December 2010 Archives:
Advent Conspiracy...Give Presence
12/10/10
"It was 2 years ago in response to the church participating in “Advent Conspiracy” that one of my daughters totally blessed me with a gift she made me for Christmas. She created a book that was artistic, creative, and amazing! Each page of the book had a window that would open in some creative way. Each window had a expression of her love written to me or a memory that described a special moment in our lives. It was obvious that the book had taken her a good amount of time and thought, which made it all the more valuable to me. I have had many wonderful gifts over the years but due to this being a creation from my daughter's heart, this was certainly one of the most memorable!" - Jerry Mettee
"The last two years our family has decided to embrace the idea of Advent Conspiracy by limiting our gift buying and instead giving more of ourselves and our time to our family. We have given several creative gifts, but some that our boys have really enjoyed are when we planned alternating outings with each of our kids. Michael wrapped up a "Hiking in Portland" guidebook and asked Noah to choose several hikes he'd like them to do together. For the same Saturdays that they were hiking, Luke could choose his day from several coupons: "Movie and Lunch with Mom", "Art Day with Mom", etc. Noah's time with me was a "Book Club" where he picked the titles I'd read in advance and then we'd go to Starbucks to sit and discuss the selection, while Luke and Dad spent some time at the golf course. These gifts of presence will be remembered and enjoyed throughout the year!" - Holly Jester
More gift giving ideas can be found at www.isonrise.com/adventconspiracy.
Amy's Story
12/03/10
Hi my name is Amy and I had this overwhelming need to tell you about what Sonrise has done for me. I have never done this before as I am a quiet person that doesn't speak out but I want you to know how my life has changed in the two months that I have been at Sonrise.
First you should know that I have no religious background. I started looking for God about ten years ago. I have always known that He was there. My whole life has been a example of His love but I was too hurt to understand. I could go into the whole story but it would take too long. The short story is my sister had cancer for 8 years while I was a child and the things that I saw, and the pain that permeated my life caused me to hide in addiction and self-abuse from the age of 8 to 16, to the point that I was living in a drug house and hating myself. God pulled me out of that life 18 years ago. He gave me a wonderful husband and three great kids (all boys!).
About a year ago, I was laid off but my husband and I had always made good choices so we have survived. Then my husband got laid off and everything has crashed around our heads.
I am telling you all of this because it's my nature to get sad, destructive, and angry when I am scared...and believe me I am terrified all the time now, that my kids are not going to have a place to live, or that my marriage will not be strong enough to survive the stress, but...
Some wonderful people from Sonrise (Mark and Jessica) ask me to come with them one Sunday and I did. It was the first time in 35 years that I felt peace. The Pastor spoke about forgiveness and I finally understood that the person I had to forgive was me. I had let go of all my anger toward everyone including myself, and I let it go that day. Every Sunday since I remind myself to forgive. Thank you for that.
Last Sunday I had a man pray over my son (who has a broken arm) to be healed and I asked him to pray for a job. On Monday I got a call on a job interview, and on Tuesday my son was told he healed 3 weeks early. Two simple prayers and an answer for both… wow! I don't have any idea if I will get the job or not but God knew I was at the end of my rope again and he gave me hope. In my life, that is an unbelievable gift!
So, thank you for speaking to my heart. Thank you for teaching others to reach out and bring the lost home, and thank you for teaching us to reach out and ask for help. I am looking forward to a lifetime learning about God’s love. I just wanted you to know we are listening…
See more stories from last month
