Thankful

Today I faced many obstacles and victories. I'm thankful to be apart of so many people's lives. This morning a very special friend of mine who obviously has some handicaps rode our church bus. Diane has been my special friend for about 1.5 years. She LOVES cats...anything cats. I've taken her kitty litter for the imaginary kitty cats, cat calendars, cat posters, and cat motif cookie filled tins. You get the picture anything cats my friend loves. During our altar service my sweet friend cried and wept as she was gloriously filled with the Spirit. I couldn't help but weep as I heard her speak in a heavenly language. Of course others were filled with the Spirit, too.

After picking up Diane I was approached rapidly by one of the moms of some of our bus children. She was distraught due to problems another family is experiencing. The other family has 3 children who faithfully attend our church. This family is having a definite problem were some were incarcerated. Today Kent and I will be visiting the jail and juvenile center. I was able to offer hope and the peace of God this morning to the mom and grandmother. This was a first time for me to spend time in the home. I believe it will not be the last and by the grace and mercy of God we will be able to help this family. The entire family with the exception of the Mom who was working attended our block party yesterday. Ironically, one of our men shared a testimony of how he was in jail and how God used that time to change his life. I pray the testimony has rang over and over and over again to each of these involved.

Yesterday after our block party I took the prescriptions of one of our homeless ladies to be filled. This dear lady had surgery Friday to open and cleanse staph wounds. She has a large gaping wound were the staph if oozing from her body. It breaks my heart knowing with this nasty infection she is sleeping in the woods homeless. I made sure she had adequate cleaning supplies and medication to treat the wound. Please help me pray for this dear friend. I KNOW God is a healer. He is able to keep his hand on this person. She was not at church this morning and today I am troubled for her.

The new family I've written about a couple of times who we dedicated their infant to God was in service today. The mom had a mass removed from her thyroid Friday. We still aren't sure if it is malignant or not. The original biopsy was inconclusive. I'm thankful that at the close of our service as many ladies gathered around this sweet new convert felt the sweet presence of God that permeated our sanctuary. I was blessed watching her weep and pray.

I KNOW God's mercy and grace is more than sufficient to meet each need. I'm thankful I am a part of each of these families. God is sufficient for every need! The more involved in other's lives the more thankful I become. I'm blessed. I've spent time in homes that feel hopeless. Many don't know how to take care of their bodies or their homes. So many don't have a permanent home. The travel from tent to bench to library and when the manage to get a day job they spend a night in a motel that I would be afraid to even stay in. We feed so many lunch on Sunday so they can enjoy a hot cooked Sunday lunch. While they eat on Styrofoam plates I never feed my family on paper or Styrofoam. I don't even know how many sets of dishes I own. While most of these are in their circumstances because of bad choices and addictions, the mercy of God is delivering them. I'm thankful our church loves these people and we are seeing many get apartments, their drivers licences again, and secure at least day labor employment. I believe in a few short years the old lifestyles will be far from their lives.

I'm truly a thankful pastor's wife today!