Christmas God Sighting

My sister Amanda & her kids were part of the Christmas Shepherd's program. One of the gifts they received was a $100 gift card to Smiths.

The day after Christmas, her oldest daughter Ashley had emergency surgery to remove her gallbladder.

Ashley is 20, has a job & sacrifices everything to help raise & take care of her little sisters.

They had no gas in the car & no money but thanks to that smiths gift card they were able to purchase gas to transport her to the hospital and buy her medication after she was released yesterday.

Had that card been to any other store but Smiths she would not have been able to utilize it in that emergency fashion.

Truly a God sighting.

Thank you & God bless you.

Daughter seeks Jesus

My daughter is six years old, but sincerely prays to the Lord when she needs help. Last Sunday, she was at the 11:15 service and asked me if she could go up to receive prayer. She wanted prayer to help find her library book and her glasses, which both had been lost for weeks. As soon as we got home, I found her library book in her bedroom that was underneath a pile of her artwork. I also was able to get one of her old pair of glasses found, and fixed so now she can see! Thank you Jesus for caring about my daughters needs!

God seems to be headed in wonderous ways through us

God seems to be headed in wonderous ways through us. Since moving to Montana and becoming involved in a new church home, we have already had a youth meeting/bonfire here and we went with the youth on a mission trip to the Whitefish area for a week.

We are working on getting permits to extend our garage, in our home. It will be half for my car and storage and the other half will have two sleeping rooms, two shower rooms, and a good size gathering room overlooking the river.

We also will be getting an old mobile home from the church property (next to free) which we will fix up. We have purchased an outhouse (I can't believe that one!) and are putting together an outdoor solar shower with propane backup.

All of this is in preperation for youth camps - first one should be this winter.

Also our pastor has a heart for ministering to other pastors and their families when they are hurting, burned out, tired, etc. We will have the capability of housing pastors and their families or we will care for children while they are working on their marriages, etc.

Not to mention our place will also be one to teach kids river safety, etc.

The list just goes on. We could never have imagined, although we did have some ideas of what it might be.

WOW! God is so so good.

With much love,

Judy and Wayne Leach

What an amazing God!

I'm continually amazed at the way I see and know God is at work in us and for us. Even in our heartache, tough situations and just life, I can look back and see that He has been there and that He is always faithful. I'm grateful for so much today but especially for who He is. What an Amazing God!

Praises for custody of my children

A reason to praise our father in Heaven! A family member of mine was not happy about my relocation to Utah and after making false accusations against me, my young children were taken from me and put into their custody for five, long weeks. There were many praying for my family and I. After finding Good Shepherd and meeting with one of the pastors we prayed more about this situation. Someone who had been on her knees praying much of this time, said she thought she heard God say "Don't worry, I'm taking care of it". Which gave me some comfort. I had been pleading, and praying to Jesus that he would not only have mercy on me, but give my lawyer the words she needed to have in court, and give the judge the knowledge to understand and make the right decisions also. Compromises needed to be made and I thank my Lord, Jesus Christ, first for helping me to compromise; and I thank him for showing himself in that courthouse, even though it was stormy both inside of the courthouse and outdoors. I thank Jesus that he gave my lawyer the words to speak, and he gave the judge the knowledge to be able to decide what was truly in the best interest of my children. Praises also for the time with my children, which now seem so much more precious. I also thank Jesus for making me stronger. He is a God of justice! THIS IS A CONDENSED VERSION OF THE ORIGINAL STORY.

Sunday 02/07/10 @ 7:00am/Rosalie

There's a fellow employee of mine that has a broken foot so she has this scooter she puts her leg on & pushes herself around the jail that way. She really struggles to get around & is very slow. This particular morning as I was getting off the graveyard shift she was having an especially hard time. I helped her through doors & as we headed outside she became very nervous about falling down. It had snowed during the night, not much but the sidewalks were slick and it was cold. Another gal that worked with her was also helping so when we got outside I thought ok she can help her from here. I headed to my car & watched her slowly inching her way to hers. I got in my car & fired it up to let it warm up. I grabbed my ice scraper & got out to start scraping my windows, still watching as Rosalie inched her way to her car. Then suddenly I sensed God saying go help her. I was thinking I already did help her, besides, her co worker was still with her. But I kept getting nudged to go help her. I knew it was God telling me to help her so as much as I wanted to hurry home so I could get some sleep I decided to be obedient. I went over & helped the co-worker get Rosalie into her car. While she was putting her scooter in the trunk of her car I proceeded to scrape off the snow & ice from her windows. Rosalie was almost in tears and she had her window down thanking us saying how she was worried about how she was going to push herself around the car to clean the windows. I told her it was no problem & asked her if she was ok. She said yes so I told her to drive safe and headed back to my car where I proceeded to clean off my windows. I got in my car & started driving towards the gate to exit the parking lot. I saw Rosalie's car still had not moved. Again I sensed God saying go back & see if she's ok. I was almost out the gate & I thought oh she's fine. She's probably just letting the car warm up so I continued home. After all it was my weekend & I wanted to get out of there. I didn't think much more of it until the following Wednesday night coming back into work when I ran into the other co-worker who helped Rosalie out to her car Sunday morning. She was in tears & asked me "Did you hear about Rosalie?" And I said who is Rosalie, because until then I didn't know what the persons name was we helped. The co-worker said Rosalie is the one we helped the other morning. I replied what about her? She said "She died that Sunday night"! I gasped & asked how? She said she went home that Sunday morning from work & later that day ended up in the emergency room. They had to do surgery on her & she died from a blood clot in her leg. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We talked a little more then headed to our offices. As I thought about Rosalie throughout the day it became clear to me that God had used me to show Rosalie his love for her during her last day of her life. I felt honored to be the one He had chosen to do this for him & I thanked him that he placed it on my heart that it was him talking to me & that I needed to be obedient. As I thanked God I couldn't help but to wonder how else God would have used me that day if I would have gone back & checked on Rosalie one last time that morning... My apologies also for not sharing this story He said to share sooner. Jill Huston

Loki and the therapist

Our dachshund, Loki, had back surgery over Memorial Day weekend. He had improved slowly, but was not walking or standing at all. A pet physical therapist was recommended. I was skeptical to say the least. When the therapist walked into the room, Loki instantly took to her and was wagging his tail and kissing her (not his usual behavior at the vet). By the end of the session, Loki was standing for a short time and had walked in a shallow pool. The therapist has an obvious love for all living creatures and a true desire to make them healthy and happy. Bonnie Knudson

Car broke down, but did it really?

We have been planning a road trip to California for some time now, planning on leaving tomorrow(saturday June 5th). Driving to Sacramento to drop the kids off at Nana's house, Kristi and I are driving to Napa and then to San Francisco and then back to pick up the kids and come home. We purchased a newer vehicle with more room rescently and have been happy with it. Well, today (Friday) Kristi was driving to "Raging Waters" for the kids school day and the car died and would not restart. Needless to say Kristi called me frantic and pretty upset the car died with the kids in it going to "Raging Waters" the day before we were to drive to California. This is where I feel our GOD sighting comes in. Kristi called a friend that happened to be going to also, she picked the kids up, took them to the park while Kristi called Jerry Seiner Chevrolet, a gentlemen answered by the name of Craig. Kristi explained what was going on about going to Raging Waters and he asked her what school our kids went to, Christ Lutheran, well his daughter is in the same class that Griffin is in. Craig expedited a tow truck, got Kristi set up with a rental car so she could get to the park with the kids and if needed we could use the rental car to go on vacation with. Like the subject/title reads: "car broke down, but did it really?" or was it GOD's way of telling us how blessed we are for believing in him and allowing wonderful people to fill our lives. I don't think there is any question that GOD spoke to the Shinall family today. Thank you God for every moment of every day.
God bless,
Robert Shinall

Jesus t-shirt

Kennan and a little girl at school were talking about the things they have in common. One was that they were both Christian. Kennan told her about t-shirts that our whole family has that say "Camping with Jesus is better" and shows Jesus and a person roasting marshmallows over a campfire. She said she would like to see it. So, the next morning Kennan wore his t-shirt to school. After school I asked if he had shown it to her and he says loudly and proudly, "I showed it to EVERYBODY and they LOVED IT!" I pray that he proudly shows off Jesus the rest of his life!

May your roots grow deep

In 3rd-4th grade Sunday school class, during the lesson, I spread out my fingers pointing them down, telling the class that their roots of Jesus need to go deep in their lives so they can withstand the evil ones tries at keeping them from seeking refuge in Jesus. Chris Stephenson made the same motion, repeating that this is what we need to do. "He got it!" What a blessing to see the young grow in the faith and love of the Lord.

Peru Mission

This past January I was blessed to be able to travel to Peru with a mission team from GSLC. I saw God's hand in this mission every step of the way. There were MANY God Sightings I would like to tell you about, too many to list, but here are a few. Yes, we completed our list of things we went down there "to do." Such as supporting an art studio, painting a church and community center, running dental, 1st aid and sun protection clinics. We spread the word of God by running a VBS with the children and adults of the village, but nothing was more rewarding than the bonds of friendships that we made with the people of Peru, and each other. In the beginning of the mission, I was so focused on completing all of the "things" that we had set out to do and accomplish in Peru. However, as the trip progressed I felt as though God was pulling me aside and telling me to concentrate more on the relationships with others, than the list I thought we had to complete. It reminded me of Luke 10:38-42 where Martha is complaining to Christ that Mary is just sitting at His feet while she is distracted with all of the preparations that had to be made. Christ said to her, "Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41) You see, I didn't need "to do," I needed "to be." Be with the people, and let God's love flow freely. I met a young blind man, and since my Spanish is not too good, our conversation was very limited. However, when there really wasn't much else to say, and there was silence, Roya, the young man, would call out my name. With a gentle touch and a calling of his name, I would reassure him I was still there. I wasn't doing anything, I was just there, feeling the Spirit at work. What an AWESOME feeling that is!!! Another area I saw God at work, was in my dear friend, Sandy Park. By watching her, I learned the true meaning of giving. You really saw Christ's love in her and her actions. Whether it was her big smile, warm hugs, or happy attitude, everyone that came in contact with this woman, fell in love with her. She spoke that universal language of Love, and she spoke it well. At the end of our trip she gave away most of her belongings, whether it was her shoes, her watch, her clothes or her money, she gave. I told her, by watching her, I learned what it meant to "give." She replied, with tears in her eyes, "I thought I knew what it meant to give, before I came on this trip, but I had no idea! I think I was able to give so freely, because others gave so freely to make it possible for me to come on this mission." You see, she had friends that sponsored her, along with a scholarship from the "Spirit of Titus," that made it financially possible for her to go to Peru. Yes, this was a place where I witnessed the power of giving, come full circle. Now when it comes time to contribute to the "Spirit of Titus" it will come from my heart as I remember the love that it spread in Peru, and not from a place of "to do." from Kari Duensing