{"id":3214,"date":"2012-10-22T05:05:42","date_gmt":"2012-10-22T09:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=3214"},"modified":"2012-10-23T22:15:35","modified_gmt":"2012-10-24T02:15:35","slug":"the-best-of-timesthe-worst-of-times-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/10\/the-best-of-timesthe-worst-of-times-part-1.html","title":{"rendered":"The Best of Times\/The Worst of Times Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Birth,<\/a><\/p>\n

Birth, birthdays and even death are important times of blessing<\/p>\n

Some weeks you wonder how everything comes in bunches.\u00a0 \u201cAmazing\u201d is the only word I\u00a0find appropriate to describe the events of many Saturdays and Sundays at Special Gathering.\u00a0 We had such a time several years ago. So much happened\u2013good and bad\u2013during our chapel services on Saturday and Sunday that\u00a0it will take a week to chronicle.\u00a0 However, I\u2019ll begin with God\u2019s providence in our daily lives and in the lives of our members.<\/p>\n

Special Gathering is a ministry within the mentally challenged community.\u00a0 We are a community based ministry with the mission to evangelize and disciple people who are developmentally disabled.\u00a0\u00a0Combined, our eight programs\u00a0are sponsored by approximately 110 local churches in five counties\u00a0from two states.\u00a0 We draw our material from a variety of places.\u00a0 Currently, we are\u00a0using the Southern Baptist material,\u00a0Access,<\/em>\u00a0because overall we have found that it is the most convenient to us that is continually updated.\u00a0 It is also consistently faithful to the scriptures.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I have been told that the series of lessons that are used in the Unified Lesson that most denominations use as their text for each Sunday is planned four years in advance.\u00a0 Which means that the text for our July lesson was planned in 2004.\u00a0 I know that the Southern BaptistAccess<\/em>\u00a0curriculum\u00a0plans and writes\u00a0their material a year in advance.\u00a0 Therefore, the lesson for July 25 was written in 2007.\u00a0 Once I received that material, I take the scripture text and the lesson material and do my sermons about a month ahead of time.<\/p>\n

Our lesson for July 25 was taken from Genesis 47 when Jacob blessed Joseph on his death bed.\u00a0 My lesson centered around that event.\u00a0 I spoke that it was a great blessing of God to be able to have our family and friends with us for important events in our lives.\u00a0 (The Bible tells us that Jacob\u2019s greatest desire was to have Joseph close his eyes in death.) I talked about how our family and friends should bless us with prayer during these important events in our lives.\u00a0 I highlighted three events that I felt are important in every person\u2019s life: \u00a0birth, birthdays and death.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I planned as my attention-getting device to have a balloon from my husband\u2019s recent birthday party.\u00a0 But I forgot to put it into the car while preparing to go to the Saturday program.\u00a0 As I was traveling to Vero (a 50 mile trip from my SpG office), I was aggravated with myself that I\u2019d forgotten such an important part of my sermon.\u00a0 Then I realized that I didn\u2019t need a balloon from a party that happened a couple of weeks ago because we had planned a small birthday celebration for one of our volunteers.\u00a0 We had also planned a birthday celebration for her on Sunday because she is our supervisor in Melbourne.\u00a0 We would have a birthday cake for each service and we could sing Happy Birthday and honor Joanne.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on God\u2019s guidance in our lives was overwhelming to me as I traveled in my car to our Saturday program.\u00a0 Four years ago, God planned to surprise this wonderful Christian with a birthday surprise.\u00a0 And he planned to bless our members by giving them a tangible, up-to-date\u00a0example for the lesson.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>What an amazing God we serve.\u00a0 What detail.\u00a0 What intricate planning and bringing together of circumstances to be able to show His love for a servant who desires no recognition but only to be able to go about doing her job with excellence.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course, we know that he is constantly working our these kinds of events, adventures and misadventures for us.\u00a0 However, it is marvelous when God graciously opens heaven\u2019s doors and lets us see his hand moving in our lives.<\/p>\n

Happy Birthday, Joann.\u00a0 You are greatly loved by God and by us!<\/p>\n

What was one time in your life that you knew that God had divinely worked out circumstances to bless someone you know?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Birth, birthdays and even death are important times of blessing Some weeks you wonder how everything comes in bunches.\u00a0 \u201cAmazing\u201d is the only word I\u00a0find appropriate to describe the events of many Saturdays and Sundays at Special Gathering.\u00a0 We had such a time several years ago. So much happened\u2013good and bad\u2013during our chapel services on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,40,186,49,16,8,4,41],"tags":[690,21,688,696,7,699,715,701,694,709,689,57,6,700],"class_list":["post-3214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-leadership","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-prayer","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Best of Times\/The Worst of Times Part 1 - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Best of Times\/The Worst of Times Part 1 - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Birth, birthdays and even death are important times of blessing Some weeks you wonder how everything comes in bunches.\u00a0 \u201cAmazing\u201d is the only word I\u00a0find appropriate to describe the events of many Saturdays and Sundays at Special Gathering.\u00a0 We had such a time several years ago. 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Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Best of Times\/The Worst of Times Part 1 - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Best of Times\/The Worst of Times Part 1 - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"Birth, birthdays and even death are important times of blessing Some weeks you wonder how everything comes in bunches.\u00a0 \u201cAmazing\u201d is the only word I\u00a0find appropriate to describe the events of many Saturdays and Sundays at Special Gathering.\u00a0 We had such a time several years ago. 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