Sherry and I celebrated 50 years of marriage in February. Thirty-five of those years have been as members of Blackshear Place, now Christ Place Church.  We love our church.  We love the family at Christ Place. We love the direction and purpose in which the Lord is leading.     To celebrate our 50th anniversary, we sensed a leading to be a part of the Brazil mission trip in February. The dates had us, on our special day, in Brazil! What a blessing. We could have taken a trip to the most exotic island or the most romantic destination in the world — anywhere — but we chose Manaus, Brazil. It could not have been sweeter because that is where God purposed us to be. Coinciding with this event on the calendar, God was leading us to take an inventory of our finances to make sure our will, our desires, and our stewardship was where it all needed to be.  Our prayers and godly counsel from our church leaders led us to Philanthrocorp. This process was a blessing from beginning to end. In fact, it doesn’t end until we are in Heaven. Through a series of calls, we made all the necessary changes and updates to our wills and estate plan. John Russell, Rosalie Joy, (yes, that’s her name, and she fits it to a tee) and others were not only helpful but a blessing with whom to work.     During this process, we prayed and decided that the Lord was leading us to gift Christ Place Church with 25% of our estate upon our death. This amount was not only an easy choice, but we knew through the Holy Spirit’s prompting that it was the right choice, the God-honoring choice. A short time after this commitment, when documents were signed, sealed, and delivered, God began to stir my heart to make a big change in our thinking. The gift to our church was not to be delayed until our passing, but it was to be now. I prayed and searched and prayed some more, and after realizing this was God’s plan for Sherry and I, shared my thoughts with her in a conversation and asked her to join me in praying for a time. Just a few days later, without my mentioning the thought again, Sherry tapped me on the shoulder during a worship service and said, “It’s OK.”  I knew in my heart what she meant without another word spoken. We began the process by speaking with Pastor Christopher Martin and in doing so found some previously unknown to us tax benefits, which made the immediate gift even more of a blessing.    
Let me close by sharing this thought. Our church’s mission statement is: We exist to glorify God by discipling one another to reach and raise the next generation to live out God’s truth. Today is the day that the Lord has made. What is the Lord doing in your heart today that will impact tomorrow? Maybe it’s a special gift. Maybe it’s a change to your estate plan. Will you let God have His way in your life to make a lasting impact today and in the future? – Frank Siple