Running to Jesus

A few weeks ago our family received the news that a favorite family member had been taken to the hospital due to very high blood pressure and dehydration. 

I read the news to the family once I had read it from a Facebook post. 

Within a few seconds I turned my head and started to call out to our son, Ryan, to ask him something about his school work.

This is what I found him doing, with tears streaming down his cheeks...

He ran to Jesus.

What a huge wave of gratefulness swept over me! 
Praise the Lord! 
He gets it! 

Then I thought about it...
we as missionaries could work ourselves out of a job if we could just get people to grasp this concept! 

We see spiritually hungry people turning to 
drugs,
alcohol,
sadly, even suicide.


Why do we worry,
why do we struggle,
why do we fret,
why do we search endlessly for someone who understands our problems,
why don't we just run to Jesus!?

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

Card Shower for a Dear Friend

 I wanted to share something special that I would like to ask you to do for a dear friend named, Sheila Campbell. Sheila has been a missionary alongside her hubby, Steve, in the Philippines since February 2000. They have three children. They returned to the States to check into some health problems Sheila had been experiencing. They soon found out that Sheila had Stage 4 Lymphoma. Most recently, Sheila has been told that she will need to have a  bone marrow transplant.
Her friends have sent messages on Facebook to begin a card shower for Sheila as a surprise. She really needs our encouragement right now. Even if you don't know Sheila personally, you can still understand the encouragement cards or notes would be from people all around the world letting you know that they are praying for YOU in a time of need. Please share this with your churches, youth groups, ladies' groups, or Sunday school classes so that they too can participate as mentioned below.

Following is the note from the friend who started this card shower.

With the bone marrow transplant that she's going to need (which is 60 days straight, including holidays and weekends), she will have lots of expenses such as gas, food, room and board, extra medical bills, etc. We are encouraging people to send a card and include a gas card, gift card, or check if possible. If not, at least a card of encouragement.

Her address: 

Sheila Campbell

c/o Baptist International Missions, Inc.
P.O. Box 9215
Chattanooga, TN 37412

Please also help me spread this news to other churches or friends that you know would participate.
For your convenience, I've made a flyer that is hosted privately online and can be printed out here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9500526/Church/card-shower.pdf

_______________________________________________________________

You can print this flyer and use it to show to people at your church.

Please take a little time to do this yourself and even share with someone. Sheila and Steve both are special friends to my husband and I and we want to be an encouragement to them in any way we can right now.