Where is your peace?

he end of another week! Wow, where does the time go? Hope you got to enjoy the many blessings of God in your life this week.

No better way to start off our week than to be surrounded by friends and family at our breakfast. Momma T and Tim cooked up a feast of pancakes, bacon, brewed hot coffee with strawberries and oranges, yummy. We had an unexpected visitor, great to have Sione with us. Full of life and smiles as he visited with everybody. We also had Willie and his wife Shwanda join us. Two pastors sitting around the table talking about the greatness of God, can't beat that!

Momma T hurried out to the garden after breakfast for more fun. Icee Joe and Mr Scott went around to visit some of the guys, while Tim and Matt went by their camps. They made a stop at Catfish's camp, the first in many months. A great day of laughter, lvoe and blessings.

We had no children visit us this week. Monday was a holiday, Tuesday and Wednesday the weather was not too good, but usually they come anyway. We are reflecting on what God is wanting us to do for our neighborhood children. If you want to share something on your heart about our afternoon activities, please send Ms Lisa an email and let her know.

Tuesday evening the chapel was full of the community men sharing stories about their lives. Matt read from various books of the Bible, ending with Romans chapter 11, talking about, what does it mean that Israel is the chosen people. How do we fit into the picture? We are just as important to God as the Jews, verse 32 says, God has given all people over to their stubborn ways so that he can show mercy to all. Pretty cool and awesome.

Wednesday evening we gathered at the Bright House for our family meal. Lomax and Joey prepared a feast of lasagnas and bread, while Ms Ardis brought a salad and Ms Hat brought dessert. We then watched a short video about the Star of Bethlehem.  The video was about a gentleman's quest to use the Bible to chart the skies to see if there was really a bright Star that night. A lot of the explanation was over mr brian's head, but for this man, he felt God showed him there was definitely a Star and the Messiah was born. We could have talked all night about his findings.

Thursday got started off with a visit from Pete. He has not been able to be with us because of Cari's illness, but he felt he needed to come and see everybody. He visited with Ms Abbie to catch up on everything, then I took Pete over to see the JJ houses. The last time Pete was with us, the lots were vacant and over grown with weeds, now there is life being produced. He was amazed to see what has been happening and took lots of  pictures to show Cari. Please keep them in your prayers. The doctors have increased the amount of chemo Cari is taking and the treatments are taking a toll on her body. Lots of prayers are needed.

Thursdays Chapel was led by our long time friend Spencer singing and a new friend Pastor Raymond from the Open Road church. A great testimony from the pastor sharing his journey of how he got to know Jesus.

Our Thursday meal was prepared and served up by our friends from Airline Baptist. Ms Vicki and her crew did an outstanding job and everybody commented on how good meal was.

Momma T and Ms Abbie handed out the grocery bags to an overflowing crowd.

Then to end our day on Thursday, we had an event, that will start us on a new journey. Dawn, with the help of Ms Hat and Dr Phil, moved into JJ house number 1. Did you get that announcement! Dawn is moved in! Hallelujah! Several months ago, this ground lay dormant, now it is being born anew, with the heart and passion of Christ leading us. We can only imagine what blessings will flow from this major event, exciting times ahead for all!

Please keep William and James in your prayers this week. William is back with James, trying to combat the desires of addictions. James' feet are giving him trouble standing on them all day with his new job. Prayers fro Dr Phil. He will be leading his doctors and nurses from Shriners as they go to Panama in Central America, giving hope to the children in that part of the world. They will see over 400 children in three days of clinical's! Prayers for our college students as they facing mid terms in the coming weeks. Prayers for John Sauls. John has hurt his back and is having problems with numbness in his legs.

Heard something on a TV show the other day, as a man was dying talking to a friend who was struggling with God, the dying man said to his friend, you need to find peace in your life. The pastor in chapel shared with us, he was an atheist most of his life. He was a former Marine paratrooper, doing all sorts of things, had more money than he knew what to do with, had multiple cars, trucks, motorcycles, homes, businesses but still there was something missing in his life, no peace. 

Society wants us to make more money, then we will find peace. Get a bigger house, then you will find happiness. Work two jobs to buy a new car, you will be content. But as we all know that is not right. Our pride, our jealousy, our desires will never be satisfied, Satan will always want more.

Pastor Raymond, said, not until I accepted Christ did I find my peace. As he first accepted Christ, he thought everything would be all right. But in a short few months, he lost everything, his wealth, his home, his things, but he said to us, you know what, I had peace. God showed me, I don't need those things to find happiness, I need God.

Where do you find peace in your life? Maybe the question should be asked, do you have peace in your life? This kind of peace is something inside of you when everything around you may be in turmoil, do you have peace in your life? We all know where that kind of peace comes from, from God, but do we trust Him enough to live our lives that way? Do we try to take things in our own hands? Do we not trust God enough to let Him take over our lives? It is hard to do, Satan tells us, you don't need God, trust in yourself, believe in your egos,  use your pride to find peace. 

As we grow closer to God in our relationships, it becomes easier and easier to let go and let God take over our lives. There will be trials put before us, but that is ok, because we know who is in charge of our lives. My prayer for us this week, is for all of us to find peace in our lives. A place where, when we are going through the storms of life, a place where we can go to, to find the calm, the peace to survive another day.

Have a great week. Enjoy God's blessing in your life. Amen!