It’s not a new idea. In fact, our heavenly Father has always encouraged his people to “pay it forward.” We don’t pay him back—we never could begin to do that! Instead, we give others what we have received from our Savior, trusting his generous heart will keep the blessings flowing into our lives. 

I thought about all this as I heard two CTA Customer Service Representatives tell the story of a CTA customer who has purchased, not one Bouquet of Blessings devotion book, but more than 100! This customer didn’t intend to give them to a large group—or even to several small ones. Instead, she touched one heart at a time, sending copies to others she wanted to bless.

Isn’t that what our Lord asks of us? Forgiven and accepted in Jesus, we nod in glad agreement when the psalmist says:  “Forget not all his benefits!”

 Our wonderful CTA customer gladly received God’s blessings and then became a blessing herself in the lives of those God brought across her path.

 Pay it forward today! And then look forward in great anticipation to the expressions of love that will continue on into eternally.

As a CSR for CTA, I recently talked with pastor who had just read, Grieving with Hope . . . Leaning on Jesus. He passed it on—to a family grieving the loss of a child several years ago. The family came back a few days later to say, in essence, “We so wish we had read this at the time of our child’s death!”

Grief seldom evaporates the day after the funeral! Many people continue to grieve for months and even years. Experts in grief tell us that individuals each grieve in their own way, following their own timetable.

Do you have friends who struggle with grief? When you act in faith, our Savior will step in to care for those whose lives you touch. It’s never too late to bring the hope of Jesus to those who are grieving.

Editor’s Note: CTA’s Grieving with Hope . . . Leaning on Jesus has become a best-seller in only a few months! It costs much less than most sympathy cards and it comes with an envelop for easy mailing.  The Christ-centered message coupled with four-color, eye-striking photos, make it a truly valuable ministry tool! Churches, Stephen Ministers, chaplains, and others will want to buy a case to have on hand.

But when presenting a new product to a large group, I welcome feedback–not the screechy kind, but helpful, honest, constructive feedback. It’s important.

CTA appreciates getting feedback from its customers. That feedback helps our product development team. Feedback makes us think. It reminds us of our mission and vision. It encourages. It glorifies God because we all want to do our best work for the sake of his kingdom and building up the body of Christ. Email, comment here on the blog entries, comment on Facebook, leave a remark on our youtube videos, tweet on Twitter, respond on our Share.CTAinc.com site, or simply sit down and take up the seemingly ancient art of letter writing (CTA, Inc. PO Box 1205 Fenton, MO 63026)!

It will only take a couple minutes. It’s important. It’s helpful. It doesn’t have to be long. You don’t even have to use complete sentences. u don’t even have to punctuate if u dnt want 2

And the best part is that it doesn’t screech!

How do we know it’s gathering steam? For one thing, we watch our mail. It’s only the first week in September, but we’ve already begun to receive customer comments focused on the resources we provide and the products we offer to help customers optimize Fall Festival as an outreach event.

Just this morning, for example, we heard from Joyce McMurray–a CTA customer from Virginia. She writes:

We are a small country church with attendance of only approximately 125 each Sunday. However, we are just off a very busy highway and we have a large turnout for our Trunk or Treat. We have averaged 225-250 children each Halloween [for the past three years].

The first year I noticed many of the children really looking at the [CTA] bookmarks and candy with Scripture. Several made comments. They are not used to receiving anything other than just candy. I know you offer imprinting, but I usually add a printed sticker to the bookmarks with our church address, inviting the children to attend our Sunday school.

Your product is top quality–no cheap paper product here! Thanks for offering something special we can use  . . . to spread the Gospel!

Notes like this one encourage us here at CTA more than our customers will ever know! And we hope that by sharing these words of encouragement, we will spark interest in many churches who have never offered a Fall Festival before.

Access our free planning guide, some free resources, tips from planners just like you, and inexpensive products sure to attract children’s attention and provide a Christ-centered witness for kids and the members of their family.

And do let us know how your plans for Fall Festival are going! We’d love to hear your ideas–especially for new products that you’d like to see us offer in the future. We’re listening!

I like to leverage the homework-free summer months to explore the Bible more fully with my children. They take a special interest in our family’s fully illustrated children’s Bible, and I’ve found that reading the stories together opens up many very teachable moments.

Whether you have children at home or not, it’s also important to walk through the doors summer opens for personal spiritual growth. I highly recommend that you find a retreat center in your area and take full advantage of it!

I’ve developed a habit of doing that once a year. It helps me rest, relax, and recharge. It also makes it possible for me to continue to do my best with the various life responsibilities Jesus entrusts to me throughout the rest of the year. Type “Christian Retreat Centers” into your Internet search engine to find a facility near your home.

Christian retreat centers are usually operated by religious orders, some by local churches or groups of churches. Most are simple, but comfortable. In general, they cost much less per day than a motel and are located in quieter settings, more conducive to prayer, Scripture study, and meditation. For people inclined to solitude, two or three days at a retreat center can create more relaxation than the two or three weeks of a typical sight-seeing vacation!

Laura Dohmann
Salvation Army
Gastonia, NC

• Match the theme and Scriptural message of CTA products
• Enhance your gift-giving services and events with deeper spiritual impact
• Save you preparation time for sermons and lessons
• Give you fresh ideas to present and illustrate Scriptural truths

We often hear from our customers about how our Free Resources blessed their ministry. Here’s a recent example, submitted by Sandi Snider of Stephenson, Virginia:

We used the books, bags and kites as gifts for our children at out Easter Egg Hunt. I downloaded the PowerPoint version of the story so that we could all watch and discuss the story before they hunted. Then, each child recieved their own personal version to take home after the hunt. This format worked well for us. The kids seem to really enjoy seeing the story on the “big screen.”

This video features author Tim Wesemann talking about how Pastors can use Free Resources and products to enhance their ministry.

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Bouquet of Blessings for Mother's Day

Sarah Frasier from Rochester, New York sent in this comment about our Bouquet of Blessings bookmark and pen gift set:

I’m excited and can hardly wait to give the gift sets away to all women in attendance at the Mother’s Day service. I thought of doing something to bless young mothers in our neighborhood and the Psalm 103:2 just brought the message home and affirmed that I should not forget those mothers who have not been blessed as I have with my children. I live in the inner city but with God’s Grace all four of my children went to college. Three graduated from college and out of the three, two have advanced degrees (a PH’D and an MBA). I want to encourage others to stay prayed up and in the Lord and enjoy their bouquet of blessings.

I quite literally just stumbled upon your website. I’m the women’s ministry leader for my church in Mustang, OK & I was looking for gifts for the ladies in my group for Mother’s Day when I put in the search your website came up. I showed the items to my Pastor & we ended up ordering enough items to handout to all of the moms instead of just to our ladies group. I have saved your website to Favorite places because I will definitely be ordering from you again.

I wrote to the customer, Chris Baker, and requested her permission to publish her comment. Chris granted permission, which we sincerely appreciate because it enables us share our customer’s viewpoints and ideas about how CTA fulfills its mission to glorify God by providing purposeful products that lift up and encourage the Body of Christ.

If you are a customer of CTA and have a comment you think might help your Christian brothers and sisters glorify God, please share them here on this blog, or in the CTA Community Forum. And if you’re ever in Mustang, Oklahoma (just outside Oklahoma City), please drop by The Vision Church and say hello to Chris for us.

Thank you so much, and may you continue to “Be Blessed”, inspired to produce more of these inspirational books to draw more people to understanding God’s grace and mercy and unconditional love.

Marge Andersen
Northbrook, IL

Editor note: View our entire Be Blessed product line.