tempted to minimize the value of your personal, individual witness to a single soul, remember Jesus' example. The Bible says there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. —Richard De Haan
Never underestimate the value of a single soul.
Thanks Billie, now I will never get to work. I'll be thinking about Hawaii all day....dreaming...and knowing it is a short plane trip away.
This is gonna be a looong week!
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Aloha!
Beautiful place to visit but we sure didn't care much for living there back in '69. We were living in Kailua, Kona on the Big Island.
My first visit to Hawaii was aboard the cruise ship USS Piedmont (AD-17). :)
Never could get to Hawaii, but - - *I SENT A PROXY!!* LOL
My son, Kevin, a military brat until age 14, enlisted in the Army with a goal in mind of obtaining help to get a college degree.
He excelled in Basic Training, earning Top Honors, and given the career field for which he'd applied - training to be an air traffic controller. Assigned to Ft. Rucker, Alabama for the basic FAA course, he married his sweetheart in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Completing that introductory course, his orders were for Schofield Barracks in Hawaii!
In his 4 military years, he never had to play Army games or suffer - strictly FAA training, and even managed to complete his college courses except for 13 credit hours.
The last year in was at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, where he was given a commendation (and grateful letter from the pilot!) for bringing in a civilian pilot flying from Florida to Michigan; utterly lost in fog without instruments to facilitate navigating in the pea soup skies. Kevin managed to locate him and bring him down safely on his military airfield.
After discharge, he returned to Florida and completed the 13 hours for his degree, and applied to FAA for a position...bad timing, for that is when President Reagan was warring with the air traffic controller unions and froze hiring.
Kevin enrolled to get his Masters in Business Administration at the University of Florida, to begin in September, but in August the union controllers were out of a job, hiring freeze lifted, and he was in a wide open field, stationed in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and later West Palm Beach.
He advanced to being a Supervisor and then on staff as a Trainer, and one year took over management of the tower in Ft. Pierce for a whole year when the Tower Manager there was let go.
After 9/11 he was offered a sidestep into the new Transportation Safety Agency - TSA.
With uncertainty in FAA, considering now going to the outside for contract controllers rather than government employees, he chose to protect his government years, able to remain right at WPB, and needed a new challenge.
He is in charge of training the trainers for security handling, has 23 years government service; and can retire in 4 years.
Returning to the subject of Hawaii, it is *especially" dear to me -
my first grandchild, a grandson, was born in Hawaii in 1978!
B.J. is now 27, in Air Force Communications in Colorado Springs, Colorado...
A beautiful thread, Miss Billie ... thank you ... )
Sounds like you had a little trouble bringing it all together, but it sure looks flawless to me. I especially like the girl in red, the way you've framed it, and the embossed "Hawaii" ... very nice.
I've never been to the islands ... maybe someday I'll get lucky enough ... kinda think I'd like it there.
Good afternoon, Billie. Good job!
Great thread. I would love to go there and while away the days lying on the beach with a darling beach boy to attend to my every need and desire...
Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Beautiful thread, Billie! Thank you. :-)
Great Post Billie. Looks like my kind of place, hope to go there one day.
I am so happy to go back to Hawaii, Billie! You don't have to ask me twice (well, I guess you did, since I was awol yesterday, LOL). Your presentation is beautiful, and I still can't quite get over that gradient background. I am as impressed as I was the first time you posted it. :-)
It's been about 15 years since we visited there, time to go back again.
For those who haven't been to Hawaii and are planning a trip, I would recommend the Polynesian Cultural Center if you are interested in the history of the islands....
It is located in the northern part of Oahu. And, while there, take a glider ride over nearby Sunset Beach. It was the highlight of our visit. :-)
Now, I think I will find a beach chair and sip a Mai Tia.
