Remembering my Jimmy

Greetings to my family and friends,

I woke up this morning looking at a special verse on my wall....

Be still and know that I am God ( Psalm 46:10)

So I laid there for some time, thanking God for my life and family and the blessing of so many friends.

I asked God to bless me with His wisdom this day, like I pray each day.

Today, especially, I want to shine His light on the people I love, who are sad and missing Jim on this day, the 3rd anniversary of his death.

That would also make it the 3rd anniversary of his new life with Our Father in heaven!! I am so blessed to have that assurance.

I believe and trust all the promises that God has made to us in the bible.

So that means for the last 3 years, Jim has been in perfect health, with a new and perfect body, free of all his medical problems.

That when he isn't singing praises to God he is out playing at least 2 rounds of golf each day, with no cart and his kness don't even hurt!!

I have tried to imagine it all....personally I think it's impossible to wrap our finite brain around the whole concept of Heaven. That doesn't mean I don't believe it exists, I have faith that heaven exists.

I know that Jim asked God to be Lord over his life, so when his life here on earth ended his new life in Christ began.

Hebrews 11:1 says... Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen, it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

So, as I consider God and His plan for each of our lives, I can look back and count it all joy.

James 1:2-7 ²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

So I believe in God's sovereignty and I have faith in His plan for my life. I am grateful to know that He is in control and not me. God knows how I would mess things up!

These past 3 years I have asked God to guide and direct me, to stay close to me because I know I need Him more than I need anything else!

James 4:8 says... draw nearer to the Lord and He will draw nearer to you.

That is my deepest desire and pray for each one of you reading this....to draw nearer to the Lord and find Him there, right where He's been all along, waiting to give you comfort and strength.

Thank you God for your son and for your promise that you will never leave us nor forsake us ( Hebrews 13:5)

Women of Worship

W.O.W. Women of worship...what a blast we had last night!

Several weeks ago some ladies from church were talking about getting together for some 'girl time with God' and before we knew we had created a 4 week WOW event.

Kathy and I wanted to have some time with the girls and God before we returned to Mozambique.

So this was a night designed for women to pray and sing. To share what was on their hearts, and lift each other up in the name of Jesus.

We started with worship...and it was so great! I love to worship I think more than anything else!

Kathy loves to play her guitar and worship to the Lord more than anyone I know!

How perfect that God would bless me in such a way....my own personal worship leader!

Talk about passion....Kathy has got to be one of the most Godly passionate women I know. Most people see her passion when she is worshipping... it's very hard to miss!!!

But I have been blessed 'above and beyond' these past years. I get to see her Godly passion on a day to day basis. Here in the states as well as her passion for the people of Mozambique!

I am inspired by her dedication to follow exactly what the Lord is leading her to do each and every day, no matter what.

So with Kathy leading our worship....let's just say we were all inspired!

God bless Maggie for her beautiful voice as she sang with Kathy. We were also blessed to have the Shaner girls, Bethany and Naomi playing the bass and drums! They were fantastic!!

We then had a short devotional time, we spoke about Passion.

What is our passion, what motivates and inspired us?

What does the passion of a Christian women look like?

To be so passionate that we would take on the world with no thought for ourselves. That we would willingly strive and sacrifice for what is good and right.

Some shared about the passionate women of God that has been modeled in their life, a friend or relative. It was such a sweet time with women who love the Lord, and I was so blessed to be a part of it.

Worshipping the Lord is what we were created for.

Isaiah 43:7 says 'whom I created for my glory'.

Psalm 86:12 'I will praise you oh my God with all my heart, I will glorify your name forever'.

Can't wait till next week!! Thursday at 6:30-8pm at MBC!!!

Please come and be blessed!