April 2024 - Gifts from God
We have just celebrated Easter. For many of us, that meant attending worship services to praise and honor our God, who sent His Son to die for us. And if we have young children in our family, it might have included Easter egg hunts and baskets of goodies.
But I have found it also appropriate to give thanks to our God for His gifts to us reflected in His great gift of Jesus. I recently spoke on eight gifts He has given us, but let me just briefly mention three.
Love. God poured out His love on us in sending His Son to make such a great sacrifice to purchase forgiveness for us . And then He added the amazing gift of His Spirit to live in us and give us everything we need to live out the life He has prepared for us.
Mercy. A simple definition of mercy is compassion, forgiveness, or forbearance toward an offender, one who has wronged us. Each of us still continue to sin, to offend God (and others), by our thoughts, words, and actions. And He continues to pour out His mercy.
Grace. This is a gift from God to His people, generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved. It is divine favor, love, kindness given to us and flowing through us to others.
There’s so much more to each of these. You can read more about each of these gifts here:
Celebration Ahead
April is always a special month for me: Spring, flowers, my birthday. And this year I will be celebrating two big milestones: 60 years on staff with Cru, and 80 years of life.
My Women’s Resources team and Cru are helping me celebrate on April 18 (real day is April 17) with a casual party on the Quad at our Lake Hart facility. I will include pictures in the May newsletter.
Her. Bible
Have you ever wanted to listen to an audio Bible in women’s voices? You can at her.BIBLE! Let God’s word wash over you in a relatable sister’s voice. People are loving listening to the encouraging and diverse voices of her.BIBLE.
Go to the her.BIBLE website or your app store to download the free app. Start listening today and connect with God’s heart. You can also choose her.BIBLE on YouVersion, and enjoy our reading plan called “Journey from Anxiety to Peace.” Please share with a friend and join the her.BIBLE community to receive encouraging blogs.
There is coaching available for women who long to have an audio Bible in their own language. Contact us at her.bible@cru.org.
The Women’s Resource Team
Continuing my plan to introduce you to the women who “get the work done”:
At Global Staff Women we publish a newsletter and have a website to tell the stories of God at work in and through our staff women around the globe. Here are our current writers:
Eva Mergl, Writer
Eva loves to laugh and rejoice in the discovery of bits of nature, both small and great because they reflect the glory and humor of God. She has served with Cru in Southern California, then Hungary, followed by Eastern Europe Area Media & Communications. She now divides her time between the Communications Team in Eastern Europe and Women’s Resources in Orlando.
Patti Culver, Writer
Patti has served with Cru in Nigeria and now with her husband with Faculty Commons in Dallas. God has given her a deep love for women, teaching, discipleship, prayer, and writing. These passions give her varied ministry opportunities to continue serving in the U.S. and eight African countries. She is enthralled with the beauty of God’s creation—both in nature and in His children!
We have two new women joining us as writers: Walewska Solarte from Venezuela and Elizabeth Mulli from Kenya
The Women’s Resource team members are close knit. They do a study and pray together most weeks, and every few months we celebrate birthdays together. This picture shows us happy after Tex-Mex food at our local Chuy’s.
Some Books to Bless You
I write books (maybe another soon) and I love to read. And I have many writer friends. I try, from time to time, to introduce you to some of their books. So here are three just out book by friends:
Living on the Path of Freedom: Leaving Fear of Rejection Behind By Gail Porter
I’ve known Gail for more than 50 years. We worked together at two different times. Recently she has been writing wonderful books on living in freedom—this is the latest.
Praying with St. Patrick: Prayers and Devotions Inspired by the Irish Hero of the Faith By Matt Mikalatos and Aaron Burns
Matt is one of the most creative writers I know. My grandboys have loved his fantasy tales. After years working with Cru, Matt is now an accomplished script writer.
Inspire: A Call to Action by Gail E. Dudley
Gail is also a long-time friend of mine. She is an author, speaker, and coach. This book is a transformative collection of biblically based devotions and reflections curated to spark the spirit and motivate action.
From the Podcast
Transformation on a Prodigal Journey: A message I gave at Christian Leadership Alliance on the work God has done in me through the hard journey.
Listen at the link or watch the orignal video below.
May you experience new blessings of Spring from our Lord,
Judy