What We Learned in August 2016

To be honest, August was a tough month, but we're always encouraged by our Lord. This morning's speaker at church shared about the two rods of Israel. Ephraim which means "God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering. And Judah which means "We will praise Him now".

Yes. We are learning that God inhabits the praises of His people. If we will praise Him through our trials, He is faithful to make us fruitful. Just like the seed that must be planted in the darkness in order to sprout, grow, and produce.

We may be in the darkness, but God is working! We know that He still has great plans for our future.

So here's a few few things learned .......

1. You never really learn to fully trust God until you have nothing to fall back on. That's where we are these days. Totally trusting. ... proving that God is faithful to those who love him.

 Your Impact On Lives May Surprise You - 

Brian shared, "an old high school buddy recently reached out to me, needing to get some things off of his mind. When you're a pastor, that's not an unusual circumstance. But, he told me he'd have come to me even if I weren't a pastor, because he's always felt like I was someone he could approach. We don't always realize the footprints we've left in people's hearts."

I, too, connected with people from my childhood in Louisville, Ohio through Facebook. One person said that she still remembers when we moved away and the impact it had on the community. 

{I thought the only thing they missed were our Christmas Cinnamon rolls. Ha!}

3) God is our very breath of life.

Sebastian .. ready to go home!

Robert and Destiny, Our "children from another mother" went into early labor this month bringing little Sebastian into our lives 4 weeks early. He had a little trouble learning to breathe and eat, so they transported him to Tallahassee Memorial. Through prayers and medical science, he was able to go home after 15 days! 

That first Sunday, we went to morning worship  and they sang a new song,

"It's Your breath in our lungs, 

so we pour out our praise ..." 

Robert and Destiny are actually close friends with Brian, so he was with them down in Tallahassee. He reported .... "If I Ever Need To Be Hospitalized, I Want To Go To Tallahassee Memorial - I've said this before, but seeing the place in action again since Sebastian's been in NICU has only cemented this in my mind. TMH is on a whole different level than any of the other hospitals in the area in terms of facilities, staff, and care."

{I seem to remember that from back when dad was at the cardiac center.}


I do have a couple of exciting news bits though ....



1) I've been seriously blogging for over a year now.
Last fall, I took the challenge to post a blog every day in October. After the event, a book was published with some of the favorite posts. My writing is included! Can you believe it? I'm published! The Book will be released at the end of September!
All the proceeds will go to missions.





2) This year, I am writing 31 days of Ministry Helps. A Treasure Trove of Ministry Ideas
Maybe, I will just publish all the writing for my own book ..... You can signup here if you want to check it out ....





So folks, the thing to remember is to praise the Lord, 
He can work through our praises. On that note, I leave you with these lyrics from an old Imperials song, "Praise the Lord!"

When you're up against a struggle that shatters all your dreams
And your hopes have been cruelly crushed by Satan's manifested schemes
And you feel the urge within you to submit to earthly fears
Don't let the faith you're standing in, seem to disappear

Praise the Lord, He can work through those who praise Him
Praise the Lord, for our God inhabits praise
Praise the Lord, for the chains that seems to bind you
Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you
When you praise Him

Now Satan is a liar and he wants to make us think, that we are paupers
When he knows himself we're children of the King
So lift up the mighty shield of faith for the battle must be won
We know that Jesus Christ has risen so the work's already done

Praise the Lord ....

photo credit: Pixabay


Looking up! Seeing Him!