Southside Oracle Archive

Wedding Bells – Congratulations to Ryan Timms and Christy Montney who will be married at Southside at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 6.

The Sick – Elfriede Wandsnider will have a hip replacement at St. Luke’s Hospital on Wednesday, December 3^rd….Esther Gray is at home with pneumonia…. Pearl Molla has returned to St. Luke’s Hospital with pneumonia, but hopes to go home this week.

The Wisconsin Challenge will be assembled for mailing Monday. Come to the building at 7:00 p.m. if you would like to help.

Instead of the fifth Sunday night elders’ forum that we usually have, one of our elders, Wayne Alexander, will preach at the 6:00 o’clock service. Wayne also preached for the Waukesha Church last Sunday morning.

                                       Two years ago         Last year         Last week         Goal

Bible classes                           112                      143                 128                170

Morning worship                     196                      225               *194                250

Evening worship                        62                        71                   65                  80

Contribution                        $3991.64             $4091.30        $3228.85       $4200.00

(*) first service, 116; second service, 78

     There will be a children’s party for those 12 and under, Friday, December 12^th, from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. See the sign-up sheet for details or Corrina Orlovsky or Denise Eppler.

     Eleven from Southside attended the Sunday Night Live youth program last Sunday evening at the West Point Road Church in Green Bay.

     The Tweens and the little ones from the Sunday evening children’s class will sing at the Cameo Nursing Home on Friday, December 6^th. Those going should meet at the church building at 6:30 p.m.

     I once heard Ann Landers interviewed on the radio. She said she received about a thousand letters a day. When queried as to the nature of the requests for her counsel, she responded that by far the largest number related to the husband-wife relationship. She added that a good marriage is hard to achieve and that it must be worked at to be effective.

     My personal counseling experience tallies with her observations. I would add a few other pertinent comments:

      More often than not people do not seek help for their marriage until it is at the critical point. Early counseling would prevent many difficulties from becoming acute.

     A marriage at the dangerous stage usually exhibits a complete communications breakdown. Insignificant things become mountains and are interpreted without giving the benefit of the doubt to the other person. Communication must be restored to save the home.

     Many homes are in trouble because the husband and wife have not matured. They still act as juveniles instead of adults. They need to grow up. This fact warns that marriage should not be rushed into as a far larger percentage of marriages fail when the couples are teens than when they are older.

     Most domestic problems can be solved, or at least considerably helped, by the application of spiritual principles. If both mates seek to live as Christians and apply the teachings of Jesus at every turn, progress will be made. Because Christians are also human beings, the Christian approach will not eliminate every harsh word or remove every difficulty, but if it is truly applied it will produce a home that is basically happy.

     Application of these suggestions will not save every marriage because resolution of deep-seated problems such as alcoholism may have to be addressed in the process. However, we must recognize that it takes the cooperation of both husband and wife to make a good marriage. Neither can do it alone. But if both will work with Jesus as their helper, a truly happy marriage can result.

__Monroe E. Hawley

About two weeks ago my eye was caught by the above statement on a bumper sticker on the tailgate of an old station wagon. It is provocative! I was immediately reminded of Jacob’s counsel to his children as they prepared themselves for the long journey from Palestine to the court of the Egyptian Pharaoh to buy food. Jacob advised, "…carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey" (Gen. 43:11).

One idea here is that we should be ready at all times to spread sweetness, love, joy, and healing. How many of us make real preparation to do that? We often have opportunity to make the day of another a little brighter or sweeten the life of a friend. Are we always ready to take advantage of such opportunity? An encouraging word…

a smile….a kindness, however small….a small gift of love….a telephone call….a card….a personal visit….an uplifting note…. "candy" in a sense. Don’t ration it!

__Elmer Little

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