30 Days of a Thankful Heart {Day 18} Answered Prayers

It’s Sunday.  In this house that means we spent most of the day at the church.

That happens when you are the pastor’s family.

It was a long day, as most Sundays are, and I didn’t even have time for my Sunday afternoon nap.

After a great sermon by The Hubs this morning, focused on John 3:16-21 and The Gift of Grace, our Abundant Life Small Group provided a spaghetti and lasagna lunch for the congregation, taking up donations to help fund various mission work in the conference.  It was delicious and I am incredibly thankful to share life with this amazing group of individuals.

We were able to have a brief respite at home after lunch, even though I had to run back up to the church to decorate and tidy up for the Community-wide Thanksgiving Service our church was hosting that evening.  I think The Hubs and the boys got a little bit of an afternoon nap, and I did manage 30 minutes to relax on the couch!

We headed back up to the church a bit before 5 and I corralled the kids while The Hubs prepared to welcome a few hundred people into our church.

Pirate Elephants, Healing, and Hope: Day 25: Lent Journey

“³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (NIV)

It’s hard to believe we are on Day 25!  God is leading me on an incredible journey that has taken unexpected, but fruitful turns.  While He is still refining the message I will share with you tomorrow, I am honored to have a guest blogger joining us today.  Leanne Penny shares her heart over at leannepenny.com as she allows God to minister through her life and words, “journeying with those hurting, healing, and choosing joy.”

I have known Leanne since 2007 when we met in a counseling class at Asbury Seminary in tiny Wilmore, KY.  I was smitten with the fabulousness that is Leanne.  We found many common interests including food, helping others, college football, and being silly and spending time with good friends.

Just for fun...A photo of Leanne and I from a gathering in KY to watch an OU football game (2008)

While her stay in Wilmore ended before mine, a fellow Okie, her husband Kel, brought her back to my home state (OK), and Leanne now makes a lovely home in Ada, OK for her family, which includes two beautiful children.

Photo courtesy of Folsom Photography and leannepenny.com

Leanne is a constant source of inspiration for me and many others, and she is on my must-read blogs list.  When I think of people that embody the above verse from 2 Corinthians, Leanne comes to mind.  She has suffered great loss and tragedy in her young life, has walked in utter darkness, but she has clung to God’s saving grace, letting His light shine through her life.  Where she has found comfort in Christ, she is now able to offer that same comfort to others who are hurting, broken, and bruised.  God is truly creating her ashes into something beautiful.

I am blessed to call her my friend, and so grateful she is willing to share her words of hope with us today.  You can read more about Leanne HERE.  Check out her story HERE.  I encourage you to visit her blog, follow her on twitter, or like her Facebook page, so you can journey with Leanne as restoration and joy is found.

Here’s Leanne:

Still Good: Day 21: Lent Journey

“This is the family tree of the human race: When God created the human race, he made it godlike, with a nature akin to God. He created both male and female and blessed them, the whole human race.”

Genesis 5:1-3 (The Message)

We all spring from the same family tree.  We were created in the image of God; the entire human race.  We were created unique and purposeful, and to be in relationship, with one another and God.

While sin has marred the image of God within us and within our family (humanity), we have not been cast off and forgotten.  God sent His very son, Jesus, to redeem us and reconcile us to the Father.  Our family heritage is one of great sacrifice and greater love and grace.

This is how we should live out our love for each other, as the family God created.  We are all broken and seeking wholeness and healing.  We seek to be reconciled to one another, yet we do not treat everyone as family.  God calls us to love as He loves; unconditionally and abundantly.  We are to love God with all we have and are, and love our neighbors, our family, as ourselves.

So take a look around…..