Shalom

Grace turns four in two days. Her party is three days after that. I'm a little stressed. 50 people so far are coming with another 10-20 possible. Needless to say I've been a little stressed on how to feed that many people on a budget. Church on Sunday was about peace. There is no way I could dive into everything Pastor Jim covered here so I'm just going to encourage you to listen to it. It's good. You can find it here once it is uploaded to the website: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/new-life-church-everett/id122166998

On the way home from church, I was again thinking about what to serve, how to get it there, how messy it will be, etc, etc. Steve got a verse a day flip calendar for Christmas and I've really enjoyed reading the topics everyday. After I got home I was just going about my day still kinda thinking and processing how and what to do when I realized I hadn't changed the day over.

Here is what it said:

"The wisdom that comes from God is first of all pure, then peaceful, gentle and easy to please" James 3:17

"The heart of Jesus was pure. The Savior was adored by thousands, yet content to live a simple life...Jesus' heart was peaceful. The disciples fretted over the need to feed thousands, but not Jesus. He thanked God for the problem. The disciples shouted for fear in the storm, but not Jesus. He slept through it. Peter drew his sword to fight the soldiers, but not Jesus. He lifted his hand to heal. His heart was at peace."

Something I didn't even realize until right now, Grace's story in Sunday School was about how Jesus fed thousands with one basket of bread and fish. Okay God, I'm getting it.

Thank you for continuing to reveal yourself to me. Thank you Jesus my child is so loved that over 50 people would want to come and celebrate her. Give me peace in planning and throwing her party. Thank you for the food we will eat, help me not to stress about having enough. Thank you for blessing us with people who love us in spite of our weaknesses.

I'm going to hang the pictures Gracie colored in class by the food as a reminder that God provides.