Faith Words: Celebrations!

Yesterday, I was privileged to spend a good portion of the day with two lovely Christian sisters.  We were celebrating the completion of Faith Words 2012.

As a prelude to our celebration, we sat in my living room and each one of us in turn shared from memory the 24 verses (23 verses for one sister) God had written on our hearts last year.  Even though we're all three good friends, we were more than a little nervous and intimidated as we shared.  But oh, what a joy to hear God's words flow form the hearts and mouths of these precious ladies!  How beautiful is the word of God Almighty to the mind and to the ear!

These verses had become our stronghold and shield, our rock and our hope through many difficult situations and through many times of joy.  They will forever stand as our Ebenezer, our help from God Himself because we believe that He selected them for us to encourage us in our walk.

These verses have seen us through deaths of loved ones, life stage changes, drought, political stress, storms, tragedies.  By them, our Father has reassured that through it all, He IS beside us and will never forsake us.  By them, our Father has given us renewed hope in His promises. We've seen Him work actively in our lives and love Him more dearly now than we did just a year ago.

So, with our recitations behind us, we celebrated.  We shared a wonderful meal together.  We received a framed print of our favorite verse for the year handcrafted just for us by one of these dear sisters.  We laughed.  And we shared. Oh, how we shared!  We shared how amazed we are that with God's help, we really were able to memorize all our verses.  We shared faith story after faith story about how perfectly God selected each verse for that precise time in our lives.  We shared how encouraged we feel to know that we had walked this path together, drawing strength to complete the task from each other.  It was a beautiful day!

And here we are again, building on last year's foundation, eagerly anticipating where God will lead us, what He will teach us as we learn and commit to memory more verses from His word and read His word daily.  We're already looking forward to next year's celebration.

We have some new partners in this endeavor and we thank and praise God for each of you.  Your participation will bless and encourage you and us and others more than you know right now.  God's word will produce fruit in your lives that will amaze you.

If you haven't gotten started, it's never too late to join in.  Not only is this another facet in your relationship with the Lord, but it's gloriously exciting!  Throughout the year, we'll testify to each other of God's faithfulness and rejoice in His goodness.  We'll share these special words with each other, not only on the blog but in our conversations throughout the year, unable to wait till next January.

I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for me and for you.  We will be changed.

Humbly,

Patrice

Psalm 19:7-11 (NIV)

The law of the Lord is perfect,
     reviving the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
     making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
     giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
     giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
     enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure
     and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
     than much pure gold.;
they are sweeter than honey,
     than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned:
     in keeping them there is great reward.