SPLINTERS ON THE CARPENTER'S FLOOR

   Two years ago every Christian program I watched the preacher was talking about prosperity and how you can do different things in your life to achieve wealth.  At that time I wasn't interested, because my wife and I had jobs, a nice house, two nice vehicles and money in the bank.  Then one day I decided that my job of five years wasn't a good fit and quit, six months went by before I found work.  Upon returning to work I had to settle for a third of my previous salary and then my wife came home and said her company was laying her off after thirty five years in the industry.  We had just helped my son buy his first house and he found himself out of work and eventually lost it to foreclosure.  God must have been speaking to me through those programs and I didn't see it, but one day on top of the world and then gone.  That's not only financially, but your life can be taken just as quickly without warning.

In the months following depression got a grip on me that I couldn't break.  NIght after night I cried out to the Lord to break depression's hold on my life.  We all question God's scheduyle of answering our prayers, but I truly believe he let's us go through situations to teach us how to draw nearer to him.  The Holy Spirit began to speak to my heart to write down my prayers, whereas so many people are suffering from depression.  I told my wife I was going to write down my prayers and forty two writings later Splinters On The Carpenter's Floor evolved.  The name of the book came from the Spirit also, it had no previous meaning to me....God named the book.  In school I never wrote anything and to this day I believe these writings are truly inspired by the Lord.

The opening chapter (I say chapter, but actually writing) BY POWER AND GRACE.  A power so vast, so awesome, so incredible the human mind cannot comprehend it.  Tornadoes, earthquakes, lightning and thunder, tidal waves....yes power to totally recreate landscapes.  A Grace equally as awesome.  A Creator that formed you in your mother's womb, then clothed himself in flesh and walked among us, not as that mighty power and incredible Creator, but as servant and sacrificial Lamb.  A Grace to be willing to wipe the slate clean if you'll open your heart and receive this gift from Creator to Creation.  A Mighty, Awesome Grace!

SEARCHING FOR THE RITE OF PASSAGE is where the world continues to find itself, looking to everything and anything for life's question....is this all there is and if not how do we get to the other side?  Still today even after God loved us enough to give us his Word to read and find out the answer to eternity's key....JESUS....mankind stumbles blindly looking for the key.

DO YOU LIKE WHO'S IN THE MIRROR?  I believe that most people's lives are so impacted by their early years that some never break free from childhood influences whether positive or negative.  I know personally my home life had a pretty compelling effect on my life, a Christian mother (thank you Jesus) and a alcoholic father.  When the people love the most in the world are constantly fighting I believe it has an effect on your self esteem.  Regardless of who you see in the mirror know that God made you exactly the way he wanted and he and he alone has set the path of your life before you.  The Bible tells us that the best thing God has given us is Love, so we need to learn to love ourselves and in a world that makes it harder to love your neighbor everyday, pray God to give you a heart that loves people the way Jesus loves us.

AN ATTITUDE OF PRAISE.  It's very easy to get caught up in complaining today as we see the world around us starting to fall apart.  If through the hustle and bustle if we could only take a short break to thank God for your health, wealth, finances, family....thank him for all the good in your life, because the dry times are surely going to come, so thank God in every quiet moment, HE IS ALWAYS LISTENING AND IT MAKES HIM SMILE FOR YOUR ACTS OF GRATITUDE.

The things that have been said in this book may not be what every Christian believes and I believe since the dawn of time men have read the Bible and different books and interpretation for one person is surely looked at differently by others.  These forty two writings are what God spoke to my heart and what he needed to say to me to bring me out of the darkest time of my life.  I could have used drugs, alcohol or a gun, but Praise Jesus name he gave me a Christian mother who gave me a moral compass and today I still struggle with self esteem issues and times where depression still attempts to crawl back into my day, but the Sprit of God has given me a reason to not cash in my chips, but to believe God's got something far greater for my life and I thank him for that opportunity.