Gimenez Family Life: June 2008

Thursday, June 12, 2008

June 8, 2008

We had a wonderful meeting at Gant Street Baptist Church in Cayce, South Carolina. We were invited to come for their Missions Sunday. It was a joy to arrive and see some missionaries we've met along the deputation road, as well as meet new ones. The church was so friendly and excited to hear about our field. You should have heard their reaction when Patrick told them that Shawn Smith is the one that led him to the Lord. The people there really love him and his family. The church had lunch and dinner for us potluck style. It was so delicious! I love good home cooking! It was a blessing to sit with different folks from the church at each meal. One of the greatest blessings was meeting and hearing Dr. Don Sisk preach. We were able to spend some time with him and his wife. What a Godly couple! Dr. Sisk prayed with the kids that they would follow and love the Lord. What a great day we had! Praise the Lord

Jekyll Island, Georgia

One of the many great things about deputation is being able to make stops along the way. We decided before we began we would try and make this memorable and fun for the kids. The truth is, Patrick and I are having the time of our lives, too. Since we had a spare day before heading to South Carolina we spent a couple of hours at Jekyll Island in Georgia. It reminded us a little of Sanibel, but smaller. It's almost about the size of St. Barths. We had such a great time and have decided we HAVE to go back. There are so many things we didn't get to do like, renting the family size bikes, breakfast picnic to watch the sunrise, and the historical tour. They have a really neat historical aspect to the island with a little "train" to ride and historical town. It looked really neat. We got to the beach around 8. It was the perfect time...nobody was there!

The kids lined up to race to the water.

I loved seeing their footprints behind them.

Patrick wrote our names in the sand. I'm so glad that after 13 (almost 14) years we're still so in love.

Put Jekyll Island on your list of things to do...we loved it!

Saturday, June 7, 2008

June 4, 2008

First Baptist Church of Ruskin, Florida
OOOPPPS. I forgot to take a picture. The people here were so friendly and genuinly wanted to know more about St. Barths. There was one young couple that was so thoughtful and said they will be praying for us. You know when someone really means it, and they did. There was a lady there that said her favorite island in the West Indies is Tortola. Patrick has been there and agreed with her that it is beautiful and the baths are so interesting. When Patrick was a kid he swam in the caves on Tortola.

June 1, 2008

New Testament Baptist Church in Okeechobee, Florida. We had a great meeting. The Pastor and his wife were so friendly and welcoming. Their new church building is beautiful!!

Family Tips For The Taking:

"I CHANGE NOT".....That is what the LORD tells us in Malachi 3:6. As a child of God, I am able to fully depend upon my Heavenly Father to never change. He is stable, reliable, and always keeps His word and standards! This makes it possible to serve, obey, and have confidence in my God. I am able to succeed and live a true Christian life, not because I am great, but because I have a God who never changes and I know what He expects and how to succeed.

It would be hard to be a Christian if we served a god who changes his mind and flip flops on his laws and expectations. We would never have full confidence in our God nor fully trust Him because we would never know what to expect or what is right/wrong from day to day.

Thus, our children would have the same difficulties if we as parents are not consistent. One of the worst things that we can do, is to flip-flop on our convictions and standards before our children.

Let me explain....we have a rule in our family that we will never watch a movie or read a book with any curse word, no matter how "small" the curse word may be. If at any time, we continue to watch a movie or to read a book that has a curse word, we have just destroyed the "trust" and "standard" that we have set up for our children. Our children will then question in their hearts, all of our other standards, convictions, rules, and beliefs. They will never see them as "Biblical", but rather as "optional". This sets up a double standard or double mind in our home and there will be no consistency. Why does our younger generation struggle with Biblical standards and righteousness today?....Why is it that our younger generation is so unstable today?.....because we have failed to set a Biblical standard that does not change and that they can follow and believe in. Thus they become double minded. The Bible says, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."

Parents, it is of the utmost importance that we be consistent and Biblical in all things. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might!!!

Prayer Requests & Praises:

Prayer Requests:
1) Please continue to be in prayer for Kami as we continue down the adventurous and trying health issues that Kami is dealing with. The doctors are still searching for answers.

2) Please be in prayer for Victory Springs Ind. Baptist Church. We are praying for one more 'solid' family to join that would be able to jump right in and faithfully help us in the ministries of the church.

Praises!!!

1) Praise the Lord for what God has been doing thus far at VSIBC! We still have a long way to go before the church is self-standing but to be where we are after 15 months is exciting!

Gimenez Family Life