THIS WARRIOR IS A CHILD...LIVING THE BLESSED LIFE...

Most South Jersey schools are finishing up their school year this week or next. I have supervised sixteen Clinical Practice Student Teachers in Special Education from January until yesterday - all throughout South Jersey. I've driven a lot of concrete as I traveled points between Philadelphia, PA and Atlantic City, NJ and Cape May, NJ and Wilmington, DE. :
.





.
I find that I use my trusty cell phone camera a lot lately to record "the moments". Most times, the quality of the pic has a lot to be desired. Yet, this one above is fairly clear. Sometimes I have found it hard to believe, as I'm driving along, that "here I am in the most populated state, per square mile, in the USA without a person in sight!" And, on top of that this "garden state" is gorgeous!

.
While in the schools, I sometimes found opportunity to click a pic when I saw something of interest. This day was New Jersey County Cake Day. They had big sheet cakes of NJ cut up into counties that they individually decorated and then put back together in puzzle fashion. A wildly popular, sugar-filled, finger-licking good day. Ahhhh...gives me opportunity, in a public school, to connect to our LORD, pray, and hook to scripture:

• Colossians 1:17 says that Jesus is over all things and "in Him all things hold together..." :
  
  .

The sheep in the pic below are in a 3-D bulletin board display that caught my attention at one school. I love sheep! Our living room has a theme of sheep and The Shepherd. There are so many teachable moments possible when talking about sheep. And, of course, here in another public school, I have opportunity to connect to Jesus Christ, pray, and think of scripture:

John 10:14-17 says, "I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd.":

.

Welcome to FAMILY FELLOWSHIP FRIDAY! A day to celebrate FAITH/FAMILY/FRIENDS! My cell phone camera can help tell the story!
.
Spending quality time with both my physical family and my spiritual family is such a blessing. Over the years, I've had many opportunities to be with the sheep of the Good Shepherd!

.

1. The week in April, when our grandaughter Chloe was born, our Tuesday "lunch bunch" met at Wendy's after Bible class. I snapped two pictures of Brenda's little Lexi (with her boy friends and girl friends) as we celebrated her first birthday. (Like the hats from Dollar Tree to celebrate the occasion?) :



"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:3-4

.

.

.

2. Then, in May, I laid my eyes on Chloe for the very first time and recorded the moment at Chicago's Midway Airport:

• "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8

.

.

3. Many children struggle with good health. If you've come to this blog for any length of time, you know that we pray and give our support and encouragement to families with sick children. Little Lauren and her mother, Cristi, are in CHOP (Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia) now for their 6th month straight as Lauren waits for a heart transplant. One night when the roads around the hospital were blocked off, I recorded the many moments I spent driving around the area in circles trying to find the parking garage...reminded me of a scripture in Matthew 6:

• "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. "

On another visit, I was in awe of three year old Lauren's ability to name each of the meds that she must take in her I.V. I'm even more in awe of Cristi's day in and day ou patience and mercy for her daughter's challenges:

• Matthew 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."

.

4. Then, there was our church's surprise party for "Dan the preacherman" to celebrate his Master's degree from Harding Graduate School of Religion.



My hubby, Steve, (and Dan's partner in ministry) honored Dan that evening with encouraging words. These two men have gift sets that compliment each other so well as they minister and teach with the Pitman church of Christ. They are both committed to model our Savior in order to draw all men/women to make peace with their Maker:

• "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Matthew 5:9

5. If you noticed in the pictures above, you saw that I am around children a lot. Jesus said, in Mark 10:

• "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all."

.

What does He mean by this? Did you notice the scripture under the kids at Wendy's? It said that those who are poor in spirit are BLESSED and part of the kingdom of heaven! Little ones are so needy for their daddies and mommies. They want to be cared for, comforted by, and to please their parents! That is truly what God asks of all those who are old enough to choose. He wants us to realize our need for Him.

.

When we are old enough to know the difference between right and wrong and we choose wrong, God calls that sin. Sin seperates us from God! We each have to make a choice to return to His family!
.

I took a picture of Steve and I celebrating with Lela and her mother Eastla on the 6 month anniversary of the day that Lela made the choice to become part of God's family. Steve had studied scripture with Lela so she could understand what she needed to do to "make it right with God":

.

This past year, a husband and wife who have been a part of different religions, including Hindu and Jehovah's Witness, have been studying the Bible with one of our life groups and also with Dan. It has been evident that they are truth seekers. Recently, Dorothy said something like this:

• It's evident that once people in the early church believed Jesus and understood their sinfulness that they would confess Him as their LORD, repent of their sins, and hurry immediately to water to be baptized.
  .

And, that's just what Dorothy and Charles did on Wednesday night. You got it! I captured the moments on my cell phone. Here, they are telling Dan, that they believe that Jesus Christ is God and that He is the only way to salvation / eternal life. They are mourning over their sinful state and with childlike hearts want to reconcile with God, their Heavenly Father!

After their baptisms, Dorothy gets one of many "welcome to the family" hugs. (Come back tomorrow for more pictures from Sherri's "real camera"!)

6. It is so important to be PEACEMAKERS for God to a lost and dying world. Twenty-three of our church family are leaving for France today. They plan to share God's love in many ways while there. We gathered around them on Wednesday night and "laid hands" on them and prayed for them.

Children wanted to lay their hands on Dan who is leading the group.

Thanks for joining us today. Please leave a comment about transformation. Then, come back tomorrow as we wind up our birthday celebration week and then next week as we begin our study entitled: THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN: Separating Truth from Tale!

.

REMEMBER: Returning to God and TRANSFORMATION begins with being childlike. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." ..... This warrior is a child! :)

.