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Friday, March 12 Devotional from Pastor John Hartman

“Handling Disappointment” 
One day a little boy named Chad told his mother, “Mom, I want to make a valentine for every member of my class at school.”  Chad’s mom was crestfallen because she knew that her little boy was quiet and shy and didn’t have any friends in his class.  Every day she would look out the window and see the kids leaving school.  All the popular kids were up front, talking and laughing together.  And always, she saw her boy walking alone behind. She thought, “Oh, son, you’re setting yourself up for such a disappointment.” But, Chad wanted to make the valentines.  So she bought the construction paper, the glue, the glitter, the little red hearts, and for the next three weeks, Chad spent every night painstakingly clipping away and making a special valentine for each of the thirty-five members of his class at school. 
The big day came, and he got the valentines, put them in a sack under his arm, and bounded out the door to school.  As soon as he left, Mom started working on damage control.  She thought he would get very few, if any, valentines, so she decided to bake his favorite cookies and have them ready to come out of the oven to go with a big glass of milk as soon as he got home. 
After school when she looked out the window, all the popular kids were together, laughing and talking as they walked down the street carrying their valentines.  Right behind was Chad, walking by himself, hands empty.  As he walked in the house, she was standing by the door, and she said, “Honey, I’ve got some cookies for you.”  But he didn’t listen.  He bounded right past her, and she heard him say, “Not even one.  Not even one.”  She got tears in her eyes. Then she heard the next thing he said. “I didn’t forget even one. I didn’t forget even one.” 
The answer to anger is the attitude of little Chad.  Do not give the devil a foothold.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as in Christ, God has forgiven you.  
Please join us for worship this Sunday, March 14 at either 8:00 A.M. or 10:30 A.M. as I continue my sermon series, “Extreme” Makeover,” and we look at the angry stuff down deep in the basement in our homes, and how God wants us to deal with it, by turning it over to Him.