JEFFREY SWAINSTON, CHAPLAIN
P.O. Box 77
Manton, MI 49663​
(616) 405-6921
revjeff82@gmail.com

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 GRANGE NEWS

Tell Three People Today, How Much You Love Them
Author Stephen Levine asks the question, “If you had an hour to live and could make only one phone call, who would you call, what would you say, and why are you waiting?” What a powerful message! Who knows what we are waiting for? Perhaps we want to believe that we will live forever, or that ‘someday’ we will
get around to telling the people we love how much we love them. Whatever the reasons, most of us simply wait too long. Now is the time to let people know how much you care.
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Ideally, you can tell someone in person or over the phone. I wonder how many people have been on the receiving end of a phone call where the caller says, “I just called to tell you how much I love you!” You may be surprised that almost nothing in the world means so much to a person. How would you like to receive that same message?

​​If you are too shy to make a phone call, write a heartfelt letter instead. Either way, you may find that as you get used to it, letting people know how much you love them will become a regular part of your life. It probably won’t shock you to know that, if it does, you will probably begin receiving more love as a result.

​​Don’t sweat the small stuff ~ Richard Carlson
MARCH/APRIL 2023 GRANGE NEWS

Fulfill Your Purpose
Thinking, planning, and preparing are all well and good, but none of those things will actually fulfill
your purpose. To do that you have to act. God doesn’t instruct us to over think everything to death. He
instructs us to obey. To hear His call, accept His instructions, and get to work.
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In the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32), a father told each of his two sons to go work in his vineyard that day. The first son at first refused to work, but then he later changed his mind and went
and did what his father asked of him. The second son promised to go, but then he never did the work
he committed to doing. Jesus asked the crowd, “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” The
answer, of course, was the first son. The second son said all the right things, but he never acted. Thinking
about your purpose and making plans don’t count. When God calls us, He expects action.

​You will always be able to find a good excuse not to act. After all, life is busy and complicated, and
there will always be a lot of demands on your time. It is up to you to choose: to keep up with the demands and expectations of society or to obediently say yet to God. Even if, like the first son, you have said no to your purpose time and time again, it is not too late to change your mind and go do what God has asked of you.
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He has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.
 ~2 Timothy 1:9~
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