Good afternoon Westminster,
Happy Monday to you! Wasn’t Sunday’s worship service powerful? From Peter’s prelude all the way through John’s sermon – I just keep thinking about how blessed we all are to worship together and journey our faith with one another. It was the first time I’ve heard the story of Ananias and how he graciously did what the Lord called him to do. I love the work of behind-the -scenes people like Ananias and the amazing work they do. Westminster is blessed with tons of people like Ananias. On any given day you can catch people here working on projects like the Reafsnyder Memorial Library; or weeding the gardens; or participating in community relief efforts like FISH, VMC, and our upcoming Habitat build; or making flower arrangements from Sunday’s arrangement to take to shut ins; being a Mentor; being a Stephen Minister, teaching a class; or …. the list goes on and on. We are truly blessed. John’s sharing of how the Lord is working in people’s lives so that they can be an “Ananias” in our lives or how He works in our lives so that we can be that type of brother/sister to others truly speaks to me. What each of us do on a daily basis – whether we are 2 or a 102 – really does matter to the people around us and for this, I say “thank you”! Just last night a beautiful two year old spoke to me… We had the wonderful opportunity of having Amy, Eric, and Nina Theiss for dinner and Nina wanted to say the blessing. I have chill bumps remembering how excited she was – jumping at the chance to thank God for our food. While I listened, I found myself hanging on to every word that she lifted up in prayer. It is amazing to think about how wonderful this world would be if we all became as willing to answer God’s call like Ananias or jump at the chance to lift up prayers like precious two year old Nina!!!
Hope you have a very beautiful week!
Hugs,
Renee
Week at a glance here:
Wednesday: Blessed Earth video in the McKinnon Room starts at 7:30 p.m. and last about one hour
Thursday: Men’s Thursday Fellowship at 7:00 a.m.
I love teaching 3rd and 4th grade Sunday school. I find it is an age where children are beginning to have the ability to discuss topics and form their own opinions. I love watching children discover what the world looks like through their eyes.
Hello, my name is Debbie Babelay. This year I have the wonderful opportunity of teaching the 2-3 year olds in our Sunday School program. They are all precious to me. We have fun learning about God’s love and how each of us is a special child of God. I look forward to their smiling faces each Sunday morning. This is my 3rd year teaching in the Sunday School program. I have also worked with vacation bible school.
I have known Westminster my entire life! I grew up in the church since birth. My faith is rooted in so many wonderful experiences at Westminster such as going on trips with Choristers, Montreat, and a Mission experience to Mexico. I went to college in Alabama at Birmingham-Southern. After college, I lived in Birmingham where I worked in sales. I met and married my husband Wiley there. Jim Carter (former Westminster minister) married us at Independent Presbyterian in Birmingham. Wiley’s career has taken us to New Mexico and Arkansas, and now back to Knoxville. We have been here since 2011. We have 3 children, Ella (11), Grant (7), and Walker (5). I work as the Assistant Director of the preschool at Central Baptist which allows me to have a similar schedule to my children. My favorite job is being their Mom!
Bio: Junior at the University of Tennessee 
I am a senior at UTK majoring in Global Studies with a focus in Economics. I am currently in the process of apply to graduate school for CSP. I love to be outdoors and travel. I also work as an Resident Assistant at Volunteer Hall on campus and enjoy babysitting and baking.
My name is Malena D’Alessandro and I’m a junior studying marketing at the University of Tennessee. I’m originally from south east Michigan where I attended high school at Oxford High School. I am currently part of Spring Sports Ambassadors, Volunteer Team and Best Buddies at UT.