Role Models and Thankfulness.

Yesterday I did something I never thought I would. I served Joni Eareckson Tada dinner in the student center at Cedarville University! She came and spoke in chapel in the morning and stayed all day to attend a Bioethics Banquet. 

Joni is one of my Christian role models so you can imagine how excited I was to hear her speak! Her message was full of hope, a testimony of what God has done in her life and continues to do. She said that she has to ask God for a smile every morning when she wakes up, and he always supplies her with one by 7:30 am in the morning when her nurses come in to wake her up and get her ready for the day.

I pretty much loved chapel today and yesterday because a Children of the World choir sang the entire chapel time! That was bittersweet. The children were so precious and their passion for God was amazing! These kids have suffered more than many of us ever will in our lives and their joy is overflowing! It makes sense that the greater the suffering a person endures, the greater their joy will be when Christ has set them free from the power of sin in their lives. The moral of the story is this: 

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. -Colossians 2:13-14 {NLT}

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. -Colossians 3:16-17 {NLT}

Just like the Children of the World, let's sing praise to our God with thankful hearts!

The Mu Kappa Barn party is tomorrow night so I'll be off in the middle of nowhere surrounded by corn fields at this time tomorrow. A roaring fire, fellowship, games, and a hay ride are some of the things I have to look forward to. I'm just hoping it won't get too chilly, but according to the weather forecast, the low for tomorrow is 47 degrees. Guess we'll just have to dress warmly!

Happy Independence Day, Papua New Guinea! 36 years ago PNG gained its independence from Australia. I'm so blessed to have grown up in such a beautiful, diverse country. :)

Have a blessed Friday as you reflect on everything you have to be thankful for!