“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Romans 15:13

A great part of the ministry of LifeCare is giving hope to those facing what seems like impossible circumstances.  Some of those circumstances might include the shock of an unplanned pregnancy, lack of a job, disappointment at what a young woman thought was love but her baby’s father abandoned her, living in an abusive relationship, or experiencing the pain of having had an abortion.

What is hope? The dictionary refers to it as a feeling that something desirable will happen or be possible.  It’s amazing to see how far a client can go on just a little bit of hope.  Hope says, “I know I can make it!”  I believe that the source of all hope is none other than Jesus Christ.  Hope happens when we point our clients toward Jesus, whether through Scripture, some encouraging words, or just simply spending time building trust.

In the Christian church we call attention to the sanctity of human life in the month of January because almost forty years ago a law was passed that made abortion legal.  It is so heartbreaking to think of the thousands of babies that have died at the hands of abortionist since that time. We at LifeCare have been seeing to the needs of young single women experiencing unplanned pregnancies for almost twenty-five years.  Our purpose is to help them choose life for their babies by giving them hope.

Let me tell you about one of those young women.  She was a twenty-one year old who found herself in Brandon after hitchhiking from Pennsylvania.  The first time I saw her she was black and blue after having been beaten by the man she was staying with.

I read the Christmas card.  The printed part was very nice, and then I got to the part that was written by the person who sent it.  The words caused a lump in my throat, you know, the kind that lets you know that you’re about to cry.  This is what it said, “I love you, sweet friend!  I don’t know how to express how much you mean to me!”  It’s really hard sometimes to say or write words describing your inner most feelings about someone who is very close.

God did something extraordinary.

Stepping from the throne, He removed his rob of light, and wrapped Himself in skin:  pigmented, human skin.  The light of the universe entered a dark, wet womb.  He whom angels worship nestled Himself in the placenta of a peasant, was birthed into a cold night, and then slept on cow’s hay.

I don’t know when I noticed it, but the Thanksgiving holiday has gotten lost between Halloween and Christmas.  I remember, as a little girl, this was a very special family time.  Relatives would come.  The table would be filled with wonderful home cooked food.

The Thanksgiving menu was pretty much the same every year.  It included turkey, dessing, giblet gravy, cranberry sauce, butter beans, collard greens, lime congealed salad, sweet potato soufflé.  For dessert there would be pound cake, ambrosia(made from oranges, coconut, & bananas), and maybe pecan & pumpkin pies.

Fearing God means that we honor, revere, worship, obey, serve, and respect Him.  Fearing God also means that we do not want to displease Him.  We fear the consequences of sin and doing that which God says is evil, wrong, hurtful, or dishonoring to Him and to others.  John MacArthur writes that in order to teach children the fear of the Lord, we must teach them God’s attributes (holy, faithful, good, all-knowing, all present, all-powerful, loving, sovereign, unchanging, merciful, compassionate, just, righteous, etc).  

I’ve lived a lot of years, seventy-four to be exact.  I’ve encountered many circumstances that required me to decide what was true or false, or right or wrong.  How does one choose?  Well, I was privileged to live in a home where my mother and father used the Bible as the standard for truth.   Questions like “What would Jesus do?” or “What would Jesus say?” would come up when trying to make good decisions.

In our world we see many people just doing what feels good to them, not caring about how their behavior might affect others.  The biblical standard is not taught or used in making decisions in so many families.

The GALA (our fundraising banquet) far exceeded our expectations!  The total donations were $172,000.  We, the Board & Staff, had set a goal of $130,000; the speaker asked for $150,000; so you can see the amount went far above what we were asking of God. 

TWO DAYS AWAY, Thursday, September 22^nd, 7:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel is GALA evening.  We’re so excited because nearly 800 of you wonderful folks are attending the “TOGETHER FOR THE HARVEST GALA”.  The GALA is our largest fundraising event of the year.  This is just a friendly reminder to get ready for a very elegant evening with excellent food, fellowship, and program.  There will be opportunity for you to bless LifeCare of Brandon with your generosity.

When I was a little girl and dressed up to go somewhere I would ask my grandmother, “Nannie, how do I look?” 

She would smile at me and say, “Pretty is as pretty does.”  I would come back with, “No, no Nannie!  I want to know if you think I’m pretty!”

I’m a grammie now of three granddaughters.  I truly understand what Nannie meant.  She wanted me to know that how I acted was much more important than my outward beauty.