Reflections on our Busy Weekend

Thanksgiving has come and gone sadly. It seems to arrive so quickly and then everyone is on their way home. What a wonderful time of family fellowship we had sharing a host of goodies and playing with the grandchildren. While it was hectic at times, it was cherished. Every smile, hug and helping hand was a rich blessing to us. There is nothing like family!

The house is quiet now and the dishes are all put up; but the memories remain indelibly printed on our hearts. I cannot help but remember what I found printed in the back of my Grandfather's Bible. One Christmas, he wrote about the gathering of our whole family at his home. He wished that the evening would never end and that he could capture that moment forever. I understand now what he meant when he wrote that heartfelt thought. For me, the joy is that while our earthly evenings will eventually come to an end, we will all be together for eternity because we share our faith in Jesus Christ. One day we will all sit around His table in heaven at the marriage supper of the Lamb and we will never be parted. I thank God for that gift of free grace He has given to us through Christ, and for the blessing of our family times together.

Hope your Thanksgiving celebrations were sweet and left indelible memories on your hearts as well!

Barbara and Glenn

What is Thanksgiving all About?

This is the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and I am in a reflective mood. There are so many things to be thankful for: good health, our home, our wonderful family and grandchildren (pictures right). However, the most important thing for which I am thankful is the relationship I have with God through Jesus Christ my Lord.

Our pastor preached on a text that has stuck in my heart. The passage is found in Colossians 2:13-15: "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him." For 38 years, I have been alive in Christ and dead to my former way of living. It was God who called me and not anything that I could have done for myself. Knowing that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ I have been set free from sin and death makes me humbly grateful.

My husband and I prayed to receive the salvation offered in Christ on the same evening three months before we were married. How gracious God was to give us the best gift of all before our wedding day. This is the hope we have passed to our children and which we wish to pass along to our grandchildren.

On Thanksgiving, we will reflect on the blessings which God has so freely given to us. In addition, we will ask Him to continue to guide us into all truth that we may bring glory and honor to His name with our lives.

May your Thanksgiving Day be blessed as you reflect on what God has done for you this past year.

With love from Serenity Acres,

Barbara and Glenn