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Kay Arthur's - Lord, I give you this day devotional
The Potter's Hand
The last few weeks have been really tough for Rick and I. Just to be honest we feel like the world is crashing down around us.
My sweet husband was fired from his job by his oldest son (hurt & dishonor is an understatement). We have until August 31st and are praying for God's direction. Thankful that God is sovereign and sits on the Throne!
We received a water bill for several hundred dollars (surprise), we called the plumber - no leaks in the house, we called American Leak Detection (several hundred more dollars) and with nitrogen and a headset they searched for a leak. They listened for hours and reported the leak was under the rose bushes right outside the garage door. Next we called the plumber to come back and fix what nitrogen assured us. Plumber dug up rose bush and tossed onto driveway - no leak - its under the driveway no less - We didn't have to dig up driveway Thank you Lord - copper pipe was rotted and we lost over 49,000 gallons of water - pipe replaced. Whew!, but Thankful for running water.
We receive word that our Sudanese children do not have enough money to continue their education and they are still in South Sudan visiting. Thankful for brown children that we have adopted into our family.
Several days later our toilet in guest bathroom ruined the hardwood floors - seal is broken - call plumber to fix (another hundred dollars). Thankful for toilets and floors, our children in South Sudan have neither.
Our oldest son finds out they are expecting a precious new baby! Praise the Lord, He is good and gives us new life.
We travel to Choctaw County Alabama to help a new church plant with Rock the Block. We return on Sunday night late and Monday morning I have ringworm! You have got to be kidding me. Lotrimin and I are spending our nights together. Thankful for the opportunity to serve in this rural community.
Our youngest son's TB test for school shows up after 36 hours as a positive. It was a False Positive. Thankful and Praises to You our King!
We are packing to take our youngest back to college and find out that our storage room is full of water. OK - at this point we might drown in this house. We call the plumber - hot water heater regulator is broken (few more hundred dollars). Thankful for our home that the Lord has provided.
Our yorkie of 9.5 years decides that her hip doesn't work anymore, so she is limping around the house on 3 legs. NO we are not having surgery and she will have to just limp, but we carry her when we can and baby her continuously.
Our friends from Troy deliver a new baby - Henley Brooke Yarbrough - She is born with OI - brittle bone disease. She lives one week - Thank you Jesus for this wonderful week and Your love for Henley.
Rick went to cut the grass on Friday - lawn mowers wheel came completely off and is beyond repair. Rick tries to cut the grass with a three-wheeled mower by holding up the mower and cutting, impossible, Rick drives to borrow mower, returns and cuts grass, returns mower, gets weedeater out to finish the yard, gas line breaks into and is non repairable, goes to Lowe's to purchase new one and 6 hours later he has finished our small yard! Thankful for resources and our abilities.
As I was working today, God provided this Hillsong song to give me comfort!
Beautiful Lord, Wonderful savior
I know for sure all of my days are held in your hands
Crafted into your perfect plans
You gently called me into your presence
Guiding me by Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord to live all of my life
Through your eyes
I'm captured by your holy calling
Set me apart. I know you're drawing me to yourself
lead me, Lord. I pray
Oh Take me, mold me, use me, fill me
I give my life to the potter's hand
Oh Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me
I give my life to the potter's hand
You gently call me into your presence
Guiding me by your holy spirit
Teach me dear lord to live all of my life through your eyes
I'm captured by your holy calling
Set me apart. I know you're drawing me to yourself
lead me, Lord. I pray
Oh Take me, mold me, use me, fill me
I give my life to the potter's hand
Oh Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me
I give my life to the potter's hand
Pray with us........ The Mitchell's
RTB - great BIG problem
Session Two of Rock the Block in Choctaw County concentrated on " A Great BIG PROBLEM" - S.I.N.
Every one of us has S.I.N.N.E.D and fallen short of the glory of God. This problem began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were disobedient to the Lord our God. They were told not to eat from the from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but the Serpent convinced them otherwise. We now live in a fallen world and this is a great big Problem.
The children loved eating apples for snack and playing with plastic snakes.
a great big world
This week has gotten away from me and I know you all want to see Rock the Block day 1. It was so wonderful, our God is Big and Great! Friday night we began the registration at 4:00pm for any walk-ins and we did have a few. New Life Fellowship had everything ready upon our arrival - Registration Tent was set up, Water games, new gravel in the parking lot, arts and crafts room was ready, worship room was decorated with lots of balloons and streamers, praise music with videos were prepared, snacks and mucho food had been made and many volunteers, young and old were waiting...... Now it was time to share Christ with these little children. I felt so blessed to be part of God's Plan. Our first session was:
drury swimming
Night swimming at the hotel in Meridian, MS. Our team stayed in a hotel in Meridian as we prepared to do Rock the Block in Gilbertown, Alabama at New Life Church. A few of the children who would be attending the vacation Bible school with us came to spend the night with us at the hotel. They all had so much fun swimming and eating pizza before bed.
before you go
To prepare to go on a Mission trip you must prepare your hearts for His Ministry and unexpected challenges. You must be flexible, flexible, flexible. If you have never been on a short-term mission trip, please consider going - It will CHANGE your life forever!
Jack Hempeling wrote the following in his book, Before You Go:
”We must prepare our hearts. Our long term impact depends more deeply on our heart preparation than our technical preparation. We must prepare to stay focused, to be unified, to be positive, pure, humble and submissive and full of faith and praise. All of this combined with practical and technical preparation is what will allow us to make a greater impact and touch people's lives.
We are to throw out pride, rebellion against the team or leaders, division and strife among the members, complaining about circumstances, negative attitudes, course language, inappropriate relationships and impurity. We must be vigilant to keep them away from our hearts.
Expect the unexpected. God has set this trip in motion and He may choose to use you in many different ways. Maybe witnessing to someone in a crowded airport or in the seat next to you. He may intervene and create a greater plan for you in the field, one greater than you had planned. Be open to His plan and be flexible.
We are to not allow anyone, even ourselves, to limit us from fulfilling God's call for us. He has set us apart for His purposes and He creates a stir in our heart to respond to that calling. He put in our hearts the desire to go to the mission field so we need to resist the temptation to focus on our personal limitations.”
See their face
Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names.
They are easier to ignore before you see their faces.
It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms.
But once you do, everything changes.
-David Platt
Fire at auto mall
Investigation continues into fire at Jefferson County auto sales business
My sweet child drove past this fire when flames were just beginning to show. He stopped and went into the building to see if anyone was there. Two workers were working feverishly to get some items out of this building. Thank you Wesley for your compassion and care for others.
