Trusting God

Hello, everyone,
We continue to have this most wonderful August weather...so unusual this time of year. I wanted to share another book quote with you. I recently read the new book, "Lies Young Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free." This is a collaborative effort by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Gresh. An excellent book for both younger as well as older ladies.
One of the lies that we believe is that we feel that things should always go our way! After all, aren't we the center of the universe? Actually, as Nancy and Dannah write "It's not about me, it's all about Him (Colossians 1:16-18; Revelation 4:11)! The world was not created to revolve around us. The entire universe was created to revolve around Christ. If our goal in life is to be happy or accepted or loved, then anything that threatens our well-being will be an enemy-an obstacle to fulfilling our objective. On the other hand, once we agree with God that we exist for His pleasure and His glory, we can accept whatever comes into our live as part of His sovereign will and purpose. We will not resent, resist, or reject the 'hard things,' but embrace them as 'friends,' designed by God to make us like Jesus and to bring glory to Himself."
Very thought provoking! We spend so much time in our lives trying to figure out how things will make us look better, feel better or whatever. I need to focus and refocus on how God wants to bring glory to Himself in my life through whatever difficult things I may be facing. Your thoughts?

Dealing with Life's Disappointments

Hello, everyone,
It is a beautiful day here in Overland Park, KS. Our weather has been so lovely lately. I'm not working today, so I have been puttering around here. Haven't gotten as much done today as I wanted to. Oh well, tomorrow is a new day and I'll be back to work.
Have you ever been disappointed? We all have. I have just recently been going through a disappointing situation in my own life. How do we deal with that? A friend of mine pointed out a passage in one of the books that I have listed in my favorites section, "Classic Christianity" by Bob George. In the following quote from this book, Mr. George is speaking of the necessity of the Christian to live out Romans 12:1-2 in his life. This is the passage where Paul exhorts us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice completely to God, so that we may be transformed by God's power. Mr. George is saying that we must surrender all of our rights in this life to God and then live with a thankful spirit. "One of the most fundamental things that we are surrendering to Christ is all claim to personal rights...I'm talking about things we tend to demand from life-things like a right to happiness, the right to be noticed, the right for life to be fair, the right to be appreciated, the right to get my own way. There's a very simple reason why this must be so: You can't hold on to rights and maintain a thankful spirit at the same time. The essence of a life of faith is a thankful heart."
Whoa! I have no rights! That is exactly right. I have no rights. I must give them all to Jesus. When I do that, I am free from being disappointed when I don't get my way! When I do receive gifts, I can be thankful for these "extra things." This is a hard teaching, but one we must seek to embrace.
I would like to hear any of your thoughts on this subject. Write and tell me how you have been learning to live this out in your own life.

Vacation Bible School

Hello, everyone! It has been VBS time again this week! What a week! We traveled back in time to the land of Egypt and learned about Moses, the children of Israel and the ten plagues. We had nearly 40 different children ranging in age from newborn to 15 years old. Each night was a busy time as we started with singing and story, puppets and a visit from King Pharaoh himself! We took our groups around to four different stations where we had snacks, did crafts, learned Bible verses and played games outside. We all returned to the auditorium for an ending time. We had several children from the neighborhood! I'm so glad to be a part of a church that wants to reach out to others. Tomorrow is our program at 11 am. The second two pics are from our "worker party" Friday evening. Hope to hear from some of you soon!