Operation Christmas Child Boxes
I want to begin by thanking each of you who generously grabbed an Operation Christmas Child box to fill! I can only imagine the joyful faces of those precious children who will open your box and see all the thoughtful gifts you put in there. It’s a small box that makes a huge impact on a child’s heart! With that said, we want to get those boxes sent out so that your box goes to the child God has in mind to receive your gift. Please bring them to church with you this Sunday. We will be having a special time in our worship service to pray over these boxes before we send them out into the world. We want to fill them with our love, our prayers, and our blessings, trusting that God’s Spirit goes with them and reminds people all over the world: “Jesus loves you!”
Thank You Veterans!
We just want to take a moment to pause, reflect, and be grateful for all the veterans who have served our country. We have a number of veterans in our Eastside Church family who have served not only their country faithfully but continue to serve their families, their communities, and our church in selfless and sacrificial ways. THANK YOU to all of our veterans! May God richly bless you as you have been an incredible blessing to all of us.
Praying for Rainbows
“Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind” (Genesis 9:14-15 NIV).
Last evening, I was talking with a friend of mine on the phone. We were catching up on life and sharing a few prayer requests that were on our hearts. Some of those things were lighthearted while other prayer requests were a bit heavier. As usual, we ended our conversation with a prayer. While my friend was praying, I heard this tiny-little voice on the other side of the phone. It was her five-year-old son. Because my friend had her eyes closed she didn’t see him come into the room. When he spoke, she opened her eyes, looked down, and saw her son standing next to her, eyes closed and hands folded in prayer. His prayer was simple. His prayer was sweet. His prayer was timely. His prayer went like this: “God, please let us see a rainbow.”
You see, her son absolutely loves rainbows! Almost everyday he prays that God would let him see one. Not a bad idea, is it? Afterall, rainbows are a special thing to witness, aren’t they? They are always a pleasant surprise, like a gift received unexpectedly. And they are so beautiful, whether we see the full vibrant arch stretch out across the sky or only see part of this spectrum of color. They also remind us of the age-old story in the Bible where God shows Noah a rainbow in the sky as a sign of his covenant to never destroy the earth again. It’s a promise to protect, preserve, and provide; to open a door to a new day! In fact, if you haven’t seen it yet, we have a beautiful rainbow in the nursery that depicts this ancient story of God’s promise! Check it out sometime.
At first, we both chuckled at the sweetness of this little boy’s prayer. But “out of the mouth of babes”, right? After a moment, the depth of this child’s prayer left us both in awe as we prayed about the cloudy things we needed God’s help with in our own lives. It reminded me of the words of Maya Angelou who once said: “God puts rainbows in the clouds so that each of us – in the dreariest and most dreaded moments – can see a possibility of hope.” Hope. We all need hope in this life, don’t we? When the storms and floods of life exhaust us. When the clouds feel so dark and heavy and like they will never pass. When we feel lost and don’t know the way forward. When we are running out of gas and need a fresh filling of his Holy Spirit. Those are good times to pray: “God, please let us see a rainbow.”
I believe I will be adding this little boy’s prayer to my prayer life, for the rest of my life. How about you? Where do you need God to show you a rainbow?
I want to begin by thanking each of you who generously grabbed an Operation Christmas Child box to fill! I can only imagine the joyful faces of those precious children who will open your box and see all the thoughtful gifts you put in there. It’s a small box that makes a huge impact on a child’s heart! With that said, we want to get those boxes sent out so that your box goes to the child God has in mind to receive your gift. Please bring them to church with you this Sunday. We will be having a special time in our worship service to pray over these boxes before we send them out into the world. We want to fill them with our love, our prayers, and our blessings, trusting that God’s Spirit goes with them and reminds people all over the world: “Jesus loves you!”
Thank You Veterans!
We just want to take a moment to pause, reflect, and be grateful for all the veterans who have served our country. We have a number of veterans in our Eastside Church family who have served not only their country faithfully but continue to serve their families, their communities, and our church in selfless and sacrificial ways. THANK YOU to all of our veterans! May God richly bless you as you have been an incredible blessing to all of us.
Praying for Rainbows
“Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind” (Genesis 9:14-15 NIV).
Last evening, I was talking with a friend of mine on the phone. We were catching up on life and sharing a few prayer requests that were on our hearts. Some of those things were lighthearted while other prayer requests were a bit heavier. As usual, we ended our conversation with a prayer. While my friend was praying, I heard this tiny-little voice on the other side of the phone. It was her five-year-old son. Because my friend had her eyes closed she didn’t see him come into the room. When he spoke, she opened her eyes, looked down, and saw her son standing next to her, eyes closed and hands folded in prayer. His prayer was simple. His prayer was sweet. His prayer was timely. His prayer went like this: “God, please let us see a rainbow.”
You see, her son absolutely loves rainbows! Almost everyday he prays that God would let him see one. Not a bad idea, is it? Afterall, rainbows are a special thing to witness, aren’t they? They are always a pleasant surprise, like a gift received unexpectedly. And they are so beautiful, whether we see the full vibrant arch stretch out across the sky or only see part of this spectrum of color. They also remind us of the age-old story in the Bible where God shows Noah a rainbow in the sky as a sign of his covenant to never destroy the earth again. It’s a promise to protect, preserve, and provide; to open a door to a new day! In fact, if you haven’t seen it yet, we have a beautiful rainbow in the nursery that depicts this ancient story of God’s promise! Check it out sometime.
At first, we both chuckled at the sweetness of this little boy’s prayer. But “out of the mouth of babes”, right? After a moment, the depth of this child’s prayer left us both in awe as we prayed about the cloudy things we needed God’s help with in our own lives. It reminded me of the words of Maya Angelou who once said: “God puts rainbows in the clouds so that each of us – in the dreariest and most dreaded moments – can see a possibility of hope.” Hope. We all need hope in this life, don’t we? When the storms and floods of life exhaust us. When the clouds feel so dark and heavy and like they will never pass. When we feel lost and don’t know the way forward. When we are running out of gas and need a fresh filling of his Holy Spirit. Those are good times to pray: “God, please let us see a rainbow.”
I believe I will be adding this little boy’s prayer to my prayer life, for the rest of my life. How about you? Where do you need God to show you a rainbow?