In my last post I told you I was headed to see my sis. Well, here we are!
Jan and sister, Sally
Bob & I enjoyed our lunch with Sally & my niece, Jodie. It was family “catch up time.”
Time to find out about each others’ lives.
After lunch we went to pick up my grand-nephew, Liam, at his school. Bob helped him load his donations of 811 food items for his school’s Thanksgiving Food Drive.
Congratulations, Liam, for being such a generous young man!
Geez! He’s taller than I am now!
Liam’s heart for others is so apparent! He is donating these items to the school anonymously … not wanting to “get credit” because he “won” last year… and he wants someone else this year to be able to win the prize for collecting the most.
Not just one cart – – but two carts full!!!
Great job, Liam; you’re a wonderful Philanthropist!
We are headed tonight to Liam’s Boy Scout Dinner. Liam’s daddy, Bill, has roasted a 20 lb. turkey to contribute to the feast. This family is amazing!
More tomorrow. Have a good night!
Love to you! Are enjoying the love of family connections, too?
We have been praying for my cousin, Cliff, who had esophageal cancer, had his esophagus removed and part of his stomach… and then had the remaining part of his stomach stretched to connect where the esophagus used to be. It was an amazing surgery and he has been in a recuperation mode for a couple of weeks now.
Today Cliff went HOME. And as you can see in the picture above, he is a happy camper!!
Thank you for continuing to pray for Cliff Hurn as he gains strength and is able to resume a more normal life again.
Modern medicine is amazing, isn’t it? It’s a miracle that they can do these kinds of surgeries!!
I’m off to bed soon. Tomorrow is a big day. We will fly to PA to see my sis and stay with my niece and her family. I am excited about it!
Hello, Sir Lion! I feared you had gone away. Welcome to today!
Miss Kitty out here Threatened to take me over While you stayed hidden.
I’m glad you appeared To help me face challenges; Today’s full of them.
My To-Do List
Finish cleaning that darn office
Go up in my sanctuary; worship and consult with God
Figure out what to put in our suitcases and pack ’em
Fix and eat a healthy breakfast
Go downtown and buy hostess gifts
Confirm our flights and choose our seats
Leave a list of helpfuls for the folks who’ll be in our house
Visit shut-ins
Go to Bell Choir Practice
Fix and eat dinner
Clean up the kitchen and dust the house
Get a good night’s sleep for tomorrow’s long travel day
Take strength and courage From Mr. Lion in me. Tackle those To-Do’s!
Have a productive day, my friends. I’m headed into that darn office. Can’t have it looking so messy when our family arrives for Thanksgiving. Do you have a room like that at your place?
Sermon notes from today’s service in Ennis. Montana – Rev. Steve Hundley Taken in poetry as I listened – written through JanBeek’s filters.
Church: A Miracle of God
I can’t scold you today – Not because we are in this place, Not because I’m in a good mood, But because of the love in this space.
Because of the words of Paul (the ones our Paul read so well today), I am encouraged to join in With what Gentle Jesus had to say.
He wrote to the Thessalonians While he was out traveling, making a tent, “We were gentle among you,” He said. “We spoke soft words – whispered encouragement.”
Paul’s words to other churches Were not so gentle and kind. But to the Thessalonians, He set aside Sternness – and praised the ties that bind.
The Gospel is a powerful book. It can and does transform lives. We are astonished at how God’s Word Teaches, changes folks, lives, and survives.
The church, like the one in Thessalonica, Is a place where people love and give. They pray for you, they stay with you, They make life better and help you live.
Our old church in McAllister, Montana was built in the early 1900s. It has no running water, so when we use it for church services once a year, we have to rent a porta-potty, chase the mice away, and clean the mouse droppings from the chairs and alter.
But, it is a place that reminds of how simple God’s church can be. It doesn’t have to be a large, elaborate cathedral to be worshipful.
It is not the building that makes a church. In the early days, many of the “church services” were held in people’s homes. Some people in today’s world still hold their worship services in living rooms, tents, or on an open hillside. The Miracle of God that is His Church is not the place, but the people.
Wherever we gather, with the focus on worship of our God, He is with us. That’s what Paul was telling the church of Thessalonica.
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 was what our scripture volunteer, Paul Carlson, read to us today:
“Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into His kingdom and glory. And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.”
As Christians, members of His Church, that is our goal: to hear His Word, and respond to it by encouraging, comforting, and urging fellow Christians to live lives that demonstrate He is indeed at work in us. That is what makes our church “God’s Miracle.” Not the building, but we, the people.
Whether we are in our old McAllister treasure, or our salmon-colored church in downtown Ennis, our job is to love one another, support one another, and spread the Word to those who may not know the Peace of Christ that “passeth all understanding.”
Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
God Bless You, my friends. I hope you have the joy of a supportive church family. And I pray that you are one of those who is God’s hand at work in this world. Have a lovely Sunday night.
