Skip to main content

Weird Christmas?

After my last dismal post that seems to have been up for an eternity I thought that I would bring you up to date as to our latest happenings. This was actually the weirdest Christmas that either of us has ever experienced. The weird part was being alone on Christmas day with no kids and no presents! Weird!

However, in God's goodness we did have some very bright spots during this special time. Christmas Eve we had 18 present at our home for a special, first ever, Christmas Eve service for Faith Baptist Church. We sang Christmas carols and interspersed a reading of the whole Christmas story. I started with a few of the prophecies of Jesus' birth, then went to the story itself in Matthew and Luke. After all was read I asked, "How many of you have never heard this story before?" Six raised their hands! It was amazing to be a part of their first hearing of The wonderful Story!

After that special time we went to our coworker's home for an evening meal with his family. After the meal we played games and welcomed in Christmas day just after mid-night. It was a very Brazilian way of celebrating Christmas and was fun too. We got home at about 1:45 A.M..

Christmas day we received a phone call from: Dad and Mom, Abby, Ann and Jackson and Amy and Art, and Cindy and Steve! It was the most call we have received in one day since our return in August! Each was very encouraging. Christmas day P.M. we received a visit from one of our teen. Maicom came over to wish us a Merry Christmas. He had other news that made us very happy too. God had given him two great spiritual victories. Rather than party like he had in the past he was able to resist the temptations that came at him from every direction and member of his family. We were very proud of him!

So, though kind of weird for a Christmas day, God blessed us several special ways (a little Christmas poem there). Thanks for those who held us up in prayer! God is faithful!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...

Grazi and Cris Are Getting Baptized!

Graziele / Cris Grazilele (hard to pronounce if you are not a Brazilian) and Cris are getting baptized on Saturday night. Baptism is a big step of faith and these young ladies are ready. Grazi accepted the Lord several years ago when Company C was in it's infancy. She was invited to club by a friend, who has since left, and not long afterwards she opened her heart to the Savior. She is a determined twelve going on twenty year old. When Grazi sets her mind on a task she usually gets it done. Dawn has been teaching her Bible lessons and sewing skills recently and she's noted Grazi's abilities. Grazi plays the recorder in o ur orchestra. Cris is Alexandre's youngest sister. She accepted Christ when her older sister Dani shared her own personal decision a few years back. Cris always has a smile on her face and is a ready helper too. She is quiet but gifted. She is learning to play the violin and is also a part of our growing orchestra. Both of these gi...

God Made Clothes

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Gen 3:21 I have always heard the following explanation of this verse.  Because Adam and Eve had sinned, they died spiritually. They also lost the right to be in the Garden of Eden and were cursed in other ways. For example, they had made clothes out of fig leaves, but God sacrificed a lamb; thus, God shed blood and made clothes. This sacrifice of an innocent lamb symbolized what Jesus Christ would do in the distant future.  Is this what you have heard? I don't know; it seems like this interpretation is stretching what Moses wrote in the above text. The text says that  God made clothes for Adam and his wife from skins.  We see no blood, we don't know what kind of skins, nor can I imagine God making an animal sacrifice. Did God have to skin animals to make these clothes? Or could he have just made them like he had everything else in the universe just a little while earlier?  To th...