February 2, 2009

I guess we can safely say that the year 2009 has officially gotten underway! During one of the prayer meetings at church last month, we read Isaiah 43. Other than the comforting reminder that God is always with us, there was one particular passage that jumped out to me, verses 18-19.

"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:18-19a, ESV)

This happened to be the exact message I needed to hear right now. How easy it is to get caught up (and fearful or depressed I might add) about the things of our past without focusing on the things God wants to do anew in and through us each day! Oh, that I might focus on the LIGHT ahead rather than looking back! Lately it has been a struggle for me to focus on the work God has for me here and now...without being fearful of being evacuated again and leaving my friends behind...or without dwelling on past wrongs done to me or that I've done to others...etc. Please pray that God will strengthen me and allow me to sense His presence each new day in order to encourage me to press forward toward the goal!


Last week was Vacation Bible School at church! It was a long week...teaching at school in the mornings, running errands and taking care of things in the early afternoon, VBS at church (plus cleanup) until about 6:30, then hanging out with friends until close to 9, and going home and heading to bed in order to start it all over again the next day! Boy was I ever tired by the time we got to the weekend! However, the exciting part was that on average 70 kids heard the gospel expressed in ways that they could understand...and memorized Romans 5:8 as a reminder of Christ's death for their sins! How awesome it was to see their excitement of being in the house of the Lord...everyday! Probably about half of them were already coming regularly to Sunday School and our Saturday afternoon children's club...but the others weren't. So, now comes the difficult part...the follow-up and discipleship! Pray that we, as leaders/teachers in the church, will be diligent about seeking out these precious children of God so that they can grow in a greater knowledge and understanding of Him!



Well, this will be a shorter post than some of them have been...but that's about all I have to report for this week! "Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him." (2 Cor. 2:14, NIV)