Thursday, August 23, 2007

An Invitation

Ladies of JPBC I want to encourage you to attend with me the Women of Faith Conference. It will be an investment of time and monies that will pay back in inspiration, laughter and pure divine delight not to mention the fellowship between those ladies willing to go on the adventure. I have had the privledge to attend several of these conferences and am always glad I did. The stories I could tell! Let’s just say one said adventure involves tattoos, running out of gas, a found license plate and a “sign.” I know those fellow sojourners out there are having a time remembering our adventure with our Lord. This particular journey was a life changing event for my very good friend Erin. Maybe she will share on the comment page how God can use such an event to get our attention and our hearts by captivating us with His love. I will need to know very soon if you will be attending so please consider taking a ride with me and our Lord.

PS Erin, Jeanette, Donna if you want to attend with us you are more than welcome….

Just thinking....

Whew, what a busy summer. Today there are so many different and varied thoughts going on in this small brain of mine. First, today we took the kids to Discovery Place and was reminded again what an awesome genius our Creator God is! We saw the complexity of how our own human bodies work to the outlandish and colorful creatures of the deep and learned about the laws of nature that God put into place. I stand amazed at His power but also His creativity and yes some creatures cause me to wonder about His sense of humor and adventure. You, O El Elohim are the One and Only Creator God of all things seen and unseen! I give you glory.

Secondly, As I listened to the narrator of the IMAX show describe how the baby in the womb has hands that begin as webs then are “sculpted” into hands with fingers, I was struck with the choice of word he used, “sculpted.” Our Lord did just that, He personally put clay into His big and glorious yet tender and caring hands and sculpted each of us personally into His workmanship. We are His personal work of art. I am and you are a masterpiece! For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephes. 2:10

Thirdly, I have been thinking about 7 people lately especially two. On our Mission Trip to Altoona, PA we labored physically during the day in a major heat wave and then we did VBS during the evening hours. I have to confess after looking at the facts: 1) they had never done VBS before 2) their active membership was maybe 10 3) 3 other churches in the community were doing VBS the same week and 4) we were out of the Bible belt, I had doubts about the turnout. I prayed for God to send us kids. He did! The first night we only had one little girl, the second night we had 7! The next night we had 18! God is very good. We had 6 pray to receive Christ and I saw the Light come upon them. One young boy who had prayed to receive Christ brought his twin sister back the next night and said to me, “Will you tell that story about Jesus again because my sister doesn’t know that Jesus died for her sins?” Wow! A young girl named Chloe, who prayed to receive Christ, was so excited about her decision and I can only describe her as a sponge. She went home to tell her parents about her decision only to be told by them she wasn’t allowed to return. Woe! She has been on my mind. In fact I can’t control the tears flowing even now. I know this, I will see her again; but between now and then I pray for Chloe. Will you join me in praying for Chloe? The other person lying heavy on my heart is Doe. She was a member of the church and truly used by God as the instrument to bring children to the VBS. She hung around each night and just watched, listened and engaged us in conversation. She is a lovely young lady who found Christ later in life and is by all accounts sold out to Him. She told me that it was such a refreshment and encouragement just to be with all of us from JPBC. You see being a member of such a small church she doesn’t really have fellowship. She craves Christian friendships and Christian conversations. I can’t imagine her yearning and longing. I have been praying for Doe, will you join me in praying as well?