365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 295

I was eagerly anticipating a phone call from my church yesterday to hear about the final decision for the admin assistant position I have been interviewing for. The call came but the final decision didn't. They still haven't decided and so the HR guy asked for some  names of people I worked with in my volunteering at the church. This morning I decided to take some more initiative in giving them some help with their decision and completed a spiritual inventory which I will send in a card to the HR guy and the Head of Staff. I wasn't surprised by the results. The top 4 were: Administration, Encouragement, Knowledge and Teaching followed as a close second with Sheparding, Mercy, Wisdom and Leadership.  It was good to do this test again and see that some of my spiritual gifts have grown like Knowledge, Sheparding and Mercy. I am very grateful to God for this whole opportunity as it further shows me the gifts he's given me and those that I can work with and grow with. If you want to take a spirtiual inventory to get a better idea of what part of the body of Christ your gifts are called for, you can do the one at www.first-pres.org  Look under the Serve tab at top and than the Serve the Church tab on the left.  I would love to hear what gifts God has given to you and how you want to use them.
1 Corinthians 12:12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 168

Tristan has been taking a class at church on leadership. He has been doing this in preparation to be a camp counselor. Last week, he had to go to church and interview for a counselor position for summer camps this summer. He was told that there were more girls than boys signed up for the camps this year so the spots for boy counselors was limited and they would let him know. He got a letter in the mail yesterday! He and his sister Faith will be at the same camp this summer. The Lord prepares each of us in all kinds of ways. Some of them are in ways that we didn't think except when we look back in hindsight. Some like Tristan taking the leadership class are intentional. God works and prepares us to do His will. He has a plan for each of us and though the illness you may be suffering through or the problems with a co-worker are challenging or you are struggling with relationship issues. Like a pastor recently said in his sermon, we are being tempered into steel. Each trial, each trouble, each challenge of life. They all make us stronger and are preparing us for God's plan for our lives. I am very proud of my son and his following his heart and doing what God's will is for him. I pray he will continue on this good path following God's will for his life and that he will have fun and learn lots being a counselor at summer camp this summer.
Ephesians 4:11-12 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Here is a quick faithbook page I created using some scraps of paper left-over from some journals I made as gifts to give at my workshops. The photos are of Tristan headed to Winter Camp and Tristan leading a small group of kids which included Faith at church on a Wednesday night.