WELL 4 AM N  WIDE AWAKE,DANG SLEEP MACHINE,RIPPED THE MASK OFF N  ABOUT THREW THE THING ACCROSS THE ROOM,WILL I EVER GET USED TO IT,BEGGINING TO WONDER,AHH WELL COULD BE WORSE ,BEATS A DIRT NAP OR A SHARP STICK IN THE EYE N DANG SURE COULD BE WORSE,LOOKING OUTSIDE N IS SNOWING AGAIN,EVERYONE WANTS THE SNOW OVER N SPRING TO COME GUESS THEY FORGOT THAT THIS IS MICHIGAN N IT'S STILL WINTER LOL AND OUR NEXT SEASON IS ROAD CONSTRUCTION LOL,AH WELL THATS LIFE HUH,GUESS I'LL  MAKE COFFEE  N  WATCH THE SNOW PILE UP , GREAT BIG OLE GRIZZLY BEAR HUGGGZZZZZ............SQUISH LOVE YALLA Purpose Driven LifeThis is an absolutely incredible interview with Rick Warren, author of"Purpose Driven Life" His wife now has cancer, and he now has "wealth"from  the book sales. In the interview by Paul Bradshaw  with RickWarren, Rick said:"People ask me, 'What is the purpose of life?'And I respond: 'In a nutshell, life is preparation  for eternity. Wewere made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.'One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of mybody--but not the end of me.I may live to 100 years on earth, but I am going  to spend trillionsof years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the  dress rehearsal.God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, lifeisn't going to make sense.Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're justcoming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.The reason for this is that God is moreinterested in your character than your comfort God is more interestedin making your life holy  than He is in making your life happy.We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal oflife. The goal is to grow  in character, in Christ likeness.This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also thetoughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.I used to think that life was hills and valleys- you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back andforth. I don't believe that anymore.Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind oflike two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you havesomething good and something bad in your life.No matter how good things are in your life, there is always somethingbad that needs to be worked on.And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is alwayssomething good you can thank God for.You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. Ifyou focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, whichis 'my problem, my issues, my pain.'But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focusoff yourself and onto God and others.We discovered quickly that in spiteof the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not goingto heal Kay or make it easy for her.It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened hercharacter, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her atestimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. Forinstance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal withbefore. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your ownego or for you to live a life of ease.So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money,notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do,II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change ourlifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary fromthe church.Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call 'The PeacePlan' to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for thesick, and educate the next generation.Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 yearssinceI started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to beable to serve God for free.We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions?Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness?Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for mylife)?When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say,'God,if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more andloveYou better.' God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list.He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we'recalled human beings, not human doings.Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. Quiet moments,WORSHIP GOD. Painful moments, TRUST GOD. Every moment, THANK GOD. "