JanineThrossel.com

When we lived in South America, we occasionally received care packages from friends and family back home.  Boxes, envelopes or suitcases would be mailed to us or hand-carried by my in-laws when they came to visit. It was so much fun to open them and find treats like books and magazines in English, American candy, Pop-Tarts, cheesecake mix, black olives, dill pickles, cards, notes and photos from loved ones. Costa Rica: Peter stopped unpacking the suitcase Papa and Grandma Throssel brought,  and just started reading one of the books! Bolivia: One year, Philip said that the only thing he wanted for Christmas was Silly Putty.  So, Grandpa George sent him an egg of it in every color available!   Well, a little while before Christmas last year, we received our first giant care package FROM Bolivia.  Our friend Caroline helped sort through some of our stuff in storage there, and then our friends Bev and Bill packed up two large suitcases fu...

Recently, I listened to Charles Stanley share a memorable analogy about the ocean. He said a giant storm can send winds swirling, rain falling and waves crashing. Yet, down deep beneath the water, where "the storm held no sway," that same ocean is quiet and calm. Stanley has written: "That’s what Christ’s peace is like. It’s not an absence of conflict or trouble but a deep calmness in the midst of life’s circumstances." (http://www.intouch.org/read/magazine/a-word-from-dr-stanley/choose-peace) Shortly after hearing him speak, I saw a stunning reminder of that kind of peace.  Some of you may have heard of eight prisoners executed in Indonesia for drug charges. Two Australians, a Brazilian, four Nigerians and an Indonesian were bound to posts and shot through the heart. There was a lot of controversy surrounding their deaths. No deaths had been linked to their drug charges and some of the prisoners had already spent years trying to make amends for their s...

In the midst of the Chilean volcano eruptions, the earthquake in Nepal and the riots in Baltimore, there is a LOT OF GOOD NEWS this week, too! Here are a few examples. . . . * More than 450 women and children have been RESCUED from Boko Haram in Nigeria (please pray for their emotionally and psychological recovery, and the hundreds still being held). * A teen was pulled from the rubble nearly a week after the Nepal earthquake! * Thousands of people stepped up in Baltimore to clean the city, feed police and military personnel and also feed the many needy children who couldn't get access to their school lunches. * A report shows automobile crash fatalities with drivers 16-19 years old are less than half what they used to be in America. * After Tim Ward lost his wife and home in a landslide, an anonymous donor heard his story and paid off the mortgage--of $360,000. * After Jean Sharon Abbott spent 33 years unable to control her limbs, a correct diagnosis allows her to ...