We are the Church

Today at church, our pastor gave a great lesson.  He talked about the church, and what a church is.


Basically, a church isn't a building or a place or an event; the church is the people gathered to fellowship.  That kind of tied in to the lesson we had at Sunday School this morning.

Why don't I just start at the beginning of the service?

At Sunday School (which the Youth Group has before the service), we read Acts 2:42-47.

^"42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

42: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer

•  The believers would meet and devote themselves to learning the teachings of the apostles, very much like a church service today.
• They would also devote themselves to fellowship.  The definition of fellowship that was given by my Youth minister was when people gather together for one common purpose.  In this case, the common purpose was love for Jesus Christ and a desire to learn His ways. Everyone would gather and come together in love for one another and for Jesus.
• They would gather for the breaking of bread, which could mean communion, or it could simply mean having a meal together.  The believers would use the time for fellowship and just making friends. (This would be the part after church, when you and other members of your church have decided to go out to Pei Wei or CiCi's for lunch.)
• And, of course, they could gather for prayer.  I don't know about you, but I feel amazing when I am sincerely praying to my Lord.  Sometimes I feel the need to meet with my God in private, and just pour out my heart to Him.  Other times, when I am in a group of believers, and we pray, I feel... liberated, some how.  I feel more free to express myself in groups of believers.  (Don't get me wrong, I know that when I am conversing with the Lord, that I am free to say anything that I feel)

 44: the believers were together and had everything in common

•  The apostles and believers were a community - they lived together, in - here comes that magic word - fellowship.  
• Now when it says that they had everything in common, it doesn't mean that they agreed on every single subject.  Rather, they shared everything.  They knew that material wealth was God's anyway, and so they shared it with anyone with the need.

46:  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 

• They did this every day. Every day of the week, they met and worshiped and gave and learned.  So, they had Sunday every day.

47: praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
I just think that that is SO neat, that they gathered everyday for praise, fellowship, and worship.  In the early church, people would meet the needs of everyone in the community, even if it meant selling off all of their own things to meet the needs of a brother.  They would pray and worship and learn together.  And people saw the way that the church lived and they wanted that, so "the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." 

That was what I learned in Sunday School.  This is what I learned during the service:

We as believers are the Church.  The Church isn't the building that we meet in, nor is church an event.  The Church is the body of believers, who happen to meet in a building on Sunday.  "The Bible never defines the Church as a place; it always defines Church as people." - John Horne

We read 1 Corinthians 12:1-25

14-17: (14)For the body is not one member, but many. (15) If the foot shall say, Because I am not that hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? (16) And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?  (17) If the whole body [were] an eye, where [were] the hearing?  If the whole [were] hearing, where [were] the smelling?

• We are "different yet essential in the Body of Christ."
• It's almost like the different members of the Body are jealous of each other.  The eye is discontented because it is not an ear; teh foot is discontented because it is not a hand... But you need your feet just as much as you need your hands, and you need your eyes just as much as you need your ears, if your body is to function properly.

18-20:  (18)But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.  (19) And if they were all one member, where [were] the body?  (20) But now [are they] many members, yet but one body.

• God has a master plan for you.  He has given certain people certain gifts, and He expects us to use those gifts for His glory. 

21-24:  (21) And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; not again the head to the feet, I have no need of  you. (22) Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be feeble, are necessary: (23) And those [members] of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely [parts] have more abundant comeliness.  (24) For our comely [parts] have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that [part] which lacked.

•   We are dependent on one another in the Body of Christ.
• This part reminds me of the song "Lean on Me" - the concept is similar.

So, as a member of the Body of Christ, we now know that each of us has been given a gift; regardless if we know what that gift is - we should find out what it is, and immerse ourselves in some kind of ministry.  For me, I know that I love children - so I have gotten into the Children's Ministry at my church.  I go to Jericho Junction (which is like a fun skit and then some games that deal with the lesson), and I help out in the children's classes during church.

As followers of God, our task, the Great Commission, is to "know Christ and to make Him known."  You can do that by becoming an active member in the church.  As Christians, we need the fellowship and spiritual cleansing/feeding that comes from surrounding ourselves with fellow believers.  This helps us to become closer to Christ.  When people see us living the way the early church that Peter was talking about in Acts 2, they want to have something like that.  That will help to make Christ known (that doesn't mean that you shouldn't go out into the world and spread the Gospel; you most definitely should, but we will get into that later.)

Hero

Hero - Superchic[k]

Hero 

by Superchic[k]

No one sits with him, he doesn't fit in.

But we feel like we do when we make fun of him.

'Cuz you want to belong, do you go along?

'Cuz his pain is the price paid for you to belong?

It's not like you hate him or want him to die.

But maybe, he goes home and thinks suicide.

Or he comes back to school with a gun at his side,

And a kindness from you might have saved his life.

Heroes are made when we make a choice.

You can be a hero, heroes do what's right.

You could be a hero, you might save a life.

You could be a hero, we must join the fight 

For what's right, 

For what's right.

For what's right.

No one talks to her, she feels so alone. 

She's in too much pain to survive on her own.

The pain that she feels overflows to a knife.

She writes on her arm,wants to give up her life.

Every day she goes on is a day that she's brave.

Fighting the lie that giving up is the way

Each moment of courage, her own life she saves.

When she throws the pills out, a hero is made.

Heroes are made when we make a choice.

You can be a hero, heroes do what's right.

You could be a hero, you might save a life.

You could be a hero, we must join the fight 

For what's right, 

For what's right.

For what's right.

No one talks to him about how he lives.

He thinks that the choices he makes are just his.

Doesn't know he's a leader with the way he behaves,

And others will follow he choices he's made

He lives on the edge, he's old enough to decide.

His brother who wants to be him is just nine.

He can do what he wants, because its his right,

But the choices he makes change a nine-year-old's life.

Heroes are made when we make a choice.

You can be a hero, heroes do what's right.

You could be a hero, you might save a life.

You could be a hero, we must join the fight 

For what's right, 

For what's right.

For what's right.

Little Mikey D. was the one in class

Who every day got brutally harrassed.

This went on for years,

 'Till he decided that never again would he shed another tear.

So he walked through the door, grabbed a four-four

Out of his father's dresser drawer, and said,

 "I can't take life no more," and like that,

Life can be lost.

But this ain't even about that.  All of us

Just sat back and watched it happen

We think it's not out responsibility to solve 

A problem that isn't about me

This is our problem.  This is one of the 

Daily scenarios in which we choose

To close our eyes instead of doing the 

Right thing.

If we make the choice to be the voice 

For those who won't stand up for themsleves,

How many lives could be saved, changed, and 

re-arranged?

Now it is our time to pick a side.  

Don't keep walking by not wanting to 

Intervene 'cuz you just want to exist

And never be seen.

So let's wake up.  Change the world.

Our time is now.

You can be a hero, heroes do what's right.

You could be a hero, you might save a life.

You could be a hero, we must join the fight 

For what's right, 

For what's right.

For what's right.

Unfortunately, this song mirrors things that happen every day.  People get made fun of.  People think that they are worthless.  People think that they don't mean anything to anybody.   And these people are everywhere around us.  Sometimes they are disguised, or hidden behind masks.  Other times, they are openly in pain.  We tend to close out eyes to things like that.  We tend to just look the other way and "not even notice."

Why do we do that?  Why do we naturally turn away from people in need?  Is it because we don't want to make a scene?  Are we scared of something?  People all around us are hurting, and we just turn a blind eye to it all.  There really is no reason for that.  Especially for Christians.

It's out job to make sure that people know about the Good News.  That means that we have to let them know that they are important to their Father.  We as Christians should be sensitive to the pain around us.  We should be aware of it.  

You don't know what is going on in the lives of others.  Maybe that kid sitting alone over there just doesn't like company.  He probably chooses to sit alone.  At least, that's what we want to think.  But you don't know if that is the case.  What if that guy is going through really hard times at home, and he just needs someone to talk to.  Maybe he doesn't really want to sit alone, but he doesn't have the courage to find someone to sit with.  Who knows?  Maybe that girl who doesn't talk to people is just antisocial.  Maybe she doesn't want to talk to people.  Or maybe she is hurting inside and is thinking of cutting herself to feel something real.  Maybe her circumstances have made her come to think that she is worthless.  It is our duty as witnesses of God to let her know that she is loved and wanted by her Father.

The third part really got to me.  So many of us have little brothers and/or sisters, or some kind of figure that uses us as guides for their lives.  Our choices influence everyone around us.  I know that I set an example for my brothers and sister, even though my brothers are in their early teens.  I am a role model, even though I don't always know it.  People are watching me, and counting on me to show them how to live.  That verse made me think: Am I setting an example that I would want my siblings to follow?  Do I live the way I would want them to live?  Do you live the way you want your watchers to live?

My prayer for you is that you will remember that the choices you make will change the lives of those around you, and that you will make the choices that will turn the tables toward life.

My prayer for you is that you will open your eyes to the world around you, and become more sensitive to the pain.  

My prayer for you is that God will use you as His vessel, and use you to save a life. 

My prayer for you is that you will allow God to use you as His vessel.

My prayer for you is that you will grow in Him and will listen to His Voice.

Your sister forever in Christ, 

Tyler Henke

I Saw God Today, part 2

So, this is what I got out of this song today. 

How often during the day does God cross your mind?  For me, honestly, not very often.  Sometimes, when something really good happens to me, I will say a quick, absentminded prayer, like, "Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with this."

But the Bible says to praise God at all times, not just during the times that He blesses you.  If you had a totally normal day, would God cross your mind?  Would you think to open your Bible?  Would you randomly take the time out of your day to say a quick little prayer?

We get so caught up in our lives, that God tends to NOT be priority.  He tends to take second place in our minds, and our hearts. 

Is that okay?  I mean, we have an amazing Savior that made peace with God for us through His birth, life, death, and resurrection.  That kind of deserves priority, right?  Instead, we get so caught up in making good grades or working or just our everyday lives, that we don't give God a single thought. 

My youth leader challenged us tonight:  Take a minute to pray.  Then take a minute to read the Bible.  The write about what you read for a minute.  That's three minutes out of your day.

I am going to take this challenge, too.  Remember to hold your fellow Christians accountable.  That is part of our jobs as brothers and sisters in Christ - to hold each other accountable for our relationship with Christ.

Once again, in love,
Tyler Henke

I Saw God Today...

I just walked down the street to the coffee shop
had to take a break
I'd been by her side for eighteen hours straight
I saw a flower growing in the middle of the sidewalk
pushing up through the concrete
like it was planted right there for me to see
the flashin' lights, the honkin' horns
all seemed to fade away
in the shadow of that hospital at 5:08
I saw God today

Chorus:
I've been to church
I've read the book
I know He's here, but I don't look
near as often as I should
Yeah, I know I should
His fingerprints are everywhere
I'd just slow down to stop and stare
opened my eyes and man I swear
I saw God today

I saw a couple walking by they were holding hands
Man, she had that glow
yeah I couldn't help but notice she was starting to show
I stood there for a minute takin' in the sky
lost in that sunset
a splash of amber melted in the shades of red

Chorus

I got my face pressed up against the nursery glass
She's sleeping like a rock
My name on her wrist wearing tiny pink socks
She's got my nose, she's got her mama's eyes
My brand new baby girl
She's a miracle
I saw God today

Now, obviously, I can't relate to the verses of this song.  However, I can relate to the chorus.  

"I've been to church, I've read the Book; I know He's here, I just don't look near as often as I should - yeah, I know I should.  His fingerprints are everywhere; I just slowed down to stop and stare.  I opened my eyes, and, man, I swear - I saw God today."

I recently saw a status on FaceBook that asked when you last saw Jesus.  I copied it to my status, but the I had to think to answer it.  I had to think about my entire day, and ask myself, "Was Jesus in that?"  

Why don't we look for Jesus?  Why do we expect Him to give us this huge neon sign that says, "I'm here!  I'm real!  One way ticket to Heaven sold here!"?  He is in  SO many things that we don't even think about!  He can be seen in a little girl giving her ice cream to someone she sees crying on the street.  He can be seen in a little flower growing in a busy city.  He can be seen in a person helping pick up your books that you dropped on the floor in the school halls.  There are so many little things that Jesus can be seen in, if only we take the time to look!  

Tomorrow, watch the things in your life.  Watch and take note of all the little things you see that make you see God.  I don't mean carry around a little notepad and take a tally (although if you want to do that, then more power to you).  I mean just remember to look for Jesus in your everyday life.  It won't be a flashing light in the air.  But if you ask God to reveal Himself to you, He will.  He just won't necessarily do it the way that you are expecting.

Just some thoughts that I had today =)

In love, forever, 

Tyler N. Henke

Matthew 19:16-26

     Lately, I have been feeling really far from God.  I want to  have an intimate relationship with Him, but I have been falling behind.  Well, I said that I wanted an intimate relationship.  Sometimes I want to feel the love that my Savior feels for me.  But I am not willing to make the sacrifice.  I'm not willing to sacrifice the time, or the effort, or anything that would require me actually doing something.  I want God to do all the work, and for me to just go along with Him.  But then I realized that  I don't really want God to be the center of my life.  I wanted to do my own thing, and for God to just get off of my back, so that I could live my life the way I wanted to.   I was on FaceBook and I saw a flair (I am totally obsessed with flair - I will probably make flair references all the time) that said, "God wants full custody, not just weekends."  (Anonymous)  That caught my eye a lot, and I just kind of slid my eyes over the words and pretended not to see them.  They were compelling, and I didn't want to feel the way those words made me feel. 

     I didn't even give Him weekends.  I didn't really give any of my time to Him.  I went to church on Sundays and made sure that I went to all the kids events and got good, pretty "service hours" - you know, the things you do for clubs.  You don't really care about what the "service" is, as long as you get the signature that looks really good on a college application.  I did the hours, but I didn't really care about what I was doing.  My heart wasn't in it.  Yeah, I enjoyed being at church, and yeah, I enjoyed making the kids laugh, but I didn't really care about doing the things that God wanted me to do.  I would do them if it was convenient for me.  If I didn't have anything better to do, I would look into what God wanted me to do.  If I felt like it, I would do it.

     But God doesn't care about what is convenient for you.  He isn't trying to make life easy for you.  He cares about what you do for Him now.  He wants you to do the task that He assigned to you, and He wants you to do it when He tells you to do it.  

     God never promised that following Him would be easy.  In fact, Jesus said almost the exact opposite:  "

16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

17“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”

18“Which ones?” the man inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,19honor your father and mother,’^d and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’^e”

20“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

21Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 

26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" - Matthew 19:16-26

     Jesus told the man that in order to enter into the kingdom of Heaven,  he had to sell everything he owned, and follow Him.  When he heard this, the rich man walked away, and denied Jesus.

     As humans, we don't want to sacrifice things.  We don't want to give up our money, we don't want to give up our time, and we don't want to give up our lives to God.  But that's what He requires.  He requires our lives, and our resources.  Why do we withhold them?  They aren't ours - they are gifts from God.  They won't save us; our earthly life is short compared to eternity.  When our bodies are dead, our possessions will cease to matter.  We should be more worried about storing up treasure in Heaven: " But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:20

     When we stand before the Throne, what will our earthly possessions get us?  We can't buy our way into heaven.  We can't earn our way into heaven.  There is only one way to get to heaven:  through Jesus Christ, who came down and lived a perfect life, yet died for us so that we could spend eternity with Him and His Father.

     Sorry, I kind of got sidetracked.  I was saying that Jesus had never promised His children an easy ride.  "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first."  John 15:18.  We will face resistance, and we will face hardships.  People don't like the name of Jesus because Jesus will require them to change their lifestyles.  I don't wan to hear God speak to me because I knew that He would tell me to change.  I didn't want to change.  I thought I was happy doing my own thing.
      But now when I think about it, am I really happy?  Do I really feel happy when I refuse to listen to God?  I'm not.  I feel like I'm always looking over my shoulder to make sure that no one catches me reading this book or listening to this music, or thinking these words.  I feel bad about it, but I keep doing it.  Why?  Why don't I listen to my conscience, even though I feel horrible when I don't?  It makes no sense to me....

     I have noticed that when I am not close to God, it affects my behavior.  I feel horrible about myself all the time (not the way I look or anything like that; more of what's going on in my head.) and it changes the way I act toward other people. 


     Well, I hope that I have given you something to think about.  


Love in Christ, always,
Tyler Henke

 

What's Your Grade?

     So I haven't been writing lately, because I have felt that I have nothing to say.  I felt like God hasn't really been telling me anything, or showing me anything new.  Then I thought a little bit more.  Well, maybe He hasn't been showing me anything because I haven't been asking Him to.  What a concept, right?  I mean, how's He to show me something if I don't let Him? 

     A while back, I remember writing something like: If you ask God for something, expect to get it.  (That's not a direct quote - I don't know what I said exactly.)   I meant don't ask Him for, for example, patience, unless you are willing to have to work to get it. 

     That's what was going through my head, I think.  But I was thinking the wrong way.  When I said that, I didn't mean "If you don't want to work for something, then don't ask God to give it to you."  That would not be any help to you at all.  I should have been more clear (to myself), compelling myself to change my attitude towards growing in Him. We should want to grow in Christ.  We should want to become closer to our beautiful Savior.  We should want to do His will with all of our hearts.  Shouldn't we?  

     So I was asking myself why I am not feeling close to God.  Why don't I feel moved to do as He commands?  Well, maybe because I didn't want to.  I don't really think that I wanted to give up control of my life.  

     I can't count the times that I have been moved by the Holy Spirit's presence.  There have been times when I have just been on my knees crying, pleading for my Savior to take the wheel.  And I would feel moved toward Him all that week, or maybe that month.  But when that month was over, I would just fall into a routine.  I wouldn't really care if I read my Bible or not.  I would just kind of read through it to get it over with, to stop that nagging voice in my head.  Then I would stop reading it all together.  I would still pray every night, but I would very rarely pay attention to the words coming out of my mouth.  

     Then I would start disobeying God, intentionally.  He has been getting onto me about some of the books I read.  They are books that a lot of people have read, and books that I have read, but as I was reading them, I was caring less and less about what my Savior had to say to me.  I soon became calloused to His voice.  I was no longer feeling as guilty about reading these books.  I found myself thinking disgusting things.  I found myself not caring about other people's needs.  

     On the outside, there was no change in me, but on the inside, I was becoming quite horrible.  If you looked at me on a daily basis, you would see a good little Christian girl who always went to church and always served others and always thought of others before herself.  If you had looked in my mind, you would have been taken back at how very different I really was from that girl you saw at school.   Now that I am looking at my attitude of the past month or so, I can't believe that I didn't realize it until tonight!  I am so ashamed of myself.  I can't believe that I have been so uncaring toward my Lord and Savior!  

     Think about your prayer life.  Do you have one?  Is it healthy?  Or are you just going through the motions?  Do you really care what God has to say to you?  Do you really want an amazing relationship with the One who took your sins?  Or are you just trying to get out of Hell?  Are you just trying to pass with a "C"?  Try to shoot for A+ + +.

"³²Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

 ³³But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."  Matthew 10:32-33

Hey everyone...

     Hi!! Well, I 'm new, but I guess I'll just throw myself in, and see what happens =)

     I really don't know where to start...

     I don't think this is going to be very long.  I'll probably ramble unintelligibly for a while, then see what happens..... hmm..... well, I love Jesus Christ.  I guess I can use this blog to share in my relationship with Him.  If I realize something about my Christian life, I can always post it here.  I know I would love to share my epiphanies with anyone who will listen.........

     Well, right now I am reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  It is a really good book, and though I am not finished with it, I can say that so far, it has definitely opened my eyes to the love of God.  It made me realize that when we pray, we are coming before God Himself.  We are presenting ourselves to this mighty God, who created the universe.  Think about that sentence.  The God we worship is the same God who created the universe.  Does that sound bizarre you?  If it doesn't, then try to picture the entire universe.  I promise there is a point to the following paragraph.  

     The Earth is billions of miles away from the sun.  If you're looking at the Earth from the sun, you can barely see it.  Okay, if you are inside the Milky Way, you can't recognize our sun from the dozens of other suns and stars around it.  If you are outside the Milky Way, you can't even see that cluster of stars.  At ten million light-years away from our Earth, you can just only see the Milky Way, nestled among several other galaxies.  When we get to a hundred million light-years away from the Earth, you can't see the Milky Way.  You can't see the other galaxies beside it.  

      Okay, if you can't really imagine that from just reading it, I got that from Francis Chan, and the video on  www.crazylovebook.com,  explains what I am talking about.  Go watch that little three minute video before reading on, just to get the jist of what I am saying...

     Crazy, right?  I mean, that is huge!!!!  And there is MORE!!!! 

     Okay, this isn't an astronomy lesson.  I promised you that I had a point when I was rambling.  Just think:  God made all of what I just saw.  I am talking about that God.  Okay, whenever we pray, we go to that God, the God who created all of that.  We are presenting ourselves to this mighty God who created the universe (yeah, I am being kind of repetitive, but I am trying to get this point across.).  I mean, what do you think about when you pray?  Do you have any respect when you pray to the God that created you?  If you don't, then watch that video again. When I watched that video, I felt... well, I was speechless.  I saw God in a whole new light.  I was kind of afraid to pray... I mean, not like "Oh, my gosh, this God is going to strike me down if I bother Him, I am SO afraid," but more like I was about to walk up to the emperor of ancient Rome, or the king of Mycenae, and ask him if I could have a new bike.  I mean, you don't just walk up to one of these guys and start a regular conversation, right?  You would have bowed, and spoke with the utmost reverence, and as much respect as was humanly possible.  

     Shouldn't you do the same - even more - when you approach God?  I mean, God has done more than any of the greatest world leaders of all time!!  Doesn't He deserve even more respect?  If you were to walk up to any of the leaders mentioned before, and tried to have a friendly conversation with him, the guy probably wouldn't have listened.  I mean, he would have had much more important things to do than talk to some kid, right?

     But the wacky, insane, unbelievable thing is that God, who is greater than any man could ever hope to be, wants you to talk to Him!  About everything!!!! He wants to have a relationship with you, so much that He sent His Son, to suffer on the cross, and die. in the most humiliating, painful way possible, so that He could be with us, a world full of sinners that don't deserve His love or His time, for all eternity.  Just thinking that anyone could love us so much is mind-boggling, don't you agree?

     Yeah, I was kind of all over the place, wasn't I..... That's probably going to be the way most of these things are done... I am SUPER ADD, and I can't keep a straight line of thought to save my life.  =)

Well, I should probably go.... 

God bless!!!!!