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Aiemmat blogit

I can experience a blessing in the fellowship of believers

8.3.2017 6.02

Juttua muokattu:

8.3. 22:29
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Eve­ry fall we have a Mot­her’s Camp here in Ari­zo­na. It is a re­fu­ge from the world for one wee­kend, a chan­ce to be up­lif­ted in faith and to share our bur­dens. The dis­cus­si­ons al­wa­ys flow free­ly and eve­ry ye­ar I mar­vel that I’m not alo­ne. The same thoughts and doubts the de­vil brings are al­so sha­red by so many ot­hers and it’s ok to share these bur­dens. In Heb­rews it says “Whe­re­fo­re see­ing we al­so are com­pas­sed about with so great a cloud of wit­nes­ses, let us lay asi­de eve­ry weight, and the sin which doth so ea­si­ly be­set us, and let us run with pa­tien­ce the race that is set be­fo­re us.”

But luc­ki­ly, we need not wait for op­por­tu­ni­ties like Mot­her’s Camp. We’ve been bles­sed with many ot­her ways to gat­her throug­hout the ye­ar. I have re­al­ly en­jo­yed my mor­ning vi­sits with va­ri­ous friends. A be­ne­fit of being a stay at home mom has been the many chan­ces I get to sit with a friend and sip cof­fee while the kids play at our feet. These vi­sits can break up the mo­no­to­ny that ca­ring for the home and fa­mi­ly can be. Alt­hough the kids bring much joy and laugh­ter, the dai­ly tasks can be­co­me re­pe­ti­ti­ve and this yo­ung mom be­co­mes rest­less.

Vo­lun­tee­ring at camps, in the kitc­hen at church or with fund­rai­sers al­lows vi­si­ting with new pe­op­le at ti­mes. Es­pe­ci­al­ly at camps where we are away from home and wor­king many hours to­get­her, I have made new friends who I wouldn’t ty­pi­cal­ly vi­sit with on a re­gu­lar ba­sis. These vi­sits have re­min­ded me that we are of one flock. We have our first craft mar­ket co­ming up in a coup­le months and it has been fun to at­tend the craft nights where we can vi­sit and laugh while doing so­met­hing we love. When sha­red with friends the work is ea­sy and the night goes quick­ly. With our de­si­re to build a church we have been fund­rai­sing as much as we can. One fund­rai­ser that hap­pens of­ten is wed­ding ca­te­ring at the ne­ar­by cong­re­ga­ti­on of Pho­e­nix. This duty brings both men and wo­men of our cong­re­ga­ti­on in­to the kitc­hen to feed the mas­ses. I have re­al­ly en­jo­yed these events and have gone home ti­red but hap­py.

We may find our­sel­ves vi­si­ting most of the time with fa­mi­ly where it is com­for­tab­le and fa­mi­li­ar. But we may al­so ex­pe­rien­ce a bles­sing when we ap­p­ro­ach some less fa­mi­li­ar pe­op­le in ser­vi­ces. Even the kids have made new friends in this way. It is so good for us to vi­sit with dif­fe­rent God’s child­ren of all ages both and to keep our mind and he­art open to those around us.

Dif­fe­rent tri­als have al­so brought dif­fe­rent friends in­to our life. With the loss of a baby, we con­nec­ted with ot­hers who lost lo­ved ones. This has been one huge bles­sing that came with our trial. We were yo­ung and had not had too many chan­ces to ser­ve our brot­hers and sis­ters, yet so many re­ac­hed out and ser­ved us through the days of mour­ning. We quick­ly le­ar­ned of the lo­ving arms of the cong­re­ga­ti­on mot­her.

Our yo­uth (haps) group in our small cong­re­ga­ti­on has been very small but slow­ly gro­wing over the past few ye­ars. We have re­al­ly en­jo­yed hos­ting them in our home. Our yo­ung child­ren re­al­ly be­ne­fit from it as they look up to these tee­na­gers so much and fol­low their examp­les.

A dear mot­her at the past Mot­her’s Camp sha­red her thoughts and ex­pe­rien­ces of how im­por­tant it is to bring yo­ur child­ren to the gat­he­rings of God’s child­ren. I found it a nice re­min­der for us yo­un­ger moms who can feel so busy and the task of get­ting the lit­t­le kids out the door in time for church is ne­ver too ea­sy. Even though the tod­d­lers can make church feel like a cir­cus, I have ne­ver reg­ret­ted brin­ging them to ser­vi­ces. It is good to re­mem­ber that these days will pass and by going to ser­vi­ces our kids will de­ve­lop las­ting re­la­ti­ons­hips with those be­lie­ving friends they see week af­ter week. When yo­ur ul­ti­ma­te goal is he­a­ven, it is ref­res­hing and com­for­ting to vi­sit with ot­hers who share this same goal.

JennaLahti
I was baby number five in a family of twelve. We had a happy, believing home in Washington state. After graduation I moved to Arizona to marry my best friend and we have made Phoenix our home for over ten years now. I stay at home to raise our five children. We try to travel to see family in Minnesota and Washington as often as we can. When we can't, we enjoy filling our small home with friends both young and old.