What endures forever? The news reports? The economy? Our houses? Our money? Our bodies? Or our big stinky opinions? You’d sure think so since this seems to be all that people can talk about lately!

I’ve been listening to Psalms on my iPod this week while I shower. And a Psalm came on that said, “His love endures forever” about 50 times. It was awesome, but it tooks some time before it began to sink in. Listening to it over and over again, made it start to sink in for me. Oh, duh, God’s love endures forever.

Here’s the complete Psalm. I suggest you read it out loud.

Psalm 136 (New International Version)

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.

² Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.

³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.

⁴ to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.

⁵ who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.

⁶ who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.

⁷ who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.

⁸ the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.

⁹ the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.

¹⁰ to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.

¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures forever.

¹² with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.

¹³ to him who divided the Red Sea ^[a] asunder
His love endures forever.

¹⁴ and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.

¹⁵ but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.

¹⁶ to him who led his people through the desert,
His love endures forever.

¹⁷ who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.

¹⁸ and killed mighty kings—
His love endures forever.

¹⁹ Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.

²⁰ and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.

²¹ and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.

²² an inheritance to his servant Israel;
His love endures forever.

²³ to the One who remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.

²⁴ and freed us from our enemies,
His love endures forever.

²⁵ and who gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.

²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.

HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!

My cousin Peggy gave me this excellent declaration:

I am patient and kind.

I am not jealous.

I do not brag.

I am not proud.

I am not rude.

I am not selfish.

I do not get upset with others.

I do not count up the wrongs that have been done.

I am not happy with evil…

I am happy with the truth.

I PATIENTLY ACCEPT ALL THINGS. (Had to emphasize that for me!)

I always trust.

I always hope.

I always remain strong.

I never end.

This is based on 1 Cor. 4-8a. This is who I want to be: love. Since God is love, I guess I need more God!

I’m so grateful for my life! Thank you God for teaching me how to be better every day.

Three weeks ago, I bought a cheap little iPod alarm clock with speakers. I mainly got it so I could listen to the Bible when I got ready in the morning.

Obviously, I must spend a lot of time in the bathroom doing my hair and make-up!

I’ve already listened to three books of the Bible: Romans, Acts, and Matthew. Crazy!!!

No matter how much I try to find time to read, my progress is usually about a half a chapter per month. Hurrah for audio and iPods!

I’m listening to my Newsboys playlist on my iPod as I work. I’ve been hearing songs that have walked with me for many years, helping me through good and bad times.

As songs play, I remember high school, college, and most recently Mom’s death…all through the lens of my faith. It’s a walk down a road of growth and struggles, falling and getting back up, failures and victories.

But most of all, listening to these songs reminds me that it’s my faith that has given me strength to stand back up and smile.

WooHoo just came on…I think it’s time to go back to work. WooHoo!

People will never forget how you made them feel.

They might not remember your name or what you do for a living, but they will remember this.

A few years ago, Brett and I were meeting potential renters. A middle-aged lady and man came to see the house, and they said they’d been together for a few months. She was selling her house, and they were looking into renting this house together. From what she said, it seemed like the house was big enough. It didn’t make sense to Brett.

After they left, he said to me, “Why would she sell her house and move into a rental? I don’t get it.”

It was clear to me. She owned her house. She didn’t really trust her new lover yet. So instead of risking her assets (her money), she would rather leave her home and go to a house with a short commitment. That way if it didn’t work out, her money was still in her bank account.

I explained what I saw to Brett. We both thought the same thing: she valued her money more than her heart.

I see this all the time: people will get into a serious relationship (making their heart vulnerable), but they’ll carefully protect their bank account, details in their salary, and even their cars. But not their heart.

The funny thing is that we can replace our money by just working harder, but our heart doesn’t “fix” so easily. Believe me… my heart still hurts from my mom passing away, but any money I might have lost in life doesn’t even register in my memory.

A tough word… but so necessary to learn.