Volume 1, Issue 1

Page 2

October, 1999

One of the popular phrases  of our day is "family friendly." It is applied to television programs, motels, restaurants, theme parks--all of which strive for that label by trying to offer things which will not harm families.
In a real sense we should all strive to be "family friendly." Our individual actions should preserve and dignify the home from which we came as well as the one we ourselves will build.
This little insert, The Family Friend is designed to be "family friendly" as well. We hope the articles,  quotations, etc., will help you and your family. -- "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." (Psalm 127:1) 
  --Lance Cordle

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Warmth when the world is cold...safety when the world is hostile...a place of love in a world of hate... a place of light in the midst of darkness...
This is a family...A family is many things...it is devotion sitting on a pew together...A mother singing as she goes about preparing supper...father happily playing with laughing children.
A family is a yell squad when victory is won...a place of understanding and starting again when defeat must be endured.
It is a very private organization--only bona fide members are allowed in...As a poet said, "All of us are we---and everyone else is they." It is held together with the glue of love and the cement of mutual respect.
The family is a shelter from

the storm...a safe and friendly port when the waves of life become too wild. No person is ever alone if he is a member of a family.
The smile of a mother...the robust laughter of a father...the giggle of daughters... the shouts of sons. That's a family.
They may taunt one another...they may fight, fuss, and bicker among each other...but when trouble threatens from outside forces, instantly the ranks close and the troops unite against the common foe.
A family is all of these things...but most of all, a family is a group of human beings working together to build something beautiful and lasting.
A family is a colony of heavenly bliss...right here on earth.