Good Morning Thankful Friends! yes rejoice and celebrate as we get to lift many thanksgivings ! PTL!
Happy from Karen and I to you and yours!
Check out these devos with as you use them to pray and praise this day! God loves you and so do we! Shalom shalom!!!
Sarah Young:
TWFYT
UR: God Is Listening
They removed the stone. Jesus looked up and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. I know you always hear me.” - John 11:41-42 (CEB)
“What’s everybody doing for ?” I asked my friends. As Americans living in Seoul, South Korea, all of us were far from home for the holiday. One by one, my friends shrugged and said, “Nothing.” None of us had time off for the holiday, but I wanted to celebrate . I longed to sit with my extended family at a feast-laden table, to smell the pumpkin-pie spices, to hear the giggles of my nieces, and to take turns saying what we were thankful for. Rituals like these mattered to me even more now that I was far from home.
I knew that Jesus understood how I felt. Jesus left his home with God to live among us, to be not only fully divine but fully human. He experienced challenging emotions like loneliness, anger, betrayal, fear, and grief. In ’s quoted scripture, Jesus knew that God was listening to him, and the attentive presence of his loving Father stirred gratitude in him.
When we are sad or homesick, we can call out to God and trust that God hears us. and every day, God is near to us. It’s a tremendous gift, which we can be thankful for right now.
's Prayer
Dear Father, when we are lonely, sad, and far from home, you are with us. Thank you for your loving presence. Amen.
ODB
A Humble
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6
One I called home to greet my parents. As we talked, I asked my mom what she was most grateful for. She exclaimed that she was most grateful that “all three of my children know how to call on the name of the Lord.” For my mother, who’d always emphasized the importance of education, there was something more valuable than her children doing well in school and taking care of themselves.
Her sentiments remind me of Proverbs 22:6: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” While this isn’t a promise but more a wise principle, and many children do wander from God for at least a season of life, she and my father had strived to raise us to humbly, reverently love God (v. 4)—primarily through example. Now, by His grace, they were able to see us grow older and benefit from a personal relationship with Him. As verse 2 says, God is “the Maker of . . . all.” And although some children will respond to loving instruction in Christ, others might take longer perhaps to hear His voice. For those precious children, we continue to pray and rest in God’s timing.
Mom’s humble points to what’s most important in life. Reverently loving God yields spiritual riches for this life and beyond (v. 4). And while we can’t control what children will choose to do, we can rest in the hope that God will lovingly continue to work in their hearts.
By Katara Patton
REFLECT & PRAY
How have you been shown the love of God? How do you reverently love Him?
Dear God, please help me to love and disciple others well.
It’s fascinating that the man who collected or wrote most of the sayings in the book of Proverbs (King Solomon) is also believed to be the writer of Ecclesiastes. The proverbs essentially say, Do this, and get that result. Do wise things and get good results; do foolish things and pay the price. However, Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, “With much wisdom comes much sorrow” (1:18). Yet in Proverbs he says, “Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding” (4:7). Ecclesiastes shows us the futility of life without God at the center; Proverbs instructs us how and why to live wisely. And so we live by the wisdom of the Proverbs: “A good name is more desirable than great riches” (22:1). And “humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life” (v. 4)—a truth that will see its full fruition in the next life.
Tim Gustafson
Larry Paul Update:
Hello to all of our family, friends, and partners,
The American holiday of is celebrated in November and it's a great time to remember and praise God for all that we are thankful for.
It's been almost a year since Larry suffered a heart attack last December. He changed his diet (lost about 30 pounds!), and has been taking his heart medications daily. His blood pressure has stabilized at a normal level and his cardiologist is pleased with his blood tests. Larry will most likely be on medicine for the rest of his life to regulate his heart.
Larry's Mom has moved into an independent living facility and she's settling into new routines. She's making new friends and enjoys eating dinner with them in their dining hall and the trips to local shops and malls. She also enjoys the on-site hair and nail salon for her beauty treatments. Her house is for sale and we're hoping for a quick sale so she doesn't have to pay both the mortgage and her current rent.
Larry's preparing for next year's campus projects which include adding more solar panel systems, replacing the other half of the High School building's roof, and possibly painting the Elementary and Middle School divisions' outside basketball courts. All of this work should be done between January and April to avoid the Philippines' rainy season so he's waiting for approval to start these projects. This is in addition to his "normal" tasks of running the maintenance, grounds, transportation, custodian, and security departments.
Richard is enjoying college life at Lehigh University. He's doing well in his classes and has fun hanging out with his new friends. He enjoyed his time on the volleyball club team (their season ended at the end of October) and is now playing intramural basketball. All of this while also working part-time off campus. We're thankful we can call him weekly from the Philippines and that he's able to spend and with Larry's family in PA. Fun fact: Lehigh University's football team went undefeated this year (12-0) and is ranked 5th in the FCS (formerly Division I-AA) and will host a playoff game on .
Brayden is doing well at Faith Academy. He was on the varsity volleyball team that finished its season by playing in the Asian Christian Schools Conference (ACSC) tournament at Dalat International School in Malaysia. Larry and Enol were able to join the trip to watch this tournament; unfortunately Brayden suffered 2 sprained ankles in early games and was not able to play for most of the tournament. His friend and teammate suffered a torn hamstring early in the tournament as well so was also not able to play in most of the games. Faith Academy played hard and ended up in 5th place out of eight teams. Brayden is now a starter on the Faith Academy varsity boys basketball team; so far his ankles are holding up and not giving him much trouble. He's doing OK in school, though he's doing a lot of studying and homework for his Pre-Calculus and Statistics classes to understand the material.
Enol keeps everything running smoothly at home; she still enjoys her time volunteering at Faith Academy's Pre-K classes and monitoring the playground during lunch/recess.
Praises
Larry's ongoing recovery
Richard making friends and doing well at Lehigh University
Brayden doing well at Faith Academy, recovering from ankle injuries, and enjoying basketball.
Enol volunteering at Faith Academy
God's continued provision for our needs
Prayer Requests
Larry's complete recovery from his heart condition
Finances for Richard to attend Lehigh University
Enol's sister Zeny, complete recovery from stroke, and her financial needs
Thank you again for your continued prayers and support of our ministry at Faith Academy in the Philippines.
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