Wow, one month of 2010 gone already! At Deer Valley we are starting our Family Focus Month with the theme “Desperate Households”. Each weekend we have a different theme for our members to focus on. First weekend we have focuses on God’s Word! Valentines day weekend is the annual Marriage Vow Renewal where couples renew their vows at a time in the service. It’s an awesome opportunity to honor your relationship before God and fellow Christians. The weekend of the 20/21 we’ll learn more about communication and how important it is to communicate. Finally, we close out the month with Youth Weekend, where we celebrate the youth of our congregation and present our annual youth booklet. It’s a fun month and hope you can all join us each week for an awesome dose of encouragement from God’s Word.
Wiped Out
Have you ever felt like you were worn out, totally exhausted both mentally and physically? How did you bounce back from that feeling of being wiped out? One of the teenagers living in our house was still asleep after 12 noon. I opened the door and asked him if he was alright. His response, ‘I’m just exhausted’! How are you exhausted at 18? You go to school, play any and all sports you want, eat, sleep and have no responsibilities! Really, how exhausted can you be?
We all remember what it’s like being a teenager don’t we? You are being pulled in several different directions-school, sports, friends, family, work, hobbies and church. Everyone wants a piece of your time and you try and honor that request. Eventually you just can’t keep up with the demand. So, what’s the fix? Oh course we know it’s going to the Word and being energized by God’s promises. The hope and comfort we long for are found in His Word and gives us the peace and calm that we desire!
To find it takes more than a visit to your local church on Sunday. It involves you being active in exploring God’s Word. Try setting a specific time during the day aside for you to pray and read from the scriptures. Let yourself dig deeper into the words and hear what God has to say. Find the promises he has made for you and provides for us through Jesus Christ! Read, listen and share and be renewed by those amazing Words!
Woohoo! January 2010!
We did it! We made it to the start of another year, a new decade! What lies ahead in 2010? What great goals do you have for 2010? What about those “resolutions” for the new year? Are any of these attainable? Probably, but we will probably break more than we keep if tradition holds true to form. So, Happy New Year’s anyway!
Sometimes we like to treat the start of a new year as a cleaning of the slate, a new beginning but that’s a bit difficult to do. Our bills, troubles, difficulties and stresses seem to follow us into the new year. How do you break the chains of monotony and the status quo? Try and break the bad habits and create new ones. We have to be consistent when we try to break the old habits—the experts tell us it takes 30 days of consistency to develop new habits. One twelfth of the year is gone after 30 days so keep up the good work!
What good habits should you make this year? Dealing better with finances, working towards better health and relationships are good to evaluate but I want you to look at your spiritual life. What does your personal devotional time look like? Is God at the top of your priority list? We have added some growth groups to the opportunity for you to grow in the Word. Besides our Midweek Bible Study, ABS, One Year Bible Study, Sunday Morning Bible Study, Teen Bible study, Monday night home study–you can join a small group with the Sheltons’ discussing marriage and relationships or join the Wendts’ for “What’s so amazing about Grace?” group. If you’ve never been in a Bible study or small group before my encouragement is to jump in and hang on! You will be uplifted by God’s Word and supported by fellow Christians! Start the year off with a huge leap — get out of your comfort zone and stretch the envelope of comfort surrounding you!
Happy New Year!
