Often as the old year ends and the new year begins, people remark, “Where did the time go?” Yes. Where did it go?
365 days will tick by this year. What will those 365 days hold: joy, surprises, sorrow, challenges? Yes, they may, but: “… I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
We are grateful for you, and we pray God’s richest blessing on your life in this upcoming year. We look forward to sharing what the Lord is doing in Titus2 and the Maxwell family through this blog!
Serving Jesus, Sarah
“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28&31)
It’s a joy to celebrate God’s gracious gifts! May each of you have a special day remembering what the Lord has done for you!
Happy Thanksgiving!
(We did not send each other’s lists to compare them. They all came to Sarah, who wrote hers before she looked at any ;-). Enjoy!)
Steve & Teri
Steve’s:
Thankful to be able to spend eternity praising the Lord Jesus and God the Father through the Holy Spirit.
My wife of 39 years who has been my team mate endeavoring to serve the Lord Jesus together.
For the delight my children are and their hearts.
We have freedom to worship and and serve Christ.
A local church to worship with fellow believers and fellowship together with.
Mothers who choose to carry their babies to full term.
Thankful for the families God has allowed Titus2 to come alongside of.
Teri’s:
Salvation through the shed blood of my Savior, Jesus Christ
My wonderful husband and children, daughters in laws, grandchildren, and parents
God’s Word
Those who pray for us
Titus2 ministry
Health to be able to participate in life
Food and shelter
Nathan (and family)
Nathan’s:
God and our salvation through Jesus Christ
Melanie
Abigail, Bethany, and Christina
Employment
Health
Melanie’s:
Lord and His Salvation
Hubby and girls
Home
Family and Friend relationships
Food
Freedoms
Abby’s:
My bed
My warm house
Toys
Daddy and Mommy
My chickens and eggs
Bethany’s:
Thanksgiving
Daddy’s birthday
Snickerdoodles
My blankie
Christopher (and family)
Christopher’s:
A God who loves me so much that He would send His Only Son to take my punishment and offer me the gift of salvation.
Anna Marie (she’s amazing) and Joshua (he’s a blast).
New life: we’re looking forward to Little Maxwell’s arrival in (Lord willing) February.
Health
Work
Time. The blessing of another year filled with memories, time together, special projects, and more.
Grandparents who live next door and being able to help Grandad as he deals with Parkinson’s.
Anna Marie’s:
Salvation in Jesus Christ and the grace He gives to serve Him and follow in His footsteps.
My beloved husband! It is a joy to stand beside him as he leads our little family in the Word!
God’s Word and the freedom we have to possess and study it in our country.
Motherhood. What a huge blessing to be allowed the privilege of raising our children for God’s glory!
Joshua, our little man who fills our lives with new adventures and laughter.
Our new baby who is growing and becoming more and more active! 🙂 So eager to meet him/her in a few short months!
All of our family and friends near and far who love us and encourage us in our walks with the Lord Jesus. Thank you to you all, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Sarah
Jesus Christ, my Savior
Family (they are the best editing team!)
God’s Word
Christmas Comes to Sunflower Scripture Project Families
You! Our Titus2 blog readers
Health
God’s mercy
Joseph
My Savior, Jesus Christ. He saved me and bought me from the dreadful destiny of hell. To the day I die, I desire to serve Him with everything that I am.
My family, and especially my parents. They have been so loving and encouraging in Jesus. I am forever grateful for them.
You all. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement of this ministry. You all are incredible cheerleaders, encouraging this ministry on to even better things!
Things that are easy to take for granted. A few examples are every breath I take, the sun rising each morning, and food on the table.
A free nation, where we are able, at this point, to worship and serve our Creator, and can raise children (if/when the Lord gives me some), in accordance with God’s Word.
Music. I love working with the others in my family on music to honor and glorify Jesus.
My job. I am very grateful for the work that God has provided me.
John
I am thankful for what Jesus did on the cross for me, in saving me from my sins.
I am grateful for my family. The older I get, the more I realize and see how rare it is to have a close-knit family.
I am blessed with a fantastic church, a great pastor, and a wonderful group of believers to worship with.
I am thankful to be healthy. One usually doesn’t realize how blessed they are, until they lose it.
I am thankful for a free country. At the same time, I am deeply saddened by the suffering of Pastor Saeed. This is his second Thanksgiving away from his family. I pray that he is released to his family soon.
I am thankful for work. At a time when so many are without a job right now, work is such a blessing.
I am grateful for brothers and sisters in Christ.
Anna
Jesus – I am so thankful that Jesus paid my sin debt for me! I know I deserve Hell, but I am very thankful that because of Him I can look forward to that day. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52
My Dad and Mom – I cannot thank the Lord enough for blessing me with such amazing parents! They have invested so much in my life, and I am forever grateful for their patience and love in raising me.
My Family – I love each of them sooo much!
Titus2 – it is a joy to be able to travel together and share the amazing life that we have in Christ! I never tire of hearing of families that turn their face from the world and start striving on the narrow way.
My nieces and nephew – I can’t get enough of them. It’s such a blast to be able to play and enjoy each of their special personalities!
The Bible – I am so grateful to have God’s Word at my fingertips! There are so many people who still do not have a Bible in their own language!
Prayer – I am humbled that we can talk to the King of kings at any moment! What a privilege to be able to carry our burdens to Him.
Jesse
The Lord Jesus, His death on the cross for me, and care for me
Each one in my family
Working with my brother from home
A wonderful, warm house
Playing music as a group, and the outreach opportunities that brings
Our church and pastor (Dad)
The opportunity to travel and encourage families
Mary
My Savior Jesus Christ. He is the One Who saved me from an eternity in hell.
My family! They are totally such a love support.
The Bible! It’s my bread and butter for the day but also my encouragement.
For creativity and art. It’s lovely to see how God created this world in such a beautiful manner, and He has enabled us to create beautiful things today.
I’m so grateful for life. If Dad and Mom hadn’t had a reversal, I wouldn’t be here.
I am so grateful the Lord has given me health, so I can stay active.
My amazing nieces and nephew. They add that wonderful spice to life always making us love and laugh.
“I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.” Psalms 35:18
Yesterday, I received a delightful envelope filled with Moody letters. It melts me when I read (or see ;)) children’s love for the books. Ten years ago, I began writing the books (where does time go?!). Although the journey of writing has had its challenges, the Lord has clearly led me down this path. I am so grateful He is using the books to encourage children across this nation.
Joyfully His, Sarah
“But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me:for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14
We experienced a “first” on this trip: the first time meeting in a store-front church. Due to the limited individual rooms, we also used the church next door for sessions. It worked out perfectly!
Friday afternoon went quickly, with the usual set up, practice, and family Bible time. We enjoyed having a number of guests for our Bible time.
We were delighted to see quite a few people we knew along with meeting many others. Our conference coordinator attended Mt. Airy last year and felt led to invite us to give a weekend conference in Roanoke. I am so grateful for our coordinators on this trip. Each one had a heart for the conference and an anticipation in seeing what the Lord Jesus would do. Thank you for your enthusiasm, hospitality, and love for families.
We had families driving in from various distances, Florida, southern Georgia, Washington DC, North Carolina and of course Virginia. It’s exciting to see lives changed for the glory of God! I’m so grateful for a family who is “…not ashamed of the gospel of Christ..”
Friday and Saturday’s sessions went quite smoothly. As I sat in the back of Mom’s, I delighted in seeing how she is such an encouragement to the ladies. She is so practical and open, and by the ladies’ response, it’s obvious they are blessed. I was in Joseph’s, Who Is Jesus to You? session for a few minutes, and I love seeing his heart for the Lord. He’s filled with an intense love for Jesus, and it just flows right from his message. Dad’s guys met in the kitchen, and although a bit of a tight fit, it was great.
May we each serve the Lord Jesus with every breath He gives us.
Joyfully His, Sarah
A peek into our Friday afternoon setups.
Jesse does an awesome job of making sure things are set up and working properly.
Renelle and I have known each other for over ten years, and she and her husband drove 4 1/2 hours to come on Saturday. It was a delight to see them, along with meeting their precious little girl.
I couldn’t pass by this picture at the lunch hour. These little guys looked to be a bundle of, well, life ;). Mary with our friends the C. family! It was so good to see y’all again. Anna with some of the P. family’s children. You all are a blessing!
Liberty and I
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 1 Timothy 2:15
We left late morning for Waynesburg last Tuesday. The drive went smoothly, and we didn’t hit any slow downs which was a blessing considering on this trip we have observed some huge slowdowns in the opposite direction. One involved an overturned cattle hauler which resulted in the interstate being closed for many hours as they cleaned it up. This is also the time of year for a lot of road repair and resurfacing. So with less time to travel and no slowdowns we were grateful.
We arrived at the church about two hours before the conference. There was really only one place we could have parked, and it was available! Our coordinators provided a delicious dinner, which we enjoyed with their family.
The Lord brought a great group of homeschoolers, and it was a delight to have the opportunity to share and get to know many new friends.
Serving Jesus, Sarah
Rachel drew a beautiful picture for our family.
“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” Psalms 127:1