For April 2nd:

“…Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these...” Matthew 6:28-33

Welcome to the April Edition of the 2013 Christ United Methodist Church Women’s Ministry Daily Devotional. This is the fourth month for the women at CUMC to be inspired, guided and encouraged by other women that they worship with, serve beside, and find fellowship with in small groups. God asked us to share our stories of finding Him through grateful hearts, which inspired us to put together this “Living a Life of Gratitude” daily devotional. Since January 1^st, we have been guided to live our lives learning how to find something to be grateful to God for each day. Some days we have been blessed and inspired by stories from many of the faithful women in our congregation, other days the entry has simply been a scripture about being grateful. We have also had days that the devotion was a creative idea one of our members has shared to help them be thankful or a book recommendation that has motivated them. Other days the words from well-known authors and saints as well as hymns have blessed and guided us.

Easter morning brought us new hope and new life, because God resurrected His crucified Son, Jesus, in new life. Eternal life! April brings signs of new life as the Spring season transforms the sleep of the winter months into new beginnings each day. Our hope is that just like nature is being transformed into newness, that our hearts are being transformed into fresh adoration of our risen Savior through our lives being filled with gratitude to Him. Each day this month we hope you will begin to look forward to reading the entries as an addition to your faith journey and that it will inspire you to find endless ways of seeing just how good the Lord really is and how much He loves each one of us.

If you would like to submit an entry for next months issue, we would love to include you as part of this ministry. Your entry needs to begin with a scripture that has inspired your thoughts, then a paragraph or two in your own words telling your story of thanksgiving. You can submit your entry by dropping it by the church office (Attn: Women’s Ministry Devotional) or by emailing it to cre8dzins@comcast.net. We look forward to reading about how God has blessed you!

If you are just beginning this journey of thankfulness and wish you could read some of the back entries from January, February or March, you are in luck. Click on the words "Living a Life of Gratitude" at the top of this email which will take you directly to the blog. You then have the capability to “scroll back in time” and read all the entries from day one. 

Pass this information along to your friends who might need or enjoy daily inspiration from women right here at Christ United Methodist Church.

CUMC Women’s Ministry