Destination: India….In God’s Timing

So I have been on a bit of a blogging hiatus. I have thought about writing a post but sometimes the thought of dedicating time, actually sitting down and stopping for a few minutes in my day, seems too much. It seems like this summer has been so busy! Hopping from one activity to the next. 

The reason for this post is to share some of the incredible things God is doing in my life. I am going to have to start at the beginning so that you will see that it has been a long process. I have been a part of a ministry called Christ In Action for going on 8 years. (On a side note, I will be setting up a website for CIA soon and hopefully have a link up in case you are interested) Ministry has been a part of my life for all of my teen years. However as I approached the wonderful age of 18, I began to realize that my time with CIA was coming to a close. The ministry dedicates itself to young people ages 12-19 and I was about to “max out”. Of course if I choose to stay on with them, I would be welcome. But for the last year as I struggled with the thought of moving on and growing up, I felt the Lord say to me, “Stick with it a little longer.” I knew I was supposed to be part of a ministry and I trusted God to bring another one along to “replace CIA”, though it has a special niche in my life. So I stayed. 

About a month ago, I heard God’s voice saying, “It’s time to move on.” Well, at the same time a wild idea popped into my head to travel to Haiti. I have no idea why I chose Haiti, it was one of those “God ideas” I think. So I inquired around, I asked people if they knew of anyone or any ministry I could partner with for a few weeks. My search didn’t prove very fruitful. In fact, my pastor strongly advised against going to Haiti. Needless to say, I was slightly disheartened because I had thought that God was calling me to ministry. But that wasn’t the end. 🙂

I had emailed a very good friend of our family who forwarded the email to another pastor of another church. (Sound confusing? 😉 ) The pastor emailed back and that is how I got in touch with Mike Giordano who is pastor of Lifequest. I had gone to his church a few years back but had since been called to another. It was fun meeting at a coffee shop with him and touching bases. He hadn’t changed a bit. 🙂

Here is the interesting part…I had just stepped into the coffee shop where we had set up our appointment and I saw him sitting on a couch talking to a blonde haired lady. She was about to leave so Mike introduced me to her and gave her my phone number. After my meeting with Mike (which was very informative and insightful. I am thankful he took the time to see me), I shot the lady, whose name I learned was Dawn Palmer, a text message. We got in contact and set a date to get together and talk. That date was today! I met her once again at the coffee shop and we both began to share our hearts for the future.

I won’t tell you the entire conversation as it lasted for more than 2 hrs. But during that time, we both shared a little bit about our backgrounds and our hearts. Both of our hearts are for the children! Children are a huge part of the body of Christ but sadly, we don’t see them as such. They are WAY more in-tune to the things God and the things of the Spirit. We tend to over look them as they are a small but vital part of the church. In fact, the future of the church lies with the children. Her hope is to establish a training program that empowers parents, teachers, and young people like me to be able to go to another country or even their own communities and train children to hear from God, pray, lay hands on the sick, and receive and give prophetic words. Amazing work! 

Her goal is to take a trip to India within the next 6 months or so. The trip would be anywhere from 3 – 6 months in length. We would be training the church to culture and nurture their young, precious treasures from God. Before that can happen though, 3-5 months of intensive training will have to occur. The program we will be using is called, The School of Supernatural Children’s Ministry, formerly called, Leading the Lambs to the Lion. We will be covering topics such as “Autism-A Kingdom Perspective”, “Babies and God (It begins in the womb)”, “True Mentoring and Disciplining Children”, “Is Children’s Ministry Biblical?”, and “Who is Called to Children’s Ministry?”. It is been an amazing process of networking and meeting the right people at the right time but I believe this is something I have been called by God to do.

In closing…”Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matt. 25:31 Remember the least of these…

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Take the Challenge Prayer Request

This is an update that I received from the ministry that I partnered with last summer. 🙂

Dear Mission China / Take The Challenge partner,

We have some exciting news to share with you from our Take the Challenge (TTC) team in Niger.  After being trained by two separate TTC US teams over the past few years, the national youth in Niger have caught the vision and organized their own Take The Challenge team.  They have led an outreach to a local village and now are taking it to the next level – this week the TTC Niger team will be heading out for their first mission trip!

Yes, that’s right, ten Nigerian young people are currently on their way to Diffa, a city 16 hours from their home in Niamey, to challenge the young people there to Take The Challenge of being used by God to grow in their own faith and effectively reach other youth (and adults) for Jesus.  They will teach many of the same dramas that the TTC US team taught them over the past two training sessions as well as challenge them through Bible studies and an end-of-session rally.

Please pray for these young leaders (HABIBOU, DELPHIN, SUKALA, DOMINIQUE,  SAMMUEL, MAINASSARA, CEDRIK, RAHILA, AYOUBA, MARGUERETTE) to be bold and courageous as they testify to the Name in this 99% Muslim nation.  Pray for protection on their 16-hour bus ride as well as during the Diffa workshop and rally.  Diffa is on the border of Nigeria where the Boko Haram terrorist group kidnapped 300+ Christian school girls and countless other attacks on Christians, so this is a real threat.

Equipping those who will in turn teach others,

Scott, Patty, and the Take The Challenge crew

Easter Traditions

The Easter Egg has been a symbol of Easter dated back hundreds of years. It is given among Christians and non Christians alike though for believers it symbolizes new life and new beginnings. It shares the hope of a risen Lord.
Tradition has it that after Christ’s death and resurrection, Mary Magdalene became a missionary and, like the apostles, spread the word of Christ’s death and resurrection. Once while appearing before the Roman emperor Tiberius she brought before him a white egg and greeted him with, “Christ’s risen.” Being a non believer, Tiberius sneered at her, saying, “Christ is no more risen than that egg turning red.” Before his astonished eyes and those of his court, the egg turned a vibrant shade of red. Mary was then able to share the gospel with the people who listened intently.
I am sorry this post is a little late for Easter but I thought this story was interesting anyway. 🙂 Be blessed!

Kitchen Saga

You know, you never really know how good you have it until you have to experience something that is difficult. And by difficult, I mean living without a kitchen for 2 (almost 3) weeks. Currently, our house is in various stages of remodeling, the biggest project being the kitchen. This has been an almost 2 year process but we are very nearly at the end of our endeavors. 

I wish now that I had taken pictures to share but for now, I will attempt to describe it on my own. The first stage was unplugging our microwave and re-plugging it somewhere in the living room. After that, all of the pots and pans, Tupperware, silverware, and all those little items that you find that you don’t remember that you had but someone must have given to you at one point were boxed up or bagged up or stacked up in a tidy little pile in the living room as well. After that, out comes the appliances, the sinks, the dishwasher, the stove, the oven, and even our crock-pot. It all joined everything else in an inglorious heap. What we were left with were bare and empty cabinets which were soon dismantled.

So, for the last few weeks, we have been eating sandwiches, canned food, and the occasional take out. I know I should be thankful for food and I really am grateful, but after a while, eating canned tamales day in and day out does get old. We don’t even have the capability to make fresh bread. 

Once everything is cleared out, the counter and cabinet guys can get to work. Since the majority of it is done by now, we are hopefully looking at everything being all squared away in 2 weeks. 🙂 Keeping my fingers crossed on that though. With all the delays it has taken us to get even this far (we had originally planned for the kitchen being out of order for 1 to 2 weeks max) I am trying not to get my hope up. 

So, yes indeed, it’s been an adventure and one that is very nearly over. Yay!

Receiving a Bible for the First Time

This maybe one of the most powerful one minute videos you will ever see. To think that I take the three Bibles I have on my shelf for granted when these people are so grateful to receive even ONE copy. I cannot help but think that if the Bible was outlawed in our country, would I treasure the Word of God this much?

Christ In Action

So, some of you might be wondering about the ministry Christ In Action that I have a button with a link down below. Well, considering CIA has been an active part of my life for 8 years straight, it’s sort of curious that I have not written about it before. It was with CIA that I took my mission trips with that I had briefly mentioned in an earlier post.

Christ In Action is an interdenominational outreach team enlisted as agents of light to spread the gospel in a dark world. We believe that the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow! “Do not let the world look down at you because you are young but set the example in speech, life, love, faith and purity.” 1 Tim. 4:12 Check out the facebook page!

The Year of Jubilee

Hello all,

Well, another year has come and gone. Looking back over the last 12 months, I am almost astonished at how far I’ve come. The Lord has really been showing me things about myself, about my future, and about who I am in Him. If you have known me for an extended period of time, you will know that I have had struggles with who my identity was. I think almost everyone can understand what I am talking about. But this past year, I have learned not only who I am, but how much I am worth. So this little email is about a few things I have learned on my journey to become, well, me. 🙂

First off, the Year of Jubilee…well, I would ask for a show of hands on how many people know what that is but, obviously that wouldn’t work. The Year of Jubilee is the year at the end of the seven sabbatical years. So it would occur at the every 50 years. In the Year of Jubilee, an Israelite was required to return any land that he had purchased and set free any of his slaves. Being a slave in the biblical Jewish term wasn’t like the picture of slaves we have today. In Bible times, if you had borrowed money from someone but couldn’t repay it, you were required to sell yourself to your debtor to work off your debt. (Jesus alludes to it in Matt. 18:21-35 with the parable of the unforgiving servant) But every 50 years you were set free. That is the biblical context of the Year of Jubilee. (On a side note: Just because in the Old Testament under the old covenant the Year of Jubilee happened only every 50 years doesn’t mean that today, after the death of Christ every year cannot be a Year of Jubilee. In fact, I firmly believe that we can choose whether or not our year will be a good year or a bad year. It all hinges on perspective)

But now to apply that to modern day terms…there are a couple things that we can learn. The first is:The Year of Jubilee is About Receiving Forgiveness. That is ultimately what Christianity is about, receiving forgiveness and erasing the debt or wrongdoing. Basically wipe the slate clean. At the beginning of a new year, people all over the globe promise to change, promise to work out, promise to be good — and whatever. We always say, “I’m going to start with a clean slate!” But so often we don’t realize how hard that is. Starting with a clean slate requires us to clean out all the gunk first!

(John2:1-11 “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each.Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.”

These servants can represent us. We are commanded to follow Christ instructions just as Mary commanded the servants “whatever He says to you, do it”. Now these stone water pots were filled with dirty water. These were the water pots that everyone washed in. And life back then was dirty and hard. Jesus commanded them to fill them with water. But to do that, they first had to be emptied. They had to be emptied of all the yucky and nasty stuff that had built up inside in order for them to be filled with fresh, pure, clean water.

In Bible times, wine was almost a necessity. It became symbolic of sustenance and life. In order for us to be filled with life from the Holy Spirit, we must first empty out our “water pots” and clean out all the gunk inside. What better time to do that than the New Year! The New Year symbolizes new beginnings, a fresh start. If we truly want to start off 2014 with a bang, we must empty out all of the ugly baggage and stuff from 2013. (Phil. 3:13 “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead”)

The second thing is: the Year of Jubilee is About Obtaining the Promises (or Inheritance of God). If for some reason a family needed money and they sold their land which was also their family inheritance, at the end of the sabbatical cycle, they would receive it back. That is a firm promise of God, that He WILL restore. (Joel 2:25 “Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten”.) You see, the year of Jubilee is not only about cleaning out our lives and receiving the forgiveness of God, but it is also the year that we receive back what has been taken from us. Whatever has been stolen from us, health, finances, etc, God promises restoration. So, I pray that this year will be a year of healing and restoration. I know I have had a few large bumps in 2013 where sometimes I wondered what the heck I was even doing. Sometimes someone or something I counted on let me down (and believe me, when I am let down, I am let down hard 🙂 ) I would wonder what the heck was going on. But now I can see that it was all part of the restoration process. The years of the locust has ended and I feel like God wants to restore His people. We just have to be willing to clean out all of our junk.

So these are a couple things that I learned in 2013. Hopefully I have been able to encourage you as well. 🙂 Remember to smile and keep pushing on! It’s the Year of Jubilee!

Prayer Request

Last summer I had the very special opportunity to travel to Niger, a country in western Africa for a three week long Mission Trip. Our goal was to equip, challenge, and empower the youth and young people of Niger in areas such as discipleship, ministry and evangelism. We stayed with an amazing missionary family who have served the Lord in Africa for almost 20 years. A few days ago, I received an email update from Danette who is the wife of Neil Childs. Together, they head a ministry called Vie Abundante, or Abundant Life. What follows is a copy of the email that was sent out.
Dear Friends,
We wanted to send an update to those of you who have been praying in regards to the tragic accident that happened here last Tuesday.  If that’s you – thank you so much.  It’s those prayers that are sustaining us.
If you don’t want to read the details, please skip to the bottom for our prayer points.
A team from Santa Fe Family Worship Center in Texas was here and as we were on our way to a village for evangelism one of our vehicles was in an accident, killing one of the team members and causing serious injuries to the 3 others in the vehicle.

Kris, Ruby, Rebekah, Stephanie, Tim, Ben
Sukala, our ministry assistant, was driving and was injured but is out of the hospital and doing well.  Stephanie and Ruby, the 2 injured team members have finally made it home.  Their church/community in Santa Fe, TX had to raise $75,000 in less than 24 hours to secure an air ambulance.  God, who is always faithful, provided.  Thanks to so many of you who gave to help in this effort.
We have never doubted the fact that God was by our side in all of this, even though we have unanswered questions.  And it’s even now that we’re beginning to understand some things.
When we first heard the quote for an air ambulance, we thought that wasn’t even a consideration and started looking into other options.  Something like getting them home in a business class seat that could recline.  But God knew what they needed and He provided it.
Niger, being one of the 5 poorest countries in the world, lacks medical facilities in a serious way.  Pain management is non-existent.  Our ladies spent 6 days in a clinic taking the equivalent of Tylenol for pain.  They diagnosed Stephanie with a hairline pelvic fracture.  Her spleen was enlarged but after a day they said it was back to almost ‘normal’.  We were working closely with the missionary doctors here, but it’s a bit of a catch 22 because they have no authority to do anything with the knowledge they have.  I can tell you we badly wanted to ‘kidnap’ our ladies and care for them in our home, but that would void any hope of insurance helping with expenses. So we did our best taking care of them at the clinic.  I could tell you some stories… It was a tough situation but God’s grace was clearly evident.  Ruby’s injuries were to her back, so mobility wasn’t really an option – for either of them.
The transfer from the clinic to the airport was excruciating for our ladies, but they have been amazing testimonies to everyone here.
Upon arriving at home, they were directly admitted to hospitals.  Stephanie was diagnosed with the following: She is banged up from bottom to top. She has a fractured tailbone, multiple fractures of her pelvis, a fractured pubis bone, a spleen injury, a few fractured ribs, a broken shoulder blade, and some fractured vertebrae. We’re waiting for results about the vertebrae.
Now if that wasn’t the grace of God sustaining her with no pain meds…And she smiled big and kept praising the Lord through it all.
Ruby was examined up and down and in and out and the doctors declared that she was “mis-diagnosed” in Africa and her back will only require physical therapy. She didn’t even need the specialist they had lined up. They sent us a picture last night of Ruby sitting up in bed. It was beautiful. God’s healing hand.
The 3 uninjured team members traveled back to the US on their original tickets on Sat. night. It was difficult for them to leave then, as Ruby and Stephanie weren’t scheduled to leave until Monday. But again, God gave them grace to do what needed to be done.

In the midst of the above, we were working on getting Rebekah’s body back to her family, a process that we’re told can take 2-3 weeks or longer.  God helped us get it done in 4 days.  More stories there, but again, God’s grace and faithfulness prevailed and she is now home with her family.  Her funeral will be on Thursday.

We recognize that the devil was the author of this tragedy, but we also know our God.  He is good and His character has not changed because of this event.  He will make something good of it. He promised. We believe
countless people will be saved because of the seed of Rebekah’s life sown into the nation of Niger.  One pastor
encouraged us by saying “Nothing happens to those who are doing nothing”.  Rebekah was doing what she loved.  Preaching the Gospel to the unreached.

Psalm 126:6: “They that go forth and weep bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing
bringing their sheaves with them.”

Prayer:

Please pray for Rebekah’s family as they navigate through this difficult time.

Please continue to pray for complete healing for Stephanie, Ruby and Sukala.  This event was a shock and there are still many things to work through.  We are depending on the faithfulness of God.

Pray for finances for all that was lost.  God has already provided miraculously for so many things.

And finally, pray that this tragedy turns to victory, to be measured by lives saved not only here in Niger, but around the world.

We love and appreciate you and thank your for being a part of holding us up during this difficult time.

We are Overcomers!

Continuing to Reach the Unreached,
Neal, Danette & Tobi

 

Veteran’s Day

A tribute to the men and women who have fought and died for our country. God bless America!

New Year…

So, recently my church celebrated Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish New Year. I like celebrating the New Year’s twice in a year because it reminds me of all the resolutions I made last January and which by now, being in the middle of September, have slipped or been forgotten all together. This allows me to sit back and contemplate on the things that have happened to me during the last few months as well as what is going to happen this season. It brought to mind an email I had written several months ago. 🙂 I copied and pasted it down below…keep reading! 🙂

Ok, so, how many of you are planning to make New Year’s resolutions? I must confess that those I do make (which are not many) usually end up out the door by March or so. Anyway, here is a Bible passage which hopefully will encourage you throughout 2013 and it is found in Psalms. Psalm 121 to be precise and it says, “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.”

 

First off, some background, every year in the Jewish culture, for the Passover they would journey up from their homes to Jerusalem and as they journeyed, they would sing various songs along the way. Psalms 120-134 are called, Songs of Ascents and each one has a special meaning and would be sung at various stages of the journey. Psalm 121 would be sung at the beginning of their pilgrimage. It’s a song of new beginnings and a song of their faith in God which inspired their journey. The Christian walk is just that as well, a continuous movement along the road that leads to the knowledge of God. And so, in honor of the New Year, a time to begin anew and another opportunity to leave the past behind, I thought this passage was appropriate. Now, the Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah is actually in Sept/Oct of our calendar and after that would follow what was called the 10 Days of Awe. The 10 Days of Awe were a period of days when the Jewish people would consider their wrong doings in the past year and repent. Very introspective. After that was Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. So, what is the point of this? I believe that even though we have been freed from the laws of the Old Testament, the wisdom is still there and even though it might seem depressing to spend New Year’s in introspection, I believe that when we fully repent, we open the doors of heaven for blessings to rain down. And what is better to start a new year fresh? But I am digressing…

 

In this passage, we find three things: There is Reflection towards repentance or change, Affirmation – that the road I am taking is the one He has set me upon, (His Grace is sufficient) and Confirmation of the walk of faith that together, affirm His faithfulness and His promises. So, we shall go through each of them quickly.

 

1) Reflection: “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?”

This is all about perspective. In order to see and assess things properly, you must look up, not down. Psalm 3:3-4 “But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the Lord with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah” Look up! Look up at what God made you to be! Look at what you have, not at what you don’t. Remember the things God has promised you and even when it seems like the vision of the future He has given you isn’t drawing any closer, wait for it. He is faithful and will bring it about in due season. We also need to see Jesus afresh. Seeing Him for who He is. That’s my challenge for you all this next year, to begin to shift your view of Jesus and finding out just WHO He really is. We are so used to having Jesus TOLD to us that we have lost our passion to know Him for ourselves. It’s not a bad thing to be told about Christ, but when we let that replace our initiative and our drive to experience Him for ourselves we become ordinary. Stuck in a rut. So, I pray 2013 is the year to get out of your rut. Looking back to the past doesn’t help, it is looking forward that counts. Phil. 3:13, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.” We all have done things this past year we regret but this passage reminds us to forget what lies behind and push towards the future and the vision God planted in us when we were born. I am not saying to not learn from past mistakes but that we must CHOOSE to not remember our failures but instead focus on our calling as a body of Christ.

2) Affirmation: “My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.”
When you position your heart and mind, you gain perspective. When you look at the mountains that we so often drive by without a second thought, let it instead serve to remind you of the permanence of God. It is only with the right perspective of God that we can chart our course. For example, if you are sailing a boat at sea or flying an airplane, without perspective, you will quickly loose your way. One degree off and you can end up hundreds of miles from your destination. See how easy it is to get off our course which is Christ? We can miss Jesus by only a little. So, pull out the charts in your life (which are the maps you have drawn for yourself based on your understanding of God’s will for your life) and ask yourselves these questions: Are you on course? Are you in the right place? Have you made progress on your journey? If not, make corrections. That is the basis for repentance: a course correction. That is all! And don’t worry if you don’t know God’s will for you. It doesn’t have to be your whole entire life planned out but the little (and yet so important) things. God has a will for us each day and all it takes is a little planning to find the will and get on course. Then take an inventory of what you do have. I.e. talents, gifts, resources and ask these questions: Is everything fresh? Do you need to discard some things? Is everything balanced? Are you using your resources, your gifts, and talents to their fullest? The journey of Faith always means RISK but you must continue to affirm your trust in God and His Word. It starts with you and no one else can do it for you. All it takes is a little trust to step out. Don’t worry if it’s God’s will. I think that the reason we so often get in ruts is because we are afraid that if we step out of them, we are stepping out of God’s will. But it is in my personal experience that God does not tell you to get out of the rut. He wants you to, but He won’t make us. If something is not God’s will, He will shut the doors. If God were to tell you everything that you should do then the basis for trust is gone. We won’t need to rely on Him to guide our steps. Confession, as well, is an important part of the walk of Faith. The Bible says, “My help comes from the Lord” – as you look at your map, you may not know how to get to where you are going but your confession will establish your faith in the power of God. And I mean confessions of who you are in Christ and just who God is. We already spent time in introspection, it is now time to focus on the Glory of God.

3) Confirmation
There are actually two parts to the verses 3-8, they are Assurance and Blessing.
I. Assurance “He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.” I don’t know about you, but the fact that God will not sleep in His watch over me is very comforting indeed. We find several promises here; that God will strengthen our walk. (Hab. 3:19), He will watch over us, (Psalm 34:15; Heb. 13:5), and the He will protect us in EXTREME times, such as when the sun is burning hot and the night fierce with cold. (Isaiah 43:2; Isaiah 49:10). Now, that is very comforting especially in these difficult times when we don’t know what the future will bring, we can confidently say that the Lord will not slumber in His guarding of our lives.
II. Blessing “The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.” Once again, we have three blessings here. The Blessing of His Protection (Psalm 91:5-8), the Blessing of a Guarded Life (Psalm 121:7; 125:2), and the Blessings in Our Walk (Deut. 28:6; 28:7). Now, I like that it just says He will guard out going out and coming in forever. And forever literally means eternity! It doesn’t say where, when, or what but just that we are blessed when we go in and out. I like to think of it this way, I head OUT my front door, I get IN my car, I realize I forgot my keys, I get OUT of my car, I go IN my house, I get my keys, I go OUT my door, I get IN my car…ect…and each time I go in and out, I can say, “I am blessed, I am blessed.” It doesn’t matter what I have done, it doesn’t matter who I am, and it doesn’t matter what others think, I am blessed. Even when I get OUT of bed every morning! Now if that isn’t something to praise God for, I don’t know what is. And so, during this New Year, I pray that each of you will be blessed as you enter in and as you go out. I also pray that this year change will come and we, as the bride of Christ, continue to prepare ourselves for the wedding. Keep pushing on and Happy New Year!