One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 6:16—“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls….”

Just as there are loadbearing walls in a house, there are load-bearing pillars in effective student ministry. If you remove any one of these five pillars, it’s detrimental to your entire student ministry.

A furlough is defined as “a leave of absence.” To missionaries, the term “furlough” is known as the time to go “home.” There are many different views on what a furlough is, depending on what a missionary wants to accomplish while he is back in his homeland.

In my previous post, I shared five of the lessons the Lord has been teaching me through my three-year-old grandson Chandler’s illness and hospitalization with severe pneumonia. These are in no real order—just the raw truths the Lord has been teaching me during one of the most difficult times in our family’s life.

To some degree, women deal with issues related to trust on a daily basis—can I trust the waiter who says I ordered the best thing on the restaurant menu? Can I trust the teacher who said my child is progressing socially? Can I trust my friend to keep my secret? Or can I trust my kids to have good manners when I’m not with them?

When we set a goal in our lives, we normally have some termination point. For example, if I needed to save five hundred dollars for some new tires I might decide to save fifty dollars a month for ten months. If I decided I wanted to lose twenty pounds, I might set a goal of losing two pounds a week for ten weeks. We put our mind to the task at hand because we know that it is only for a few weeks or months that we have to sacrifice the fifty dollars or the fifty calories.

A few weeks ago, our lives were turned upside down when our three-year-old grandson, Chandler was taken to the hospital by ambulance with severe necrotizing pneumonia. We’re so thankful for the many who have prayed for Chandler in these past days, and we’re thankful for how the Lord has answered prayer in bringing healing.

While some preachers are well cared-for by their congregations and live with very few financial difficulties, many others struggle financially. Often, this is unavoidable. The offerings are modest, and there is no way for the church to do more for the pastor than it does. I hope the following suggestions will encourage you, and be of some practical value in the matter of handling your personal income.

Two hundred thirty-seven years ago, our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence—a document that shaped the future of the American colonies, setting their destiny as a mighty nation. By signing this document, courageous men boldly stated the value they placed on freedom. And they proved it with their lives and fortunes in the ensuing war for independence.

Be prepared yourself. You should be there to greet them; you should not be doing lesson plans, etc. as students arrive.