Thankful

"Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens.  This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live."  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 MSG

Challenge: How many times can I thank God today?  I don't think Paul is so much saying we should thank God FOR everything but we should thank him IN everything.  I am thankful for his presence at all times, even bad times.

Sidenote...
We had a great trip to Amixtlan & Cuautatola in the Sierra mountains last week, with a team from Fellowship.  The doctors, nurses and dentists saw over 900 patients!!  That's a record!  We also had an average of 50-60 kids every day!  I met so many new faces that I will never forget.  One in particular will always stand out to me.

This precious little girl is Elisa.  She became my sister in Christ last week!  On the last day of the kids' club, we shared the gospel at the end of our Bible story and gave kids the opportunity to come talk to us afterwards about what it meant to accept Jesus as their personal Savior.  As the rest of the kids were returning to their seats to finish their crafts and coloring sheets, I thought no one was going to stay up front and talk with us.  Then, I saw three girls standing together just waiting.  I asked them if they were interested in talking more about Jesus.  Elisa, who was standing in the middle of her two friends, very confidently said "Yo si" (Yes, me).  Now, you have to understand that in Cuautatola, people are very shy and the kids very seldom talk to us at all.  So for her to step up and say, "Yes, I am interested" was a huge step.  Marita walked the three girls through what it meant to accept Jesus and to have Him as your personal Savior.  I don't know what happened in their hearts that day, as those three little girls sat nervously listening and then prayed that prayer, but I could see a change in the eyes of Elisa.  It never grows old, experiencing someone, especially a child, experience the love of the Savior for the first time and choose to ask Him into their heart.  Please join me in praying for Elisa and for Barby, who will continue to try to water the seeds that have been planted in these three young hearts.