Are you tired of living a defeated Christian life? Why not check out this video.

Carol’s parents were divorced when she was two, and she never knew her father. Although she became a Christian at an early age, she could never see anything good that came out of her having to grow up in a broken home.  The hurt had always festered in her heart.

But now the hurt is healed.  God used an experience that happened while she was teaching fifth grade in a rural school.

Carol had a gifted, artistic boy in her class.  Mark loved to do bulletin boards and displays, and Carol developed a special feeling of warmth toward this creative child.

As the year progressed, however, she noticed that the lad seemed increasingly troubled about something.  It bothered her to see him gradually lose his enthusiasm for his creative work.

One day Mark came to see her after school and said, “I won’t be in school tomorrow.  I have to go to my grandmother’s.”

“Why?” Carol asked him.

“My parents are going to court to get a divorce,” he answered.  Then he started to cry.

Carol put her hand on his arm and said, “Mark, I know how much this hurts you.  My parents were divorced when I was not quite two years old, and it has hurt me a lot.  I never even knew my father.  But you have had yours with you for 11 years, and I’m sure he loves you and will keep in touch with you.  Just because your parents are getting divorced doesn’t mean you won’t have a happy life.  God has a purpose for your life, Mark.  And even though this has happened with your parents, someday you can have a happy marriage, just as I now have.”

After Mark left, Carol sat there at her desk.  Suddenly, she realized she was thankful she could use her experience to comfort Mark in a way she could not otherwise have done. She knew that God could bring good out of this bad experience by giving her the opportunity to help others.  She realized that many, like Mark, were suffering from the same emotional hurt as she had.  How wonderful it would be if her encouragement, support, and testimony would lift their hearts too!

That day Carol learned what God’s Word means when it says, “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). As she bowed her head and thanked God for the blessing He could bring from this unhappy dimension of her childhood, the resentment and pain she had carried for years began to dissolve and relinquish their hold.  Tears ran down her face–but they were tears of joy.

Thank you, Father God, that You redeem our lives. Amen.

Questions: How does the verse “Give thanks in all circumstances” apply to your life?  Do you have difficult experiences that have happened in your life that you need to thank God for?

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Want To Find Peace?

Approximately one in three American college students drops out.

By now, you’ve been at college/university for a few weeks. Maybe a trip or two back home, maybe not. Whether it’s your first year or your “final” year (hopefully this year will be the year!) sometimes school sucks.

And it’s not always the classes. I’d wager that a large part of the struggles people face at school have nothing to do with academics. Loneliness, depression, uncertainty, lack of direction … these distractions can cast their shadow over any academic success you can hope to achieve. If you feel like you just need someone to talk with about it, but aren’t sure your new friends (or old friends) will really understand, feel free to contact an online mentor to talk about it; it’s free and confidential, and they will reply to you in the next few days.

In the meantime, in the interest of helping you adjust to your new life at school, here are some articles that we hope will be helpful:

FROSH: Freshmen Survival Tips – Here are the top 10 survival tips for frosh; “Survival Advice for Life”

STRESS: 10 Ways to Manage Stress in College – Feeling stressed?!?! Some amount of stress during college will be unavoidable, but here are some ways to manage it better.

LONELINESS: How to Meet People in University: Conquering Loneliness – Tyrone, a Queens University student who says he’s “really shy when it comes to meeting people” explains some ways to conquer loneliness

SUCCESS: Get through Life Without Really Trying – Economics professor Douglas Allen of Simon Fraser University reveals his “secrets of success”

BELIEFS: What do you Believe, and Why? – University is a time to rethink our beliefs and determine if they cohere with reality. Maybe some of your struggles are the result of an inaccurate worldview?

Let us know how your university experience is going so far: Good or bad. What have you found unexpectedly wonderful? Surprisingly terrible? Enlightening? Disappointing? Let us know!

It’s back-to-school time … what, already?!

Yup, and whether you’re heading to university for the first time or coming back for your final year, you should be able to find an article here that will help you have a more enjoyable and productive school year.

From high school to grad school, there’s something here for everyone:

1) Decorating: Cheap Dorm Room Decorating Ideas
Make your dorm room feel like home without breaking the bank.

2) Newbies: Advice to Freshmen (First Year) Students
Don’t want to flunk first year? Here’s some good advice for first year students.

3) Dating: Fun and Affordable Date Ideas
Fun stuff you can do that you can pay for with what’s in your pocket right now.

4) Finances: How to Build Credit as a College Student
Build solid credit while avoiding the many dangers and perils of credit cards.

5) Studying: 10 Tips to Effective & Active Listening Skills
Stop falling asleep in those lectures and actually learn something!

6) Philosophy: Have you Ever Thought about the Beginning of the World?
University is a time to explore the “big questions” of life for yourself.

7) Food: Basic Recipes All Students Should Know
Ramen noodles don’t need to be your daily staple diet!

8) Community: Tolerance and Truth: Two important Virtues
Balancing these two ideals will be important for university success.

9) Love: What is True Love?
One of the most popular articles on the website: How do you define “true love”?

10) Freedom: What is True Freedom?
Is real freedom merely a lack of restraints? Or is it something much more important?

Are you searching for purpose in life? Take this Study.

“Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14).

The petite rancher’s wife seemed too gentle for the dry and rugged life of interior South America. Yet there she was, willingly working alongside her husband and making a good life for them and their children.  She was oblivious to the quiet peace and joy that radiated from her. This woman knew and depended on her God… and He was there to direct her.

The rural folks lived nearby, trying to make their own living on the dusty dry grasslands. The children especially touched this gentle woman’s heart. She prayed and pondered and spoke with her husband. It would be a big responsibility to start a school on the corner of their ranch. It would be costly and maintaining it would be difficult with little or no government support.

Still, the vision would not leave her. Education was the only chance these children would have to make a better life for themselves.  And she knew they needed Jesus. No one else was there to tell them of His love and His hope for their lives. Her husband donated a sheep and Maria gathered donations of items from interested friends and associates. She would hold a raffle.

And so the first funds were generated for the dream of a little school where children could learn to read and write and hear about the love of Jesus.

The first building to be erected was a small church. The little steeple with the cross on the top stood boldly out against the horizon. A traveling preacher passed by and offered to preach once a week. Little by little the small church acted as a magnet to draw interest and people, teachers and children, donations of food and help. Little by little a small band of interested people, led by the rancher and his wife, sacrificed their own resources to bring a school into being.

I had the privilege of standing in that little church with Maria and other women who, with their husbands, had also captured Maria’s vision and helped bring the school into being. We met the teacher and the pastor who, with his wife, are now house parents to 50 children. These children come from the surrounding area and spend their weeks learning of Jesus and how to read and write. Its taken time and the way has not been easy. Yet the little church has become an anchor in the area as families come and go bringing their children after the weekend and staying to hear of Jesus’ love for them.

A sign on the top of the church says “For the Glory of God Alone”.  The children and the pastor prayed with us as we stood in the hot afternoon sun. We presented a toy to each child. Many had never owned their own toy. They laughed and played and thanked us. Such treasures these children are.  Treasures in the sight of God the Father who loves their child-like faith and whose presence in their lives will change them forever.

All because one woman allowed God to touch her heart. One woman prayed and pondered.  One woman took a simple step of faith and began. Others caught the vision and came along. Today families in the area have a church and the children have a school…  all to the glory of God alone.

“Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14).

What is God stirring in your heart? Pray and ponder. Ask for His direction. Take a step of faith and begin.  Who knows what God wants to accomplish through that deep stirring in your heart. It will be all for the glory of God alone. Don’t miss the blessing of obedience.

Father God,
Your kingdom purposes are the things that bring true joy and satisfaction to my heart. Help me to pay attention to the small stirrings in my heart that come from You. Help me to obey. Whether it’s taking muffins across the street or building a school on a ranch, may Your Spirit speak to my spirit and together we will build the kingdom of God….. all for Your glory alone. I ask this, with expectation, in the powerful name of Jesus, amen.

Questions: Has God laid something on your heart but you are unsure of how to bring it to pass? What is stopping you from getting started? What would be your first step?

About the Author Gail Rodgers

Would you want a school nurse to give condoms to your 6 year old?

An article for the Boston Globe noted:

Grosso [committee chairman] said one member proposed limiting the policy to the high school, which serves seventh- to 12th-grade students, but he fought against it.

“I was the one who said, ‘Well, you never know,’ ’’ said the 64-year-old father whose two children graduated from Provincetown High School. “It’s very possible that a fifth- or sixth-grader would be getting involved in sexual activity.’’

I am not a parent, so claim no expertise here, but fifth- and sixth-graders? Really? Those kids are 10 and 11.  The vast majority of them are pre-pubescent.  What are they doing having sex?

I can understand the thinking behind the “they’re going to have sex anyway, might as well be safe” argument for teens.  I don’t agree with it, but I can see the line of reasoning.  But when it comes to elementary students we’re talking about children.  They should be playing tag and hopscotch, building forts and sandcastles.

The article does go on to say that if very young children ask for condoms the nurse will ask them some questions and most likely deny them:

But Singer assured critics that, despite the strict wording of the policy, its practical application will be more flexible, and that not every child who requests a condom will necessarily get one. For example, if a student in the early elementary school grades requests a condom, the nurse will ask the student a series of questions and almost certainly deny them, she said.

What I want to know is what happens next? Who will care for this child? If the school’s policy is not to tell parents when their children ask for condoms does that mean that no one will talk to these children?

I know that part of growing up is exploration, but not all destinations are good, not all locales are safe.  Are we harming these children in the attempt to keep them safe?

When is a child old enough to know about sex?

When I think back to my freshman year at university, it’s surprising that not one of my floormates dropped out of school.

Jackie Burrell of About.com reports on some sobering statistics regarding college drinking:

Drinks Per Week: The average male freshman … consumes 7.39 drinks – a bottle of beer, glass of wine, shot or mixed drink – per week, while the average female has 3.86.

Academic Impact: 31% of college students missed a class due to substance abuse, according to the Core statistics, and 22% tanked an exam or essay. And some 159,000 of the nation’s current freshmen will drop out of school because of alcohol or drug use.

Booze and Sex: Alcohol and sex make for a particularly unhealthy cocktail. Alcohol has been involved in 90% of all campus rapes – either the rapist and/or the victim were under the influence … 70% of college kids say they had unplanned sex – sex they wouldn’t otherwise have had – while under the influence, and 20% didn’t take precautions, even though they practice safe sex when sober.

Many bright young students enter this sort of environment unready for what they will encounter. One student who found this out the hard way was Tenisha Gainey. She didn’t enter college thinking she would become a prostitute, but eventually that’s what happened. After several semesters spent drinking and partying she was able to do what many unfortunately do not: Turn her life around. Read her story here to find out more.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction or other problems affecting their school success, or you fear that they will in the future, online mentors are available to talk with privately via email. Your emails will be kept strictly confidential but you will receive a personalized reply from an online mentor.