Thursday, May 30, 2013

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

LIVING HAPPY AND FREE!  Isn’t that everyone’s dream?  Living stressed and in bondage.  Isn’t that how the biggest share of people today live?  Instead of living their dream, they are experiencing their own worst nightmare. I’ve participated in a lot of great, thought-provoking conversations this week – and I have tried to open my eyes and my heart ever wider in an attempt to understand better what living happy and free meant to our Creator when He was planning our lives.  I have a feeling that His script compared to our biographies varies a whole lot!  There’s HIS plan … and then there’s our plan and how we’ve chosen to live our lives.  I guess I’ve been unusually reminiscent of our lives as my husband and I will celebrate forty-two years of marriage this week.  That’s a long time.  I used to think people who were married that long – were OLD!  Not anymore!  My mind has raced across the years and the partial biography we could write thus far.  I try with all my might to not live with regrets.  But being as human as anyone else, there are definitely some things I would do differently if I could live those experiences over again.  Each day God teaches me more, and I hope I am an attentive student and an eager learner.  I really don’t want to make the same mistakes over and over – but yup, sometimes I do!  I think, “Will I ever get this right?”  God knows I will.   While Satan tries his best to throw self-condemnation all over us as God’s kids, I love that there is one thing I have gotten right through all these years.  And that is … “NO MATTER WHAT – I HAVE KNOWN THAT GOD’S LOVE IS STILL WITH ME!”  I don’t think there’s ever been a day that I have felt like God was not with me.  Or that I thought He didn’t love me.  Ever.  There’ve been times that I’ve asked Him, “What in the world are You doing, God?  I’d really like to know, because what’s happening sure doesn’t make any sense to me at all!”  But always, no matter what … I’ve known He is with me and He loves me!  And that knowledge and belief has carried me through a lifetime of joys – and a lifetime of trials.  God has been SO faithful to us every day of these forty-two years – and His love has been SO constant in our lives that we want to be a daily testimonial in front of everyone we cross paths with.  We want to share with them that they, too, can discover happiness and freedom in the knowledge and belief that God’s love is with them.  Still.  Always.  Ever.  Yesterday.  Today.  Tomorrow.  Forever.  Without fail.  WITH them!  That’s scriptural.  One of Jesus’ names, “Emmanuel” means “God with us”!  But in the moments that I stop to really listen to what God is saying to me, I realize how often I respond to my stress-points in ways that prove that I’ve lost focus on the fact that He is still with me … that He still loves me.  For if my focus was on what I know, I would not think I have to figure it all out on my own, or that it must make sense to me.  Sound familiar?  Initially I would not feel like I have to find the solution; I would from the first moment be fully aware that God is my Source for every answer I lack, for every need that I have.  I would have this unshakeable knowledge that no matter what happens to me, no matter what people do to me, no matter what … God is still with me and He still loves me.  He’s already figured it out.  He’s already come to the rescue.  He’s already provided the way out.  He’s already given the peace.  Though we know this, we jump to our own conclusions.  Though we believe it, too often we fail to claim it and exercise it.  Doing so makes ALL the difference in the level of happiness and freedom we live in.  I thank God for the truly incredible times my husband and I have shared throughout our marriage.  The times that have not been so incredible are the times that we have lost the focus that God is still with us – in that moment and in that place.  As we celebrate this week, we will be reminded of treasured times and be thankful for all that God has taught us.  We will be excited about the opportunities and adventures to come … asking for God’s help to get it right more times than not – living out the reality that God’s love is still with us!  And we want nothing more than for all of those we love so much – to get this right, too! 
 
 
 
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
 
 
WELCOME BACK to Laura, A.J., Lilia, and Chris, Katie, and Natalie who worshipped with us this past Sunday; may God bless you!
 
THIS SUN, JUN 02:
10;00 A.M. - PRAISE & WORSHIP
10:30 A.M. - KIDZONE
SAT, JUN 08:
7 A.M. - NOON - RELAY FOR LIFE table at the
Farmer's Market downtown in Central Park
(please bring anything hand-made, home-baked, or
home-grown - and come help out at the table if you can!)
5:00 P.M. - PARK TO PARK PROGRESSIVE PICNIC 
(see Spotlight below!)
NEXT SUN, JUN 09:
10:00 A.M. - CHILDREN'S SUNDAY
COMO ZOO EVENT to follow
(see Spotlight below!)
 

ELEVATION NORTH SPOTLIGHT!
Our first ever PARK TO PARK PROGRESSIVE PICNIC will be mapped out for you, starting at the church at 5:00 p.m. this coming Saturday, June 8th, with beverages.  We will caravan over to Lincoln Park for appetizers, move on to Lake Kohlmeier for salads, then make our way to Morehouse Park for the main dishes.  There will be tables and beverages at each park, and each family is asked to bring food to share (check out the sign-up sheet), their own lawn chairs or blankets and their own table service to eat on.  There will be time for fun, fellowship and free time at each park.  Finally, we will make our way back to the church to conclude with dessert by Hazel!  In case of rain, we have alternate locations planned.  Be sure to join us for the fun!
CHILDREN’S SUNDAY will be celebrated on June 9th at 10:00 a.m. with worship being centered around the children … and a trip to Como Zoo in Minneapolis to follow!  A light lunch of hot dogs, chips, and beverages will be served at the church before we leave.  The zoo closes at 6:00 p.m.  More details to come!
 
REMEMBER . . . “The God of the universe … cares deeply about you and your identity and the events of your life!” ~ B. Larson 
 
 
 Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
 
 
Pastor Doug and Debbie
 
 

 

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