My Redeemer is Faithful and True

Today, I am rejoicing and giving thanks to my loving Heavenly Father for great health news that my mom received yesterday afternoon. For the past week, we have been anxiously awaiting follow-up results due to an abnormal mammogram. We've been especially anxious because of her bout with ovarian cancer three years ago. Yesterday, we were told that the mass is benign and nothing to worry about. Praise God!!!

A song came to mind... it's been tucked deep inside my soul from my teenage years. I can't find a good video of it to post, nor is it available on Playlist.com for me to add to my playlist... so posting the lyrics on here is all I can do for now. The song is...

My Redeemer is Faithful and True
By Steven Curtis Chapman and James Isaac Elliott

As I look back on the road I've travelled,
I see so many times He carried me through;
And if there's one thing that I've learned in my life,
My Redeemer is faithful and true.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

Chorus:
My Redeemer is faithful and true.
Everything He has said He will do,
And every morning His mercies are new.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

My heart rejoices when I read the promise
'There is a place I am preparing for you.'
I know someday I'll see my Lord face to face,
'Cause my Redeemer is faithful and true.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

And in every situation He has proved His love to me;
When I lack the understanding, He gives more grace to me.

This is very true in every believer's life, but it is very much real in my mom's life! And for that, I give God thanks!

God's love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear him, making everything right for them and their children as they follow his Covenant ways and remember to do whatever he said.
---Psalm 103:17-18 (The Message)

Five Loaves and Two Fish

This past Sunday, our guest speaker at church spoke to us about the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000 people. He focused on these two phrases from the Bible passage:

"You (disciples) give them something to eat." "Bring them here to me (Jesus)."

The first phrase was Jesus' solution to the problem. Jesus presented the disciples with an impossible (humanly speaking) solution. Our guest speaker reminded us that it is when God presents us with the impossible that we see His power most at work! 

"Coincidentally" the night before, we watched Evan Almighty (again)... this time on DVD. This second time around watching the story of Noah told in a modern-day setting seemed to resonate with me way more than the first time. I think it has somethng to do with our being part of a church plant now... the idea of God asking me to do outrageous things is now suddenly very real to me!!! Here's one of God and Evan's conversations (paraphrased):

Evan: God, this is impossible!

God: This is when I accomplish great things!

Wow, so true! Hubby and I have seen this truth time and time again during this new church's very young life. 

Our guest speaker shared with us that the second phrase reminds us to give our all to Jesus; to bring our five loaves and two fish to Him; then He will multiply them! Got me thinking --- what are my five loaves and two fish? Am I holding on to them? Is there something I need to give to Jesus so that it can be multiplied for His glory? 

Great message... food for thought!

Week-Long Bible Lessons

As we complete a whole week of Bible teaching at Ignition Sports Camp today, I am in a reflective mood... there's been a bunch of "firsts" this week and I am just awed by God. 

Some of those "firsts" are: 

~ FIRST TIME the Good News is being presented at Ignition by our church's own children's ministries volunteers. I am beyond excited --- for some of these children, it would be their FIRST TIME to hear about the Gospel; the same is true for some of our staff members!!! 

~ Two of the teachers are ladies from my Bible Study group. I have seen these two ladies grow in their spiritual lives, from mere babies to full-grown adults! It is truly a blessing to see and experience such transformation. As far as I know, it is the FIRST TIME for one of them to teach a Bible lesson to children in a setting such as Ignition. 

~ My daughter came home from a week-long overnight camp a couple of weeks ago challenged to share more about God to other children. She volunteered to write (from scratch, with themes provided to her by our pastor) all the lessons that we are teaching this week at Ignition!!! This is her FIRST TIME to write curriculum; and it is the FIRST TIME we are using lessons written by a child (okay, preteen!) for children! As you can probably already tell, I am ONE PROUD MAMA!!! She did an excellent job... her talent in writing is definitely a unique gift from God!

For all these "firsts" --- all glory be to our gracious Heavenly Father!!! 

As I reflected upon this week and as I prepare my heart to teach the last lesson in a couple of hours, this verse came to me... 

2 Corinthians 9:9-11 (The Message) God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,

He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out.

This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.

Braces!!!

My daughter got braces this week. I can't believe that my little girl is turning into a teenager right before my eyes!!! Time sure flies --- make the most of it!!!

Church People vs. Kingdom People

I saw this quote on my Facebook news feed page this morning: 

"Church people think about how to get people into the church; kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world. Church people worry that the world might change the church; kingdom people work to see the church change the world." ---Howard Snyder 

Made me think --- as a Christian family which category of people do we belong to? Are we a kingdom-minded family? Do we structure our activities so that we are going into the world as the Bible has taught us to? Do we work to see our family effect "God-change" in the community around us or do we keep to ourselves because we worry that the world might "influence" our family? 

I sure would like to think that we are a kingdom-minded family! I believe that it is the harder category to belong to... but the results are much more glorifying to God than the alternative. 

This summer, we are playing our part in making an affordable summer sports camp happen in our very own community; making close to 1,000 camp spots available to families that need help; so that people may know that God loves them and that we do too! 

Becoming a world-changing family is definitely a work in progress... one day at a time!