Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful weekend. It’s another beautiful day and cooler so is perfect for our walks on the trail. I did food prep and made a fresh peach pie this morning and went to Aldi’s and my exercise class. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   Recently my cousin sent me a quote from St. John Paul ll that had touched her and also spoke to me. He said, “What really matters in life is that we are loved by Christ and that we love Him in return. In comparison to the love of Jesus, everything else is secondary. And without the love of Jesus, everything is useless.”
   Once we experience Christ’s love ourselves, we want to share Him with others that they may also come to know the love of the One who brings meaning to life. That may take place when having coffee with a colleague as an opening comes in the conversation, or we might share about Him with a stranger we meet. It is important not to pass up opportunities to share the most important life changing news.
   Sometimes we express our love for Him by going on short term mission trips as we did in Des Moines which resulted in several becoming fulltime missionaries. A team of adults from our present church recently returned from Alaska and one of them shared about their experience yesterday at our Sunday service. Another friend wrote that teens from her church also went on a mission to Alaska and what impressed me was that they wanted to give back to the congregation that helped made it possible. This team did the entire church service yesterday and related their experiences; I was able to watch it on online last night and was so blessed. Eight youth went and one gave the sermon, another shared about their work experience, two gave the children’s sermon, some led in the liturgy and 6 of them helped give communion. They also did a meal for the church as a thank you for praying for them and giving them financial support. I was so impressed with that response of gratitude.
    Jesus wants to use all of us, from the youngest to the oldest to share His love. There are times He even uses the voice of a little child singing Jesus Loves Me to touch the heart of someone who has never experienced God’s love. May our hearts be open and ready to share the Lord wherever we are and as Paul said in Romans 1:16 (Message), “It’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts Him…”
   Challenge for today: Ask the Holy Spirit to open doors for you to share Jesus with others.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy