Hello church family!

It is so good to officially be back with you all after my month-long sabbatical. During my sabbatical, I had the optimistic goal of reading ten books that have been on my to-read list for a while. Needless to say, I did not manage to finish all ten. I did finish two, I’m halfway through two others, and I started a new one two days ago. One of the books I’m currently reading is, The Power of Thank You: Discover the Joy of Gratitude by Joyce Meyer. It was given to me by our own Charlie Almon. The book talks about each moment we have being a precious gift from God and having a thankful attitude, choosing to live each moment in joy because our God is good.

So, let me take a moment to say a few thank you's. Thank you for blessing me with precious time to be with my friends and with my family. In this stage of my life, it is rare for all four of my family members to be in one place. I am grateful for the weeks I had with Chuck, Jenna, and Ethan this summer. We made some special memories that I will treasure forever.

Thank you for blessing me with some much needed time to rest and recharge. I am grateful for a church that gives its ministers a sabbatical every five years. It gave me a chance to reflect on the 18 years I have been at First Baptist and the wonderful ways in which I have seen God move in this church and in my life.

Thank you for trusting me with your children. I love partnering with parents to help them guide their children in their faith. Watching your children grow up at First Baptist and seeing them accept Jesus as their Savior is one of the greatest joys of my life.

After a month off, I was excited to jump right back into this wonderful calling of mine by going to camp last week with four fourth grade girls, one amazing mom, and the best youth chaperone ever. The theme for the week was “wonder” and if you’ve ever been around fourth grade girls, you know they wonder about a lot of things…including God. We talked about how we worship a big God, how the same God who created the heavens and the earth created each of us, loves each of us, and desires to know us personally. I hope these girls never lose their sense of wonder when it comes to God. In fact, my hope for all our children is that they will wonder, they will ask questions, and they will always be in awe of a God that loves them so.

For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these,

Jennifer