Be Still

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week end!  Lots of food, family fun and so much to be thankful for!  Now my thoughts are turning toward Christmas...thinking about how God came down to the earth in the form of a baby for me...for the world!

I want my focus this year, more than ever, to be on the

real reason for Christmas!

I hope during your busy days of preparation you will take time to

be still (relax, be quiet) before the Lord!

Scholarship

Giving Thanks...

for this young man

and for all who gave making this scholarship possible!

Thankful,

Elaine



Amy Elizabeth Pack Memorial Scholarship

Giving Thanks

Jim will be presenting this scholarship to

Pedro Paul Luna Aguilar this afternoon!  

Thanks to the generous contributions of many friends and family

 we are able to present a scholarship each year!  

Amy Elizabeth Pack

 Memorial Scholarship
 

is presented to

Pedro Paul Luna Aguilar

In the Amount of $1,000

In recognition of your strength of character, zeal for life and

demonstrated talent throughout your years at

Ruach International Christian Academy.

Giving thanks...

Elaine

Nertz

Giving Thanks

Today I give thanks for the game night we are having tonight. Jim is in Honduras and it is fun to have a girls night. A game of Nertz is planned.  I know there will be tons of laughter and fun because it always happens when we girls get together! We'll eat snacks, talk and hopefully I will win a game.. or two!!

Thankful,

Elaine

Giving Thanks!

Today I am giving thanks for my friend Carol's grandchildren. I was invited to attend Grandparents Day at their school.  They go to St. Vincents School. We went to chapel first where both girls sang in the choir. Then we went to the music room where the 4th grade did their presentation. They have been studying artists and each child was to chose one to  write about. Then they chose a picture their artist had painted and they painted one like it. Veronica was Vincent Van Gogh.  She borrowed a jacket from my husband, Jim and a beard from my nephew, Joshua.  She memorized what she wrote about Van Gogh and did a great job!

Her picture was Van Gogh's Starry Night

Giving Thanks...

Elaine

Thankful for this gift

Every time one arrives in the mail I feel encouraged and loved.  What a kind gift of love is given me each week.  It started shortly after our daughter, Amy, went home to the Lord in 1998 and continues to this day! One time I told her she did not have to keep sending them to me and she told me that when the Lord tells her to stop she will.  I am humbled and in awe that someone would do this for me.  So today I give thanks for my faithful friend, Joy, and each beautiful card that she sends me. Each card has been different and I cannot imagine how she never sends duplicates. Words cannot express how much it means to be thought about and prayed for! 

This is today's card!

Giving Thanks,

Elaine

Sisterhood

Today I give thanks for

Sisters in Christ 

My friend Jennifer says so well what my heart feels.

Visit her at Heart to Hear  and see what she has to say about sisterhood and our group that meets together every Tuesday morning!  Wish YOU could join us! 

Giving thanks,

Elaine

More thanks

Giving Thanks

Today I am continuing to give thanks for the joy and peace God gives....

Romans 15:13  May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.


Read about it here Precious in His Sight on my sister's blog!



Giving thanks,
Elaine

Encouragement for our day

Today I am giving thanks for the sweet way the Lord let my sister, Stephanie, know HE CARES!

As she serves the Lord teaching at Ruach International Christian Academy in Comayagua, Honduras, there are times she becomes tired and needs encouragement and joy from the Lord.  These past few days have been like that for her and she has asked her friends and family to pray for her. This morning I received a text message from her saying that she had opened one of the cards I sent her (I gave her a stack of cards this summer to take back to Honduras with her and to be opened whenever she wanted). 

The text message said:

I opened a card from you this morning and it said just what I needed for today.  The verse is now on the board in the high school is Romans 15:13. Love you!

I was excited and knew God was hearing our prayers.

A couple hours later I  spent some time with my devotionals.

First I read My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers.

Then, I opened

Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young and read:

... "As you sit quietly in My Presence, your awareness of My Life within you is heightened.  This produces the Joy of the Lord, which is your strength. 

 I, the God of hope, fill you with all Joy and Peace as you trust in Me, so that you may bubble over with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

One of the verses at the end of the devotional was...

Romans 15:13 which in the Amplified reads:

May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.

I was so excited as I was seeing God was not just telling my sister, but me also, how much he wants to fill us with His joy and His peace so that we will be overflowing with His hope!  What a word of encouragement!!

When  I looked back at the beginning of the Jesus Calling devotional I found I had read yesterday's, not todays! This realization caused me to remember what Oswald Chambers had said in his devotional today:

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers:

...."Never allow that the haphazard is anything less than God's appointed order, and be ready to discover the Divine designs any where. "

I know God orchestrated all this. It began with me buying the very card Stephanie would need to read today and then everything else that happened pertaining this! 

 I LOVE HOW HE LOVES US!

Giving Thanks,
Elaine

Precious pictures

Today I am giving thanks to the Lord for a friend that sent me 4 precious pictures of our sweet Amy.  I had never seen them.  I was overwhelmed when I opened the envelope and saw Amy with her sweet smile!  The pictures were taken around her senior year in High School with her close friend, Robin.  I just love them!  When you have a loved one with the Lord and you see a picture of them you have never seen before it means so much!

Giving Thanks-

Elaine