I must admit that I am not a very big fan of pain! In fact, I do pretty much all that I can to try and avoid pain at all costs! I have been thinking a lot lately about the pain that comes from the struggles of life. Some days, living is just plain hard work. And if you live you can count on the fact that there are going to be struggles in your life. While we don’t like the struggles, all of us have to admit that it is the struggles of life that help us to grow and develop.
We are going to be taking a good look at struggles this coming Sunday at Northwood. I hope that you will join me, as we find strength for our struggles! We will discover what God’s Word has to say about struggles and might even be surprised to find ourselves at the ends of our time of worship saying thank you to God for the struggles that we have faced and are facing!
I am looking forward to what God is going to teach us, the growth that we are going to experience and the victory we are going to achieve! Looking forward to struggling with the struggle on Sunday with you!
Michael Joe Harvell 
There are times when I listen to you preach and I am thinking, I wish he’d get the cameras out of my house or how can he read my mind!! Struggles are everyday, whether they are work, family, flip flops or tennis shoes! I am learning to pray more and give God the steering wheel!! Having teenagers, one starting college and three in high school is enough of a struggle, but when there are other issues in your daily life that could blow up at any moment make it crazy. I hope that I am not the only person that has this happening!! If I have learned anything from Michael Joe is that we are never alone in our struggles or our storms. I decided last week when we had 2 vehicles break down and my dryer died(got a used dryer that didn’t work either) that my storm was here and here to stay for a short time. Got 1 car fixed now the jeep is next and I don’t mind my clothes line. Excerise!!! Talk about rambling( I’m the queen)!! Well, please continue to pray for us, we will have a certain struggle this week and we(more me) needs your prayers and good thoughts.. I pray for strength and the right things to say!! Thank you to all, all my love, Jerilynn
Jerilyn, I LOVE that you are so “transparent”! We all need to be more transparent so that we can help pray each other through when the “stuff” starts flying! (I wish I had not let them haul off my perfectly good dryer when I got my new one!!!!!)
We all have those “teenager problems” that I ,for one, don’t always handle in the most appropriate ways. We just need to pray for one another and remember that (my favorite saying): “that which doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger!” Also, remember that “though the waves crash around us, they will not overtake us and when we walk through the fire, we will not be burned.” (major paraphrasing going on there) God’s word is clear that we won’t be without trouble but he will walk us through it, protecting us all the way.
You guys are doing a fantastic job with your “gi-normus” family =). We love you. And thank you for ministering to me today!
Teresa =)
thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! jerilynn