An update from Sherry

Just after 5 p.m. today, we received a call from my surgical oncologist. After the biopsy and consultation last Thursday she had said, "I am not optimistic about what your results will be". And she was right.

Tomorrow I am scheduled for a PetScan and MRI. Later in the week I will have a consultation with the Oncologist as she studies all the tests results and recommends treatment. We will give updates through the Awaken. I feel that God is giving us much grace as a result of your prayers and the words of encouragement and love that we have received from you today.

I was blessed to grow up in a home where my parents lived their faith out in such a way that as a young 8 year old, I came to know the Lord personally. As I became a teenager, I remember a favorite time was lying on my bed, looking out my window into the night sky. and talking to the Lord.

There is a special day that I treasure in my memory. We lived in Arkansas at the time. Our 3 children were pre-schoolers, and we had made the 2 1/2 hour drive to visit my parents in Mississippi. There was a clothing outlet in a town about 30 miles away, and I liked to shop there when I visited my parents. (Shopping for bargains, no surprise, right?)

I left the kids behind with Rex and the grandparents who seemed delighted. I still remember that getting away from preschoolers is a luxury. It was a beautiful day. In the quietness and peacefulness of my drive, I was noticing the rich dark soil of the Mississippi Delta, the large trees, and the prolific Kudzu vine that was quite beautiful to me.

Not long before this outing , I had been in a study of Mary's Magnificate in Luke 1:46-55. Although I love those verses the words that struck me were in Luke 1:38 as Mary responded to the Angel who gave her the news that she would be the mother of our Lord. Courageously this young woman declared her willingness to be a "handmaiden" of the Lord.

So I began to sing a song that I made up where I too declared that I wanted to be a "handmaiden of the Lord". That drive became one of the sweetest worship experiences of my life. As I made my return trip back to my parents house, I felt the Lord was so close and so real to me that I could have asked Him for anything. But, I didn't ask Him for anything.

What could I ask for? He had given me great parents, an amazing husband, an opportunity to travel on 3 continents, and He had given me 3 precious children. I wanted nothing in those few brief hours of that afternoon but to keep enjoying that rare and sweet intimacy with my Lord.

That is what I felt tonight on hearing the doctor's report. As Rex and I prayed together, I was feeling so blessed, it was hard to ask for anything. But believe me, my husband did.

We reminded ourselves from Matthew 6:27-34, "And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?' "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

The Lord has been so faithful to me all the days of my life and will continue to be.

Gratefully,

Sherry

Hurry up and Wait!

Hurry up and wait!

Today we are waiting on the birth of our 5th grandchild with Nick and Rebekah in Edinburg, TX. Little Liam's bedroom is ready. There is a baby bed, rocker, dresser, bookshelves and a change table. The walls are decorated with Nick's old superman, batman, spiderman, Captain America, and Green Lantern comic books. Rebekah will check into the hospital tomorrow morning at 8:00. Her bags are packed. We are ready. But, the wait goes on.

Today amid occasional Braxton Hicks and possible labor pains, I thought of the biblical admonition to "wait on the Lord". Here are some passages that came to mind...

"Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!" Ps. 27:14

"Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, Just as we hope in You." Ps. 33:20-22

"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret-it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth". Ps. 37:7-9

"I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry". Ps. 40:1

It occurs to me that waiting involves at least three things...

Wait on God's timing. We tend to give God deadlines to remove a particular trial, or a difficult situation. Waiting on the Lord means removing all such deadlines.

Wait on God's provision. We tent to get ahead of God on just about everything. That is why debt is such a problem in America today. We want it now. And we get into trouble.

Wait on God's power. Too often we try to work things out ourselves without giving God the time to demonstrate his supernatural power to change circumstances and to change hearts.

Wait on God's glory. "Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your truth, we wait on you. Your name and renown are the desire of our heart". Isa. 26:8 Waiting on the Lord always brings glory to God.

Waiting on the Lord is savoring God's promises by faith until the time of His fulfillment.

I will let you know tomorrow more about the Chronicles of Liam. Until then you will just have to wait. :)

In His grip of grace,

Rex

Last Word. First Word.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9 ESV)

Sherry and I are in Edinburg, TX with Nick, Rebekah and Zoe, counting down the hours to 2012. I wanted to send you one last communiqué as the clock winds down on 2011, and the ball drops on 2012. We are also doing another kind of countdown - waiting for the birth of Rebekah's baby! It is looking like little Liam will be born in 2012.

We drove to Houston yesterday to see my sister, Pam, who is under the care of M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Hospital. We had a good visit with Pam and Eric last evening and again this morning. John and his wife, Anne, and their children got to see Pam this morning and I could tell it encouraged and renewed her. After visiting and praying with Pam and Eric, we drove from Houston back to Edinburg, about a 5 hour drive.

Please pray for Pam. She is in a phase one clinical trial with a new medication to combat her cancer. She is extremely weak and needs to eat and drink to regain her strength and continue fighting this disease. I am praying continually, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven".

As we close the chapter on 2011 and open a new one, I wanted to try and express our gratitude for you and the many ways you have blessed our lives this past year. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for your partnership in the work of our Lord. Thank you for sharing your lives, your gifts, and your hearts with us. You are a rare find, a true treasure. We esteem you highly and value our relationship with you beyond our ability to describe. Your commitment to follow Jesus inspires us!

Tomorrow, January 1st, Rob McCallum, will do the teaching at Conejo Church. His message will be "The fruit of forgiveness". I just read his outline and a few of the insights he will share tomorrow. You will be abundantly blessed by this powerful truth. Lord, anoint your servant, and the ears of those who hear.

Next Sunday, January 8th, I will bring the second message in this two-week series on "Forgiveness".

One last word: Happy New Year.

May the quietness, confidence and joy of our Lord be your strength in 2012!

In His grip of grace,

Rex

It is inevitable

We just finished a series from John called "It is inevitable". The big idea for the series was the inevitability of the victory of Jesus Christ over all enemies. In the series which covered John 18-21, we saw that the righteousness of Christ is more powerful than the sin of man, that life is more powerful than death and that forgiveness is more powerful than hate.

I have come out of this study convinced that divine sovereignty inevitably triumphs over Human failure. It is inevitable. History is not a senseless cycle of random and repeating events but an ever-increasing movement of the inevitable triumph of the Gospel of grace. Listen to what the angel said to Mary... "And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1:30-33) "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof". (Ps. 24:1) "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea". (Habakkuk 2:14) When Jesus gave his parables of the mustard seed and the leaven (Matt. 13:31-33) his point was that the kingdom would start out small, hardly visible, and gradually grow until it becomes large, vast, expanding and eventually overcome all enemies. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father guiding events, movements, people and circumstances until every enemy is made his footstool.(Psalm 110:1) I believe that the Spirit-anointed Gospel will have overwhelming success in bringing the nations of the world to Christ. I believe this is the consistent promise of scripture. Christmas is a loud reminder that the baby born in Bethlehem will reign from sea to sea and to the ends of the earth. We sing it out with Isaac Watt's hymn, "He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness and heaven and nature sing" In other words, Christ's great commission will become the world's great realization. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's wife died in a fire in 1861. He was unable to attend her funeral because of his own severe burns. In his diary for Christmas day 1861 he wrote, "How inexpressibly sad are the holidays."Two years later his son was severely wounded in the civil war. On Christmas Day 1864 - at age 57 - Longfellow sat down to write... "I heard the bells on Christmas day. Their old familiar carols play, ... "And in despair I bowed my head: "There is no peace on earth", I said, For hate is strong, and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to men". "Then peeled the bells more loud and deep; "God is not dead, nor doth he sleep! The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men." Longfellow saw the truth of the inevitable triumph of Jesus Christ. May we see it too. In His grip of grace, Rex

Watching a Movie: "The Help"

As I type this, Sarah and Rex are in our living room watching "The Help". While it was playing, I was working in the kitchen overhearing the movie's dialogue and lots of thoughts were coming to mind.

Arkansas is the state of our birth. We were in junior high school in 1957, when Little Rock Central High School made history as the National Guard escorted (for protection) the Little Rock 9 into the school to begin its integration of Black students into formerly White schools. A few years ago, Sarah was in school at Arkansas State University for one year. While she was there, a female member of the Arkansas Nine came to speak on campus. Sarah enthusiastically praised this woman who challenged the ASU students in a rare and powerful way. After hearing her story, Sarah marveled that she showed no bitterness for the terrible days she had experienced as a youth.

Just after Rex and I married in 1964, my parents moved to Mississippi. When they arrived, things were very similar to what took place in this movie, '"The Help". Thankfully not everyone in the South was like some of the Whites portrayed in this movie. Rex recalls his parents commenting on two little boys, one Black, one White, happily enjoying each other holding hands as they walked along together. Mrs. Holt said, "There's sure not any prejudice in their little hearts" to which Mr. Holt responded, "There's not in anyone's, until someone puts it there."

My parents shared the same perspective as the Holts in abhorring racial prejudice. Daddy had always been a fan of a TV Western called the Rifleman and its star, Chuck Conners. The show ran for 5 seasons, from 1958-1963. In the 1970's,the TV miniseries "Roots" aired based on a book by Alex Haley. After watching "Roots", Daddy couldn't seem to separate his one time TV hero from the despicable and cruel character that Chuck Conners played in that miniseries. He evidently played his part so well, that Daddy always felt he had to have prejudice in his heart to even accept a part like that.

In Memphis, 1968, just 60 miles from our home town, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. A few years later we moved to Ft. Worth for Rex to attend seminary. The seminary library had a significant number of audio sermons preached by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rex loved to listen to them. Of course his favorite message was, "I Have A Dream".

In the 70's, we lived in Togo, an important area for the Atlantic Slave trade from the 16th to the 19th century. We loved stories about John Newton and William Willberforce and their fight to end the West African slave trade. We even admired the scars on our Yoruba friends faces. It was a custom that began long ago to identify their tribe in case someone was kidnapped and forcibly taken to the coast to be put on a slave ship. A Yoruba would "lay down his life" to rescue an individual who bore the marking of his tribe. These scars were made by making cuts into the skin of an infant and placing ashes inside the wound. After understanding the significance of their scars, we understood why the Yorubas were proud of these distinguishing marks.

Lots of memories, right? Our children are horrified by the mistreatment enacted in this film. I am very grateful that some real-life heroes and heroines in history paid a great price to see righteousness and justice prevail that eventually ended the Atlantic Slave Trade and resulted in our nation's Civil Rights Law of 1964.

Sherry

Christmas gifts for 71 children

Saturday we will serve the women and children of Prototypes women's center in Oxnard. It will be an exciting and meaningful time for all of us.

We will enjoy decorating the home for Christmas, doing yard work and cleaning while some of our ladies do crafts with the women of Prototypes.

We will then enjoy eating barbeque with the women, children and staff of the center. We will present Christmas gift cards to the 15 staff, 14 women and 1 man.

A small gift bag will be given to the 32 women of the center. All of this will take place on Saturday.

But there is one thing more that we want to do. We would like to provide a Christmas gift to each one of the 71 children whose moms are residents of the center. There are 32 mothers and 71 children who are residents at Prototypes.

Here is the plan.

This Sunday we will have 71 cards with the name of a child, their age and sex. We will then ask you to take a card and get a gift for your child. We will bring those gifts to church on Sunday, December 18th and take them to the children to have for Christmas. So, come prepared Sunday to take a card, purchase and gift-wrap your present for a child. We will give an approximate amount for each gift on Sunday. Are you in? Yes! Let's do it!

God bless you dear ones!

In his grip of grace,

Rex

Born of a virgin

Born of a Virgin

Prophecy: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)

Fulfillment: "But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:20-23) CNN Talk show host, Larry King, was once asked who he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He said, 'Jesus Christ.' The questioner said, 'And what would you like to ask Him?' King replied, "I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me'."

The virgin birth of Jesus Christ is the root from which everything the New Testament says about him grows. ... Both of the birth narratives, Matthew and Luke, state it up front as a fact. That fact explains the amazing things he said and did. The virgin birth is at the heart of the nature of Jesus. He is God in the flesh. To deny the virgin birth is to deny the very essence of our Christian faith. The foundation of incarnational - missional living is in this great doctrine of our faith. God became man. The Word became flesh and "dwelt" among us. "He moved into the neighborhood" as the Message Bible puts it. This advent season let's embrace this truth and move into the neighborhood with the revolutionary love of Jesus. "Joy to the world the Lord has come!"

In His grip of grace,

Rex

She Will Dance at Her Wedding

I am quite a romantic and that has motivated me to share with you a sweet love story.

They met in 6th grade and were good friends. Later the two of them joined a Christian Band with some schoolmates and began dating, and knew almost immediately they were going to be married one day. She was 16.

His name is JR and hers is Samantha, After getting the blessings of the parents, he designed her engagement ring. On March 12, 2011, he took her to their favorite waterfall and there he proposed. The wedding date was set for December 11th, 2011.

On October 6, 2011, Samantha and her mom Lori were in a car accident. Lori was able to go home from the hospital that day but they kept Samantha. She had a broken rib, a small puncture to the lung, a bruised liver, and 3 fractures to her pelvis. JR stayed by her side holding her hand during those days when she was told that she would not be walking down the aisle on December 11th without crutches or a cane. She was even told to "forget the honeymoon".

Because this family is so loved, lots of friends began praying and guess what? Samantha will not only be walking down the aisle on her wedding day, but she will be dancing the first dance with her new husband.

On Friday night at 7 p.m., we will have a Pampered Chef Bridal Shower for Samantha at the home of Lauri and Dave Kappen, 3143 Cherrywood Drive, Thousand Oaks. Ladies, there is not need to bring a gift because after a presentation by Jaime Mitchell, you will have the opportunity to select a gift for the bride and groom. It will be an evening of food, fun, and celebration.

See you there,

Sherry

Another Beautiful Day in Southern California

Around 9 this morning, I drove Rex to meet up with friends for a flight from LAX. We drove along one of the highway veins that take you from the 101 toward the Pacific Coast Highway. The coastal mountains are lush and green due to our recent rains, and I never seem to take for granted the beauty of God's creation in this part of His world.

Rushed home to get a little lunch ready for Sharon Cleary and Lauri Kappen. We were meeting to make assignments for this Saturday night's Progressive Dinner. They arrived at 11.

Lauri's arms were loaded with paper, pens, and tape as she headed outside to the patio where she taped large sheets of white paper together covering a 6 foot table. Headings were made across the top with the name of each host home. Making the various assignments and phone call verifications took nearly 3 hours and was a bigger job than I realized it would be. However, it was so beautiful outside today that it was a pleasure for the 3 of us to work together and anticipate all the fun we will have as Conejo Church has the opportunity to spend our Saturday evening together.

I think it will be an amazing evening. We will arrive at the Melia's at 5 for appetizers, scatter to a dozen host homes for the main course at 6:15, then re-assemble together at the Koorenny's for dessert, Christmas music, fellowship, and fun at 8. If you signed up, you will get an email with your specific host home assignment and your food contribution.

See you then, Sherry

P.S. Will you please pray for Donna Leavitt and her mother Josephine Fried. You may have seen Jo, a vivacious 86 year old enthusiastic worshiper helping with clean-up after church on Sunday. She is now struggling with serious health problems as a result of a stroke that occurred during the Thanksgiving Holidays. Donna had volunteered to be a host home for our Progressive Dinner but has brought her mom into her home and is assuming the responsibilty of her care. Please pray for this family.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Rex Holt > Date: November 30, 2011 12:00:18 AM PST > To: mattvos@gmail.com > Subject: Another Beautiful Day in Southern California > Reply-To: rex@conejochurch.com > > Around 9 this morning, I drove Rex to meet up with friends for a flight from LAX. We drove along one of the highway veins that take you from the 101 toward the Pacific Coast Highway. The coastal mountains are lush and green due to our recent rains, and I never seem to take for granted the beauty of God's creation in this part of His world. > > Rushed home to get a little lunch ready for Sharon Cleary and Lauri Kappen. We were meeting to make assignments for this Saturday night's Progressive Dinner. They arrived at 11. > > Lauri's arms were loaded with paper, pens, and tape as she headed outside to the patio where she taped large sheets of white paper together covering a 6 foot table. Headings were made across the top with the name of each host home. Making the various assignments and phone call verifications took nearly 3 hours and was a bigger job than I realized it would be. However, it was so beautiful outside today that it was a pleasure for the 3 of us to work together and anticipate all the fun we will have as Conejo Church has the opportunity to spend our Saturday evening together. > > I think it will be an amazing evening. We will arrive at the Melia's at 5 for appetizers, scatter to a dozen host homes for the main course at 6:15, then re-assemble together at the Koorenny's for dessert, Christmas music, fellowship, and fun at 8. If you signed up, you will get an email with your specific host home assignment and your food contribution. > > See you then, > Sherry > > P.S. Will you please pray for Donna Leavitt and her mother Josephine Fried. You may have seen Jo, a vivacious 86 year old enthusiastic worshiper helping with clean-up after church on Sunday. She is now struggling with serious health problems as a result of a stroke that occurred during the Thanksgiving Holidays. Donna had volunteered to be a host home for our Progressive Dinner but has brought her mom into her home and is assuming the responsibilty of her care. Please pray for this family.

A Togolese Christmas by Sherry

In yesterday's Awaken, Rex talked about the Advent Calendar that we used when our children were small. I want to discuss what it was like to celebrate Christmas in Togo about a decade before our children were being introduced to the meaning of Christmas with the Advent Calendar.

Our Togolese friends are accustomed to celebrating. Just drive along the coastline of Togo and watch the daily fishing routine. Two large canoe like boats, each boat pulling one side of a large net, leave the shore. Men await the return of the two boats and the net that is full of fish. Then the men on shore began pulling the net full of fish ashore as the women with large basins wait for their portion of the day's catch which they later dry in the sun. As the net is being pulled on to the shore, they sing and dance making the hard work look like fun. It seemed they were able to make any activity a party.

Some of our Togolese friends knew of our Western Christmas traditions but to others it was their first time to celebrate Christmas. There was no talk of Santa, elves, shopping, Christmas movies, etc. Only the pure sweetness of seeing this amazing event in history becoming real to these new believers.

When we packed up to leave the States for Togo, I bought bundles of washcloths. I found inexpensive items at the market for children like small rubber balls. I wrapped each woman one washcloth and a small gift for each child in colorful paper. For me, color is synonymous with Africa........you should see the myriad of vibrant colors displayed in the cloth for women's dresses at the Lome' Market.

We had the Christmas service at our house. We introduced Christmas carols in French and read the Biblical account of the Christmas story. We had refreshments, and I gave the women and children their small gifts. Wow! Did we have a party. What a sweet experience to celebrate Christmas where the Good News was so fresh and new!

The party kept going and going. Finally we explained that it was time for the party to end. This was our interesting response, "Pastor, let's stay together all night to re-enact the journey of the Shepherds as they searched

for the Christ-child!" We managed to close off the party after midnight but from then on, when we celebrated Christmas in Togo, we were prepared to celebrate in parallel fashion to the Shepherds who had heard the angels

announcement of Jesus' birth.

As these memories come to mind, I feel gratitude for the privilege of experiencing those days. It is no wonder that I love Christmas!

Sherry