FAMILY LIFE at Desert Springs - a place where we can share the heart of our church family; prayers, praises and important announcements.  Be sure to check-in often to see what is happening. If you have a prayer request or praise, please submit by contacting me, Laura Keener, Frontline Director at Desert Springs....760-568-3646 or lkeener@desertspringsfamily.org.

QUICK REMINDER: This Thursday, May 5 is National Day of Prayer "Wake Up America" is the theme and we will have a prayer service in the Family Room from 6 - 7 PM.  Please join us in praying for our country, our leaders, our moral compass, our service men/women...

As Pastor Mark speaks on Habakkuk this coming Sunday, I couldn’t help but reflect on my dear mother-in love, Irene Keener’s, favorite bible verse:

Habakkuk 3:17-18 “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

Mom Keener went to be with the Lord at age 86 on May 21, 2012, just a few days after Mother’s day, which was her last cognitive day on earth. She was a wonderful Pastors wife and missionary for over 50 years and loved the Lord with all her heart. She raised their one and only son, my sweet husband Fred, to worship and love the Lord and put Him first. I thanked mom many times for this and for her example to me of what it means to be godly woman. She lived it every day of her life.

And then I reflect on my precious mother, Della Schaeffer, who at age 86 went to be with her Lord, just 4 months after my mother-in-love Irene. My mother too, was a beautiful, kind, loving woman of God. She taught me to help others whenever you can, do not complain, be thankful and be generous with everything you have. And as I became a mom, and grandmother she reminded me to never give up on a wondering child, keep praying and believing. It’s our responsibility as moms to never give up on those we love…for God never gives up on us.

So as you see, I was blessed with two godly mothers and I will thank the Lord for this all my life.

Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not jealous; is not proud; is not conceited; does not act foolishly; is not selfish; is not easily provoked to anger; keeps no record of wrongs; takes no pleasure in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth; love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

When it comes to the Bible’s most well-known passage on love, mothers are beautiful examples of the high calling of love that is described.

PRAYING FOR OUR BROTHERS & SISTERS IN CHRIST

Health, Wisdom, Strength

And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Bill & Muriel Beers
Lucy Brooks
Ceil Burns
Allan Hurst - pray for full recovery after surgery
Betty Hyta - continue to pray for her during treatments 

Dave Metzler - recovery after knee surgery
Neil Riordan
Carol Smoke - continue to pray for energy
Pam Vouge - hip pain

Serena Williams - back pain severe

FAMILY LIFE at Desert Springs - a place where we can share the heart of our church family; prayers, praises and important announcements.  Be sure to check-in often to see what is happening. If you have a prayer request or praise, please submit by contacting me, Laura Keener, Frontline Director at Desert Springs....760-568-3646 or lkeener@desertspringsfamily.org.

HE WHO HAS BEGUN A GOOD WORK IN YOU...

You may feel stuck in a world of endless changes and no sleep. You may feel trapped by chronic pain or chronic financial stress. You may feel like loneliness is forever or sorrow is unending. You may feel like your prayers aren’t making a difference.

Take heart.

Paul wrote:

“I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” {Philippians 1:6, HCSB}
Even if you can’t see the ending yet, God is writing your story to completion.

So, stay in this with Him. Pray through the pain. Fend off bitterness with honest confession. Cling to the promises. Fight for hope. Ask God to finish the story and then let Him complete the redemptive work He has begun in you.

PRAYING FOR OUR BROTHERS & SISTERS IN CHRIST

Health, Wisdom, Strength

And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Darlene Atkinson
Leta Benefiel
Lucy Brooks
Sally Herthel
Patty Hill
Allan Hurst - pray for full recovery after surgery
Betty Hyta - continue to pray for her during treatments 

Bill Lovell
Neil Riordan
Carol Smoke - continue to pray for energy

Serena Williams - back pain severe

FAMILY LIFE at Desert Springs - a place where we can share the heart of our church family; prayers, praises and important announcements.  Be sure to check-in often to see what is happening. If you have a prayer request or praise, please submit by contacting me, Laura Keener, Frontline Director at Desert Springs....760-568-3646 or lkeener@desertspringsfamily.org.

Two weeks ago our Pastor Jim Zeilenga spoke to us on encouragement and then I read the blog below and it just reinforced how important encouraging one another is. So, I encourage you to read it.

Blessings! Laura

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.”

{1 Thessalonians 5:11, HCSB}

Following His Lead Will Never Let You Down

Encouraging one another doesn’t sound so hard. A fist bump here, an ‘atta girl’ there. A quick text to say “Hang in there, you can do this!” A hug when you see a friend in person.

Encouraging one another sounds pretty easy . . . until you realize it’s not.

What happens when she gets the opportunity that passed you by? What about when your co-worker gets the credit for a job well done that couldn’t have happened without you? When that mom in your moms’ group has everything already figured out? When it’s a weary looking shopper in the cereal aisle at the grocery? When it’s your spouse as you meet to unravel a financial mess you *may* attribute to their bookkeeping? When it’s another family member, and you worry about embarrassing yourself or them?

Encouragement sounds simple, but if our own emotions get in the way, it can actually be rather difficult to “encourage one another and build each other up.” She doesn’t need me to tell her she’s doing a good job, she must know already. I don’t even know that lady — she’ll think I’m kooky. Don’t we want to be encouraged? Don’t we deserve to be built up by another?

We do. You do. But the Lord doesn’t give us a free pass to withhold encouragement because of jealousy or fear.

He does ask us to speak life into the hearts of the people in our lives no matter what, because that’s what He does for us.

I know it can be hard. I know that for many reasons, you may not always feel like building someone else up. Encouraging, uplifting words don’t always come naturally, and there can be a fear of those words — of our hearts — being rejected.

Anytime we put our hearts on the line, we take a leap of faith. But in the leaping, we allow the Lord to hold our hand.

Offer the encouraging word nearly spilling from your lips, held back only by fear. Grab the hand of God and let Him guide you — following His lead will never let you down. Encourage one another and build each other up. Simple — and sometimes difficult — as that.

How — who — can you boldly encourage and build up this week?

by Anna Rendell

PRAYING FOR OUR BROTHERS & SISTERS

Health, Wisdom, Strength

And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Darlene Atkinson
Leta Benefiel
Lucy Brooks
Sally Herthel
Patty Hill
Allan Hurst
Betty Hyta - continue to pray for her during treatments 

Bill Lovell
Joan Rohm
Carol Smoke - continue to pray for energy

Serena Williams - back pain severe

FAMILY LIFE at Desert Springs - a place where we can share the heart of our church family; prayers, praises and important announcements.  Be sure to check-in often to see what is happening. If you have a prayer request or praise, please submit by contacting me, Laura Keener, Frontline Director at Desert Springs....760-568-3646 or lkeener@desertspringsfamily.org.

CELEBRATION OF LIFE FOR  LAREIGN HODGES

Tom and their family would like to extend an invitation to all of her Desert Springs Church family to attend the Celebration of Life service this Saturday, April 9th at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers the family asks you make a donation to: Desert Springs Church (in memory of LaReign Hodges).

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." Philippians 3:20-21

PLANT A GARDEN,      Alizza Latta 

One night, when I was significantly tired of waiting for something to happen in my life, I told Jesus how I was feeling. “You say You have good plans for me, Jesus? If this is true, tell me, where are these good and lovely plans and why aren’t they happening yet?”

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” {Jeremiah 29:11, NLT}

Plant a garden, God had told me.

I had focused on this verse in Jeremiah for so long that I had missed what was said a few verses earlier. To summarize quickly, God’s people had been exiled and were stuck in Babylon. They were not in a good place. They were not free. God used Jeremiah the prophet to talk to his people. And he said this,

“Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children . . . You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.” {Jeremiah 29:5-6, 10, NLT}

Build homes and plan to stay? But these people were in captivity. Didn’t God see that they were waiting — and didn’t He want to save them?

After telling His people to build a home and plant a garden and get married, because they would be staying in captivity for awhile, God tells his people the infamous Jeremiah 29:11 verse: that He knows the plans He has for them and that they are good plans. God tells them this after He has declared that they’ll be held in captivity for 70 more years.

It’s hard for me to see what God is doing, especially when I want my needs to be met immediately. But our God is a God who keeps His promises. And I am just a girl who is longing to be faithful.

God told me to plant a garden. I’m not entirely sure how long I’ll be tending to it — maybe three months, or maybe seventy years. But I’m learning that faithfulness can look like planting your bulbs, dusting your hands, offering a little water each day, and waiting, trusting that God is forming something deep within you.

He knows the plans He has for us — and they are good. But sometimes we have to be faithful and plant our garden first.

PRAYING FOR OUR BROTHERS & SISTERS

Health, Wisdom, Strength

And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Darlene Atkinson
Leta Benefiel
Lucy Brooks
Pete Donovan
Sally Herthel
Patty Hill
Allan Hurst
Betty Hyta - continue to pray for her during treatments 

Bill Lovell
Joan Rohm
Carol Smoke - continue to pray for energy

Serena Williams - back pain severe

FAMILY LIFE at Desert Springs - a place where we can share the heart of our church family; prayers, praises and important announcements.  Be sure to check-in often to see what is happening. If you have a prayer request or praise, please submit by contacting me, Laura Keener, Frontline Director at Desert Springs....760-568-3646 or lkeener@desertspringsfamily.org.

The New Easter Message 

1. When the time that God has set for your breakthrough comes, you will break through your problems. 

When the three days that Jesus had said had passed, and the time for Him to leave the tomb arrived, He left the tomb despite it being sealed and guarded.

What matters is that when your God-set time for a breakthrough comes, no one and nothing can hinder the purposes of God because it is He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens. (Revelations 3:7)

2. It does not matter what measures have been taken to harm your life, health, finances, marriage, ministry or career because when the God-set time for restoration comes, all will be restored.
Let your carry home message from this Easter  be that the God of the crucifixion on Good Friday is also the God of the resurrection on Easter Sunday and He will get you out just as He got Jesus out of the tomb and Joseph out of jail.

3. God Himself will help you if you are helpless.
Therefore, know without a shadow of doubt that when the time that God has determined for your deliverance arrives, it does not matter if you and all your family and friends are too weak physically or financially to get you out of your tomb situation because God himself can get you out.

He can cause earthquakes to destroy the obstacles or send angels to roll away impediments or to kill 185,000 of your enemies in one night (2 Kings 19:35) or cause your enemies to destroy each other (2 Chronicles 20:23) or cause Pharaoh dream a dream like the one that got Joseph out of jail or use any other method.

Therefore let this New Easter Message encourage you and ask yourself this one question, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened?” (Numbers 11:23)

And the answer is, “The Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save.” (Isaiah 59:1)

Excerpts from A New Easter Message, by Dr Miriam Kinai.

CELEBRATION OF LIFE FOR  LAREIGN HODGES

Tom and their family would like to extend an invitation to all of her Desert Springs Church family to attend the Celebration of Life service on Saturday, April 9th at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers the family asks you make a donation to: Desert Springs Church (in memory of LaReign Hodges).

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." Philippians 3:20-21

PRAYING FOR OUR BROTHERS & SISTERS

Health, Wisdom, Strength

And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Carol Anderson
Leta Benefiel
Lucy Brooks
Robert Burgess
Pete Donovan - Praises, doing well after knee replacement
Alan Hurst - Praises, doing well after surgery
Betty Hyta - continue to pray for her during treatments 

Annie Leonovich
Bill Lovell
Joan Rohm
Ruth Sixtone-Wells : comfort for loss of her son

Carol Smoke - continue to pray for energy
Barbara Storkersen
Serena Williams - back pain severe

FAMILY LIFE at Desert Springs - a place where we can share the heart of our church family; prayers, praises and important announcements.  Be sure to check-in often to see what is happening. If you have a prayer request or praise, please submit by contacting me, Laura Keener, Frontline Director at Desert Springs....760-568-3646 or lkeener@desertspringsfamily.org.

"You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now,you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy.”   1 Peter 1:8-9

A Gift of Beauty . . .

Every evening I try to take a moment and witness God’s handiwork. Because His sunsets are never the same. One day He’ll lavish the sky in soft shades of lavender and turquoise, and He’ll swirl in a few wispy clouds. The next day He’ll streak the sky with wide swaths of bright coral and deep amber, and He’ll compliment the colors with thick rolling clouds.

Sometimes I’m in my car, returning from my son’s karate class or my daughter’s ballet class, and I’ll point to the sky and say, “Kids, look! God is giving us another gift of beauty.” We ooh and ahh together.

Noticing His sunsets have become a moment of worship — a moment to say, “I see what You’re doing. And it’s amazing. You are amazing! Thank You for reminding me that You are always there, always creating beauty.”

Once I became intentional about noticing God’s sunsets, I started noticing other moments of beauty too.

The morning dew on spring leaves.
The jacaranda in full bloom.
The hummingbird in fast flight.

I may not see God Himself with my physical eyes, but I see Him all the same. I see Him every day in the way He creates beauty all around me, and I am filled with a contentment — a joy — I can’t quite put into words.

When we’re paying attention, we can see God at work, not only when the sun fades into night, but also throughout our entire day.

Where have you noticed moments of God’s wonder this week?

by Denise J. Hughes

CELEBRATION OF LIFE FOR  LAREIGN HODGES

Tom and their family would like to extend an invitation to all of her Desert Springs Church family to attend the Celebration of Life service on Saturday, April 9th at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers the family asks you make a donation to: Desert Springs Church (in memory of LaReign Hodges).

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." Philippians 3:20-21

PRAYING FOR OUR BROTHERS & SISTERS

Health, Wisdom, Strength

And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Carol Anderson
Leta Benefiel
Lucy Brooks
Robert Burgess
Pete Donovan
Alan Hurst
Betty Hyta  

Annie Leonovich
Bill Lovell
Joan Rohm

Carol Smoke - continue to pray for energy
Barbara Storkersen
Serena Williams - back pain severe

FAMILY LIFE at Desert Springs - a place where we can share the heart of our church family; prayers, praises and important announcements.  Be sure to check-in often to see what is happening. If you have a prayer request or praise, please submit by contacting me, Laura Keener, Frontline Director at Desert Springs....760-568-3646 or lkeener@desertspringsfamily.org.

24 HOURS

God knows our every moment. He is aware of all 24 hours in our day and 168 hours in our week. And He has perfect plans for each one of them.

I used to get discouraged when my to-do list wasn’t finished by the end of the day. I concluded that I hadn’t used my time wisely, because my list didn’t get done. But then God challenged my thinking by asking, “If you are walking with me step-by-step throughout your day, following my leading moment-by-moment, isn’t that accomplishing MY to-do list?”

So, if I run into a friend at the grocery store, resulting in a heartfelt talk, but I consequently don’t make it to the post office, is that a productive afternoon? Or when a traffic jam causes me to miss my meeting, but I got to listen to all of an encouraging podcast, was that a good use of time?

Proverbs 16:9 says: “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”

If we walk by the Spirit throughout our day, we can experience God’s plans for our time.

We accomplish His tasks, His ideas, His hopes. And, in doing so, we can find great satisfaction at the end of the day. Even more satisfaction than a crossed-off to-do list.

Oh, the bills might still need to be paid and the laundry put away. But, we find joy in knowing there’s exactly enough time every day to accomplish God’s will. There is time to be alone and time for friends. Time for tasks and time for rest. There is time for groceries and work and play and naps. There’s even time for family school projects involving glue, glitter, and googly eyes.

Turns out, walking by the Spirit, you do have time for that.

Partial blog-Christine Meggison 

 

CELEBRATION OF LIFE FOR  LAREIGN HODGES

On February 10th our sweet friend and sister in the Lord, LaReign Hodges, went home to her Savior. After years of battling cancer and severe health issues, she recently shared with her loving husband Tom that it was time for her to go to heaven.                                  
Tom was at her side every minute and was a wonderful caretaker, really beyond expectations. LaReign's children, grandchildren and friends will miss her dearly but we understand she is no longer suffering; she's in the arms of Jesus now, complete and whole.

Tom and their family would like to extend an invitation to all of her Desert Springs Church family to attend the Celebration of Life service on Saturday, April 9th at 10:00 am.   

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." Philippians 3:20-21

PRAYING FOR OUR BROTHERS & SISTERS

Health, Wisdom, Strength

And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Carol Anderson
Leta Benefiel
Lucy Brooks
Robert Burgess
Pete & Janet Donovan's nephew, D.J.
Bob & Dorothy Ferro
Alan Hurst
Betty Hyta  

Annie Leonovich
Bill Lovell
Joan & Walter Rohm

Carol Smoke - continue to pray for energy
Barbara Storkersen
Serena Williams - back pain severe