This is the second time I have come to my blog page and sat blankly thinking of something to write. How on earth do I not have anything to say? I think sometimes I wait for some sort of brilliant revelation that has come over me and I want to bless the world with it...and well no brilliant revelations as of lately have come upon me. Bummer. Ah alas, there is more to my existence than just my musings on the meaning of life-so I thought I would share with you just some of the "every day ordinary."
Monday was was Memorial day-90 degrees and humid. I thought I left that weather down in Texas. Anyway, I went over to my sister's house for a cook-out and a rousing tournament (all planned out by my 10 year old nephew) of Corn Hole. Yes, that's right folks, Corn Hole. While it may sound a little red neck, I will say that it is addicting and strikingly pulls out a competitive edge within me.
It was also an evening of watching little Callie play with the kitty...what a sight to watch her try and ride on its back! It didn't work out to the advantage of the kitty.
It is one of my favorite things to just sit and watch the youthfulness of these little ones. Mason has so much energy, spurting here and there, and excelling at everything he does. Callie loves to just experience life-she'll take advantage of the grassy hill at the baseball field in which she and her little friends say "ready. set. roll!" and roll down the hill, bumping into each other, and giggling because they are having so much fun. And here comes a thought just gleaned: I miss the days of carefree living. I miss not having anything to be concerned about except when I would see my friends next, when I'd go to the swimming pool, going to get an ice cream cone, etc. There is so much enjoyment in participating in life. It truly is inspirational to watch them-inspires me to let go of the worries that I wear on my shoulders and enjoy the goodness of life that was meant to be enjoyed.
So, as I was sitting and contemplating this while watching the kids run around, I decided that I would do something that I always loved to do...climb trees. I still got it! I gripped a hold of that tree branch, walked my feet up the trunk and flung my legs over the branch to hoist myself up. I hope that when I'm 60 I can still do this. :)
As my friend Stef and I declared during one of our roadtrips from Ohio to Wheaton a few years ago-----E TO THE J BABY...E TO THE J. (Enjoy the journey.) A little more hip and trendy than sticking to the old fashioned saying of stop and smell the roses. :)
Sooooo....E TO THE J! Enjoy your journey!
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Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
"Guten morgen meine schöne frau" is the greeting that awaits me every morning during my stay here in El Paso. The phrase means "good morning my beautiful woman." I absolutely love this. My host's Deutsch Akzent is adorable, and I love when she mixes her German with her English...what would that be called "Germish?" "Gereng?" "Manlish?" (shrug).
Anyway, it just really excites me about when I get to start learning the language. I really have a feeling that when I am around it 24/7 in Berlin that my previous knowledge of the language will come swiftly to return to the surface of my brain. I already understand a lot. But more than her accent, I love her heart for God. We've had some incredible, and I mean incredibly conversations over the breakfast table (they usually last several hours).
Well I have been out in West Texas for a good while now and I am so sad to say that I have not seen a tumbleweed "tumble" across the roads yet! I have however seen the tumbleweeds stationary in the ground just waiting for the wind to blow strong enough to uproot it and carry it away. I think that I definitely would want to be classified as a person who is like an Oak planted by streams of water, instead of a Tumbleweed uprooted by the wind. :)
Over the past few days I have spoken at three different journey groups here in the New Vision fellowship. The people here are SUPER! It really is unbelievable how quickly God has grown this church plant in just 2 1/2 years. They went from 8 people to, on their best day, 117! In just 2 1/2 years! Wow! The team of prayer warriors for Germany is growing and I'm getting excited. :) Just had an amazing revelation tonight of the powerhouse that Germany could be if they would respond to the stirring of the Holy Spirit and if waves of them would give their lives over to Jesus..."Every town...every city"
Tomorrow night I get to kick back and have a little fun with the youth as we sway to the music of Mercy Me, Jars of Clay and the Afters.
Okay, I just had the biggest yawn ever so I think it's time for me to say goodnight...Gute Nacht und süße Träume.
Tschus!
Anyway, it just really excites me about when I get to start learning the language. I really have a feeling that when I am around it 24/7 in Berlin that my previous knowledge of the language will come swiftly to return to the surface of my brain. I already understand a lot. But more than her accent, I love her heart for God. We've had some incredible, and I mean incredibly conversations over the breakfast table (they usually last several hours).
Well I have been out in West Texas for a good while now and I am so sad to say that I have not seen a tumbleweed "tumble" across the roads yet! I have however seen the tumbleweeds stationary in the ground just waiting for the wind to blow strong enough to uproot it and carry it away. I think that I definitely would want to be classified as a person who is like an Oak planted by streams of water, instead of a Tumbleweed uprooted by the wind. :)
Over the past few days I have spoken at three different journey groups here in the New Vision fellowship. The people here are SUPER! It really is unbelievable how quickly God has grown this church plant in just 2 1/2 years. They went from 8 people to, on their best day, 117! In just 2 1/2 years! Wow! The team of prayer warriors for Germany is growing and I'm getting excited. :) Just had an amazing revelation tonight of the powerhouse that Germany could be if they would respond to the stirring of the Holy Spirit and if waves of them would give their lives over to Jesus..."Every town...every city"
Tomorrow night I get to kick back and have a little fun with the youth as we sway to the music of Mercy Me, Jars of Clay and the Afters.
Okay, I just had the biggest yawn ever so I think it's time for me to say goodnight...Gute Nacht und süße Träume.
Tschus!
Friday, February 18, 2011
And....I'm back!
Right now I am currently in Midland Texas, the second to last stop on my trek. I just came from Lubbock and Next tuesday I fly to El Paso for my final week on tour. I can't believe that I'm passed the halfway point already. In some ways I do feel tired-there have been a lot of new environments to process, new cultures to interact with, speaking to different groups of people, but it's not like what I was expecting. I was expecting to reach this point and be ready to get home. And while I do look forward to getting back to Longview and not living out of suitcase, I also am really enjoying myself quite a bit! One of my favorite places was, surprisingly, in McAllen-the border town that I was originally concerned to drive to. But I think what made my time there so great was that for those few days I had a "ministry" partner. A woman I met at my very first church on tour traveled down with me, and I thank God how he worked that out. When I first met Connie, I felt a kindredness to her and I was sad that my time with her was so short. And then when the Lord opened the door for me to have someone travel down to the border with me, I jumped at the opportunity. It also showed me that, though I can do go on tour alone, I prefer to be in partnership with someone. There is a reason why Paul had someone with him when he went out on his missionary journeys. I just enjoy it better with someone else.
The second great thing about this trip was the people we stayed with. This couple isn't originally from the CMA background, so it was fun to hear about how God lead them to start a church in the Alliance, and I'm thrilled to see what God has in store for them as they begin their new journey. And I felt a kindredness to them as well; as if we've known each other for along time. They were so gracious, AND Lowell was a coffee connoisseur! :) Waking up to the delightful smell of premium fresh ground coffee was AMAZING! Now, Beth didn't like coffee as much, but I didn't hold that against her! :) lol. And actually we did a lot of LOL. I haven't laughed that hard or that much in a long time. I think I burned most of my daily calories by laughing! Thank you Jesus for those moments.
I am having some issues uploading some of my photos on this blog, so I will try to upload them to an album in Facebook so ya'll can see the sights I've been able to see. :)
Until we meet again...
Right now I am currently in Midland Texas, the second to last stop on my trek. I just came from Lubbock and Next tuesday I fly to El Paso for my final week on tour. I can't believe that I'm passed the halfway point already. In some ways I do feel tired-there have been a lot of new environments to process, new cultures to interact with, speaking to different groups of people, but it's not like what I was expecting. I was expecting to reach this point and be ready to get home. And while I do look forward to getting back to Longview and not living out of suitcase, I also am really enjoying myself quite a bit! One of my favorite places was, surprisingly, in McAllen-the border town that I was originally concerned to drive to. But I think what made my time there so great was that for those few days I had a "ministry" partner. A woman I met at my very first church on tour traveled down with me, and I thank God how he worked that out. When I first met Connie, I felt a kindredness to her and I was sad that my time with her was so short. And then when the Lord opened the door for me to have someone travel down to the border with me, I jumped at the opportunity. It also showed me that, though I can do go on tour alone, I prefer to be in partnership with someone. There is a reason why Paul had someone with him when he went out on his missionary journeys. I just enjoy it better with someone else.
The second great thing about this trip was the people we stayed with. This couple isn't originally from the CMA background, so it was fun to hear about how God lead them to start a church in the Alliance, and I'm thrilled to see what God has in store for them as they begin their new journey. And I felt a kindredness to them as well; as if we've known each other for along time. They were so gracious, AND Lowell was a coffee connoisseur! :) Waking up to the delightful smell of premium fresh ground coffee was AMAZING! Now, Beth didn't like coffee as much, but I didn't hold that against her! :) lol. And actually we did a lot of LOL. I haven't laughed that hard or that much in a long time. I think I burned most of my daily calories by laughing! Thank you Jesus for those moments.
I am having some issues uploading some of my photos on this blog, so I will try to upload them to an album in Facebook so ya'll can see the sights I've been able to see. :)
Until we meet again...
Friday, February 11, 2011
Something new and unique in every city...
It is 12:21am, just wrapping up an evening full of storytelling and sharing about ministry with my host family back here in San Antonio. As many of you know, I'm a night owl, but tonight especially I am just exhilarated by the quality of the time spent with people tonight.
Tomorrow I head down to the valley...McAllen, Texas. I'm sure many you have heard about the recent tumultuous events that have been taking place down in Mexico near the border of Texas, but I want you to rest in assurance that God is with me as I go and has spoken his protection over me. He instills HIS peace and reminded me that He is going with me. He gave me a verse through Ruth Hess from Genesis 46. God is speaking to Jacob and telling him not to be afraid to go down to Egypt..."I will go down with you to Egypt and will surely bring you up again..." What a huge encouragement that my Father in heaven, knew my heart and spoke directly to it to calm any nervousness I had about it. He also then used other people to speak faith and trust into the situation...and before I knew it, any fears I had (of the worst possible scenario that could happen) were eliminated. So, I tell you this not to release you from praying safety over me but that God has granted me courage and faith and an anticipation of what ministry awaits me there.
Priceless gifts
Last Saturday evening I was handed off to the people in Uvalde, Tx. First off, and no offense meant to East Texas, I felt for the first time like I was stepping into the "Texas" that one would see in the movies...the "Texas" that most people think of when they think of this great big state. It was fascinating! I was told many many stories of the important "cowboys" that lived in Ulvade and I found out, that the Vice President (whose name I cannot remember at this late hour) serving with Theodore Roosevelt came from Uvalde!
But something even more amazing was the chance I got to spend some time with a true warrior of prayer. Her name is Ruth Hess. The story of her life is one of ultimate obedience to the Lord (although she would argue with me that she wasn't always obedient) and her dedication to the fellowship of believers there. For years, she has lived in Uvalde because God had called her to be the prayer warrior for this city and for this church. She would be considered a modern day Anna in my opinion. Called to the temple of the Most High to pray night and day for the coming of the Messiah. Ruth goes to the throne room of God to pray for the coming of Jesus in power to this city and this church. This is her calling...to prayer. It isn't a glamorous work...in fact I believe it's one of the hardest callings anyone can receive from the Lord. It takes intense labor to intercede for people, extra measures of faith and perseverance, because often the answers take years to show themselves. I learned what it means to be steadfast and firm in the Lord by watching this woman this week.
Sunday night was a pretty fabulous night. I got the chance to speak to an amazing and gracious group of people from Ethiopia. I felt honored to be a part of their time of worship in their native language, and to then share my heart for the Lord and for His calling on my life. There was a great ease in communication that night, and I loved how God brought things to mind right as I was speaking that I hadn't planned on sharing. I was thrilled to get a chance to talk with a few of the women afterwards, and one in particular I'm asking God to remind me to pray for as she tries to communicate with her roommate the truth of Jesus Christ. I can't say enough what a truly beautiful group of people they are. Praise God for his creativity and diversity.
Here are a few pictures from the gathering that night. We were invited to stay to celebrate the birthday of this cute little girl.
These last two days have been refreshing as well. I feel like I've been renewed with strength...I was definitely sensing a lack of it at the beginning of the week and even feeling a heaviness that didn't break until today. I knew I would face opposition, and I have; and some in ways I didn't expect. But praise God, I feel that whatever burden was there has been lifted! In the midst of all this, God is continuing to refine me and reveal to me areas that need to be shaved off-fashioning this "key" into the exact likeness of the "Master Key."
This photo is a picture of a gift that was given to me by a couple from the church in Pleasonton. I had shared with them about the "Keys of the Kingdom" theme that God had been speaking to in my life, and a woman, Kathy made this necklace for me and gave it to me the next day ! What a priceless gift the Lord prompted this woman to give.
But something even more amazing was the chance I got to spend some time with a true warrior of prayer. Her name is Ruth Hess. The story of her life is one of ultimate obedience to the Lord (although she would argue with me that she wasn't always obedient) and her dedication to the fellowship of believers there. For years, she has lived in Uvalde because God had called her to be the prayer warrior for this city and for this church. She would be considered a modern day Anna in my opinion. Called to the temple of the Most High to pray night and day for the coming of the Messiah. Ruth goes to the throne room of God to pray for the coming of Jesus in power to this city and this church. This is her calling...to prayer. It isn't a glamorous work...in fact I believe it's one of the hardest callings anyone can receive from the Lord. It takes intense labor to intercede for people, extra measures of faith and perseverance, because often the answers take years to show themselves. I learned what it means to be steadfast and firm in the Lord by watching this woman this week.
Sunday night was a pretty fabulous night. I got the chance to speak to an amazing and gracious group of people from Ethiopia. I felt honored to be a part of their time of worship in their native language, and to then share my heart for the Lord and for His calling on my life. There was a great ease in communication that night, and I loved how God brought things to mind right as I was speaking that I hadn't planned on sharing. I was thrilled to get a chance to talk with a few of the women afterwards, and one in particular I'm asking God to remind me to pray for as she tries to communicate with her roommate the truth of Jesus Christ. I can't say enough what a truly beautiful group of people they are. Praise God for his creativity and diversity.
Here are a few pictures from the gathering that night. We were invited to stay to celebrate the birthday of this cute little girl.
These last two days have been refreshing as well. I feel like I've been renewed with strength...I was definitely sensing a lack of it at the beginning of the week and even feeling a heaviness that didn't break until today. I knew I would face opposition, and I have; and some in ways I didn't expect. But praise God, I feel that whatever burden was there has been lifted! In the midst of all this, God is continuing to refine me and reveal to me areas that need to be shaved off-fashioning this "key" into the exact likeness of the "Master Key."
This photo is a picture of a gift that was given to me by a couple from the church in Pleasonton. I had shared with them about the "Keys of the Kingdom" theme that God had been speaking to in my life, and a woman, Kathy made this necklace for me and gave it to me the next day ! What a priceless gift the Lord prompted this woman to give.
Being enculturated
I finally got a chance last Saturday to tour the city of San Antonio! I found that I really really like this city. There is an energy to it, lots of excitement and people...and the River Walk is such a unique part of the city. I think Longview needs to invest in one...hmmm well first Longview would need a River...well they dig lakes, why not rivers, eh? :)
It was a short tour, but I got to see the highlights: The Alamo, the River Walk, a yummy plate of Quesadillas, a chance to feed tortillas to a duck and cheese to a pigeon, and a quick tour through the San Jose Mission. And to make this blog complete, I thought I'd add the pictures to prove that I was there!
On Tuesday I got to go driving in the Hill Country, just north of Uvalde. I had no idea there were these massive rolling hills. Apparently Texas does have it all! My excellent hosts for my time in Uvalde, Pastor Butch Derosier and Ruth Hess gave me a great tour of the area...including a "drive through" Del Frio!
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| The Jeffrey family-my awesome hosts! |
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| The Alamo |
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| Apparently this is a chandelier...looks like a gigantic tear drop to me. All glass. |
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| Rob and Joy Jeffrey-my hosts |
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| The River Walk-sitting at a cafe along the River |
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| San Jose Mission |
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| Interesting how when God gives you a theme "Keys to the Kingdom", He tends to give small little gifts of encouragement, such as this: the last etchings that remain on the structure are in the shape of a key. |
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| Gathering Hall in the San Jose Mission |
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| San Jose Mission |
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| My dear friends, Ruth and Butch |
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| The road that goes "through" Del Frio |
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| The beautiful Del Frio-the water is crystal clear and yes, this is the original color...no photoshop done here. |
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| Summer in the Del Frio |
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| There are hills in Texas! |
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Remembering
Texas Trek: Day Three
I have really enjoyed my time here with the believers here in Pleasanton. The church is small, as it is a redevelopment church, but they have had a lot happen to them and are in the midst of healing...but it is a strong group of people who want to see God do great things with them. there is an excitement stirring within them and I feel priviledged and blessed to share this time with them.
This afternoon I was also able to visit with some folks who live in a local assisted living home and met some pretty neat people. The Lord provided a guitar for me (which was something I was praying about!!!) and I did a mix of music with my talk on Germany. Sometimes it's just the little things you do that make the biggest difference. I could see the appreciation in their eyes. Here are the amazing people who have lived full lives and who have incredible stories-they've traveled all over the world and want to share their experiences...I'm just a small pup in comparison to them, these are the jewels...the saints who have gone before and who are still living and fighting to win this race that they've set out to run for Christ. It's beautiful. Truly.
This evening I was able to sit down and partake in a wonderful German meal that the church had prepared and then had my second opportunity to share in a service...and there was definitely emotion that came up out of nowhere...I think what is happening is that the more I remember the time when God called me into missions and my life was drastically changed and renewed, the more those emotions become real again. It's been awhile since I've been able to devote so much time to looking at what is ahead...and remembering where I came from. But more importantly, what I truly want is for each person I meet to want to go deeper into God, get a glimpse of his heart for the nations.
I have really enjoyed my time here with the believers here in Pleasanton. The church is small, as it is a redevelopment church, but they have had a lot happen to them and are in the midst of healing...but it is a strong group of people who want to see God do great things with them. there is an excitement stirring within them and I feel priviledged and blessed to share this time with them.
This afternoon I was also able to visit with some folks who live in a local assisted living home and met some pretty neat people. The Lord provided a guitar for me (which was something I was praying about!!!) and I did a mix of music with my talk on Germany. Sometimes it's just the little things you do that make the biggest difference. I could see the appreciation in their eyes. Here are the amazing people who have lived full lives and who have incredible stories-they've traveled all over the world and want to share their experiences...I'm just a small pup in comparison to them, these are the jewels...the saints who have gone before and who are still living and fighting to win this race that they've set out to run for Christ. It's beautiful. Truly.
This evening I was able to sit down and partake in a wonderful German meal that the church had prepared and then had my second opportunity to share in a service...and there was definitely emotion that came up out of nowhere...I think what is happening is that the more I remember the time when God called me into missions and my life was drastically changed and renewed, the more those emotions become real again. It's been awhile since I've been able to devote so much time to looking at what is ahead...and remembering where I came from. But more importantly, what I truly want is for each person I meet to want to go deeper into God, get a glimpse of his heart for the nations.
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