Fearfully And Wonderfully Made

Psalms 139:14 "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."

The kids had a Christmas breakfast at Berkshire Hills Baptist Church today themed "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made". Check out the pictures!

 

Rejoice With Them That Do Rejoice

Romans 12:15

"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."

     For Laura's 9th birthday, she had horseback riding lessons at a nearby town. She got the full horse care experience from grooming to feeding as well as riding. 

     Micah and Heidi were there as well. They got to brush, feed, and pet the horses.... 

But they did not get to ride them. 

     All too often we try to make everything "even Steven" for our children, giving them an unrealistic idea they will receive equal parts in everything they take part in always.

     Come on, we've all done it as kids! "Mom, Sister got a bigger piece of cake than me! That's not fair!"

     Sometimes I purposely unevenly cut a treat and then hand them out at random to my children, just to see what they will say. So far, no one has ever noticed, or chosen to care if their piece was smaller."

     What cruel mother wouldn't divide things evenly between her children?!

     I don't think Christ gave everyone equal shares all the time. Even the spiritual gifts mentioned are different:

Ephesians 4:7 "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ."

Ephesians 4:11 "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;"

     Nope! There's nothing even in that list.

     In fact, only one disciple was even given the label, "the disciple whom Jesus loved," and this was John.

     It is so important, to learn to rejoice in the victories of others; to be excited when something great happens to someone who is, well, not ourself!

     If we don't help our kids see this when they are young and give them these opportunities, it will follow them all throughout their life, this feeling of "it's not fair."

Child: "His piece is bigger than mine!"

Teenager: "Why can't I have that part in the school play? I'm better at acting than she is!"

Adult: "How come he has people getting saved and baptized week after week at his church and I can barely get a decent sized crowd in the doors of my church?"

Elderly: "I've worked hard all my life and I've never been able to buy half the stuff he has."

     These attitudes do nothing but rob us of our joy.

     Avoiding these attitudes are why my husband and I give the kids opportunities have joy in the victories of others.

     

     Let us help our children to have "rejoice with those that rejoice" attitudes while they are young. 

 

A Special Place!

     Every so often on the deputation trail, I get to be a part of the services of a church that is very special to me and today was one of those days. Berkshire Hills Baptist Church had a great Christmas worship service today with food and fellowship following as all good Baptists love!

     But why this church is special to me is for a number of reasons:

1) It is the church where I met my husband and half a year later married him. I'm so thankful for this! I kinda like that guy ;)

2) I was baptized in this church. I was saved as a teenager but not baptized following salvation. I finally did in 2002 soon after I started regularly attending and this leads me to number 3:

3) My first membership at a church was here!

4) This is where I learned how to serve in church and:

5) where I learned I have a spiritual gift and how to use it!

6) I made a great discovery here: that Christians can have fun! And boy did I!

I especially had fun in children's ministries like putting on skits in VBS or sliding down a soap covered waterslide with the kids. The things I learned in this church that I wished I knew before! 

7) It was here I learned how important personal growth is.

     These were all thoughts I had when looking around at the group gathered for worship today. A lot has changed since I first started attending 12 years ago, but not much. Some people have passed away or moved on, but there are still the handful of individuals who are just as faithful as they were then. There's plenty of new faces too. 

     I still find it amazing how the Lord led me to this church one August day in 2002 when I walked in the door of the church I had passed year after year on the way to my grandparents house. My grandparents attended the Episcopal church just two miles down the road and every year when I visited, I went to church with them there. That August day after I had gone to live with my grandparents, I set out to find a church of my own and the Lord led me to the very building I had gazed upon often as I peered out the car window as a child excited to go see grandma and grandpa. I'm still in awe of how the Lord works. 

Psalm 122:1 "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord."

A Marvellous Christmas!

Psalms 105:5 "Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;"

How marvellous are the works God had done, indeed! Even when things aren't as perfect as we would like them this Christmas. When family can't be with us because of distance, jobs or death, or when plans we have don't work out, we can take comfort that God knows what He is doing and we don't have to be in control or feel like we need to be in control. My family was to have meetings in Georgia and Tennessee this month. Just before Thanksgiving, all doors in the southern states closed and opened up in the northern states of New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. This past Friday, one of the churches in New York had a ladies Christmas gathering I was privileged to be a part of. The ladies are so sweet and I really enjoyed getting to know them better, and to have this time of fellowship with them. 

The food (and especially desserts!) was all good and we had a grand feast!

After group singing, special music, and a testimony, Sue Jones of the Capital City Rescue Mission in Albany brought a devotional on the Christmas story and had the ladies take turns reading passages. How awesome it is to be able to read God's Word together! 

Some Christmas games and a gift exchange concluded the evening's activities.

....And some fun photo opportunities :)