(Editor's note: The house had some electrical problems Thursday evening which carried over into Friday evening which took out our internet capabilities, so the blog did not get posted until now. Problems have been partially taken care of and will be complete hopefully Saturday. Bruce)

Happy Thursday! Just one more day until Spring Break! Yea! I am looking forward to spring break. I have two papers to write and a mid-term review to answer, but I am still looking forward to the time off from school. Geni and Travis also have the week off and Bruce is feeling better, not 100% yet, but better. The Happening weekend begins tomorrow and we are all anxious and excited about this wonderful experience. Please be in prayer for the staff and participants as we all prepare and participate in this weekend of getting to know God through, Word, Sacrament, singing and friends old and new.

Mark 12:30 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.”

Jesus was arguing with the Sadducees when a teacher of the Law asked Him, “Which of the commandments is the most important?” Jesus answers, “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.” The following passage says that there are no commandments above this.

It seems to me to follow this commandment would be a full time job. To follow this commandment would mean to remove every thought and action that is not of God from our minds and hearts. I must admit that I fail at this commandment a lot. Maybe that is why I pray so often for forgiveness and I begin my prayer time with “Lord, remove every thought I have that is not of You so that I may be forgiven and filled with your love and grace and your instructions for the day.” After reading this scripture I think this commandment is my daily instruction.

In my classroom I have five rules. The first rule is Listen and follow directions. If the children listen and follow directions then the rest of the rules are pretty unnecessary. In the rules set before us in the Ten Commandments, if we just followed this first rule then our hearts and minds would not steal, murder, covet etc…because our hearts and minds would be focused on God and His daily instructions for the day and the lifelong instructions for our lives.

If God has called us to live a godly life, a life mirrored and modeled in the life of Jesus, then we need to practice loving God with all that we are; heart, mind, soul and strength. That type of commitment is the commitment that Jesus made to His Father when He came to earth to show us the Father’s love for us. God loves us with all of His heart, soul, mind and strength and sent Jesus to show us how to do the same. This sounds to me like a life long journey into joy and peace.

Take joy in the journey. Love you all so very much, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.