Our 2009 Christmas Card and Photo

One of my most favorite things about Christmas is opening up my mailbox and seeing lots of mail from loved ones. I love the letters and read each one. I love the photos and seeing each family grow. With great sadness I find myself without the resources this year to send out a card to everyone on our list. So, I thought I would post it for anyone interested in reading and seeing!

WARNING: I know this is a long post and letter, but so much has happened in the last year.

We do have a new address. Contact me if you need it (through email or Facebook).



Chirstmas Letter 2009

We have had a whirlwind of a year and I thought the best thing to do for this year was to update you on where we are at in our journey of stepping out in faith and waiting for God to show us where to go.

As most of you know we ended up in Hot Springs, AR last year. We assumed it was temporary and lived as such. In May when the kids got out of school, the house we were living in sold. We then packed our stuff up and Sarae and the kids moved back to Michigan to live with her parents for the summer. Acey stayed in Hot Springs working with a landscaping company. The day that we left Arkansas, we all assumed (again too much assumption, I guess) that we would not be back. That God would for sure give us a camp by fall.

As summer flew by, there were camp trails that we followed, but all led to dead ends. We had to make a decision as to what was next. The only option that God has shown us is to stay in Hot Springs. So we packed up again and moved for a third time back down to Arkansas. Acey is now running his own landscaping business.
This year has been filled with lots of questions: what God was doing, why this journey was taking so long, why Arkansas, why landscaping? While there have been very few answers given to these questions, God has been faithful to care for our family and show is the very next step…and that is it!

The puzzle that we were building when we left Bair Lake is definitely not the same puzzle God is building in our lives. Where we are today looks nothing like where we envisioned ourselves 1 ½ year ago. But it is still our journey and it is teaching us to have faith for today, for our future is so uncertain!

So where are we at TODAY:

Acey is running his own landscaping company. God has blessed these past few months tremendously with jobs, referrals and even encouragement for him from other businessmen that he is the kind of “business owner” that the Village (Hot Springs Village is the largest gated retirement community in the US) needs. Did we ever envision ourselves owning our own business? No, yet the Lord has trained Acey over the past year and has provided networking for him to do just that. And for that we say Thank You, Lord.

Sarae is still able to stay at home with the kids and has pretty much worked at just providing some sort of stability in the chaos of our circumstances. One of her greatest drives is to raise this flock that God has given her to follow His voice. This year has given her opportunities to teach Bible Studies for Scout and Garrett and any local kids that join us. Did she ever think that she would be teaching Precepts to kids instead of ladies? No, yet God has opened those doors wide to be able to do just that for her kids.< And for that we say Thank You, Lord.

Scout is 9 years old and is in the 4th grade. She was accepted into the Gifted and Talented program this year. Did we ever think we would have to come to Arkansas to get the education she needed? No, yet she has had her most favorite teacher who has spurred her into a true love for reading and learning! And for that we say Thank You, Lord.

Garrett is 8 years old and in the 3rd grade. He is excelling in math and of course in social skills! He is loved by his teachers and they truly see the giftedness he has for people. They see his kind heart and his desire to excel at what he does. Did we ever dream that we would have teachers who appreciated who Garrett is and not see him under the shadow of his sister? No, yet his teachers in Arkansas have given him that wonderful gift of admiration. And for that we say Thank You, Lord.

Noah is 6 years old and in the 1st grade. He loves all things sports and we were not here 1 month and he discovered the Razorbacks. He will be a forever fan. Our goal is to get him to one of the famous Razorback Games at University of Arkansas before God moves us again. Did we ever think about how sports might impact what God is doing in our lives? No, yet we have a team that we root for and wear t-shirts of that is meaningful to Noah. And for that we say Thank You, Lord. SOOOO-WEEEE!

Addison is 3 years old and is so full of life and hilarity! Everything she does, she does with enthusiasm. Her best friend is her cousin Lilly who is also three. I have never seen two little girls play so well together and enjoy each other so much. Addison is fueled by being around people. Yet did we think about friendships for her as we left to seek the Lord’s future for us? No, yet God has given her a best friend! And for that we say Thank You, Lord.

Braxton is 1 year old. As many of you know, she was hospitalized for pneumonia in November. Again, we see how God is in the details of our life. The kids school required doctor’s notes if they were sick. This motivated me to get a doctor set up for the kids. One week after getting Braxton to her new doctor, she was sent to the hospital for a week. Did I ever think that this annoyance from the school would probably save my daughter’s life? No, yet God took care of our little one and she received the care she needed. And for that we say Thank You, Lord.

Our prayer is that our story would be a testimony to a God who cares about the details of our lives. While we still don’t have any idea what the big picture is in all this drama, we do try to see God in the small details of leading our lives. Our motto for this fall has become, “Today, we are Okay!” And for that we thank You, Lord!

'Tis so Sweet...

We are currently attending a church that is in the center of Hot Springs Village (the largest gated retirement community in the country). We are not retired. But it has been refreshing to be in a church that does things totally different than what is hip and cool. They sing mostly hymns! And they have an organ (with a band).

As we sing these hymns again, I am really trying hard to concentrate on the words. They are so very powerful. Take the classic, "'Tis so Sweet"

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
Just to take Him at His Word
Just to rest upon His Promise
Just to know 'thus saith the Lord.'

Jesus, Jesus How I trust Him!
How I've proved Him over and over
Jesus, Jesus precious Jesus
O for Grace to Trust Him more.

I think we have forgotten how to take Jesus at His Word, to rest on His promises, to know this is what God says. There is no foundatin more firm than to trust God's Word.

Photo from www.bbc.co.uk/

A new {IN}-sight on debt

I have been extremely challenged by Hudson Taylor's insert about debt in his autobiography:

"To me it seemed that the teaching of God's Word was unmistakably clear: 'Owe no man anything.' To borrow money implied, to my mind, a contradiction of Scripture-a confession that God had withheld some good thing, and a determination to get for ourselves what He had not given.... If the Word taught me anything, it taught me to have no connection with debt. I could not think that God was poor, that He was short of resources, or unwilling to supply any want of whatever work was really His. It seemed to me that if there were any lack of funds to carry on work, then to that degree, in that special development, or at that time, it could not be the work of God."

I had never thought of debt in this light. If the resources were not there for me to get IT, then quite surely IT was not something God had for me to get (at that time). I think of the many churches and ministires that are in tremendous debt for their new buildings or new facilities. Could it be that God did not intend for them to have that?

A prayer for our kids...for every month!

This comes from a post at Heart Pondering

1. That they will know Christ early in life. (Psalm 63:1; 2 Timothy 3:15)

2. That they will hate sin. (Psalm 97:10)

3. That they will be caught when guilty. (Psalm 119:71)

4. That they will be protected from the evil one in each area of their lives: spiritual, emotional, physical. (John 17:15)

5. That they have a responsible attitude in all their personal relationships. (Daniel 6:3)

6. That they will respect those in authority over them. (Romans 13:1)

7. That they will desire the right kind of friends and be protected from the wrong friends. (Proverbs 1:10-11)

8. That they will be kept from the wrong mate and saved for the right one. (2 Corinthians 6:14-17)

9. That they, as well as those they marry, will be kept pure. (1 Corinthians 6:18-20)

10. That they will learn to totally submit to God and actively resist Satan in all circumstances. (James 4:7)

11. That they will be single-hearted, willing to be sold out to Jesus Christ.
(Romans 12:1-2)

12. That they will be hedged in so they cannot find their way to wrong people or wrong places and that the wrong people cannot find their way to them. (Hosea 2:6)”

Take one each month and saturate your kids in prayer!

JESUS IS...{a walk through the Scriptures}

Jesus is….
From Genesis, He is the Ram at Abraham’s altar.
From Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb.
From Leviticus, He is the High Priest.
From Numbers, He is the Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night.
From Deuteronomy, He is the City of our refuge.
From Joshua, He is the Scarlet Thread out Rahab’s window.
From Judges, He is our Judge.
From Ruth, He is our Kinsman Redeemer.
From 1st and 2nd Samuel, He is our Trusted Prophet.
From Kings and Chronicles, He is our Reigning King.
From Ezra, He is our Faithful Scribe.
From Nehemiah, He is the Rebuilder of everything that is broken.
From Esther, He is the Mordecai sitting faithful at the gate.
From Job, He is our Redeemer that ever liveth.
From Psalms, He is My Shepherd and I shall not want.
From Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, He is our Wisdom.
From Song of Solomon, He is the Beautiful Bridegroom.
From Isaiah, He is the Suffering Servant
From Jeremiah and Lamentations, Jesus is the Weeping Prophet.
From Ezekiel, He is the Wonderful Four-Faced Man.
From Daniel, He is the Fourth Man in the midst of a fiery furnace.
From Hosea, He is My Love that is forever faithful.
From Joel, He baptizes us with the Holy Spirit.
From Amos, He’s our Burden Bearer.
From Obadiah, He is our Savior.
From Jonah, He is the Great Foreign Missionary that takes the Word of God into all the world.
From Micah, He is the Messenger with beautiful feet.
From Nahum, He is the Avenger.
From Habakkuk, He is the Watchman that is ever praying for revival.
From Zephaniah, He is the Lord mighty to save.
From Haggai, He is the Restorer of our lost heritage.
From Zechariah, He is our Fountain.
From Malachi, He is the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings.
From Matthew, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
From Mark, He is the Miracle Worker.
From Luke, He is the Son of Man.
From John, He is the Door by which every one of us must enter.
From Acts, He is the Shining Light that appears to Saul on the road to Damascus.
From Romans, He is the Justifier.
From 1 Corinthians, He is our Resurrection.
From 2 Corinthians, He is our Sin Bearer.
From Galatians, He redeems us from the Law.
From Ephesians, HE is our Unsearchable Riches.
From Philippians, He supplies our every need.
From Colossians, He’s the Fullness of the Godhead Bodily.
From 1 and 2 Thessalonians, He is our Soon Coming King.
From 1 and 2 Timothy, He is the Mediator between God and man.
From Titus, He is our Blessed Hope.
From Phileman, He is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother.
From Hebrews, He is the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant.
From James, HE is the Lord that heals the sick.
From 1 and 2 Peter, He is the Chief Shepherd.
From 1, 2 and 3 John, it is Jesus who has the tenderness of love.
From Jude, the Lord is coming with 10,000 servants.
From Revelation, lift up your eyes, Church, for your redemptions draweth nigh; He is our King of kings and Lord of lords.

ALL HAIL THE POWER OF JESUS' NAME, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME LIKE THE NAME OF JESUS. HIS NAME IS ABOVE ALL NAMES.

From the Celebration Hymnal #14.

The Hand of God

We have seen the eye of God...
























Now we can see the hand of God...

Photos taken by the Hubble Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory

The Best Story Ever Told!

The High Priest is Alive...pt. 1

A bit of Old Testament History:

The Jewish nation had a temple. This temple had an inner part called the Holy of Holies. No one was to enter this part of the temple, except one day per year: The Day of Atonement. This was the day that the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to present a sacrifice to the Lord. This sacrifice was to atone (cleanse) the sins of the entire Jewish nation.

"To the high priest alone it was permitted to enter the holy of holies, which he did only once a year, on the great Day of Atonement, for "the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest" (Hebrews 9; 10). Wearing his gorgeous priestly vestments, he entered the temple before all the people, and then, laying them aside and assuming only his linen garments in secret, he entered the Holy of Holies alone, and made expiation, sprinkling the blood of the sin offering on the mercy seat, and offering up incense. Then resuming his splendid robes, he reappeared before the people
(Lev. 16)." (christiananswers.net)

Picture from christiananswers.net

Hearing for the First Time

This video is from a missionary friend of mine in Paraguay:



Hearing for the first time! Did you see the look on his face when he heard his first sounds?

I can't help but think about hearing the Gospel-the message of Jesus Christ. Having grown up in a Chrisitan Culture, in a Chrisitan Home the message was always around me. What is is like to hear the message for the first time? I think the look would be similar to that of Jorge's.

What a privilege it would be to go to a part of the world where the Gospel has not been heard...and to be there when they hear it for the first time!

To read more about Jorge's story visit Passion for Paraguay.

A Divine Dance

God wants your answer to by "YES!"

A Colorful God...

The first time I saw this woman at church, I was a little surprised to see the colors in her hair; a most unusual do for a retirement community. I finally had the nerve to ask her the story behind her hair (the following is paraphrased by me)

“Last summer I was doing a Bible study and I really was impressed by how colorful God is. The theme of color kept running through my head. I was at the beauty salon and saw a hairdresser adding colors to hair and I felt that God wanted me to represent His color through my hair. So I did it, a little nervous as to what all the ‘old people’ at church would think (the ladies love it…the men not so much). A few weeks later I went to visit my grandkids who are teenagers. Both were shocked at my hair. On Sunday they asked if it was ok to go to church with hair colored like this (as they have some crazy hair too). I told them it was; they joined me for the first time at church. One is now walking with the Lord.”

Is that not the coolest story of how God can use the weirdest things to bring others to Him. I was so blessed by this woman’s story and am glad I had the guts to ask her to tell me her story. What are the stories that are around you that you might be missing out on because you don’t want to ask?
For another story of a great Christian who was asked to do something that went against his culture read Reese Howells - Intercessor

You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,

who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,

who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.

Psalm 65:5-7




For more WAVE photography check out Clark Little

Nothing is Impossible with Faith

"Faith has the genius of transforming the barely possible into actuality."

-Samuel Zwemer, missionary to the Muslim World, 1911

Don't Waste Your Life

This is an excerpt from John Piper at the One Day Conference in 2000.

"I tell you what a tragedy is. I'll read to you from Reader's Digest (Feb. 2000, p. 98) what a tragedy is: "Bob and Penny... took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells." The American Dream: come to the end of your life - your one and only life - and let the last great work before you give an account to your Creator, be "I collected shells. See my shells." THAT is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. And I get forty minutes to plead with you: don't buy it."

"Don't waste your life. It is so short and so precious. I grew up in a home where my father spent himself as an evangelist to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost. He had one consuming vision: Preach the gospel. There was a plaque in our kitchen for all my growing up years. Now it hangs in our living room. I have looked at it almost daily for about 48 years. It says, "Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last."

To read more go to
Desiring God.

Or read his book "Don't Waste Your Life."

Allowing the Holy Spirit to Transform Part 2

Dye tells this story:
While working in the Wagu village, many came to Christ. Instead of making a list of behaviors, the missionaries advised the Wagu people to go to God for wisdom and direction regarding how they should act, what they should do or not do, what ceremonies or parts of their culture should be kept, which should be dropped. The missionaries tended to be impatient about certain activities that were displeasing to God. But, they restrained from expressing their opinion. They wanted the people to develop a relationship with God and to be able to hear God’s voice for themselves.

One aspect of the culture that disturbed the missionaries was polygamy. The older men took several wives which left no women for the younger men. Therefore, not only was there polygamy but also adultery was rampant in the tribe. The Wagu people determined that if they were to love one another, then polygamy was selfish. The developed a law that stated that no man was allowed to take a second wife if there was a single man without a wife. After 15 years, polygamy was non-existent; all the young men had wives; the rate of adultery was drastically cut.

This article convicted me of the arrogance that I carry, thinking I have a right to determine the path of transformation. It taught me that if I will focus on teaching the 3 key principles, the Holy Spirit will step in and create real, sustaining transformation in people and communities. It has rocked my discipleship principles to the core!

Allowing the Holy Spirit to Transform - Part 1

An article by T. Wayne Dye has rocked my core theology of discipleship. (From my Perspectives Class)



Dye walks you through the life of Pete the missionary. A tribe that he is working with has just become Christians. There are some traits that Pete cannot stand in this tribe and that they need to be changed now that they have become Christians. He has taken it upon himself to let this tribe know what they are doing wrong (all under the pretense of trying to help them).

Dye is making the argument that we as disciple-ers are to allow the Holy Spirit to bring about transformation. And even harder to hear, that maybe the Holy Spirit will convict in a totally different sequence than he did with me.

“Anyone who has followed Christ for long has experienced the Holy Spirit convicting him or her of behavior that they had not realized was sinful. This is not a once-for-all experience. God repeatedly and progressively leads individuals through a process of transformation to become increasingly like Christ. In a similar way, God moves by His Spirit and speaks by His word to bring about gradual changes in a community of believers. We find that the Holy Spirit brings conviction for particular sins in different sequence from one people to another” (Dye).

It is not my right or responsibility to point out what “sins” people need to work on. By doing this I am making the gospel about a list of “to do’s” instead of about salvation by grace. What I am responsible for teaching is
a) God is sovereign
b) The Bible is the authority of Truth
c) To love one another

Through these core teachings, the Holy Spirit will be able to transform a society.

Living as the Poor

My friends from Indiana, Jeff and Adrienne Reichanadter are having an incredible expereince with their family. They have left everything and gone to India for 6 months to work at an orphanage. Their blogs are so awesome of what they are seeing as they live as the poor.

This was their most recent post. Awesome. I wonder if God would give my family an experience like this?

The Reichanadter Journey

Thy Kingdom Come

Perspectives Week 3- “Thy Kingdom come…”

One of Jesus’ main themes in His teaching was the Kingdom of God. He taught in order show people how to enter the Kingdom of God. His miracles were proof that the Kingdom of God had come. His parables illustrated the truth about God’s Kingdom. He even taught His disciples that in prayer the heart should be, “Thy Kingdom come.”

“The Kingdom of God is His Kingship, His rule, His authority. When we realize this, we can see this meaning in passage after passage in the New Testament. We can see that the Kingdom of God is not a realm or a people, BUT IT IS GOD’S REIGN. Jesus said that we must “receive the Kingdom of God” as little children (Mark 10:15). What is received? The church? Heaven? What is received is God’s rule. In order to enter the future realm of the Kingdom (heaven), people must submit themselves to God’s rule here and now” (George Eldon Ladd). Therefore in the prayer “Thy Kingdom come,” we are pleading for God to reign on earth.

Do we really desire God’s Kingdom to be on earth?

I can only answer this from an American point of view. Because the current generations of Americans have never experienced a tyrannical ruler ship over our country or much suffering, I don’t believe that we necessarily desire God’s Kingdom to be set up. This is a very different mindset than what a New Testament Jew would want. Israel had been under Roman rule, Babylonian rule, plus many others. They very much wanted God’s Kingdom to conquer all who had tried to rule over them. We in America still have our freedoms and our “good life.” Why would we want that disrupted by God’s Kingdom? I don’t think until we really see and experience the godlessness and suffering of this world , do we crave to see God’s Kingdom rule.

Ruined for the Ordinary

In my Perspectives Course (www.perspectives.org) there were several people who gave their testimonies of what Perspectives taught them. One college girl said, “This class will ruin you.” The leader took that phrase a little further by saying, “This class will ruin you for the ordinary.” I found myself excited to ask the Lord for this, but also very scared.

I have always enjoyed doing things that were exciting, thrilling and adventuresome. Yet I also have grown to enjoy a predictable life with much routine. This statement reminded me how much I desire to be a part of things that are out of the ordinary. But, that same week I had to wrestle with giving up stability as I define it: a Pottery Barn home with room for everyone, a good school that my kids can stay at until they graduate, a car that works, a job that is reliable and a community for me to participate in.

You see I have given up the right to control my life. I believe that God is much more capable in organizing the experiences that I have and the environment that my family is to be raised. With having given up the control of my life, are times when the realization comes that I am holding too tightly to a dream, a hope, a wish. My prayer became, “Lord, ruin me for the ordinary.” I want to look back on my life and my family’s life and see exciting adventures. But with that my life will probably not look like what I define as stable. I have prayed that the Lord would make me okay with that.

Two sites to check out if you are interested in being "ruined for the ordinary.



www.perspectives.com
www.wreckedfortheordinary.com

Saved by Trash

Today the pastor in our church told the best story of someone finding Jesus: (This is told from the Pastor's point of view)

"Today we are welcoming new members. There is one member that you need to hear the story of how he ended up here. Doug Shoemaker is a sanitation worker. Someone had thrown away a CD that had one of my sermons on it. Doug found it while working, amidst the trash. He took it home; he listened to it and decided that he needed to come to Village Bible to hear more. My question is, 'Who threw away a sermon of mine? (lots of laughter) I just want you to know that what man intended for evil, God intended for good! (and the best part) Don't forget that God is in the details, and no detail goes without His notice."

How cool is that story. A sanitation worker would find a discarded sermon on a CD, take it home, listen to it and become a follower of Christ. Our God is so much bigger than we can imagine. This encourages me at a time in my life when I can't see how God is going to fulfill His promise to us.

Yet as our pastor is saying throughout his new series on God's promises, "Are you promise level living, or feelings level living?" Do you base the evaluation of your life on your feelings or on the promises of God