Matthew 17:20: “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

If one considers how small a mustard seed is, it is amazing to think how small our faith really must be. I have thought of this verse recently in praying for the salvation of several people. I found myself doubting if those people will ever get saved. Then, the Lord prompted me with the verse I shared.

Lord Jesus, please give me more faith. 

Mark 10:27 says: “And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”

May we take heart, ever more earnestly praying for the salvation of others.

May our hearts break for those who are on their way to an eternity in hell.

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16)

Love,
Sarah

Nathan and Melanie, Happy 10th Anniversary!

We love you all so much and delight to see the Lord Jesus working in your lives. It is hard to believe it has been 10 years since that exciting day when you became Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Maxwell. These past years have held many joys, and intense sorrow, when you lost your first-born little girl. Through it all, our Lord Jesus has been faithful to uphold you, gird you, and carry you along. We delight in your family!

Love,
Dad (Steve), Mom (Teri), Sarah, Joseph, John, Anna, Jesse, and Mary

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

 

I want to express my gratefulness to each and every person who commented on the birthday blog post. Wow! You all were so kind to take the time to post and share. My family made Thursday an extremely special day. There were balloons, countless “happy birthdays,” special meals, shopping trips with the girls, nieces play time, and wrapping up the day with a special family party. I love my family so much; the Lord truly has bonded us into an incredible team.

I am also grateful for those of you who pray for me. It is such a blessing to know you are upholding me to our Heavenly Father. I know without a shadow of a doubt that if the Lord wants me married, it is an easy thing with Him. But, that appears to not be His plan at this very moment, so I joyfully go with His plan and know that when it is His timing, it will happen. I rest contentedly and happily in what the Lord has given me.

Love,
Sarah

 “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (Colossians 4:5).

We had a wonderful week of celebrating Jesus’ birth, while also having extra family time, which we always love! The night before Christmas Eve (sorry, no pictures!), we first read all the prophesies of Jesus birth on the Old Testament and the accounts of the nativity in the New Testament.

We had a delightful Christmas, and as always we enjoy our family celebration on Christmas Eve! We find great joy in giving gifts that are practical, and this year was no exception. We buy gifts for each other in teams. Each team is a pair (with the exception of Nathan’s family) buys gifts for everyone and also for their partner. We love to go shopping with our partner to find the right gifts for each person, and then we usually wrap them together!

Many times people ask what we give as gifts and here are a some things that were given this year: clothes, kitchen items, car things, bible cover, tools, house decorations, and calendars made from family photos. On Christmas evening, we did our traditional Christmas program! It is always special to read the Scripture of Jesus coming to earth and sing the Christmas carols that coincide with the Scripture verses.

 

“I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.” (Psalms 9:1-2)

We’d love to read your comments: which building is your favorite? There will be several shots of each.

“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: . . .” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Remember how I said now having the grandchildren added the cute factor to our Christmas caroling? Yes, that is true, but I had not taken into consideration that my two sweet little nieces are finishing out colds, and it would not be a good thing to have them outside much even on an unseasonably warm night. Abby and Nathan joined us for about fifteen minutes, but that was all they wanted her out. Anna also had a cold, so she drove the van from place to place and stayed in the van. She was sad to miss out, but after having a bad sinus infection a few weeks ago, she needed to be careful.

Sunday afternoon, we girls and Mom had a sweet time in the kitchen. Anna added finishing touches to her shortbread, Mom made fudge, and then we compiled boxes. Anna had carefully planned how much to put in each box of the different things made. We ended up having enough goodies for thirty-four boxes. The boxes contained: shortbread cookies, double-chocolate chip cookies, Andes mint cookies, Thin Mints, and Buckeyes.

About 5:15, we were ready to begin. The van had been loaded, we were lightly bundled, and our hearts were anxious to share with others. Sunday nights prove to be an effective time to catch people at home. House after house we shared through music, smiles, and a red-striped box.

I love to watch our listeners. Some of them get teary-eyed; some simply beam; some say they look forward to us coming each year; some ask the family how we are doing (or they say we are looking great), which affords opportunities to share about the new babies on the way; some ask if we are going on a trip soon; one had a present ready and waiting at the door for when we came; another quickly put together a container of goodies she planned to give us when we arrived.

It is such a delight to bring joy to others. We love our neighbors, and this yearly tradition has been one small way of showing our love. The evening was a real blessing for us as well.

Yes, it was a beautiful time!

Love,

Sarah

“My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed” (Psalms 71:23).

“And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (Luke 1:47).

A church in town, Open Door, puts on a “Walk Thru Bethlehem” for three evenings in December. This is their second year, and they contacted us to see if we could do music one evening. While people wait to be taken on their tour of “Bethlehem,” they sit in the sanctuary and listen to music. So, our Maxwell Group (MG) had about an hour and a half on Saturday evening to share through music and testimony. The MG had worked extremely hard over the last few weeks arranging songs, practicing, and more practicing as we didn’t have any Christmas music that we normally play. I am very partial to their music myself.

The night arrived, and we wanted to experience the walk thru before music. I wasn’t expecting anything very big, but I was completely shocked by it all. It really felt like a scene in the Bible times. We had a guide, Benjamin, someone we’ve known for many years, who did an excellent job of being very real-to-the time while taking us through the city of Bethlehem. Every single part was stunningly well done. If you’re in the Kansas City area next year, you really should plan to attend the Walk Thru Bethlehem.

So, about 6:30, the MG was up. It was a delightful thing to listen to them share through beautifully arranged songs and personal testimonies. Abby even joined her aunts and uncles singing Silent Night. Our whole family was there, including the married brothers, and Grandad and GiGi.

I have to say that my favorite spot was in the back of the sanctuary. I could observe those listening, and the MG was a well-appreciated group. We were grateful for the opportunity to share with those the Lord brought!

Afterward, Christopher and Anna Marie had us over for snacks. It was a delightful time of talking about the evening!

Christmas is a special time of the year, but may we all remember to lift those up in prayer who are hurting: those who have lost a loved one, who are experiencing major trials, who are facing health challenges, and so much more.

Love,
Sarah

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

It has been fun to see the excitement resulting from a simple caption below Bethany’s picture in the last post.

Yes, we are expecting again! We are excited and a little apprehensive all at the same time. Many of you have traveled the journeys of our pregnancies with us and understand the challenges we have gone through.

I am 9 weeks along now. As with my other pregnancies, I have been on progesterone since we found out I was pregnant.

It is fun to watch Abigail be so excited about the new baby. She has had the “job” of telling our news. She loves sharing that “Momma’s going to have a new baby!” She has also changed her doll’s name to “New Baby” and carries her around most of the day. She tells me that she is carrying the new baby so that I can carry Bethany. And Bethany doesn’t really understand what is going on, but she shares in Abby’s enthusiasm. So when Abby tells the news, Bethany will often add a happy exclamation.

This is baby #6 for us (three with the Lord). It is an incredible privilege to get to carry another child. We pray that we will have the joy of raising this little one.

Thank you for standing with us in prayer!

Melanie

“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.” (Psalms 139:13)