school hope

Last Thursday December 13th 2012, Lily came home to work on a project for Martin Luther King JR poster competition for her school. She drew a picture of a girl and an American flag. She needed quotes from Martin Luther so she looked some up on the internet and chose one that states "I Have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together, and so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream." She turned the poster in the next day, on fri the 14th. As we are all aware that was the day of the horrible school shooting in CT. My heart just broke and broke and it's still breaking for those precious kids and families. My cousin went to school there 20 years ago in K and 1st grade..so I guess it really hit me. On Sunday I went to my church at Niceville UMC and Pastor Jeremy preached on "Hope." He was talking about our hope is not in this world but in Eternity and In Jesus ALONE! He alone is our hope and salvation!!! Praise GOD for that!!!!!! He also talked about Zechariah and how he was mute after seeing the Angel and then became unmute and said he Praised God in Luke Chapter 3. I started reading his praise to God and it was exactly what lily had printed on her poster! I didn't even know that it was a scripture verse at the time. I am so proud of Lily standing up and being a witness for her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in her public school. Many people were saying our nation as a whole has gotten away from God and they wonder then why bad things happen. It's called God gives us all free will and that guy made the wrong decision and so doing many lives were lost. Jesus by no means didn't want this to happen. He wants us all to choose him and to do the right thing. I personally think this man didn't know Jesus and maybe never knew what it's like to feel love.. Now I have more zeal to share/show my love for others as Jesus would have me do and make sure My kids know that I love them. On monday the announcement was made over the PA at lily's school that she got honorable mention on her poster!!! I was so excited. What is the chance of that being turned in on the day of a school catastrophe and then her choosing that quote and then it turned out to be a verse from the bible and then her getting honorable mention? It's totally a God thing!!! He's reminding us all that it's all about him!! He's in control and we are not. I also feel like the enemy is prowling around seeking someone to devour..he may think that he has won by sapping everyone of their joy around the celebration of Jesus' birth. He wants to distract us from what we are meant to celebrate at this time of year, to take our eyes off Jesus and to focus on this tragedy and the crazy news. We all need to keep our eyes on our Savior and he gives us HOPE, JOY, PEACE, LOVE, PATIENCE. Thank you God for sending us your son who shines his light in the darkness. In Him we move and have our being!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!