Sunday, March 24, 2019

93

93! That's the number of men, women, boys and girls baptized at my church this morning! There were couples, children, college students and new believers. It was amazing, joyful and better than expected. This day had been planned for months and 68 had signed up to profess their faith in Jesus with believer's baptism. Another 25 got up from their seats after hearing the sermon and joined them.

The story that struck us most was a young lady who had just left a life of prostitution within the last month. She was beautiful! You could see the light of Jesus shining through her. One of the pastors had her Bible and read the verse that she showed him.

Matthew 21:31c Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 

Our senior pastor then recounted the story of the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with oil and tears, wiping them with her hair.

Luke 7:47a Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much.

What a great day!

Sunday, March 17, 2019

UGA

I'm a graduate of the University of Georgia. Growing up it was my dream school. It was just part of my plan to finish the last two years of my bachelor's program as a Dawg. Since he was 13, my son has only ever wanted to attend the US Air Force Academy. He has dreams of being a pilot and he sees that as the best way to do it. It's difficult to be accepted to the USAFA, and we are still waiting to hear from them. 

However, my son needed a back-up plan and that's when I began talking up UGA. He told me that the Air Force had ROTC programs at UGA, GATech and Valdosta. (We were staying in state because of the Zell Miller Scholarship.) He was leaning toward GT, but suddenly decided on UGA. (Go Dawgs!) He applied for the ROTC Scholarships and interviewed with leaders of the program. He only applied to the USAFA and UGA.

This week, he heard from UGA. He was accepted and awarded the Commander's Scholarship. That's a full 4 year, all expenses paid scholarship. I was thrilled and amazed! I asked if he wanted to celebrate and he said, "Not yet." Wow! This is the best back-up plan I have ever seen!

Proverbs 23: 24-25 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise child will delight in him. Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice.

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Overcoming the Overwhelming

After a great "mountaintop" Sunday, I spent the remainder of the week feeling overwhelmed. I had too many projects at work because of being short-staffed; the house was a mess; I couldn't keep up with my Bible study; my son was hurt, eliciting a visit to the doctor; I had to go out of town overnight for a workshop; I didn't get my volunteer work done; I didn't exercise enough; my side business didn't get any attention; and I didn't cook a single meal (except for the scrambled eggs one night, or the cereal if you count that as cooking).

I don't know what you do when you feel overwhelmed, but I tend to shut down and get even less done. I decided to get up Saturday and attempt to finish...something. That turned out to be a good thing. In general, my house is now clean and that gives me the desire to do a little more. I ordered a few groceries online and picked them up right after I donated some excess stuff to the local thrift store. My son was feeling better, so we played ping pong for a while. The day was different that the week leading up to it, which gave me hope.

John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. 

Now I want to be of good cheer this week and focus on overcoming the things that tripped me up last week. 

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Make a Difference

Today we completed the first of five Make A Difference weekends that my church has scheduled for this year. This was the Feed the 5000 event. Many people donated money, collected addresses of families with food scarcity and volunteered to load and/or deliver boxes of food. 

It began yesterday when my middle-school child and her group delivered boxes to families in need. The group delivered over 200 boxes. Today the rest of the church took part to help deliver another 1000 boxes. And it wasn't just one box per family; there were 4 boxes: a box of food to feed a family of 4 for the week, a box of hygiene products, and 2 boxes of snack food, plus a bag of bread. 

As expected, the topic of the sermon was Jesus feeding the 5000. Pastor Jeff did a great job connecting with the congregation that was full of visitors. He had a great illustration about how putting something into the right person's hands make all the difference. He grabbed a guitar and made a joyful 'noise', then our guitarist came out to take it from him as proceeded to play the opening bars of "Sweet Home Alabama". :D

John 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 

So I need to always remember to put things in the hands of Jesus, like asking others to join me in these Make A Difference weekends. This time I was thrilled to have a couple of my friends attend church just to help me with the event and we ended up delivering food to 4 homes.