Tickets are still available for the Women’s conference on Saturday, February 25th at FBC Bellville.  Tickets are $20 – call the church office at 979-865-3644 to purchase.  Great worship music, speakers, breakout sessions, door prizes and more!

‘Tis the Season for Giving!  Check out Dave Ramsey’s “Giving Challenge” website for some inspiring stories.  Sometimes the best gifts can’t be bought.  This website has tons of tools to help get you on track financially.  They also have giveaways daily.  Be inspired this season!

Everyone is invited to M3P, Monday Morning Moms in Prayer, at the First Baptist Youth Building on the corner of Matthews and O’Bryant.  Come on Monday mornings from 8:00am – 8:40am to pray for our children, their teachers, the BISD administrators and our community. Come as you are, come as you can, leave as you need to – open to all!!  Author – Lou Reeves

It’s almost time for school to start, and the kiddos seem to be bouncing off the walls.  The heat isn’t helping, and we are all needing a routine again in my house.  However, time is running short and I need to take advantage of the opportunity to spend time with them.  This blog reminded me to turn off my computer, put down my phone and focus more on them.  Hope it helps you to!  Special thanks to Elaine, the author of the blog, for loving my kids for the past five years.  I am thankful for your service and for helping us all be better parents!

Today is Palm Sunday, which is the beginning of Holy Week.  It is the most important week on the Christian calendar.  I hope this devotional helps you celebrate the season and the everyday moments as well!

Extraordinarily Ordinary

For the past thirteen months, our Connection Group has been part of Griffin’s Army. This is a group of people that are praying for a sweet boy courageously battling cancer. His tumor is so rare that it has been named after him. His grandmother, Grammy, often posts on his Caring Bridge page. One of my favorite posts mentioned a day when he had the chance to participate in “normal” childhood activities. As a child with cancer, his days of playing and being normal are far between and considered “extraordinarily ordinary days.”

Grammy understands through the trials they are facing that we must appreciate the ordinary and be thankful for our time. I’m thankful for my child that plays T-ball and is healthy enough to run the bases, even though I often take the health of my family for granted. I’m thankful for our curious preschooler that only wants to spend time with us, even though too often I can’t seem to put my phone away. I’m thankful for a husband that is committed to our family to work hard and come home every night, even though I often take out the pressures of life on him. I’m thankful for the simple things, the things that are ordinary compared to what the world says. I need to work harder at appreciating these moments.

Christ lived on earth and worked simply as a carpenter. I realize he performed countless extraordinary miracles and paid the ultimate sacrifice, but I imagine he had some moments with his family and disciples that were ordinary, as he lived like us. I’m sure he treasured them as extraordinary.

Maybe we should cherish the ordinary moments as extraordinary opportunities to appreciate the time we have here. Maybe we should be grateful for the simple things in life, the opportunity to live another day and make a difference. In a recent post, Grammy summed up Easter for me this year: ”We believe that Griffin will become a wonderful Christian man, husband and father. That is the most important thing…far more important than what he will do for a living, where he will live, what he will drive, wear, or buy. There is a bottom line truth. What will you do about Jesus? Either you will make Him Lord of your life, or you won’t. That is the core of who you are and who you will become.”

My prayer for you as we celebrate Holy Week is that you’ll treasure the ordinary moments with those you love and believe in the extraordinary Savior that gives them to you.  

Today is Ash Wednesday, and many Christian denominations have services to celebrate the beginning of this holy season.  One of my friends that is a pastor wrote this regarding lent, and I thought it was a great description. 

What is Lent?

Lent is the time period on the church calendar that is intended to prepare Christians to identify with the sufferings of their Lord and Savior in preparation for the Resurrection.  Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes on Holy Saturday.  The six Sundays in Lent are not counted among the forty days of Lent because each Sunday represents a “mini-Easter”, a celebration of Jesus’ victory over sin and death.  Christian tradition (not scripture) has seen this as an opportunity for Christ followers to sacrifice, abstain or fast so that the person will have a daily reminder of the sufferings of Christ.

Bellville United Methodist is starting a new mother’s bible study and fellowship group with free childcare!  It’s open to any mom, even if you are not a member of BUMC.  They will meet twice a month on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday from 10:00-11:30am.  The first meeting is on March 8th.  

Jennie says…

What a privilege and gift from God it is to be a mother! Yet, the challenges of being a Christian mother in today’s world can bring feelings of inadequacy, loneliness and frustration. Mom’s Unite is designed to help equip mothers by:

• Promoting spiritual growth through prayer and Bible study
• Cultivating Biblical parenting skills
• Providing encouragement through supportive friendships
• Building a sense of Christ-centered confidence

If you are interested, please contact Jennie @ jenn56093@yahoo.com.  Be encouraged and meet other moms in our area!

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  This is one of my favorite holidays.  However, I do realize that the holidays aren’t always an easy time.  This is my first Thanksgiving without my grandfather.  I know I’m not alone, and many of you are missing someone at your table this year.   Wherever you are in life, I pray for a joyful Thanksgiving with the ones you love.  I pray for happy memories of those not here with us.  And lastly, I pray that you’ll think on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.  These are the things to be thankful for this year and always.