Philippians 2:13 "for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."
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"End of Construction. Thank you for your patience."
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Billy Graham's wife, Ruth Bell Graham, was a wonderful woman of faith. She was born in China, the daughter of medical missionaries, and grew up watching and helping in a time of "disease, despair and disorder" during civil war. Though hard to believe in today's world, she was sent away to Pyongyang in North Korea to boarding school for three years and fought loneliness there. Her childhood dream had been to become a missionary to Tibet. That was eventually replaced as a life direction when she met and married Billy Graham. From that point on her life centered on raising five children and supporting her world-traveling evangelist. Oh, and in her spare time she wrote or coauthored 14 books.
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The brief quote above (End of Construction...) is the epitaph Ruth requested for her gravestone. She had spotted this on a roadside construction sign and thought it to be the best 'final message' to visitors to her grave site.
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We are reminded by Ruth's life and epitaph that as we move through life we don't do so alone. As His children He is at work and we are under construction. Sometimes the process can be painful and the discomfort of the 'construction process' can seem never ending (something like the ongoing expansion of interstate highways). But God has a purpose in the construction. He is shaping us to (1) carry out His mission and (2) give Himself joy.
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As His children He is raising us to each play a unique role. Sometimes the construction process is long and painful. But the results that show in our character and in His Creation are eternal.
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blessings,
Rob Smith
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"Death is inevitable. Life is a choice!"
John 11:25
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."
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