WOW!  I feel like a piñata has been broken and spilled out all over me this week!  One that was filled to the brim with everything wonderful … the love and appreciation literally poured all over me!  In my first few moments of extra time, I sat down with my Lord just to soak in His presence in the middle of the day when I am usually in the thick of my work.  His presence poured over me like oil, like a sweet fragrance.  Then I ran outside to soak in the sunshine and sit in the swing for a few minutes and call my 88 year old mom who lives ten and a half hours away and share my good news with her!  She was so happy for me, she cried!  Bless her heart!  Before we said good-bye, I said, “Oh Mom, I have to tell you this story.  I was trying to pull all of my last minute projects together at work so I could leave early (just one of my gifts!), and I still had to deliver the daily mail to the residents.  There was lots of it and I was excited about heading home.  This day there was an unusual amount of personal mail for the residents, and if they are awake, I always offer to help them open it and read it to them if they’d like me to.  Part of me was thinking how this was going to take awhile.  Arriving in the rooms, some people were taking their afternoon naps.  But the last room I walked in to, the 90 year old lady was sitting in her wheel chair, wide-awake, holding her baby doll that almost never leaves her hands.  I rarely hear her speak any words, and when she does, they make little sense.  Today as I neared her room with that letter, I was thinking, “If she is awake, this might take awhile!” Then this voice spoke to me and I heard, “Debbie, I just gave you this unexpected gift of time … honor her and honor Me by taking as much time as she needs to have you help her with this letter.”  “Yes, Lord, of course – You have quite the way of putting things into perspective!  I’ll do it!”  Gone was the hurry – and something inside me knew that I’d stay in that room as long as I needed to – and it wouldn’t even matter.  I knelt down by her wheelchair and told her she had a letter.  I read her the names on the return address and asked her if she knew these people. She shook her head and softly said “yes”.  I helped her open the envelope and pulled out two sheets of lined paper with handwritten words.  “Should I help you read it?”, I asked.  She didn’t really say anything, so I started out slowly, “My Dear Mama,” … I could tell she was in for a loving treat.  I was excited to see what this daughter from California had written to her dear mama so far away in Minnesota.  She wrote of being outdoors in the springtime warmth, walking in the rose garden … wishing she lived closer so they could do that together.  She remembered a time that her mom had been out there to visit her and shared the fond memories.  She asked her mom if she was enjoying the bouquets of fresh flowers she was receiving each month.  She told her how much she missed her, she signed it off, “I love you very, very much.”  But the amazing thing is … I read the first few words, maybe the first sentence, and this lady took over.  I held the letter out in front of her, and she read it smoothly, distinctly, and clearly … as if she knew what her daughter was going to say next.  In this “loving world” she was in for the moment, all was well.  Dementia seemed to have fled the scene, and when she read the last words, somehow she added an extra “very” in there and read, “I love you very, very, very much.”  She read her daughter’s name, and then said softly, “That almost makes me feel like crying!”  I said, “I know … a letter is such a wonderful gift, isn’t it?”  Then she thanked me for coming.  I couldn’t help but say, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”  (I John 3:1)  I hope you love being God’s child, too!  It’s the BEST!!!

IN A NUTSHELL . . .

SUN, APR 29:  10:00 A.M. – WORSHIP & PRAISE, with Part 3 of the message, "To Fear or Not to Fear!”   
SUN, APR 29:   11:15 A.M. – KINGDOM CONNECTION Classes with Puppet Ministry for the children!
SAT, MAY 05:   2:00 P.M. – MOTHER/DAUGHTER COUNTRY GARDEN GETAWAY with special guest, Larissa!  Be sure to invite family and friends for this unforgettable afternoon with Hazel’s food delights & Larissa’s music!
SUN, MAY 06: 10:00 A.M. – WORSHIP & PRAISE / GRADUATION SUNDAY, honoring our graduates!

PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES . . . Spencer, Julia, Tina, Johnny, Justin, Cierra, Seykora’s, Lundstroms, our nation!

REMEMBER . . . “The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs … You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”  Isaiah 58:11


Serving Christ Joyfully . . .


Pastor Doug and Debbie