That is MY SON!

     Have you ever gone to the grocery store to purchase the weekly or monthly menu items and picked up something else that you needed?   The last time I went to buy "groceries" about three weeks ago, I purchased and paid for a bottle of Oil of Old Lady (as my adult son calls it).  This was something that I knew I would be needing in the next few days because the moisturizer I was currently using was almost gone.

     When I arrived home from the store my husband emptied the grocery bags for me while I put the items away.  Both of us remember seeing the moisturizer.  I remembered seeing it on a kitchen cabinet still in the box.  He remembered seeing it on the kitchen table out of the box.  The current question is "Where is the moisturizer?"   Both of us have looked this house over from top to bottom and cannot find it.  First of all we looked in all of the places where it belonged.  Not there.  Then we started looking in cabinets, drawers, vanities, on bedside tables ...anywhere we might have set it down.  For three weeks we have searched and are still empty handed.

     I wonder if God ever feels like that on Sundays and Wednesday when he looks for us at his house.  Does He ever stop to say "I know that he is my son.  I died on that cross and paid the price for him.   Where is he?   Does he not know how badly he is needed?  There are others here but I could use that one.  He is the only one who can do the job that I need right now.   We all know that Jesus is a loving shepherd and he will be concerned about just one lost sheep.   What about us?  Will we help Him look?

 

 

 Did you see our new things in the Library?

     I have heard several people in our church say that they did not know we had a Library.   We have a new sign in the hall leading from the Chapel toward the Sanctuary that says "Media Library".   It is hanging from the ceiling and has a big hand pointing in our direction.  Anyone in that hall cannot miss us. 

    Someone also has donated some new display racks for our DVD's.  We are currently displaying some cartoons and some music videos in them.  We also have a free standing DVD rack that we are working on that will hold a lot more DVD's. 

    We recently purchased some additional bookends at the Habitat for Humanity store in Nashville and also had some donated this month.

     We have several teens and preteens that frequent our Library.   The Library Committee has been working hard to keep  them in new material.  The majority of books that we have purchased lately are for this area.  When I look at the picture below of Cindy it shows the Youth Fiction section on the left edge of the photo.  Wow!  It is beginning to look a lot different.

It's a New Year and Another New Beginning

   I bet many of you are just glad that Christmas and New Years are over and are ready for Spring.  We have a lot of exciting plans for 2014 at West Hills Baptist Church.  All one has to do is take a look at the calendar each month on our church web site to see what has been planned for this new year.   But wait...I want to talk a little about Christmas first.   More specifically, a present that I received from a dear old friend.   It is not a gift that I particularly wanted, nor was it one that I had asked for.   But, you know what?  It was one that I really needed.

   Just imagine that you could sit down with Jesus each day and have a short conversation with him.  Do you wonder what you would talk about?  It seems that we all have something to say but few of us are really willing to listen.  My special gift was a tiny little book only about 6" tall and 4" wide and maybe 1" thick.  It was on the best seller list for 2013 in Christian Books.  It is called simply Jesus Calling.

   This book is a devotional, written to be enjoyed every day of the year.  Barely three weeks into 2014,  I have already learned so much.  In only 24 days, Jesus has spoken to me directly and has given me insight into my life.  He has encouraged me like no other, forgiven me, loved me dearly, gently chastised me, and taught me that His peace is the treasure of treasures.

   Today's reading states:

"My Peace is the treasure of treasures; the pearl of great price.   It is an exquisitely costly gift, both for the Giver and the receiver.  I purchased this Peace for you with My blood.  You receive this gift by trusting Me in the midst of life's storms.  If you have the world's peace--everything going your way--you  don't seek My unfathomable Peace.  Thank Me when things do not go your way, because spiritual blessings come wrapped in trials.  Adverse circumstances are normal in a fallen world.  Expect them each day.  Rejoice in the face of hardship,  for I have overcome the world."
                                                     Matthew 13:46, James 1:2, and John 16:33

   Today's reading was just this one short paragraph.  Look at each sentence carefully and imagine hearing the voice of Jesus.  He makes everything so simple.

  Do you have someone in your life who loves you enough to give you this book?  My book was already used when it was given to me. This person knows me probably better than anyone with the exception of my husband.  We have known each other for almost fifty years!  He read this very same book last year.  The giver was my oldest son and I am very proud to say, he is one of my very best friends.

  Donations 

Donations continue to come into our Library on a regular basis.  Without your donations we would not be able to continuously have new and interesting media available for you.  Many different donors have contributed to our inventory during the last four months.  We would like to thank all of you.

We made a recent trip to McKay's Book Store in Nashville and  traded some of our duplicate donated books and were able to get several new books for the Library.  We purchased one book that had been on our Wish List for a VERY long time.

If you have a love for books,  a few hours a month that you would like to serve others, we would be happy to have you join us on the Media Library Committee. 

Update:  Thanks Claudia for joining our Library Committee.  Claudia will be working in the Library at least one Sunday morning beginning in March.