Andrew Meher: We've been asking for people to think about stories in our church as we close this series this summer that have bad things in their lives that God has turned into good. Maybe in a way they didn't expect. Parents, don't don't panic. This isn't gonna go long. so those of you sharing, think of the children. But we want to hear some stories from you grown-ups as well about how God can take bad things and turn them into good. So I know there's a few people that offered to share stories. Jean, would you get us started off? Would you mind? Give give Jean Lee a hand, folks. She's gonna she's gonna share. Here go, Gene. On the spot. Yes, I was hoping not to be first, but You got your wish. No, I didn't get my wish. It could be a blessing though. God takes bad things and turns them into good. So anyway, thanks for letting me share my story about how God has blessed me in the mess. Okay. You hold it right here, you'll be perfect. A year ago today, my one hundred two year old mom had been in hospice care in my home for a couple of weeks. We turned the living room into a hospital type room for her, and we didn't think she had much time, but she was a fighter and stayed with us for almost four more months. My life was restricted due to having to care for her full time. I can't complain, though, about it because she was a blessing and it was my honor to be her caregiver. She was always easygoing and almost always had a smile on her face. She was very appreciative of the care she was getting and said thank you to me quite frequently. In addition to caring for my mom, had some other difficult situations to deal with at that time. I'm very thankful to my church family for all they did to help me during this time. People who I really didn't know well were so amazing. I can't begin to express the gratitude and love I feel for all who were there for me. A fairly large group from church came to my house and did a really big yard cleanup for me. It was so much more than I expected, and it helped me out a lot. They even set up tables in my driveway and brought a meal for that many had helped to prepare. Then a bunch of them came. Came in and sang to my mom while she was in her hospital bed. She was very grateful for that, and I was so pleased to be blessed with people who could bless my mom that way. I love telling my non-believing friends about my church family and all they have done. Some have asked what I had to do for them, like did I have to pay them? And when there were times when I was struggling with something, they would say to me, Go talk to your church friends. Year later my life is quite different. It seemed that much of what I was dealing with in the past year has been resolved. On the whole, my life is pretty good, and I have a lot to be thankful for. But there are always things that crop up unexpectedly, and it can be tempting to think that I won't get through it. But God always comes through. This week had a few rough spots and I started having doubts about whether I should stand up and speak today. But then God showed up through another church friend. I have to remind myself that things are not always going to be easy or going. My way, and I most likely will be in a mess again. But God always shows up, He's always faithful. Thank you. Do you hear what what Gene shared? Going through the mess and the sadness of losing a parent and how that gave birth to a being a witness to her her non-believing friends to the point where if Jean's going through something, they're like, You should go talk to your church friends. Like, we don't know what to do to help you. That's an amazing witness. To how God brings blessing in the midst of the mess. Notice that sometimes, as we've been talking about throughout this series, blessing is often not material. We like to think of it in terms of, I feel comfortable and so I'm blessed by God. But it's actually in the midst of the discomfort, in the suffering, in the sense of loss, where God's presence becomes near. And we find, like the Apostle Paul said, My grace is sufficient for you, God said to him. That's hard, is it not? But when we begin to receive it and recognize the Lord's work in our life, there is a blessing and some fruit that comes out of it. I have one more planned one, and then we're gonna be risky and open ourselves to a couple spontaneous ones. But Timothea, would you come up and share? Give Timothea a hand. Hello, my name is Timothia. So my mess started a few years back when the lack of work was not that the work wasn't there. First COVID, you stay home, then go back, okay, work a little bit, then our writer strike, then there was a they outsourced so they they took the work somewhere else, right? So I I didn't have work and I was home and I was just thinking and nervous about what I'm gonna do. And then something happened where I needed to be home and take care of loved one. And so in that mess God has put me in a place where I didn't expect to be in. But I was there for a reason, right? It wasn't my plan. So so today, Proverbs 16, 9 is you know, we make our plans, but it's it's God that gives us the steps. So I just told that to Diana yesterday, where as I was looking for work, I prayed last year for work and Something came, it caught came into my phone, you know, okay, here you interviewed, but it wasn't what I expected it to be. It was like no, and I resisted and resisted. And finally I said to her yesterday, I said, you know what, I'm giving it up to God and I'm gonna submit to his plan. And There are blessings because throughout that whole mess I've been able to be with my grandchildren, my children, take care of, you know, my husband and family and do the things that God wanted me to do that I had no idea about. So every day I thank him for that opportunity. And also I've been in the Word studying. I've I haven't Prior to this experience, I didn't read every day the Bible. So now I get to read every morning. I'm on day 242 of 365. So and I'm so blessed. I really am very happy. At peace, even though the mess is there, when I go to him and I just talk to him, there's this sense of. Peace and and joy that comes that no no thing can give you, you know, like And he always just comes through, right? Like no matter what, where am I gonna get this to pay for that? Or what what's gonna happen? And it all works out. So every time you just say, Okay, here you go, you've got this, it happens. And so just giving it up to God and trusting him that in all this big mess, there are blessings and it will come. Yeah. Thank you. We actually have one more and then and then we're gonna close with our time of communion. But John Mitchell, can you come up here? Give John a hand as he shares the Lord's blessing. So One moment that has come to me in particular about God blessing messes was about a year ago, during Ash Wednesday exactly, I remember sitting here in the pew and staring up at that cross there and thinking about, God, I have given so much to you, I have so much lost so much in following you, I've left so much behind. I'm kinda done surrendering to you. How much more do you want me to give to you? How much more of my life must I take away? Like I'm tired of this and was having a crisis of faith, Ash Wednesday of all places. amazingly enough, God being faithful and everything, Andrew and Trudy were there and they were sitting with me in this moment of me kind of having a crisis of faith. and as they were talking to me and ministering to me and everything, they helped me get my bearings and realizing like, no, it's not that I wanna wake walk away from the faith. It's just I'm tired and I've been trying to analyze and fix everything myself when I just need to be open and vulnerable. So then they gave me homework at the end of that. Instead of analyzing a lot of the crises and the existential moments that I'm going through, just express what I'm feeling, just be honest with those around me. So I thought that that was bonkers because then probably a lot of people are not gonna like what I have to say, especially when I'm talking about the deeper and darker things that I carry. But your responses were different because as people would ask me, hey, how are you doing today? Instead of being like, everything's great, everything's good, I'm just my response would be, I'm not, I'm not doing good. I'm all right. I'm all right. For years straight, I was just saying, I'm all right, I'm not bad, but I'm not great either. And that opened the door for a lot more honest conversations with people in the congregation. and in that moment I didn't see God doing much of anything because I still felt very crummy. But looking back a year later, I remember talking to Andrew and he was like, hey, how are you feeling? And I'm like, you know, I kind of feel very different than I did last year for Ash Wednesday. Like strangely enough, it's like I could feel how much I've grown and and changed. And I I think it's it's it's you know, being here, the community and God just changing me that has caused this change. So now when people ask how I'm doing Still very much all right. But it's it's more so in the sense of everything is good and it's all right. The worship team makes their way up. Can I invite you all to stand?