The Heart of a Child

What a privilege to worship together, and with our kids. The 3-6 grade choirs joined the Sounds of Praise Gospel Choir this morning in leading worship. It's a great opportunity to teach our children the responsibilities and privilege that comes with leading worship. "for from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks". What is in our hearts as we sing these songs? When we're singing "Lord, my heart and my soul, I give You control", do we mean it? Does it show in our lives, in our faces as we sing? Or are these just words that sound pretty to music? That's the responsibility of leading worship. That there is truth behind our lyrics. The Truth of His Word and the truth of our own hearts being vulnerable and open to worship the Author of Salvation, the One Who is Mighty to Save!

Bonnie Heng, Alex Tuten and Kathie Fox

Lizzy Tuten smiling, Jack Everroad and I see Braden Reimche!!

Emma Tuten, see Calem Reimche with the cute smile?

New Choir Member...New Grandpa

Meet Dave Zehring! He has joined the choir this year and he just became a grandfather for the first time. Nathan Zehring was born to his son Joel on October 10 at 8lbs.5oz. Proud grandma Cindy is next to him.
I have known the Zehrings for many years from our former church the First Baptist Church of Scottsdale where he was associate pastor for many years. He is now teaching here at SBC. But more details will soon follow. We will be putting all new members' bios up very soon. As soon as YOU get them to us!
Congrats Dave and Cindy!!
(Did anyone notice how big his smile was this morning in choir?)

Update on Kevin Anvik

Here's an email from Kevin on the recent situation with his dad:

I want to thank everyone that has already been praying for me, for my family and for my dad. Your prayers have been felt and are so, so appreciated. For those of you that don't know, my dad has been placed in hospice care. He is currently at home but we aren't sure for how long. I am traveling out to Georgia tomorrow to say goodbye. I would definitely appreciate prayer for a few things.

This will be an incredibly difficult time for my sister Nelda and my mom. My parents are living with my sister. At the same time this is an answer to prayer. My brothers and I have been talking and praying about how we can support our sister better as the doctor visits have outnumbered the days spent at home the past several months. It had been getting really hard on my sister and my mom. He now has care for at least 12 hours a day and as he gets worse he will probably go back to the hospice care facility. I would love to have you pray for my sister and mom as they will be the ones there when my dad's earthly tent finally gives up.

I would appreciate prayer for my kids and especially for my little Zach. Grandpa and him were buddies. I think it will hit my kids more when it finally happens but I know they think about it from time to time now. This is the first significant relationship that they have had to deal with this kind of loss.

Be in prayer for my wife Dawn as she has a ton on her plate right now. She has a sister that is very sick, a really good friend that has been very sick and in and out of the hospital the past several weeks, and her own health issues that have seemed to just go on and on over the past 6 months or so.

For those of you that have known some of the other things that God has been bringing us through over the past few years, you know that we know that God is good and will make everything work together. It has been an amazing journey that God has taken us on and I am sure God has used all of this to mold us a little closer to His likeness. I have no doubt that this will be the same. Thank you so much for those of you that have traveled this journey with us. We love you.

Finally for me I would covet your prayers for this next week. I have never had to do this before. I know there will be a lot of laughs and a lot of tears over the next week but I especially pray for clear direction in my discussions with my dad. My dad believes in God, he knows the Gospel, he knows why Christ came, died and was raised but I really do not know if he KNOWS God and is a Christ follower. He believes he is and that is what makes it hard. I would love to know that for sure when I come home next week. I would also love prayer next Wednesday at about noon Arizona time as that is when I will be saying my final goodbye to him in this world. I can only hope and pray that his name is or will be written in the book of life so I can one day say hello to him again someday.

I sent this to some of you a week or so ago but I thought I would send it along to the rest of you.

My dad lived an amazing life in his 98 years on this earth. He touched a lot of people, impressed his strong work ethic into us, and made friends with everyone he met. He lived through 2 World wars, the great depression, voted for countless presidents (as my brother reminded me this past weekend, he is one of the few alive today that voted for FDR 4 times!) and congressmen, and lived a life of high integrity that we are all very proud of. Most importantly he was a great father, grandfather and husband. My parents celebrated their 70th anniversary this past year. It is a life I can only hope to duplicate in some way, shape, or form.

It always seemed like it would be easier to say goodbye to a man that we knew for so many years and that lived such a full life, but I can tell you that it isn't any easier. I can't imagine how hard it will be for my oldest brother and my mom who have spent 70 years on this earth with him, but I can tell you that it is never too late to tell your kids and your parents how much you love them and you can't say it too often.

Thank you in advance for your prayers and kind thoughts. Feel free to forward this to anyone that you know, knows us and cares for us.

It Shouldn't Have Happened

Before I get too far into this blog, I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who prayed for my parents as they lost a good portion of their house to Hurricane Ike. As an update, they are doing great. Just moved into a cute little temporary apartment and are on the verge of getting the contractor hired and underway for the rebuild. They were supported by so many friends and neighbors and prayers which circled the globe. And true to God’s merciful nature, there are just too many stories to tell about how they have been amazingly provided for in all of this.

Now all that being said, there is one story which I believe warrants attention because it carries with it the full weight of a God who does not change in relation to His people, regardless of era. When the tornado hit my folks’ home, it basically threw four trees at the roof. One particularly large pine tree landed across the bedroom portion of the house, crashing through the front end, coming out the back, and landing directly above their bed where they were “sleeping” at the time. [pictures are posted below] When the tree removal crew came out with the crane to remove the tree, they took one look at the situation and said that there was only one place on that roof where the juncture was strong enough to support a tree of that size and the tree had landed in that one spot. A couple of inches either way, and it probably would have killed my parents. If that was not enough, my Mom was told that the portion of roof above their bed had NOTHING structurally sound holding it there. It should not be there, this should not have happened the way it did and they really should be dead.

The point is – something which should not have been able to happen did happen. The laws of the natural world were once again broken by a sovereign God who more than cares for His own. I just kept thinking of the time when the people of Israel crossed the Jordan and entered the Promised Land for the first time. They did as God asked, put their foot in the Jordan and the water dried up. What should not have been able to happen did happen. Natural law was broken for the sake of His children so that they would have a clearer understanding of just Who was taking care of them, every step of the way. And following further instruction, each tribe took a rock from the bottom of that riverbed which should not have been dry, and built a memorial pillar so that they would never forget who they were in relation to their God.

I certainly never want to forget. I’ve asked my Mom to send me a small piece of that roof to keep for my memorial that I might never forget who I am, who my parents are, in relation to my sovereign unchanging God. I never want to forget that sometimes, in remarkable ways, what should not be able to happen can happen and it can happen in my life. What amazing thing is happening in your life and what memorial pillar can you build to never forget the awesomeness of a personal, merciful God?