The Lord is Good! God blesses people in our church every day – and we'd like to hear about it. How has He blessed you? How did He bless you in giving your offering away? How has He surprised you? Send your blessing to mystory@chccbw.org and we’ll post as many here as we can for others to read and be encouraged by.  Note: The elders asked the congregation not to give their offering to the church on March 29, 2009, (as God had blessed Canyon Hills so abundantly in recent weeks) but encouraged people to give what they would have tithed to others in need and bless them with their tithes and offerings..  Some of the stories posted will reflect how God in turn, blessed the giver.

The Blessing of Adoption We gave our tithe money to a couple that is pursuing adoption.  God blessed us four years ago with a precious little girl whom we adopted, and our hearts have since been passionate and tender towards families wanting to adopt, but are intimidated by the cost.  We were so blessed to have this opportunity to encourage another couple towards having their prayers answered. .  .  .  .  .  .  . Praising and Trusting God I had eaten a large steak dinner and an hour later I was in a hospital trying to figure out why I was having pain in my abdomen. Pain that dropped me to my knees. Could be from recent hernia and gallbladder removal, but that was not it. Could be from a left over gall stone in liver, or gas, or an inflamed esophagus, but no. After an x-ray, CTscan, ultrasound, and finally an angiogram, (with God's good grace) a doctor discovered an aortic aneurism, and explained that this was a time-bomb in my heart. This caused all kinds of concern, worry, and anxiety for my whole family. It would mean a lifestyle change. No lifting anything over five lbs for life. Wow! That was a shocker for this active do-everything, lift-everything kind of guy. I got a second opinion from another cardiologist who would do the surgery. A second CT scan confirmed the aneurism had grown to five centimeters (operable size). We had the elders pray for me on Sunday for a miracle and for wisdom for surgeons and medical staff. We scheduled the surgery for the next week and were told I would have a 90 percent chance of success (leaving a 10 percent chance something could go wrong including death). Now I'm thinking to myself, “That's not so bad with a 10 percent chance I'll see Jesus soon.” So I gave my scan results to the new cardiologist one day after talking to him without the benefit of those pictures from CTscan. I got a phone call that Friday and he asked, “What did surgeon tell you?” I recounted that the surgeon had said, the aneurism had grown to 5.5 and it was time to have surgery--sooner the better.” This cardiologist said, “I don't see that number. It looks more like 4.5 and not large enough to require surgery. I think you should cancel the surgery and let me have a couple of radiologists look at these pictures to confirm what I'm seeing.” I wasn’t sure whether to praise God or ask Him what He’s up to. I canceled surgery, wondering which doctor to believe. The next week the new cardiologist told us that two independent radiologists saw it at 4.2 or 4.3. NOW I'm praising GOD! No surgery! It's not growing now and we are so confident about this diagnosis that we aren't scheduling a follow up for several months. We might even be able to postpone any possible surgery for several years. WOW, now that's truly God at work! And I get to lift up to 50 lbs. (That still eliminated the moving of the couches every month-ha!) Oh by the way, just before I ate that large steak, my loving wife tried nicely to ask me if I was going to eliminate that tire around my waist. Do you think I'm listening now? Praise God for being there in our storm with His perfect timing and grace. We thank you CHURCH for all your prayers!

.  .  .  .  .  .  .

May ALL the Glory and Praise be to Our God Forever!!! This is written with tears of joy in my eyes and a heart that’s screaming GOD IS GOOD!!  Recently, our financial situation worsened due to doctor and pharmacy bills. I’d sit down to pay bills and wonder where money for food would come from. Then a friend would send a check, slip us a few bucks or pay for something our family needed or even simply wanted from time to time. I look back and realize, that’s how God’s been feeding and caring for us. Still, as our jobs have become a little unstable and health insurance was cut back, God’s word has been opened and we’ve learned even more of trusting Him and that the fear of the Lord is a great thing. It’s because of that , we’ve increased our offering to what it should be out of trust and obedience. So when we were instructed one Sunday to give it away we happily did so. We sent it right out to a family we knew was struggling. Not much money, but we figured it would pay for some groceries. Then we dropped my husband's  truck off to be repaired, knowing it would cost a bit, but had to be done. I said, “Let’s not worry, I know God will provide.” When we went to pick up the truck, I looked at the invoice and thought, “Don’t panic it’s gonna be fine."  Later that week, I found a letter labeled “personal” in our mailbox. It had a cashier’s check that would cover the amount of the truck repair with a bit left over! When my husband got home, I showed him first the letter and the check, then the truck bill. We looked at each other in amazement knowing God once again, had provided. As our family sat down for dinner, he asked how much of the check was left over, so I told him. He kinda grinned and told me the parts he’d purchased for the stump grinder he uses for his second job, cost about that much. Well, the loving, submissive wife that I am, I pointed my finger at him and yelled, “I TOLD YOU HE’D PROVIDE!” I think I even said, “WOOO HOOO! Man isn’t this Fun! God is so Fun!” Can I just say I love our God. Let me tell you that He is overwhelmingly good! .  .  .  .  .  .  . The Added Blessings... A few weeks ago CHCC asked its members to take their tithing for that week and use it in their community to do good in the way they thought fit. I mentioned to my wife a family in our neighborhood was making an exceptional sacrifice and thought our family should do something for them in return. The father had recently been called to serve his second tour in Iraq and it was clear he wouldn't be returning any time soon. The next day I found I was to be sent on a lengthy business trip half way around the world and with all the preparations that go into making such a trip, it appeared that there was no time left to take care of this until I returned. After I returned my wife reveled to me that in my absence, she and the kids pulled together to carry through on my idea. They had put together a “family fun pack” including a movie, gift cards for pizza and ice cream and other items that would make for a fun family evening and left it anonymously on the doorstep of this soldier’s house. I began to tear up as my wife told the story, then it hit me like a Mythbusters explosion (Pastor Jeff knows what I mean). The greatest gift my wife and kids had given was not to this soldier’s family but to me! I was so proud of them, so amazed at how they had taken the initiative to do this wonderful act. Through them, God had showed me what a great family I had and what a truly amazing church I am a member of.  It mattered little how much was spent.  What mattered was that God’s good work was being done through my family and I did not need to be there to make it happen…it just happened. .  .  .  .  .  .  . Breaking Down Barriers! We were able to take our offering and give it to a couple who is in some financial hard-times. Recently they had some trouble with paying their health insurance and we were able to cover that for the month. When we told them why we had the money, they couldn’t believe that a church would ever ask their congregation to not give an offering. It was such a stereotype breaking moment! God blessed us in being able to bless them, but more than that, the wall between them and a church building just cracked a little…:)