One thing I have asked from The Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in The House of The Lord all the days of my life, to Behold The Beauty of The Lord and to meditate In His Temple. Psalm 27:4

The Lord gave me the sweetest birthday gift!

The Lord works wonders. He helps me remember and when He gets specific about a matter concerning Him and the people He Loves, I must go. About 6 weeks ago, I asked The Lord what do you want me to do with this birthday opportunity Lord? He was clear, but as the days clicked on I requested, are you sure Lord? Yes, Remember My Faithfulness all the years through the church, where I raised you up and poured out Grace upon Grace. Yes Lord, You are so faithful, You have established my feet on The Rock and plugged me In to Your Word and The Lord’s Army of brothers and sisters In Christ. I grew leaps and bounds in my faith and quickly became aware that Christians are not better people, we simply know our need and by God’s Grace, He has given us Himself, Jesus, Our Lord and Savior, to run to in every high and stormy gail. So for my 50th, I sent out an invitation to come to FBC and share a message of God’s Faithfulness, which would be glorifying to Him and at the same time knew it was His gift to me.  And what a time it was. Prayer, Communion, Praise and Worship, Testifying to His Faithfulness and Amazing Grace. We were all encouraged. I am always so in awe of how The Lord knits together His people and when.  The people in the photo below range from 18-80 and the many cultures, ailments, and paths here are incalculable. The only thing binding all of us is Christ Alone and The Love He Gave and therefore we can give to each other.

When I first stepped foot in First Baptist Church Coronado, I was 36. I had gone to churches my whole life but this one God had a different plan and His Power was going to prove it. He was intentional on revealing His Faithfulness to me personally, not casually, but with Overflowing Grace in every situation that Arose. Grace was made manifest in me with Power and Purpose. He grew me up in this church – spiritually, the Faith He gave me became my Blessed Assurance. I was enabled to listen to the call He had on my life when before I didn’t realize He had called me. I moved, I stayed, I prayed. I did whatever He revealed to me through His Word and Holy Spirit; nothing regarding His Goodness was off limits. Interestingly, we moved away for 2 years to Texas so my time in Coronado was very seldom in 2023-2025, in fact, I wasn’t even sure if we would still remain going to FBC in the instances when we came back into town but we did. Then when we moved back this year, it became evident we are remaining here; our daughter has since been plugged in to another church but Gary and I remained. And so when this birthday present from The Lord got revealed to me, I couldn’t say no. Where else would this birthday be celebrated appropriately? It was no question, The Lord reminded me “The Church I Grew Up In”. Thank you Jesus!

Joyfully His,

Rachel