“I thought you would never ask,” I told my four year old son. His little feet got heavier and he looked like he wasn’t going to be able to take one more step.  Before I could even ask…his exhausted little arms reached up to me and he asked me if I would carry him.

It was the end of one of my most favorite days of my life.  I was our first “daddy son” baseball game. His little lips were blue from the raspberry slushy we shared, served in a mini-baseball hat. His innocent face had tiny streaks from the dirt that stuck to the sugar on his cheeks. We wore matching sunglasses, and he sat on my lap the whole game.  Our t-shirts were both marked with the evidence of the dollar hotdog special they had at the game that night and our mutual love for mustard on a hotdog. I realized it was going to be a moment that I would never be able to repeat. His little mind was swirling with questions the whole game. “What is that guy doing with that club in his hand.?”  “Why is that guy standing over there?”  “What is he doing with his hands?”  “Why are they running?”

It truly was one of my favorite times as a father.

Moments like that give me deeper insight into possible emotions that God our Father feels for us. God could have named Himself anything really…after all…He is God.  He could have just said – “I am God your keeper” or “God your provider”. But, he went farther to describe himself as “God our Heavenly Father”. Perhaps to give me a point a reference to personally understand the depth of his love for me and how much he cares for me. Perhaps to help me understand that some of the trials in my life are there not to hurt me but to teach me and prepare me like I use a lesson to teach and prepare my son while still having a deep love for him.

But something about that baseball game helped me to make the emotional connection. I thought to myself, “I could not love this little boy more.  I would die for him.  I would do anything to keep him close to me forever…” Hmmm…that was beginning to sound very familiar. When he got too tired to walk back to the car, I wanted to carry my son.  I was going to ask, but I wasn’t sure if he wanted to walk or not. So, I just prepared myself to swoop him up and carry him the rest of the way to the car. But then he DID ask.  I felt no shame for him when he asked. Why would I? I felt no disappointment in him. There was just an overwhelming love that translated itself into joy and a smile on my face as I leaned down and gently lifted his small body into my arms and I said to myself as I wrapped my arms around him, “I thought you would ever ask”.

Don’t ever feel ashamed of your weakness. Don’t ever feel convicted that you might need to look up to your Heavenly Father and ask Him to carry you the rest of the way to safety.  If He feels anything like a father, and I KNOW He does (He’s the Father of all fathers), He is already leaning into you and getting ready to swoop you up and thinking to himself “I thought you would never ask.”

The setting? The grocery store parking lot. The time? After work. Allow me to first admit that I don’t like to grocery shop at any hour of the day. Therefore, on this particular day – after work – the timing of the “incident” was not particularly the best.

Picture a baseball game…3 strikes and you’re out! For me, “strike one” was my dislike of grocery shopping, in general. Strike two…grocery shopping after work when I was tired. As for strike three, I was forced to face an angry lady in the parking lot. You see, I took her parking space.  I didn’t mean to take it, but as I pulled into the space head-first, there she was about 12 feet away in her SUV coming down the lane glaring at me.  She had her sights on the same parking space I had just pulled into.  For a brief moment, my thought was that maybe I should back up and let her have the space. However, that thought quickly vanished, as my second thought told me it would be an unsafe move since I could possibly back into someone who might be pulling in behind me.

As I tiredly went into the store and began my shopping, I hoped I wouldn’t see her, and if she saw me, she wouldn’t recognize me.  Of course neither of those two options happened and I’m sure I wasn’t imagining it, but I think she actually hunted me down until we finally faced off around the bananas.  She had to promptly let me know I almost caused an accident which would have been my fault had it not been for her kind “allowance” of me to have that parking space.  My first thought was, “who died and left you the parking lot patrolman?”  I tried to ignore her but I could tell she just HAD to have a reaction from me.  I certainly wasn’t going to apologize because I KNEW I had done nothing wrong and why didn’t she just leave me alone when I was tired and hated grocery shopping anyway?  Finally, I said something rather sarcastically like, “I guess I should thank you for sparing my life by not hitting me headlong in that parking space when I was already there and unless you were blind, it would have been YOUR FAULT! “  (Not my exactly words but close enough to what I felt like saying.)

After I left the store, tired and steaming at her gall, I remembered the 106.9 the Light window decal in my back window.  I wondered if she saw it.  The next morning when the incident kept plaguing me, I couldn’t help but ponder what she would think if she knew I was a Christ follower.  That I claim to know Jesus, love Him, and desire to live a life that represents who He is.  Whether or not I was in the right or the wrong in that parking lot incident, my reaction to her actions was wrong.  After confessing this terrible reflection of mine to my Savior, I have been thinking about how I need to “react” the next time I encounter another angry person.  Hopefully, it will be with more grace, forgiveness, and love.  After all, if He – “who knew no sin,” can forgive me, can I do any less for those who I think wrong me?

—-Even if it is after work at the grocery store.

Whenever spring rolls around, I’ll always think of Sophie.

She’s our cat. A cat that enjoys making an occasional break for greener grass (literally) through windows left open or a door closed too slowly. And an escape by Sophie is sure to kindle a blaze o’drama in our youngest daughter.

One springtime Sunday, the tranquility of the afternoon was shattered by my wife’s yells to come inside…quickly. It seemed Sophie had broken free and Lucy was a bit over-zealous in her “rescue” of the cat.  Hobbling on the living room floor while offering up an almost growl-like purr, Sophie had a hind leg 45 degrees perpendicular to her body, pointing straight to her right. If that sounds biologically incorrect, you’re correct.

Off we go to the only emergency animal clinic open on Sundays in two counties. In the possession of a clearly damaged cat after-hours, this was bound to cost.

After a couple of x-rays, the Veterinarian studied Sophie a moment, then left the examination room to returned with a manual of sorts, as thick as a Big City phone book.  Canvassing the pages with his index finger, the Vet finds what he’s looking for. Sophie’s toes…all of ‘em…have to be reconnected, and the bone is broken above the joint where the foot connects to the leg.

Surgery, for sure. And his best guess on my next question:

Twenty-three hundred dollars.

My first thought the instant he uttered the figure was, “What’s the return-on-investment on a cat almost 11 years old? I mean…maybe it’ll live to 14-15…tops.” But that thought of a quick end for Sophie quickly evaporated. I could never go there.

Glancing at my wife, she gave me that I-know-what-you’re-thinking; you-know-what-I’m-thinking look. In tandem, we rationalized “I’ve seen dogs and cats with three-legs get along just fine. What if they just remove it? They adapt!”

As we drove home, we talk about what to do with Sophie. The conversation about amputation didn’t go long before I thought, “Naw…we can’t do that. We’d all feel terrible. Every time we saw her, there’d be that reminder. That space under Sophie’s body where a fourth leg should be: first time she jumps up somewhere and misses ‘cause the leg’s gone…wow.” Sophie the three-legged cat would be a constant reminder of our selfish decision.

Come to think about it…..we all have three-legged cats in our lives already. Those reminders of unwise, sin-driven decisions, living on and on like some three-legged cat, roaming the house showing off its fate, all because of our me-centered decision.

Of course, we’re forgiven of the sins that create three-legged cats. Jesus Christ paid for those while on the cross. But, as we know, we still have to deal with the consequences. And those ramifications weigh us down spiritually, emotionally and can even blunt our effectiveness in being Christ-like to the world.

As we continue our growth as a follower of Christ, may we acquire a distaste for things that leave behind three-legged cats. We already have the spirit’s in-dwelling to be acutely aware of avoiding decisions that give birth to those creatures. In Romans chapter 6, verse 11. Paul shares “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Then in verse 14: “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under the law but under grace.”

In Chapter 7, Paul takes a look at the three-legged cats he creates. Doing what he shouldn’t do and not doing what he should.

Then in chapter 8, verse 5: “…but those that live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace.”  Life and peace, it seems, can only flourish with a minimum of three-legged cats in our lives.

As Paul says, the spirit gives pause to avoid those things that defile and deflect from the glory of God, making us less effective.

Three-legged cats can live a l-o-n-g time. Fear them. And give praise to God for He has provided the answers to avoid them. By the way – Sophie is alive and well. With all four legs.

From one Sunday to another…7 days…1 week…an awful lot can happen in just a week. During April 2012, we experience April 1^st – Palm Sunday – to April 8^th – Easter Sunday or Resurrection Day.

So much happened… it is shockingly surprising.

People gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover feast. They wondered if Jesus would come to Jerusalem to the feast knowing that He was a wanted man, had been conspired against, threatened, lied on, and was accused of coming to set up His kingdom and take over being King of Israel, King of the Jews.

The authorities sought to kill Him. While some wanted to kill Jesus, others who found out Jesus was coming to Jerusalem planned a praise party using palm branches and their clothes to honor Him as they cried out words of honor… “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” “Blessed is the King of Israel!” (John 12:13) And so it was the palm branches by which the name, Palm Sunday, was derived.

I thought about that. Some of the people who praised Jesus with palm tree branches on Sunday wind up using the palms of their hands to disrespect Him, wound Him, and try to destroy Him just days later. From Sunday to Friday…a palm branch was in the palms of many hands to celebrate Jesus. Now in the palms of other hands are weapons, whips, swords, chains, and a fighting spirit.

The palm branches were made by Jesus, the Creator as John 1:3 says… “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” Now this same Jesus, the Creator, who made the palm of our hands is arrested, and feels the palms He made striking His face, wounding Him, slapping Him. The praise is silenced! The hate is tumultuous! Those hands platted a crown of thorns and placed it on Jesus. Tried Him all night long. Pounded the gavel sounds and declared Jesus “guilty!” Sentenced Him to die, drove nails in His hands, nails or spikes in His feet…grabbed a spear and pierced Him in His side, handed Him gall and vinegar for His thirst, slapped His face, and were just about to break His legs when they found out He was already dead.

He is buried three days like He said…but then He rises from the dead and proves he is the Messiah, the Christ, Jesus, the Son of God, our Savior, our Redeemer, and Lord and most of all…our Forgiver! He holds no grudges, anger, malice, nor hate!

And…He brings another look at the word PALM…Isaiah 49:16 says the Lord has engraved us on the palms of His hands! That means, He will not forget us nor lose us but will comfort us, love us, and return for us as He promised!

This season of worship called Easter should be a time when we all take inventory to see what we’re doing with these hands of ours.

What am I holding and how am I using my hands?

Am I helping or hurting someone?

Am I pulling someone up that’s down or am I the one who pushed them down?

If nothing else…I would be proud to wrap my palms around a palm branch and wave Jesus a praise right now for all He has already done for me!

I’m Louis Grant…waving my PALMS of PRAISE to JESUS! YES, both hands (1 Timothy 2:8) “I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands of prayer, without anger or disputing.”

Additional scripture references: Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, and John 12:12-15

I love working outside in the yard and garden. Digging in the dirt and pulling weeds is something that brings me a lot of joy. In early March, with coat and gloves on, I was doing some pre-spring cleaning outside. The sun was shining, the sky was a cool blue, and I gazed around to look at the winter beauty God created.

Most all of the hardwood trees were completely barren of leaves, but there was a tree with brown leaves still left all over it, even through cold winds, rain and some snow of winter. I stood there and thought, “Why is that? Why are there leaves on that tree?” I know that same tree is full of green leaves in the summer so I couldn’t understand how the brown, basically dead leaves, could still be hanging there, as if they are comfortably hanging on permanently?

Now I know there are probably horticulturalists that can give reasons for the leaves being there. But, as I stopped to think about how odd it appeared for the tree to keep dead leaves for so long, I began to ponder something about my own life…how I tend to hang onto the dead weight in my life and how at other times I have become almost comfortable with the sin in my life. Why is that?  This verse from Romans came to my mind I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (Romans 7:15, NIV1984)

Just like a don’t understand why the tree in my yard keeps its dead leaves in the winter, I also don’t understand why I just can’t stop doing what I don’t want to do. But… just like the tree eventually drops those leaves and grows new green ones,  I, too, while spending time with the Lord and growing in my relationship with Him will drop my “dead leaves” or things I do that I know I shouldn’t and begin to do more of the things that please God…ultimately bringing new life for me.

Isn’t that refreshing to know the more time I spend with the Lord the more “dead leaves” I will be able to drop?

Thank you God for the grace and mercy you give to me.

Within moments, I was completely surrounded by the body of Christ. Having just slumped to the floor following the news that had just been delivered to me of my husband’s tragic death, I felt the hands of treasured friends and my church family comforting me in the only ways they knew how in the moment. The rest of that evening was much of a blur for me, but I remember people being everywhere – preparing food, greeting visitors, helping me with decision making.

As the days went on, the support continued. If the house needed cleaning, someone took care of that. If my daughter and I needed to eat, people made sure we were fed. When a bank deposit had to be made, a friend drove it to the bank. Basic supplies – toilet paper, napkins, and cleaning supplies – were abundantly brought in. Cards and flowers were in continuous supply. Ladies would spend the night at my house to keep me from being alone at night.

The days turned into weeks and then months. I never saw the body of Christ respond to need as I have since that dreaded day – May 4, 2011. While my husband was present with the Lord in Heaven, my daughter and I were left behind to unfortunately pick up the pieces of our newly fragmented life. Thankfully, we didn’t have to do it alone, as so many often have to do.

Recently I re-read the following passage from the book of Acts:

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. ~Acts 4:32-35

That’s how it’s supposed to be friends! Whether it’s following the death of a loved one, job loss, illness, financial distress, loneliness, a move across the country, following a cancer diagnosis, during a difficult pregnancy, in preparation for a mission trip, after a newborn comes home or simply “just because”…believers are called to behave in “one heart and mind”.

We see evidence of this more often in third-world countries today…villages and communities taking care of each other even within their scarcity. Sadly, with the fast-paced lifestyle in which many of us live in the United States, we don’t stop long enough to get out of our own little world to care for the hurting around us. All of us have something to offer.

We may be financially poor, but we have arms that can offer a hug to a lonely widow or widower.

Our time might be swallowed up with meetings, but we can call in a pizza for delivery to the home of the stressed out single-mom down the street.

Maybe we have been abundantly blessed with a vacation home that we can offer to the family that has just been through a year of chemotherapy for one of their loved ones.

Perhaps someone just needs a listening ear, and we can make a weekly phone call to share our love and concern.

For me, cards and flowers are my “love language” and tend to put a smile on my face – how many others would be cheered up by such a simple act of love?

The list is endless…just ask God to show you the people He wants you to minister to today or this week or this year. He’s created us to be one in heart and mind. As soon as we open our eyes to the needs around us and act in response to those needs, we will be the ones most blessed indeed!

“There’s only grace.  There’s only love.  There’s only mercy and believe me, it’s enough.  The sins are gone…without a trace.  There’s nothing left now, there’s only grace.”

- Matthew West “Only Grace”

What a great song.  Such beautiful words from Matthew West.  You may even have nodded your head in agreement as you read them – yes, Lord…thank you for your grace.

But…

Do you truly believe those pretty words that Mr. West worked so hard to put together?

Do you truly believe that God’s grace is enough??

Do you truly believe that God’s grace is enough to get you through the times you don’t have enough money and you still need gas or groceries?

Do you truly believe that God’s grace is enough to get you through the illness you’re facing?

Do you truly believe that God’s grace is enough to get you through your day with the boss who’s always barking at you?

Do you truly believe that God’s grace is enough to help you quit looking back at all that stuff you did in your past?

Do you truly believe that His grace really is enough to drown out the lies you tell yourself every morning that keep you from achieving your goals?

We all doubt that.  God’s grace was enough to bring us through that one thing, but we might have an apprehension about this one thing.

Here’s the truth: God’s grace is enough to cover us.

All of us.

The broken.

The broke.

The drug addict.

The lost.

The lonely.

The thief.

The murderer.

The liar.

The broken-hearted.

His grace is enough to cover those who know Him and those that don’t.

God’s grace is more than enough to cover those who stumble and those who walk gracefully with Him.

It is only by God’s amazing grace that you and I are even drawing breath right at this very moment.

Don’t forget how big God’s grace truly is today.

Especially when you have to deal with a difficult person at work.

Or that one person you know who is so radically different from you.

Maybe it’s just a stranger who’s a challenge to your day.

God’s grace is given in abundance to them.

Just.  Like.  You.  And.  Me.

Now, I’m not saying this “extending grace to others” thing is a piece of cake – sometimes one of the hardest things to do is give a little grace to someone you just want to slap real hard.  “They don’t deserve that kind of grace!!” you think to yourself.

But, remember, kiddo…neither do I…nor do you.

Yet, we are given such healing grace – freely and abundantly – every single moment of our lives.

This is the hardest one for me to wrap my head around: if God gives His grace to me, what makes it okay for me to give grace to someone or to withhold it from them?  We’re not any better than God, are we???

Why do we, as humans, judge who is truly worthy of God’s grace and mercies…and who is not???

I went to church one day and a couple of real “rock-a-billy” kids came to visit.  They were church hunting, and they were seriously the cutest couple and I was SO excited to see them there – everyone looked so homogenous next to them…AND they were Christ Lovers!  Woo hoo!!

But you know what I noticed more than that young couple?  The fact that so few people in the congregation went out of their way to welcome them to church that morning.

Those kids were different.

They were very different looking.

They had tattoos.

And they even had some piercings!

Oh, the humanity.

So, by mere looks alone, some of our “good church goers” decided those two different-looking kids weren’t worthy of so much as a “Hello!” or even a simple “Welcome!”!!!

Where was the grace that morning – right there in the church foyer?

Harder to find than Waldo, I tell ya.

Let’s say, for grins and giggles, that our little “different couple” had shown up for worship in beige suits.  Would their change in clothing somehow have qualified them enough to be acceptable for even a hint of God’s mighty grace?

Moses was a murderer, you know.

He killed a guy because he didn’t think the guy was treating his friend too nicely.

Moses thought no one saw what he did, and he thought it was all good since he didn’t think anyone saw him kill that guy.

But, the problem is: people did see what Moses did.

But worse than THAT…God saw it.  God saw that Moses was a murderer.

Yet, in spite of it, Moses was still worthy of God’s grace.

So much so, in fact, that God used Moses in a pretty mighty way.  (You might remember a little chat with some flaming shrubbery and a couple of little rock tablets he brought down after a hike up the mountain.)

In our eyes, we would have easily determined that Moses was NOT deserving of God’s grace.  And we would have made sure he would NEVER have been used to do something great after such a crime as murder!

But, God knew Moses.

And he knew his heart.

God knows my heart.

And God knows your heart.

He knows the heart of the guy who was rude to you in traffic today.

He knows the heart of your boss that humiliates you in front of everyone for being ten minutes late.

He knows the heart of the woman making a scene at the customer service desk.

He knows your heart.

Especially when you feel like Moses – like you’re a complete and total failure and hope no one else sees the truth.

He knows.

In spite of all He knows about you, God still loves you.

He just wants to wrap you up in His huge, warm blanket of grace and cradle you in His arms until you feel better about your place in His plan.

No, life isn’t pretty.

And extending grace to some people – especially a “Mr. or Mrs. Difficult” you don’t even know – isn’t easy.

But just try today to make your Father happy by showing a little grace to someone…maybe you could just start in one teeny, tiny, little, itty-bitty portion of your day.

Even if it has to be the person who took the last chocolate-glazed donut AND the last drop of coffee.

“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.” (Philippians 4:12b, NIV1984) Wow – that Apostle Paul sure sets the bar high, doesn’t he? I think I would be content, through and in Christ, regardless of what comes my way. But, would I, really? A year ago, when my marriage was in danger, was I content? Nope. But, did I cling to my Daddy in Heaven? Absolutely. Ten years ago, when my then 22 year old daughter was critically ill, could my emotional state have been classified as “content”? No way. Did I crawl up into God’s lap and hang on to Him for dear life, more frequently than usual? You’d better believe it!

It’s so easy to look for loopholes.

But, God! Paul was talking about being poor. And hungry. He doesn’t say anything about being content when your marriage is in shambles or when your sweet daughter is hospitalized for 63 days. Surely you don’t expect me to be content THEN, do You?

Of course, those justifications come spilling out of my sense of not quite measuring up. Feelings of being spiritually inadequate. Just in case I wasn’t up to par in the contentment area, I’m gonna convince God that, technically, it wasn’t a requirement in my particular situation. “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation” (Philippians 4:12b, NIV1984). Grrrr….Paul. For real??

When I finally stop debating God and begin listening to Him, He fills me with His sweet reassurance. And, I reexamine those dark times, remembering the peace He placed in my heart. Is that only because He made everything all better, allowing my daughter (for the most part) to recover? And, because He brought healing to my marriage? I’m not sure. As with each of us, I continually ask Him not to take a loved one from me. Through any means. I watch, in awe, as two of my friends and co-workers continue in life after losing someone very, very close to each of them. And I wonder….what would I do? Could I be accepting and content if I lost my spouse or my child? “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13, NIV1984) Yet, here I sit, saying “Please God, oh please never put me to the test. Take me Home before you ever decide one of my babies or my husband needs to come live with You in Heaven.”

I’m sure that’s human nature. And, I’m just as certain that Satan uses those doubts and fears in making me question the depth of my faith. Obviously, there is always room for improvement. Yet, Satan likes to make us feel as though we’re complete failures. And, so many times, we’re willing participants in his quest. What our Heavenly Father wants us to do is simply to trust Him. Trust Him with our spouses, children, and grandchildren. Trust Him with our own health. Trust Him with our homes and jobs and cars and bank accounts. When we arrive at that place, we find true contentment.

They experienced all of the joy and excitement that comes for every parent. A few minutes after Michael Aaron’s birth the doctor said he was concerned.

It turns out that this new bundle of joy is facing Down’s Syndrome. Aaron Shust spent some time with Jerry Woods talking about how their family is experiencing a little bit of fear and a lot of joy in their new journey in life.

Catch the entire interview here.

Horizons II --$600.00 painting stolen from a Washington gallery.

It’s a scene right out of a Mission Impossible movie.  Two men scale the roof of the Matter Art Gallery in Olympia, Washington.  They cut a hole in the skylight, and then rappel to the gallery floor.  They take two huge paintings, and then make their escape.  One painting, “Tribute to the Concussed Skier”, is worth $800.00 and the other is worth $600.00.   These thieves put all this time and thought into the robbery for $1,400 dollars worth of art, when there were other pieces worth much more!

Gallery owner Jo Gallaugher said, “The pieces they chose are pieces that are most often admired by men in their 20s.”  Ouch!  Basically she said that they didn’t have mature tastes, that they didn’t know what great art looked like, or both.

The same might be said for us as people who live on a fallen planet.  We look for value in a whole lot of things.  Those things might include money, fame, power and owning the latest stuff.

I’m reminded of the rich young man in Matthew 19 who came to Jesus and asked, “What must I do to be saved?”  Jesus answered by telling him, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and your mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 19:16-22, NIV)

The young man responded by saying that he had kept all of those commands since he was a little boy.  He wanted to know what he still needed to do.  Jesus said, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then, come and follow me.” 

The Bible says the young man went away very sad because he had a lot of wealth.  He traded in a chance to spend not only this life with Jesus, but eternity as well for to keep a lot of money!

We may look at him at say he made a horrible choice, but I wonder how many of us make the same choice on a regular basis.  There are so many things that look good to us on the surface.  That new 60-inch, 3D TV, newest Apple toy or a vacation to Europe are all pretty appealing.  A huge house with a pool in the backyard, and an expensive luxury car in the garage would make us feel like we’ve got it made!  Or would they?  Someone once said that if money made people happy, then there should be a whole lot more happy people.

While some of these things might satisfy, that satisfaction is short-lived.  At the end of the day, nothing this world can offer is worth very much.  That TV will break.  That vacation to Europe will end.  That home will have to be kept up, and the car will be replaced by a newer model.  The only thing that holds up to eternal value is a relationship with the one who made every good and perfect gift, Jesus!

You can have $1,400 hundred dollars worth of paintings or you can have every masterpiece ever painted and personal relationship with the one who inspired every work of art.  Don’t settle for the junk.