F . I . R . E .
Fully Informed , Reverenced & Encouraged NEWSLETTER
Quarter 3 , 2017
It Is Our Desire for Every Soul To Catch On Fire !
Four Seasons Of A Tree
There was a man who had four sons . He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly . So he sent them each on a quest , in turn , to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away . The first son went in the winter , the second in the spring , the third in summer , and the youngest son in the fall . When they had all gone and come back , he called them together to describe what they had seen . The first son said that the tree was ugly , bent , and twisted . The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise . The third son disagreed ; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful , it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen . The last son disagreed with all of them ; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit , full of life and fulfillment . The man then explained to his sons that they were all right , because they had each seen but only one season in the tree ' s life . He told them that you cannot judge a tree , or a person , by only one season , and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure , joy , and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end , when all the seasons are up . If you give up when it ' s winter , you will miss the promise of your spring , the beauty of your summer , and fulfillment of your fall .
Protect Deceased Family Members From ID Theft If you are a surviving spouse or heir , take the following actions to reduce the odds that identity thieves will steal the deceased ’ s identity …..
� Edit the obit . Do not mention the deceased ’ s home address , birthday or mother ’ s name in his / her obituary . Some identity thieves scour the obituaries for potential targets .
� Watch the wallet . There have been cases of hospital or emergency services personnel stealing credit cards from the wallets of the deceased . Cancel the deceased ’ s credit cards as soon as possible . Carefully check the final bill for charges that occurred after the deceased went to the hospital and / or passed away .
� Discard the deceased ’ s documents with care . Identity thieves have been known to pick through garbage cans outside the homes of the recently deceased .
Issues Facing Our Youth Today
Growing Up Too Fast
There was a time when kids enjoyed being kids . Today , even at the earliest of ages , children are partaking in adult activities with serious consequences . Similar to what we see with alcohol and drugs , sex is a very popular and portrayed subject matter . The movies , TV , the internet , essentially everywhere a kid turns he or she is bombarded with sexual suggestions .
In fact , there are entire TV series marketed directly to kids dealing with sex – the egregious being The Secret Lives of an American Teenager and Teen Mom , to name two . Music is a culprit as well . Songs have always had sexual innuendos , but at least “ back in the day ” you had to be old enough to understand them . Today , it ’ s all about “ How low can you go ” and “ baby let me sex you up .” Kids are having sex as early as 10 and 11 , with teen pregnancies increasingly on the rise . The concept of childhood is literally being wiped out . Are we doing anything to change this ? Are we talking to our youth about things that sometime make us uncomfortable ? Of course we pray and ask God to change our youth and this world , but faith without works is dead . Get involved !
If we are together nothing is impossible . If we are divided all will fail . Winston Churchill .