Thankfulness is a prominent

theme in the Bible. I Thessalonians

5:16-18 says, “Be joyful always;

pray continually; give thanks in all

circumstances, for this is God’s will

for you in Christ Jesus.” Did you

catch that? Give thanks in

all circumstances. Thankfulness

should be a way of life for us, natu-

rally flowing from our hearts and

mouths. When life gives you the bad

circumstances it is easy to murmur

and complain. However, being

thankful is a choice. Leviticus 22:29

“And when ye will offer a sacrifice

of thanksgiving unto the Lord, offer

it at your own will.”

Most of you know in Janu-

ary 2017 my daughter went from

being a previously healthy 10-year-

old girl to a child on life support

with a brain tumor

within five days of

her first symptom.

That statement

alone is a parent’s

worst nightmare.

The Doctors were

saying things like

cancer, surgery, neurological deficits

or even death.

This moment was where I

had to make a life alter-

ing decision. I had to

choose to have faith in

God or let fear over-

come and destroy me. I

did my best to keep the

faith, because I believe

that to endure trials, we must have

faith. I know that I serve a God that

is bigger. I know that My God

knows what I can handle, and I knew

that if He took my daughter home

then He would give me the strength

to endure.

I sat in the hospital and

watched and

prayed while my

daughter went

through four

major surgeries,

five bedside pro-

cedures, and

three near death experiences. All the

while keeping a record of even the

tiniest miracles that My God was

performing so that I could increase

my faith and give Him the glory for

it.

There are so many things in

this situation to be

thankful for. I know

the biggest one for

me is that I have a

relationship with

God. That peace

that only He can

give in the storm

and His perfect timing. I am so

grateful that I had His guidance

through this and His people to sup-

port me. It was so awesome to feel

God’s support from the moment I

heard the news when one of His peo-

ple wrapped her arms around me and

said, “we serve a God that’s bigger!”

(continued on next page…)

AliaButler 6

GayleBryant 7

PeggyHardman 7

Sis.Baglin 7

CrystalGill 10

TiffanieBailey 10

ZanadeWilliams 11

MaryHolmes 12

BethanyBrown 13

DeborahRodgers 15

Sis.Taunton 15

EthelDavis 16

MirandaNarvaez 18

JaniceHoward 24

LauraBerrier 29

3rd-SSTeacherAppreciation

6th-ChangeDriveBegins@LCA

10th-LCAVeteransDayLuncheon

11th-VeteransDay

16th-LCAProgressReports

21st-ChangeDriveEnds@LCA

21st-LCAThanksgivingLuncheon

21st-TLCThanksgivingService

22nd–24th-NoSchool@LCA

23rd-ThanksgivingDay

Choosing To Be Thankful by Sis. Jenny Blacksher

NNNN

OOOO

VVVV

EEEE

MMMM

BBBB

EEEE

RRRR Volume VII Issue 11

(continued….) I

am thankful that I

walked into that

hospital knowing

that no matter what

happened God

would see me

through. I am appreciative of the

fact that I have a church family!

Thank-you so much for

the prayers, support, and meals

throughout our stay. You made

such a special impact on us! Also,

I would like to extend an extra spe-

cial thank-you to those who took

on the burden of love in caring for

and teaching my other children at

LCA when I could not.

I am pleased to tell you

that even though Brooklyn went

through all of that in the hospital

she is not traumatized. In fact, she

absolutely loves going to the hos-

pital, because our God is so great

that He left her with only the good

memories of her time spent there.

Brooklyn currently has an internal

draining device from her brain to

her abdomen and may need more

surgeries in the future, but the

Neurosurgeon just released her to

be able to do anything in life. We

really do serve a

God that is so

much bigger.

Thank-you Jesus!

LadiesRetreatReview2017

Wow!Whatanawesometimewe

hadthisyearatladiesretreat.Weplayed

games, shopped, laughed, talked, and of

course we ATE! We made ;lower ar-

rangements, crafted wood slices, and

were challenged to volunteer. We

learned aboutwhat to pack on this voy-

age,wereencouragedtostayanchoredto

the word, and heard inspiring testimo-

nies. Wewerewarnedofthedangersof

distractions,wereremindedtosingeven

in the darkesthour, and that Godwants

to exceed our expectations. And most

importantly, God was there and we felt

Hispresencemovingandworkinginour

midstinamightyway.

Thanks to the ladies committee,

Sis.Sandy,Sis.Short,andallthespeakers,

and our main speaker, Sis. Bracken, a

verysweetandpreciouslady.

And a HUGE thanks to Sis. How-

ard for her burden to have a ladies re-

treat for us and the hardwork she puts

intomakingithappenyearafteryear.

Our condolences are with Sis. McGuinness and her family and Bro.

Narvaez and his family. They each recently lost a grandparent. Please

keep them in your prayers.