Hello friends! For those who are unaware of “Esther’s Circle,” it is a women’s group at my church that I have the pleasure of being a part of. I’ve been involved with this unique group of women since joining the church. We meet once a month at one of our homes or at the church, our gatherings consist of great food, good conversation, a devotional or study lesson, offering and pray time. I love this group and the tapestry of faith displayed by each individual woman. We love and support one another by any means possible. We also participate in many aspects of our church from committees, deacon, elder, worship team, media, church growth, mission work local and beyond, and community support.

Our meeting tonight was a blessing and a shout out to each of them for the impact they are having on my life because of their faith and commitment to living like Jesus, doing what Jesus would do.

You are my friends, Circle sisters, and my family. 💙 Ann, Barb, Beth, Debi, Dora Faye, Freda, Laura, Lisa, Michele, Pat, Theresa 💗

Tonight, I shared two short stories for our devotional time and wanted to share them online with you. They are not original works of mine and I will provide the links for you to find more stories by these writers in you’re interested.

The first stories I thought everyone could relate to, given everyone has children and grandchildren, I believe.

The Hand of God

Little Bobby was spending the weekend with his grandmother after a particularly trying week in kindergarten. His grandmother decided to take him to the park on Saturday morning. It had been snowing all night and everything was beautiful.

His grandmother remarked…”doesn’t it look like an artist painted this scenery? Did you know God painted this just for you?”

Bobby said, “Yes, God did it and he did it left-handed.”

This confused his grandmother a bit, and she asked him “What makes you say God did this with his left hand?”

“Well,” said Bobby, “we learned at Sunday School last week that Jesus sits on God’s right hand!”

*Bobby was obviously listening very intently at Sunday School! HaHaHa!

The U in Jesus

Before U were thought of or time had begun,
God had stuck U in the name of His Son.

And each time U pray, you’ll see it’s true,
You can’t spell out JesUs and not include U.

You’re a pretty big part of His wonderful name,
For U, he was born; that’s why He came.

And His great love for U is the reason that he died,
It even takes U to spell crUcified.

Isn’t it thrilling and splendidly grand,
He rose from the dead with U in His plan.

The stones split away, the gold trUmpet blew,
and this word ressUrection is spelled with a U.

Jesus left the earth at His upward ascension,
He felt there was one thing He just had to mention.

“Go into the world and tell them it’s true,
That I love them all – Just like I love U.

So many great people are spelled with a U,
Don’t they have the right to know JesUs too?

It all depends now on what U will do,
He’d like them to know, but it all starts with U.

Will U pass it on?
JesUs Loves U!!!

Esther 4:14

~Peace~

References:

https://truthbook.com/stories/funny-god/the-hand-of-god

http://varietyreading.carlsguides.com/christian-stories/u.php

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

“Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” ~John 12:24

Hello friends and welcome to Tuesday!! The reading for today reflects on dying to the things that separates us from wholeness in Christ. Letting go of things that keep us from being fruitful and walking with Christ. My church is sponsoring such an opportunity for our congregation to participate in during Lent. We have a wooden cross in the Sanctuary and a table with index cards, some preprinted with words describing what might be causing separation from Christ along with encouraging bible verses and blank cards for people to write their own words on. We also have a basket at the foot of the cross where people can place their cards and the congregation will has been praying for these specific things (words) that seem to cause separation.

It has been a wonderful opportunity to come together and prayer for one another. We are all seeds in this earthly garden, just what kind of seed is up to us.

Seeds of faithfulness?

Seeds of discord?

Both can multiply!

The story provided today by Juan Huertas made me think of my own family. I was raised in the church but my parents did not always attend with me, by no means did that mean that they were not believers. My parents gave me many valuable learning opportunities and advice when I was growing up. They loved their families, friends, community and God, not necessarily in that order either. My parents taught me to work hard, to be honest, to be fair, to show respect and to love God. I am proud to be their daughter! Every day is a new day to serve God with a whole heart, may your day be filled with all you require. May you feel the presence of God in a real and powerful way today.

Thank you so much for sharing this Lenten journey with me. Let go and be fruitful!

Breath Prayer: Nurturing God, help me…bear fruit.

*Link to the lyrics is listed below.

~Peace~

References:

https://www.biblegateway.com/

https://www.google.com/search?q=lyrics+to+so+long+self+by+mercyme&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari