“Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.” My son woke up one morning in a cranky mood. He was having one of those “I woke up on the wrong side of the bed” kind of days. Nothing was satisfying him. I tried everything to appease my little human. I put on his favorite TV show and provided him with his favorite snack, Cheetos, even though it was nine o’clock in the morning. I was desperate to say the least. When those things did not work, I tried to ignore the behavior. I acted like it was any other “normal” day when he had woken up in a good mood, ready to conquer the day with a smile on his face. Needless to say, that method did not work either. I was nearly at my wits end. Could I really endure an entire day like this? Finally, I scooped him up in my arms and set him on the counter so that we were eye to eye and said, “Look, I am in this thing with you. I am committed to you. Whatever today holds, I am here. I got this.” I would love to report that this exchange completely changed my little man’s heart and mind, but it did not. He continued to have an off day, but I remained committed to him. Whatever he needed to get through the day, I was going to do it. I love him without conditions. This is my job as his mom. After tucking my little one into bed that night, I began to think about the day’s events. I realized that I am not much different from my son. I wake up some days in a foul mood. My heart is unsettled, and I would just rather throw myself on the floor and throw a fit than to face the day. That’s when Jesus comes in, scoops me up and looks into my eyes and says, “Sarah, I am committed to you. I love you unconditionally. I’ve got this.” If you are a child of God, He does the same for you. You may be facing a huge trial right now. You or your husband may have lost your job. Your child might be rebelling. You might be overwhelmed with depression or anxiety. Maybe your parents have gotten sick, and you are now the fulltime caregiver. Whatever the circumstance that is troubling your heart, know that God is committed to you. He is right there with you. Hebrews 13:5 reminds us of this truth, “Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.” It does not matter what you are going through. At this very moment, God is with you. He is not going anywhere. Isaiah 41:10 says, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.” During the unsettling times in life, fall back on these incredible words of God. We do not have to be afraid because the Creator of the Universe is our God. He will strengthen us when we want to give up. Not with feeble human strength, but with His strength that does not grow tired or weary. He will hold onto us with His hands when we feel unsteady or uncertain. God loves us with an everlasting love. He is committed to us; He is for us. You can rest in this truth knowing He is committed to you.
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God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.” Recently, we had a bad thunderstorm come through our city in the middle of the night. I was awakened by the rain hitting the side of our house and then I heard the loud thunder. The first thing I thought about was whether or not the thunder was going to wake up our three sleeping children. After a couple more rumbles of thunder, I could hear my 4 year old son’s footsteps coming down the stairs and straight towards our bedroom. He has a huge fear of thunder, so I knew he was upset to be awakened by it. The first thing he did when he got into our room was come to my side of the bed and wrap his arms tightly around my neck. He stood there for almost a minute, holding on for dear life. He then scooted onto the bed, never letting go of his grip. After a couple minutes, the thunder stopped and we journeyed back up to his bed, where he quickly fell back to sleep. My husband, who is the worship pastor at our church, told this story to our congregation, during our time of worship a couple of weeks ago. He said that as he thought about how our son didn’t hesitate to run to us in his time of great fear, he realized how many times he doesn’t run to God when he deals with fear or trials. That is something that I know to be true in my life as well. When I get upset, become filled with fear, or feel out of control, I know my first steps are not always headed towards God. Rather than run straight to Him, sometimes my first instinct is to call my husband, vent to my mom, or even to look on Google for an answer to my problem; which, by the way, can actually be a very bad idea that fills me with more fear. Talking to our friends and family, when we’re going through a difficult time, is not a bad thing, but it can become an unhealthy habit when it is what we depend on most for help. We should be looking to God and His Word for our main source of comfort and wisdom. He should be the first one we run to! Psalm 46:1 reminds us of this beautiful truth: “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.” I am so thankful that no matter what our circumstance may be, God is always there. We should not just be going to Him as our last ditch effort, we should be sprinting with everything we have straight into His arms, holding on as tight as we can and never letting go. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way. Psalm 119:37 “Mommy, look at me!”, were the words that turned my focus away from the screen of my iPhone. I cannot remember what I was accomplishing at that moment, nor how long he had been calling me, but I won’t forget those words or the exigence on my son’s sweet face when I finally shifted my gaze in his direction. My precious child needed my attention, but I was choosing to look at something else; something far less valuable than my son. It is so easy to get caught up in the distractions of this life and lose focus of what truly matters. When I picture the desperation in my son's eyes; his hunger for my attention, I can’t help but think about how God must feel when I choose to focus on lesser things than Him.
In Psalm 119:37, the psalmist requests that his eyes be turned away from looking at worthless things, and instead that he would be revived in the ways of God. When we look at the ways of the Lord, we are presented with a path that is both good and satisfying. This path that God desires for us is meant to revive us; to protect us from becoming weary and unsatisfied. It is meant to keep our eyes from drifting toward worthless and unrighteous things, so that, as it is explained in 1 Peter 1:13-16, we may be holy as God is holy. In the Bible, when David’s eyes were on the Lord, he defeated Goliath, he humbly restrained his hand against king Saul and he achieved victory upon victory in battle. But, when his eyes wandered to the rooftop of Bathsheba’s home, he got distracted. His focus shifted from the righteousness that God requires of us toward his own lustful desires and the results were devastating. Maybe, like David, you also have a hard time guarding your eyes from lustful temptations. Or, perhaps you struggle with envy and are drawn away from the right path when you begin comparing yourself to that mom on social media; wanting her stylish home, her happy marriage or her perfect figure. This is not God’s will for the use of our eyes. When we focus on the wrong things, there is a tendency to connect our self-worth with external factors, like what we have or how we look. However, in 1 Peter 3:3-4 we are told that God values our “inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit”. These valued characteristics come from having a right view of what is truly important. We cannot expect to find God’s best for us when our eyes are looking in the wrong direction.When our attention is rightly placed on the things of God, everything else fades into the background. The prideful desires of this world: vanity, fortune, sensuality, they all disappear in the light of His goodness. When Matthew sat at his tax booth, greedily collecting money from his fellow Jews, he was focused on worthless things, but when he heard the words, “follow me”, his gaze was transfixed on Jesus Christ. He then got up, left everything and followed Him. We too should be moved towards righteousness when we fix our eyes upon Jesus; the greatest treasure that mankind will ever see. “…one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” Philippians 3:14, (NIV) Several years ago, I was on a bicycle ride with a group of people and we were traveling on the open road. We were riding single file on the side of the road - with cars and trucks passing, road debris, pot holes, intersections and more. On this one particular stretch of road, I was leading about 17 other cyclists through an intersection and across railroad tracks. After I went through the intersection, I looked back to make sure everyone made it through safely. When I took my eyes off of the road in front of me - I completely missed our next turn. The moment I took my focus off of what was in front, I took us off course! In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul stated, “… one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14, NIV). When we look back, we may be fixating on the past rather than forgetting what is behind. Sometimes we keep reliving the thoughtless mistakes or intentional poor choices that we have made. Perhaps there were minor insults or serious offenses that have been done to us and we are consumed by them and are allowing them to define us, causing us to remain in an attitude of bitterness or shame. Rather than struggle in silence, we may need to process this with a Christian counselor or Godly friend who can help us press on toward the goal and walk in victory. Maybe when we are looking back we remember a time when our walk with the Lord was more intimate, and we heard His voice more clearly; a time when we read His word and it seemed more alive and active. If we are looking back at those times, we may be missing the fresh word that the Lord wants to speak to us now. We certainly do not want to miss the “prize for which God has called” us! We all have scars from injuries in the past AND we may have markers of spiritual victories in the past. God wants to use ALL of these past events as opportunities to show us more about Himself today - to show us more of His glory, grace, comfort, forgiveness, strength, kindness, hope and most of all His healing, love and acceptance. We can claim Romans 8:28, “God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” If we cling to Him, we will experience this verse! This new year of 2021 is a year that we have never experienced. Everything in the future is new and somewhat unpredictable! May the Lord help us to forget and learn from what is behind, to strain toward what is ahead, to press on toward the goal and to win the prize for which He has call us heavenward in Christ! May we believe and know - that in Him, the best is yet to come-and each day remember that this is the day that the Lord has made, we can rejoice in it! “Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to Saul….” This morning I took my husband to an appointment with his doctor. I was sitting in the waiting area waiting for him, watching a few people walk through the lobby. A young woman was sweeping the lobby floor. An older man, walking with the help of a cane, entered the lobby doors and made his way to the elevators. As he passed the young woman, he spoke to her, “You’re doing a great job! Keep it up!” I looked up as the woman nodded a “Thank you” and kept on working. The older man and I shared a glance and I saw a twinkle in his light blue eyes. I hoped that he could tell that I was smiling at him behind my COVID 19 mask. “That was kind,” I thought to myself. It really doesn’t take much time or effort to offer an encouraging word to those around us. Though, it does take an awareness of others and the job they are doing, or maybe a disheartened look on their face, or a stooped shoulder in their walk. We all benefit from words of encouragement. If you don’t believe me, just think back to the last time someone offered you a kind and encouraging word. I bet that memory makes you smile. Recently, I have noticed the places in Scripture where God the Father offered His one and only Son words of encouragement. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, God the Father spoke His approval, saying, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” (Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22) After Jesus was transfigured before his disciples, Peter, James and John, they heard a voice from heaven declaring, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35-36) God the Father affirmed his Son and the work he was doing and the person he was here on earth. In the book of Acts, Luke writes of a man named Joseph, whom the apostles nicknamed Barnabas, which means “Son of Encouragement.” (Acts 4:36-37) Barnabas must have been quite the encouraging guy to have earned such a nickname. Luke mentions a little later in Acts that it was this same encouraging guy who went and brought the former persecutor of Christians, Saul of Tarsus, to meet with the apostles after Saul’s conversion. (Acts 9:27) It was a good thing that Barnabas was around to encourage the apostles to give this new believer Paul a chance to be one of them. Everyone needs encouragement. This means we all have the opportunity to act as encouragers to those around us. And who knows the difference a little encouragement might make in someone’s life. And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." A couple of summers ago, my oldest son and I went on a mission trip to Hungary. We were serving in the little town of Tóalmás, a rural community surrounded by endless acres of farmland. One of the crops Hungarians grow is the sunflower and they caught my attention. The flowers were in full bloom, creating a sea of brilliant yellow as far as the eye could see. Sunflowers are a unique flower; they get their name because they follow the sun across the sky. In the morning they face the east and track the sun to the west. Then through the night, they turn their heads back to the east in anticipation of the next sunrise. All flowers need the sun to grow, but most do not follow the sun throughout the day like the sunflower. The sunflower is one of the fastest growing and tallest flowers in the world. In fact, the tallest sunflower ever recorded stood over 30 feet tall. In order to become what it was created to be it must soak up as much sunlight as possible, so as it grows it follows the sun across the sky. Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on the things above not on the things of the earth.” The way the sunflower keeps its face turned toward the sun reminds me of how the Lord wants us to keep our focus on Him. This is the way we grow and mature, by spending time with Him, learning to trust and follow Him. The farmer grows sunflowers for several reasons, here are just a few. They replenish the soil, the flowers have a deep root system and when it is allowed to die in its place the decomposition adds nutrients to the soil. A wheat crop grown after a crop of sunflowers typically produces a bumper crop. The seeds are crushed to make oil, which is used in cooking and even medicine to prevent high cholesterol and heart disease. They are also grown for animal feed and human consumption. As the sunflower follows the sun it matures into a beautiful flower, and a vast field of them is breathtaking. But its true purpose is not fulfilled until it dies. Luke 9:23 says “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’” In this verse Jesus is saying following me will look like sacrifice, it will demand more than you think you have to give. At times it will take you to places of rejection and isolation. In the next verse Jesus says “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” In these two verses Jesus says the way to follow me, to live out what I have created you to be, is to lay down your life. Lay down your pride, lay down the way you think you should be treated, lay down your desire to serve yourself, lay down what you want others to think of you and follow Me. Hebrews 12:2 says, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus is the example, He loved us and laid down His life, and He is calling us to do the same. But in order to do this we must keep the eyes of our heart fixed on Him. So when we see a beautiful sunflower let’s be reminded to follow the Son. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, Do you like to do puzzles? I am not patient enough to do the 500 piece puzzles, but I enjoy one in the 30-60 piece range. Just for the record, I do those with some of our grandchildren, not by myself! It’s fun to find the corners and straight edges, filling in the border of the picture. Sometimes, when I am reading God's Word, I feel like the Lord gives me puzzle pieces. I will read a verse or passage and meditate on it. Then He seems to give more understanding through other verses as the days go by. Eventually He brings the puzzle together for me. A few weeks ago, the Lord began to lay out a new puzzle for me. My Sunday School class, studied Psalm 23. I continued to think about verse 23:2b-3a, “He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul.” In other translations the waters are described as, “quiet or peaceful”, and our souls being, “refreshed or renewed.” What a beautiful picture that can awaken strong emotions. We know that we are led to this place of refreshment by drawing near to God in His Word and through prayer. Soon after my study in Psalm 23, I read Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” The Lord prompted my heart to camp on the last part of the verse. “Ok Lord, you want my words to be filled with grace to others.” Then I was reminded of some wonderful times of fellowship I have spent with a dear mentor in my life. Whenever my friend and I part ways, I am usually challenged and excited to experience what the Lord may have in store for me. There have also been times, though, when she helps me move from fear and self-pity to see God’s hand in the situations of my life. This dear friend speaks God’s grace into my life. I leave being refreshed, or in process of being restored. The Lord revealed to me that He first and foremost brings renewal through His Word. But He also allows us, as His children to be His voice of grace in the lives of others. It amazes me that by giving the gift of time and words, led by the Holy Spirit, our Lord will use us to lead others to quiet waters. Here lies the question for our hearts today, “Do we allow our words to be part of God’s will to help others be refreshed in Him?” We learn from Proverbs 18:21a, “The tongue has the power of life and death.” May we all strive for tongues that are filled with life! How can we work toward having words that are filled with life and grace? We seek the Lord each day, in His Word, knowing The Word is “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12a). The Lord will guide us and empower us through the Holy Spirit, and we must rely on His wisdom. James 3:17-18 reveals how our words, filled with God’s wisdom, will help us speak life into one another, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” Lord, make us instruments of Your grace and life! I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. I love walking on the beach! A year ago, I was taking a night stroll on the beach with some of my family members and we were searching for sea turtle’s nests. The stars were out but it was very dark. My 5-year old grandson and I were walking together and rather than carry a flashlight, he wore a headlight on his head so we could see where we were walking. After walking for awhile, he casually mentioned that bugs were in his face. I hadn’t noticed any bugs, so we kept walking. A few steps later, he said that bugs were getting in his eyes. When I stopped and looked at him, I saw a swarm of bugs all around his face and entire head. They were attracted to the light! I have never compared myself to a bug, but at that moment, I remembered that Jesus said, “…I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12, NKJV). Jesus is The Light of the world because in Him is the glory of God. He shines among us and He shines upon us. He invites us to follow Him and not walk in darkness and have the light of life. Like those bugs, we are drawn to His Light - His goodness, His kindness, His peace and His unconditional and sacrificial love that He has for each one of us! If we walk in darkness, we will eventually get hurt. We desperately need The Light to expose things that the darkness hides. Recently, I read about three kinds of darknesses that we face when we choose to not follow the Light: darkness of ignorance, darkness of impurity and darkness of sorrow.** I am so thankful that the Lord is The Light for in Him there is no darkness. In Psalm 119:105, Scripture is compared to a lamp, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Like that headlight that helped us navigate the dark beach, His Word lights our paths and guides our thoughts and actions to help keep us from stumbling. This is so exciting that Jesus, The Light of the world invites us to follow Him. When we follow HIm by reading His Word, praying and obeying His truths, we will not walk in darkness, we will have the light of life and He will light our path! The next time you are outside and see a light in the darkness, watch how desperate the bugs are to get to the light and think of Jesus, THE LIGHT of the world. I have played hide-and-seek with many children over the years. While older children understand the object of the game…when you are hiding, you try to not be found by the person doing the seeking, younger children view the game differently. In fact, younger children don’t seem to understand the point of the game at all. The biggest thrill for the hiding younger child is to be found. Most of the time, when younger children are “hiding”, they giggle and talk, awaiting the exciting moment of being discovered by the seeker. And then, when the seeker finally uncovers their hiding place, they erupt in giggles and squeals of delight…they revel in being found. One of my favorite Bible stories found in Luke 19, is about a man named Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a Jewish man who had exchanged the honor of his heritage for employment with the Roman government; a government that was oppressing his people. Zacchaeus was a tax collector for the Romans. Zacchaeus was not just any tax collector, he was the chief tax collector, the man responsible for gathering all of the taxes in the region of Judea, with tax collectors of lesser rank working under him. It seemed the trade-off was worth it to Zacchaeus. He liked being rich. And, Zacchaeus didn’t seem to mind being the object of contempt and disdain of his fellow countrymen. But maybe the money couldn’t fill up the empty places deep within Zacchaeus. Maybe the lack of friends left him wanting; wanting something that a nice house and gold coins couldn’t satisfy. As the story goes, the tax collector heard one day that Jesus would be passing through his town of Jericho. Zacchaeus wanted to see this Jesus whom he had heard so much about. Crowds of people were everywhere trying to get a look at Jesus; there was no way that a person of shorter stature, like Zacchaeus, stood a chance at getting a glimpse of Jesus. Zacchaeus had an idea; he would run ahead of the crowds and climb up a sycamore tree that was beside the road. It seemed a ridiculous idea for a man of his position to risk the humiliation that climbing a tree might bring if he were discovered. The people would surely mock him. But Zacchaeus just had to see this Jesus for himself. Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed the tree. He stayed silent as he watched the crowd approach with Jesus in the center of the throng. He caught a glimpse of the Rabbi. The Rabbi’s steps came to a halt right underneath the tree. Jesus looked up and into the eyes of the tax collector. Jesus spoke and called him by name, “Zacchaeus! You must come down from the tree quickly because I am on my way to your house. I thought we would have a visit today.” The surprised tax collector did just as Jesus told him. With great excitement and delight the chief tax collector escorted Jesus to his home. We’re not told what the two men talked about that day. But we are told that their conversation wrought a change in Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus wanted to make restitution for all the money he had wrongly taken from his fellow citizens. Zacchaeus also wanted to give of his wealth to the poor. On a day that Zacchaeus thought he would simply be a bystander in the crowd when Jesus came to town, he ended up playing host for the Rabbi. Zacchaeus gained a friend who changed his life forever. When Zacchaeus climbed up into that tree seeking to see, he did not know that it would lead to him being found by a loving Savior. "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." I love how the Lord can even use my dog to teach me great truth. I have a two-year-old Weimaraner who has captured my heart. An evening bike ride is one of our favorite things to do (well I ride he runs). Several months ago we were on one of our rides, as we passed by a house I noticed a lady standing in her front yard holding onto her dog. We got about a half a block away when her dog came flying out of nowhere and attacked Tahoe. Now Tahoe is a lover not a fighter and as he was trying to get away from Cujo (not sure, but that might be his real name) his leash wrapped around the front of my bike and down I went. The lady finally caught her dog and dragged him back to her house. I checked Tahoe and myself for blood, picked up my bike and continued on our way. I went from scared to fuming in about two seconds flat and for two blocks I had this dialog going on in my head, “I can’t believe that lady just let her dog go, she saw us riding by, she knows her dog is vicious and she just let him go, people like that should not have dogs...” I would have continued my rant if I hadn’t looked down to see Tahoe trotting along with a big smile on his face (oh yes he smiles). He had already forgiven the attack and was enjoying his run. That is when I heard the Lord’s whisper to my heart “that is how quickly I want you to forgive.” 1 Corinthians 13 tells us “love keeps no record of wrong.” But let’s face it forgiveness is not always easy; like when your husbands says something that cuts, or you just can’t seem to please a critical parent, or a friend lets you down, the list goes on and on. If we are not careful these things can build up and make our hearts hard and bitter. Others have been hurt in deep, dark ways, that that are difficult to speak about and seem impossible to forgive. In Matthew 18 Peter asked Jesus “how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” Essentially Jesus said unforgiveness is not an option and told the parable of the unforgiving servant who was thrown in prison to be tortured because he refused to extend the forgiveness he received to a fellow servant. Jesus is very clear in his command to forgive. To paraphrase St. Augustine “Our Lord never commands what he does not also provide”. So how do we forgive? Colossians 3:13 says "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." The key to forgiveness is to remember that we are forgiven. His forgiveness is not based on our merit, there is not a single thing we can do to earn it, and we do not deserve it. Our sin and rebellion against the Holy, Righteous, Loving Almighty Creator of the universe pales in comparison to any sin that is committed against us Yet, through the blood of Jesus the Lord forgives us. When we allow the joy of that truth to penetrate our hearts it gives us the freedom and desire to do the same for the people in our lives. Everything the Lord commands us to do is for His glory and our good. When we forgive we reflect His glory, we display a glimpse of what God’s forgiveness looks like. Forgiveness is also for our good; it sets us free from the prison of bitterness, anger and hatred and allows us to live the joy filled abundant life the Lord desires for us. |
My precious husband, Bill, and I have been planted in Fort Myers, Florida for almost 35 years. As a newly married couple, God most graciously had placed people in both of our jobs to share Christ with us. Its hard to believe it has been almost 34 years since we asked Jesus into our hearts! Bill and I have been blessed with four children, 3 daughters, then a son. These blessings came quickly, all within 6 years!! During these years I'm so thankful I was able to be part of women's ministry classes at our church, helping me to grow in my walk with Him. Then came the day when I was asked that question that stretched me way outside of my comfort zone...will you teach a class? Its hard to believe that I have now been teaching more than 20 years. Bill and I love to travel, most of the time going to visit our 9 grandchildren, oh ya, and their parents! I also love reading, walking and hanging out with some very special young moms in Beloved that bless my socks off!
Julie is a Kansas girl who resides in sunny Southwest Florida. She's been married to her husband Sean for 23 years and they share two boys ages 21 & 17. She enjoys baking and biking, but her absolute favorite thing is snow skiing which is a little difficult to do in a sandy 80 degree land.
She became a follower of Christ at age 10. She loves studying and teaching God's Word. She has a passion for encouraging moms to love and follow Jesus. Beth grew up in a loving home; however, in her early 20s she faced a very lonely time. During that time, she cried out to God and asked “If You are real, please show yourself to me!” God met her where she was and she trusted in the Lord Jesus at that time. Her life verse and desire is “no matter what happens, to conduct herself in a manner worthy of the gospel.” Philippians 1:27
Beth now resides in Tampa, Florida with her husband Larry. The Lord has blessed them by blending their family of five children. They currently have eight grandchildren and are hoping that there will be more grandchildren in the future. Donna accepted Jesus as her Savior at the age of nine and has been amazed at God’s goodness and faithfulness throughout her life. She has been blessed to have had many mentors through each season of life, who have shown her what trusting God looks like. Donna and her husband, Bryan, make their home in central Arkansas. They have five grown children and are grandparents to wonderful grandchildren. Donna enjoys spending time with her family, laughing with friends (usually over coffee), going for long walks with her husband, and reading a good book (which may also be accompanied by a cup of coffee).
Sarah is a true Florida Cracker. She was born and raised in Southwest Florida. At the age of 6, Sarah accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior, and she hasn't looked back since. Hebrews 13:8 is one of her favorite verses, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Eating delicious desserts, spending time with her family and friends, and teaching people about Jesus are a few of the things she enjoys to do in her spare time.
Sarah has been married to her best friend and husband, Brandon, for 7 years. They have been blessed with one beautiful, determined son, Asher, who keeps them on their toes. Sarah and her family live in the Tampa area. They love exploring their community together, family hugs, and eating pizza whenever possible. Katie Flint just recently moved back home to Fort Myers, Florida with her husband, Ryan and two children, Collins and Madden. At the age of 5, Katie accepted Jesus Christ to be the Lord and Savior of her life, after attending Vacation Bible School. Through each phase of her life, God has shown her that He alone is trustworthy. The verse that has been her life source is Psalm 46:10- “Be still and know that I am God.”
She is a stay-at-home mom and enjoys exercising and baking. She has been married to her husband Ryan for almost 9 years, who is her high school sweetheart. They enjoy trying new restaurants, family trips to the beach, and relaxing at home. Marsha grew up in a small rural town in upstate New York. In 2006, after finishing college, she moved to sunny SW Florida where she met her, now husband, Shawn. Together they enjoy spending family time with their two fun-loving toddler boys Zachariah and Kairos.
Marsha enjoys living an active lifestyle, which is helpful, considering that her favorite hobby is baking. Though she attended church as a child, Marsha was not saved until adulthood when her eyes were finally opened to the love and mercy of Jesus Christ. Since being saved, God has placed a loving burden on her heart to share the truth about God’s healing grace with those who may feel like forgiveness is not possible for them. Archives
December 2021
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