Family TIme

Sunday is the most wonderful day of the week. We have the pleasure of going to a great church to worship the Lord. We are also blessed to be able to spend time with our church family. Sundays are long days, but they are also the most enjoyable days.
This past Sunday was no exception. We celebrated Hannah's birthday, we were able to sit in church together with our church family and learn why "Blessed are the Persecuted," we had a wonderful time in prayer in the evening and after service some of the families went down to San Pedro to the water fountain to enjoy the evening. It was a beautiful night.

Bekah and a friend enjoying the show.

The water shoots up so high.

Rachel and our friend Pete.

Some of the people just standing back to
enjoy the show and conversation.

Now, artistically this is not a good picture. But the picture is
worth a 1000 words. We are all enjoying singing along with the music
to " My Favorite Things," from The Sounds of Music.
And I must say these women are some of my favorite friends!
A friend is someone you can laugh with, cry with and even sing
loudly in public with.

Thank you God for continuously blessing us!!

VBS

Well, we are almost done with our VBS this year. It has been a wonderful time of serving along with other brothers and sisters in the Lord. I am always amazed at what God uses to encourage me, this year as well as last year God has used those serving to truly encourage me. I watch as people who are serving together are also getting to know each other better. By serving in VBS you are often put with people who are not in your normal circle of friends. I am encouraged as I watch our church grow deeper in their relationships with each other and also with God. Some of the standouts have been:

• Our director is a beautiful single woman, who is serving the children of our church and neighborhood. This is an amazing picture of Christian love and sacrifice for me.

• One of our kitchen workers is not saved, but is faithfully coming to serve dinner to our workers and prepare the snacks. Tonight, she listened to the teacher teach his lesson to her first and encouraged him as he went out to share his lesson with the children. I am praying for her salvation this week. I must add this woman just found out her cancer has returned and she is facing chemo again.

• One of our workers shared with me tonight, "This is so fun," even though she was feeling sick all night.

• My youngest daughter's first words this morning were, "Today is penny day!" We collected pennies for a local Navigators missionary to UCI today. The boys won.

• My oldest daughter has taught the young children twice this week. Tonight, she was able to keep their attention! She spent over three hours preparing pictures to show the children for their lesson about Noah.

• Most of our workers have full-time jobs, but they continue to come and serve even though they are exhausted.

• We have had many children come from the neighborhood. Also, two of them accepted the Lord.

What a wonderful week we have had. God is so gracious to give us sweet Christian fellowship as we serve Him.

I will post some of the 250+ pictures tomorrow. I need to go to sleep now.

He Has Skills

On Friday night we had the privilege of hosting our monthly Family Life Fellowship. We did a family picnic outside. This gave the children and adults a chance to run around and play. Here are a few pictures of our night.

Gearing up to show off his skills.

Getting started.

Look at him go.

Such beautiful brown eyes.

Weeeeee

Picnic on the lawn.

Daddy with his baby.

James goes everywhere him.

She is only doing this because her younger sisters did it. (Notice her face)

Always ready for the camera.

She was going so fast I am surprised she didn't fly off the front of it.

There he goes again.

The men discussing their lesson.

This monthly fellowship is a great time of friends, food and God's Word.

Getting Ready

Today (technically yesterday) I had the privilege of working at our church in preparation for our upcoming VBS.

VBS is kind of a mixed bag of emotions for me. I am always worried we haven't done enough, therefore it causes great stress for me before it starts. Then, when VBS starts I am humbled by God's grace and how He always puts everything together perfectly in ways I could not have even imagined. I love to see our church come together for the week and work as a team. Watching as our teachers share the gospel with the children is what it all boils down to. I want the kids to have fun, but the most important thing is to see them saved from an eternity in hell. That is worth all the sweat and tears.

I remember attending VBS as a kid, but I only remember the crafts and the prize I received for perfect attendance (it was a latch hook kit). How thankful I am now for all the hard work that went into planning for VBS when I was young.


This sign is one of the things I was able to work on today.

What I Learned Today

A random picture from our travels today. This is a new water fountain in San Pedro.

Tonight, at Bible study we were looking at Psalm 25: 6-7. Specifically we were looking at some of the attributes of God. This message was so timely for me as I have been struggling with doubt recently. God is so good to teach me through His word and His shepherd. 

God is merciful- Psalm 25:6

God's love is steadfast (This is a covenant love) - Psalm 25:6

God is forgiving- Psalm 25:7

God does not give us His mercy, steadfast love or forgiveness based on our merit. These are gifts from Him, because He has made a covenant with us. 

We need to constantly remind ourselves of these attributes. We need to humble ourselves in front of our living Father so we can experience these wonderful gifts.

We also looked at Psalm 103:11-14

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame; 
he remembers that we are dust.

What a wonderful reminder of God's love, grace and mercy.

One of the Reasons I Love My Church

We had a church workday today. It was so exciting to walk around and see people working hard serving the Lord and their church. What was amazing was that we had kids, adults and seniors all working together. So much was accomplished.

Our church was thoroughly cleaned, including the removal of a foul smelling dead opossum under our church.

The kids cleaned out the nursery and wiped down all the toys.

Our women's restroom faucet was fixed. Yay, two sinks again.

Our driveway wall was repainted by painter Ricky.

The outside lighting and roof were repaired.

Making sure no more opossums come to die under our church.

Making sure the pews were very clean.

My church is a wonderful family, which loves to serve the Lord together. What a blessing God has given me to be able to be a part of this church.