Sick Again!

Ugh!!! Ed is sick again. It is a total bummer because we were planning on helping with cleaning up The Paradise Theater to prepare for next weekend's services. Our church is moving our services from a local elementary school to The Paradise. It is an amazing move for our church as it will help with growth, and we won't need a set-up and tear down crew any more. We will have services in an auditorium, so we will have AWESOME acoustics (especially when you compare them to what we had in the gym!) :-) Check out our church at www.theriverchurch.org.

Ed is not happy about being sick either because he wanted to help with this and work on our office. He is currently in the process of building bookshelves in there. It looks AWESOME! Please pray for Ed's healing. He is currently suffering from flu-like symptoms.

Thanks for your prayers!

God is Good All the Time!

I was reading "Commissioned" which is a newsletter published by Living Word Christian Center's missions department on a quarterly basis. It has testimonies from recent trips along with upcoming trip information. At the end of the report it had a picture of Africa, and it said that there are 25,000 new believers a day on this continent. Isn't that amazing? It also said that it is the first continent to become majority Christian (over 50%) in a single century.

God is moving throughout the land. Are you open to his voice? Have you asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior? Here are a few things you need to know about God:

1. God loves you and offers you a wonderful plan for your life.
*Jesus said, "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" (John 10:10
New American Standard Bible).
*Jesus also said that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life
(John 3:16 New American Standard Bible).

2. Man is sinful and separated from God.
*The Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
*No one is perfect. God knew we were imperfect, so He came up with a plan to reconnect
us to Him. He reconnects us to him through his son, Jesus.

3. Jesus Christ through his life, his death on the cross, and his resurrection is God's only provision for our imperfection.
*Through Jesus we can know and experience God's love and plan for our life.
*The Bible says, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
*Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me" (John 14:6).
*It is not enough to know these truths. We need to ask God to be a part of our lives.

4. We must each individually receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord. Then we can know God personally and experience His love and plan for our life.
*We need to ask God to be a part of our lives.
*"As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even those who believe in His name" (John 1:12 New American Standard Bible).
*Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens
the door, I will come in to him" (Revelation 3:20 New American Standard Bible).

Inviting God into my life by asking Jesus to be my Lord and Savior (at the tender age of thirteen) was the best decision I have ever made. Has my life been perfect? No, but I have had someone who has been there for me through all the tests, trials, twists, turns, and ups and downs that life has thrown my way. If you are ready to ask God to be in your life, then pray this prayer of salvation to God from your heart. Ask Jesus into your heart now by simply praying this prayer to God and meaning it from your heart. A miracle will happen as you pray. You will be forgiven and brought into the family of God.

Pray this Prayer: Heavenly Father, I do believe that Jesus is your Son. That He came to earth to die from my sins. That He rose again from the dead. Jesus please come into my heart. Please forgive me of all my sins. Please wash them all away. Please come and live in my heart. Please teach me your ways. Please help me to learn and understand your Word. Please give me Christian friends that love you and can help me grow in your Word. Please help me find a church that will teach me the Bible, and help me grow in knowing you. I thank you now in Jesus name, Amen.

If you prayed this prayer, please let me know by either leaving a comment here or by emailing me at sgulland@marykay.com. The next step is to find a good church that teaches God's truth which is found in the Bible and will help you grow in your faith. Welcome to the family of God!

Finally, an update!

The Gulland Family is doing well in our new home. If you need our new mailing address, please email me at prvbs31chick@yahoo.com.

David loves school, and he is reading at almost a second grade level. His teacher has him in an Accelerated Reading Program which he enjoys and is doing wonderfully in. We will be getting his second trimester report card next Friday. His first report card was fantastic, and we expect nothing less this time around. He really enjoys school, and we heard nothing but great comments about him at his conference.

We were very proud parents and thankful to God that He has given us wisdom in raising David. Is David perfect? Of course not because none of us are (This may be a big revelation for some of you. I know it was for me.)! David has things that he can work on. The biggest one being listening and obeying the first time. This is probably more at home than at school. As I think about this, I think about how I still need to work on listening and obeying God the first time he tells me to do something. As I model this behavior, I know that David will continue to improve. I was reading a parenting book this morning, and it said that a lot of parenting is caught not taught. SO TRUE! How many of you remember hearing, "Do as I say, not as I do." I sure do. I am determined to live before David the way that I want him to live.

Ed is enjoying his work with Rust Consulting. He is a project manager. He has moved to a different team which has allowed him to focus on using his strengths. I think it is a much better fit for him, and it allows the company to utilize his strengths.

I am enjoying being a work-from-home mom. I love being a Mary Kay consultant and helping women to take time to pamper themselves. It is great too because the priorities that the company teaches (based on Mary Kay Ash's life priorities): God first, family second, and career third are priorities that I want to live by life by. The company is a great fit for me, and I feel like I finally found something that I love doing (besides being a wife and mom which aren't paying gigs!) :-)

David turned six on Tuesday, February 26th. Can you believe it? We celebrated by taking him and three of his friends from school to the local bowling alley. A fun time was had by all. We will be having a larger celebration with more of his friends from school and church along with some extended family on March 8th. I will post pictures of both events as soon as I can.

Finally, I am on Facebook now, so come and check me out. It has been a great way for me to reconnect with people from high school and college. It has also been a wonderful tool for me staying in touch with friends from our church in Brooklyn Park and with my Mary Kay friends from other units.

Have a wonderful weekend!