Wednesday Writing by Scott and ShellyKeith...."God Is On The Move" (#2)......6/7/17

Good Morning,

This is the second installment of Scott and Shelly's story, as they explore the northwest bringing God as their companion to touch the lives of the folks that they meet. The real bonus for Women's Focus Ministries readers is that they are sharing their Sunday experience at the Churches they attend. What I have noticed is that the churches are wonderful. They are just doing what they do which is an amazing blessing to Shelly and Scott, to the members of each church, as well as to us who get this amazing peek at a church that we probably would never had the opportunity to attend.

So here goes! Read and enjoy
God bless
Corinne and the Keith family (dogs and all)
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Well it has been a week since my last post.  This week let’s just say the fun just keeps coming.  We left Mount Vernon, WA for Fish Lake on Wednesday barely made it over Stevens Pass to stay ahead of the snow storm.  We stayed at the Cove, a nice campground but very rustic and NO FISH at Fish Lake??  We got packed up Friday morning bound for Couer de Laine, ID and noticed that there was a “Check engine Light” glaring on the dash.  We headed into Wenatchee on Hwy 2 and called ahead for a Chevrolet dealership which said they could see us as soon as we got into town. 

As we drove I thought what if something is not fixable?? It is Friday the weather is fantastic, and the chances of finding a campsite is going to be difficult.  So I found the Wenatchee River County Park campground and called the number, I told her our situation and asked if there was any chance she had some spots open, she replied, rather quickly “no I am sorry the campground is full.”  We got to the dealership and unhooked the trailer, got the truck into the shop and found out that a part had failed and they would have to order it, it would not arrive till next Tuesday, that is 5 days that we had no place to stay.  It was already 3 pm on Friday so we prayed for the Lord to help us out of this situation not knowing what to do.  

We started calling all the campgrounds within 40 miles and found nothing. We prayed some more… for some reason I was led to call the Wenatchee river campground back and just see if anything had changed since we had spoken hours ago.  The same lady answered the phone her name is Roxanne, I said “Hi I had called earlier about a space we are traveling from California and our truck is broke, is there any chance things have changed?  I know you told me that the campground is Full.”  

There was a pause and she put me on hold, then she comes back on the line and says “We just had a cancellation it is space #6 which is the best campsite in the park, it is available for 5 days, did you want that?”   See how God works?  He always comes thru, we were prepared to sleep in the parking lot. 

When we arrived at the campground I hugged Roxanne and told her the whole story about praying and asking God to help us and giving ALL the GLORY to Jesus.   She was not a believer but that is what God does is he presents opportunities for us to share the Good News.  God sure is Good!

Sunday May 21, 2017

Grace City Church   Wenatchee, WA

Pastor Adam James

Medium size church with 3 services on Sunday.  11:30 service had a little over 100 people 

Why did we choose this church?  Because we needed Grace and we were tired so 11:30 sounded better than 9 am.  

The church met in their temporary place till they built a church. The Performing Arts Center in downtown filled with culture and just a spectacular- beautiful building. 

The band was awesome, very musical and lots of instruments and singers- all giving praise to God! 

The pastor introduced 6 new members to the church, 27 total for all 3 services.  We all recited the sinner’s prayer together and they talked about their walk and what got them there.  The discussion moved to breaking ground on their new church location and upcoming mission work.  AND that Today May 21^st was their 9 year anniversary when the church began.

The message was I AM_______.  They were in John chapter 11 vs. 25-26 where Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. He asked if anyone had been affected by the sting of death?  Maybe someone in your family that was taken way too soon? He then quoted Romans 6:23.  

He also said that we gain wisdom at every funeral and celebration of life that we attend.  We leave that event with a better perspective on our own lives. He asked us all to go home and read Ecclesiastes chapters 3-7.  Basically there is a time to live and a time to die. We read together John chapter 11. 

Four points: 

1.       We need Jesus’ perspective on life and death, death is just temporary, we struggle because we think that this life is all there is.

2.       We need Jesus’ promise of life after death. We struggle because of what we have experienced regarding death in our own personal lives.  “if only you had  been there” this is what Martha and  Mary said to Jesus after Lazarus died.

3.       We need Jesus’ compassion when facing death and loss. We struggle with death because most men were raised  “real men don’t cry” they don’t show their emotions, they suck it up- blow it off…right? We need to be honest about our pain and loss.

4.       Jesus has power over death, we struggle because we give death too much honor.

I really liked this boxing arena analogy he went into: 

In this corner we have Death, from Genesis 3 who is wailing and crying. And in this corner we have Jesus who is powerful and strong…Jesus is going to KNOCK DEATH OUT.

Jesus is going to give us life; He brings people out of the grips of SIN, and He gives us hope.  Jesus is the resurrection and life. Some of us still live in the past, even though we are forgiven we still dress in our grave clothes, we still hold on to the stink of the past. Declare VICTORY with Jesus and learn to live AND DON’T LET DEATH HOLD US BACK.  

We took communion and prayed; we sang a few more songs.  We shared our story because everyone wanted to know who we were, why we chose this church etc… we told the couple sitting next to us Dave and Donnita, about the truck and the campground story. They were so happy to hear such a great story about what God can do if we simply trust in him.   We did not see an offering box nor was a bag passed. 

We left the church and headed back home.  The valley was really heating up. It was close to 85, and we saw a small little roadside truck selling asparagus, $2/lb.  We pulled over to give the dogs a break and get some fresh asparagus for dinner.  

There was a man and his 5 children, little ones out in the hot sun. Their faces were all red.   I asked Scotty how much cash he had on him…I know what you are thinking. I ask him that all the time.  We walked up to the stand, and I asked the gentlemen what would it take to buy all your asparagus?  He said $40.  

I gave him $45.  We took a couple of bags of asparagus, I told him to keep the rest and do as he pleased.  He looked at us in disbelief and said with his red sweaty face, ”We can go home now, thank you!”  He also said that this was the second day in a row that someone bought all his asparagus out, and he was able to go home early.  

God is on the move!! Hallelujah

Stay tuned for the further adventures                                                                                 of Scott and Shelly...(Next Wednesday the 14th)                                                                        & Patty and Brownie, our dogs!

                                Keep praying...