Bible Study
This will give you the chills……..GOOD chills.
A young man had been to Wednesday night Bible Study.
The Pastor had shared about listening to God and obeying the Lord’s voice.
The young man couldn’t help but wonder, “Does God still speak to people?”
After service he went out with some friends for coffee and pie and they discussed the message.
Several different ones talked about how God had led them in different ways.
It was about ten o’clock when the young man started driving home. Sitting in his car, he just began to pray, “God…If you still speak to people speak to me. I will listen. I will do my best to obey.”
As he drove down the main street of his town, he had the strangest thought to stop and buy a gallon of milk.
He shook his head and said out loud, “God is that you?” He didn’t get a reply and started on toward home.
But again, the thought, buy a gallon of milk.
The young man thought about Samuel and how he didn’t recognize the voice of God, and how little Samuel ran to Eli.
“Okay, God, in case that is you, I will buy the milk.” It didn’t seem like too hard a test of obedience. He could always use the milk. He stopped and purchased the gallon of milk and started off toward home.
As he passed Seventh Street, he again felt the urge, “Turn Down that street.”
This is crazy he thought and drove on past the intersection.
Again, he felt that he should turn down Seventh Street.
At the next intersection, he turned back and headed down Seventh.
Half jokingly, he said out loud, “Okay, God, I will”.
He drove several blocks, when suddenly, he felt like he should stop. He pulled over to the curb and looked around. He was in semi commercial area of town. It wasn’t the best but it wasn’t the worst of neighborhoods either. The businesses were closed and most of the houses looked dark like the people were already in bed.
Again, he sensed something, “Go and give the milk to the people in the house across the street.” The young man looked at the house. It was dark and it looked like the people were either gone or they were already asleep. He started to open the door and then sat back in the car seat.
“Lord, this is insane. Those people are asleep and if I wake them up, they are going to be mad and I will look stupid.” Again, he felt like he should go and give the milk.
Finally, he opened the door, “Okay God, if this is you, I will go to the door and I will give them the milk. If you want me to look like a crazy person, okay. I want to be obedient. I guess that will count for something but if they don’t answer right away, I am out of here.”
He walked across the street and rang the bell. He could hear some noise inside. A man’s voice yelled out, “Who is it? What do you want?” Then the door opened before the young man could get away.
The man was standing there in his jeans and T-shirt. He looked like he just got out of bed. He had a strange look on his face and he didn’t seem too happy to have some stranger standing on his doorstep. “What is
it?”
The young man thrust out the gallon of milk, “Here, I brought this to you.” The man took the milk and rushed down a hallway.
Then from down the hall came a woman carrying the milk toward the kitchen. The man was following her holding a baby. The baby was crying. The man had tears streaming down his face.
The man began speaking and half crying, “We were just praying. We had some big bills this month and we ran out of money. We didn’t have any milk for our baby. I was just praying and asking God to show me how to get some milk.”
His wife in the kitchen yelled out, “I ask him to send an Angel with some. Are you an Angel?”
The young man reached into his wallet and pulled out all the money he had on him and put in the man’s hand. He turned and walked back toward his car and the tears were streaming down his face.
He knew that God still answers prayers.
THIS IS A SIMPLE TEST….? If you believe that God is alive and well, send this to at least ten people and the person that sent it to you!!!!!!!!
This is so true. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that God asks us to do that cause us, if we are obedient to what He’s asking, to be able to hear His voice more clear than ever. Please listen, and obey! It will bless you (and the world). Phil 4:13 This is an easy test, you score 100 or zero. It’s your choice.
If you aren’t ashamed to do this, please follow the directions. Jesus
said, “If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you before my
Father.”
Not ashamed Pass this on .
The border-less society.
We live in a brave new world. Illegals are crashing borders and demanding to go to the head of the citizenship lines with the broad stroke of a pin that our forefathers never dreamed of in their philosophies (Horacio.)
The outcries are coming from those who have had to jump the hoops to receive citizenship.
Other outcries are coming from employers who say no one else will take the kind of jobs that the Illegals do.
When I served in the Air Force during the 70’s I met people serving the military on the condition of citizenship from other countries. People have traditionally served our country or went to school and learn our language and passed the civics test, which was the minimum requirement to becoming a recorded citizen. It took time and hard work.
As a youth I have worked in the orchards, bucked hay, picked fruit, knock almonds by hand in young orchards, smudged orchards at 4 a.m. in the morning. I have mowed lawns and worked on construction projects, and I think that is a major segment of the jobs employers are claiming they can’t find labor in.
Your thoughts please….
The Future Of the Letter Carrier
They are controlling Rural Carrier start times, why? My best guess is they wish to lower the daily hours it takes to do our routes to lower the time standards. I’m sure somewhere they have been mandated to create a new “BUMP�? to prove we don’t deserve the pay we receive now. They also wish to control Christmas overtime.
It seems ludicrous that they would interfere with a rural route as long as that route is not exceeding 2080 hours per year. Older carriers who use more annual leave will in no way come near a 2080 problem.
Folks, they already have us at higher time standards than the city routes, (I.E. we have to case 10 flats per minute vs. city’s 8 flats per minute.) We have to work 20% faster and harder than our city counterparts and we are paid less per hour for the trouble.
City Craft:
8 Flats per minute.
480 Flats per hour.
4.8 feet per hour, (depending on density of flats per foot.)
City can negotiate daily volumes and cut mail or hand off a swing.
Rural Craft:
10 flats per minute.
600 flats per hours.
6 feet per hour, (depending on density of flats per foot.)
Rural Regulars have a clean case policy, (all mail goes daily.)
Uneven mail flow.
City gets penalty overtime, (aka double time,) where our overtime is built right in.
They are trying to milk the rural craft of everything possible while giving the city craft every benefit. We have momentum working in our favor, that is to say, we would like to finish our routes and go home, not having the clock hanging over our head, if we get done early we can go home. I’m sure there are some managers who look at that and wonder why they cannot use us when we are done on our routes, to carry a swing on another overburdened route.
Our route evaluations are determined by a count in the lowest revenue month of the year if you check the Postal Financial pages. This translates into the lowest mail volume, lowest parcels, lowest special class mails and lowest ad month of the year.
I was jokingly =) telling a fellow carrier that the next step in the evolution of the Post Office would be to drop the daily mail load in front of each carriers house the same way that the paper company does. I have no doubt this is in the future of the P.O. when blended flats become a reality. 