As many of you may have already heard, we received some really good news last week following Sam’s scans at St. Jude.  For the past 5 years, our motto has been P.U.S.H. – Pray Until Sam Heals.  During this time we experienced
many ups and downs, and there were times when we wondered if Sam would ever be healed of his disease.  But last Thursday we finally received word that there was no evidence of neuroblastoma found on the scans, and Sam is now
officially cancer free!  Praise God!

We want to thank everyone who has prayed so diligently for Sam and our family throughout this long journey. 
We never would have made it without you!  I believe that all of us have become better, stronger Christians as a result of this experience, and I pray that we will never forget or take for granted what God has done for Sam.

Just as David conquered the giant Goliath, Sam has conquered his giant, neuroblastoma.  The odds were against him, but God was on his side.  And with God, all things are possible! (How fitting that the story of David and Goliath is found in the book of I Samuel!)  Please join us as we give God all the glory, and pray that He will use Sam to give hope and encouragement to others!

Thanks for P.U.S.H.ing!!
Teresa Farris

I’ll forgive…but I’ll never forget. We say and hear that so much that it’s easy to shrug it off as “only natural.”
 In his book Great Church Fights, Leslie B. Lynn tells of two unmarried sisters who lived together, but because of an unresolved disagreement over an insignificant issue, they stopped speaking to each other. They continued to use the same rooms, eat at the same table, use the same appliances, and sleep in the same room…all separately…without one word. A chalk line divided the sleeping area into two halves, separating doorways as well as the fireplace. Each would come and go, cook and eat, sew and read without ever stepping over into her sister’s territory. Because both were unwilling to take the first step toward forgiving and forgetting the silly offense, they coexisted for years in grinding silence.

 After I spoke at a summer Bible conference meeting one evening, a woman told me she and her family had been camping across America. In their travels they drove through a town and passed a church with a name she said she would never forget – THE ORIGINAL CHURCH OF GOD, NUMBER TWO.  Servants must be big people. Big enough to go on, remembering the right and forgetting the wrong. Perhaps Amy Carmichael put it best when she wrote in her book: “If I say, ‘Yes, I forgive, but I cannot forget,’ as though the God, who twice a day washes all the sands on all the shores of all the world, could not wash such memories from my mind, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”
 
Charles Swindoll
“Day by Day”

Let me state something important.  There is never a time during which Jesus is not speaking.  Never.  There is never a place in which Jesus is not present.  Never.  There is never a room so dark . . .a lounge so sensual . . .an office so sophisticated . . .that the ever present, ever pursuing, relentlessly tender Friend is not there, tapping gently on the doors of our hearts – waiting to be invited in.

Few hear his voice.  Fewer still open the door.

But never interpret our numbness as his absence.  For amidst the fleeting promises of pleasure is the timeless promise of his presence . . . .

There is no chorus so loud that the voice of God cannot be heard . . .if we will but listen.

G.R.O.W.
God Rewarding Our Work

What a wonderful opportunity God has given us to work for Him!!! G.R.O.W. is an outreach ministry to bring others to Christ through many different forms of communication.  It enables us to share God’s love to others that are hurting, in need of encouragement, or others who are lost.  Please consider joining our team to be God’s hands and feet to the world and stand in the gap for HIM!!!  Listed below are team responsibilities:

1. Attend a team meeting once a month (2nd Tuesday)
2. Complete some type of outreach: Cards, Emails, Phone Calls, or Visits.
3. Pray daily for God to use this ministry to reach others.
 
Hope to see you at our kickoff meeting on August 9th at 6:30 P.M.  If for some reason you can’t be at the first meeting, let me know that you want to be a part of the G.R.O.W. ministry.  Can’t wait to see you there and what God has in store for us!!!

Yours in Christ,

Janice Yielding, Director

What a wonderful opportunity God has given us to work for Him!!! G.R.O.W. is an outreach ministry to bring others to Christ through many different forms of communication.  It enables us to share God’s love to others that are hurting, in need of encouragement, or others who are lost.  Please consider joining our team to be God’s hands and feet to the world and stand in the gap for HIM!!!  Listed below are team responsibilities:

1. Attend a team meeting once a month (2nd Tuesday)
2. Complete some type of outreach: Cards, Emails, Phone Calls, or Visits.
3. Pray daily for God to use this ministry to reach others.
 
Hope to see you at our kickoff meeting on August 9th at 6:30 P.M.  If for some reason you can’t be at the first meeting, let me know that you want to be a part of the G.R.O.W. ministry.  Can’t wait to see you there and what God has in store for us!!!

Yours in Christ,

Janice Yielding, Director