It has been a great journey the last 10 days remembering all the touches God has given me during my life. I have a large circle of friends, each one is special in their own right, and the combination of all of them has been life changing.
• One of the most amazing times I have experienced, is watching God work was with my Sunday School class in Fort Gibson. This was a special time where our class walked a path of openness, acceptance, and encouragement for six months, with results that are still being experienced today. Each women made a visual picture of their life showing how God had woven the good and the bad into a unique tapestry or what we called a quilt. It was precious time as each women shared openly about their lives. Some told things they had never told anyone. Some realized they did not actually have a relationship with Christ and corrected it. Same dug up some hurts they had buried. We saw how God uses everything to make us the way He wants us and He calls it good. The women were so faithful to keep the confidences and everyone learned that others were more supportive than Satan ever said they would be. This created a bond with these woman that only comes from taking off the mask and being real.
• Once when I attended a Great Hills Retreat my path crossed another very special women. I took the class on ‘Letting Go’ and she was on the seminar leader. Bryce was at the end of his Senior year and I definitely needed to learn how to trust God and LET GO. She spoke at a retreat for me and we grew even closer. I thank God for sending her into my life at such a needed time.
• I am thankful for the woman who taught me the principle,” a person’s relationship is more important than their relationship with you”. I have thought of that many times as I have had to council someone on a subject that was hard for me.
• I am thankful for the man who taught me the saying, “Are you circumstance controlled or spirit controlled”. I can’t tell you how many times I have asked myself that question.
• I am thankful for the witness of a man that visited my Sunday School class 20 years ago. He was dying of cancer and had two small children and a wife. He declared that he was in a win/win situation. If he died, he got to be with the Lord and if he lived he got to be with his children and wife. He won by going to Heaven but I think of his words often when I am confronted with death.
• I am thankful for a man who prayed for us every day while we were in Montana and continues to this day. He has been more faithful to pray for me than I have. When I am in his presence his faithfulness and loving spirit, humbles me. I have learned what being a prayer warrior looks like by seeing him.
• I am thankful for my pastor who told me not to let one testimony become my only testimony. It taught me to always be looking for the next thing God is doing in my life.
• I am thankful for a couple who has ministered to us from the day we left for seminary. They have taught me how to give without strings attached and how we can never out give God.
• I am thankful for friends to laugh with, to be silly with, and be myself with. Wherever I have lived, God has always given me a person who is as blundering as I tend to be and between the two of us, we can come up with some great stories. It is so refreshing to laugh, even if it is at myself!
• I am thankful for the friend who just lets me be me. Not a pastor’s wife, but a friend. She trust my heart even when I am being ugly and unforgiving. She keep confidences completely and I can trust her totally.
• I am thankful for the young adults in my life that teach me to stay real and who challenges me in my understanding of God.
It is really hard to stop. I am a product of all the lives that God has brought across my path. It is humbling and amazing to realize. I now understand why it is so important to not forsake the fellowship with other Christians. So many people stay away from church stating that they don’t need others to spiritually grow. If I look at where I would be without all of these Christian people in my life, it is scary to me. Would I still be a baby Christian? I think so. We need the impact of others to grow. I needed all of you. Thank you to each and every one of you who has imprinted your hand on my heart and soul.
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:34-35
Hebrews 10:34-35
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