365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 332

Yesterday, I went to a church training workshop about Special Needs families. It has been on my heart since a discussion with my sister-in-law about how parents with special needs children are struggling and how the church in a lot of cases isn’t doing anything probably because they just don’t know what to do and take the easier road of doing nothing. But Jesus calls us to help the hurting. It turns out Woodman Valley Chapel has successfully implemented a program to help special needs families so they are able to come to worship and start participating in other church ministries. The head of the program came and spoke to a room full of volunteers who are willing to give their time into helping with this kind of ministry. I am praising God for this ministry and asking for prayers for this new ministry at our church to blossom and grow and be able to help lots of area families so they can connect with Christ and his body of believers. If you know of a family in the Front Range area that is struggling and needs to get connected, please invite them to a workshop on November 3^rd called There’s a Person in There. It is from 8:30-12:15 at First Presbyterian Church 219 E Bijou St, Colorado Springs. To learn more about the workshop go to www.first-pres.org and click on the Caring tab and There’s a Person in There in the drop-down menu.

2 Samuel 22:29-31 You are my lamp, O Lord;  the Lord turns my darkness into light.  With your help I can advance against a troop;  with my God I can scale a wall.  As for God, his way is perfect;  the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 110

Yesterday in church, our pastor was on fire with lots of passion. He will be leaving our church soon which is sad but he has to go where God is calling him. He was continuing with a sermon on the Gospel of Matthew which we have been into since last fall. We were at the part when Jesus is arrested. Pastor Singleton suggested that like him most of us at some time or many times have thought about 'what if'. What if Judas didn't betray Jesus? What if Jesus didn't have to die on the cross? And the what if's in our own life... What if I communicated better, we wouldn't have had that fight? What if I was more on top of Faith's homework, she wouldn't have missed doing and turing in a big assignment? And the list could go on and on... Singleton shared a story of his from 20 years ago when he said to his congregation 'you need to be bringing your own bible to church'. Later he was reamed by his congregation because as Presbyterian we don't bring our own bibles, we just use what's in the pews along with some other excuses. He doesn't remember why he said that or what context it was in but in his mind he had made a big mistake saying that to his congregation. Fast forward 20 years later... A man who was at that sermon 20 years earlier by chance ends up in our town at our church now and sees it's the same pastor from 20 years earlier. He goes up to him and tells him this story: I was not true believer when I was in church that day 20 years ago when you told us we need to bring our own bible to church. I went home and your words stayed with me. I finally went and pulled out my old bible from my childhood. It opened up to a page in Proverbs and out fell a letter from my mother explaining more about the verses on that page about God's love. I became a believer and have gone on to have a wonderful family and have adopted multiple children. What Singleton had thought was this mistake he made, God turned into something very good. There are probably thousands of stories around the world of examples like this. God can take the worst that happens, the worst we could do and make something good come from it. What we say or do no matter if in our minds comes out good or not so good, God will take it and use it for his good purpose of bringing others to his Kingdom. We don't have to beat ourselves over and over again for our past mistakes. God has used them for his good. No more 'what if's'.
Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 13

It's been almost two weeks of taking a few minutes to write out my praise and find a piece of scripture that applies to it. I am feeling closer to God! How about you? If you haven't made a comment with your own praise or just commenting on mine, I would challenge you to take those few minutes like I have done and write something back. I think the act of writing really engages our brain and can really help what you are reading sink in so it will be at the forefront of your mind which means the Lord will be there too. You can now follow me via email which may be easier. See the top right of the blog to follow by email. Today, I am praising the technology to be able to do this. I know there are many negative aspects to technology but there are plenty of good things that outweigh those bad ones. I always liked journaling but never kept it up because my journal would be placed somewhere and not found for months until the papers that got piled on top of it were cleared away or I just didn't have the time to pull out the journal and handwrite which does take a bit longer. So, thank you God for this medium that can be used to praise you, share about you and bring believers closer to you and each other. Please share this blog with fellow believers and be blessed.
Acts 4:32 All the believers were one in heart and mind.