Unwrapping His Gifts to Us

I can't believe that Christmas is quickly approaching! In the craziness of decorating, baking, shopping, and wrapping, it is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of Christmas. We get our homes prepared... We help with school and church events... We serve at the Soup Kitchen and prepare boxes for Operation Christmas Child...

But... do we stop and think about the gifts that He has given to us?

I read a wonderful devotion written by my friend Rachel Olsen this morning. She reminded me to stop and unwrap His gifts. Her words spoke to my heart so I wanted to share them with you.

He's given us physical life: "The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Genesis 2:7 (NIV)

And eternal life: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (NIV)

He's given us family: "God sets the lonely in families ..." Psalm 68:6 (NIV)

He's given us wisdom: "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5 (NIV)

He's given us peace: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you." John 14:27 (NIV)

He's given us joy: "You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit." 1 Thessalonians 1:6 (NIV)

He's given us rest: "Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.'" Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

He's given us a personal counselor: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you." John 14:16 (NIV)

He's given us an inheritance: "...you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward." Colossians 3:24 (NIV)

And He's given us freedom: "God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom." 1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV)

In return for all these glorious gifts, God simply wants us to receive and respond with thankfulness and a heart that is ready to emulate His gracious nature. I can't think of a better time than now to respond with gratefulness and enjoy the act of giving and receiving.

My treasured friends, I pray for quiet moments with God as you prepare your hearts and your homes for the greatest of all gifts... the gift of Hope that came to us in swaddling clothes.

Sweet Blessings,
LeAnn

I Was Not Designed for This

I stumbled upon a bit of writing by author/speaker Paul Tripp. I thought it was worth sharing... and worth remembering.

In HIS Service,
LeAnn

I Was Not Designed for This...

I was not designed

to be on my own

to author my own story

to compose my own rules

to live with me in the center.

I was not designed

to look for life outside of You

to treasure the creation

to love people, places and things

more than You.

I was not designed

to rely on my wisdom

to trust my imagination

to rely on my thoughts

to ignore Your revelation.

I was not designed

to follow the path of my craving

to be enslaved to my desires

to be ruled by my passions

more than I am by You.

I was not designed

to put created things in Your place

to look to the creation

to fulfill the longings

that only You can fulfill.

I was not designed

to live for the moment

to ignore what is forever

to covet what belongs to others

forgetting I've been given You.

I was not designed

to question Your goodness

to bring you to the court of my judgment.

to be bitter in my assessment

of the things You do.

I was not designed

to let my heart fill with envy

to be constantly accounting

to be jealous and untrusting

instead of resting in You.

I was not designed

to forget Your right hand that holds me

to ignore your good counsel

to not see that You're with me

I will be in glory with You.

I was not designed

to think I am living

to ignore the evidence that I'm dying

to forget that we perish

when separate from You.

So I acknowledge this morning

it is good to be with You

to make You my sole refuge

to speak daily of your workings

Whom do I have but You?

I praise You for rescue

for always holding me near You

for owning my heart's desires

My life is You.

Overwhelmed

By LeAnn Rice

I have been feeling very overwhelmed these past few months. Lots of projects and each feels like a full time job. Add that on top of being a single mom and head of a household that still needs to be maintained and I’m pretty much a jello-brain.

It’s hard having to do everything without a partner. Honestly, it just sucks a lot of the time. I have good days and bad days. I keep my good day face on most of the time. Mostly because I don’t want to let anyone down. If I have Jesus, shouldn’t I be happy? Shouldn’t I have a smile on my face?

If I am sad I feel guilty because I think that I’m letting God down.

But the feeling of being overwhelmed will take a hold of me and I just spiral downward. Most people would never notice.

I went away this weekend for a little rest and renewal. I brought my Bible, a couple of books, and my journal. I spent 24 hours in my jammies sitting by a gorgeous lake, purging my overwhelmed life into my journal. Seriously… it was a pity party. There was quite a long list of reasons why life was so hard, and I was so hurt, and why I was overwhelmed.

But in the quiet of the hammock by the lake, I heard God whisper, “Let Me overwhelm you.”

I lay there in the hammock with no sounds except birds chirping and an occasional jumping fish. I thought about all the things that overwhelm me and I replaced them with the things that should overwhelm me. Or… Who should overwhelm me.

I am overwhelmed by His love.

I am overwhelmed by His steadfastness.

I am overwhelmed by His grace.

I am overwhelmed by His faithfulness.

I am overwhelmed by His truth.

I am overwhelmed by His sovereignty.

I am overwhelmed by His abundance.

I am overwhelmed by His heart.

I am overwhelmed by Him.

If I can redirect my feeling of being overwhelmed so that I am overwhelmed by The One. The One who has engraved MY name in the palm of His hand, and knows every hair on my head, and knew me before I was in my mother’s womb… then there will be no room for being overwhelmed by the distractions of life that invade my thoughts and keep me under Satan’s yolk.

I long to be overwhelmed… by Him alone.

Praying He overwhelms each of us my sweet sisters.

Unselfish Love

Love is pretty important to God.

When the disciples asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment, He answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment."

I find it interesting that, while Jesus wasn't asked about the second greatest commandment, He included it in His response because loving each other should be inseparable from loving God. I also find it interesting that He refers to the first and second commandments as ONE commandment. Jesus was intentional with His response. Shouldn't we be intentional with ours?

The word "love" is in the NIV translation 697 times! That is more than any other verb. More than believe, forgive, obey, praise or rejoice. LOVE is important to God. After all... God is love.

As believers we are called to love God above all and to love each other. We are even instructed on what, who and how to love.

We are to love truth, peace and mercy.
We are to love the family of believers and our neighbors.
We are to love sinners and enemies.
We are to love sincerely, humbly and deeply.
Our love for each other is to be sacrificial, putting others' needs above our own.

Bummer! I have to love enemies and I have to love sacrificially! Ugghh!

It's easy to love and to do things for the people we care about... The friends and family members who are always there for us. But what about the people who hurt you? What about the ones that you pour yourself into and get nothing in return? What about the ones who make promises and consistently break them? What about the ones who betray you?

In my life I have been challenged in this area more than my heart can take. But there is growth in these challenges and lessons to be learned in them. God has shown me that loving must be unselfish or it isn't love at all. If I do something for someone with the hope that I will get something in return... my gift wasn't a gift. It was a purchase price.

I must love others, pour into them, do for them, and make sacrifices for them simply because that is what I was called to do. That's what we, as believers, are called to do. Jesus did the same for us but to the extreme. He made the ultimate sacrifice out of love.

They will know we are Christians by our love. Isn't that what the song says? Unselfish love of others is Christ-like love. Others will see Him in our lives if we love with God's selfless, self-sacrificing heart... not our own "expect something in return" heart.

My challenge to each of us is this... give or do something unexpected for someone who has hurt you, or for someone who is just plain mean or grouchy. Love on them in the name of Jesus... even if it hurts... especially if it hurts.

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Galatians 5:6b NIV)

Sweet Blessings,
LeAnn

Saying a Good Goodbye

By Mary Lynn Kindberg

I remembered not to wear mascara, but, shoot, I forgot to put Kleenexes in my purse.

Our daughter, Christine, took off for Colombia, South America, recently to start teaching high school English at a Christian academy. I had dreaded that horrible, final airport good-bye.

She’d moved home and back into our empty-nester lives after college graduation in May. We had tea, watched chick flicks, shopped, gabbed, slurped Starbucks and hung out for two whole wonderful months.

And, now, one last hug—ooh, just one more—both of us crying as we squeezed hard. I tried not to sob as I watched her get in line for the security checkpoint. A final wave, and then we turned to go. Eric and I couldn’t handle watching until she disappeared through the scanner archway.

I cried all the way from the airport to the driveway. When we got home, I lay down on her bed and cried some more. It’s been three weeks now and despite the Internet video calls on Skype I still miss her alot.

Summer seems to be a time full of good-bye’s. Here at Spirit of Joy Pastor Ed and Mary Louise sent Jay to the Naval Academy. Merry sent her son off to a tour in Afghanistan with Special Forces. There was the quilt ceremony in May for graduating seniors. Lots of Kleenexes all around.

Good-bye’s seem inevitable, but is there a way to say a GOOD good-bye that might soften the sting of leave-taking?

For our family, it helps to plan a special ‘ceremonial meal’ (sounds like cannibals!) well in advance of the leaving date.

For Christine, we chose to set aside the Friday before she left on Sunday. Over dessert of her favorite strawberry-rhubarb pie we told her how much she means to us, how much we believed in her and her new venture, and how much we would miss her.

It was great to tell her what we really wanted to say without the craziness of last=minute packing and harried departure times. We laughed, we cried, we prayed.

I’m sure we both weren’t totally honest (especially with our fears, doubts, and concerns) but we made an attempt to express our true emotions instead of trying to ‘be strong’.

A missionary kid wrote that when she went off to boarding school her parents never cried. She thought for years that they never really missed her or were sorry to see her leave.

Not that everyone has to be a big cry-er but saying what you feel in an appropriate way seems helpful.

Another idea might be to set up a communication plan. I know this varies with the final destination but we write down new schedules, new phone numbers, new addresses, in some cases, new time zones!

Ask when would be a good time to talk. Will you call on the way or when you get there? Is texting, e-mail, chatting, or calls preferred? Internet always available? Packages, cards? How much communication feels like too much ‘mothering’?!

When Jonathan and Christine left for college, we eventually settled on a preferred time every week for our catch-up calls. Then we both could plan ahead. I also found the fun of mailing ‘care packages’ to them in easy flat-rate boxes provided at the post-office.

Also you might want to invest in a video cam for your computers or up your minutes on your cell phone plan. Have you thought about joining Facebook? You can download Skype for free and save especially on overseas calls.

And, finally, grieve your loss with God. Pastor Fran is big on writing what is called a lament. In a lament you simply list what you have lost and talk to God about it. (David did this a lot in the Psalms.) What do you miss about your special person? What is gone now that they are gone? More Kleenexes!

Let yourself remember the good times you had. Busy-ness and distractions are okay up to a point, but don’t block out everything painful. Allow plenty of time for your emotions to heal.

When I’m left behind, I’m reminded that God never ever leaves us, never ever forsakes us. He is a constant and consistent Companion. He pursues us with goodness and his unchanging love (Ps. 23).

Good-bye’s cannot be avoided. Distance inevitably changes our relationships with loved ones, but it doesn’t end them. Yes, how we relate will be different, but a new normal will evolve.

So look for that good in ‘good-bye’. The end can be the beginning of a new adventure in love, healing and knowing God.

Well…good-bye! It’s Christine’s first day of classes and only 10 p.m. Colombian time, so I think I’ll try to Skype her!

An Opportunity to Make a Difference!

This month, Linda & I are calling you to service and we hope that you will accept the challenge as you have in the past. As you know, we support Turning Point Ministries and their Second Chance Boutique through our time, talents, donations and monetary gifts.

This month we have the opportunity to share God's love with the children living at the shelter by providing them with back-to-school supplies so that they will be able to walk into school on the first day prepared. There are currently 11 children living at the shelter and of those just seven are school age. With such a small number of children to take care of I know that we can make a big difference for them! Below is a list of items that they need for school; please hit "respond to all" under your reply key to sign up for the items you will provide. This way we won't have lots of markers and no backpacks because we'll all be able to see at a glance which supplies have been provided and which need to be bought. So the four little ones don't feel left out, I'd like to provide a little tote bag (already have tote bags) for each child with a coloring book, crayons, and a storybook or two. That way all of the children will receive a back-to-school surprise.

We are excited about this opportunity we have to share His love with these children, and through them, to show God's love to their mothers. Thank you so much for your ever-eager willingness to reach out in Jesus' name!

Blessings,

Sharon Eichler & Linda Whitener

P.S. CVS is having a pretty good sale this week on school supplies

4 "girl" backpacks

1 "boy" backpack Walgreens has them this week - 2/$10!!

7 - 2" thick 3-ring binders

8 sets 3-ring divider tabs (at least 6-8 tabs)

7 - 3-subject spiral notebooks

20 - blue or black pens

8 packs Magic markers Wal-Mart has Crayola Markers for just $1 each!

20 - 3 prong folders

7 pair scissors Wal-Mart has these for 74 cents each!

7 - 12" rulers Wal-Mart has these for 50 cents each!

7 packs colored pencils Wal-Mart has Crazart pencils for 75 cents each!

4 packs Crayola Crayons Wal-Mart has these for 25 cents for 24 crayons!

8 pack poster board Wal-Mart has this for $2.43

7 - 10 boxes tissues

7 hand sanitizer or hand sanitizer wipes

4 - coloring books

4 or more story books for the younger children

If we get all of the above items and anyone feels led to make additional donations, I have a general monthly supply list of items that they use. This includes paper towels, toilet tissue, napkins, paper plates, 16 oz & 8 oz cups, laundry detergent, clorox, dryer sheets, sugar, coffee, creamer, dishwashing liquid, liquid soap, cleaning supplies (Lysol, Comet, Pine Sol) disinfecting spray, pillow, deoderant, bath towels and wash cloths, dish towels, twin sheets & blankets.

Have fun shopping!

H.A.N.D.S. Meeting Minutes - June Meeting

Devotion –Sharon led us in a devotion “Hugs from Heaven – Messengers of Joy” based on
2 Corinthians 4:7

Secretary’s Report – The May minutes were approved.

Treasurer’s Report – The treasurer’s report was approved with investigations pending. Vickie will ask that a report be run since the church’s deposits do not match our records. There seems to be some confusion with the retreat deposits. It was also noted that there were two checks from the flower cart that should have been recorded. Vickie is looking into this.

Blog – Several people asked how they can sign up for LeAnn’s blog. You can do it two different ways. Go to the SOJ webpage: http://www.spiritofjoy.us and click on the “Recent + Blogs + Forms” link on the left and then click the blog that you want to subscribe to. Follow the link to sign up. Or go directly to LeAnn’s blog “Joy for the Journey” http://www.sojoyful.blogspot.com and sign up.

College Student Project – Still looking for someone to organize this. We will send cards/notes/gift cards out to the students in September and February. If you are out and about, pick up a $5 gift card to a college students favorite place (Wendy’s, McDonalds, Chick-Fil-La, WalMart, Starbucks, etc.).

Mother’s Day Flower Cart - Sharon purchased 14 dozen roses at Costco at a cost of $121.16 (each package contained 2 dozen roses). Only about 3 or 4 roses had to be thrown out due to breakage. There were about 8 or 10 roses left and they were given to the Church Secretary. This year we made a profit of $45. Notes for next year: have some tissue paper available for those buying a dozen roses at a time. We only sold the roses for $1 a stem; might want to consider raising the price to $2. The water vials were great. Linda W. will look into getting more donated for next year, possibly larger vials; some of the stems were quite thick. Bring your own knife or scissors to cut the stems, the ones in the kitchen are not very sharp.

Beach Retreat – 20 people signed up, 19 came. The retreat was great. Notes for next year, assign desserts/appetizers by room; still had way too much food. Sharon is keeping a breakdown of details for next year.

Manly-Breakfast – HANDS will be providing breakfast for the G.U.Y.S group during their meeting on June 12th. Pat S and Linda W will provide egg casseroles; Ursula will provide a coffee cake; Sharon will make a French toast Casserole; Vickie will provide juice; Linda R will provide biscuits and butter. We will use the leftover jams from the tea.

Bookmark/Brochure – Corrections were made. Sharon will have 100 copies printed to be handed out and kept in the narthex in the brochure file on the wall.

Soup Kitchen – There has been some confusion as to the date HANDS will be serving at the soup kitchen. The schedule on the bulletin board in the narthex has been changed. HANDS will be serving at the soup kitchen on November 21st.

Updated HANDS Roster – Bonnie will provide an updated HANDS roster at the next meeting.

More Tea Pots – Sharon purchased 3 more tea pots, and 4 smaller tea related items to be used as prizes for around $9. Keep an eye out for those bargains!

Angel Tree – It has been confirmed that the Missions Team will turn over the Angel tree to the HANDS group. We will start working on the details soon.

Matching Funds – Thrivent – There are new regulations for matching funds from Thrivent. It will be more difficult to obtain in the future.

New Email address – Linda R -- Please note Linda R’s new email: inddixie@live.com. Also note that she will be disconnecting her home phone. You may contact her on her cell phone.

NEXT MEETING - August 7th 8:45 for refreshments, 9:00 meeting (No meeting in July)

Devotion will be lead by Linda W.
Refreshments provided by Pat S.

Dates to Remember

June 12th ………………………………….. Breakfast for the GUYs group
November 21st ……………………………. Soup Kitchen

Minutes prepared by: Bonnie Lazo

Members present: Vickie Cecil;, Sharon Eichler; Ursula Fink; Bonnie Lazo, Linda Richardson, Pat Schell, RoseAnn VanLeewen, Linda Whitener