Christian Living Update--July 8, 2007

Class Friends:

Good evening, everyone! I hope this message finds all of you doing well. I am here at home with Corbin (who is sacked out!), and Dana is at church with many other people on a busy VBS evening. First off, I want to say how pleased we were to welcome two new couples to our class this morning: Brian and Pam Bartram and Matt and Beth Ramsdell. Great to have you guys, Bartrams and Ramsdells! We look forward to seeing all of you again next week. I promise to try and do better with the jokes!

Next, I want to say a big thank you to Vince and Mary Erickson for bringing our snacks this morning. We appreciate it, Ericksons! And they even did this for us when Mary was helping a friend with a broken down car. Way to go, Ericksons! Next week, Steve and Jennifer May are in charge. Thanks, Mays!

PRAYERS AND PRAISES

Let’s go ahead and get to our prayers and praises for this week:

We need to pray that God will be with everyone who is involved with VBS this week, especially the kids. Thank God for all of the volunteers who are dedicating their time! Ask God to touch every child who walks through the doors at church this week.

I ask that all of you please continue to pray for the Saxon family. Pray for strength for all of them and for healing for Paul. Read more here. They need our prayers.

http://www.saxonreport.blogspot.com/

Shelley Buhner brought a praise this morning that Amy Raney’s job situation in San Antonio has worked out quite well. Praise God for this great news! Please continue to pray for the Raneys as they make the transition to San Antonio. Raneys, you know we expect to see you guys one more time before you hit the highway!

Also on the Buhner front, Shelley would like for us to pray for Shawn and Tatum. Both of them are out of town this week. Pray that Tatum will make good decisions while she is staying with her cousins. Pray, also, for Shelley while she is here with little Nash.

We need to pray for Franci Rogers’ family. Franci’s Great Aunt, Delores, passed away last week at the age of 85. Pray that God will be with Franci’s family during this time of mourning. Pray also for everyone as they travel to the funeral (including Franci who leaves on Friday).

Vince E. brought a praise/prayer request this morning that his mom will be turning 80 soon! On top of that, Vince’s parents will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks. Praise God for their wonderful marriage! Vince has asked that we continue to pray for his parents as well as for everyone who will be traveling to the big celebration.

Jennifer May would like for us to pray for her friend Rachel. Rachel’s grandmother passed away last week. The funeral will be this week. Please pray for Rachel’s entire family during this difficult time.

Teresa Sullivan brought a praise this morning that little Hunter will turn 5 soon! Please ask God to be with Hunter on his special day. Teresa also brought a praise that she passed her recent ESL test. Way to go, Teresa! She is good to go for the next school year.

Jennifer Fadal has asked that we pray for some friends of theirs who are looking to adopt. Please ask God to be with the situation and help everything work out well for the baby and these parents who desperately want things to work out for them as well.

Also on the Fadal front, their family will be traveling to Port Aransas later this week for a family vacation. Please ask God to be with the Fadals as they travel.

Also on the baby front, we need to continue to pray for the VanZees and the Ericksons as they work through their paper pregnancies (these most certainly count as well, I must say!). Please ask God to be with both of these terrific families as they look forward to welcoming a new member of the family into their homes.

Joann Dominguez has asked that we pray for her search for new helpers in the nursery. Joann has big plans for the nursery. She would like to add some new people who do some special things with our little ones. Please ask God to bless everyone who is working to make what we do in the nursery even better than it is now.

Finally (and please don’t take this as self-promotion), I would like to say a praise that I finally am able to hold in my hands a book that I have been working on for about four years. I received my copies earlier this week. The title is Peerless Educator: The Life and Work of Isaac Leon Kandel. I am quite proud of the book. Writing it was a labor of love, but it was a labor that lasted almost four years. If you have ambitions to support your dear old Sunday School teacher, click here and hook me up! (Okay, okay, I don’t write these things for my mental health only, I must say!):

http://www.amazon.com/Peerless-Educator-Life-Isaac-Kandel/dp/0820474584/ref=sr_1_6/102-7570767-8920968?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181882107&sr=1-6

http://www3.baylor.edu/%7EWesley_Null/PeerlessEducator.htm

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I think that takes care of our prayers and praises for this week, everyone. For next Sunday, we will plan to discuss the first chapter of our next book. The title of the book is God’s Answers to Life’s Difficult Questions by Rick Warren. The first chapter is called “How Can I Cope With Stress?”. I think that all of you will enjoy the book! Click here for more about the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Answers-Difficult-Questions-Living-Purpose/dp/0310273021/ref=sr_1_1/102-7570767-8920968?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183945608&sr=1-1

If you are wondering about how to pay for your copy, don’t worry about it. Buying the books is part of what Dana and I like to do as teachers of the class. If you would like to pay for the book, just add that amount to what you give to the church this month.

Dana and I look forward to seeing all of you again next Sunday. May God continue to bless our church and class!

May God bless all of us throughout the week,

Wes and Dana