Anointing JOY!

When I see this pic of Faith my mind quickly goes to the account of Mary of Bethany when she came in and anointed Jesus' feet with oil, washed them with her tears & dried them with her hair.

She was not letting go…she was not ashamed. She had nothing and then found everything the moment He touched her life and freed her from all that tormented her. I see my daughters face and see a reflection of joy that Mary must have had that day and following as she never left His presence.

What is our emotion like? Our….countinence? In circumstances that torment, consume, overwhelm do we come to His feet and drop our tears and see a reflection of joy in them that only Christ can bring in the midst of them; or do we turn into ourselves or lash out at the world and those closest to us and throw our tears of pain at them in anger and anguish.

Now, I am not saying that we are not supposed to go to one another and that we are not to "support and encourage" one another as we are called to do that.

1 Thess. 5:11, Hebrews 10:23ff

What I am asking is do we forget that there is a Savior we SHOULD go to first, fall at His feet and find solace in the midst of painful storms in our lives?

Where are you at today...what are you "anointing"?

John 12:3

Isaiah 66:13

NOVEMBER'S LADIES BECOMING CONFERENCE @ GCC

The FALL Conference is going to out of this world. I have invited two incredible ladies to speak and you will find from the moment you meet them that their hearts passion for Jesus oozes from their very being. They are RADICAL Women for Jesus.

I met them both when Matt and I were planting a multi church in Wooster. I remember the first time I heard Penny sing and then years later speak. I have been blessed by her heart to be open to God and where he is leading her daily to be HIS and what that might look like.Kim and I first sat together in her office at the old church book store. She thought we would only talk for 10 minutes, yet 2 hours later….This woman has a fervent, passionate, all or nothing relationship with Christ.

I have asked them to come and join me as we look at and challenge you with the thought of being QUIETLY SCREAMING RADICALS. Honestly, I am excited to see what God does and how He speaks through these vessels that are open to His calling to be TOTALLY His.

I do hope you join us. There will be impactful worship as I have asked Penny to share her hearts voice with you along with laughter, tears and of course….food. Please bring your friends and join us November 18th for this Fall’s BECOMING CONFERENCE.

CONFERENCE SPEAKERS:
PENNY SWINDALL

My life is a mixture of mundane & wonder. Each day I choose whether or not to see my glass as 1/2 full or 1/2 empty. No matter what, I know that the Creator of all continues to shower His blessings on my life, either by storm or by refreshing shower. ~ Penny
KIM MORGAN

Child of God. Wife, mom, grandma (aka nana). Passionate about prayer & the Word of God. Love taking care of my family, a good deal, a bold cup of coffee, a good book and any kind of chocolate. ~ Kim

http://graftedbygrace.blogspot.com/

Here at GCC’s BECOMING, no matter where we are in our walk or our life....this is what we are striving to be daily. That our very essence of being...Him pouring out of us is BECOMING and drawing others to want to know more about HIM.

BECOMING is a time where we as women can come and find encouragement, refreshment, laughter and grow together while listening to great speakers, DVD's and impactful worship. Come join us, bring a friend...you will not leave the same!

Please RSVP: email: tina@genevachurchofchrist.org
http://www.churchofsecondchances.com/

No one knows Joshua's fight...

For the past 2+ years....It is daily....it is every moment, every breath, every thought, every movement...

by Angel Thompson on Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 11:18pm

The past 3 days have been hard for Joshua. His PANDAS has caused swelling and intense pain in his "thinking part" of his brain, he calls it. He knows it causes him to have thoughts that are not true and it takes him awhile to sift through it, not to mention the pain that accompanies it. Today he paced in the kitchen screaming to God to take the pain.

A moment outside the lodge at camp. He tries to sift through his thoughts and regroup. Later as we sat in a parking lot while Matt was inside a store he began to pray and ask God to make his PANDAS good so it could FIGHT the bad PANDAS. When he was finished he told me that the good PANDAS was God's knight to protect his brain, his house from the war inside.

As he talked more he began to talk about the wall of Jericho that Joshua defeated as God was with him in the battle. He then said, "the wall of Jericho is like my PANDAS and God's knight is like Joshua."

He is fighting this battle with God…side by side and he is RELYING on HIM.

I am so humbled & challenged as I watch my son's outlook towards this battle with PANDAS, and his dedicated step with Jesus by his side.

So, what's your wall...how will you be a Joshua?

I had the honor...

I had the honor of sitting with an amazing mother today.
She is the mother of 3 beautiful boys. The middle child has Autism.
She is a survivor of ovarian cancer, breast cancer and she is now in the last stages of bone cancer.
I sat with her for an hour as she talked of her children and how she fought and advocated for them throughout her time with them. WE talked about her continued fight for her middle son and her passion for him to know he is loved and that he matters.
She talked of the difficulty of knowing how to help him through the grief, to understand that “mommy is dying”, and will soon not be here. I watched this mother talk proudly of her sons as she battles daily to maintain life.

I listened as she spoke of her ex-husband who left because he just couldn’t take anymore and her light appeared to dim for a while, yet she knew she could not stop for the sake of her children. After all, they were entrusted to her.

I stood with her sister who admires her and has joined her in taking up the fight for her middle son when she leaves this world.

I am honored that God gave me an hour to sit with a remarkable lady. We embraced as I left, one mother to another, raising children on the spectrum. I let her know, even though she is going home, her son has an Autism Family that will look out for him and be support for her sister.

As I walked to my van I sat and thought….how much we take for granted. The air we breathe. The warmth we feel. The food we have. Through aches and pains, yet the health we have been blessed with. Our CHILDREN and their voices, dreams, hugs and kisses. We fight over petty things that have no eternal value and take for granted the fight we should have for our children. A fight to show them that not only do we love them, Christ loves them. Not only do they matter, they matter to HIM. That they don’t have to wait to make an impact or have a purpose, they impact our lives daily and we NEED TO EMBRACE those moments.

As you breathe today
As you feel sun or rain
As you drive
As you shake a hand of a friend, hug a spouse
Hearing your child singing or even arguing……

TAKE NO MOMENT FOR GRANTED.

Embrace it.

Use it to SHOW HIS LOVE. Use it to TEACH THOSE WHO WILL FOLLOW BEHIND YOU.
Until your last breath …DO IT.

"My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you've been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You're deeply rooted in him. You're well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving."
Colossians 2:6,7

Unexpected Perspective

This past weekend Faith wanted to have a girls night and so she and I “camped out” in our back yard…in the van. Matt loved how I had “MacGyvered” everything. I had electricity hooked up for my breathing machine and for a fan as we would have the windows closed to keep out mosquitoes. Faith decided that Charlie would need to be with us as he would miss sleeping with her, so along he came.

We spent time as a family by the camp fire singing and roasting hotdogs, then off to bed. The boys went inside to comfy beds and AC and Faithy and I bedded down for the evening in the van.
Well, Faith had no problems getting all tucked in with Charlie inside her sleeping bag. I mustard around the front seat and had one leg over the steering wheel and one resting on Faith’s seat. However, Charlie did not want my leg there and he pushed it off. I attempted to get comfortable, yet to no avail. So I decided to go to the back and put down the second row seat, except for where my machine lay. I tilted the third row back and then propped my feet and legs on the second row. I found myself adjusting pillows and trying to find a way to rest.
I finally fell asleep….many times. Needless to say it was a restless night, but worth it for my daughter.

As I laid there my mind began to race as I began thinking of how many people in this world live in their vehicles or on the streets because they lack housing. Either due to their own choices or something out of their control.

The next morning as our girl weekend continued, Faith and I had a long discussion over how blessed we are. As we talked she was reminded of the homeless man we saw in Cincinnati who was sleeping behind a dumpster, and another we saw reach in the trash can and pull out leftover food and began to eat it.

How many of us go day to day and complain about the food we receive, or that it is either too cold or too warm in the house? What about complaining because we cannot find our favorite pair of shoes or clothes, or that someone did not do the laundry or take the garbage out? What about complaining that someone drank the last soda and there is only water to drink? This list could go on. Things that truly have no eternal impact. How many of us get caught up and take for granted how blessed we really are?

Faithy and I spent time talking to God and thanking Him for all we have, and it was quite a list.
Sometimes we need raw perspective. Here's a thought, go on a camping trip in your car for a day…you’ll find it.

1 Thessalonians 5:18
Philippians 2:14
Matthew 25:31-46

YTWO GOES BIG...tomorrow!

Hey parents and KIDS!

Tomorrow, July 10th is YTWO GOES BIG. We get to "take over " worship in the sanctuary. Invite your family and friends to come to WORSHIP TOMORROW @ GCC as our CLASS shows how we worship Jesus, YTWO STYLE!

No matter the age or the venue, what remains constant and true is our love for Jesus and teaching HIS good news. Our kids have been learning a great deal about what it means to be the one and how to even share their faith and stand up for what is right, even when it is hard.

See you all tomorrow at 10:30. Prepare for something different....no we will not be spraying anyone with water....this Sunday.

Angel Thompson

Churches start alternative for teens

Hey, check out this article about a NEW COFFEE HOUSE coming to Geneva for Teens.

Churches start alternative for teens