Saturday, November 29, 2008

Happy Saturday! We had the most wonderful day. My aunt and uncle celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary today. It was a time of joy and reunion with family. My Uncle Rodney recognized that two others of his siblings had also surpassed the 50th anniversary mark. My parents were one of the now three families to surpass that golden mark in their lives. I am so proud to come from a long line of people who have committed themselves to each other in love in a lifelong journey. Governor Rick Perry sent his greetings to Uncle Rodney and Aunt Peggy through a state representative. The representative attended the celebration and read the proclamation. Afterward some of us went to see the decorations at the Gaylord Hotel. We walked the atrium and it was so amazing. We are hoping to go again and take Geni and Travis. It is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. It makes you feel like you are in Santa’s Workshop at the North Pole. I highly recommend the outing.

1 Peter 5: 8-9 says, “Control your selves and be careful! The devil, your enemy, goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to eat. Refuse to give into him, by standing strong in your faith. You know that your Christian family all over the world is having the same kinds of suffering.” Here it is the holiday season. Temptation is all around. The temptation to eat too much or spend too much is in front of us each day between now and December 25. I think the greater temptation is to forget why we celebrate this event. For some of us the season of Advent and its meaning gets lost in the shuffle of the tree purchase, wrapping paper, decorations, gift buying and party going. Advent is a time of preparation. It is not the preparation of trees, cookie baking, gift purchases or wrapping, but the preparation for the coming of the Christ child.

Consider the preparations that must be made for the arrival of a baby. A room must be prepared. Clothing must be made available. Food must be made ready and diapers are a must. But most of all God gives us many months to begin to think about how we are going to care for the new arrival. And lastly, once this precious one arrives, there is no going back. That baby is here and is not going away. (even though Geni did try once to give Travis away to the corn dog man at Wal-Mart!)

God asks us to make room for Jesus in our hearts. We prepare our hearts by reading God’s Word and spending time in prayer daily. God feeds us daily through His Word, prayer and regular worship. God provides our clothing as He provides us with garments of praise and Thanksgiving and robes of righteousness. And then God provides with a season within the church year to prepare for the blessed event.

So as we are baking cookies, wrapping gifts, decorating trees find a time each day to remember your life in piety. Study God’s Word, pray, help someone, visit someone who cannot shop or is ill, and share what you have. Resist the temptation to overspend and become over stressed with what did not get done. Begin the day with quietness, meditation and prayer and the lion of temptation and stress will not stalk you because you are standing firm in the faith Jesus is standing between you and Satan and when we call on Him, He will help us to resist temptation. Resist the temptation to place a time with God somewhere on the list besides at the top. Each day place a quiet time with God at the top of the list and the rest of the list will fall into place.

Advent is a journey. Take joy in the journey. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
Happy Friday day after Thanksgiving. I decided years ago that there is no sale great enough to make me brave the mall on Black Friday. So today I spent some time with Travis, wrote my final reflection paper for theology, spent some time with friends from Corpus Christi and got my nails done. All in all, it was a very productive Friday.

Deb Koplen update. I have a bit of a cold or a sinus infection so I went to Deb’s hospital door and visited with her from the door. The doctors and nurses are still working on her pain management regimen so she is less confused and in less pain. She is still having several visitors, but still needs a few more. So if you get a chance go by and visit her. She is in Rm. 3222. Please continue to pray for her and her nurses.

1 Peter 4:11 says, “Anyone who serves should serve with the strength God gives.” Today I wrote a reflection paper on the revelation of God. As I studied the text I read that God reveals Himself to those who have knowledge of Him. Moses had knowledge of God before the burning bush and then he was called to serve. Abraham and Sarah had knowledge of God before God told them they would have a child and would begin the nation of Israel. Paul had knowledge of God and was changed from persecutor of the church to preacher of the gospel. God gave Moses the gift of the law. God gave Abraham the gift of faith and God gave Paul the gift of speaking the Word to help establish the early church. God revealed Himself to each of these people and then gave them a call to action in which to use their gifts in His service.

Our friend Deb, has no blood relatives. Her parents are deceased, she is an only child with no aunts, uncles or cousins. So, three families are gathering together to become her family in this most difficult and frightening time of her life. One part of this family is arranging to have her finances taken care of as she is not able to manage them from the hospital. One of the families is contacting friends, church members and others to come and sit with her and visit with her at the hospital. Later arrangements will need to be made to assist her when she returns home. (Does this sound familiar?)
I have been named as her power of medical attorney so the doctors and nurses can talk to me when she is too sick from treatment or confused by high end pain medicine to adequately make decisions for herself.

I accepted this responsibility not because of any special wisdom I have, but because I have just spent a year immersed in the language and procedures of cancer patients. Each of us is serving with the gifts God has given us. The gentleman who has her Durable Power of Attorney is a retired accountant. He has a gift for numbers, accounts, and banking etc…not my gift! That would have been a huge error. The couple who is massing the troops have a lot of connections at their church, Deb’s church and other organizations with whom Deb is associated. Each of us will serve with the strength(s) God has given us.

This blended family all has knowledge of Deb. We could not do our parts in helping her during this time of diagnosis and treatment if we did not know Deb pretty well. God has revealed Himself to each of us. He is revealing the gifts He gave us to use in His service to help His child and servant. He has called us into the servant ministry for the one in Rm. 3222 of AMH. Anytime God reveals Himself to us there is a call to action to use the gifts He has given us to use in His service.

What gifts has God given to you? Whatever gifts He has given are His design and He will use them to shape your destiny. The gifts of service given to you by God are for the glory of God. I have never seen a burning bush, heard a voice from heaven, been blinded by a heavenly light or asked to give birth at the age of 53 (praise God!!), but I have been witness to the most amazing love and caring in the last year as Casey was battling cancer. I don’t know if it was my destiny to live at MDA Hospital for 2 1/2 months with Casey or not, but I do know if I do not share the knowledge I gained throughout this last year to help someone else then I am living in a selfish and sinful relationship and God’s gifts to me remain unwrapped, unopened and unused.

If you do not know your gifts then ask God to reveal them to you. What He will do is reveal Himself to you and then call you to action. Be ready to rise and walk in the name of Jesus. Without citing too many platitudes, God does not call the equipped, He equips those He calls. He is looking not for your ability, but for your availability to do His will. It all starts with knowledge of Him. Get to know the One who loves you most and serve Him with a heart of gladness.

Take joy in the journey. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I don’t know about you, but as the turkey said, “I’m stuffed!!” Sorry, it is a first grade joke. I hope all of you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day spent with friends, family and delicious food. There were about 25 family members for lunch at my brother’s house and he delivered the most beautiful table grace. Our family stood together and gave thanks for the bounty before us, remembering the Thanksgivings when we were children spent at our Mamo’s house and later at our Mom and Dad’s home and now at his home. Ken gave thanks for those who had gone on before us to heaven; those who had gone on in long years past or those who had just left us recently. It was a lovely Thanksgiving Day filled with the goodness of the earth, the joy of family fellowship and the presence of God in each heart.

Deb Koplen update. I received a call from the hospital this morning from the nurses at the ICU at AMH where she had been transferred. Evidently there was a snafu with her pain meds and the nurses had a bit of trouble waking her up and her breathing was a bit irregular. She stayed in ICU until about noon when she was transferred back to 3rd floor. A revamping of her pain medications was ordered and things now seem to be better. I will go and see her tomorrow and report back in the next journal. Please continue to pray for her.

1 Peter 3:18 says, “Christ Himself suffered for sins once. He was not guilty, but He suffered for those who are guilty to bring you to God.” Today I drove back from my brother’s house in Allen. Now if I do not drive myself I usually do not pay attention to how I have arrived at my destination. Suffice it to say I am a champion at getting lost. Just ask anyone who knows me at all and they will tell you that if you give Gaylene directions pretend she is four years old and then pray she understands. I drive a lot by landmarks and rights and lefts not norths and souths. Bruce drove me to Allen today and then left with Travis (who had driven his car) to get him to work on time, leaving me to drive home later so I could have more time with my family. As I left Ken’s house I retraced my path going opposite from where we came and once we got back to the highway I knew how to get home. I kept the highway in my view as I drove through the neighborhood and down unfamiliar streets. I got home just fine and knew exactly where to turn once on the highway.

I think this scripture is like our landmark. For Christ to bring us to God we have to go to the cross. Each of us gets there by a different path, but we all have the same destination. When we keep the cross in our view we can always find our way to God. We can always find our way home. We must all walk the path of forgiveness and repentance keeping the cross as our landmark. Once we have reached the cross there is forgiveness, grace, tender mercies and everlasting love from our Father. Christ welcomes us home with His loving arms outstretched. When you think of Christ on the cross did you ever think that those outstretched arms on that cross were not just a sacrifice, but arms of love outstretched to welcome you home? The arms of love held out by the Son of God saying “welcome home my child, I have been waiting for you.”

The best part of this story of love is that even though I am 53 years old I still get lost. I still have to have directions (very easy to understand directions) given to me. But when I keep my eyes focused on the cross I always know where home is and I can find my way. Those outstretched arms are there waiting to welcome me home no matter how lost I am.

Christ welcomes us all home with His outstretched arms of love. He invites us to eat at the table of Thanksgiving and drink from the goblet of grace.

Take joy in the journey home. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
Happy Wednesday, this Thanksgiving Eve. It has been a busy day. I spent the morning at the hospital with our friend Deb. She had a biopsy yesterday evening, but no definitive results as yet. So for now she is receiving pain medication and some medication for back spasms. The one thing I am sure of is that Doc Adams will not begin treatment until he knows exactly what to treat. Deb had several visitors today and Geni and Travis arrived with her favorite drink from Starbucks. Hopefully by Friday there will be results from the biopsy and treatment can begin. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

Tomorrow we will travel to Allen, Texas to spend Thanksgiving with our family. I have lost count of how many are expected for lunch, but I think it is 25 plus. We are looking forward to the day.

Psalm 23:1 says, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” As I ponder the Thanksgiving holiday I am reminded of how much I have and how I do not live in want for too many things. Tomorrow I will look upon the tables full of deliciously prepared food. Prepared by my Mom, aunts, my brother and sister-in-law and some by me and know I am not in want for food. I will be surrounded by my favorite people on the planet; Those who have known and loved me all of my life and those that I will bring to the gathering, Bruce, Geni and Travis, and I will not want for love. My Dad, my brother or I will deliver the grace before we eat and thank God not just for the bounty on the table, but for all who are gathered together and ask for the continued blessings on our family and thanks for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I will not want for the Savior and His grace. And even though our family is down by one member this year, I will not want for the knowledge of where Casey is and how he is doing. I know Casey is happy. His fondest wish was to be home for Thanksgiving this year. He is not at 811 Austin St. except in our memories, the gallery on Bruce’s and my desks and the slide show on our computers, but he is home. Casey returned to his creator and heavenly Father and sits at the Table of Thanksgiving every day. As I thought so much about him today and the Thanksgiving spent last year in “The Park” at MDA, with a meal prepared by Luby’s and shared with another family. I will always remember our late friend Dave’s blessing which said, “Lord we are not thankful for why we are here, but we are glad we are here.” I will not be in want for hope.

Instead I am remembering a more modern writing of this psalm which says, “Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything that I need.” I have all I need because Christ who died for me has supplied all of my needs. God gave His Son so that I might have not only everlasting life, life beyond the earth, but abundant life while on the earth. God gave me the ability to work and cook so that my family and I would never know hunger. God gave me a companion for life in Bruce, so that I would not only be able to make music, but live and love in perfect harmony. God gave me my family; the family that raised me and the family He gave me to raise so that I would be taught unconditional love and be able to love my own family with the same unconditional love.

So even though this Thanksgiving is laced with sadness and gladness, we have much to be thankful for. We are so very thankful to all of you for all of your prayerful, thoughtful, heartfelt and constant support throughout the last year. It has been like living in and with a “great cloud of witnesses” during the most difficult year we have ever spent. Our prayer for you is that you have the most amazing Thanksgiving ever and know that the Chrysties are praying for you and giving thanks to God for His abundant grace, His eternal love and everlasting grace found in you our friends.

We love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving Eve eve!! Today was thank you note writing day and a shortened theology class time. I did not complete all of the thank you notes, but I did get a good start and hope to complete them before school begins on Monday. Advent hosted its annual soup and sandwich supper and worship tonight. It was delicious and the worship and fellowship were wonderful.

A brief update on our friend, Deb Koplen. Late this afternoon they took her to surgery for the biopsy and bone work. There are no results as yet, but I am going to the hospital in the morning and I will post the results tomorrow evening and if they have a treatment plan yet. Please continue to pray for her. She is still in a great deal of pain and cannot sit up comfortably. You might also pray for the nurses! Deb is not used to being unable to do things for herself. Having to rely on others to do things for her is taxing her patience to the max.

I Peter 1:8 says, “You have not seen Christ, but you still love Him. You cannot see Him now, but you believe in Him.” Gone with the Wind is one of my favorite movies. Gotta love Scarlet and who does not have that vision of Rhett Butler at the bottom of the stairs in that suit. But there is a theme that recurs with Scarlet throughout the movie. Scarlet looks for home. She has dreams that always have her trying to look through the mist. Even in her dreams she seeks something, but does not know what she is seeking because the mist is between Scarlet and what she is seeking. She believes there is something on the other side of the mist, but it is not until the end of the movie that the mist clears and she finally figures out what she has been seeking all along. She has been looking for Tara. She has been looking for home. Scarlet loves Tara even though she cannot see Tara and she believes that Tara is there even though she cannot see it.

In the opening of this letter Peter writes that God’s chosen people are scattered and far from home. Peter also tells the people that they were chosen to be God’s holy people and they were chosen by the Holy Spirit. God called them to do His work and made them clean by the blood of the death of Jesus Christ. When they were born again they were born into hope. I think that hope is the mainstay of anyone who seeks. You keep looking or researching or asking in the hope of finding what you are looking for whether it is an answer, a solution or a place.

God seeks us out. When we accept His love and grace He forgives us for our offenses against Him and removes the mist and all that keeps us from seeing Him and believing. We continue to see evidence of Christ each day because we keep looking, we keep seeking and we live in the hope that Christ will be with us no matter what every day until He calls us home to be with Him forever. Seeking is the journey God gives to us from the moment we enter into relationship with Him. And our journey ends when we see Him face and we finally reach our destination, that is, when we go home.

What do we seek? Do we seek the “whats of life or do we seek Who? Do we seek out God’s plan for our lives follow our own? Do we believe only what we can see and touch or do we act on faith and believe in a God of love and grace who cannot be seen with the human eye, but chooses to make His presence known in the Word, sacraments, His people and through His Holy Spirit? What a journey we have to travel and an adventure to experience!

Take joy in the journey my friends. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Happy Monday! I have been so busy today. I accompanied Bruce on a work trip to Wichita Falls today. We haven’t been away together in forever. It was just a day trip, but it gave us a chance to talk and laugh and remember and sort of relax.

I want to share about a dear friend of ours whom we have known for 20 years. Her name is Deb Koplen. She is a charter member of St. John Lutheran in Grand Prairie. She served communion at the Celebration of Life Service for Casey. She is single, never been married and never had children of her own. So she sort of adopted Casey, Geni and Travis and spent a lot of time with them when they were younger. She has been found to have cancer in her lungs and in most of her bones. She has no blood relatives. So we have told her that she is not alone, but has a family of choice. We are honored to be a part of her family of choice. She will be receiving treatment at AMH so we will be back up on the 3rd floor frequently. We ask your prayers for our dear friend. She has always been totally busy and very active and this has knocked her off of her feet and placed her in bed. She has a lot of adjustments to make both mental and physical. She is in Rm. 3214 at AMH. And, Dr. John Adams, Casey’s oncologist, is her doctor. We were so glad for her. This is such a God thing!!!

James 5:16 says, “When a believing person prays, great things happen.” Can you imagine what a life without prayer would be like? A life without prayer would be like walking in the darkness, lost , alone and without… well…a prayer. Prayer is the way God engages and merges His life with us. It is through prayer that we find our way through the darkness of despair. It is through prayer that we come to know God in an intimately personal way because prayer is a two way conversation. God, through His mercy, lifts us up out of the darkness and into the light. When the world seems to crash in around us and there seems no way through; just a simple word, calling on the name of Jesus and believing He is there will cause great things to happen. I think the greatest thing that happens when we call on the Lord is peace. Knowing that the storm does not necessarily go away, but that the God of wonders, the Lord of heaven and earth, the creator of all and the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be with us during the storm and bring us peace and guide us through the storm is what happens when a believing person prays.

Tonight, go over your prayer list. Pray in the name of Jesus believing in His name, in His power and in His ability to raise us up above the storms of life and into the light of His ever present and perfect grace.

Take joy in the journey. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Blessed Sunday to all. Worship was awesome today. We sang so many perfect praise and worship songs and the congregation really opened up their hearts and voices and sang praises to God. As we look to the week ahead, Travis and Geni have a couple of more days in school and Bruce is working at least Monday and Tuesday. I think I may be going to Wichita Falls with him tomorrow. It is a long drive to do 15 minutes worth of work, but somebody has to do it. I will go along just for the company (and to see a little different scenery for a change).

James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and God will come near to you.” On October 21, 2007 in the early evening I was walking from the kitchen into the living room where Casey was laying on the couch. He said, “Mom, I am having trouble breathing. It hurts when I breathe deep.” Those are the words that began to change the course of our lives for the past year. Today in worship, we sang Breathe. This song is such a powerful prayer to God telling Him how much we need Him and that we cannot live our lives without Him. I began to pray about this song before arriving at church. And then I remembered the conversation on October 21, 2007.

Fast forward to October 14, 2008. Casey is on oxygen and struggling to breathe even with oxygen being pumped into him through a canula. And today I not only sang, but I listened to the words of this song. The words are “This is the air I breathe. Your Holy Presence living in me. This is my daily bread. You’re very Word, spoken to me. And I’m desperate for You. And I’m lost without You.” I am amazed that this song, Breathe, was the last song Casey ever sang. Casey told the Father how desperate he was for Him. Maybe Casey knew that his time on earth was short. I do not know if Casey had any of that foreknowledge, but I know God does not do anything by accident. And I believe that God placed that song in Casey’s heart and voice as a witness to all about how much God loves all of us and desperately wants to permeate our lives and live through us, His children before something catastrophic happens.

As I began to ponder the words to this song I began to think, what is the first thing we do when we are pushed from the womb? We breathe. Breath is life giving and grace filled. We take in air for the first time. We struggle to take in air because we have never performed this act before. God places His Holy Spirit in us when we are forgiven of our sins and cleansed of our unrighteousness. His Holy Spirit, as we learn more about God through His Son Jesus, prepares us for whatever life throws at us. The Holy Spirit tells us that we are not alone in this journey and that God, living in us, will be with us always.

Casey now breathes the Holy Spirit each and every day. He does not struggle to breathe because he lives in the presence of God, the eternal Holy Spirit. A year ago, Casey came near to God and God came near to him and never let Casey out of his sight, his arms or His presence. God spoke His very Word to Casey and Casey was not afraid.
On this side of heaven we can only come near to God. When God comes near to us does He find us struggling to breathe in His Holy Spirit? Or do we sing “I’m lost without you and desperate for You.” Can we surrender to Jesus on this side of heaven without having something catastrophic occur?

Most of us take breathing for granted. We just assume that we will continue to take our next breath unlabored and unassisted. But God gives us the Holy Spirit. If you think about it, the life-giving force we depend upon the most is the air we breathe. Above water and food is air. Without air we are dead fast. That is bad enough, but without the Holy Spirit we are spiritually dead, and that translates into living for eternity without the presence of God. The breath of God that passed over the waters and caused the fish to form, the same air that stirred up the cloud that lead the Hebrew nation out of Egypt and into the promised land is the same Holy Spirit that caused the people at the day of Pentecost to understand each other in different languages. This is the same Holy Spirit that God gives us to breathe in so that He may live in us always.

The journey between October 2007 and October 2008 was never easy, but it was always peaceful because even though the storm was going on constantly, the peace of God, His Holy presence was always there. This Holy Presence, this precious Holy air, the Holy Spirit is there for us whether we are joyful on the mountain top or despairing in the valley or just plodding day to day down the road. It is the power of the Holy Spirit breathing in us that allows us to take joy in the journey. So beloved friends, say a prayer of Thanksgiving for the journey and take joy in the One who leads us.

Take joy in the journey. Love you all with great thanksgiving, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
Happy Saturday. I did not get to sleep in today as Travis had to be at Arlington High early for the Region Clinic and concert today but I did get to stay in bed for about an hour and drink a cup of coffee and watch TV. It was wonderful. Bruce went to Decatur. Travis to Arlington High and Geni went with a friend in Mansfield. It was a nice quiet time for just a little while. Geni and I then joined Nichole Burkholder for a wonderful 2 ½ hour breakfast and girl time. We had the most wonderful visit. Then Geni and I went into Macy’s to purchase wallets and got Estee Lauder Makeovers and our pictures made. It was so much fun. The makeovers and pictures were completely spontaneous. We have never had our picture made together and it was so much fun. Then the concert this evening was really nice and Geni and I looked really good!! (LOL!)

Matthew 12: 50 says, (Jesus said,) “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” You remember this story. One of the disciples comes up to Jesus and tells Him that His family is waiting to see Him and Jesus replies, “Who is my mother?” This question always bothered me. This just goes to prove that Jesus was not born of a Texas “mama” for if He had said that and it got back to His mama I feel pretty sure that dire consequences would have been levied. I always felt that Jesus was close to His mother and always treated her with respect and so why would He ask this question? When this question was asked, Jesus was teaching a group of people. I have always looked as Jesus as a teacher and a master of the “teachable moment.” He was trying to make a point.

Bruce was sharing with a friend of ours the other day about our blood family and our family of choice. Our blood family is ours and there is nothing we can do to alter that fact. It is also known as our family of origin. We do not get to choose the family into which we were born. The blood which flows through our veins is the product of our heritage. Our DNA can be traced back to our parents, grandparents etc.

Our family of choice, on the other hand, is comprised of the friends and brothers and sisters in Christ with whom we live, work, share and worship. The blood which connects our family of choice is the blood of Jesus. The verse tonight tells us that “whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” The only way we become children of God and brothers and sisters in Christ is through the shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Scripture tells us that He died for all, not just for those who birthed him and grew up around His dinner table in Nazareth. What an amazing heritage Jesus gives to us. We are God’s children and brothers and sisters to Christ. We carry Christ’s DNA because of the cross.

A while after Casey died Bruce placed webshots on my computer. Then he downloaded a lot of pictures of Casey, Geni and Travis. Those pictures have become my screen saver and they run as a continuously running slide show. When I look at those pictures I see the striking resemblances of our children not only to each other, but to Bruce and me. I see how very much Casey looks like me and how much Travis and Geni look like Bruce and each other. I also remember when the pictures were taken and the situations in which the photos were shot. They are all happy memories.

If Jesus opens His photo album and looks at our pictures will He see Himself in us? Will He see His Word written on our hearts? Will He see us acting in kind and loving ways to others? When He looks at our faces and into our hearts will He see the image of Himself? It makes you want to practice looking in the mirror doesn’t it?

Take joy in the journey my friends and smile - God’s camera is focused on us. See you in church. Love you, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.