Much More than Amazing

God's grace is much more than amazing to me.

A couple of months ago I was told I had multiple ovarian cysts. The largest being 3+ cm. Anything over 2 cm is considered to be high risk for cancer or at the very least for surgery to remove the cyst. I prayed constantly for God to remove the cyst and to let them resolve as well as asking others to do the same.

The morning of the test, I prayed one final time for healing from God. As I lay on my bed after finishing my prayer just before drifting back off to sleep, I felt a calming sensation through the middle part of my body. I knew it was God answering my prayer. I woke up a couple of hours later and left for my test.

After a few days I reseived my results back and talked to the nurse at the doctor's office on the same day. The test results showed that all of the cysts including the larger one were completely gone.

My limited wisdom doesn't allow me to fully understand the possibilities of God's grace. I know I am undeserving of the grace he shows yet he continues to hear prayers and answers them. I praise God and am thankful to God for all that he does.

Helping Others

Each day when I am out driving to do errands I see more and more people holding signs that read, "Homeless. Please help." There are more faces associated with those signs than ever before. The look on their faces are different than before. There is a visible look of hopelessness on some of their faces than ever before. There is a look of longing and searching on their faces than ever before. This has given me a different feel for Christmas this year.

Could the look of longing and searching on faces today be the same look of longing and searching that were on faces that first Christmas? What do we do this Christmas season in response to this look? How do we show Christ through us to all the worried, to the hopeless, to the homeless? How can I as one person do much at all?

There is so much pain, so much suffering. I do not have the wisdom to have the answers. I do not have the resources as one person to provide all these needs. This realization can be overwhelming and discouraging.

But I do have is the power of prayer to ask God to show me what to do, where to begin and show me step by step what he would have me do. I have the power of God to give me courage to make some small difference to some. I have the power in his Word to share with others.

God sent his only begotten Son to us to give us salvation. He showed himself to others through Christ. It is time for us to let God be shown through us to others as well. Buy someone a meal, give someone a tract and share the gospel while they eat that meal. Show compassion. Give a sincere smile and pray with those who need help. Let them know someone cares enough to pray everyday to the only one who can provide their needs.

Please join me in these ways in your own life to do what God would have you to do for these people. If we all use the power of prayer, the power of God, and the power of his Word to help others this Christmas season, we will all make some small differences, but they will add up to be a significant difference.

Christmas

It's the Christmas season and more and more we find ourselves missing the simplicity of the way Christmas used to be - spending time with family and friends while putting the emphasis on Christ birth. I miss the simple Christmas with not many presents, singing carols around the piano in front of the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate, and rejoicing in what God had done for us.

This year we have decided to keep Christmas simple once again. We decided to spend more time with family and friends, singing carols, baking homemade candies and deserts and sharing them with the ones we cherish so much. God has done so much for us.

We all seem to have lost the meaning of Christmas by turning it into a day to focus on ourselves and what we want to get, what we get, and what we didn't get. Christmas is about Christ and Christ alone. Join us this Christmas in turning the focus of Christmas back to Christ instead of ourselves. We will all buy gifts and give gifts, but the greatest gift of all has been given - Christ. Nothing we can give or get can compare, no matter how hard we try.