And the winner is…

 And the winner is…..

When we travel, there is celebrating when we use up something or can finally toss an item that might weigh a few grams hoping it will take pounds off the weight of our belongings….

It used to be, that my husband was my hero in carrying all the travel gear and my back was stronger. When he passed away, I remembered his saying, “ only pack what you can carry”… I could carry more 11 years ago…now I need the same stuff, but suitcases have sure gotten heavier…

I used to add souvenirs to the pile, thinking , “ these don’t weigh much”…but they sure add up…I used to get teeshirts for everyone, then downsized to socks…now I take pictures and order what I want on Amazon… “they won’t know the difference/ it’s the same stuff”…plus we don’t need so much “stuff” anyway…

Our real baggage is much simpler…hope stored in heaven, faith in Christ, the gospel and its fruit, knowledge of His will, gathering of wisdom and knowledge from the Spirit, redemption, forgiveness of sin, growing in faith…

Now of these weigh very much but, are essential to our travels, our paths that God ordained…our journey here and eventually in heaven…there is our true celebration…not temporal stuff, but the eternal gift…which only God bestows…

Thank YOU…

 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. 

In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. 

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Col.1.3-6,Col.1.9-14

 I will celebrate…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiMMyZzl5vA