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Friday, May 8, 2015
Donegal Springs
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can
continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is
accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and podcast listeners. See here
for more information on supporting this
ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.
Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
© Copyright 2015 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
<Previous Message Next Message>
Friday, May 8, 2015
Donegal Springs
"As For Me And My House"
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player.
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve; … but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:15).
Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day in our area. In the late afternoon our new Zimbawean friends showed up on their bikes. After dinner over we took them on a long bike ride/walk over to the Cameron Mansion at Donegal Springs, about two miles from our home. It is so green with so much budding, flowering, and new life popping up everywhere as we walked. We passed many scenes of new life; a freshly mown hay field, several geese couples with their gosslings, a very loud kildeer sitting on her mottled eggs, the children outside running barefoot.
It's a time I call "young spring". As we walked through the mansion grounds I said to Brooksyne, "Wouldn't it be great if we could just freeze this season in time", meaning keeping everything just like it is. But of course we can't do that. God has ordained seasons. The "young spring" will soon become mature summer, then the first signs of autumn will become late autumn, followed by the chilling apparent deadness of winter.
In life we may want to freeze certain seasons of life, but we can't! Today we consider two events that were at the "young spring" of our lives.
Thirty-nine years ago today Brooksyne and I stood on the platform of a church in the Indian town of Sapulpa Oklahoma and pledged our love to each other in holy matrimony. It has worked out beautifully and for that we are most grateful.
Also on this date 36 years ago I was ordained to gospel ministry across the Susquehanna River in York, PA although we lived about 200 miles away at the time in northern Pennsylvania. The other night we attended an ordination service in Reading, PA and the solemn ceremony reminded us once again of the sacred calling God has placed on both of our lives. Though Brooksyne has not chosen to have a ministerial license or ordination she has worked alongside me in our ministry since our days of dating in Bible College. In fact our calling to ministry led us both to Bible College right after high school where we met in 1973.
We were young when we married, 21 for Stephen and 20 for Brooksyne. We had one year of college left but began serving right after our honeymoon in a small rural church outside of Springfield, MO. We recall for a number of years being "that young couple". Now people of that age look like kids to us! Some seasons are esepcially happy, the kind you want to freeze in place, others are "hurry up and get us out of this".
Thank God by His grace we have stayed faithful to each other and to our Lord Jesus Christ. We've sure had our disappointments, tears and sorrows. Like anyone running the spiritual race we've had trials. In our 25 years of pastoral ministry we were been bitten a few times by the sheep. But we've also met lots and lots of people along the way who have blessed us greatly, including quite a few who are on this "Daily Encouragement" list.
When our family prays together we often conclude by reciting the daily verse. Joshua first uttered these words some 3,300 years ago after leading God's people into the Promised Land, shortly before his death. His final sermon was a challenge to faithfulness and included this solemn affirmation of his own faith.
"Choose you this day": I am struck by the significance of the words "this day" in the text. Certainly on the one hand it conveys a momentous decision to serve the Lord when we first believe and choose to follow Him. However in another sense it's an ongoing, regular, habitual day by day choice to "this day" serve the Lord. After all, Joshua had chosen to follow the Lord many years before he made this call to the people. He surely wasn't making the choice for the first time!
We believe it's that way in our walk with the Lord and our walk with our spouse. Thirty-nine years ago we made a public declaration of my love and commitment to each other in marriage. That was a big day for us. But daily since then (14,244 days) we have committed our love to each other and to our Lord, whom we seek to serve with all our hearts.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily Prayer: This is our prayer today and we encourage you to make it yours as well! It's also a song we link to below:
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Family Prayer Song" Video Maranatha Singers
Mr. & Mrs. Stephen C. Weber
May 8, 1976
My bride of 39 years posing for the photographer before her bridal bouquet arrived.
The stately church in Sapulpa, Oklahoma where our wedding was held.
Skip Redmond, a friend from college, was our photographer and took this photo from the balcony.
Shaking hands before the wedding with Dave, my friend from 1st grade, who was my best man. Dave and I remain friends to this day and I will see him and his wife Sandy next month when I have a chaplain conference in Springfield, MO. In the background is my brother Pat who conducted the service.
I am introducing Brooksyne to Joe and Pauline Harding, both now with the Lord.
We have previously written about the Hardings and their influence on my life.
Looks like Brooksyne is already telling me secrets or showing off her new wedding band. My sister Genelle looks on as we stood in the receiving line greeting our guests.
We had wedding rehearsal on Friday evening and must have been making decisions about the ceremony. Brooksyne is part Indian (Cherokee) and sure looks like it here.
I am wearing a real cool "leisure suit" (anyone else remember those) and some of the first glasses that were supposed to change but always stayed dark. Brooksyne asked me not to wear them during the wedding. I'm sure glad I didn't.
We didn't run around with those who might have used limousines at that time so we didn't need to factor in that extra cost. The custom then was to decorate the car of the newly married couple but somehow they got the wrong car, decorating my best man's car who followed us by himself to a restaurant where we had a meal together. He got lots of horn honking as he drove along, a bachelor at the time.
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player."Choose you this day whom ye will serve; … but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:15).
Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day in our area. In the late afternoon our new Zimbawean friends showed up on their bikes. After dinner over we took them on a long bike ride/walk over to the Cameron Mansion at Donegal Springs, about two miles from our home. It is so green with so much budding, flowering, and new life popping up everywhere as we walked. We passed many scenes of new life; a freshly mown hay field, several geese couples with their gosslings, a very loud kildeer sitting on her mottled eggs, the children outside running barefoot.
It's a time I call "young spring". As we walked through the mansion grounds I said to Brooksyne, "Wouldn't it be great if we could just freeze this season in time", meaning keeping everything just like it is. But of course we can't do that. God has ordained seasons. The "young spring" will soon become mature summer, then the first signs of autumn will become late autumn, followed by the chilling apparent deadness of winter.
In life we may want to freeze certain seasons of life, but we can't! Today we consider two events that were at the "young spring" of our lives.
Thirty-nine years ago today Brooksyne and I stood on the platform of a church in the Indian town of Sapulpa Oklahoma and pledged our love to each other in holy matrimony. It has worked out beautifully and for that we are most grateful.
Also on this date 36 years ago I was ordained to gospel ministry across the Susquehanna River in York, PA although we lived about 200 miles away at the time in northern Pennsylvania. The other night we attended an ordination service in Reading, PA and the solemn ceremony reminded us once again of the sacred calling God has placed on both of our lives. Though Brooksyne has not chosen to have a ministerial license or ordination she has worked alongside me in our ministry since our days of dating in Bible College. In fact our calling to ministry led us both to Bible College right after high school where we met in 1973.
We were young when we married, 21 for Stephen and 20 for Brooksyne. We had one year of college left but began serving right after our honeymoon in a small rural church outside of Springfield, MO. We recall for a number of years being "that young couple". Now people of that age look like kids to us! Some seasons are esepcially happy, the kind you want to freeze in place, others are "hurry up and get us out of this".
Thank God by His grace we have stayed faithful to each other and to our Lord Jesus Christ. We've sure had our disappointments, tears and sorrows. Like anyone running the spiritual race we've had trials. In our 25 years of pastoral ministry we were been bitten a few times by the sheep. But we've also met lots and lots of people along the way who have blessed us greatly, including quite a few who are on this "Daily Encouragement" list.
When our family prays together we often conclude by reciting the daily verse. Joshua first uttered these words some 3,300 years ago after leading God's people into the Promised Land, shortly before his death. His final sermon was a challenge to faithfulness and included this solemn affirmation of his own faith.
"Choose you this day": I am struck by the significance of the words "this day" in the text. Certainly on the one hand it conveys a momentous decision to serve the Lord when we first believe and choose to follow Him. However in another sense it's an ongoing, regular, habitual day by day choice to "this day" serve the Lord. After all, Joshua had chosen to follow the Lord many years before he made this call to the people. He surely wasn't making the choice for the first time!
We believe it's that way in our walk with the Lord and our walk with our spouse. Thirty-nine years ago we made a public declaration of my love and commitment to each other in marriage. That was a big day for us. But daily since then (14,244 days) we have committed our love to each other and to our Lord, whom we seek to serve with all our hearts.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily Prayer: This is our prayer today and we encourage you to make it yours as well! It's also a song we link to below:
Come and fill our home with Your presence,
You alone are worthy of our rev'rence.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
We will serve the Lord.
Lord we vow to live holy, bowing our knees to You only.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,
We will serve the Lord.
Staying together, praying together,
Any storm we can weather trusting in God's Word.
We need each other, fathers and mothers,
Sisters and brothers in harmony and love. *
You alone are worthy of our rev'rence.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
We will serve the Lord.
Lord we vow to live holy, bowing our knees to You only.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,
We will serve the Lord.
Staying together, praying together,
Any storm we can weather trusting in God's Word.
We need each other, fathers and mothers,
Sisters and brothers in harmony and love. *
* "The Family Prayer Song" Morris Chapman
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Family Prayer Song" Video Maranatha Singers
We would like to share several photos from our wedding.
(We have shared these photos before but realize we have many new readers)
(We have shared these photos before but realize we have many new readers)
Mr. & Mrs. Stephen C. Weber
May 8, 1976
My bride of 39 years posing for the photographer before her bridal bouquet arrived.
The stately church in Sapulpa, Oklahoma where our wedding was held.
Skip Redmond, a friend from college, was our photographer and took this photo from the balcony.
Shaking hands before the wedding with Dave, my friend from 1st grade, who was my best man. Dave and I remain friends to this day and I will see him and his wife Sandy next month when I have a chaplain conference in Springfield, MO. In the background is my brother Pat who conducted the service.
I am introducing Brooksyne to Joe and Pauline Harding, both now with the Lord.
We have previously written about the Hardings and their influence on my life.
Looks like Brooksyne is already telling me secrets or showing off her new wedding band. My sister Genelle looks on as we stood in the receiving line greeting our guests.
We had wedding rehearsal on Friday evening and must have been making decisions about the ceremony. Brooksyne is part Indian (Cherokee) and sure looks like it here.
I am wearing a real cool "leisure suit" (anyone else remember those) and some of the first glasses that were supposed to change but always stayed dark. Brooksyne asked me not to wear them during the wedding. I'm sure glad I didn't.
We didn't run around with those who might have used limousines at that time so we didn't need to factor in that extra cost. The custom then was to decorate the car of the newly married couple but somehow they got the wrong car, decorating my best man's car who followed us by himself to a restaurant where we had a meal together. He got lots of horn honking as he drove along, a bachelor at the time.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can
continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is
accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and podcast listeners. See here
for more information on supporting this
ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
© Copyright 2015 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA