Dear Friends & Family,
Spontaneous Praise - (from my devotional)
Luke 1:46-47 - And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior"
Praise is the spontaneous response of a grateful child of God.
Mary was overwhelmed by the Lord's goodness to her.
Trying to stop the praise of a thankful heart would be like trying to arrest the flow of a mighty waterfall!
We should never have difficulty thinking of reasons why we should praise Him.
Take time to recount the blessings he has poured out upon you and your family.
I wanted to take the opportunity to magnify the Lord and rejoice in God my Savior for all that he has done “through prayer” in the life of Bonnie over the past 5 months in Africa (wow can you believe it has been 5 months!).
I thank my God that his hand of protection has continually been upon her!
I thank my God for providing for all of her needs, physically, emotional, spiritually, and financially.
I thank my God for providing for her a permanent place to live.
I thank my God for providing for her a roommate!!!! Isn’t God good!
I thank my God for giving her wisdom and discernment in dealing with different and sometimes difficult situations.
I thank my God for her pastor and his wife Wilbroad & Zicky. Bonnie has knitted with them and we have been encouraged and blessed with how they have walked her through many adjustments.
I thank my God for the church there in Ndola, Africa and how Bonnie has been able to “fit in”. I am thankful for how she has gotten involved in several different ministries, and how the Lord is using her in so many ways. I am thankful for the body of Christ that she has come to know and is serving her Lord along with them.
I thank my God for how Bonnie now has a “kindred spirit” with the teachers in the school that she works along side. I am thankful for the love that has grown in her heart for “her children” and the love that has grown in their hearts for her.
I thank my God for the many opportunities and people that he has brought across Bonnie’s path. I am thankful for the difficulties and trials that she had walked through in her own life. God has and continues to use Bonnie to minister and bless others in the same situations. It is so true that He redeems the times that the locusts have taken.
I thank my God for healing Bonnie of her many sicknesses. Food poisoning, the beginning stages of malaria, and pneumonia.
I thank my God that she has grown so much in her teaching abilities and her creativity in teaching; even those children who only have a limited understanding of the English language.
I thank my God for the way Bonnie, with His grace, has been able to adapt or adjust to the culture, the food, the transportation, and life in Africa.
I thank my God for bringing “friends” into her life in Africa. So true are the words of the song: “He is Lord of every nation, He is Lord of every tribe and race, and by his love we are joined together”.
I thank my God that even when Bonnie deals with homesickness, her heart and her love for the people of Zambia has grown much more!
I thank my God that she has grown closer to her Savior while in Africa.
I thank my God for the body of Christ who continue to support Bonnie financially as well as through prayer.
So come my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ and family, come and magnify the Lord with me and praise His holy name for all that He has done. What an awesome God that we serve!!!
LouAnn Sherer
