April Newsletter 2019

Sabine: 

Lamentations 3:22-23 “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning."

It would be a strange thing if I went write all my entries as if my entire life was flawless and I am this “perfect” Christian. Sometimes people can make their life seem great on the outside, while on the outside they are being crushed by the weight of everyday situations. Work, school, relationships, and even family.

I am going to be honest with you. I have had problems in all of those categories. I’ve gotten mad during my “job”. I’ve been discouraged with school (especially in math and English class). I can testify to having stressful times in relationships with friends, and there are always things for me to work out with my loved ones.

It’s what we do with those hard times that really matters. Many times, I have given up and called it quits, but as I have grown stronger in my faith I have begun to realize that my actions speak on behalf of Christ. So, when I feel defeated in school and give up or when I yell out in anger during my “job” it is not showing what Christ would do or want me to act like. I must remind myself that though I deal with problems, I really don’t need to deal with them alone. As Lamentations states, “...his mercies begin afresh each morning” I know that when I make a mistake or am hurt God will watch over me and help me to fix the brokenness.

Mary: 

I am a writer. I write for fun, I write for this, and a write notes in school and church. I have special notebooks designated to each of those groups. I rarely ever finish a notebook, though, because I get a new one and want to move to that. Recently, I finished my first notebook ever- my journal notebook and had one as a backup that became my journal notebook. That was fine, but I soon realized that my church notebook was getting low. I did not have a backup notebook, but I was not worried. God was taking care of me without me even knowing. While I was living my life that week, NOT worrying, God had a plan in mind. That Thursday, at AWANA, the AWANA commander was handing out awards. I am in Journey, so because we are teens, we do not get prizes or candy, and we are recognized less. Every once and a while, though, she calls up the Journey teen who finished a certain unit. We each were given a notebook for us to use. I got another journal to replace my old one. I just started using it this week, and I am excited that the Lord was able to use my commander in that way.

Cai: 

Life is like a glow stick. You get the glow stick, and it does nothing at first. It’s just there. It’s just a stick. But once you break it, it changes. It glows. I didn’t experience this story, but I read it online:

“I was in the long line at the Dollar Store, and there was a woman with two kids behind me. There were an older boy and a toddler. The older boy was holding a pack of glow sticks, and the toddler was crying and screaming on the floor. So, the mother opened the pack of glow sticks and handed him one. He stopped crying and was happy. After a while, the older boy took the glow stick and broke it. The toddler was crying again, and after the older boy had broken it, he gave it back to him, and he was happy again. They checked out and left the store at the same time I did. Once they went outside the stick began to glow. The older boy said, “See, I had to break it so you could get the whole experience.”  I almost ran away because I heard God saying to me, “I had to break you so that you could get the whole experience of life.” Those of us who go through trials and depression, etc. get broken. God breaks us so we can learn. So, we can get the entire experience. So that when other people go through the same thing, you can help them. Give them advice. Tell them what got you through it. Remember, whenever you feel like God isn’t there like He doesn’t care, or you don’t see how these trials and this pain is the right thing for you, He always cares. And he does this so you can get the whole experience. 

Caleb: 

I am the newest member of TEAM. This is a story of God’s power in my life, that happened on the day before I was born. Everything was going normal, until the doctor, running the machines, noticed that something was not right. My heart was beating much too slow because, apparently, the umbilical cord was wrapped around my throat. The doctor didn’t panic; he simply turned to my parents, and said to them, “Well, you have two options: You can continue doing this, let him be born like a normal baby, but he may have some problems, like cerebral palsy, or you can have a c-section.” My parents looked at each other and chose the C-section. Now, sixteen years later, I am a regular, walking, talking thinking human being. God showed his power by merely directing the doctor’s vision to the machine, and to give him the idea of the C-section. I am extremely grateful to the Lord for everything he has done in my life, but especially for saving my life on day one.

    It says in Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” This means that God will be our fortress, provision, and guide, and He has guided me throughout all of life’s challenges so far and has made me a stronger believer because of the challenges. My prayer for you is that you trust in God as your Shepherd, and to lean on Him in time of need.