Giving Thanks!

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." 

-Colossians 3:17

It has been a whirlwind month of November.  I hope all of you had a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving with friends and family!  This has truly been a month of being constantly reminded how much I have to be thankful for.  God promises in Philippians 4:19 that he will "meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  I have seen that promise fulfilled in so many ways this year. The Lord has been so faithful in everything, from the move to Montana in May, through the passing of my dad, through the ministry doors that have opened, through a procedure on my back that has left me feeling as good as I have in more than six years, to the many people He has put in my life who constantly point me to Him, and just the ability to grow in my personal relationship with Him daily, He has truly provided for my every need.  And it's amazing when thinking of the things I am most thankful for, almost all are things that money could never buy.  I am constantly reminded of my favorite verse that says "where (our) treasure is there (our) heart will be also (Matthew 6:21)."  I am so thankful to be rich in the things that God values over what the world says is most important.  Know that I thank Him constantly for the role so many of you have played in encouraging me along the way.

Things have been busy at Kirkwood Baptist out here in Bozeman getting ready for the winter season.  We have been working on some upcoming Christmas events, finishing up calendaring for the coming year, and spending a lot of good time in the Word.  Pastor James' and Misty's baby boy is growing so fast and just hit the six week mark!  We also just had a new family come into town from New York and they are just getting settled so everyone is eager to get to know them better in the coming months.  Also, a man that many of us had been praying for came forward and accepted Christ after service a couple weeks ago - so exciting!

I have also been busy coaching the Heritage Christian 5th-8th grade girls' basketball team.  It is a fun group of girls and we are getting ready to head in to some tournaments after Thanksgiving break!

Baby Levi - the Thanksgiving turkey :)

Hanging with the Wyatt kiddos

In the midst of everything I took a very quick road trip down to Utah to clean out some stuff at the place that was my dad's.  I was blessed to have a friend with me to help and we had such a sweet time together.  I am so grateful the Lord puts people in our lives to walk with us through each season!

Utah Road Trip

Utah Road Trip

I also got to go back to San Diego for the first time in almost a year for Thanksgiving.  I got to see my mom and friends I consider family.  It was a sweet time catching up with them and getting to wear flip flops for a couple days was nice!

With the Emerick family

With my mom

Quick stop at the beach

Although I grew up in San Diego and enjoy the beach, I am most certainly a mountain girl at heart and love being in Montana in Big Sky country with all the snow!  As we get ready to head into December, and as the lights go up, trees are decorated and gifts are purchased I pray we can all keep our eyes on what Christmas is truly about and have the ability to see God at work all around us.

In the coming weeks please pray for:
- Youth Lock-In at Kirkwood December 7
- Upcoming Kirkwood Kids Christmas Celebration December 15
- Kirkwood Christmas Dinner and Worship December 16
- I leave December 27 on a mission trip to Slovenia (near Austria, Italy and Croatia). Please pray for myself and the team I am traveling with as we all prepare to head over there! (If you go back to my Aug 24 blog post, there is more information on the details of this trip!)