A.Y.A. @ Immanuel

We try to include some help to others as part of what we do as a group. The associational newsletter had a project for relieving some of the hunger after the earthquake in Haiti. So we bought a bucket and divided up the staples that they asked for. It just added a little to each of our food bills, but it will feed a family of 4 for a week. These are to be delivered to a warehouse in Florence so they can be taken to south Florida to be shipped in a container. Once they arrive they will be distributed to the hungry.

This seems like the first time I have tried to teach this book…Pastor Charlie had just done a sermon which included the advice, “be sure you read all the way to the end.” The first lesson actually followed that advice and used the first chapter and the last 2 or 3 verses for the week.

It was then broken into time, injustice, wealth, and work.

This past week, injustice seemed to fit right into the Haitian earthquake news. It would seem to us unfair that this country with so little would have such another huge hurdle to climb. But the lesson focused on our seeing the needs around us and we reviewed some of the things we have taken part in: Samaritan’s Purse distribution of shoeboxes at Christmas, mission offerings, our church’s support of House of Hope of the Pee Dee with contributions in the form of offerings and supplies (led by the youth).

Then we looked at the ineptitude of waiting on someone to do something as opposed to doing one thing ourselves. We tried to look at the options we had to see through God’s eyes. Our closing was Brandon Heath’s “Give Me Your Eyes.”

I had some good news a few days ago. Our class is growing! We have had many visitors over the last months, but our solid base of friends was holding steady. We have new toddler and young children classes starting and with them new people will arrive…and they have said so!

What a wonderful blessing for our youngest adult group…it is hard to get out with small people. Our single folks are holding down the fort, but we are looking forward to a more diverse group soon. At least as soon as the kids get over whatever they have. Facebook says 3 have come down with something…get well soon, Samantha, Elizabeth, and Daniel!

I was trying to spend time before a meeting wisely and opened my David Jeremiah devotional for today. It opened with a quote.

Recently the vice president of a major airline told a group of travel executives, “I’ve never seen people as worried about the future as they are today.”

I wondered about who we listen to. How old and experienced is this person? I would assume that he might have been born a little prior to WWII if he is approaching retirement. Just what of the world has he seen?

Although the news does seem to be bad to worse, we have not been around very long, even as a country. We seem to forget that things like this have happened before and the world has gone on.

I don’t want to forget that there will come a time when that may not be true, but I know the God who controls all of these events and He will hold close those who trust Him. That doesn’t mean the bad goes away always, but we can face it confidently.

Since we can’t know the future; know the One who does.

We have recently updated our site’s hosting plan and it includes all kinds of new toys. Having too many choices is sometimes dangerous. I didn’t enter posts here often enough to have a following. Yet…now I have another thing to do in place of this.

There seems to be a lesson here. Our wonderful God gave us the ability and freedom to make choices: good or bad, wise or foolish, important or useless. We only need to decide what we want to do. There is the problem. We are supposed to base those choices on what God wants us to do not just what we want.

Actually, the choices are not always that plain. As we try to follow Christ we find more and more often the choices are between good and best. That seems to be the one I face now…which one is best?

I haven’t written for awhile…no particular reason except my computer went down and it took a little more planning to do any digital task.

Previous to this time we had been blessed with a very untraumatic family life. Then at the beginning of the year my nephew’s dad died and just last month my husband’s dad died. My comments are about the Immanuel family’s meeting of the needs in the loss.

There can be no other church family which is more in tune with the needs of the grieving. They were at the bedside helping to console; and sharing information about how to get a grandson in bootcamp here in time. They brought food all the way out in the country to us as soon as they heard. They called, they took over duties which had to be given up with “not a problem.” They provided a meal before the funeral for those who were in from out of town and served it graciously. And then cards began to arrive; along with them the memorial gifts.

This has been a teachable moment…that is teacher talk for the time when you can learn the most about something.  I know I will be better at all these things now that I have seen this group in action. It is a heart moment.