Included on this page are the thoughts for July through December 1997 only. I used the image above (I created it myself with Windows' Paintbrush/Paint) for the cover of each week's leaflet, which was printed on a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" sheet of paper using the landscape orientation and folded in half. Where you find gaps in the dates below, I missed preparing a leaflet for those weeks.

"The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,...."

Isaiah 61:1, 2a
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"This week, we will celebrate the beginning of the year 1998 AD, or Anno Domini, which is Latin for "in the year of our Lord.' As we count DOWN the seconds on New Year's Eve in order to count UP another year, let us also remember that every New Year is another 'year of the Lord's favor,' becasue 'God is with us,' as He said He would be in Isaiah 7:14. Therefore, while we are counting, let us also keep in mind, as Albert Einstein evidently did, that 'Not everything that counts can be counted,' (from a sign hangin in his office; Guideposts Magazine, p. 26, December 1997). May you have a Happy and Blessed New Year!!"

Chaplain (CPT) Michael L. White
2-2 FA and 3-30 FA, Ft. Sill, OK

"In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.'"

Luke 2:8-14
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"God takes life's broken pieces and gives us unbroken peace."

Wilbert Donald Gough
(Guideposts Magazine, p. 53, December 1997)

"On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

Luke 6:38
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"If Christmas isn't found in your heart, you won't find it under the tree."

Charlotte Carpenter
(Guideposts Magazine, p. 30, December 1997)

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

Luke 6:38
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"If my hands are fully occupied in holding on to something, I can neither give nor receive."

Dorothy Solle
(Guideposts Magazine, p. 35, December 1997)

"As [Jesus] entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!' When he saw them, he said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, 'Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?'"

Luke 17:12-18
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks."

St. Ambrose
(Guideposts Magazine, June 1997)

"Therefore, encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing."

I Thessalonians 5:11
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants; but it is miles ahead in results."

Ella Wheeler Wilcox
(Guideposts Magazine, June 1997)

"For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

Romans 8:24, 25
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"Hope continues to scan the horizon for something better, which has been promised and is yet to come."

Mary Susan Gast

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus...."

Philippians 2:3-5
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"You will have found Christ when you are concerned with other people's sufferings and not your own."

Flannery O'Connor
American Authoress

"So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you."

John 13:14, 15
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"Setting a good example is not only a means of influencing another; it's the only means."

Albert Einstein

"And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

John 3:19-21 NRSV
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."

Plato

"We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers."

1 Thessalonians 2:13 NRSV
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"The Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man."

Abraham Lincoln

"Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations becaus of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved."

Matthew 24:9-13
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"Tribulation requires both patience to endure and endurance to be patient."

Chaplain (CPT) Michael L. White
2-2 & 3-30 FA Battalion Chaplain

"For those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit; let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it."

1 Peter 3:10, 11
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good."

Mahatma Gandhi

"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites.... But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Matthew 6:5a, 6
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"Whenever we actually pray, in the sense which Christ advises, we are seeking to bridge temporarily the chasm between the human and divine."

D. Elton Trueblood

"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

1 Corinthians 13:13
(King James Version of the Bible)

"If you haven't got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble."

Bob Hope

"You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak...."

James 1:19
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"The less you talk, the more you're listened to."

Abigail Van Buren

"For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains."

1 Timothy 6:10
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"Money is an article which may be used as a universal passport to everywhere except heaven, and a universal provider of everything except happiness."

Anonymous

"I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one."

John 17:15
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"God isn't as interested in changing our circumstances as He is in changing us."

Dr. Charlie Bauer
The Christian Counseling Center of Lawton, OK

"Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, [Jesus] went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed."

Mark 1:35
(New King James Version of the Bible)

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: ...a time to search, and a time to give up...."

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 6a
(New International Version of the Bible)

"Since there is a time for everything, such as 'a time to search and a time to give up,' there must also be a time to strive for something and a time to wait on the Lord. It is neither a contradiction nor conflicting advice to recommend both."

Chaplain (CPT) Michael L. White
Battalion Chaplain

"A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."

Proverbs 18:24
(King James Version of the Bible)

"Strangers are friends we haven't met yet."

Helen Steiner Rice
Christian Poet

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you."

James 4:10
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"Humility is that strange grace that when you know you've got it, you've lost it."

Rev. Warren Wiersbe
Pastor and Author

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

Matthew 7:13, 14
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"Life is full of choices. Make the right choice."

Chaplain (CPT) Michael L. White
2-2 & 3-30 FA Battalion Chaplain

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy."

Matthew 5:7
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"The one who shows no mercy can expect to receive no mercy."

Chaplain (CPT) Michael L. White
2-2 & 3-30 FA Battalion Chaplain

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him."

Isaiah 30:18
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

"Good things come to those who wait."

Unknown

"Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6, 7
(New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

Horatio G. Spafford (From the Christian Hymn, "It Is Well With My Soul")