Pleasures in Serving God

What a blessing it was to be able to attend the All Brazil Missions Conference in Iguaçu Falls! The theme of the week was centered around the Pleasures of God! Not only were we refreshed from God's Word and reminded of the pleasures in serving God and one day bowing before Him in His presence, but also were
marveled at one of His incredible creations, the Iguacu Falls! As I stood before the Argentine side of the falls and sang "How Great Thou Art" with some other missionaries, I was given a glimpse of heaven and how one day we will see our Savior and our natural response will be to worship and sing praises to our wonderful God and King!                   Oh, what a day that will be!

How Great Thou Art!

    Argentine side of the falls                                                                                

Brazilian side of the falls

I was also asked to teach the 5th and 6th graders during the morning business meetings. What a fun time we had exploring the awesome power of God through the feeding of the five thousand, Peter walking on water, and the good Samaritan! We also enjoyed playing in the pool, painting a rocket, singing different songs, and having wonderful discussions in God's Word! 

Besides going to the Iguacu Falls, we also walked across the street to the Bird Park! 

       Polly, want some corn?!?!

          Unfortunately, I could not bring this buddy home with me.

Upon returning from our trip, we held a Bible Club on Saturday afternoon from 3:00 to 5:00. At first, only a few children showed up, but as we began sitting the children down and singing with them, the Lord just kept on working and bringing in more children. How exciting to see at least 35 children attend our first Bible club, as well as, see three parents who stayed throughout the whole thing! Not only that, but I praise God for the great group of helpers we had from Redemption Baptist Church. To God be all the glory!

Please pray as we will be heading up another Bible Club next Saturday, March 28 during the same times. 

In addition, please pray for me as I teach my nephews and niece and for God to show me His future direction for my life! 

THANKS!

  

"Whom have I in heaven, but you?"

In a new devotional book I have been reading lately called New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp, I have been convicted and challenged with an important truth. Many times, I look to so many other things for contentment and satisfaction. Things such as going to the beach or watching a movie or going running or spending time on facebook or even serving in ministry - things that are not necessarily wrong, but tend to be more my focus than God Himself.
Psalm 73:25-26 says, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever!"
Oh, how I pray that this prayer of David's would be mine! Nothing wrong with the things I enjoy doing, but if they take precedence over God in my life, something is wrong.
An interesting quote from this book says, "Most beautiful fruits of grace - a heart that is content, more given to worship than demand and more given to the joy of gratitude than the anxiety of want."
My prayer this Thanksgiving is that God give me more a heart of contentment, a deeper gratitude for what He has given me through His only son Christ.that takes me to a greater desire for Him each day! Please pray for me in that area as well.

This Thanksgiving, I would also like to say thank you for your daily prayers for me, as well as, your sacrificial support. I also greatly appreciate your comments on my blog or some of your encouraging remarks on facebook or even occasional emails. What a blessing it is to hear from friends and family back home!

Additional things I am thankful for:

Teaching my nephews and niece

Field Trips

Children's church 

Making new friendships and learning to grow together

Spending time with family 

Fellowshipping with the body of Christ

Bible Studies

His Creation 

Friends & Family Back Home (Sorry I don't have pictures of everyone!) =)

Serving on a short term missions trip with my brother and sister-in-law and family

Learning moments

Although I have many learning moments I could share, I am just going to share one. This Thanksgiving, I took on the challenge of learning how to make a Thanksgiving goodie that required additional work. 

My challenges were baking a pumpkin and figuring online how to turn my regular milk into evaporated milk. Thanks for patience and a little help from my sister-in-law, Christen, the recipe I found online turned out for our missionary Thankgiving get-together - 

Pumpkin Bars with Pecans & Oatmeal! 

http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2014/09/15/pumpkin-pecan-oatmeal-bars/#comments

May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!