Our Thanksgiving Day was spent with friends and family. My parents hosted the big dinner at their house since we are currently unable to host an event at our house! It was a good time of food and fellowship. The next day we discovered that we had accidently been exposed to hand, foot, mouth virus! We disinfected and cleaned everything, and we prayed diligently that no one would get it. That particular virus has a three to five day incubation period, so I stayed home with the kids on Sunday. Although they seemed to be as healthy as before, I didn't want to run the risk of them passing something on to someone else. We listened to a Bible dvd, and I sent them all outside! However, on Tuesday the incubation period was over for the virus, and no one had gotten sick! Praise the Lord!
In other news, Roger has been working steadily at a job. While it's not the most exciting or adventurous, it provides a paycheck. I know that Roger is looking forward to taking this job in Maine, but we are thankful that God provided something in the mean time.
I was asked to give the devotional for our annual ladies Christmas party at church. I was completely out of my element, but God gave grace to me. It was a good challenge to me, and I was reminded of all that God has taught me. The ladies Christmas party is an event that ladies from our church get together for an evening of food, fellowship, games, and a devotional. We also have the option to pick out a secret pal for the following year. I generally do participate in picking out a secret pal, but this year I decided not to do it. Since we are leaving for Maine, it would be hard to give small gifts to my secret pal. The main idea of the whole thing is to pick out someone from the basket and then spend the year praying for her. It's also a nice idea to leave small gifts or cards at church for the person you have. It's a way to encourage, pray, and get to know one of the ladies from our church. Unfortunately, my secret pal from last year appeared to have forgotten that she picked me, but that's the way it goes sometimes!
Our family has been enjoying a two week vacation at someone else's house! Some friends from our church took a vacation to Hawaii. They needed someone to feed the dog and cats, and they gracious asked if we would like to stay in their house while they are away. It's been a great opportunity for us to have some of our own space, and enjoy some time with just our family. Kelli told us that we should feel free to have friends over and to make ourselves at home...so we are doing just that! We've had several families from church over, and we've enjoyed re-connecting with friends. It has been a wonderful experience for our family, and we are thankful that Josh and Kelli invited us to stay in their home. I've been going over to my parents for school every morning, but then in the afternoon we come back, have lunch, take a rest, and enjoy some space on our own. The boys have enjoyed playing with "new-to-them" toys, and everyone has their own bed to sleep in! Yay! God is so good to us!
I thought last year was a different Christmas for us, but this one is shaping up to be just as different as last year! Last year we had a home, but this year we do not. This has been a little bit challenging for me as I love to have people over, decorate our home, and do all our own traditions. It's hard to have all of our things in storage, and I miss having our own home. However, this isn't for forever, and God knows that this is where we need to be. It does make me look forward to the day when we can put up our own Christmas tree again, dig out our Christmas stockings, plan get-together and events with family and friends, and enjoy our family Christmas traditions. I will say that with this Christmas being a different one for our family again, it allows us to share with our children the real and simple meaning of Christmas. It's about celebrating the birthday of Jesus, sharing our joy with others, and working on our relationship with Jesus Christ and those around us. We are blessed!
As you also prepare for the Christmas season, I challenge you to take a moment to reflect on your priorities. This year I chose to do a Christmas devotional for the month of December. I am also writing out Scripture passages every day that have to do with Christmas. It's been a real encouragement to me, and I've been enjoying the journey.
Our love to you all,
Sarah
The following is the devotional I did at the Ladies Christmas Party:
Devotional I Kings 19
I really wanted God to impress upon me some deep theological truth that I could share, but that's not what God brought to my attention. Instead He gently reminded me of all the promises that He encouraged me with while in Arizona. There is no possible way to recap all that God taught me and reminded me of, but I thought I'd touch on a few lessons that were and are very special to me. Sometimes it's not what we know, but how we apply what we know!
Philippians 4: 4-13
I firmly believe that one of the reasons God directed us to Arizona was to remind us that He is enough. Actually, I was reminded of how shallow my relationship with my Heavenly Father was. In a church the size of Wyldewood, it's easy to get caught up in business. It's easy to be involved in multiple things, ministries, and activities, and while those are good things, they can distract us from our relationship with God. God gently showed me how He is enough and that my relationship with Him needed some work.Over and over again, He reminded me that He is faithful, to think on the things of God, to rejoice, to pray fervently, and to be content...even with mushrooms growing inside the trailer! God is so good! My challenge is for you to examine what you do and why. It's not that ministries, people, and activities are bad...we need them, but we need to be careful. Some of us are doing too much, and some are doing too little. As we enter the new year, I just want to remind you to take some time to discover and listen to what it is that God wants you to do.
In addition, God reminded me of his lesson to Elijah after his victory at Mount Carmel. Elijah had just experienced this great mountaintop experience, and yet he's discouraged just a few verses later. As Elijah sits in the cave, God comes and speaks to him. First He sends a strong wind, then an earthquake, then a fire, and finally a still small voice.
Lonliness is a deep and real challenge. Elijah felt all alone as he sat in the cave. He was focused on himself, and God interrupted his pity party. I'm thankful that God did that for Elijah and He does the same for us today. Although we don't hear the audible voice of God, He does give us reminders that we aren't alone and that He knows where we are. I feel that because of our Arizona experience I can relate better to missionary wives. God has already spoken to my heart about praying more diligently for our missionary wives. They face a hard job on a foreign field away from family and friends, and loneliness is a real and deep challenge! I am so very thankful for those that sent a card, a text, or told me they were praying for us. Those are some memories that I hold close to my heart, and I value those friendships and blessings. And they're are others that need encouragement far more than I did or do!
We all get lonely and discouraged from time to time. Even in a big church, I can guarantee that there are a few ladies that are lonely. I have a two fold challenge...one for the ones that are lonely, and one for the ones that need to reach out to the lonely ones. :) So, you should find that you fit in one of those categories. :)
First of all, if you find yourself in the category of being lonely, let's look again at I Kings 19. After God send the strong wind, the earthquake, and the fire, He speaks in a still small voice. He asks Elijah what he is doing in the cave. Elijah replies that everyone has forsaken God and only he is left to serve God. Instead of immediately addressing Elijah's statement, God instead gives him a task to do. He tells Elijah to get going and annoint Hazael to be the next king over Syria. And then he tells him to annoint Jehu to be the next King of Israel. And also tells him to annoint Elisha to be the next prophet. With three separate tasks to do, I don't think Elijah had any more time to think about himself! That being said, how about you? Do you find yourself in the category of feeling alone? My challenge is really quite simple...ask God to help you see beyond yourself and find someone you can be a blessing to. It costs .44 cents to mail a card....just do it! (Getting mail was a huge highlight for me in Arizona) So, write a card to encourage someone, take coffee to a friend you don't know very well, go visit the nursing home and bring your kids along...ask God to specifically help you to be a blessing to someone else! And you will probably discover as I have many times, that you are the one who receives a blessing!
Or perhaps you are in category number two...you are someone who needs to reach out to the lonely ones. After God gives Elijah his three jobs to complete, he ends their interaction with a strong statement in verse 18. We often look at this verse and think "wow, all those people who still love God!" And it's true, seven thousand is a strong number. However, do you think maybe a few of those seven thousand felt like Elijah and needed someone to encourage them and tell them that they aren't alone? I sure do! This was a time when the followers of Jehovah were scared for their lives, so I'm pretty sure they could've used some encouragement! And what about you? Do you have your eyes on Christ and are you asking Him to help you find someone who is in need of encouragement? I'm not saying this is something you need to do once a week or even once a month, but I'd suggest setting a date on your calendar at least three times a year. Set the alarm to go off on the date a week before it occurs, and ask God to show you someone you can reach out to. Again, perhaps it's a simple as writing a card to someone (which can be done in under ten minutes!) Or perhaps taking coffee to someone you don't know very well, or visiting the nursing home and bringing your kids along...ask God to help you be a blessing to someone who is lonely!
In closing, the application is the same. :) If you are lonely, reach out to someone. If you are not lonely, ask God to impress someone upon your heart, and reach out to them. :) God has given me a whole new perspective on what loneliness is and how powerful it is, so that is what God directed me to share with you tonight.
