Things I have learned in the last 48 hours

1) A 3-pack of caramel apples are currently $1.77 at Walmart.

2) You can get a discount on an alignment when you buy new tires at some establishments.

3) I need to work on my study skills.

4) To make homemade spinach and artichoke dip, you need one frozen package of creamed spinach, one small jar of artichokes, one package of shredded mozzerella cheese, and a microwave.

5) Eating too much homemade spinach and artichoke dip can be hazardous to your health.

6) I spend entirely too much time and money at Walmart.

7) Chips (the parakeet) now knows how to give "kisses."

8) Sometimes there are just no easy answers to the most difficult questions or situations. But God gives strength when we think that we cannot endure it.

9) Loving someone is not always excusing or overlooking his/her sinful behavior. Love is sometimes saying what is difficult to speak and what is difficult to hear.

10) The only thing that we contribute to our salvation is the sin from which we need to be saved (quote from Alistair Begg - I listened to his sermon on his Truth for Life radio program this morning). It is only by His grace that we are able to receive the free gift of salvation, and it is by His grace that we can walk in newness of life - we cannot originate it, we cannot sustain it, and we cannot complete it on our own. He even went so far as to say that when we struggle in our faith, it is a testimony to God's grace because if it were not for His grace then we would not even be able to struggle because we wouldn't even know there was something TO struggle toward. Alistair did a wonderful job of combining the truths of total grace in salvation but also our total responisibility to "work out our salvation through fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). We do not work FOR our salvation, we do not work IN our salvation... but by the grace of God we are to work OUT our salvation so we may obey and please Him.