Works of God Monday

God knows just what we need and in the time we need it. This weekend we received some wonderful things in the mail--some expected and some unexpected. I'll tell you more about that in a moment, but let me share what I was struggling with first.

Last week was hard for me emotionally. I am missing friends and family quite a bit lately. I was able to talk by phone to three different friends from Midland in the last two weeks. That was so nice! It made me miss our times together though--family nights at each others houses, Bible study, coffee, teaching their kids lessons and talking "forever" afterward, etc. :-) It's slow-going in making friends here, and Emma also started really struggling openly last week. In addition to the friends thing, my sister had her sweet baby girl. I wanted so badly to be there with them to celebrate, but that is not possible right now. I've been a bit sad too with the holidays coming up and knowing that we will not be with family. Our first Thanksgiving in MI, my parents and my sister and brother-in-law all came up to visit. The other Thanksgivings we had in MI were spent with my extended family that are in the Detroit area, where I grew up. For Christmas the last several years, we have been traveling to SC to be with my family. Kris and I would then go up to NC and attend the WILDS Music Conference the first week of Jan., while the girls would stay with my family and have a blast. :-) That will not be happening this year. No one from either side of our family can travel to CA right now, and it's not possible for us to go anywhere to see them either.

So, I can have a pity party and stay "down in the dumps," or I can praise my sovereign, loving Lord for the amazing blessings in my life. He has called us to minister here in Southern CA--how humbling and exciting to be part of His work in this area! I may not have family and close friends living nearby or within a day's drive anymore, but I am grateful I HAVE a family and wonderful friends and that we have the technology in this day and age to communicate by webcams, cell phones, facebook, etc. :-) More than anything or anyone, I have my Savior. He has promised never to leave me or forsake me, to be a friend unlike any other, to teach me more of Himself through difficult times, and has given me so many other promises that I can cling to from His Word. I have His Word!!! He has blessed me with an amazing husband who put his work on hold to let me "spill" at the beginning of last week and cry on his shoulder. Kris just loved me and took me to Scripture, pointing me to the One I need most. Praise God!

By God's grace the rest of last week was refocused on His being enough for me and sharing these things with Emma too. Then we received our special blessings in the mail. One surprise was from a teenager that Kris and I both had opportunity to work with at our church and school in MI. She framed two pictures together, each one having her standing next to one of us, and put two quotes about people touching your life next to the pictures. It was so thoughtfully and beautifully put together, and let me tell you, we were touched! We are thankful for the people God has allowed us to minister alongside in ministry over the years. Another thing that was so touching was our dear friends, the Muths, sending us a large envelope filled with beautiful MI fall leaves, a card, and a picture from Aaron. :-) The most unexpected thing that came in the mail was from a man that we've met only once. He sent us a note that shared with us that he and his family have been praying for us and the church here in CA, and they included some financial support! We were stunned, emotional, and VERY grateful for this unexpected blessing.

The one thing that we did receive in the mail this weekend that was expected was a welcomed package for sure! We finally have some materials printed for our church. We had hit some roadblocks along the way and have been quite a bit behind schedule on our initial plan to get something in people's hands to tell them about our church, but God's timing is always best. Now we can blitz some neighborhoods and put our new door hangers out there. They look fabulous, thanks to our designer, Holley VanDenBerg, who helped us get a new church logo and designed the door hanger. Please pray that we will reach this area for Christ and that God will bring some strong, Christian families to our ministry as well to help us better serve at Heritage.

God is good, and I praise Him for these things that I could share with you today.