Click the picture for a song.
This past week I was reminded of one of the most precious gifts God gave us on Christmas. There are many things I could list because all of His gifts are a treasure but this one struck me for many reasons.
I had the privilege of coordinating the prayer room during WLMB's Christmas Sharathon. How that came about can be summed up in two words: my brother. Because he knows me he thought it might be a good fit. He was so right! We only have a gas guzzling 15 passenger van right now so I stayed in Toledo with him and his wife Jessie rather than drive back and forth. I loved getting to hold baby Nathan while his Mommy got the older kids ready for school. Later Lillian was a ballerina dancing with her Daddy to music we used to love as kids. Memories of reinacting the Kid's Praise albums (yes, albums) or Nathaniel the Grublet and Music Machine raced through my mind. Our parents were so good to instill such wholesome things into our minds at such a young age. In the meantime, my own family was home working together to make sure everyone got where they needed to be and that they ate. I know it wasn't easy because there are a lot of schedules and Marty just started on third shift the same week. Still when I cam home there was a wonderful welcome and a clean house. Yes, what a treasure family is!
But that isn't exactly the precious gift I am speaking of, though it is close. As I met volunteers in the prayer room I was blessed. We opened every new shift in prayer which brought back wonderful memories of being the prayer team leader in Bettsville for many years until we moved away. As phones would ring volunteers would talk, listen and pray for the concerns of each caller. It was incredible how God orchestrated each call to match with the experience of the volunteer. There were no memorized prayers but every single one came from the heart often leaving the volunteer in tears as they made a note to continue praying when they went home. There are so many people who called in with an ache in their heart because Christmas would be lonely and WLMB was the only source of encouragement they had. Mothers and grandmas were praying for the salvation of their families and healings and safety for the troops especially their loved ones. Fathers who wanted the same things and also so many who are praying for jobs. Over and over again I could hear volunteers encouraging the caller to reach out to their church family.
The church family is the precious gift I am thinking of today. In between calls the room was not silent as we got to know each other. I was recognized by Sherry as the girl with hair past her waist in Genoa! I still can't figure out how she put that together since that was like 30 years ago and I was blonde then. A few more ladies realized we go to the same church and had connections there. One man was the uncle of my dear friend Judy whom I had the joy of running track and cross country with. The people on those teams and the coaches all had such a huge impact in shaping my life to encourage and persevere. I thought of all the teachers as well who poured their lives into me.
On Thursday night a group of about 9 guys from a Bible study came in to volunteer. You could hear them laughing and bantering all the way down the hall. When they entered the room, it lit up. The youngest one, I believe they said, was about 63 years old and on up into their 80's. One of the men came up to me with his hand on my shoulder and a twinkle in his eye, he said, "Do you think you can handle all these guys?" I said that I had 5 boys at home, I'd be fine. He grinned and said that he had 5 sons, too, and 2 daughters. I laughed because I did, too. Another man came in and told me about his painting. His business card included a picture that was beautiful. I thought immediately of our dear friend Frank who has taught Jared the art of creating gorgeous art with markers. (I intend to share that whole story one day soon as it deserves a whole blog.) The men shared how they met their wives and some of the stories were hilarious. What struck me was the tenderness in their eyes as each one told me how precious their wife was to them. These men could have you in stitches and my face ached from smiling but when a phone would ring they were all business as they poured out their requests to God their Father. They sat around discussing what service they could do next. Saturday they were going to be ringing bells for Salvation Army and what about those kids wandering around on the streets of Toledo. Maybe we could get out a grill and give them a hot dog while we share with them the love of Jesus?
One person and I discovered that we both knew Larry and Gloria. A rush of happy thoughts filled my mind and I just wished I could give them both a giant hug. It was Gloria who took this little dancer and many others under her wing and taught them what it is to worship God with our dance. She and her husband were there for sooo many important things in my life. I wonder do they know what a treasure they are to me? Another man knew Bob Kutz and I nearly cried. He officiated our wedding. The advice he gave us in premarriage counseling is priceless and still rolls through my mind often. We lost a precious man when he went to be with Jesus.
Someone asked how I learned so much about Excel and I thought of all the people at Riddell. So many different people who gave me what they knew and let me run with it. Friends who I saw everyday. Friends who made me better. I thought of the recent loss of one who often came to me for prayer and dished out encouragement by the barrel but recently and unexpectedly went to be with Jesus. I thought of each person there and wondered do they know what a treasure they are to me? I thought of Janie and how she helped me find the job. She has been through so much with me. Does she know what an anchor she has been? My Dad always prayed for wisdom for his kids. I had no idea it would come in the form of such wise friends.
With only 45 seconds left in the Sharathon we met our goal. The whole prayer room erupted in cheers and laughter even while three more volunteers were taking pledges! We had all worked and prayed together and it was such a joy to see the end result! Everyone left hoping to get the opportunity to work together again at the next one. When Aaron asked me if I enjoyed it, I beamed, "Of course, I did. It was like having a little peace of Heaven right here on earth."
When God sent His Son to earth, He created a whole new family. It's a family that will never end. There may be a, "see you later on the other side", but never a "good bye". He put a super natural connection between us that causes us to be willing to give of ourselves even when it's not for our benefit. The family of God is so precious to Him that it is the only thing we can take with us when we go to Heaven and in fact, when we get there we get the joy of meeting more of our family! I love thinking that someday we will have eternity to be together. We can tell of our adventures in His Story each with exquisite detail and even after everyone has shared we will have no less time to enjoy Heaven and our Father than we did before we started.
This Christmas I hope you will make time to treasure not only your biological family here on earth but also the church family that God has put in your life to make you the incredible person you are. I hope you will make time to reach out to those who are alone and remind them that they have a family, too.
I want to end by saying that this was by no means a complete list of all the people who are dear to me. It is simply the people who came up during the Sharathon and they represent so many different areas of my life that it seemed good to mention them as examples. One that I did not mention though was Wayne. He was my bus driver and we would spend the whole hour bus ride talking about all sorts of things everyday. He went to my church and was a dear friend of the family. His boys ran track and cross country at the same time as me so he was at every meet and I would listen for him to cheer as I ran by. At the end he was a great big fatherly bear hug. One year he even promised me a t-shirt if I met my goal. I fell just short but he gave it to me anyway. His wife said he bought it before the race. Several years later he moved away and not on a happy note. I always hoped maybe I'd see him again but he went to be with Jesus before that day came. The following day was a year since we lost Aunt Pete in the accident.
Don't wait to say, I love you! Don't wait to say, I forgive you! Don't wait because the family of God is a little peace of Heaven on earth that we need to treasure.
I had the privilege of coordinating the prayer room during WLMB's Christmas Sharathon. How that came about can be summed up in two words: my brother. Because he knows me he thought it might be a good fit. He was so right! We only have a gas guzzling 15 passenger van right now so I stayed in Toledo with him and his wife Jessie rather than drive back and forth. I loved getting to hold baby Nathan while his Mommy got the older kids ready for school. Later Lillian was a ballerina dancing with her Daddy to music we used to love as kids. Memories of reinacting the Kid's Praise albums (yes, albums) or Nathaniel the Grublet and Music Machine raced through my mind. Our parents were so good to instill such wholesome things into our minds at such a young age. In the meantime, my own family was home working together to make sure everyone got where they needed to be and that they ate. I know it wasn't easy because there are a lot of schedules and Marty just started on third shift the same week. Still when I cam home there was a wonderful welcome and a clean house. Yes, what a treasure family is!
But that isn't exactly the precious gift I am speaking of, though it is close. As I met volunteers in the prayer room I was blessed. We opened every new shift in prayer which brought back wonderful memories of being the prayer team leader in Bettsville for many years until we moved away. As phones would ring volunteers would talk, listen and pray for the concerns of each caller. It was incredible how God orchestrated each call to match with the experience of the volunteer. There were no memorized prayers but every single one came from the heart often leaving the volunteer in tears as they made a note to continue praying when they went home. There are so many people who called in with an ache in their heart because Christmas would be lonely and WLMB was the only source of encouragement they had. Mothers and grandmas were praying for the salvation of their families and healings and safety for the troops especially their loved ones. Fathers who wanted the same things and also so many who are praying for jobs. Over and over again I could hear volunteers encouraging the caller to reach out to their church family.
The church family is the precious gift I am thinking of today. In between calls the room was not silent as we got to know each other. I was recognized by Sherry as the girl with hair past her waist in Genoa! I still can't figure out how she put that together since that was like 30 years ago and I was blonde then. A few more ladies realized we go to the same church and had connections there. One man was the uncle of my dear friend Judy whom I had the joy of running track and cross country with. The people on those teams and the coaches all had such a huge impact in shaping my life to encourage and persevere. I thought of all the teachers as well who poured their lives into me.
On Thursday night a group of about 9 guys from a Bible study came in to volunteer. You could hear them laughing and bantering all the way down the hall. When they entered the room, it lit up. The youngest one, I believe they said, was about 63 years old and on up into their 80's. One of the men came up to me with his hand on my shoulder and a twinkle in his eye, he said, "Do you think you can handle all these guys?" I said that I had 5 boys at home, I'd be fine. He grinned and said that he had 5 sons, too, and 2 daughters. I laughed because I did, too. Another man came in and told me about his painting. His business card included a picture that was beautiful. I thought immediately of our dear friend Frank who has taught Jared the art of creating gorgeous art with markers. (I intend to share that whole story one day soon as it deserves a whole blog.) The men shared how they met their wives and some of the stories were hilarious. What struck me was the tenderness in their eyes as each one told me how precious their wife was to them. These men could have you in stitches and my face ached from smiling but when a phone would ring they were all business as they poured out their requests to God their Father. They sat around discussing what service they could do next. Saturday they were going to be ringing bells for Salvation Army and what about those kids wandering around on the streets of Toledo. Maybe we could get out a grill and give them a hot dog while we share with them the love of Jesus?
One person and I discovered that we both knew Larry and Gloria. A rush of happy thoughts filled my mind and I just wished I could give them both a giant hug. It was Gloria who took this little dancer and many others under her wing and taught them what it is to worship God with our dance. She and her husband were there for sooo many important things in my life. I wonder do they know what a treasure they are to me? Another man knew Bob Kutz and I nearly cried. He officiated our wedding. The advice he gave us in premarriage counseling is priceless and still rolls through my mind often. We lost a precious man when he went to be with Jesus.
Someone asked how I learned so much about Excel and I thought of all the people at Riddell. So many different people who gave me what they knew and let me run with it. Friends who I saw everyday. Friends who made me better. I thought of the recent loss of one who often came to me for prayer and dished out encouragement by the barrel but recently and unexpectedly went to be with Jesus. I thought of each person there and wondered do they know what a treasure they are to me? I thought of Janie and how she helped me find the job. She has been through so much with me. Does she know what an anchor she has been? My Dad always prayed for wisdom for his kids. I had no idea it would come in the form of such wise friends.
With only 45 seconds left in the Sharathon we met our goal. The whole prayer room erupted in cheers and laughter even while three more volunteers were taking pledges! We had all worked and prayed together and it was such a joy to see the end result! Everyone left hoping to get the opportunity to work together again at the next one. When Aaron asked me if I enjoyed it, I beamed, "Of course, I did. It was like having a little peace of Heaven right here on earth."
When God sent His Son to earth, He created a whole new family. It's a family that will never end. There may be a, "see you later on the other side", but never a "good bye". He put a super natural connection between us that causes us to be willing to give of ourselves even when it's not for our benefit. The family of God is so precious to Him that it is the only thing we can take with us when we go to Heaven and in fact, when we get there we get the joy of meeting more of our family! I love thinking that someday we will have eternity to be together. We can tell of our adventures in His Story each with exquisite detail and even after everyone has shared we will have no less time to enjoy Heaven and our Father than we did before we started.
This Christmas I hope you will make time to treasure not only your biological family here on earth but also the church family that God has put in your life to make you the incredible person you are. I hope you will make time to reach out to those who are alone and remind them that they have a family, too.
I want to end by saying that this was by no means a complete list of all the people who are dear to me. It is simply the people who came up during the Sharathon and they represent so many different areas of my life that it seemed good to mention them as examples. One that I did not mention though was Wayne. He was my bus driver and we would spend the whole hour bus ride talking about all sorts of things everyday. He went to my church and was a dear friend of the family. His boys ran track and cross country at the same time as me so he was at every meet and I would listen for him to cheer as I ran by. At the end he was a great big fatherly bear hug. One year he even promised me a t-shirt if I met my goal. I fell just short but he gave it to me anyway. His wife said he bought it before the race. Several years later he moved away and not on a happy note. I always hoped maybe I'd see him again but he went to be with Jesus before that day came. The following day was a year since we lost Aunt Pete in the accident.
Don't wait to say, I love you! Don't wait to say, I forgive you! Don't wait because the family of God is a little peace of Heaven on earth that we need to treasure.
Just a couple old pictures I could find to spur you to your own memories.
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