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ADVERTISER: KIKO AUCTIONS

Hilltop Apartments now accepting applications for 1 & 2 bedroom apts. Elderly & handicapped units available & HUD vouchers accepted. Call between 8 a.m. & 12 p.m. 740-945-6281. Equal Housing Opportunity. TDD (2:25, 3:4,11,18,25)

The successful candidate for this position will be responsible for offering quality of life services, as well as assisting with developing and administering activities for our residents. The ideal candidate for this position is compassionate and caring. No experience required. There will be training upon hire. The candidate must possess the ability to always be on time to work, physical and mental stamina; ability to work long hours on one’s feet and lift 25+ pounds while displaying a positive attitude. Must be able to successfully complete a background check and a 6-month probationary period.

To apply for the job, contact the Harrison County Home in person at 41500 Cadiz-Dennison Road, Cadiz Ohio 43907 or call 740-942-3573.

Virginia Patton will be 100 years young on March 24, 2023. It would be wonderful to have a card shower for her. Please send cards to 41500 Cadiz-Dennison Rd. Cadiz, OH 43907. Thanks in advance!

GoodJoy Through the Little Things NEWS

By Pastor Ken Staley Pleasant Grove & Harrisville United Methodist Churches PastorKenStaley@gmail.com

Calamity and heartbreak are things we pray never come into our life. Thankfully, for most of us, it never or rarely comes. But more common visitors for every one of us are the little things that daily press our buttons and get under our skin. The apostle James told us to consider it all joy when various trials come into our life. Why? Because the testing of our faith produces endurance, and when our endurance grows up, we grow up. For most of us, what usually happens more often - our car explodes in Hollywood movie style, or the battery dies and leaves us inconvenienced for a couple of hours?

It’s the little things. Solomon, in Song of Songs, put it this way, “It’s the little foxes that spoil the vine.” It wasn’t drought or flooding that was usually the cause for a bad crop of grapes; it was little foxes who would sneak in overnight and nibble away at the low-hanging vines and take away vitality to what was growing up top. Isn’t that an accurate picture of day-to-day life?

It’s not tsunamis, earthquakes, or being robbed at gunpoint; it’s just the annoying daily occurrences that rob our joy. This is why the apostle Paul instructed us in his letter to the Galatians to have the fruit of the Spirit at work in our life. Jesus said in the Parable of the Sower, “There is one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.” Little things have been known to break up marriages, friendships, businesses, and churches. The Lord warned us about this in Acts chapter 6, “As the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.” All you need to do is read the first part of the sentence, and you get the picture “as the church was growing, there arose a complaint.” He warns us again in Philippians chapter 4, where Paul says, “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord…help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel.” Whenever the work of the gospel is in play, you can just bank on it that “little things” will be at work, trying to destroy trust and unity. So, it’s our job to be the guardians of our own joy. No one else can do it for us. When King David’s men were ready to stone him, Scripture says, “He encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” If David, Paul, and other Bible heroes can keep their joy in the midst of life and death situations, certainly we can keep ours through all the little things.

Druscilla, with a steely fire in her blue eyes and now stirred to conviction, finallylooks up at her and says, “Susannah, we are living in a time when we, as women, can have so much impact on our daily lives … like never before.”

Susannah really needs to pause for a moment … She finally says, “Druscilla, I can certainly understand your passion for such things, but some of us are called for other ministries. And as much as I would enjoy accompanying you next summer to the woman’s convention, I’m expecting to be very busy about that time …”

“Oh, Susannah! You are pregnant aren’t you?”