Dear Friends, Today I have been working on being thankful. I decided to make this my focus after reading Philippians 1:3-4, where the Apostle Paul writes, “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy.” I’ve read those verses more times than I can remember, but today as I read them, I was reminded that Paul wrote them while under house arrest; chained to a Roman soldier; waiting to stand trial for something he

Dear Friends, A few days ago I celebrated the 21st anniversary of my 40th birthday. The following day was a Sunday, and the church surprised me by continuing the celebration with a time of sharing during the service. One by one, different folks from the congregation got up and shared personal stories of how God has encouraged and blessed them through their time at the church. It was a sweet time of reflecting back on how God has been at work in our lives, while at the same ti