God recently reminded me of his love during one of our most recent church visits. We met a sweet elderly man who greets everyone by saying “Jesus loves you!” I must say his spirit, joy, and enthusiasm was contagious. Peter & I found ourselves smiling and saying the same to others we met that day.

      This reminded me of someone else I had the privilege of meeting about nine months ago, a lady who loves the saying “Smile, God loves you!” She passionately lives her life for Christ, she even has the saying lettered on the side of her car! She is genuinely joyful because she believes the truth that God loves her and that He loves her for who she is, the person God intentionally made her to be. She is content with who she is, flaws (in her mind) included and she has a desire for others to believe the same about themselves. Remembering this lady and meeting this man brought to my mind how God wants us to love others just as Christ first loved us and to let our light for Christ shine. If we call ourselves a Christian but we go about our everyday life grumpy and bemoaning every little or big, negative or bad thing that is happening that day or that happened the week before, are we allowing the light of Christ to shine for others to see Christ in us?  Instead let us let Psalm 28:7 help us refocus, “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.” (NIV)

     In our Christian walk we are called to live a life that will bring glory and honor to God and part of doing that is by letting our light for Christ shine before others (Matthew 5:16). When our hope is in Christ, we have been made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christ carries our pain, troubles, burdens, sorrows, shame, etc. so that we do not have to. Isn’t that amazing?! He loves us so much that He will carry all of that for us, we just need to allow Him to do that for us. In life, we have a choice to make every day, we can choose to allow our emotions to control us or we can choose to recognize those feelings and then focus on what is pure, lovely, admirable, and what we can give God praise for (Philippians 4:8). When we choose to think about the good in life, the blessings that have been given to us by God, when we praise God in all circumstances, even the tiny things in life that may seem insignificant, we give glory and honor to God. When this is done it is incredible how a sour mood can turn into a time of praising God in just a few moments. Try it the next time you are feeling overwhelmed with the negatives of life.

How are we smiling and our hearts are leaping for joy:

• God has blessed us with many opportunities to enjoy and grow closer as a family and connect more with each of our parents
• Taking time to enjoy God’s beautiful creation that is all around, whether it is stormy, cloudy, sunny or cold and snowing
• Giving the kids extra hugs and kisses
• Working side by side with my husband on our projects
• Appreciating the simplicity of life due to moving and not being able to unpack our belongings due to projects and travel ;-)
• Knowing that when we moved out of Ohio, we were only saying ‘see you later’ and not goodbye
• Being excited each day as new donors and supporters partner with IM and us.

Prayer Requests:

• A big announcement is coming . . . pray for God’s will.
• Pray for God’s protection physically, spiritually, and health for the entire family.
• Peter and his trip to Cuba April 11 – 20 and some support raising visits in Florida after the trip.
• Pray for God's continued provision for all our needs and support goals. A big thank you to all who have given and continue to give, without you we would not be where we are today! 

 

In His Service,

Sarah