Waiting Is Hard

 I recently had a conversation with a friend about the ridiculous attitude I have when I have to wait for my faucet; you know, the one in my house that I didn't have to pump or even go out to the well to draw up, just the regular faucet in the comfort of my own kitchen when it takes so long to fill up a pot of water.  Silly, right?  But I find in this world where we have access to pretty much everything in a flash that this idea of waiting seems almost unheard of.  So when my husband recently lost his job after 9 1/2 years we thought, "Certainly he will get another one in no time."  God has other plans.
                 Here we are several months later and still no new job.  Psalm 27:14 has come to mind many times:  "Wait on the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."  What does this look like in this world?  Am I a person who is really willing to wait on the Lord?  I have to admit that God has been consistently teaching me patience, from my children, to homeschooling, to trying to learn submission.  It all seems to boil down to waiting on God to work and me not trying to push things through in my time.
                 I have been challenged this past year to not just wait on the Lord but to trust Him.  I suppose that's a part of waiting, isn't it?  Trusting that God has everything in control and that He will "work all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose."  But that's just the thing, it has to be according to His purpose, not mine.  I think we sometimes miss that part.  We love the first part of that verse, but it's really the second part that drives the first.  According to HIS purpose.  Whatever that purpose may be, however inconvenient to my personal preferences, however hard, wherever it may take me.  His purpose, not mine!  So, I need to wait.
                God is good.  He is faithful.  He is the Almighty!  The Maker of the universe, the One who holds all things together!  The One who knit me together and knew the number of my days before one of them came to be!  I don’t want to miss the blessings He has planned because I failed to trust Him.  I want to say, "Yes, Lord, Your will be done and I will wait on You because I know Your way is so much better than anything I could have ever imagined! I don't want anything apart from Your perfect will!"  Because if it isn't from His hand, it isn't worth having.
                And so, I wait and I trust and I remind myself of who He is, of His promises.  I remind myself of the fact that He is forever faithful, He is perfect, He is good, He is just and He loves me with a never ending love.  He loves you like that too!  Why would we doubt or ever want to rush something that Awesome!  Lord, take my heart, my mind, my life!  They’re yours!  Your will be done!

Still waiting in Him,
Charity Jenkins

Building A Chapel...Bonding Families

During college and medical school I went on medical missions to Malawi, Africa and Brazil. As there were no medical or missionary types in my family, they were eye-opening experiences. After residency, I started my medical practice, got married and had a family. I thought my next mission would have to wait until retirement.



Then last October, Pastor Jeff announced a “family mission” to the Dominican Republic open to kids 8 and older. My youngest would be 8 in the spring! That was a sign. All three of my children wanted to go, and they rarely agree. That was a sign. Then my husband expressed interest. Sign us up God…here we come!



My children gave their own $50 for the deposit. At times they complained they wanted it back, then they would get into donating competitions, each trying to out donate the other. They gave up Christmas money and helped plan and work many fundraisers in the ensuing months. Weston turned 8 and asked for donations instead of gifts and hardly complained.

The kids heard that the showers were cold, and that the food was different. The trip that originally sounded so interesting began to be a source of anxiety and now they wanted out. I wondered if we were doing the right thing as we stressed about the fundraising, packing, and planning. We began to pray about our worries each night.



Then we left.



During the prior months of planning and working together we had forged new and stronger relationships with the other families. On the trip I experienced true community as we parented, taught, and took care of each others children. We relied on and looked out for each other. We worked together to spread God’s word and create a new chapel for a community we didn’t know.



The last day of the mission, God spoke to me through each of my children. After we finished building the chapel, Weston sat on my lap and thanked me for bringing him. That night Samantha completed the survey for Time Ministries. On the question, what was your favorite part? She answered “everything.” And during our celebration dinner that night Sean said he wanted to stay another week and build another chapel. When we left on the mission, our family still had a significant deficit in our fundraising account. When we returned, Pastor Jeff notified us that because other families had raised extra support, our deficit was almost gone. All of our prayers answered, period.

-Erin Hurley

 

 

                            First Baptist website: www.fbcsalem.org

Wild Game Dinner

PTL Success!



When our  team first started talking about having a wild game dinner many people asked what kind of games we were going to play. I would often say that we will play blindfolded twister, Pachisi without using your hands, etc. In reality, we wanted to create an outreach event that would connect men and the outdoors. This venue would be an opportunity for men to get together to see some nice mounts from hunts, hear hunting stories, eat some great food.


Let me give you a small overview of the evening. Upon entering the CLC doors, our guests were greeted by two ATV’s, a duck blind, and the sounds of duck calls and elk bugling.  Continuing down the hall, they received a ticket for the evening and their choice of many styles of pocket knives. Walking toward the banquet room we had name tag table and different animal skins for touch and feel.


The banquet room had tables for the 120 men, nicely decorated by Carol Hanna and her friends. There were center pieces with a duck decoy on every table. The front of the room looked like a wild life museum. We had elk, buffalo, mountain lion, deer and antelope. Set up amongst the wildlife mounts was the podium.


There were elk sausage appetizers cooked out front on the grill, and we enjoyed wild fish tacos for dinner.  Over 70 door prizes were given away during the evening. The men enjoyed some fellowship time before the men were challenged by Pastor Jeff Beltz who spoke on predators. Predators are prowling around looking for what they can devour and destroy. The predator can do damage and devour your wild game if you are not alert and quick to your prize. As men, we have to be alert and quick to defend ourselves and our families from spiritual predators that are looking to destroy. Satan the devourer is out to destroy our spiritual life, testimony, joy and peace. We have to ask ourselves if we are prepared to stand against those attacks? If not, our men’s ministry would like to help you develop a strong defense against your predator.  

We had several men attend this event that do not go to our church. The best part of the evening was that several men checked a box on their response card that said that they had prayed to receive Christ.  Hallelujah!


Thank you to all the men who had a part in this event. All the hard work and time you put into this event was rewarded by the response by our visitors, especially those who prayed to receive Christ.  We had an extraordinary team that put it all together--thank you!  We also appreciate all the men who attended. The fellowship was great. We had men arriving a little after 5:00 and staying until almost 10:00. We look forward to the next Sportsman dinner.

- Pastor Leon

 


18-38 year olds--we need your opinion

Take the Gen2Survey and you could win an i-Pad mini.  For any person 18-38--parent, single, married this survey will ask about how you were raised, your beliefs and your current lifestyle.  Salem First Baptist is participating in this national survey for the purpose of sharpening our discipleship of families and our children.  Thanks for participating. 

 

                            First Baptist website: www.fbcsalem.org

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