A couple of months ago, we bought a playhouse for our grandchildren.  The instructions said it would take about 16 hours to assemble, so when we got it home, we went right to work to put it all together.  With four of us working on it, we hoped 16 hours would only be 8, but after putting in 24 hours, it still wasn’t completely done.  By then we were all sick and tired of working on it and decided to finish it later.  There was enough of it done for the children to have fun on it.  The playhouse came with stakes to anchor it down, but it was 11 pm and we decided it should be fine for a few days. Besides, we didn’t want to anchor it down before moving it to where we permanently wanted it to be (which hadn’t been decided yet). A few days later, we arrived home to find the beautiful playhouse completely knocked over onto it’s side with several broken pieces.  A strong wind had come up and because we never took the time to anchor it, it couldn’t stand up in the storm.

Matthew 7:24-27 (The Message) “These words I (Jesus) speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit – but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.But if you use my words in Bible studies, and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

Don’t talk the talk and not walk the walk! Jesus doesn’t want to be an add-on to your life, He wants to be your life! Get to know Him – let Him be the anchor in your life, so when the storms come (and they will!), you will be standing because He will hold you up!

I just finished my 2nd training session on how to use this website. My brain is so tired because it is a whole new language to me. Now I know words I never knew before and what they mean…like widgets and tag clouds. Some of the words I knew before, but on the computer, they have a whole different meaning…like dashboard, plugins, backbone and bookmarks. It’s not that easy to learn this computer language when your “middle-aged”, but I am determined to learn it, and as I do, it’s opening up a whole new world for me! Younger people catch on to these things so much quicker. My children love to tease me when I make a “pooh flaw” (that’s a whole ‘nother story). Then there’s the time I ended a serious email with “lol”, thinking that meant lots of love! So, I’ve come a long ways and I will keep learning.
That’s how it’s been for me in my Christian life. I thought at one time that I basically knew everything there was to know about the Bible. My parents read it to me since I was a small child, followed by years of church attendance, sunday school, bible studies and so on.
Then through incredible pain in my life, I experienced God’s grace. After this, the Bible took on a whole new meaning for me. Instead of a book of rules for me to follow and try to live up to, it became a book about God’s love for me. The same words I read before, but a whole new language! I challange you to start reading God’s Word as a love letter and learn not only a new language, but a new life!

Hi!  My name is Catherine, and I am one of the members of the Real Life Team.

We chose the name Real Life because we have each experienced the joy and the pain that life on this earth brings every one of us. Also because in our darkest pain, we cried out to a Real God who healed us and who loves us with a Real Love.  Now, because of His grace and love, we are each experiencing the life Jesus died for all of us to have.

“I (Jesus) came so that they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” 

John 10:10 (The Message)