Living Life for Christ Alone

Pain. I’ve never gone looking for it and I’ve never seen it as an enjoyable thing in and of itself. I think we all can agree that this one four-letter word in our lifetimes -however short or long they have been thus far- has stirred up more doubts and questions about God than most other topics in the world. I have lived most of my life viewing pain as an enemy. Perhaps you have too. We weigh our decisions, the goals in our lives, the friends we will have, even whether or not we will come close to God by how much pain –emotional or physical- each choice will cost us. The majority of the world we live in has structured their lives around comfort and ease. Pain is not even an option. Nor is it a topic we really want to talk about. Not unless there is a way to avoid it. But today, I am going to talk about it. Maybe knowing this, you will close your webpage and read no further. That’s ok. This topic is not for the faint of heart. But if you are willing, God can give you g

Several months ago, I convinced myself that I needed my very own power tools. Seriously. ;)  The first power tool I intended to buy was a drill. I had all these visions of me being able to quickly fix some of the broken furniture I acquire for resale without too much hassle.  Finally the day came that Kevin and I went to Harbor Freight to buy that power drill that I had so long dreamed about. It was an exciting day when I first put it to use! However, the very first thing I had to do when I got the tool out was charge the battery, because it arrived home powerless.  I could push that trigger all day, but nothing would happen until that was done. Once it was charged, I could use it. But I could only use it so long before the battery died again. That’s the case with all battery-powered tools, or battery-powered anything. (Disclaimer: I am not- repeat, NOT- and expert with tools! lol)  When I was looking around at all the options, I noticed that there were also pow