Worship Spotlight 5 17 10

Babies, babies everywhere!! What joy these little innocents bring to our hearts, our spirits, putting smiles on the most stoic faces. Who can resist those tiny little fingers and toes, the soft pink skin and those gurgling noises that infants tend to make? They fill us with hope for what their lives will bring. They bring us back to a few carefree moments when all we want to do is see them smile or yawn or sleep and for a moment it brightens our day – lifts our spirits.

Psalm 42: 11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
God wants our hope to be in Him. He wants to be the source of our strength and our joy. Yet, we focus on our trials and troubles, and as the world presses in we allow it to squelch our joy. Then God sends us a friend who makes us smile. He paints the sky with a double rainbow for us to “ooh” and “ah” over. He sends a song on the radio that speaks to our sorrow. God, our heavenly Father, knows our situations intimately – and He sees the hope of what we CAN be – what good can come from our sometimes overwhelming circumstances.

2 Cor 4: 16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

“Praise You in This Storm” -words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms



Psalm 52:8b—9: I trust in God's unfailing love forever and ever. 9 I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.

See you Sunday!!!

Praying Mothers (and Grandmothers) by Tana LeMay

One of my daily devotionals is titled Praying Grandmothers. These godly women were citizens of the country of Latvia. In the early 1940s, Latvia came under the control of the atheistic Soviet regime. Their church was taken over by the invaders and turned into a sports hall. These women began praying for independence from the Soviets and the freedom to worship in their church building. God answered their prayers……50 years later.

During those 50 years, these faithful prayer warriors refused to give up, trusting in God’s will and schedule. Though they were in their 80’s when Latvia gained freedom from Soviet control, they immediately went to work, securing a minister for their congregation of 2, then seeking others to help turn the church building back into a sanctuary. They knew their work wouldn’t end until God called them home.
I see similarities between their role and ours as Christian mothers. Our days begin while the rest of the family is still asleep and generally ends long after everyone has gone to bed. During our waking hours, we serve as judge, teacher, nurse, counselor, confidant, cook, maid, chauffeur…etc. We’ve spent many a night holding a sick child, praying for another who is hurting, crying out to God to touch those children who have gone astray. Like our Christian Latvia sisters, we refuse to give up, standing in the gap, holding firm to the promises in God’s word.
1 Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
Psalm 125:1

To all of our mothers, grandmothers, sisters and friends – stand firm and keep believing. Happy Mother’s Day!

One of God's Greatest Inventions by Joyce Schafer

I have been reading about great inventors who have ideas pop into their heads and go on to become very rich. Let me tell you, if I invented something based on ideas that pop into my brain we would now have a washer that sorted clothes before washing, a clothes dryer that not only dried the clothes but folded them and put them away, a floor that cleaned itself automatically, a system where cobwebs were always removed from the corners of the ceiling, and a genie who could throw together a meal in minutes. Oh, wait, God already invented these wonders in one. She is called Woman and in most cases she is also called wife, mother and maybe even grandmother. God gave women a special talent for seeing spills, dirt, cobwebs, wrinkles and clutter that most men do not even notice. He also gave us the talent for appreciating dandelion bouquets, knowing when a child is sick or sad without them saying a word and being able to love our child unconditionally no matter what they do. God really knew what he was doing when he had that light bulb moment and looked at Adam and thought “He really needs a Helpmate!”

This Mother’s Day please take the times to thank that special lady who does so much for you and all she wants in return is your love and respect. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

When? by Donna (Ensign) Woods

When to scold
When to simply hold.
When to laugh or cry
Or simply breathe a sigh
When to give stern advice
Or agree.....while smiling nice...
When to stand up
And when to shut up
When to share and teach
Or stomp your foot and preach
When to speak up and be heard
Or quietly listen to their every word
.....When to speak....
And when to just pray and seek.
When to lend a helping hand
Or step back and teach them to stand
When to praise and encourage
Or weigh the facts...and discourage.
When to be humble and apologize
Or simply agree to compromise
When laughter and love is enough
Knowing sometimes love is tough
Hoping and praying for what is best
Knowing each day is trial and test
Choosing carefully the words we say
Making memories along the way
When to have faith and be strong
Facing each day with a song
.....A job that compares to no other
A labor of love....being a Mother !