Mark's Margin:
We appreciate and thank God for you, praying and hoping in God that you are all well and growing "more and more" in the love of Jesus. "More and more" is a phrase that jumped off the pages of Scripture recently while reading 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. For a blessing we encourage you to read the chapter and receive Paul's challenge for "more and more" in Christ Jesus. We are so blessed in Christ Jesus our Savior.
Monday October 13th, as I write, is Thanksgiving day in Canada. It comes a little bit earlier here and is certainly tied to our thankfulness for the harvests in this fruitful land, but most of all we are thankful for God our Savior and who HE IS!.
We are also thankful for a place to park our travel trailer home, for a recently approved building permit, for the beauty all around us, and for God's faithfulness - Psalm 100 is our Psalm of Thanksgiving this year. We encourage you to read this Psalm of worship with your family on your Thanksgiving Day, too.
We are asking for prayer for the following:
- For wisdom on our home build, as we start working with some subcontractors to start the driveway, footers, and walkout ICF basement walls which includes the utility trenching and lines. We are looking for opportunities to bless and encourage our subcontractors spiritually and have had one divine appointment already with our excavator. God is definitely at work!
- For God's guidance and grace to minister to others with some teaching opportunities in the near future: Senior fellowship luncheon speaker, Weekly Wednesday evening Bible Study with family, Connie's ladies Bible Study each Thursday, and for the HE IS audio book to be aired soon on a local Christian radio station, and another invitation to open the Word in the future in a local church. God is opening up amazing doors of opportunity to honor and please Him in our lives with other followers of Jesus in the place He has called us to plant some roots.
- For God's continued blessing on our marriage as we will soon celebrate 2 years of marriage.
- For God's clear leading as to which local church we should choose to fellowship with. There are several churches that we feel drawn to at this time for various reasons but are awaiting God's confirmation as to which one He is leading us to.
Thank you for your prayers and for being a blessing to us in friendship and fellowship. Blessings!
Connie's Corner:
Before our move to Canada, it seemed that every time I opened the Bible the instruction, "Fear not; don't be afraid; be strong and courageous," was jumping out at me. At first, this instruction had the opposite of its intended effect on me. Every time I saw the repeated command, I'd tense up.
"Oh great! What are we walking into? What are we facing in the days ahead? Why do I need to be strong and courageous? I don't want to be strong and courageous anymore! I don't want to need to be, anymore!"
Gradually, the idea occurred to me that I was doing it all wrong. Instead of "not fearing," the instructions to "not fear" were making me more fearful. I began to wonder if I should just take the instructions literally. Not that our emotions are under our control to turn on and off like a tap. Not that I could just will myself not to fear in the face of real difficulty. But maybe, just maybe, I could just believe that I didn't have any real reason to fear. Maybe, just maybe, God was telling me, "It will all work out all right," and even, "It won't be that bad while it is working out."
We've all been through things that would and should have been fear-inducing if we had known beforehand what we would be going through. The reality is, however, we don't know what we'll face in our futures. God doesn't reveal the information to us. So, our fears about the future, even if based on past experience, are imaginary. Yet, because we've all been through difficulties we would rather not ever go through again, we can, if we choose, live in fear and anxiety "just in case."
When I decided to take the command "fear not" literally and decided to trust that I was being told, "It really won't be so hard this time." I've been able to remind myself in the midst of some small, minor inconvenience or hardship regarding living in a travel trailer or jumping through hoops preparatory to building a new house in Canada, "Is this so bad? No, it really isn't!" And the change of focus alters my mindset.
I'm writing these words on Thanksgiving Day 2025 here in Canada, and I've spent some time thanking God today for thankfulness. It's a gift He's given us to change focus and lighten loads. There's a reason "give thanks in all circumstances" is God's will at all times for us (1 Thess. 5:18). Thankfulness just makes life better, multiplying joys and subtracting sorrows.
Mark and I are thankful for so much in our new life. His list above scratches the surface.
We pray you'll be as blessed by this gift of thankfulness wherever and whenever you celebrate Thanksgiving. Make every day Thanksgiving Day!
Remember: Connie's reading of HE IS, is now completely uploaded to listen to for free on Mark's YouTube channel. Many find listening more helpful then reading. We also will share for free the PDF for the asking through email attachment. We would love to share this life changing book with you. Blessings!
