Empty Chairs

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 AMP

¹⁶ Rejoice always and delight in your faith; ¹⁷ be unceasing and persistent in prayer; ¹⁸ in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

To be honest, these words from Ephesians 5 are slightly confusing on a normal day let alone when we are walking in seasons of loss, grief, betrayal, disappointment, or unexpected change…to name a few. Yet here we are, it’s Thanksgiving, the season of sharing what we are thankful for as we go around the circle at the table. This year, what is staring us in the face is Dad’s empty chair at the table.

When I see that empty chair and feel my heavy heart, my mind travels to another table. The table in Psalm 23.

Psalm 23

¹The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me]

I shall not want.

² He lets me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.

³He refreshes and restores my soul (life);

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

for His name’s sake.

⁴ Even though I walk through the [sunless] valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You have anointed and refreshed my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life,

And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord.

When I think of Psalm 23 I think of a passage that we turn to during difficult circumstances or one that is read at a service after someone has moved into Heaven. In this last year a Pastor shared with us something to add to our “wonderings” list, might Psalm 23 be the picture of our lives from the time they begin? As humans from the moment we are conceived we begin life and at the same time the journey towards death and eternity – either eternal life or eternal death. Could Psalm 23 be the picture of us walking in “the valley of the shadow of death” (verse 4) from the moment we were created? We take a breath and begin that walk with our Shepherd through our earthly journeys, moving towards death, and into eternity. Psalm 23 could be a beautiful picture of The Shepherd walking with us through all things on earth and leading us into eternity where we move to that next table.

The Pastor then shared with us about verse 5, “You prepare a table before me.” Could this table be the table talked about in Revelation where those who receive Christ’s invitation will join in the wedding feast of The Lamb? At this celebration table “the valley of the shadow of death” will be over, our cups will overflow (verse 5), and we will “dwell forever in the house and presence of the Lord” (verse 6). When the Lord says it is time, we will celebrate at a banquet, the wedding feast of The Lamb! We will sit at a table with Jesus! Our joy will be made complete in Him. I can now see Psalm 23 as the story of our journey with The Good Shepherd walking with us from the moment we were created, through death, and into eternity with Him for the ultimate Thanksgiving feast! The banquet that Revelation talks about.

Revelation 19:6-9

⁶ Then I heard something like the shout of a vast multitude, and like the boom of many pounding waves, and like the roar of mighty peals of thunder, saying,

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all] reigns. ⁷ Let us rejoice and shout for joy! Let us give Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb has come [at last] and His bride (the redeemed) has prepared herself.” ⁸ She has been permitted to dress in fine linen, dazzling white and clean—for the fine linen signifies the righteous acts of the saints [the ethical conduct, personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character of believers].

⁹ Then the angel said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said to me [further], “These are the true and exact words of God.”

This is the next table we will get to be at with Dad! The table you will get to be at with your believing loved ones who have moved into Heaven! And more importantly, the table at which we will get to see and celebrate with Jesus! Can you even imagine?! I am in awe of this picture. This brings gratitude to my heart. Dad and many of your loved ones are already there with Jesus waiting for us to join them. My gratitude continues to grow.

Friends, this is our time to prepare for the biggest thanksgiving feast of our lives…our eternal lives! “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (verse 9). You, me, everyone is invited to this marriage supper! It’s our turn to respond to the invitation, to have our names added to the guest list, to claim our open seat at the table. Now is our chance to receive the incredible gift of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ. Now is our time to respond to His gift with our lives here on this earthly journey towards eternity. We have the opportunity to study God’s words, to spend time with Him, to share His invitation with others, to prepare our spirits for eternity with Him. It is so easy to get caught up in the day to day of this earthly world, we all do it, regularly. Jesus reminds us in Colossians that during our time on these earthly journeys to set our minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Colossians 3: 1-5, 15-17

3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ 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.

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Perspective. It is all around us when we take the time to stop and see, to listen, to ask questions, and to be available. The other day I was checking out at the grocery store talking with the clerk. She made a comment about my boxes of waffles and I told her my kids go through them like crazy. She told me with a laugh that her grandson keeps stealing her waffles. I smiled and commented that kids are such a blessing. She said something to the effect of “More than you will ever know.” I don’t even remember what happened next but somehow, she told me that her adult daughter had died. I offered my condolences and mentioned how hard that must be and how difficult it must be with the holidays coming. We continued talking and mentioned the empty chairs at the holiday table. I shared that this was my family’s first holiday without my Dad. She asked about him. When I said he was 61, she gasped at his young age and asked what he passed away from. I told her brain cancer and we kept talking. I shared that it is difficult but that our family believes that this is not it, that we will see each other again someday in eternity. She stopped bagging groceries, looked me square in the eye and said, “Oh, I believe in Jesus Christ too. I don’t know how I would get through this without Him.” We shared about our common beliefs and our hope. In the end she told me that her adult daughter died unexpectedly and tragically and her husband has also died. With tears in her eyes, we talked about the hope we have that helps us walk with this incredible pain and loss. I looked back into her tear-filled eyes as she bagged groceries and said, “I will pray for you right now as I walk to my car.” Barely able to speak she thanked me and continued bagging the next lady’s groceries with tears running down her face. How she gets up and faces another day with a daughter’s life taken by the evil of this world, a husband gone, and a grandson to raise – must only be by the grace of God and with a mind set on things above, not on earthly things. Perspective -in Jesus Christ.

We have our Thanksgiving tables, the Psalm 23 table, and the Revelation’s table, now back to our tables this Thanksgiving. The ones that many of us will have empty chairs at this holiday season from loss that comes in a variety of ways. So now what? Friends, when we look at those empty chairs at the Thanksgiving table this year, whether it’s the first year of a loss or change, or the 30th year, those empty chairs cause pain and heartache. This is real, let’s acknowledge that. If our empty chair is from a loved one that has moved into Heaven, let’s talk about them and give thanks for them and the impact they had and continue to have on our lives. For those in our lives who have empty chairs because of other life circumstances, let’s allow them the opportunity and safe space to lament and grieve these changes as well. No matter the circumstances surrounding this year’s empty chair, let’s also take the time to look back and see how The Good Shepherd has walked with us through these painful journeys. Let’s take time to thank Him as He still stands beside us today as we experience the pain of that empty chair. Grief and gratitude, I don’t know about you, but I feel them both this year.

As we experience this around our tables, likely with tears pouring onto our plates, let’s also remember the empty chairs waiting at The Banquet Table in eternity. The ones waiting for each of us who are yet in our preparation time here on earth. The ones that are available for those we know and love who have not yet responded to Jesus’ invitation. The ones that are already claimed by our loved ones who are there waiting for us with Jesus. Let’s take this time we have here on earth seriously and accept the invitation to prepare ourselves for THE big feast in eternity and to share this invitation with others! Let’s continue on in this earthly pilgrimage with a mission to fill those empty chairs for the ultimate Thanksgiving feast!

Keeping on with eyes up,

SJN

This Little Light of Mine...

I have found that sometimes after I respond to God’s invitation to “come” I am surprised by the way He speaks. The way His words, especially passages that I have read many times, can come alive in new ways. In a world that is so loud and busy, both audibly and in our thoughts, one practice that I have found valuable and helpful to implement when I am in God’s word is Lectio Divina. This involves reading a portion of scripture multiple times and asking the Holy Spirit to show you what He wants to reveal to you that day. This practice can help me focus in on the scripture and brings me back for multiple looks when my mind begins to wander and I don’t remember what I just read. It’s a simple process with steps to follow and lots of room for the Holy Spirit to move.

Lectio Divina:

-Choose a short Scripture passage for your meditation. Quiet yourself and ask the Holy Spirit to guard and guide your reading and listening.

-First Reading of the passage – Read the passage and allow yourself time to take in God’s words.

-Second Reading of the passage – Listen for any words or phrases that stand out to you. Circle or underline them if you would like. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what He has for you in those words.

-Third Reading of the passage – Take a few minutes of silent reflection. Listen to how the passage seems to touch your life experiences right now.

-Fourth Reading of the passage – Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what the passage might be inviting you to do, to be, or to change.

-Take time to thank and praise God for how He spoke to you through His words today.

Awhile back I did this when reading Psalm 1. (I was reading the Amplified version of scripture as I appreciate the descriptive words that add meaning and life to the passages for me.)

Psalm 1

Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly (following their advice, their plans and purposes), nor stands (submissive and inactive (in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down (to relax and rest) where the scornful (and the mockers) gather.

But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.

And he shall be like a tree firmly planted (and tended) by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; is leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper (and come to maturity).

Not so the wicked (those disobedient and living without God are not so). But they are like the chaff (worthless, dead, without substance) which the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked (those disobedient and living without God) shall not stand (justified) in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregations of the righteous (whose who are upright and in right standing with God).

For the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly (those living outside of God’s will) shall perish (end in ruin and come to naught).

There were several words and phrases that spoke to me that day…

Delight and desire

What is my delight and desire in? Do I delight in God’s words, His instructions, His teachings? Do I desire His words, His instructions, His teachings? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word 'delight' as “a high degree of gratification or pleasure.” It defines the word 'desire' as “to long or hope for.” The challenge here is to long for God’s words and find gratification in them. How does one do that? I think Psalm 1 tells us how, by habitually meditating on them.

Habitually meditates

In Psalm 1 it says when one “habitually meditating (ponders and studies)” God’s teachings day and night they “shall be like a tree firmly planted (and tended) by the streams of water.” When we respond to Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11 to “come” (see September post), God gives us rest, renewal, and blessing and then there is more. After we come, when we take His word and fill our minds, hearts, spirits, and words with His truth throughout our day, it begins to change our thoughts, our countenance, our spirits. It grows in us a desire and delight for more of His words, His truth, His guidance and teaching. Just as we spend time to grow and develop earthly relationships, God invites us to do the same with Him. When we do that He says we will be firmly planted and tended by Him, The Living Water.

Firmly planted

Can’t you just picture that? A tree with roots planted deep in the soil by a stream of water. The words “firmly pIanted” do not go unnoticed to me. When we immerse ourselves in God’s word and it begins to permeate through our being, we start to experience that delight and desire for God and His words. We begin to experience a deeper connection with Him. It doesn’t mean life becomes easy, that we are always happy and doing well, or that we are without pain, loss, trials, and incredible hardships – what it means to me is that as we experience those things here on this earth, we can experience the gift of being connected to Him through it all. And when we are connected to Him we can allow Him to tend to us is all the different seasons of life.

Tended

Tended, what a beautiful image. Back to the dictionary. One of the definitions of 'tended' is “to apply oneself to the care of: to watch over”. Another definition is “overseer.” As we walk through our days filling our minds and thoughts with God’s truths, we become firmly planted as we navigate through life’s situations. As we experience those ups and downs connected to Him, Jesus tends to us. He oversees us. His words repeated in our minds and thoughts can allow His truths to speak louder than the enemy’s lies. It can allow Him to tend to our spirits and empower us as we go out and produce fruit for Him.

In its season

So often I wish things would move faster. That answers would come more quickly. That God would show up sooner, louder, and more clearly. If we look across to the lanes of fellow believers running the race we can get distracted and even delayed. Psalm 1 clearly says that when we desire and delight in God’s word, when we meditate on it throughout our day and night, we will be firmly planted, tended, by streams of water and ready to bring forth fruit in its season. We all have different seasons. God’s timing, plans, and purposes for each of our lives are likely going to look a little different. Sometimes a lot different.

Sometimes we wonder…

When will I see the fruit? (Fruit of…restoration, health, joy, breakthrough, relief, etc.)

When it’s my season (see Psalm 1.)

When is that?

When The Living Water has tended to me and declared it is my season.

What do I do while I wait?

Delight and desire His word. Ponder His words. Fill our minds with them and in turn become firmly planted in His truths. Allow His words and His Holy Spirit to tend to us. Stay connected, firmly rooted, so we do not fade or wither.

Shall not fade or wither

Sitting in this fall season we can see what the next part of this verse talks about. “…it’s leaf shall not fade or wither…” That hit me loud the day I read Psalm 1 through the Lectio Divina steps. In a season of my life where weariness of the soul can hang heavy, it can feel as though I have become a fading leaf. I do not want to be a faded leaf and I definitely don’t want to wither. So I am faced once again with the choice to either run towards God or away from Him. To dig deeper into His words and become more connected to Him or allow this season to uproot me.

When my kids started going school a few years ago a dear friend shared with me that her family prayed on the armor of God (Ephesians 6) every morning on the way to school. I loved this idea and quickly implemented it on our car rides to school. After we pray this we often sing along to the radio, talk about what we are looking forward to in the day ahead, and comment on the colors and clouds in the sky. These days we are regularly noticing God’s glory in the sky and thinking about what Grandpa might be experiencing in Heaven. Inspired by Psalm 1’s challenge of not fading, we have added something else to our morning routine. Lately as my kids are leaving the car I have added, “Go be a light today!” Last week I forgot to say it one morning and my 7-year-old turned to me as he stepped out of the car and said, “Go be a light today, Mom.” He’s caught on. And now he is challenging me.

In a world that seems to have a lot of darkness, a lot of fading and withering, let’s challenge each other to delight and desire, habitually meditate, be firmly planted, tended to, and trust in His seasons for us so we shall not fade or wither. So we can go out and be a light today. Maybe even singing, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine…”

Blessings,

SJN

Come

Matthew 11:28
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”

Almost a year ago now our family received news that would change the rest of our lives here on earth. A diagnosis that came out of nowhere and in only 5.5 months our 61-year-old Dad moved to his Heavenly home. This last year has been challenging, exhausting, and incredibly painful, to say the least. I am sure that many of you have also experienced deep, indescribable pain in your lives and an exhaustion that affects your body, mind, and spirit. I sit here now, this side of God’s “no” answer to an earthly miracle and “yes” answer to a Heavenly miracle, feeling that exhaustion to my core. Often repeating the prayer, “Jesus, please hold my heart and dear Lord, please settle my soul." Sometimes those are the only words I can get out.

One day when I had the energy to open my Bible, I read Matthew 11:28. I had been asking God for rest, for comfort, for soul peace. As I read His Words I realized something, Jesus’ words started with an invitation, an invitation that required a small yet powerful action on my part…“Come."

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Come.

To Me.

And I will give you rest.

Learn from Me.

And you will find rest for your souls.

That rest I am yearning for, even praying for, is there for the taking but it requires and invites me to “come” to Jesus to receive it. And it doesn’t say I “might” find rest, He says I “will” find rest.

The Amplified Version of the Bible says that when we come to Jesus, and even more, when we learn from Him, God will give us rest, renewal, and blessed quiet for our souls. That is beautiful. We have the opportunity for our souls not only to rest but to be renewed and then even blessed. In my mind rest is great, step one. Adding renewal after that rest is what I need to be able to get back up and keep going, to walk with others, to live out God’s daily promptings and callings on my life. And then even more, it says our souls will be blessed. By just taking the step to come to Him, to learn from Him, we can experience rest, renewal, and blessing for our souls. The Bible sometimes uses the word “selah” which some Bible scholars say means to, “pause and reflect." In my opinion, this verse in Matthew 11 benefits from a “selah” moment. Read it again, it’s good.

In a world that moves fast, where work is never done, life is rarely quiet, the alerts are constantly going off on our phones, watches, and wash machines...we need that rest and peace so badly. It’s a gift for our weary bodies and souls, but we have to take the time to do the first part, “Come."

Coming to Jesus doesn’t mean the pain of grief and loss is gone. Or that stress and busyness are no more. It doesn’t make all right with the world. For me, it doesn’t bring my Dad back. What it does do is activate Jesus’ words that say if we come to Him, He will give us rest for our souls. I don’t know about you, but my soul could sure use that rest. Today, I challenge you and me alike to take Jesus up on His invitation to “Come” and receive His rest, renewal, and blessing for our souls.

Blessings,

-SJN

Cake, Cannonballs, and Cookies

September 13, Dad’s 62nd Birthday, his first birthday in Heaven. I wonder if he’ll get carrot cake, butter pecan ice cream, and coffee? Will he be at a big table or maybe sitting picnic style surrounded by indescribable beauty with Jesus, his family and friends who are there with him, and new friends…even people we read about in the Bible? My kids oohed and ahhed over the thought of people from our Bible stories at Grandpa’s birthday party this year. They talked with great anticipation and excitement about the day when we get to join Grandpa for his heavenly birthday parties. The sparkle in their eyes as they imagined what that might look like filled my heart with joy. There is much beauty and blessing yet to come!

We have lots of “wonderings” as Nathan calls them. About what Dad is up to in Heaven, who he has met and talked with, what he sees and knows. Wonderings about God, His perfect will, how He decides things, when Jesus will be coming back again, and what His plan is for all of us now. Wonderings about pain, grief, joy, comfort, and peace. On the journey we talked about a bucket list of things we wanted to do with Dad when he got better, now we wonder, will we get to do some of those bucket list items when we are all together again in eternity? So many “wonderings.”

We just finished our first summer without Dad grilling, clomping around in his Dutch shoes, bringing pizza for the family, whipping by with a wave on his lawn mower, taking grandkids on the Farmall tractor for rides, and doing giant splashy cannonballs in the pool. I won’t lie, it was, and still is, incredibly painful. The void is big. It always will be this side of eternity.

One of the things we did to honor Dad this summer was stand with our entire family around the pool; 11-month-old in the highchair watching, 3 year old to 58 year old surrounding the edges of the pool, all of us yelling, “1, 2, 3...This is for you, Dad!” and we did a giant family cannonball into the pool. We also took the last batch of Dad’s cookie dough out of the freezer and baked his famous cookies. That was bittersweet. (Not the cookies, those were good). My daughter and I attempted to make Dad’s cookie recipe and my kids’ reaction to the cookies was, “The chocolate chips taste the same as Grandpa’s chocolate chips”. Clearly, they tasted nothing like Dad’s cookies. Over the years we could never figure out why, but no one has ever been able to make cookies just like Dad’s. He used to joke with that good ole smirk that he spit in them, I’m starting to wonder...

As our family reflects on the last year and the things we shared with you on our journey, we have a few thoughts…

We can tell you that yes, it was a rollercoaster ride that did indeed need bubble wrap.

We are incredibly grateful to serve a risen Savior who leads us through the stormy blasts and lives today!

We smile as we picture and wonder if Dad is enjoying some Diet Mountain Dew and Fritos, and if not, I’m sure he isn’t missing them.

We look at Psalm 139 in a new way. God truly knit our bodies together marvelously. He is intricate and incredible. We have learned so much about God’s Word, how He made us, about the foods He created, about science and medicine, about healing.

“We are the Jansen’s, we’re in this together!” The phrase came from one of the grandkids early on, something we must cling to as we journey this next season of life without our Dad, Grandpa, and husband here on earth with us.

We look at Dad’s favorite Bible verse, Philippians 4:13, and know we need it now more than ever.

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things (which He has called me to do) through Him who strengthens and empowers me (to fulfill His purpose - I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.)

This life is truly unpredictable, and God is our only constant. We have experienced the necessity to cling to Him in all things; both the predictable and unpredictable.

The song “Turn your eyes upon Jesus” has even more meaning as we think of Dad truly looking into His wonderful face these days.

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full, in his wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of his glory and grace”

“Til I’m dancing in the deep”, is the desire of our family’s hearts. If we’re honest, some days we definitely feel the drowning. On other days, we take His hand and walk on the water with Him. We know we will continue to have both days this side of eternity.

We meant what we said that “However God writes this story, we cling to the truth that He is good and He is faithful.” God is still good. God is still faithful. God is still a God of miracles. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

We still believe in coming boldly before The Throne of Grace asking for God’s perfect will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

On dreary days when the sky is gray and full of clouds and a burst of sunlight shines through, we are still pointed to God, His glory, and mighty handiwork. That though right now a lot of days feel like there are more clouds than rays of sunshine, those rays still come and will continue to come as we look to God to sustain and fill us.

Now more than ever we continue to wrestle our way through the idea that happiness is a feeling that comes and goes with circumstances and joy is more of a state of being, found deep in our spirits regardless of our circumstances.

Brad titled a post at the beginning of Dad’s journey “Hurry Up and Wait” and that is kind of where we sit again as we hurry up and wait for Jesus to return. As we hurry up and wait for our family reunion in eternity. Oh, what a glorious day that will be!

Psalm 37:7 - Be still before the Lord; wait patiently for Him and entrust yourself to Him.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 - There is a season (a time appointed) for everything and a time for every delight and event or purpose under heaven.

Our weapon must still be a melody. Though it’s so very hard, we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us to continue to sing louder and louder. To help us raise our Hallelujah in the middle of this mystery.

"Raise a Hallelujah":

I raise a Hallelujah, in the presence of my enemies

I raise a Hallelujah, louder than the unbelief

I raise a Hallelujah, my weapon is a melody

I raise a Hallelujah, Heaven comes to fight for me

And I'm gonna sing, in the middle of the storm

Louder and louder, You're gonna hear my praises roar

Up from the ashes, hope will arise

Death is defeated, the King is alive

I raise a Hallelujah, with everything inside of me

I raise a Hallelujah, I will watch the darkness flee

I raise a Hallelujah, in the middle of the mystery

I raise a Hallelujah, fear you've lost your hold on me

I'm gonna sing, in the middle of the storm

And louder and louder, You're gonna hear my praises roar

Up from the ashes, hope will arise

Death is defeated, the King is alive

God is still The Waymaker and Miracle Worker. As one of Dad’s littlest grandkids sang along the way, “Even when I don’t see it You’re working; even when I can’t feel it You’re working. You never stop working. My God dat is who You are!” We must walk by faith and not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5: 6-7 - So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]—.

Daily manna is a real thing. Our family still often answers the “How are you?” question with, “One day at a time.” God tells us to take one day at a time. Sometimes it takes literally not being able to do more than one day at a time to learn what living that way looks like.

Matthew 6:34 - So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Nehemiah 8:10 - And do not be worried, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and your stronghold.

1 Chronicles 16: 11-12 - Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually [longing to be in His presence]. Remember [with gratitude] His marvelous deeds which He has done, His miracles and the judgments from His mouth.

Yielding. That big and powerful word. The definition we ran across on Dad’s journey said yielding is, “To submit to a conqueror.” We continue to work on daily submitting to The Conqueror and growing in trusting that He knows the big picture, especially when we don’t understand and honestly, don’t like His answer. So, we do this with a belief that to fully trust God is to yield and submit to Him and His plan for our family’s journey and in each of our individual lives.

Job 22:21 – Now yield and submit yourself to Him [agree with God and be conformed to His will] and be at peace; In this way [you will prosper and great] good will come to you.

Luke 9:25 – Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, My Chosen One; listen and obey and yield to Him!

Isaiah 55: 8-11 - For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts higher than your thoughts.

“For as the rain and snow come down from heaven,

And do not return there without watering the earth,

Making it bear and sprout,

And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

So will My word be which goes out of My mouth;

It will not return to Me void (useless, without result),

Without accomplishing what I desire,

And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

We smile at memories of Dad singing “Who let the dogs out?!” to one of our incredible caregivers. Of his non-stop laughter when Mom accidently shocked herself…multiple times. Our hearts both fill and break at memories like walking with Dad at Creekside Park, enjoying the stillness of nature together. Or the beautiful moments like Dad dancing with Mom in the living room, all of us around them helping to hold him up.

We are challenged as we remember that Dad’s main request on the journey was not for himself but that we continue to pray for God to touch and heal others. We are inspired to carry this on.

We look at well-known verses like Proverbs 3:5-6 and choose to trust His Words are true.

Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart And do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].

Do we understand all of this? No, and we don’t pretend we do. What we do know is that God’s Word is true. That He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. As we take one step at a time in this next season, we push and challenge ourselves to make the choice to continue to dig into His Word and to take the time to kneel at His feet with our broken hearts and tears. To sit in His presence learning to be still, listen, and watch what He will do in this new season.

We know that we have a choice this side of the journey, to run towards God or away from Him. We can choose to dig-into God’s Word, remain in Him and in a relationship with Him, or we can walk away when things don’t yet make sense. We know to be true that one feels a lot better than the other.

John 14:27 AMP - Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]

Colossians 3:15 AMP - Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always].

Isaiah 26: 3-4 AMP - You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation]. Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner], For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].

Romans 15:13 AMP - May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.

Psalm 29:11 AMP - The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.

We are trying to take steps in learning how to experience grief and joy at the same time. To continue gathering and enjoying family activities, to keep the music playing and those grandkids (and big kids) dancing just like we used to. We know without a doubt that Dad would want us to. It isn’t and won’t be the same, not this side of eternity. So we cling to the truth we have as children of God that as Dad is dancing with Jesus in Heaven and we can dance with Jesus here on earth, this truly is not “goodbye” but “see you later,” and we will one day join together again for one big dance party!

Psalm 30: 10-12 - Hear, O Lord, be gracious and show favor to me; O Lord, be my helper. You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

Finally, we reflect on gratitude. That song by Brandon Lake still brings me to tears. Still causes me to lift my hands in worship. A genuine moment mixed with grief and joy. Though we have deep pain as we miss Dad this side of eternity, we also have much we are grateful for. We can’t begin to put into words our gratitude to God for Dad, his life on earth, and the incredible years we had together here. For all of the family, friends, caregivers, and medical staff who walked with us. For the incredible graciousness the people from Dad’s new job showed our family. The way his old co-workers showed up to bless our family. For all the meals, gift cards, house cleaning, yard work, notes and texts of encouragement. For all the prayers. So many prayers. Countless hours people spent in prayer, giving up sleep, sacrificing time to pray for and over Dad and our family. Those prayers did and continue to help us put one foot in front of the other. Thank you, we are deeply grateful. Each day we are all one step closer to evermore, to the New Heaven and the New Earth just as God intended it to be. As we take those steps toward eternity, our greatest praise and deepest gratitude goes to The One our hope is in, our Heavenly Father who has blessed us with the greatest miracle of all, eternity with Him.

So as we reflect on our posts that started last October, we can say that we truly did experience Jesus sitting next to us on this rollercoaster ride. Whether we always felt it or not, we know He was there. And we can say with confidence that we know this journey continues with everyone in our faithful Savior’s arms; one in Heaven experiencing Jesus face to face and the rest of us, for the time being, still called to live out life here with Jesus’ arms around us on earth.

With Deep Gratitude,

The Jansen Family

Gratitude

It’s been just over a month since Dad joined Jesus in Heaven. It’s been 7 months since we last had our healthy, energetic, fun loving Dad that we miss more than words can describe and who we remember with deep joy and gratitude. Below is a link to Dad’s Celebration of Life Service. We invite you to watch, celebrate, and be challenged in your personal life as you join us in praising God for the gift of Dad and as we honor and celebrate Dad and his life here on earth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-awrcPlzzg

On our family’s journey we have had a handful of songs that have spoken to us along the way. Many of these songs remain meaningful to us as we reflect and take one step at a time forward. One that we played a lot the last month Dad was still here on earth, and that we continue to play as we grieve and celebrate, is “Gratitude” by Brandon Lake. Below is a link to listen to this song, we encourage you to take a minute to listen to the beautiful words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1em6MJp0zUc

“Gratitude”

All my words fall short.
I got nothing new.
How I could I express All my gratitude?
I could sing these songs.
As I often do.
But every song must end.
And You never do
So I throw up my hands
And praise You again and again
‘Cause all that I have is a Hallelujah, hallelujah
And I know it’s not much
But I’ve nothing else fit for a king
Except for a heart singing Hallelujah, hallelujah

I’ve got one response
I’ve got just one move
With my arms stretched wide I will worship You
So I throw up my hands
And praise You again and again
‘Cause all that I have is a Hallelujah, hallelujah

And I know it’s not much
But I’ve nothing else fit for a king
Except for a heart singing Hallelujah, hallelujah

So come on my soul, oh, don’t you get shy on me
Lift up your song, ‘cause you’ve got a lion
Inside of those lungs
Get up and praise the Lord
Oh, come on my soul, oh, don’t you get shy on me
Lift up your song, ‘cause you’ve got a lion
Inside of those lungs

Get up and praise the Lord
Come on my soul, ‘cause you’ve got a lion
Inside of those lungs
Get up and praise the Lord, hey Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Praise the Lord

So I throw up my hands
And praise You again and again
‘Cause all that I have is a Hallelujah, hallelujah

And I know it’s not much
But I’ve nothing else fit for a king
Except for a heart singing Hallelujah, hallelujah

"I’ve got one response. I’ve got just one move. With my arms stretched wide I WILL worship You..." This is what we do, with tears, we throw up our hands and we worship The King.

I won’t sit here and say we don’t ask God, “Why??” We do. We don’t get it. I don’t know that we ever will this side of Heaven. I won’t pretend that everything is peachy with praise music and hallelujahs, it’s not. Our hearts hurt with an indescribable pain. The tears continue to come when it feels like there can’t possibly be any left. Things will never be “normal” again. But you know what I do know…they aren’t supposed to be here on earth. This isn’t our forever home. Philippians 3:20 is one of my new favorite passages; “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…” The pain, the tears, the suffering, the questions…all will be no more when we get home, where no heartache, pain, or evil belong or will enter in. That’s why we can lift our hands in gratitude, we know what is coming, we know what our forever will look like. We cannot imagine doing this journey without that hope.

Gratitude.

A reporter asked us: It seems like one thing that has helped guide Mark and his family has been faith. Could you talk a little bit about how your faith has supported you all through this?

This was our response:

Hope. That is the word that sums up what our faith has and continues to provide for us on this journey. We could have hope each day the last six months because we know that God has us all in His hands. No matter what each day brought, we trust in the truth that God is faithful, and He is with us each step, each tear of the journey. We can have hope now because we know that this isn’t the end. Though Dad’s earthly story may be done, his eternal story is just beginning! And our family lives with the confidence that this is not our home; our true home, our final destination, is in eternity where we will get to spend the rest of our lives with both our earthly and Heavenly Father. “But [we are different, because] our citizenship is in heaven. And from there we eagerly await [the coming of] the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…” Philippians 3:20.

Gratitude.

I’m not a theologian, I didn’t go to Seminary, but in my opinion from reading God’s Word, I think that He can handle our wide spectrum of responses to loss. Our questions, our moments of anger, grief, joy, gratitude and worship…sometimes all in the same hour. We mentioned before and continue to agree with this; We have a choice on a journey like this, we can do everything we can to connect to God or walk away. One route feels a whole lot better than the other. We can dig-into God’s Word, remain in Him and in a relationship with Him or we can walk away when things don’t yet make sense. Without Him we would be left with only emptiness and hopelessness. So though there are days opening a Bible feels impossible and no words come in prayer, just crying in His presence is sometimes enough. Other days His Word is the comfort and peace our hearts, souls, and spirits need. No matter which day it is, knowing He is there brings the reassurance that we are not walking this journey alone.

Gratitude.

Not alone. We cannot begin to thank all of you for taking the time to follow our family’s journey and praying boldly with us. We are deeply and truly humbled and grateful to each of you for entering The throne room with us. We could truly feel carried in prayer and the many other amazing ways you showed up to support and love us and Dad. A big thank you from all of us to all of you!

Gratitude.

For 6+ months our family’s worlds were put on pause as we zeroed in on caring for and spending time with Dad. Now we are all stepping back out into the world around us that hasn’t stopped moving. It can be strange, hard, and overwhelming. It can also be beautiful, joyful, and even filled with laughter. It is often a mixture of both. As we step back into life and try and adjust without Dad here on earth with us, we ask for continued prayers. We feel the void of his missing presence and it is big. We are deeply grateful for those continued prayers.

Gratitude.

As we step into the world and reflect on our amazing Dad, his life, and the impact he had on others and for God’s kingdom, we are personally challenged to examine our lives and how our steps are going to continue as Dad’s did in furthering God’s kingdom in each of the places we are. If you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, we challenge you to dig into His Word and give Him a chance. He is faithful. He is full of grace and love. He is worth it and even more, He says YOU are worth it. Give Him a chance. Eternity will be worth it.

If you do know Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him, just as Dad humbly lived a very full 61 years of responding in obedience to God, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” Isaiah 6:8, we as a family are personally challenged and challenge you with us to examine how you are listening to and responding to God’s call on your life and each of the places He has you in. It’s never too late to say, “Here am I. Send me!”

We have been so blessed to hear stories about Dad from those he worked with, people he passed regularly in the hallways, those he has impacted over the years, and the list goes on. Please keep reaching out and sharing those stories with us. No story is too small; each one is a gift for us to treasure, a blessing to our aching hearts, and brings a smile as we picture Dad in action. We love to hear stories about Dad and cherish each memory we can add to our treasure chest of memories. Keep them coming.

Gratitude.

So I throw up my hands
And praise You again and again
‘Cause all that I have is a Hallelujah, hallelujah
And I know it’s not much
But I’ve nothing else fit for a king
Except for a heart singing Hallelujah, hallelujah…

With Love and Gratitude,

The Jansen Family

How Jesus Taught Us To Pray

Matthew 6:9-13 - Pray, then, in this way: Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors (letting go of both the wrong and the resentment). And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

“Selah” in the Bible means to “pause and calmly think of that”. Our family has been praying the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, The Lord’s Prayer, a lot this week. When we apply “Selah” and mediate on the words of this prayer they are incredibly powerful.

Our Father, who is in Heaven. – This first line in and of itself is absolutely incredible. We have the gift, the privilege, and the blessing of being able to come before our Father who is in Heaven. The God of the universe. The One who oversees the whole world, who has us all in His hands.

Hallowed be Your Name. – We get to pray to a Father who is divine, holy, consecrated, sacred and revered. He listens to us. He cares about us. He sees us. He wants to hear from us. Wow.

Your kingdom come. – Yes, Lord Jesus, please, Your Kingdom come soon and very soon!

Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. – This is our daily, sometimes hourly prayer, that The Lord’s will be done here on earth as it is in Heaven. The beauty of those words is indescribable. Can you even imagine God’s perfect will being done here on earth as His will is done in Heaven?! Please Lord, bless us with Your will being done here on earth as it is in Heaven!

Give us this day our daily bread. – We pray for The Bread of Life and The Living Water to fill Dad, our family, and those on this journey daily. That we would find our fulfillment in Him and not our human desires. That we would experience and notice the daily manna He provides.

And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors (letting go of both wrong and resentment). – We as individuals and a family continue to bring our confessions before the Lord. And not just confessions, our resentments, doubts, and fears as well. We give them all up and over to our heavenly, merciful Abba Father.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. – We pray for protection and strength against temptations. We ask for deliverance from evil in this fallen world we live in. Even deliverance from evils like brain cancer, earthly sickness, and disease.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. – The reassurance of this line no matter what is going on around us is powerful – For GOD’s is the kingdom and GOD’s is the power and GOD’s is the glory FOREVER! Please Lord, show us your Kingdom, let us experience your power, and may it all be for Your glory!

Amen. – So be it!

Dad continues to surpass all the estimates of earthly doctors’ predictions. Which just confirms what the Bible says that God knows the numbers of Dad’s days – not earthly diagnosis and prognosis.

Psalm 139:16 - Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].

Job 14:5 - Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You [in Your control],
And You have made his limits so he cannot pass [his allotted time].

Our family has spent the week together surrounding Dad. We have ridden a rollercoaster of emotions; we have wept, laughed, prayed, praised, slept, worshiped, read lots of scripture, listened and been silent. As Dad often sleeps he has heard us singing songs over him and to our Heavenly Father like, “This is the Day”, “Jesus Loves Me”, “Raise a Hallelujah”, “Holy Holy Holy”, “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus”, and more. (Though we struggle to stay on key so I am not sure what he is thinking as he hears all this…) He has heard us laughing as we (yes, the grown adults) jump off the couch (don’t ask), talk in accents, see who has the lowest morning voice at 6am, reminisce over family stories, praised God for the blessings experienced already, and more. We have had way too much coffee, not enough sleep, and a wide spectrum of experiences emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. We have a choice on a journey like this, I heard someone say it well once, they tried both “Doing everything I can to connect to God, or walking away. And in my experience, one route feels a whole lot better than the other”. We concur, we can dig-into God’s word, remain in Him and in a relationship with Him or we can walk away when things don’t yet make sense. We have been choosing to dig-in, the alternative is loneliness, emptiness, and hopelessness.

We continue to release Dad into our loving Savior’s arms knowing and celebrating that this is not our forever home. And as long as Dad has breath here on earth, we continue to boldly kneel before God’s throne asking for a miraculous healing this side of Heaven, healing we know that can only come from Him. We recognize the boldness of this request amidst the physical and medical status. We continue to request it not because we can’t let go of our amazing Dad, but because we know we have an amazing, all-powerful, Heavenly Father who is the same yesterday, today, and forever and that means He is a God who still does miracles. So we bring that request before Him, trusting Him and giving thanks to Him as he holds our earthly father and each of us as He writes this story.

Thank you all for your continued bold prayers for Dad and our family.

With Love and Gratitude,

The Jansen Family

My Weapon is a Melody

The sun is streaming through the windows today (I wrote this Saturday, it's actually snowing as I am about to post this 🙂). The warmth and brightness are a gift on this cold winter day!

Our family has mentioned one of our favorite songs the last few months has been the song, "Raise a Hallelujah":

I raise a Hallelujah, in the presence of my enemies
I raise a Hallelujah, louder than the unbelief
I raise a Hallelujah, my weapon is a melody
I raise a Hallelujah, Heaven comes to fight for me

And I'm gonna sing, in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, You're gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes, hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive

I raise a Hallelujah, with everything inside of me
I raise a Hallelujah, I will watch the darkness flee
I raise a Hallelujah, in the middle of the mystery
I raise a Hallelujah, fear you've lost your hold on me

I'm gonna sing, in the middle of the storm
And louder and louder, You're gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes, hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive

The words, “I’m gonna sing, in the middle of the storm. LOUDER and LOUDER, you’re gonna hear my praises roar” have been on some of our hearts recently. When my six year old sings this part he gets louder and louder, starts pounding his fist with the music on the counter, and then belts out, “the King is alive”! For a parent’s heart, it doesn’t get much better than that. 😊

It’s easy to sing praises louder and louder on weeks like last week, Dad was able to go outside with help and take walks in the yard. He was able to sit on his tractor lawn mower – that was a huge praise as earlier in this journey we even mentioned looking forward to the day when we could see Dad buzzing around the yard on his tractor again! We won’t talk about how he hit the gas pedal and may have caused someone to run out of the way…😊 We even got a picture from Mom of Dad emptying the dishwasher. At that point my 6 year old said, “That means God is healing Grandpa more and more! I wont stop praying until Grandpa is all better! Nothing can stop me". At times like these it’s easy to sing those praises louder and louder.

The singing can tend to get softer and slower on weeks like this past week. Dad had a hard week. He wasn’t able to get out walking at all, he didn’t talk much, and he rested a lot. This is one of those “in the middle of the storm” weeks. The song still says to “raise a hallelujah in the middle of the mystery”. This is really when we need to gear up and sing those praises louder and louder. Today when I mentioned that Grandpa was in a wheelchair my 6 year old said, “That doesn’t mean God’s not healing him". Wow. Amen! Similarly, last week my brother’s family heard the song “Way Maker” on the radio. His 2.5 year old sometimes sings along with the radio but not every time. He said his son had a very pensive look on his face for a bit and suddenly broke out singing just these lines, “even when I don’t see it You’re working; even when I can’t feel it You’re working. You never stop working. My God dat is who You are”! God continues to speak through the hearts of our kids…the faith of a child! How they can walk by faith and not by sight is incredible, something to learn from!

2 Corinthians 5: 6-7 “So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]—".

“I raise a hallelujah, my weapon is a melody". Often times we find in the stories in the Bible that people, such as Abraham and Job, would create alters and worship God before they got to their final destinations or received their breakthrough and restoration. They stopped to worship because of who God is. That’s what we continue to try and do. We aren’t perfect at it, that’s for sure. We have good days and we have bad days. But at the end of each day, we really do know, even if sometimes it’s deep down, that God is good, He is faithful, and He is with each of us.

“Up from the ashes, my hope will arise. Death is defeated, the King is alive”! So we do not submit to earthly diagnosis and prognosis, or physical setbacks. We submit to The King who is alive. The King who numbers our days.

Job 14:5 - “Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You [in Your control]”.

Psalm 139:16 – “our eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were appointed for me, When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].”

To The King whose word says nothing is too difficult or wonderful for Him.

Jeremiah 32:17 - “ ‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too difficult or too wonderful for You—"!

And so we continue to “raise a hallelujah as heaven comes to fight for me”!

Thank you for your prayers!

With Love,

The Jansen Family

Dancing in the Deep

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full, in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace”

This is what we talked about as we sat around the living room together as a family, processing the struggled start Dad has had with radiation. We are taking the radiation appointments one day at a time. We are praying for clarity on whether this is something we continue to pursue or not. We talked about keeping our eyes upon Jesus, no matter what this earthly storm might look or feel like. We have a choice; we can sink, frantically tread water, or keep our eyes on Jesus who helps us walk on the water and brings peace even in the midst of the storm (John 14:27).

The song “Peace Be Still” says:

“Peace be still
Say the word and I will
Set my feet upon the sea
'Til I'm dancing in the deep
Peace be still
You are here so it is well
Even when my eyes can't see
I will trust the voice that speaks
Peace, peace over me”

“Til I’m dancing in the deep”, that is our family’s hearts’ desire. We want to dance with Jesus in the deep, we want to keep our eyes on Him in the storm. Though right now he may not be able to express it quite like he used to, we know that would be Dad’s heart for us too. Though we have moments of drowning or frantically treading in the deep, our daily prayer is that the great I AM helps us to keep our eyes upon Jesus and dance with Him in the deep.

We thank and praise God for the good moments in a day. For Dad whistling as he slowly made his way through the living room, a family member on each side of him. For the smirk he gets when you know he’s thinking about giving someone a hard time but didn’t say it out loud. For Dad waking up the other day saying he feels like a 9 out of 10 today (quite the glass half full attitude!). For our recent time together as a whole family decorating the Christmas tree. Though Dad may not have been able to participate this year, he said he wants to go cut one down at a place by Gun Lake next year. We do too Dad, we do too.

We ask for your prayers for Dad and each of us to feel God’s peace and joy in the good and hard moments. As the song says, that we would “trust the voice that speaks peace, peace over me”. We ask for specific prayers that Dad would have renewed physical strength and balance. Prayers that we would keep our eyes on Him.

We hope and pray that God would heal Dad this side of Heaven, we continue to put him in The Creator’s hands and trust in Him and His plan. We continue to pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:10). However God writes this story, we cling to the truth that He is good and He is faithful. And as long as the Lord blesses us with Dad here with us, we will continue to boldly come before our Heavenly Father (Mathew 7:7) asking that He would do a miracle of complete healing and restoration in Dad’s body. If you are willing, please continue to join with us “in worship and bowing down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker in reverent praise and prayer” (Psalm 95). Thank you.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

With Love,

The Jansen’s

John 14:27 AMP
Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]

Colossians 3:15 AMP
Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always].

Isaiah 26: 3-4 AMP
You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation]. Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner], For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].