Articles from this month's issue of the Berean News

Viewpoints The Fire Drill I am just completing my seventh year of teaching mathematics at Palatine High School. Like all schools across the country, we have fire drills throughout the school year. On May 25, we had our final fire drill for the school year. Typically we have four drills in the fall and four more in the spring. When I first started teaching, weather permitting, we would have the fire drill during second period. Each and every fire drill we had was during second period. Therefore the students became really efficient at exiting the school during second period. They knew exactly which way to turn when they left the classroom, they knew which set of stairs to go down, they knew where to stand outside, they knew what to expect. During my second year we had a fire alarm go off during fourth period because of a fire that began in a garbage can in a washroom. We had never had a fire drill fourth period before, and you would think that it wouldn't be much of a problem, but we did not exit the building anywhere as fast because the students were not where they usually were and they had no warning. They didn't realize that they weren't suppose to go out the door they always go out. They didn't realize how each individual students' lack of knowledge affected the entire school. I was amazed at how ineffective we were. Another major problem that was noticed was the alarm system. Fourth period is a lunch period and there are about 500 students in the cafeteria trying to get their lunch and eat it. The noise is what is expected from 500 teenagers in one room together. When the alarm went off, it could barely be heard in the cafeteria. Students were just standing in line waiting to get their lunch when they saw other students leaving the cafeteria. Word began to spread that the fire alarm was going off and they needed to exit the building. This delay created another problem in that the exits became jammed up with students leaving, and the students coming from the second and third floors were stuck in the stairwells. We learned a couple of valuable lessons that day. First, the alarm system was changed so that all locations in the building could hear it. The alarm is so loud now that it is almost painful when there is no other noise. Secondly, we learned that you never know when that alarm will be going off so we'd better be prepared. We are having drills at different times throughout the day, including lunch hours. The students are exiting the building much more efficiently now. As I think back on our old way of doing fire drills and the lessons we learned, I realized how important it is for me to be ready whenever that horn is sounded and Christ returns. There will not be any drills to prepare except for life itself. Are you ready for that alarm to sound? Are you as sure as Paul was in II Timothy 4: 7-8 when he says, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day..."? Do you know what to expect? If you are not ready, then get yourself ready. Always strive for more in your walk with Christ. Don't be satisfied doing the same things over and over and serving Christ that way. You are just like my school always having the drill during the same period. Expand yourself under Christ and continue to grow. Prepare yourself for anything. Don't continue to have your fire drills second period and not be ready when the real alarm sounds. --David Elliott

Other Items Dear Friends of Camp Blessing: Just a reminder that in a few short weeks, the Lord willing, we will be meeting for a very blessed week at the Berean Christian Conference in Grove City, PA. We hope that many of you have been making your crafts to bring and donate to the Camp Blessing Gift Shop. When donating items, please indicate your name and address, and inventory list, and your suggested price. Once at the conference, we need volunteers to help at the tables, in the afternoon or evening. If you have never helped, volunteer - it's a blessing! We pray for our Lord to bless you and motivate you and help fill our Camp Blessing Gift Shop tables with all your hand-crafted items. All proceeds go to Camp Blessing. Christian love, Phyllis Schwede and Pat Wasko _____________________________________________________________________ I WANT TO BE BURIED WITH A FORK There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things "in order", she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. The woman also requested to be buried with her favorite Bible. Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her. "There's one more thing," she said excitedly. "What's that?" came the pastor's reply. "This is very important," the woman continued, "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand!" The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say. "That surprises you, doesn't it?" the woman asked. "Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request," said the pastor. The woman explained. "In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'keep your fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming ... like velvety chocolate cake or deep dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance. So I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them: 'Keep Your Fork. The best is yet to come.'" The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She KNEW that something better was coming. At the funeral people were walking by the woman's casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing and her favorite Bible and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over the pastor heard the question, "What's with the fork?" And over and over he smiled. During his message, the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. The pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right. So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you, oh so gently, that the best is yet to come. --author unknown

Roy's Reflections Friends Are The Flowers Of Life When you are young, you meet your friends in the sandbox at the neighborhood park. You find your first puppy love on your first day of kindergarten. Eventually as you keep moving up into 3rd grade, then junior high, and eventually into high school, you develop relationships. Relationships that aren't romantic, but relationships that mean the world to you: true friends. True friends are what make you smile on days when you are gray. True friends are what make you realize when you are wrong. Friends are those who understand and don't make you explain. True friends are those at whom you can look across the room and they will know exactly what you are thinking. Friends are those with whom you share your secrets, and those with whom you have inside jokes. Friends are those who let you cry on their shoulders when you are just sad. Your friends are those whom you will never forget, and with whom you will share the most memorable times of your life. Whether those times are fun, joyous, surprising, sad, or heartbreaking, if you have true friends, you will always have a shoulder to lean on. God gave us these special people to bring us joy and happiness. He put these earth angels here for us to grow with and learn from. "A friend loves at all times" Proverbs 17:17 Not only did God send you friends, but also he sent you to be a good friend, a good Christian friend. One who will love and care for others. Sometimes our friends can be hurtful, and plain out mean, and it's so easy to snap back at them, and sometimes we want to hurt them as much as they hurt us. But that is not what God tells us, he says that a friend loves at ALL times. That doesn't mean just on Sundays, or just at work, not just when you are at school or when you are having a good day, but ALWAYS. "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24 A friend that sticks closer than a brother. In Christ we are all brothers and sisters in Him. To your friends you can be closer than a brother, or closer than a sister. You can remind them on days that they are hurting, that our God is there for them, just as you are, and He loves them always. You can be their earth angel. May your friends be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. --Roy P. Boswell

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