​Hello my SPV family this is Jamie, 
Job asks God, “Why Have You Made Me Your Target”? (Job 7:20)

Recently the “why” question came into my mind.  And, it was not even the “why me” question of something bad, it actually was “why am I so lucky” having a conversation with Jesus.  And that really got me thinking about  how much power that three letter word "why" has and how we use it!
I raised my kids mostly single.  I am telling you those days were hard.  There were many days my only coping was to remind myself “none of my kids have leukemia today”.  That is what I had to tell myself just to survive the day! 
But this whole WHY question  just got me reeling a couple of weeks ago. 
Other times, during the kid raising years and later, frankly even today, when my spirit and faith wane, I cling to the “Mustard Seed” verse and am encouraged that I only need the faith of a mustard seed. And I also cling to fact that Job, even through all the trials STAYED FAITHFUL, and still asked ALL the same questions we do today!  The Lord never left him, stayed patient, and continued to remind him he was favored and loved. 
I have learned some strong lessons in my life.  Here is a really big one, just because I feel something, DOES NOT make it true! 
So when I am “feeling” less than; overwhelmed; stressed; or sad,  I cling to my faith because The Lord  is faithful and I know no matter what I am “feeling” it does not change who I am in Him!
So I encourage you to consider “why am I so loved” “why am I so blessed” and "why am I so favored?”  BECAUSE I belong to the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord’s and because of Him I am truly loved and favored, just like Job!
I am giving you some encouraging versus to ponder that I hope you will keep close to your heart during the “why me” times and turn them into the “why me” instead
 
Blessings over you, and see you in person on Sunday, or virtually on-line! 
Blessed to be a blessing!
Jamie Mayo
 
Matthew 17:20
And Jesus said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 
Psalm 42:11
Why, my soul, are you downcast ? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God. 
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
 Isaiah 40:31
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 41:10
 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

​Hello SPV Family,
This is Grace,
These days, I suppose I’m learning to be a farmer. I am greeted each morning with the scent of lemon blossoms from the two lemon trees at our front door. My husband graciously built shelves throughout our home to house many a vining plants and flowers; leaves and luscious green seems to spill from every corner of our little condo. We planted watermelon in our back planter bed, and herbs in our kitchen window, and have dreams of adding more to our quaint little sun porch. My home has quickly transformed into quite a garden.
The Lord blessed me with many seeds in 2021: seeds of buying my first home, of getting married, of leaving jobs to start small businesses- seeds planted with immense hope and intention. Yet in the New Year, I feel often as though I’ve been forgotten, as if the ground has been covered, the harvest has already faded. The God who brought so much and gave so much for us, who moved mountains and made the stars align to bring so much together for us, has been quiet. “Be patient,” I hear Him whisper.
“Allow the roots to grow.” He says. “Settle in.” And if I’m honest, I don’t want to be patient. 


The reality of a patient life, of listening with a servant heart, is often embracing the mundane moments of where I’ve been placed. I crave nothing of the slow and steady and sustainable growth that the Bible encourages. I don’t want to tend to the garden I’ve been led to plant. I don’t want to prune the weeds, to drive away the pests, to cover the beds in the frost and irrigate them in the drought. I want to dig these crops up now, and in my hurry, my unwillingness to embrace the tortoise and not the hare, I face the ugliest parts of myself. I find that I am not a wife who encourages, but a wife who berates. I am not a teacher who encourages, but a teacher who nitpicks. I am not a manager who collaborates, but a tyrant unwilling to share. I am not a grower who waits patiently for the harvest; I’ve already dismissed my tender and hopeful seeds as a tiny and worthless impossibility. I continue to try to smother the Lord’s gift of patience that He urges me to tend to.
The Lord continually calls us to be patient, and if I truly operate in love, I take the time to give thanks for the abundance rather than tap my foot in anxious anticipation of what comes next. The harvest will come in it’s time; Paul reminds us Galatians 6:9 that we must “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” In the patient mornings and evenings of tending the seeds- the mundane pruning and weeding, watering, waiting- there is where the true gift, the hope of what tomorrow will bring, is found. 
Here’s to tending the garden together; I pray that as I tend to these new seeds, that the Lord continues to grow His abundant work of patience in me. 
Much love and growth,
Grace 

Chris Cahall
Chris@spv.org