Joyfully Blessed: November 2020

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Happy Thanksgiving!

We pray that this day brings you joy as you lift your voices in praise and thanksgiving to our Lord and Savior - the Giver of all good things! Happy Thanksgiving!

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come

Come, ye thankful people, come,

Raise the song of harvest home;

All is safely gathered in,

Ere the winter storms begin.

God our Maker doth provide

For our wants to be supplied;

Come to God's own temple, come,

Raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God's own field,

Fruit as praise to God we yield;

Wheat and tares together sown

Are to joy or sorrow grown;

First the blade and then the ear,

Then the full corn shall appear;

Lord of harvest, grant that we

Wholesome grain and pure may be.

For the Lord our God shall come,

And shall take the harvest home;

From the field shall in that day

All offenses purge away,

Giving angels charge at last

In the fire the tares to cast;

But the fruitful ears to store

In the garner evermore.

Even so, Lord, quickly come,

Bring thy final harvest home;

Gather thou thy people in,

Free from sorrow, free from sin,

There, forever purified,

In thy presence to abide;

Come, with all thine angels, come,

Raise the glorious harvest home.

Henry Alford

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness:

come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God:

it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:

be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting;

and his truth endureth to all generations."

(Psalm 100)

Monday, November 23, 2020

Several weeks ago, we had our annual Family Fellowship Evening. Before COVID, it was so easy to take for granted the privilege of being with other like minded believers. Now we are reminded to thank God whenever we are able to fellowship! It is so refreshing to be with other people, in addition to being encouraged in the Lord. We began the evening by singing a hymn together, having a devotion, and then Morgan, Isaac, Erin, and I, sang a song that has been a blessing to us - "In Faith I Follow". It has taken faith and trust to get through this year, so after praying about it, we felt it was the Lord's leading to have this year's theme for the evening be, "Faith".

Something I strive for is a faith-filled life, so this year has been a good challenge to me. It is always encouraging to hear other people's lives of faith. One man’s life of faith that has been a blessing to me, is Matt Herbster. Mr. Herbster went through a very difficult time in his life when his beloved wife, Julie, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2012. Throughout the ten long months that they fought this terrible disease, he had questions that were not easy to answer. Why did this happen to us? How am I going to take care of the children and homeschool them if the Lord takes Julie home? These were some of the questions that ran through his mind. Matt Herbster couldn’t see any good in what was happening; however, he knew that God is good and he was going to trust in Him no matter what happened. Sadly, on March 25, 2013, his wife, Julie Herbster, went to be with the Lord. Mr. Herbster could have lived the rest of his life in grief and bitterness toward God. He could have left the Lord, and the ministry he served, but, praise the Lord, he didn’t. Even though he didn’t understand why this happened, he knew God had a plan, and he chose to continue serving and trusting the Lord, and taught his children to do the same. He wrote a beautiful song, "In Faith I Follow", to share his faith in God with others and as a dedication to his wife.

Even though we may go through difficult times and the path ahead of us may seem sad and lonely, I pray that each of us chooses to live the life of faith that Matt Herbster chose to live, and then share it with others. May we keep our gaze fixed only on Christ!