GRATITUDE {and a lovely boutique!}

The guys from left to right- Jon, Ray, Tom and Sven

"Give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God in

Christ Jesus for you."

-1 Thessalonians 5:18

Hello Friends.


I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.  We gathered again at Liz and Sven's for the chance to enjoy a delightful day of feasting, visiting together and walk down memory lane as we watched a video compilation of the past three years (great job Faith!). 

How thankful we are to the Rafferty Family for making us feel loved- and full- again this year!  It was a great time together. 

Sparkling Cider for all!  Auntie Liz, Faith, Lydia and Hailey Grace

THE GRATITUDE ATTITUDE


Whatever you did to mark this day, I hope that you gave yourself the chance to take a bit of a breather mentally.  And that you were able to do what this holiday was created to do...  give thanks to God for the bounty that He has given each of us. 

Giving thanks is such a blessing to our own souls, isn't it?  As we step back and consider all we have to be grateful for, something wonderful happens.  We grow content and more than that- settled and uplifted. 

We find that as we look around

through the lens of gratitude

all we have is turned into enough-

and more than enough. 

Cousin synergy- they crack us up!

 

 

PRINCIPLES FOR SIMPLE LIVES

Gratitude gives us the chance to stop; pare down and enjoy the simple things.  I appreciated these thoughts by Richard J. Foster as he shared principles for people who desire to live simple lives:

Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status

Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you

Develop a habit of giving things away - de-accumulate

Refuse to be propagandised by the custodians of modern gadgetry

Learn to enjoy things without owning them

Develop a deeper appreciation for the creation

Look with a healthy scepticism at all 'buy now, pay later' schemes

Obey Jesus' injunction about plain, honest speech

Reject anything that will breed the oppression of others

Shun whatever would distract you from your main goal

 

 

HELP ORPHANS WHILE YOU SHOP


I also wanted to let you know of a little jewel of an opportunity in the midst of what will soon be hustle and bustle. 

In the spirit of Christmas, our church family is helping with a delightful Boutique this Saturday to

earn money for the adoption of orphans. 

This is a fundraiser designed to give the community the opportunity to purchase quality, handmade gifts while supporting the adoption of orphans at the same time. 

Our dear friends, the Wintons, recently produced this film to share the blessing of adoption with the church* and will be on hand as well.



 

If you are local, please consider coming out!  We'd love to see you there.


Christmas Boutique Details:

DATE:      December 3 (this Saturday)
TIME:       10:00-4:00
WHERE:   225 E. Orangeburg Ave, Modesto, California



Blessings,
Rebecca

_________________________________

*The Wintons share that adoption isn't charity... it's war:   "Today, over 130 million children have lost one or both parents, and every 18 seconds, another child in the world becomes an orphan. In America, 114,000 children in the foster care system are currently waiting to be adopted, and an estimated 65,500 of those children have been adopted by homosexual parents... This is a battle against the forces of darkness. Adoption isn’t charity, it’s war."