I have missed you! I am so excited to be sitting at my computer and writing a blog again! Thank you for sticking with me through this sabbatical period. It’s been a good few months and I have so much to share with you!

First of all, I want to wish my husband Mason a happy birthday! He has entered a new season of life and it’s such a joy to be on this journey with him. He is such a great partner to do life with.

Next, I’d like to wish Full Measure of Joy a happy birthday! Today marks four years since my very first blog post. All I can say is I have been blessed by God’s faithfulness. His gentle reminders, nudges and insights have been the driving force behind FMoJ. All the glory and honor goes directly to Him!

Now, for some news that has happened since I was “live” on my blog.

My son, Philip has found the gal of his dreams! They are engaged and will be married on March 19. It’s been fun to help with wedding plans. Heather has become extra special to me because she loves my baby. Heather brings three beautiful children into their marriage, so more grandchildren for me! Needless to say, I’m excited. Way to go Philip and Heather!

And to add to this bliss, they are expecting a little bundle of joy to join their family late July. My cup runneth over!

At church, we’ve just completed a major worship auditorium renovation in just a month. How blessed we’ve been at Rocky to see God’s hand work and move through this process. We’ve seen prayers answered, lives touched and obstacles removed each day of this transformation. We open up the doors to this new worship area tomorrow morning. There will be celebration and rejoicing…but I am most excited for the five people who have chosen to be baptized on this big day at Rocky. My heart will be filled with joy and thanksgiving. I can hardly wait!

My time away from writing a daily blog has been spent studying and writing a Bible study on 1 and 2 Peter. The ladies in my Thursday morning Bible study are working on week one as I type this post. I pray that they will be blessed by what I’ve written. I pray that they will hear God’s message clearly through my words. And most of all I pray that God’s Spirit will touch their hearts and that they will find transformation through the work done in this Bible study.

The study is titled, Get Yourself Ready and I was drawn to three specific areas that Peter wrote about that we need to be preparing for. First, persecution. Perhaps it’s time for us as American Christians to consider this possibility. If and when it does occur, will you be ready? Second, we need to get ourselves ready to recognize false teaching. How would you fair against a false teacher? And finally, we need to prepare ourselves for the second coming of Jesus, the Messiah. There is much to be done and Peter points us in the right direction for this process.

I want to close today by sharing some beautiful words from 1 Peter. I pray that you will find great comfort in these verses and that you will believe them with all of your heart.

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:2b-5 – NIV)

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna