Hi April, praying for you.  It is good if someone who has shown th emselves
to be a true friend turns out to be more, true friends are the best to have
in our lives, they are love in living practice.  They see us in the good
times, in the bad times, in the  in the middle times, and they are always
there.
Rhonda

-----Original Message-----
From: The Electronic Church [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of April Reisinger
Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2006 4:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Good morning everybody

Hi all,

Well, I am awake and ready for work.  While reading the mail, I noticed a 
few things on which I'd like to comment.

First, I'm thankful not to have been living as a woman in the early days 
because, having lost both of my children through miscarriage, I would not 
have fared well in men's eyes.  And, even today, I grieve for the children I

could have had but were withheld from me.  It's one of those anticipated 
blessings, I guess.

Brad, Peg from chat, was inquiring about you.  I told her you are still 
posting wisely.  Perhaps she'll join us again and we can have some more 
lively discussions.

Interesting about God being to us what we need most.  Yes, God can be more 
"deceiving" than we if for our own good.  It's not necessarily labeled as 
deceiving in His plan though--more like Sovereignty.  There is no other like

Him, and His ways are not our ways so He can accomplish what He will however

He will.  I believe that is one way He uses to draw me even closer when I am

so proned to wander.  One of my favorite lines in the hymn "Come Thou  Fount

Of Every Blessing" is "Prone to wander,
 Lord, I feel it!"  Don't you ever just feel yourself almost propelled in to

a wanderlust away from God?  Yet our loving Daddy God brings us back to Him 
time and time again.  Maybe when you think of Chris, Kathy, perhaps you can 
claim this hymn and it's inspiring words and ask God to bring your wandering

son back to Himself and to his family.

So Brad is the babler, well, I ramble.  One thing more, and I'm out the 
door.  Hahaha.  I have a friend who is changing my life.  It started 
innocently enough with a comment about a tender young love that, like so 
many, was prone to wander.  After many years, God has allowed me to learn 
that my friend is indeed a believer and loves Him with his whole heart. 
This friend began demonstrating God's love through his actions via spiritual

encouragement, financial support, and consistent friendship.  When I moved 
here to Columbus, he was there to help me.  When I had my apartment fire, he

even washed my clothes and kept charge of things around the house while I 
was in the hospital and nursing home.  He kept my doggie, the best friend I 
have on earth, for me.  He even cleaned my kitchen once when I was at work 
because I was too tired to keep up with things.  I went to a party to relax,

and he cleaned my home.  Now listen, he prays for me.  I have always been 
told that men should pray for their wives and I am not even his wife, but 
his prayers are a constant source of encouragement for me.  Haha, I got him 
hooked on the "Left Behind" books lately, and we've been reading and sharing

our oppinions of the characters and events.  Now what I'm getting at is 
this.  I have enjoyed his friendship for such a long time and didn't see 
things being any different.  I have tried to move away from him in this 
direction because I didn't think it was such a great idea under past 
circumstances.  Today I find myself still drawn to him as a friend but also 
drawn to him as a partner.  It is, I think, because of his patient, 
persistent caring that my feelings are changing.  I covet your prayers, 
because many of you know I haven't always made the best decisions in terms 
of companionship and friends and yes, lovers.  Jesus is the lover of my 
soul, and I am beginning to think my friend is truly the lover of my heart. 
As for the wanderings of the young ones and the noncaring partners, God's 
love can be translated in to action when we try to love as He does even 
during adversity.  I don't know why I went here today, but I did.  My friend

didn't even run from me the night I came home from the party to talk with my

boyfriend about where our relationship should go.  He was cleaning my 
kitchen when boyfriend and I walked in.  Talk about a tense moment, I 
thought I had lost both boyfriend and friend.  Well, the difference between 
the two is one is a boyfriend and the other is truly a friend.  The boy had 
a temper tantrum and hasn't trusted me throughout our entire relationship, 
and the Friend still cares and didn't run in the face of conflict.

Thanks for listening.
April