20 something......

God put it on my heart today to highlight this blogger at Amazima ministries.
What she writes is not necessarily a feel good type of message. Don't we American Christians hear enough of that junk already? I love that about her! She is blunt, honest and revealing here.
Miss Katie is wise beyond her years as she continues to follow God's plan for her life rather than her own. She is an amazing imperfect 20 something year old young woman in in Africa caring for orphans ALL BY HERSELF!

I am not sure what you were contemplating in your late teens and early 20's but I confess my contemplations were quite shallow. They went along the lines of many American's these days who don't see much beyond their own comfortable lives and family units. While it is not wrong to seek the Lord regarding everything that pertains to our lives and He encourages us to do this, is this your only focus? Unfortunately, at this point of my life it was really "all about me" rather than taking on a more global world view.

~ What do I want to be when I 'grow up'?
~ When will I meet the man I will marry?
~ When will I have kids?

In my many hours of prayer asking these things of the Lord and not much else, He did at one point granted me 'children'. Even in my luke warm "what about me" prayers, God fulfilled one of those desires. Not because I was ready, prepared, equipped or 'special' but because He used whatever limited resources of my obedience to reach beyond my wants and needs. He used this desire to get my focus off myself so that I could reach out to troubled teens at a youth ranch to work with trouble teen by being a dorm mom to them. This was an amazing yet challenging point in my walk with Him. I no longer could do things on my own but NEEDED the Lord to fill me with his strength, wisdom and discernment daily. God drew me nearer to Himself so that I no longer "needed" the things that I used to pray for. Instead my prayers were focused on my girls, their hearts, their salvation, and lasting changes in their lives that would follow them into their own legacies.

Due to my self imposed limitations/comforts, God did use what He could.......... but I wonder sometimes about how much more I could have been used if God had not been limited! You see, unlike Ms. Katie, I had and still struggle with too much self-focus. We sometimes can't see past my own comfort or schedule to even ask the Lord if He has something bigger in mind.

While it is not 'wrong' to seek the Lord to meet your needs, that word need is so superficial. So many people have way more than they NEED yet we are always asking for MORE. Time is so short here on this earth and many unsuspecting GOOD people are going to hell. Yet, so much of the church is stuck in a self-indulgent rut. SO busy occupying time with the external while wasting valuable resources on things that have no eternal value. So busy in the daily grind, that we seem to forget that WE are not the only people on the planet. Satan has us so distracted with our own selfish ambitions that we don't see people to the left or right perishing....... When I read of Ms. Katie over in Africa she challenges me to look outside my own comfort. So I challenge you, what are you put on this earth to do? Have you ever asked the Lord if He has something bigger in store for you? Are you ready to count the cost if He tells you HIS plans for you or your family include giving up __________? Many of us live mundane and uneventful lives because we do not allow God to really be LORD OF ALL. We fill slots of time with business to avoid hearing from the Lord. We are too busy telling Him what we can handle rather than asking Him to give us the ability to handle ALL that He has in store for us!

Make sure to pause my music on the side bar to hear this song. Here is an amazing video that explains a little about Katie's passion:


Lyrics are as follows:

I am sitting still
I think of Angelique
Her mother's voice over me
And the bullets in the wall where it fell silent

And on a thousandth hill
I think of Albertine
There in her eyes what I don't see
With my own

Rwanda

[Chorus]
Now that I have seen
I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
Now that I have held you
In my own arms
I cannot let go 'till you are

No no, yeah

And I am on a plane
Across a distant sea
But I carry you in me
And in the dust on, the dust on, the dust on, the dust on
The dust on my feet

Rwanda

Now that I have seen
I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
Now that I have held you
In my own arms
I cannot let go 'till you are

I will tell the world
I will tell them where I've been
I will keep my word
I will tell them, Albertine

Rwanda

Now that I have seen
I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
Now that I have held you
In my own arms
I cannot let go 'till you are

Mmm

And I am on a stage
A thousand eyes on me
I will tell them, Albertine
I will tell them, Albertine

Some questions you may ask yourself based on these lyrics:

What have we SEEN that we are NOW responsible to act upon? Is your faith too dead to act?

Are you willing to obey whatever calling the Lord has in store?

Is our salvation used to further the Kingdom, or an inclusion that focuses on self?

How can the experiences God has allowed in our lives be effectively utilized?

"Bad will be the day for every man when he becomes absolutely contented with the life he is leading, with the thoughts he is thinking, with the deeds he is doing; when there is not forever beating at the doors of his soul some great desire to do something larger, which he knows that he was meant and made to do because he is still, in spite of all, the child of God." Phillips Brooks

Hello Lord

Hello Lord By Sarah Groves:





I saw these lyrics on another blog today here. Dont forget to mute my music on the side bar if you want to hear the song above.
Not sure how many of you have ever felt this way, but these lyrics were so reminiscint of our journey to find the home God has for us here in Florida. I am working on a blog about the home we think the Lord blessing us with, however, I would like to wait for more details to share!
For those of you maybe in the same boat. Maybe you are waiting to hear the Lord but not sure if He is whispering. Don't lose heart! He wants to speak to any heart wanting to hear His sweet voice!

Here are the lyrics:

Hello Lord, it’s me your child
I have a few things on my mind
Right now I’m faced with big decisions
And I’m wondering if you have a minute, cuz
Right now I don’t hear so well
And I was wondering if you could speak up

I know that you tore the veil
So I could sit with you in person
And hear what you’re saying but
Right now, I just can’t hear you.

I don’t doubt your sovereignty
I doubt my own ability to
Hear what you’re saying
And to do the right thing
And I desperately want to do the right thing
But right now I don’t hear so well
And I was wondering if you could speak up

I know that you tore the veil
So I could sit with you in person
And hear what you’re saying but
Right now, I just can’t hear you.

And somewhere in the back of my mind
I think you are telling me to wait
And though patience has never been mine
Lord, I will wait to hear from you
Oh Lord, I’m waiting on you

Right now I don’t hear so well
And I was wondering if you could speak up

I know that you tore the veil
So I could sit with you in person
And hear what you’re saying but
Right now, I think you’re whispering

Uncommon New Years goals

This Sunday I got to go to church………….. Here are some things I thought were pretty neat to ponder on.
The pastor started off by asking how many of us thought 2009 was a good year? I thought it odd that no one raised their hand because I didn’t think 2009 was bad, per-say. I do not live in a bubble and realize there are some pretty major things that made 2009 not very pleasant:
~America is beginning to realize the weight of their poor presidential choices when they elected a man that wasn’t qualified to take the presidential office. However, due to that poor choice we are seeing end times prophecy fulfilled very quickly!
~We live in an area of Florida that has been hit hard by the economy and people have lost homes and jobs all around the USA. Despite this, God still continues to use trials to strengthen our faith and take care of His people all over the globe, even if it is not the same way He used to take care of them!
The pastor went on to say that this year 2010 IS whatever we chose to make of it. We can choose to have joy and show others, that the light of the Lord lives in us OR we can choose to focus on circumstances which either rob us of our joy and/or get our focus off the Lord. To further his point of choosing joy in the New Year he went to the be-attitudes in Matt 5:3-16 to get the full understanding of what we should seek after.
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
I love that he pointed out the fact that these things that follow "Blessed are the……." in the passages above, are not typically on the "goals list" for the New Year. He joked that if he held a seminar titled with the following list he probably wouldn’t get any takers. :o) To be poor in spirit (spiritually bankrupt), to mourn, to be meek(power under control), to be persecuted, to have lies spread about you because of the Jesus………. Hmmmm, these are usually never things we aspire to, or ask for. However, what if we did ask for these things? Would we then have the radiant love of Christ that could not be masked by circumstance, trial or menial everyday tasks? Wouldn’t Jesus be faithful to fulfill them through us!
Then came his analogy on verse 6, about hunger and thirsting for righteousness. The word Righteousness here, from the Greek, means Equity of Character. If we are to have a life that is hungering and thirsting for a character that has worth or equity, the only way we can achieve such a character is to seek spiritual food. The Bible.
When an infant is born it needs to eat often, but he doesn’t really eat much each time. Likewise a baby Christian, NEEDS to be nourished by the word more often than just once a day. Since new believers are fighting many spiritual battles with old worldly patterns of behavior, their intake of the word may need to be frequent and in short spurts. This can be accomplished by listening to bible studies, posting scriptures around the house to memorize them, accountability groups and time alone with the Lord.
As the child grows into adulthood, his meals get larger, but he eats less frequently. As an older believer, I know I can become slack in nurturing my spiritual life and taking in the larger portions. Sometimes we can be fooled into thinking the snack-sized portions are good enough because we already know a lot of what the bible says. This misconception of necessity, doesn’t take into account our continual spiritual bankruptcy! It doesn’t consider, that God uses his word, daily, to speak to us personally according to whatever our current situation is. God, in His foreknowledge, also sees what will be coming ahead of us and if we are seeking after Him for those larger portions, we may not miss His gentle warning or preparation of what is to come. The verse here says we are to continually hunger and thirst for righteousness. We are not to snack on or nibble on it, but to really seek after the meat found in the word. If we do not, we will not be filled, prepared or focused for what God has in store. He wants us to desire larger portions, dig deeper, study more and get to the heart of what God is telling us, rather than being satisfied to our current head knowledge or daily reading. Many times this means getting out of our comfort zones and when we "don’t feel like it" pray and ask the Lord to renew our hunger and thirst!
Another analogy he used was a boxing analogy. You have 2 boxers of equal skill that are scheduled to fight. One is eating in order to be competitive bulking up on protein, carbs and veggies, while the other is just snacking on bread. The one who is eating to compete will win because he will have the energy needed to complete the task. It is the same with our daily intake from the word. If we are eating to win the race and to keep our focus on the Lord, our portion with the Lord will be complete so that our walk be a living witness to others. If we are just nibbling or snacking, weariness has the ability to take over and take out focus off the Lord. Thresult of this is similar to the salt that has lost its flavor and a light put under a basket.
If many of us who make those New Years resolutions, did so by sticking to the words in this passage alone, could we be the salt and light that was referred to in the verses 13-16? Never thought my New Years goals would have to do with those things but it is apparent that if we want to radiate Christ and be effective in our walks, these are the qualities that God says we need!

A New Year and some new beginnings

The most recent development at our home happens to be that we have left the Church closest to us and are now traveling to Naples to be apart of the fellowship there. This was something the Lord had established that we do prior to my visit to Tri-cities, but unfortunately, we delayed. It is hard to leave somewhere you get plugged in, but when God says GO it is best to listen in HIS timing and not our own! Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to Christmas eve service down in Naples, but I guess it was quite a festive event. John heard all about it last Sunday along with getting introduced to many of the folks at the church. He got to go by himself as he was the only one not yet suffering from the sinus headcolds. , In his fellowship time he got some really neat advice from some fellow brothers about being patient for the Lord to reveal his plan. This seemed to be a re-occuring theme for the day for him. Just another way for God to use others to speak to our heart! However, the neatest piece of advice that John came away with was this:
“Many times when we seek to hear the Lord’s plan for our lives, we only do so in an effort to CONSIDER (mull over & count the cost) the Lord’s plan, rather than with an attitude of first time obedience to WHATEVER God has in store.”
In theory, everybody wants to be in God’s will. Everyone wants God’s plan because in the end we understand in our heads that His plans are SO MUCH better than anything we could come up with on our own. That He is God and we are FAR from anything but a pile of filthy rags. Whether your personality is reflective of a ‘Mary’ or a ‘Martha’, we all do this in many ways that we may not realize. Either personality has it’s own demons in the way ‘considering’ plays its role. Marys’ tend to worry and dwell in the What If’s, impossibilities, and how to’s. Marthas get a piece of the puzzle and start plotting & planning for ways that will make things happen. Neither one is abiding, resting or dwelling in the fact that the the Lord has got things under His control. Especially when we have trouble RELINQUISHING the control to the Lord. That in a nutshell is the heart of the matter. Control, whether through worry or self-reliance are both sin and disobedience. Lately we have experienced a period of unanswered prayers in seeking His direction so these are the scriptures He has me meditating on. Trusting, seeking, dwelling, abiding, listening and just plain old sitting at his feet. Knowing full well that He has some amazing plans for us and to continue practicing that list above until He is ready to share, His perfect timing is in place, and WE are ready to receive it. At this point His voice will be unmistakable.
Psalm 37:3-7 3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
John 15:4-5, 7 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will[b] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Proverbs 14: 20 Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. 21 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
Psalm 51:1,10 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 139: 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

These are some of the scriptures that are speaking to my heart lately. Making certain that we are ready to obey, rather than just consider His will for our family. Here are some questions posed on a “New Years Devotional” from truth media, that were asked to ponder over as they relate to the past year and looking toward redeeming further growth, in the coming year.

Here are some questions we might ask ourselves:

How real has the Lord Jesus Christ been to me?
Did I seek His will when making decisions?
Was my life a good example for others?
Did I help anyone else come to Christ?
How many prayers did I have answered?
If I could do it over, would I live the same way?

Happy New Year!

Drought & Isolation

I was working on this journal before the accident happened and finished it afterward, so here goes. I was looking up verses on drought………. After my parents left, it was hard to let go! There was so much joy that came with their arrival, the fun times, the familiarity...... It was such an awesome blessing that filled a slight void that existed here for us. The whole family....... John, I & the kids had felt much like a drought, had entered in, as our only lifelines to what we knew were gone. The fellowship that we had was awesome, encouraging, exhortative, and uplifting. It brought back many memories of what we had left behind back in our home town, all the while creating great anticipation for our visit back there in August. There were many tears shed as we said our goodbyes, mostly by the adults! I was so glad that I did a word search on drought though as it made me remember where my nourishment comes from. Not from human contact, fellowship with family or people that we love, but from our creator who loves us more that we could ever fathom.
One of the chapters I was looking in was Jeremiah and here are some of the scriptures that stuck out.
Jeremiah 2 1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: " 'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. 3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,' " declares the LORD. 4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, all you clans of the house of Israel. 5 This is what the LORD says: "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. 6 They did not ask, 'Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and rifts, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?' 7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. 8 The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD ?' Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.

Oh how easily our eyes stray to the "grass is greener on the other side". How easily we turn our eyes to mumbling and complaining much like the Isrealites when this, in and of itself, is a form of idolatry. No one likes to think of it as such, but it was the main reason why God allowed the Isrealites to wander in the desert for SO LONG! Anything that has the ability to rob us of our JOY by focusing our eyes on ourselves, rather than on the Lord takes on the form of an idol. How easily we forget what he has saved us from, the valley’s God has brought us through and how HE remains faithful, even when we are faithless.

Jeremiah 17: 5 This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. 7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."

Plainly spoken, ‘suffering’ from a spiritual drought due to a physical circumstance, is a choice……… Fixing our eyes on what we have lost, rather than being greatful for the awesome time we had together, is a choice.……. It can also be an idol that will most certainly stumble our walks with the Lord. It makes me wonder if we miss out on many of the Lord’s blessings due to an attitude/eye focusing problem. God is a God of mercy & grace, however, when we are busy throwing a fit, for whatever reason, we have the ability to miss out on our own promise land that God has set in His sites for our future. It is no surprise to the Lord, when we fall into this trap of self loathing and self pity. Unfortunately, for a God who so wants to bless our socks off, He can’t bless our disobedience, mumering & complaining. As we look back at the Isrealites and how they wandered for so long in the wilderness, what a bummer it is to ponder......... If we, by our actions, tie up his blessings of grace and mercy because of our sinful thoughs, how much we miss out on! He HAS the Promise land in store for each and every one of us if we are able to keep our eyes fixed on Him and His precepts!
The funny thing about me looking up scriptures on drought....... It has rained everyday consistently since I began this journal. Not all day every day but there has been a spell of POURING rain daily! God has a sense of humor doesn't He?

God is good.....

How many of you are aware that God really does have a sense of humor? Well, those of you who know 'how I tick' will have a good chuckle at this one. I have explained, in general terms, a little bit about how the cultural norms of the east coast differ from those of the west coast. Let me explain one of these cultural norms to you that has been a but difficult to get used to.

WHen I first met John's folks a week before we were to wed I found it odd that when they greeted me it was with a full on hug and a slight kiss in the cheek. I found it a little uncomfortable, but because we were about to be family, I thought that maybe they were just really excited for their son and were embracing me into the family????? After all, his brother did not embrace me with this same enthusiasm. After living on this coastline for over half a year now, I have learned that this kind of greeting is a cultural norm. It really doesn't matter if you are meeting someone for the first time or not either, the initial greeting is the same. Big hug and slight kiss on the cheek. Am I crazy or is this weird? Many of you know how much of a 'touchy~feely' person I am so, I guess you could say this was an area of uncomfort that God wants me to 'grow into'? For the most part I really just try not to tense up and show my discomfort with this quite intimate level of "hi how are ya doing". In my initail attempts to cope with people wanting to touch and kiss me as a greeting I would instead try to 'cut them off at the pass' by extending out my hand as if to shake hands. However, some very sweet 'touchy~feely folks' just used that guesture not as a "respect the imaginary space bubble", but now have used my hand shake to 'pull me in' and hug me even closer. In my effort to compensate for my lack of wanting to be touched I have learned that not accepting this greeting can be insulting as well. This means I have no other choice BUT to 'get over it'.

Seriously though..................At many times along this, so far, pretty short season here to where we are, I'll be the first person to admit that I have questioned the title of this blog (God is good). While in my head I know undoubtably, that is so true, the 'rubber meets the road' when that head knowledge has been put to the test. I can now see where, in my many times of doubt I have failed to show the truth in this statement. As I admit this, I can sincerely say that I sit back and am AWE of the audacity of this kind of doubt. A realization of a lack of growth in this area is undoubtably disappointing....... I am in AWE that my God still loves me despite how futile my faith can be when circumstances are trying. In every step of the journey, God has truely been faithful. It is not what I know to be true that has changed however it is more of what my expectations were as a result of this move has not been as monumental as I had hoped. In reflecting upon this fact........ I have determined in this journey, to no longer get caught up or 'lost' in the mundane schedule of everyday life. Since there has been no distractions here in Florida, all we have been doing is finding a sence of normalcy in our routine. A rather mundane routine that consists of school & church and an occasional outing to explore the area. Without the common bonds of having kids around my children's ages and other couples around our general age it is rather lonely. So it is easier to get caught up in normalcy than to admit how hard this new 'normal', is.

I remember the end of last February, when we first knew the prompting of the Lord and how we were make some sort of sence out of this upcoming journey. Being that it is coming up on this time of year again it brings me to a level of reflection of what God had in store for us. During this short time we all spent a lot of time praying for answers & clear direction. God was ever so faithful to answer these prayers as we earnestly set forth to lay aside our worries and remember that His plan was so much better than any that we could accomplish on our own. I suppose after arriving here I figured my "role" in this journey would automatically become clear. I was praying about how to serve at church but wasn't reaching too far outside my comfort zone. I guess I figured His will for reaching the folks in the area that we were suppose to meet, would just fall conveniently into our laps. I hadn't spent much time praying for it to 'fall', just waiting. Well, God spanked me! He reminded me of that, once held devotion of last February. An undivided effort to seeking Him, asking for answers/confirmation and direction for His unfolding plan. Needless to say, even in the spankings God is good and He is faithful to not let me get too content with my mundane life. If you could be praying, I am looking into investing some time getting plugged into our community by volunteering on John's days off. This would mean that John would school the kids while I am out which he had agreed to do! The Lord has been tugging at my heart in one specific area, but because it would be rather stressful place to get involved, John is very reluctant. Please pray I will hear where God wants me to go and that we will both have peace about it. Love and miss you all!

Long time no hear.....

I know I haven't been very good about keeping you all updated on what is going on but there really isn't much I can tell. We have been struggling with some things having to do with what our purpose is here, but God is always faithful to continue to encourage us and give us glimpses of the possibilities and purposes of His plan for our church family and this area as a whole. The solution to all of that was to keep our focus on the Lord rather than our limited circumstances. John has started a weekly Men's prayer group on Thursdays evenings at the church. This was rather neat to give the men that desire to reach out, an opportunity to have an accountability group, fellowship and encourage each other.

I hear you Tri-Citians got snow........ apart of me is jelous but apart of me is not so much! The kids saw that New Orleans got snow and got all excited that it might make it down where we are but unfortunately we are too far down in the tropics for that possibility? With the weird weather though I am sure anything is possible even if it isn't likely...... It would definately answer one Christmas wish even if it would be catastophic for native Floridians who know nothing about driving in the stuff. That would be a day to stay home and off the roads!

Thanksgiving was a bit hard being so far away from family but it was really no different than every other year in some ways. John spend the day of Thanksgiving working so we celebrated on Friday instead. Sarah was going to come over but was informed by her employer earlier in the week that she was expected to work on Black Friday. We still had people from church join us though and they were a hoot to visit with and share this holiday with!

Some neat things that have happened lately at church. We have had some new couples come and join us. One couple moved recently from NY and were apart of Bill Galitins church when it was very small and watched it grow. Her health was one of the main reasons they moved to a warmer climate but it is exciting to hear them talk about the fact that God moved them here to US! It is nice to have some Vetran Calvary-ites who really seem to have a mature faith along with a heart to serve.
This last week we had a YOUNG (late 20s I would guess) couple visit us at church. They had 3 children and their oldest was a boy and Ben's age. (We have been praying for little boys Ben's age since our church doesn't have any) They live in the Port Charlotte/Englewood area which is about 30-45 minutes North of us. I guess they are California natives who were also called to the area just North of us to begin a Calvary. He was a Youth pastor at his church in Ca but then, like us began to see the Lord leading them elsewhere. They were visiting us since we were the nearest Calvary to them. It was very neat to hear their story and get the fellowship from folks closer to MY age....... Not sure if they are going to keep coming for a while or continue to try and offer a fellowship for those in their area up north. I, selfishly, pray that they get to stay with us and maybe do a homefellowship thing during the week for those in their area!!!!

John is finding his job a little more challenging than he thought it would be. He was really hoping for a housing unit where he could build relationships and get to know the inmates and therefore get opportunities to witness more often. Instead he is at a post where he shares with another officer. They spend half the shift with the mentally insane and half the post with 'normal but high risk' criminals. The high risk criminals is the 'good' part of the day whereas dealing with those that are not all there is not really very easy. Most of them are either yelling at you or screaming at the top of their lungs because of the fact that they are in jail and might not exactly know why. You can't really get them to stop either through means that get normal inmates to stop their antics since it is really a mental health issue. So all you can really do is hope you can tune it out and WISH your time would go by faster. There have been a couple times John has entertained asking to be transferred out of this assignment but apparently God hasn't given him the go-ahead to do so yet. Although there haven't been many witnessing opportunities at his assignment there, God has put other people in our separate paths to witness to and show them Jesus.

The kids have gotten plugged in to a drama club from the homeschool group we joined. I figured a smaller group might more easily allow them to form connections and make them feel more comfortable if or when we attend bigger events. The kids will be singing at some old folks homes for Christmas and spreading some much needed Christmas cheer! To sum up some other stuff......

Things I miss about home:

~Knowing the difference between really cold verses needing to wear pants if the temperature stays in the high 60s. SO SAD how fast your blood thins out here!

~Snow and my first thought at the first sight of snow is to call Kristy Good and ask her if she is watching it sipping moondust tea!

~Watching the kiddos play in the fresh snow!

~SLOW news days where there is no mention of child abuse or homicide. Here it is pretty common to have both in the news daily.

~Gardening according to seasons.

~Spending time with family during the holidays.

~Sending my leftover food to my neighbors or family.

~Being oblivious to the economic devastation going on in the rest of the country while the Tri-cities was insulated from much of it.

~Living around 'real people' rather than abandon/forclosed homes.

~Having a dozen people I could call and get together with for coffee or a playdate or BOTH.

~Having many excuses to get out of doing school and being a bad example for others not wanting to take a day off until I gave them something more fun to do!

~Not having my mom shop for me when I need something somewhat stylish to wear. SAD I KNOW!

~Smelling Christmas in the chill of the air and the weather getting us in the 'feel' of Christmas coming. It is weird putting up a tree when it feels a little more like spring.....


Things I don't miss about home:

~If we had stayed we would not be in the center of God's will and would be reaping the consequences of that. Don't even want to imagine what that spanking would be like. OUCH!

~The stress that came with the on-going saga of Politics at John's old job...... As The County Turns! Sorry for those of you still dealing with this!

~Being used in the lives of people who have hit rock bottom and due to their economic situation are totally open to the gospel. Hard to see but at least we get to offer the only Hope that only God can give regardless of situation.

~Being in shorts & T-shirts right now, spending time at the beach in and the kids getting to play outside ALL in the middle of winter.

~Watching the kids get to know their sister. Watching she and John interact with that same sense of humor and sarcasm. I am out of my league there so all I can do is watch!!

SO, this is what is going on here in our world! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and PLEASE remember to pray for all those that are hurting this Holiday season.

My retreat

The retreat this weekend was pretty neat. Only 5 women went from our church and this was a nice time to become more acquainted with them! There were quite a few churches within the Miami area and other surrounding churches there and I think ours was the only one from the gulf side of the state. It was weird that this was my first retreat where no body knew who I was...... while sometimes this is a wonderful thing, it was also kind of sad since everone already had their own friends and stuck to them pretty tight. I now have an understanding of how the Pendleton church must have felt at our retreats. Maybe a little isolated and alone in a crowd.

The theme for our retreat was called "The Way of Wisdom" and our guest speaker was Debbi Bryson, from California! She was an excellent speaker and if you want to check out who she is here is her webpage! http://www.abidinginministries.com/
One of the most informative descriptions of how to do a quiet time was really neat so if you are struggling with this check out this resource from her website that helps us to dig deeper into the word and pull out what applies to us: http://www.abidinginministries.com//images/stories/bible%20bus/Developing_Quiet_Time--Bus_Manual%5B1%5D-2.pdf

There were a couple phrases she shared that are in bold print that go with each concept she wanted to nail home......
First one goes like this:
Growing old is inevidable,
growing in wisdom is optional!

Most of the retreat we camped out in the Proverbs 4 as it pertained to where wisdom begins, where it comes from, how to preserve it, guard it, the cost to live it out.

Wisdom defined was: Clear thinking, good judgement, tact, discretion, balance, unshakable foundation regardless of circumstance.

Fear of the Lord defined: Reverence/respect/aww for the Lord

The opposite of wisdom looks a lot like 2 Timothy 3:1-7

Hence the next phrase worth remembering:
Much of life's pain and suffering comes as a result of indulging in what we want NOW while sacrificing what we want/need MOST

Many times Satan wants to rob us from this wisdom.
*he uses our desire to seek out a friend rather than to the Lord.
*he keeps our focus inward ~ causing us to question the Lord and His provision which lead to discontentment
*he gets us alone where we are isolated and out of fellowship with other believers

For many it is a progression that leads to sin/destruction:
Listen with our ears ~ seeds are planted
Listen with our hearts ~ seeds are cultivated and rooted
Acted upon ~ Seeds are now shooting up into plants and fertilized

Unfortunately our sin and destruction not only stop at us but has a snowball effect!
Proverbs 29:12 states this: If a ruler pays attention to lies, All his servants become wicked.

90% of the Christian life is wanting, while only
10% is asking.

When we are seeking God and in a right relationship with Him, many of the desires for wisdom, spiritual gifts or _______ (fill in the blank) are from Him! Hence the verse below:
Luke 11:
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread[d] from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

We have not because we do not seek to ask for it!

Hope you all are well! Love to you all!

Amazing story and video!

Frank Jenner: The Man from George Street
"Sir, are you saved? "If you would die tonight would you go to heaven. For years Mr. Jenner, an ordinary man as you and I witnessed to people on George Street, Sydney, Australia never seeing anyone coming to Christ but through his witnessing the lifes of thousands of people were changed and transformed for ever. If you are frustrated because no one seems to respond to the gospel then watch this amazing video and receive fresh fire for evangelism and don't forget YOU ARE a history maker. God is using You to influence persons and change their lifes and destinies.

This is an amazing video of one mans faithfulness to be bold and not knowing the seeds he had planted! PLEASE WATCH!
http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=555e221b560fe5d5dd2a

Praise and prayer.....

WOOO HOOO! WE have finally been here for 3 months and now have medical, dental & vision coverage! YIPEE! To some families this is not too big of a deal and maybe just something they can very well do without, but for our family it really is a necessity! Praise God that my last insurance allowed me to stock up on my prescriptions so I never had to pay any outrageous out of pocket expenses while we were not covered. Being that I take 3 pills a day and each pill retails for about $3 a piece, this is a huge savings and a neat way for God to provide for us!! We are still getting our bearings here and so the next order of business is to find doctors. It is funny because the term 'family doctor' is really not true to the meaning. I wanted to find a Dr that would at least be a primary for myself and the kids (John prefers the 'doc in the box' places where you don't have to have an appointment), however quickly learned by making some calls that due to the influx of elderly in the area you pretty much have no other choice but for me to find a woman Dr and the kids HAD to see a pediatrician. Family doctors only see teenagers and up and a majority of their clientel are elderly. Oh yes, the same goes for dentist and eye doctors as well. You pretty much have to call around to find ones that specialize in taking kids because when you call and ask if they take children you may get the response of "well I suppose we could see your kids too"........ My thought is NO THANK YOU, I prefer someone who actually likes kids!

Another thing that is weird here is the fact that, because John works for the jail, as an officer we automatically get gratuities from local businesses. Meaning, most businesses appreciate their law enforcement officers so much that they show it by giving a discount. I love to get 'discounts' but sometimes it is just odd. I took the dog to the vet and was chatting with a woman at the office; nice lady who is paid to visit with the customers, take pictures of their animals for their file and just be personable....... really ODD job description, but I think it is just the vets wife maybe? IDK? Well, in chatting she asked why we moved, where John worked, how many kids we had, ect...... After checking out and paying for the visit, this lady ran out to the car and asked why I didn't tell the ladies up front where my hubby worked? I explained to her I didn't think to mention it since I am not used to this kind of gesture as it is not normal where we come from. She just looked at me all cock eyed and said, "Well then we will just have to put a credit on your account to go towards your next visit". This side of the country is so odd, but this part makes me not want to mention where John works at all because then people fawn all over you and make a big deal about it...... I think it is a nice concept that people appreciate your service but just a bit uncomfortable?

A prayer request if I may...... The Lord has been laying some things on John's heart that he isn't exactly sure what to do with. It is one of those things that make you go "hum" and just keep seeking the Lord as you do not know what it all means. So if you could just pray for clarity that would be great....... Also, he is the only one that is in the group of people that were hired together, that hasn't gotten his schedule yet. He isn't sure why....... the Seargents basically bid for who they want to go where....... John is hoping it is because God is going to work a miracle and wants to put him on days after his training is through but also wondering if his supervisors just forgot about him? He wants to be where ever he will get the most opportunities to witness so I think God is doing some orchestration behind the scenes there! Prayers for a permanent schedule would be nice since this has made planning things pretty difficult past the end of November.

Also, there was a gentleman that came to church 2 Sundays ago. He had recently been through a detox program from alcoholism and you could tell it was taking a toll on his body. He went to detox because the lady who was renting him a room (she goes to our church) told him he had to go to detox or he would get kicked out of her home and not be welcomed back. He decided to go to detox at her ultimatum and was visibly going through withdrawls and shaking pretty bad during church. The Tuesday after the Sunday he came to church, he accepted the Lord as his savior and two days later, that Thursday he had a massive stroke and God took him home to be with him. He was only in his mid-50's but the pastor and John agreed that it was probably God's graciousness that ended his suffering and brought him home so that he would no longer be tempted to go back to his old lifestyle. If you could be praying for comfort to the lady who took him in and witnessed to him during this time in his life, and also for his unsaved family & friends. Not only for comfort, but that the people who don't know Jesus would also come to know the Lord through this!

HUGS!

My week of "I"

Sorry I have been silent lately. Last week I had a minor melt-down..... Lets just say it was a week of misguided focus. Misguided in the fact that I was allowing satan to play with my mind, get my focus off the Lord and instead focus more on ME......... If John's job here wasn't so great I may have tried to talk him into coming home, however, I knew in my heart of hearts that it was God's desire for us to be right where we are and He desires that we grow and flourish here. A week of remembering what we had left behind and will we ever have this kind of awesome church family again? I basicall had an "i" problem and I am sure we all have done this a time or two. God wanted me to share it though so you all could learn from my mistakes. Here is where my focus was a bit off kilter and where I began wallowing a bit.

I am lonely
I miss my house (and really don't want to sell it)
I miss my family/friends
I miss being around anyone who has something in common with me
I miss the kids & I having playdates to enjoy the company of a familiar face
I will never be able to handle homeschooling in Florida and organizing 3 kids school records
I do not even have the option to put them in ANY sort of school since I do not have 2 years worth of school records!
I hate being under a microscope
I'm not as plugged into the church as I would like to be
I miss FALL

Being that we tend to be our own worst critic I had failed even before I tried to accomplish anything last week all because of where my attitude was. In a desperate attempt to take care of one of my "woe is me" issues I met with a lady who has successfully homeschooled 6 of her kids here in Florida to see what she did to keep records. She showed me the expectations set before me in what a portfolio/record book looked like so this put that fear to rest. Chatting with a like-minded individual was a welcome time of fellowship as well!
The truth is that most of what I was dwelling on was true and in my own strength I WAS going to fail, however, due to God's gentle, patient and loving guidance he picked up my chin to look at His eyes and renewed my focus. Reminding me once again that I can do nothing without Christ who strengthens me!

On a lighter note, John started his FTO training on Sunday. His FTO officer was probably about 15 years younger than him but rather a humble guy. He was not gung ho or full of himself at all but very detail oriented in his training so this was nice! He was even a bit slightly intimidated at John's experience and told him "well I guess I will learn a lot from you this week eh?" John's first assignment was in the barricks. This is an outdoor quanza hut like facility that is planned for destruction once the new facility is completed. There is no AC in this facility and basically John's job is to stand outside it and keep the peace in the glaring hot sun. FUN! All he could think of was that something like this would never happen in WA state since it would be a PR nightmare! He was curious what happens to the officer at this post during a hurricane and, to his surprise, it was much the same. Since inmates are opportunists the job description is still the same. Stand outside and bear the elements. John at first thought the guy was joking so he began to chuckle at his response but he made sure John knew he wasn't joking.... He said "Yeah during the hurricane it is a rough ride and you definately get wet!" The good side to this is that he will not get stuck there but is just there for training since this position will no longer be available after the first of the year when they get occupancy in the new facility!

A very cool praise happened yesterday! We got the paperwork for the house signed so it is no longer ours! I cancelled all of the utilities today so no more bills that away either! YIPEE! God is so good to us and merciful. The paperwork showed better numbers than we were expecting so this means we will get to pay off some debt! God Bless all!

House, FAY and some pictures

Many of you asked for pictures of the house we are renting so here it is. I took these last night before the storm began. I will get inside pictures once I am done painting.



Fay has now passed on and the house still remains looking the same. Most homes here are one story ranch style homes and ALL are built out of concrete blocks. It is against code to build out of anything else as all structures must be able to withstand a category 4 hurricane. Most of the homes are stucco finished but I think it is funny when someone puts wood siding on the outer parts of a concrete home. Especially since the siding does not stay in very good shape. What is rather interesting is that it is against code to build a structure out of wood, but you can have a mobile home or MFH at your own risk. I would guess insurance rates would have to be outrageous! They set up shelters at the local schools and I would assume that these folks are the ones who might weather the storm at the shelter?

The storm that just passed by our area was really no bigger than a good old Tri-city wind/rain storm WITHOUT the mudd! I guess there are other areas throughout the county and other counties that have lost power though so some areas got a bigger brunt of the storm than we did!

We are still getting some rain but I guess that will continue into the night.

Here is the back of the house. Back in Tri-cities we might refer to this screened in area as a back porch but as I have been corrected many times, it is a Lanai here in Florida. NOT A PORCH? Floridians are so funny! OH BROTHER!

I threw this piture of my neighbors house in so you could see what hurricane shutters look like. In order to pass code you either have to have stubs on the outsides of your windows for shutters OR hurrican windows that can withstand debris and huge wind gusts. We have hurricane windows on our home so we had no need for shutters. John got to go over and help him put them up. We met them before this and they are very friendly although they think we are pretty unusual for having more than one child, me staying home and not working AND to top off the weird factor, we homeschool. John got some opportunities to witness to him while they worked and the kids played.

There are several other homes in the neighborhood, however they are abandoned and owned by the bank.

Here is an amazing tree that caught my eye. It is places at the entrance to a cemetary by John's academy. It is very huge and as you look at the close-up shot of the trunk it has many, many trunks. It was just really neat picture to me of growth through adversity. Each of those trunks are so crammed together you know each has to share its nourishment with its neighbor as there is cement & asphalt surrounding it. As you can tell from the picture above...... they have grown together to create this huge HEALTHY tree. Many times, we as Christians chose to NOT grow through adversity and then wonder, when the 'dry times' come, WHY we are so dry? Refusing growth is a way of refusing the Nourishment that only the Lord can give. This can also lead to withdrawing from fellowship & putting off time spent with the Lord....... At which point we become parched. It is so awesome that when we realize how far distant we have become, God is always faithful to pick us up, dust us off and help us look up and grow towards Him so that we don't get parched.

I have learned here in Florida to keep my camera close by since there is just so many neat things to take pictures of. When we take walks along our developement there is still so much untouched land so there are armadillos, raccoons, turtles, bunnies...... If I get some pictures of these as well I will pass them along! HUGS TO ALL!