Today we are finishing up the last full week of January 2022. Its been a productive but quiet week in Bismarck. Sonja and I enjoyed starting our week in Union Center/Enning, SD last Sunday with our dear friends at Prairie Bible. I am very grateful to Bob/Caroline Schmidt who have agreed to be their interim pastor for the next three months and are giving prayerful consideration to making it a permanent decision. At least for now, under their leadership, I am at peace about that dear church.
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We plan to be in McLaughlin, SD tomorrow with our special friends, Carl/Anna Nobles, to be in service with them and their dedicated congregation. Traveling in the winter in the Dakotas is always a little dicey, but it looks like the weather man is giving us a “clear sailing” for tomorrow.
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I finished an excellent “marriage book” this week: The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, by John Gottman. I found the book very informative and enjoyable to read.
An added benefit is that he gives a lot of worksheets. Sonja and I worked through one last night after dinner. It was a lot of fun and helpful.
I encourage all married people to read at least one book on marriage every year. Outside of your relationship with God your relationship with your spouse is the most important relationship you have in the world. Don’t take it for granted! Just as you read your bible every year and spend time in personal devotions to maintain and improve your relationship with God, invest in your marriage by doing the same. This book, while not an overtly Christian book, would be a good 2022 read.
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Happy Birthday Chapel of Praise, Eureka MT (Organized January 25, 1976)
Happy Birthday Eagle Butte Church of God, Eagle Butte, SD (Organized January 27 1963)
Happy Birthday Hannah Hathaway!!! (January 28)
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Sonja’s meal plan has been a less-meat-more-plant-based plan lately. (I know, not too popular in ranching country.) But honestly, she’s pulling it off. She’s prepared some amazing dishes this week. Keep an eye on me for a few weeks, if I live, you may want to get some of her recipes.
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Perhaps you’re like me and have been hearing a lot about NFTs (Non fungible tokens). Here’s an excellent podcast that educated me a little bit about them. Are they a fad or a glimpse of the future?
https://rulebreakerinvesting.libsyn.com/the-birds-and-bees-of-nfts
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Standout Quotes:
- “Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing until it gets there.” _Josh Billings
- “In the fundamental state of leadership, we become less comfort centered and more purpose-centered. We stop asking, “What do I want?” Since what we want is to be comfortable, this question keeps us in the reactive state. Instead we ask, “What result do I want to create?” (Fritz, 1989), Building the Bridge as You Walk on It, by Robert E. Quinn p. 21
- “Always assume that what you say will be quoted. If you don’t want it repeated, don’t say it – ever, to anybody.” _R. T. Kendall, Controlling the Tongue
- Billy Graham is sitting quietly in a restaurant one day when a hold up man comes in brandishing a gun. “Okay! I want everyone to file past me and hand me their wallets.” When Billy Graham arrives in front of the robber, the man recognizes him and motions the evangelist to put his wallet back in his pocket. “Put it away, Billy,” he says. “We Baptists must stick together!”
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Closing Comment:
Never stop believing that God works miracles. The final assumption must always be, with God all things are possible.
Keep Running2Win! (I Cor. 9:24-26)
_david l. kemp
The ONE THING 