Good News, Good News!

Good News! Good News!
Christ died for me!
Good News! Good News!
If I believe!
Good News! Good News!
I'm saved eternally!
It's Wonderful...
Extra...
Good News!!!!

This is my Wednesday night class at church. I get the privilege to be with three young saints who have all professed their faith and love in Jesus Christ! And that IS Good News!

Each Wednesday it is a challenge to come up with a craft lesson that two (almost) six year old girls and one eight year old boy will enjoy AND remember! The first week we studied Samuel and how he "heard from God". I really don't like glue, so our crafts have to be glue-free. We made BIG EARS and tied them around our heads with the words written up the side: "Samuel heard from God and so can I!" They liked that one very much. (It was painfully easy and I was so happy.)

The next time we studied Esther and how she asked the Jews to join her in fasting and prayer for courage to go see the king. And how the LORD used the scroll records to remind the king of a kindness that he had not honored and had forgotten. So, our craft was to make a scroll with a half sheet of paper (cut lengthwise) and two straws. We printed out Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path." After reciting this verse several times, the memorization was well embedded in their little hearts and minds!

Rod and I had a conversation this week about an impact that a couple had made on him as a child. They drove a "Good News" bus and came to all the neighborhoods in Holtville, CA where he grew up. The couple donned a hand puppet and sang the kids the good news song. To this day, Rod and some of his other Holtville grown-up buddies still remember every line in the song! They could not tell you the names of the people, but they heard the gospel (Good News!) and they believed. I kept thinking this would have to be something my kids would enjoy learning.

God (have I told you how absolutely WONDERFUL HE IS, lately????) gave me a great idea for a quick hand puppet craft idea. And as He would have it, I had all the necessary supplies. So, this is what those puppets look like that we made last night in class:


We talked about the Gospel (The Good News). What is the Gospel? Gracie said, "It is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus!" Amen. Last night's class was another smashing success. A great time was had by all.

More Good News? Rod got a job! After more than a year of unemployment, Rod finally landed a full time job. It is a good job. The pay is good. The hours are great. The work is hard. And he is old. So, please pray for him! (Insert big cheesy-Jenn smile, here.) I say, Praise Jesus! Of course.

Just when I was wondering how on earth we were going to handle summer with both kids home (well, actually, the teenager DOES NOT want to be home) with me working and Rod working...God handled it and I am now part, part time. Three short days each week over the summer. I am so glad my boss decided to keep me instead of let me go. I feel like the LORD has really given me favor there. I have developed a great rapport with my co-workers (always praying that they see HIM and not me when they look at me, and that they will have a hunger and thirst for Him when I'm gone). It is a ministry banquet!

I was so afraid to work in a secular environment, but God has shed His love abroad in my heart for each of my precious co-workers and I am in deep prayer for them. Some more than others and at different times...the burdens change. It is wonderful! Because God has given me favor there, they are open to it when I quote a verse of Scripture. There have been some very intense conversations about controversial subjects ("God made them that way") to which I have been used by Him to lovingly point out that God made them male and female and that is the Truth. Man may like to try to change the way all of society views certain sin, however, the Bible is a reliable plumb line of Truth that never changes. No one argues too long after you give them a verse in a loving way.

I know it is the Holy Spirit at work. He loves these people and He wants them to have eternal life with Him. I pray every day that He puts His words in my mouth and a guard over my lips. And that He will take everything out of me that He doesn't want there and put everything in me that He does. And that He steps inside my body and lives out my day as He intended when He knit me together in my mother's womb.

I can't tell you exactly what's happening, but I can tell you for certain: SOMETHING IS HAPPENING and that is Good News, too! Be in prayer for my co-workers in the deli. God knows who they are. You can call them "Jenn's friends". I don't know how much longer God will keep this door open for me. I am grateful He opened it. You know, I went in to find a little cashiering job a few mornings a week and they asked me if I'd like to make salads and sandwiches in the deli. I love feeding people. Love preparing food and I thought, "Okay, LORD...if this is where you want me, I'll do it." Now, I know what He was up to. It's so exciting!

We're still here basking in the goodness of the LORD. Rachel, my photographer daughter, FINALLY gave me a digital camera. Have a gander at some shots I took in our yard.

May you see the goodness of the LORD in each and every picture.

"Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man that trusts in Him!" Psalm 34:8