Malachi 3:3

I received this story in an email the other day and I found it very cool, so I thought I would share it:


Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'
This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God .
One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ' He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.'
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time.
The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'
He smiled at her and answered, ' Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.'



~JM~

Prayer!

Last night as I was driving back to school, I got a phone call from a friend with some devastating news.. her cousin's dad had had a massive heart attack/stroke that left him very near to death. The doctors decided to put him into an induced coma, so right now he is unresponsive and with a family that is very distraught. They are not sure of the damage that this has done to his body and mind, so right now all the family can do is wait.... wait for a death, or wait and prepare for a lifestyle that will most likely have complications for the rest of time. They are hanging on a single word that could make or break a family... THis news did not settle well within my heart because without even closing my eyes, I could see myself walking through those double doors and hearing the news that took me to the floor like it was yesterday. I could hear the cries of pain and anguish.. and my heart hurt all over again because -at that exact moment- I knew in my heart that I would remember those cries for as long as I continued to draw breath, just as this family will remember this painful time in their lives. It's so easy to live off of the question, "Why?" And my answer, just as this family's answer, is unknown, just as it will be 50 years from now.

Please remember to keep this family in your prayers as they struggle through this rough time... I'm sure they will have many dark days ahead...

~JM~

Another year begins...

Well, another year of school has begun! How time flies:)... The first week was great; I have some very good professors and a wonderful roommate, so i'm sure this year will bring me many adventures!! It always takes a week or two for me to adjust to the different living arrangements.. I hate not being home and helping the girls with their homework, going to their volleyball games, and tucking them into bed each night, but I do get to spend several minutes talking to them each night before bed and listening to their dramatic events each day- oh the life of a teenager:)!

I'm short on time today, but I plan on giving a better update and maybe some pics of the apartment when I get the chance!!

Hope everyone has a great Labor day weekend!!!
~JM~

We reap what we sow...

"We sow an action; we reap a habit.

We sow a habit; we reap a character.

We sow a character; we reap a destiny."

Robert E. Armes

*Best Summer Memories*

1. Kenny Chesney concert

2. Moving into a new apartment with a wonderful friend

3. Billy Currington concert

4. Swimming & water-gun fights at the Boat club

5. Swimming, laying out, and relaxing in the hottub!!

6. Long Sunday dinners at grandma's...

7. Jim Miller Classic

8. Camping at Miller Lake

9. George Strait concert!

10. Jason Aldean concert/weekend trip!

11. Rhino rides

12. Learning to be a better sister, friend, teacher, & role-model...

This was after Bri's impacted teeth surgery- she's probably gonna kill me :) haha!

I start my 3rd year of school on the 31st! Where has the summer gone?! As you can see, I've had a wonderful summer with lots of good memories to last me another year:) I'm so excited to finally be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel in school!! I'll be way past ready to graduate in '11.

Hopefully I'm completely healed by the time I head back. This past Thursday I had my wisdom teeth pulled out and that night I felt fine... but Friday, Sat., & Sunday I formed this huge knot on my left cheek that wouldn't go down... so I went in for a check-up on Monday and it turns out that I got hematoma. That means that while they were working on my teeth they busted some blood vessels in my cheek!! The knot is slowly draining and the swelling is finally almost done; hopefully i'll be problem-free for the rest of the process:)!

Hope everyone had a wonderful summer!!

~JM~

25th Anniversary

It broke my heart for this day to arrive; a day that I had been planning to celebrate for quite some time... It's amazing how so many hopes and dreams can go up in smoke in only a matter of seconds- a part of me was taken in those seconds, a part of me that I will never get back. I want to go back, I want to relive, and I want to undo... but I can't. For some unknown reason that I will never understand, I'm supposed to go on. I'm being told to put one foot in front of the other and walk, while the one that taught me to walk is now missing. And after 9 months it's still hard; I still hurt, I still grieve, and I probably always will, but instead of always carrying the pain around, I want to learn to live again. It's going to take a lot of prayers, encouragement, and probably a little nudging, but I want to learn to live... only this time for 2! I want to stand for what he stood for, and build my life like he did- on solid ground.

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad.. I love you both so very much!!

I miss you more than ever...

~JM~

9 months without you...

We had our backyard engraved on the stone with Briona, Baleigh, & I, my willow tree that he planted in October, and of course our puppy:)

Last night marked the 9th month that you've been absent from my ever so different life. Sometimes I wonder if my heart will ever be able to love fully- without the fear of losing again. Everyday seems to mark a lifetime without you and there are days that the struggle seems suffocating, like it's going to pull me in. I know that I can't live in the past forever, but right now that's the only place my heart can seem to find rest. I still see you when I close my eyes at night, and when I wake in the morning. In my heart there will always be a place for you, for all of my life. I love you, daddy...

~JM~