February Newsletter 2019

Mandy:

Matthew 6:27 “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” NIV version of the Bible.  

I am the type of person who is always worrying about every little thing. This verse is my favorite verse; it reminds me that I shouldn’t worry because worrying is not going to make me live any longer. One time I was taking a trip with my family in our van from Arizona to Iowa. We decided not to stop in a hotel for the night and drive straight through the night. About an hour after dinner, it started to rain so hard and forcefully that we all thought that we were going to hydroplane. Mom (the driver) could barely see 2 feet in front of her. It turns out we were in the middle of a tornado storm, though the tornado was not that close. I was so worried we were all going to die. I prayed like I had never prayed before. After what seemed like eternity (though it was more like ½ and hour, we came to a town where we decided to stay for the night until the storm passed. The next day, the storm was gone and the tornado had not come our way. I learned that there was no point in worrying. God was looking after us. Don’t get me wrong, I still worry from time to time, but whenever I do, I always remind myself that God is in control.

Cai: 

John 14:6 “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

That is my favorite verse. I am not exactly sure why, I just like it. Maybe because almost all my life I’ve walked past that verse written on the wall in my church? Maybe I memorized it in AWANA once and it stuck with me? Maybe I just decided I would like that verse more than the others? I don’t know. In this verse, Jesus is telling His disciples that they can still follow him when He leaves to go to heaven. A couple verses earlier are, 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. In verse 3 He talks about the rapture, saying; I will come again and receive you to Myself…Of course, His disciples didn’t understand. They thought you could only follow someone as in following on earth, 5 Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus was trying to tell His disciples that when He would leave and go to heaven they could still follow him, just like we do today. With prayer, scripture reading, obeying His commandments, and spending time with God.

Sabine: 

Psalm 31:14 “But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God.” 

Many years ago, an old truck of ours never seemed to work. It would always break down and our family was unable to use it. My dad tried to fix it, but it seemed that nothing that was replaced was the thing that was broken.

One day, on a way to a conference, and we were unable to go any further. We parked the car near a gas station. We just sat there trying to figure out what to do. There was no way we could trust this truck to get us back to the guest house, let alone to the conference.

Unable to go anywhere, my brother, sister, and I stayed in the car waiting to go. I can tell you we were bored. There was nothing we could do. Then out of nowhere a guy pulling a trailer for trucks turned the corner and stopped. Ironically, he had a job of getting trucks that broke down for some company.

My dad then went out to go ask for help to get us back to the guest house which I think was like 40 minutes away. It seemed to be taking forever as my family and I watched from a distance. I personally didn’t feel like moving, but my sister wanted to go out to dad. I finally agreed, however.

When we reached the other truck, I peeked through the window to see who my dad was talking to. It was an older man I think. It was only then that he agreed to take us.

While this event happens quite a while ago, I can remember it because it was one of those moments that I could really see God’s hand at work. That night the man had been going out to help a broken-down company truck, and he had been about to say “no” to my dad, but when my sister and I came over, he agreed. If either my sister or I hadn’t gone out, we never would have had the help from the man. I hadn’t even wanted to go, but something was there that I can’t explain that I can vaguely remember that said I should go out.

We made it back to the guest house safely and a while later we were blessed with a new truck for down here in Mexico (which we still have), and so far it hasn’t failed us yet. :)

Mary: 

About a month ago, I was getting gifts ready to give to my friends. There was a gift exchange coming up, and I wanted to set my wrapped presents out, so I could just grab and go before the event. I was about to do so when I realized I did not remember where I put them. Some people may have taken that moment to go “Ok, so now I do not have to give them the gifts, and I will just not look.” I, on the other hand, was in full panic mode. It was three days until the event. Then two. Then one. I am an organized person, so it took me less than a day to check my WHOLE room- it was nowhere to be found. I had been praying about it for a long time. I know something like this is small, but it meant a lot to me. I asked God to help me to find the gifts, so I could give them to my friends. After I prayed around 9 p.m. before I went to bed the night before, I decided to check in one last place- my band bag. As I opened it, before I even checked it, I remembered that I had changed who got what gift from my band friends and those who were part of the exchange. I had kept all the gifts in one place (in our pantry, of all places) and after I had given the other gifts away, I forgot about the gifts left over. I rushed out of my room and found them right where I had left them.