March 2020

Saturday afternoon. No baseball. Nothing to do.  THE. PERFECT. AFTERNOON. TO VEG. 

The doorbell rings.   My sinister side ignores the noise and interruption.  My curious side looks out the window. Curiosity wins.  

It's election time and Gilbert city council seats are up for grabs.  Tom loved (in his own pessimistic way) the elections. He could get all tied up in the who and the what and what did they say.  Politics and politicians didn’t always set well with Tom and this year would be no exception. But today, I was delighted to spend time with our young Gilbert city council candidate, Tyler Hudgins, and his wife, Kelsey.  What I loved was their optimism, their desire to be servant leaders and their love for Jesus. You see, they knew Tom and told me the indirect effect that Tom had on their lives, their marriage and their walk with Jesus. And that, my friend, with the Holy Spirit’s prompting, is what led them to run for office.  

Wow, how cool is that?  Tom is in heaven and our doorbell rings with a person that was and is HUGELY affected by Tom’s teaching and legacy.  That is God. He used an ordinary man to do EXTRAORDINARY work. 

You see, Tom’s legacy will not just impact decades, but rather, God will use it to impact centuries. That is God.  

Yet, here we are today in this broken world and it is a mess: Coronavirus.  Super Tuesday. Falling stock prices. Tornadoes. Destruction. Disruption. It all seems overwhelming.  God is bigger than all of this.  And He is lining all things up for when Jesus returns.  God has this all under control. I can hear Tom say; “What you know trumps what you feel.”  God is sovereign and none of this is a surprise to Him.       

On Friday, I was exhausted. I needed to simply relax and not think about the roller coaster world we live in.  I needed something to calm me and to bring me back into that space of knowing God is in control. How awesome to find Tom’s video series on God’s Plan for Salvation.  It is one of Tom’s favorites and definitely one of his best. https://www.prioritylivingaz.org/video-archives 
 
As I listened and watched Tom, I drew closer to Jesus.  The stress, the worry, the news, social media, and all that “stuff” fell away.  God gave me, through Tom’s biblical teaching, not only His plan for salvation, His word and His truth, but also a few laughs along the way.  

I hope you will join me by listening to Tom’s seven sessions on God’s plan for salvation.  It will be worth your time. I guarantee it.

In Him, 

 Sandy Shrader
Executive Director
saeps2@yahoo.com