Greetings from the Midwest

Hey, gals...it's me, Jennie Altstadt, from the far-away land of Missouri. I'm excited to be blogging with you! Right now in the great Central Time Zone, much is happening: Tim has taken a job at Corporate HQ for his company and we will be moving to the Kansas City Metro area in the near future. So the house is on the market, which means it has to stay clean and tidy (not 2 of my gifts). Tim is still traveling to Columbia, MO 4 days a week, which means all the talk of real estate happens over the phone during breaks in his work day or after the work day is over. We have 3 dogs (yes, 3--and yes, we know we're crazy) who are loveable and rambunctious and sometimes loud (if squirrels or rabbits are in their yard). And as soon as this house sells, we'll be off to KC to buy a home there (...and hopefully find a good kennel.) Not to mention all the other related stuff that goes with relocating to another city (and possibly another state: we may end up living in Kansas).

So what does all that have to do with a blog named CrossMarks?? All the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks has made me realize afresh how very grateful I am that my future and destiny lie securely in the hands of the One Who Made Me...and not in any human circumstance or person. Buyers for our home will come because the Lord will bring them; we will find a new home because the Lord will lead us; my sweet husband and I will be able to triumph in the midst of stress and pressure on several fronts because the Lord is sufficient. This is our moment to walk by faith, and I can rejoice in the midst of swirling activity and uncertainty because we are held firmly in God's grace and He is giving us the opportunity to grow in Christlikeness...which we trust will lead to more fruitful lives.

And isn't that what we all want? To live lives for the glory of God's name--lives that will point people in some small way to the Cross that has forever changed us.

This has been written during a lull in busyness, just as the sun is beginning to set, the breeze is beginning to die down just a bit, and it feels like the whole earth is preparing to snuggle down into night. May I be quick to remember these words in the heat of tomorrow!


As they say in Arkansas (our home before St. Louis): "'Preciate ya!"

Four Great Concerns...

(Don Fortner writes this well. May my heart's cry join with his! Beth)
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by Don Fortner

"Enoch WALKED with God...." Genesis 5:24

My heart is motivated, driven and governed by four great concerns.

Here are four things I want more than anything in this world.

I am not an ambitious man. But I am ambitious for these four things. For the attainment of these four things I am prepared, by the grace of God, to sacrifice everything else.

I count all other things to be but rubbish by comparison.

1. I want to know Christ (Phil. 3:10). Yes, I believe that in measure I do know him. God has revealed his grace and glory to me in the Person of his dear Son. Still, I want a growing, spiritual, experimental knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to know all that he has done for me. I want to know him. I want to know him fully.

2. I want to be totally committed to Christ. I want to totally lose my life to Christ and in Christ, so that I can truthfully say with the Apostle Paul, "For me to live is Christ." I want to be committed to Christ as he was to the Father, so that my heart says to him in all things, "Not my will, thy will be done." It is my continual prayer that God will give me a heart--committed to the Lord Jesus Christ, committed to his will, committed to his gospel, committed to his people, committed to the cause of his glory in this world.

3. I want to be like Christ. My heart longs to be like him, conformed to him, made into his likeness. I want to be like him in love, tenderness, and thoughtfulness, in zeal, dedication, and devotion, purity, holiness, and righteousness.

4. I want to live in communion with Christ. Like Enoch of old, I want to walk with God. I know these goals are not attainable in this life. Yet, they are the things for which my soul hungers and my heart thirsts. I cannot be satisfied with less. "I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13-14).

"I shall be satisfied when I awake with Christ's likeness" (Psa. 17:15), but not until then.

"Enoch WALKED with God...." Genesis 5:24

I Thought This Was Funny...

Things Mom Would Never Say

1. "How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back?"

2. "Yeah, I used to skip school a lot, too."

3. "Just leave all the lights on . . . it makes the house look more cheery."

4. "Let me smell that shirt -- Yeah, it's good for another week."

5. "Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I'll be glad to feed and walk him every day."

6. "Well, if Timmy's mom says it's OK, that's good enough for me."

7. "The curfew is just a general time to shoot for. It's not like I'm running a prison around here."

8. "I don't have a tissue with me . . . just use your sleeve."

9. "Don't bother wearing a jacket -- the wind-chill is bound to improve."

On the Box for a Clockwork Toy Made in Hong Kong

"Guaranteed to work throughout its useful life."

Hey! That is exactly what I want my life to be - guaranteed to work as long as I'm useful.

Once I'm no longer useful, I want my heavenly Father to take me home.

What do you think? Will this affect the way you pray?

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Sunday School (of course!)

A Sunday school teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible: Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the chapter.

Little Rick was excited about the task, but he just couldn't remember the Psalm. After much practice, he could barely get past the first line. On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Rickey was very nervous.

When it was his turn, he stepped up to the microphone and said proudly, "The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all I need to know."

Received from Mary Rayner.

--Brought to you by GCFL.net: The Good, Clean Funnies List

A cheerful heart is good medicine... (Prov 17:22a)

The latest GCFL funny can always be found on the web at http://www.gcfl.net/latest.php

Whoa, how did that picture get in there? This is Diane.

Where's Diane?

Diane, planning her daughter's July wedding, is the fifth member of CrossMarks. She really does exist. Honest. Really, she does. In fact, I shall post her pic. She swears she wants to join us here. I think (besides a time crunch) she may be hung up with setting up a google account. Steffer, Sue, someone (!) help Diane.