November 2013
Dear Friends in Christ,
This month tends to turn our thoughts to all our blessings and to give thanks. Sometimes we are so busy looking at the problems in life and forget to see God’s hand of blessing. We’d like to share some of those blessings that God has reminded us of.
It’s a bit earlier than normal for our monthly up-date letter-but that’s because we plan to be traveling when we would normally be sending this letter out. It is the time of the year when we enjoy getting together with our family and to celebrate the holidays. For most of our children and grand-children, this is the only time of the year that we are able to be together, so this is a real treat for us.
Not only are we thankful for our physical family, but we are thankful for our church family. To avoid embarrassment and to keep confidentiality, we can’t share specifics, but we are thankful for the way God has worked in lives and homes during this past year. We have seen homes restored and relationships healed. We have also seen spiritual growth in individual lives, as well as several trust Christ as Savior and then make public profession of faith in baptism.
Just this past week, a lady received God’s gift of salvation and told us that one of us had visited in her home during our “visitation” time. She decided that she needed to come to our church after years of not attending church anywhere. She attended a Wed. prayer meeting and then a morning worship service, where she yielded to Christ and became a believer. What a blessing and encouragement. We don’t always get a friendly reception when knocking on doors, but it is worth the effort to see a soul come to Christ!
Last year, one of our young men decided to go to Bible College for a year and this year chose to return and continue until graduation! This is definitely an answered prayer. A second young man had already been in Bible College but had decided to quit. This summer, while working at a Christian camp, he realized the need for his people to hear the Word of God and is now back in school with the goal of being a pastor. Another answered prayer and encouragement to us all as we watch him growing in his love for God.
This fall, two of our families withdrew their children from the public education system so that they could educate their own children with Christian curriculum. This has meant sacrifice for each family and they have had their moments of challenge, but both parents and the 4 students are glad that this is the course they have chosen.
One of these moms is also the head librarian here in Page. Recently Debbie received a state award for the after-school programs she has helped start in Page. She traveled to Phoenix to receive the award at a ceremony that was attended by many state leaders and officials. In her speech of acceptance, she praised God for any accomplishments in her life. She was the only one to mention God and after returning to her seat, another lady, who has an important position in the state, leaned over and told her “thank you”. She is also a believer and glad to know that she wasn’t alone in her faith and excited to hear God being praised publicly.
Pray for us through the coming month of December. It is always a busy time with the extra activities of the holidays. It also has great opportunities to share the Gospel message. May our Christmas program, our caroling, our visiting, gifts and cards and even our Christmas decorations, all remind others that God came in the form of a human baby, so He could die for us on the cross to pay our sin penalty. Now we can live with Him forever, free from sin. There is no greater gift and Christmas is a wonderful time to tell others that they too can have this great joy!
In Christ,
Sam & Janet Grammer