If you have something nice to say, by all means Say It!

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Lily loves books!  This book is "What is Christmas?" and shares that explains how Christmas is all about Jesus!

Today we celebrated our second Christmas with Lily.  Yes, it's early.  But we're headed home tomorrow to spend some time with family for the holidays, and we wanted to have a celebration with just our little 3.  Last summer I heard a pastor articulate an idea we've been trying to cultivate in our home for the last year, albeit slowly.  Growing up, we were always taught "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."  However, the positive articulation of that is also true, though never stated.  "If you have something nice to say, by all means SAY IT!"  Since Lily was born, I've thought a lot about what would happen if the Lord were to take me home suddenly.  What would she have of me?  I've thought the same for my wife, and the answer is, only what I leave them.   So, for Christmas I wrote them both letters, cards that contain my memories from this year and verbal expressions of my love for them.  May I encourage you to do the same for those who are closest to you?  Whether it's been a difficult year, as ours has, or a pleasant one, take time to write down how much you love them, and tell them why.  Tell them what they do that makes you proud, and share a memory or two from this year that illustrates it.  The letter can be as long as you like.  I promise they'll read it!  Letters are a simple, almost outdated form of communication in the age of email, texts, and tweets.  But physical letters can be preserved in a way email cannot.  The feel of holding a card or letter written to you with words of love will never be replaced by a typed message read on a cell phone, kindle, or ipad.  And perhaps most importantly, they can survive long after you're gone.  This year, please don't take it for granted that those you love know it.  If you've got something nice to say, by all means say it, spit it out, write it down!  

The cedar chest.

Lily is too small to read her Christmas cards from her mother and I this year.  So for Christmas, we got her a small cedar hope chest that we hope will preserve these letters until she's old enough to appreciate them.  Until then, we intend to be faithful to write them each year. 


Meredith and I would like to wish you all the merriest of Christ-centered Christmases, and thank you for all of your love and support.  We'll be driving to Wendell tomorrow to visit family for the holidays, and we appreciate your prayers as we drive.  I'll be preaching New Year's Day at Central Baptist in Wendell, NC.  I appreciate your prayers as I prepare to preach.  We're very much looking forward to seeing many of you in the next week or two! 

Merry Christmas,

Daniel, Meredith, and Lily 

Lily likes to "help".  She's figured out the stool lets her reach more things.  Not good ;)

We made treats for our neighbors for Christmas.  I made my first ever batch of peanut brittle.

Peanut butter kiss cookies are great!

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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

It's been an exceptionally wonderful and busy two weeks here in TN.  Our December food distribution went very smoothly, and we praise the Lord for that.

Children waiting with their parents for the truck to arrive.

We had a good crowd on a very chilly December morning.

Last weekend we were blessed to be able to participate in the Christmas Store at First Baptist Greeneville.  For that event many of our friends at Central Baptist Church in Wendell and Calvary Bible Church in Williamston, NC collected diapers, peanut butter, and toilet paper.  Our friends Graham and Jean Dean pulled a trailer load of items for the Christmas Store and our Storehouse over the mountains from NC last Friday.  I forgot my camera when we were unloading, but it was a lot of stuff!  We're so thankful to everyone that donated items to help with the ministry here.  You're a blessing to us and the people of East Tennessee. 

Graham and Jean Dean brought a trailer load of items for our ministry over from NC, and they were a tremendous encouragement to stay with us!

The Christmas Store was awesome.  We got to serve about 90 families, providing them with toys, food, and some other of life's necessities.  We also sat down with each family before they left and shared the gospel with them.  The Lord was gracious to allow us to see a number of men and women place their faith in Christ, which is what it's all about.  I had the privilege of counseling a sweet lady who had never heard the gospel clearly presented.  She came to the Christmas Store because the other programs in town wouldn't help her because her daughter is 37 years old.  But you see, her daughter is mentally handicapped, and functions on the level of a 5 year old.  We were able to be a blessing to her and her whole family, and when we came to the counseling room, I sat down and explained that the love of Christ compels us to love others, because He first loved us.  I shared the gospel with her as clearly as I could, and when I asked her if she had ever repented of her sins and given her life to Christ, she said she had not, but wanted to.  I led her through a simple prayer of confession and faith, and she added her own ending for emphasis!  We'll be following up with her in the weeks to come, and encouraging her to join our fellowship of believers!  Please be praying for her and the other men and women who made professions of faith last Saturday.  Follow-up is crucial, and our prayer is that the decisions that were made were genuine and not simply emotional.

Associate pastor Joey Tillery praying for the Lord's blessing on the day.

All set up!  The wrapping tables are ready!

Guests were provided with hygiene products, toiletries, cleaning supplies, and some food items.

Deanna and Darlene get ready to greet guests.

A family receives the gifts for their children.

A family picking out socks and underwear.

A volunteer wrap the gifts beautifully.

 

Graham and Jean manned the food table!

Families selecting hygiene products.

Wrapping more gifts!

And more gifts!  The wrappers were the busiest volunteers!

 

Another family selecting their gifts.

A wagon full of gifts for a family of 6.

The church set up an "angel tree", and one a large gift (~$25) was purchased for each child by someone in the congregation.  The parent was also able to choose 2 approx. $5-$10 gifts for each child.

We were blessed to have the Deans serve with us.  They fit right in and made themselves at home!

This week Charlie and I will be doing our 2012 strategic planning, and we appreciate your prayers as we map our where we believe the Lord is leading us next year.

On Thursday, I have a couple of meetings with key local leaders to talk about pastor training.  Please be in prayer for those meetings as we seek to find a way to labor together!

thanks you for all your prayers and support.  I leave you with a few more gratuitous Lily pics.  :)

At the Christmas Store, Lily attempted to take off with one of the wagons.

Caught!

Doesn't matter.  I'm going anyway!

Camera?

Lily loves to play with shoes.

I don't remember what I was feeding her, but she wasn't thrilled.

When we get to the end of a meal, Lily leans over the side of her chair and announces "All done!  All done!", which is an appropriate way to end this blog post.

Blessed!

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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

I pray that you had a blessed Thanksgiving.  We certainly did. Below this normal post, you'll find a couple of stories from our ministry from last week that I pray will bless you.  They're examples of how the Lord is using us (and you!) in the day to day lives of real people.  The stories might take a few minutes to read, but I assure you they're worth it!

Mrs. Earlene with the new woodstove!

This week we're getting the Storehouse ready for winter.  We had a wood stove donated (praise the Lord!) and installed last week, and this week we'll be trying to get everything in working order.  We're expecting our first snow Tuesday night into Wednesday!  We're also gearing up for the Christmas Store at FBC Greeneville, which will be December 10.  Please be praying for this as we continue to collect the necessary items, but also be praying that the Lord would open the hearts of the families who are coming to be receptive of the Gospel, and that many would enter into a relationship with him on that day!

In our home, we've been talking a lot about how we keep Christ at the center of this Christmas season amidst all the hustle and bustle of the secular holiday.  This year, we'll be observing 25 days of Advent following a guide suggested by our good friends Adam and Heather Richardson, which you can find here.  http://www.aholyexperience.com/free-advent-devotionals-jesse-tree-book/ Our prayer is that you'll find a way to keep Christ in the center of your Christmas as well!

Thank you for your prayers!

Stories from last week!

Desperate for Diapers
On Tuesday, I was supposed to be delivering a Thanksgiving meal to a family we know has a significant need.  The young man is a roofer who got laid off about a month ago.  The wife is a stay-at-home mom with 2 small children.  There's no government assistance, and there was almost no food in the house.  I got tied up and was running a little behind, and the young lady called to make sure I was still coming that day.  I assured her I was, and that I'd be there within the hour.  Right as I was saying goodbye, she hesitantly asks for one more thing.  She asked if I could spare a diaper or two.  She knew Lily was about the same size as her little boy, and he was out of diapers.  I went and talked to Meredith, and we had two packs in the closet that she had acquired via her couponing efforts, so I was able to take diapers to this young family in need.  After delivering the turkey dinner and the diapers, the young lady thanked me profusely for our help.  You see, they'd been out of diapers for two days.   There are so many families like that here, it's heartbreaking.  Next week through the Christmas Store we'll be serving between 80 and 100 families, this one included, providing basic necessities as well as new toys and a Bible for the children.  If you'd like to help out with the Christmas Store, just reply to this email.

One more, since the Lord was so good to us last week!

How the Lord Uses the Generous

This has been a wonderful week in our ministry.  We're so thankful just to have an opportunity to serve the Lord Jesus and to bless others in his name!  On Monday and Tuesday, through our partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast TN, we were able to provide turkey dinners as part of Project Thanksgiving to families in our community desperately in need of help.  Though there are many stories from this week, one of them is perhaps sweeter than the others.

On Monday we were working with the apartment manager of some low income apartments to provide dinners to families she knew to have genuine needs.  About half way through the complex, as we approached the next home on our list, the young man we were going to meet came out and met us on the sidewalk.  His question surprised us.  He asked if he could give away the dinner we were bringing him.  He explained that today, he had food in his fridge, but his friend down the street didn't.  His friend and his son were out of food, and he wanted them to have the turkey dinner we were bringing.  Quite frankly, we were shocked by the young man's generosity, and of course, we gave his friend the turkey dinner. It get's better.

The apartment manager asked us if we had 2 more turkey dinners, since she had learned of two more families in significant need.  So Tuesday we went back with the other 2 dinners and were met with a surprise.  One of the new families was the young man from the previous day whose friend had given him his dinner.  Well, here we sat with an extra Turkey dinner, and Charlie asked the young man if he knew anyone that really needed it.  The man said he thought so and dashed off to check with a neighbor.  A few minutes later he returned and directed us around the corner to another family.  The lady met us on the curb literally weeping.  Her husband is a roofer who got laid off because the work has dried up.  There's no government assistance yet, and there was no food in the house.  She'd been calling churches and praying that somehow the Lord would provide them with something to eat, and here we came with a turkey and all the fixin's.  She said she knew the Lord would hear her prayers and provide for her family somehow.  It was our privilege to be his provision.  And it all started because the young man the day before had been generous enough to be willing to give up the meal we were bringing him.

This year we are thankful for a Lord who cares about the poor and needy, who meets us where we are are provides for all our needs.  We are thankful for the opportunity to serve the Lord and be his hands and feet today.  And we are thankful to all of you who make this ministry possible.  Your gifts and prayers are enabling us to meet real needs!

Charlie praying with some men who we've just given a Thanksgiving meal to.

Charlie praying for these families we're helping who have significant needs.

Charlie chatting with pastor Luis, who pastors a local hispanic church and is becoming a friend of the ministry.

Lily helping daddy get the tree up.

She always wants to wear daddy's hats.

This weekend after putting away some laundry, I returned to find a new passenger in the laundry basket.

"Mommy, don't you think daddy's hat will complete my outfit?"

Playing in the decorations.

Our Christmas tree is up!

After Lily disappeared from the living room, I grabbed my camera and went to see what she was getting into.   She had grabbed a washcloth and was "dusting" the table at the foot of mommy and daddy's bed.  Just like her mommy :)

Getting Ready for the Holidays!

There are so many things I could do with this picture in photoshop if I had time, but it's pretty funny just as it is.  Lily loves rolling around in the papasan chair!

Hi Friends and Prayer Warriors,

It's been a busy two weeks gearing up for the Holiday season.  Thanks you so much for praying for us.  We had a wonderful visit with Pastor Ed and his traveling companion Mike a few weeks ago.  It was good to be encouraged and to discuss areas for potential partnerships in the future.

The next step for launching a BTCP is my meeting with William Lunsford, which was cancelled due to an unforeseen event, and we're working to try and reschedule that soon.  We appreciate your continued prayers on that front.

We've partnered with Second Harvest to participate in Project Thanksgiving, and next week we'll be providing Thanksgiving meals for at least 30 families in our community.  Please be praying the Lord is glorified and people see his love through this project.  

Many of these folks are used to asking for help.  We're thankful to be able to be a blessing to them in their time of need.

People lined up for boxes of food.

We're also making preparations for the Christmas Store event at FBC Greeneville, and excited about what the Lord is doing there.  If you'd like more information about how you can participate, please reply to this email and I'll talk you through how you can practically help.

In our home life, there are some things going on in my extended family that are quite challenging.  If I can, I'll try to share some more details in a future post, but for the moment, would you please keep my family in your prayers.  I know they'd appreciate it.

Love, the Shraders

Meredith's mom's cousin Ann came all the way from California for a visit!

Outside playing with a flower pot. As long as she's outside, she's pretty much a happy kid :)

Lily put on both of daddy's hats...at the same time.

Lily's in a stage where she loves to climb, and she love to climb in the papasan and roll around!

Cheese!

You want me to do a trick?

How about I karate chop the cushion?