CA team is back!

What a beautiful day today was! Sunshine, blue skies and the opportunity to go to church and worship God!

Pastor Ken preached this morning and as usual, he brought some "different" things into the message. When he held up the JC Penney catalog and made us realize that we trust in that book more than we do the Bible it was definitely food for thought and reason to ask for forgiveness! He talked about how Noah had followed God's direction with blind faith. When God told Noah to build the ark Noah didn't question, even though he had no idea what rain was (it had never rained).

He also talked about how following the will of God doesn't mean we have to live up to someone elses standards! Something we all need to have printed on the palms of our hands to refer to daily.

From church we had the opportunity to take some time and visit one of the bayous here locally. Sitting on the pier with the winds blowing, the sun shining, the birds singing, the fish jumping up out of the water, the colorful ships in the background; all really bring God in up close and personal! Getting back to nature has always been a great way for me to feel closer to God. It's a way to see and feel so many of His miracles and blessings.

Our California team finally made it in late this evening. They flew into Biloxi but their luggage was not on the same plane as them. They had to wait for the next flight which was quite a bit later. Fortunately their luggage was on that flight. They got their rental cars, loaded them up and arrived here around 10pm. Two of the men came with another group back in December. They were here the same week Monty and I were when we came with our church. It was a great week then and it's awesome to see 2 of them again. We plan to divide the group in 2 teams, one of which will go back to Gladys's and get even closer to completion. The other will be concentrating their efforts inside the church here. Each group will probably spend the entire week in those 2 places. There is just so much to accomplish inside the church and hopefully this team can really make some progress in some key areas. We are so thankful to have them take time from their busy schedules and comfortable lives to come here, donate their time and energy and be in service to others! Yet another example of showing God's love to others in a practical way!

Please allow me to quote a verse that was emailed to me today. It says it all!
Luke 6:38 "Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back."

There are so many ways to give! Giving of ourselves, allowing God to come in and use us, faults and all, this is what it's all about! Monty and I would like to thank God for calling us for His use. We are honored that He would chose us, faults and all. Our prayer each day is that He will open our eyes, hearts and minds to see and hear His will for our lives. We ask Him to use us, all of us, to accomplish His will! We would appreciate you joining with us in this prayer!

If you would like to join with us in our mission you can send your tax deductible gift to us at the following address: Vineyard Community Church at PO Box 3277 in Bloomington,Indiana 47402. Please note "Katrina" on your gift as 100% of your gift is used in this mission. We thank you for joining with us in God's service.

Until tomorrow....count your blessings....praise God....trust your Bible more than the JC Penney catalog!!!!!

Susan and Monty