Life's Changes

When our hopes and dreams are shattered
And they seem to be out of range
It's the ability to know what we need
In our lives to make a change.

We must find out what's important
Not what we want, but what we need
Our lives should be filled with love and joy
Not anger, lust or greed.

So fill your life with things that are new
And get rid of the bad and the old
'cause it's always hard to take criticism
Or to do what we are told.

But the change is deep within us
If we look we just might find
The key that unlocks the door to change
So we won't be left behind.

So when you let God change your life
Your life will start to change you
And when it is all said and done
Your life's changes will be new.

Jan Bagwell

God Bless !

Life is short  make  good  choices

The Mentor

He was just a country preacher
In a country church so small,
But each member loved him dearly,
And he dearly loved them all.

"Preacher Ken," they called him.
His truck they called "Old Red."
That rattle trap was so old,
They once declared it dead.

Preacher Ken visited members
On each Saturday afternoon.
Little Ben would finish lunch
And say, "Preacher's coming soon!"

On Saturday, the preacher's visit
Was Ben's highlight of the week.
He loved to see that red truck come
With his preacher so mild and meek.

Little Ben was just only five,
But he heard Preacher's sermons too,
And he'd say when Preacher visited,
"One day, I'll preach like you."

Ben never missed a church service.
He got saved when he was only ten
Because Preacher Ken was faithful,
And he tried each soul to win.

Preacher Ken taught Ben the Bible,
And when Ben was just eighteen,
Preacher Ken developed cancer
And became really sick and lean.

Before he died, he gave to Ben
His Bible and his old truck too.
Ben had already started preaching
In a style that was not new.

It seemed that Preacher's mantle
Had fallen upon dear young Ben,
For when Preacher went to Heaven,
Ben's portion of power doubled then.

They never forgot Preacher Ken,
Who preached God's mercy and grace,
And they were ever so thankful
For young Ben who took his place

Jan Bagwell

God Bless !

As  you live your life  will you  be remember for what 

you said or what you did ? Everybody  can talk  a good

game . If  you born again , go out and  win others .

Courage On A Shirt

Courage On A Shirt

Thank You Brother Jan Bagwell for sending a fresh, refreshing, at
times challenging and uplifting message to my mailbox every
morning. I subscribed a year ago and have always enjoyed
reading the inspirations, which I often send to my colleagues
now and then.

In 1999 I was a teller in a local bank in our city, Kampala in
Uganda. I had an experience one Saturday that makes me shiver
with fright even up to now.

I shared a house with a friend who also worked in a separate
bank as a teller too. Two weeks earlier a young orphan girl my
housemate was supporting by providing school tuition fees sent
him a beautiful black T-shirt with an inscription at the front
with the words "El Shaddai."  On the back was a scripture
passage, the words on the back said, "Do not be afraid, take
courage and you will see what your God will do for you today".
We used to share clothing, as most single men who live together
are wont to do.

On this particular Saturday morning while I was preparing to go
to work, (we used to work half day on Saturdays) I felt a very
strong urge to put on this T-shirt. However I realized my
housie had used it the previous day and it smelled of sweat.

I picked something else, but there was this overriding urge to
put on the dirty shirt instead. I complied, picked the shirt,
sprayed it with a deodorant to make it smell better and promptly
dressed in it and was off to work.

It was approaching midday, and thus it was time to balance up
the day's transactions and end the day. As I prepared my
payments and cash receipt vouchers, and counted the cash balance
to hand over to my supervisor I realized I was short by
5,000,000 Uganda shillings. (Equivalent to US$ 3,500 then)

I was obviously perplexed, for it had not been a very busy day,
and I had simply not had any major transaction that could have
led to an overpayment of such a magnitude.

I checked the cash and the vouchers once again and still could
not trace the source of the difference. Panic began to set in,
and I began to see myself possibly being arrested and detained
for the loss. My monthly salary then was only Uganda Shillings
235,000. (Approximately US$ 164).

I reported the imbalance to my supervisor who promptly notified
the branch manager, a tough no nonsense Asian gentleman. He
simply told me one sentence; "John, return the money", and with
that sentence I knew my fate never needed a prophet to predict
and foresee, it was certain I was in big trouble.

I began weeping inside me, crying to God to rescue me. That was
a sum I could never pay back even if I went the whole year
working without pay.

But meanwhile another battle was going on in my spirit. The
strong fear developing was being fuelled by a silent but pushy
voice saying it is doom for me, forever. A voice began telling
me I could never pay that money to my employer even if I worked
for a lifetime, since I still also needed to pay rent, feed
myself and pay fare to and from work. "Why not just kill
yourself tonight!"  And with the mention of that sentence so
much fear and anxiety developed, I soon began to believe it, as
desperation began to set in.

I for lack of explanation, again went back to scrutinize the
vouches and cheques one by one, being careful not to miss out on
any clue that could provide an explanation. Does anyone still
remember what I had at the back of my T-shirt?  Neither did I
remember at this point in time.

I then came upon this cash deposit voucher which indicated that
I had received 7,200,000 in the 5,000 shillings denomination. I
immediately saw the source of the discrepancy, since I didn't
have a full bundle of 5,000,000 shillings in 5,000 notes
denomination. Actually a 2 had been written in a manner to show
that it was a 7. In receiving the cash I received 2,200,000,
but in the totals it had been added as a 7.

I immediately called the person who had made that deposit and
told him there was a problem with the money they had deposited.
They denied and claimed the entries on their vouchers were
correct, and besides I had already endorsed and appended a stamp
as "received".

In desperation I called the MD of the company (It was a big
business company that dealt in import and export business) and
explained to him what had happened. He told me he would be in
the bank after a short while.

After a two hour wait, during the course of which all my
colleagues had wound up their work and left for home the Boss
(MD) arrived. He went to my manager's office and asked, "Where
is this cashier?"  I was called in, he promptly handed me
5,000,000 Shillings and said, "Young man you are a lucky man. I
think you have a God". I could not believe my ears, nor my eyes;
I just began weeping un-controllably.

On inquiry as to what had really happened he explained thus:
"After you called me, I decided to go to the company office and
made an impromptu inspection of the lockers of each of the
cashiers. And in one of them I found this money for which they
could give no explanation. It takes a miracle for such a thing
to happen."

Meanwhile I had to write the banks end of day books of accounts
closing the transactions of the day. Standing right behind me
was the bank manager, the Chief Accountant and the Head Auditor.

They were all reading the message on my T-shirt, amused the
Chief Accountant asked me, "John, do you know what is written
behind your shirt?"  That was when I remembered, I wept for Joy,
at the Lords deliverance.

Were these a chain of well arranged and coordinated coincidences
happening to a helpless employee?
Well?
You choose what to make of it.

But friends, this is Our God at work; He is our Present Help in
Times of trouble. Praise be to His Name.

Written by 
John Kisaka,

 Kampala, Uganda~

Thank you for allowing  me to forward your  letter  . It was so uplifting to me !

Jan Bagwell

God Bless !

Hear Our Prayer Father God, hear our prayer, keep us in thy loving care if we should wander off too far lead us back with the Morning Star. As we go about our busy day, be our guide ~ light our way if we happen to lose our direction lead us back with Your correction. Let us seek Your instruction, help us over each obstruction if we should falter or hesitate lead us back to our Shepherd's gate. Father God, hear our prayer, protect us from the wolves out there if we should follow ~ even one lead us back to Your beloved Son! Jan Bagwell God Bless ! Psalm 32:8 KJV “I WILL instruct thee and teach t

Hear Our Prayer

Father God, hear our prayer,
keep us in thy loving care
if we should wander off too far
lead us back with the Morning Star.

As we go about our busy day,
be our guide ~ light our way
if we happen to lose our direction
lead us back with Your correction.

Let us seek Your instruction,
help us over each obstruction
if we should falter or hesitate
lead us back to our Shepherd's gate.

Father God, hear our prayer,
protect us from the wolves out there
if we should follow ~ even one
lead us back to Your beloved Son!

Jan Bagwell

God Bless !

Psalm 32:8

KJV

“I WILL  instruct thee and teach thee in

the way which  thou shalt go : I will

guide thee with mine eye .”