For years now I have asked God to stretch us and to show us who He is and for Cup of Joy to be used in a mighty way for His Glory. I believe last Sunday God did just that. We had the privilege to host several families along with Cure for a Christmas party of a lifetime. We had Santa, made gingerbread houses and hand prints on tiles.  We had food, food and more food. Families were able to have their Christmas picture taken with Santa and if they so desired tour the house. Wow! I cannot express the excitement of our volunteers to serve these precious families. For a few hours I believe these families were able to forget that they had to deal with treatment of Cancer and just enjoy being a family. They were able to reconnect with other families and sweet nurses and Cure representatives. Amy and Robin did an amazing job of organizing the event! The volunteers represented our King with excellence!  Cure invited the families and we were able to love on them. I will forever remember the smiles of these families. That afternoon we were told of a precious family that not only had a son with cancer but a mom as well and that she was put with Hospice.  while this family had the opportunity to get a way after hearing their mommy was dying,  we were able to get our Cup of Joy elves to work  and sprinkle their home with a small dose of “we care” using bows, wreaths and lighted Christmas trees to greet them as they arrived home. When God allows you to invest in someone’s life to be His hands and feet and share His Love, you are so so grateful and amazed He would allow you to be a part of His plan for them. It certainly will put things in perspective for you! I promise that! The things you think are so important does not seem as important when you see families face with extreme difficulties! This Thanksgiving I hope you were able to be thankful in whatever circumstances you may be in. It’s been my experience that no matter how bad it is, it can always get worse!Our God is a great God and He is good! He has said that not all things are good but that He will use whatever to bring it to good. Certainly, one would only have to turn the news on to see how this world is not heaven and this is not our final destination. All through scripture there’s stories after stories of how God has taken the worse possible thing and has brought some good from it! I believe Joseph said it this way  to his brothers about them selling him as a slave “You meant it for bad, God meant it for good”. If we can only have the same mindset that our God will use all things for His good and for His glory it will certainly not make bad things become good but it will keep our eyes on the only thing that is good and that’s Him!! If you would like to take some time for yourself to reflect on His greatness and His goodness, sign up today for our retreat! Everyone needs a pause in their busy lives to stop and reflect on the only One that can lead you out of a storm to enjoying the peace within your souls! In the midst of a storm, the disciples were afraid and Jesus said to the wind and the waves, Quiet, be still! The disciples said among themselves, who is this? Even the waves obey Him!!  Is God telling you to be quiet and to be still? If so, join us in January! It will be a time for you to answer the question “Who is this that the wind and the waves obey His voice!!! We are going to worship Him!  Can’t wait to see you then!Dot    

This morning at 7:00 a.m., we had our prayer time at Cup of Joy’s Office.  There’s certainly a lot to pray about these days. Every where I turn I see or hear from so many who  are going through such trials. Whether it’s financial or physical or emotional. I just received an email from Focus on the Family saying they are cutting 159 jobs. You turn on the news to hear one more business going out of business. I know with Bowen Construction we are feeling the recession as well. Every one is affected. These are trying times!I heard from the Doctor yesterday that they think the spot on my lung is scar tissue and not cancer. That is great news! He was not certain until he sees all the old scans but for now, I will go with that! Yes, I started the morning early praying and I intend to finish the day praying as well. I feel like God is testing our faith. It’s easy to trust when things are going great. I have said so many times that God cannot do anything apart from who He is! He is loving and He is kind! I know that God will answer our prayers and I know it will be for our best and for His Glory! I was talking with Cara this afternoon about some of the things our family is praying for and we started listing  all the great things God has done for us in the past and how faithful He has been to us and that we do not deserve what we do have.   To have the doctor call and say it’s not cancer is such a great gift. We began to think of all of God’s past faithfulness and before we got off the phone we were reminded that our Father is a great loving Father. The cross and salvation is the greatest gift of all and in this life if things don’t turn out the way we think it should, we know we have a great God who wants us to love Him above anything else we desire. God is good and He is loving. His mercy is overwhelming! I’m reminded when Peter told Jesus that people are walking away because they did not like what he was saying and He replied “are you going to leave also”?  Peter said “where can we go? Only you have the words of life! In other words, nothing in this world satisfies like He does! Every thing else leaves us empty and wanting more.  We should run to Him not from Him!  I know a lot of people are praying and seeking answers. I can’t help but wonder is the answer is in our seeking? Is the longing of our heart lie in the opportunity and privilege of prayer? Like Cara said “We don’t have to worry, God has been so faithful to us and we don’t deserve half of what we have anyway”!  So for today, I’m going to thank Him for what He has given me and not what I think I’m lacking! I challenge you to count your many blessings with me and focus on what God has given you,  not what you are lacking at the moment. In other words, is He not enough? If we have God, do we really need anything else? He is eternal! everything else will pass away! If we hold on to anything else, it will be gone as fast as the stock market!!!!

I have heard it said “what you have your eyes on will determine your direction”. Reading this morning in Hebrews 12 the writer encourages us to fix our eyes on Jesus. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. Meaning He is who gives us faith. Hebrews says to fix our eyes on Him! We are to look to Him for all our needs, questions, desires, fears and doubts. In this world,  we need a reminder that He is on His throne and nothing goes past His knowledge. He knows everything that’s going on and He has always been in control and will always be in control. I know there’s a lot of evil going on in this world and I’m not saying God does evil. Of course not. He is not tempted by evil and there’s no evil in Him but as I read scripture, He sure uses evil to bring about good. In Romans 8:28, it says all things work together for the good. He does not say all things are good He just uses all things for His good.  The story of Joseph is a great illustration of God working things our for His Glory! In the same chapter of Hebrews it tells us that we are to look to Jesus and it gives us exactly where we can find Him. He’s on His throne. In the book of Revelation, it reminds us around 150 times that Jesus is sitting on His throne. A throne is a seat of power and control. What I need to know and possibly you might need to know is that I’m not to look around me and determine that things are out of control but I’m to look up and see Jesus in control and He’s sitting on His throne. He’s in control and He is in a seat of power. Not the government, not the media, not the stock market and not Hollywood.  But, Jesus!Yes, I did check this morning and I would encourage you to do the same as you pray. Kneel. Knowing that you have a King and His name is Jesus and He is sitting and watching and waiting for His Father to say “Son, go get my children”! Keep looking up, you may hear the trumpet as He calls us Home!I’m ready, how about you?