My husband and I will be moving to Ipswich, Australia in 2011. We want to share the greatest news ever told with the people of Ipswich, news about the love of Jesus. We're really excited about this journey that God has made us part of!
10 December 2010
Fine Line
Anyway, I feel like I've been attacked, lied to, and generally mistreated at work the past few weeks. Most people would immediately say, "Now Tish, you have to forgive!" Well, this is not really a matter of forgiveness. You see, I think I have forgiven them. I don't feel hatred against any of these people. I've just realized that I can't trust what they say anymore, or that they won't have any respect for me no matter how well I prove my abilities. Maybe I'm wrong, but I see a big difference between those attitudes.
So, what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to stand up and say, "I'm sorry, but perhaps no one ever told you that you're supposed to treat people with dignity and respect", or is that judgment? After all, I don't know the reasoning behind why people have treated me so poorly. To be honest, I don't think I would ever get the chance to learn why even if I wanted to.
I find myself stuck on the fine line between something Jesus stands for (standing up against the mistreatment of people), and something he stands against (judging others). I am reminded of something Jesus said when he walked on the earth, "I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves". Jesus was saying this to the people he was sending out to tell others about him! He knew that his followers were going to come into contact with people who did not care much about who He was or those sharing His story. So what did he tell them? Essentially, he told them to watch their backs but treat everyone with love and compassion. I'll try to stay on the Jesus side of this fine line that I find myself facing, and will continue to watch my back but will try to love everyone around me regardless of how they treat me.
23 November 2010
November Update
27 October 2010
Exodus is pretty awesome
18 "The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.' 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
21 "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."
The last thing I want is for God to put some spell on the people we're asking for money so that they empty their pockets and give us all their mother's silver...but wow! God was going to make the Egyptians "favorably disposed", and I am praying that he makes the people we have invited to financially partner with us favorably disposed toward us and our cause. After all, we really do believe that it is God's cause and not our own. I felt like God had that story just waiting for me this week.
Last night before I dove back into Exodus I was thinking about real, everyday life in Ipswich. It's well and good to have big dreams about what can be, but how often do we really sit down and think about the nitty gritty of what we'll be doing? I think that's a good question for any big decision being made in life! Before reading I thought, "What if we go years without anyone being the least bit interested in what we have to say about God? What if no one believes our story and takes it as their own?" Then I turned to Exodus four:
1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"
2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
"A staff," he replied.
3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground."
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you."
6 Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.
7 "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."
Really?!? I'm doubting, scared, and ask God, "What if no one will listen?" and He says, "I'll give the Israelites plenty of signs". I can't help but believe that God was saying the same thing to me last night, "I'll give the people of Ipswich plenty of signs".
There are plenty of things to make us nervous (I mean people in general, not just Matt and me), pressure from family, friends, and supervisors at work, health issues, money problems, the list goes on and on. Sometimes I think we all have to ask, "how am I going to do this?" We really easily forget that God is capable of doing a lot more than we give him room to.
I can't wait to see what chapter five has in store for me!
21 October 2010
Over the sea and back again
02 October 2010
Words in Action
14 September 2010
Thinking
18 August 2010
Peace
The first time someone spoke these words to me tonight was, of all places, at the end of kickboxing. The guy who led our class, Mitchell, usually says something like, "Peace out" or whatever cool phrase kids use these days. I don't know if he got his tongue tied or what, but what came out was, "Peace be with you". I remember thinking to myself, "Jesus said that!"
About an hour later I was talking on the phone with a wonderful woman whose family has really blessed Matt and me in many ways. Her daughter got engaged a few months ago, and they just took their engagement pictures. She suggested that I check out the site, because the same amazing woman who took pictures of Matt and me took them. I went to the site and really enjoyed looking at the beautiful pictures. What caught my eye on the one and only picture with writing on it were the words, "Peace be with you".
Seriously?!? I am a firm believer that God repeats himself over and over so that we can be sure to catch the point he is trying to make. Apparently he wants me to be at peace! I had not thought of myself as extremely stressed or nervous at this time, but like always I'm super busy doing one thing or another. Jesus is the prince of peace, and no matter how hard we try we really can't experience real peace without him. I think God is telling me to slow and accept the peace that Jesus gives out of the essence of who he is. I invite you to accept it as well.
Has God been bringing something to your attention constantly that you think you should take notice of? I'd love to hear about it; leave a comment and share!
If you'd like to see some of those awesome pictures, check out Tammy's site: http://marcelainphotography.blogspot.com/
08 August 2010
Telling the Truth
We arrived at the winery and walked into the tasting room to try a few samples. As we sat down we started the small talk of, "Where are you from, why the visit?", etc. My dad mentioned that they came to visit because Matt and I will be moving soon. Naturally they asked where we will be moving to, and we said Australia. Of course everyone always asks why we're moving somewhere like Australia...which is where things get fun! I said, "We are going there to start churches", and you could have heard a pin drop. When we say things like that, it's like the air is sucked out of the room from people gasping. It's rather amusing at times! However, what happened next was quite amazing. After a few moments of silence the other gentleman in the room, who was there with his wife, asked, "If you don't mind my asking, what church are you with?" I told him that our background is with the Church of Christ, and he raised his eyebrows. He said that he and his wife are part of the Disciples of Christ group, which used to be connected to the Church of Christ. (Really we still are, when you consider the fact that we're all following Jesus) Somehow through the next few sentences of conversation I said, "and I'm sure you're surprised to see us in here!" Ah, how the walls fell down! The ladies serving the wine samples seemed to breathe for the first time, and one of them said, "That's what I was thinking!" We all laughed and shared a little more chit chat. The ladies asked when we'll be leaving and we shared the fact that we still need half of the required funds to be able to move.
We all talked a little more, enjoyed getting to know one another, and then my parents, Matt, and I moved into one of the other rooms to share conversation and time together. Before we went into the other room I stepped out to use the restroom. On my way back in to meet the family, I saw Matt handing the gentleman who asked what our church background was a piece of paper. As we all sat down together, I asked Matt why he gave the gentleman our information. He handed me $40 and said, "He gave us this money for our trip. I gave him our contact info so he can keep up with us". Shocked, amazed, and grateful, I put the money away in a safe place until we got home.
I realize that some people might have stopped at, "we went to a winery". I really contemplated how or even if I was going to write about this story, but I think it would be a real shame if I did not write it just because I was nervous about what "Christian folk" might say. I am confident in the decisions I have made regarding drinking alcohol. When I read the words that God has placed in the Bible, I am convinced that he has no problem with his people drinking. However, I am a firm believer that God despises the act of getting drunk. It makes sense that the one who created me and loves me more than anyone else ever could would not stand for it. A few reasons that spring to mind are the fact that when someone's heart and mind are taken over by alcohol, they cannot focus on God. People also do really hurtful and stupid things when they're drunk. God doesn't want us to do things that we will regret the next morning or that will harm others. We manage to do stupid and hurtful things without the aid of alcohol...so why make it worse?!? For those and a few other reasons I have never been, and never will be, drunk.
What I really want to share out of this story are two huge points. One is that when we tell the truth, God breaks down stereotypes about who he is and who his people are. Our family was really honest about who we are in Christ when we were in that winery, and I think it really blew the owners away. My impression of their reaction was that they have not met too many honest Christians, which is a real shame! I think they were blessed by our conversation, which I think in turn honored God. The second thing that stands out to me about our day at the winery is that God's timing is so perfect! We went to Comanche that day to enjoy some time together, but God had different plans for us. The couple we met who gave us the money is from OKLAHOMA, and they were just passing through on their way to far west Texas. God brought us together in that little bitty town so that we could bless them with the story of what we'll be doing in Australia, and so that they could bless us tremendously through the financial gift of a stranger. God works in awesome ways!
21 July 2010
FPU
A little over a month ago I started attending a class for women on Wednesday nights at church. There are a lot of reasons why I joined the group; three being that I invited a friend and couldn't invite someone to something I'm not a part of, I thought I could learn a lot about community from a group of women who have gotten really close, and honestly the third is that I couldn't really find my niche at our big church. I needed conversation and to hear people's perspectives on God's word, so I joined the group. I have to say that they've been very welcoming. I hate to admit it, but often times Christian clicks are really hard to get into...and I'm a Christian! It's a sad truth that we seriously need to work on.
Anyway, last week we started the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University video series. I will admit that I think Matt and I have a pretty good handle on our finances for our age. We give to those in need (which you can do no matter how old you are or how much money you make. Don't try to give me excuses on this one), we pay all our bills on time, we are paying down student loans faster than they are due, and we save. However, what I'm learning from these videos is that we can be doing so much better! There are things that Matt and I will definitely put into practice after watching the video series.
There's one more thing that I am really loving about doing this video series with these women...they are brutally honest! No two women in that room share quite the same life situation, and none of them share mine. However, they will say how much the have or don't have, know or don't know. What's even better than that, they are excited! They've had enough of not having enough, and they are ready to make some changes for the better. I have not seen so much excitement about something so difficult in a long time, and that's refreshing. Encouragement is just hovering around us, waiting to be soaked in, if we'll only open our eyes and learn from the lives and hearts of others.
04 July 2010
Us too!
W and E have always had a really comfy home. Matt and I loved to go to their house and just hang out, it's the kind of place you can just sit around in for hours. That being said, when I went over to their place yesterday it was totally desolate! The transformation that took place within a few short days was astounding. They had a very successful garage sale, and continued to sell items as I hung out for the last hour of the sale. Matt made it over just as the sale was ending, and we helped them clean up a little and then took the tables they used back to the people they borrowed them from.
Some interesting things happened after that which I would like to share. Matt and I ran a few errands, and then got home and went crazy working around the house! Matt washed every dirty item of clothing we own (which are now slowly being folded and are in a huge pile on the love seat). We also needed to work out, which requires us to vacuum since we have the biggest shedding dog in the world. I was ready to vacuum the floor like normal, but Matt moved all the furniture around so we could vacuum in places that are not often reached. He also cleaned the window and window sill. After working out and eating dinner, we worked on our fund raising packet until the wee hours of the morning. We wanted it done! Here's what I think happened: we saw our friends taking some big steps forward toward moving, and we thought, "Us too! We want to move too, we're ready!" There's something about seeing people on the same journey with you, who experience a step in the right direction, that excites you and makes you want to do the same. I think yesterday we got a little boost of energy to take care of things that seem ho hum, because we know that when we sell our house they will be things that need to be done.
I have to admit, however, that we really wanted to get our fund raising packet done for another reason. We have been trying to contact a church in Tennessee since February. I emailed them in February...no reply. I emailed them in April...no reply. Some might give up, but not Tish! I'll thoroughly bother someone until they tell me to stop, and as far as I was concerned no one had given me a good reason to stop trying to contact this church yet! I emailed them again in July, and I got a response! In their defense, apparently there was a switchover in the person we were supposed to contact, and the previous emails were not passed on by mistake. Anyway, the person I ended up making contact with was so encouraging! He sent us a great email, and wanted us to talk to him over the phone and send him our fund raising packet. I had a great conversation with him over the phone, and we wanted to get our fund raising packet updated to reflect the changes in our team and off to him as soon as possible. I guess W and E are not the only ones who have a step in the right direction to celebrate!
14 June 2010
And then there were two
The weekend was filled with great family and friend time. My sister, brother in law, and two nephews went down to Corpus that weekend too, and we got to hang out with them for a day. I also got to see two very good high school friends of mine, one just had a baby a few months ago and one is due to deliver a baby in about a month and a half. It's amazing to see the paths our lives have taken! I am grateful for them, and that we are still friends despite the miles that separate us.
On Sunday after church Matt got to experience Port Aransas. We ate lunch by the water and had some fantastic gelato at a super cute, trendy coffee shop. We got to talk with my parents about them visiting us when we are in Australia, it was a very encouraging conversation.
Things changed on Thursday. We met with Gregory and our mentor, and Gregory announced that he was quitting the team. It was a very hard conversation for all of us to have, but we pray that he finds peace and clarity as he continues on the path he takes from here. After Gregory left on Thursday night I was praying for God to give me something to go on; a little bit of wisdom or guidance from his word would have been helpful! I've been reading through the Bible and am currently in the book of Genesis. I read these words from Genesis 19 Thursday night:
"When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, 'Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away'....By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt."
How encouraging! I felt like God was saying these words to me. Matt and I have been shown our journey and our destination, and he does not want us to look back. There's nothing wrong with remembering great memories of family and friends from where you came from...just look at the first part of my entry! However, when God calls you to do something, he does not want you to look back in doubt. The challenge is knowing the difference between being confident in what God has called you to do and being stubborn when he's not really telling you anything at all. We remain confident that this is what he has called us to do.
25 May 2010
What is God up to?
As I think (or hope) is the case with any team moving to another location to minister to people, I am constantly asking God if this is what I'm meant to do. Not in a "Oh, I don't think this is right anymore...God, are you sure this is what you want me to do?" sort of way. It's more like, "God, I still really want to do what you want me to do, so if for some reason that plan is changing please help me to understand and follow it". For that reason, I am constantly thinking and praying about exactly what it is that I will do in Australia. This goes beyond what sort of job I will have or how many hours a week I will work. I'm talking: what grocery store will I go to...because I will want to build relationships with the people there? What hobbies will I have in my spare time, and how can I meet people through those hobbies? One of the most important questions I ask myself is how God wants to use my gifts and talents to reach out to people with his love.
As I mentioned in the last post, I have what I think is a gift for helping people realize their self worth. Okay, so I might not have said that...but that's what I meant! I have this burden growing stronger within me all the time to help women (especially those who have been hurt) realize their self worth in Christ. Part of how that works itself out is for women to believe in the physical, emotional, and spiritual strength that God gave them to overcome obstacles. In more practical terms I want to teach women self defense, help them strengthen their bodies, and teach them to trust God and believe in themselves. I had two conversations today that made that burden grow even deeper. (I feel like the Grinch...that burden just keeps growing as I type!)
I was having a conversation with a very good friend today about starting to attend a class that a woman at our church teaches. I wanted to start attending the class because there is a woman I know who has been invited to it, and I thought she might feel more comfortable going to a new place if she had someone she knew in there with her. To be honest I didn't know much about the class, I vaguely remembered that it was primarily for single women. As I asked my friend about the class and if I should attend, she started to explain more about what it is. The class is primarily for single women: single mothers, older women, younger women, it doesn't matter. Along with teaching truth from the Bible, she teaches life skills. In addition to those things, she sometimes brings in counselors who help the women with other issues that pertain to everyday life. I was shocked and amazed, I didn't even know there was something like this at my church! The things my friend mentioned are all things that I would like to talk about with women in Australia. I have the chance to learn from a woman who has been teaching in this role for many years, and have the chance to get to know more women in the life circumstance that I feel really strongly about.
The second situation tonight was very interesting. I went to my martial arts school and was working out. About ten minutes into class my instructor pulled me aside and said, "There's a new girl who should be starting class today, but she hasn't come out of the dressing room. Do you mind going in and talking to her?" I went into the dressing room and she was in the bathroom. I guess she heard me walk in, because she almost immediately came out of the bathroom and just looked at me. I introduced myself and ask how she was doing. She barely spoke but said that her stomach hurt. She was nervous enough to puke! I talked to her for a few minutes and asked if she would go and work out if I was her partner. She said yes, so we went out together. We joined the rest of the class, but she still froze up. My instructor asked if I would give her a private lesson, so we went off to the side and worked out together. I taught her quite a few things, and we talked a lot. She slowly but surely came out of her shell, and I could see her confidence building as the hour went on. After we worked out together, she was much more at ease. Don't get me wrong, she has a really long way to go! However, she made great strides in that hour we spent together. What we did in that hour could possibly look a lot like what I feel this burden to do in Australia! It just blew me away how God provided this young lady today to help me see in a tangible form what could be in the future. I'm not saying that everything is crystal clear now, but I definitely have a lot more to pray about after today!
12 May 2010
Passion made real
http://www.qt.com.au/story/
You can imagine that when I read the above article, I was sick. I won't lie, I wanted to do things to this man that a Christian woman does not do! However, my call is not to hurt those who hurt the ones I want to help. My call is to love those have been hurt (and those who have hurt them...that's the hardest part) and let God's vengeance be worked out on those who do wrong to the innocent. I'm glad it's his job, because I act out much too irrationally sometimes!
I am grateful for this online newspaper that gives me glimpses of life in Ipswich, because it makes my purpose real. I can imagine these girls coming to me after a traumatic incident and hearing about a loving God who won't take advantage of them, or judge them because of things that happened in their past.
For those of you who have a hard time getting why we want to go to a place like Ipswich, please remember after reading this article that Satan works in developed countries just as much as underdeveloped ones. God also redeems people in both.
20 April 2010
Friends and Enemies
For example, last Saturday some friends of mine who are moving to Russia did a little fund raising dinner. I went to it because I have not seen them in quite a few months, and missed them! Also I know the prep that goes behind a dinner like that, and the disappointment that comes with an invited person not bothering to show up. We ate great food, heard about what they will be doing in Russia, and then just sat around and talked as they met with different people. After my friend walked around for a while, it was my turn to chat with her. She sat down and we talked about fund raising...not the most exciting topic of conversation for someone who is not moving to another country! We talked about the encouragement we have received from surprise donors, and the disappointment we have felt from those who we counted on that let us down. Then something interesting happened. I said, "Well, I guess you need to go catch up with other people", and she said, "Actually, it's really refreshing to sit and talk with someone who's going through the same stuff". That is so true! This whole moving to another country thing is not easy, even though some think we're just going to sit around in coffee shops and talk to people all day long. It's so refreshing to share our stresses, worries, and excitement with people who are doing the same thing, because they know what it is to send out over one hundred pledge cards and only get seven back. I am so very grateful for my friends and family who surround me everyday, but I am also very glad to have these friends that I share this unique bond with.
Now on to the enemies...my gmail account got hacked into yesterday. Sorry by the way if you got some ridiculous link from me, it was not really from me! I managed to change my password and get the thing stopped, but not before it emailed just about everyone I have ever emailed. That left me feeling embarrassed and vulnerable, but it had its good points. Some people emailed me back to say that they got a weird email from me, and it started good conversation. Some people I had not talked to in years! Even though some horrible hacker somewhere was allowing him/herself to be led by greed and deception, God was using the opportunity to reunite me with some old friends. God can turn anything around!
08 April 2010
Longing for heaven
I don't know how to explain it, but there is something beautiful about the moon shining (reflecting, whatever) during the day. It reminds me of being a child. For some weird reason I remember looking up at the sky as a kid, seeing the moon, and being happy. That feeling has never gone away. I cherish it and hope to share it with a little one of my own some day. Big open fields with either brown or green flowing grasses call out to me often. They beckon me to run through them, the wind blowing in my hair. They also beckon me to lay down in their tall grasses, look up at the sky, and dream. The only thing that keeps me from pulling over and running through a field is the fear of getting shot by some crazy farmer, and the annoying reality that laying down in a field of tall grass is actually much more itchy and buggy than my imagination allows for. These two bits of scenery hold another very important power; they make me long for heaven. What I mean by that is that I can actually imagine myself running through a field until I run all the way to heaven, or all of a sudden receiving the ability to fly and flying toward the moon until I reach heaven. I realize that sounds totally crazy, but it means so much to me. I don't mean that I just fly up to that big expanse in they sky that some call the heavens, I fly up and meet with God. Actually, I go home to God. I think once I meet God face to face I'm never going to want to go back to where I came from! Don't get me wrong, I don't get excited about dying. What I do get excited about is when all the junk of this world is over and I'm with God in a much more peaceful place.
Needless to say I longed for heaven a lot on the seven hour trip to Kansas Monday!
The ceremony surrounding my grandmother's funeral and burial were hard; hard because it was hard on my family. I wasn't very close to my grandmother, but I could see that she blessed a lot of people's lives. I know that her children, grandchildren, friends, and other family will miss her a lot. I don't want to write much more about that, so I'll leave it where it is except for this one last thing. Even though grieving is really hard, I can thank God that because I've lost my grandmother recently I'm able to empathize with the people around me who are suffering the loss of loved ones. Experiencing the pain of others is a powerful thing. I guess our Savior knew what he was doing....
I actually started this blog post about a week ago, so I feel like it is quite scattered. I'm going to leave it like it is, because to be honest my life is scattered right now! I did a garage sale with my mother in law on Friday and Saturday after I got back from Kansas. It was exhausting, but a blessing because they let us keep the money for our move to Australia. Tomorrow night I have my second degree black belt test, so I've been up at the dojo a lot this week trying to get ready. Part of my belt test will also be participating in two seminars Friday and Saturday. I'm excited about it all, but to be honest will be even more excited when life can get a little more back to normal.
21 March 2010
The past week and a half
Our team has been pretty good about getting together to work on fund raising, Bible study, and other really important things...but not so good at just spending time together. For those of you who don't know Gregory, he's a big time movie fan. Big time might actually be an understatement! He saw Alice in Wonderland about a month ago and said that we had to see it. So much so in fact that he wanted us to all go and see it together, even though he had seen it once already. After much debate as to whether or not we should see it in 3D (Matt and I were adamant to not spend $50 at the movies just to see 3D) we decided to go see it two Thursdays ago (not in 3D. This majority rules thing is pretty rough when there are only three people on a team!) The movie was amazing, although so very different than the Disney cartoon that I can still remember vividly in my imagination. I look forward to seeing many more movies together with Matt and Gregory. And we even agreed that we'd see Clash of the Titans in 3D. :)
Throughout the week before last I felt like God was telling me he wanted our team to do the labyrinth at ACU together. We were all running around like chickens with our heads cut off, and we needed some time to just experience the quiet presence of God and reflect on life. I thought I'd written about the labyrinth before...but I looked back and could not find anything in my previous posts. For more info on the labyrinth at ACU, visit: http://www.acu.edu/news/2009/090108_labyrinth.html. I love the labyrinth, it kind of transports me into another world. Along the path words were listed that we could reflect on and pray about. Two of the words that stuck out to me were transition and transformation. Our team is experiencing a lot of both of those, and needs a lot more of each at the same time. In the middle of the labyrinth is this verse from Jeremiah, "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls". Man, is that not amazing! I close my eyes and am automatically transported to a cross in the road. One way leads to a path covered in trees with a well worn place to walk. It looks old, but peaceful. It intrigues me, and I imagine there is much adventure to be had as I travel down it. All of the other ways are either dark or empty, lacking so much. The pathway of God is not always an easy one to travel, but rest for our souls is promised when we choose it over all others. After we did the labyrinth together we got coffee and talked about what we thought as we went through the labyrinth. I am blessed to be part of a team where everyone has such different views and ideas to contribute!
We mailed off Matt's citizenship application two Mondays ago, and I noticed in the bank account this week that the application check was cashed. That is a very good sign, because we think that we read somewhere if the application was obviously not going to go through then they would send the check back, which they didn't! We look forward to having that process completed.
We still continue to seek financial support (do I sound like a broken record?), so I spent yesterday trying to find churches in Texas at which we know people. I contacted two churches and contacted friends about two other churches yesterday, so we are in prayer that we can build relationships with those four congregations that will be beneficial. Other than that, we're cleaning up the house in preparation for the work week ahead!
06 March 2010
So close, and yet so far
I have to make A LOT of certified copies for my spouse visa application. Unlike my dear friends who are moving to Chile, I have to have my visa approved before I can get to Australia (you know I love you Conce team!) I have to have copies of Matt's income from the past two years, items showing that we pay bills together, live together, own things together, copy of our marriage license, copy of my birth certificate, copy of statements verifying our relationship...the list goes on and on. I've had all the originals for a while, but had not had them notarized as certified copies yet. By the way, if you have to have certified copies of documents made, a notary can do it. You have to get notarized copies of your marriage license and birth certificate ("recordable documents", there are a few more on the list) done where you get the originals (like the county courthouse), but everything else can be taken to a notary public. There is a specific statement they write on copies, it is different to just being witness to a signature. Anyway, so I did that. Matt and I also got more passport photos made, because I need some for my visa app and Matt needs some for his citizenship app. That was over $50 by the way...getting four of each kind of stinks!
Matt and I have both been pretty discouraged by our fundraising status. We know the money we need will come from who it's meant to when it's meant to, but the waiting is wrapping us up in this fog that makes it hard to see the future (or the present for that matter) clearly. We just pray and keep trying! God is so good though, last Thursday I woke up feeling very distracted in my heart and mind about fundraising. I got to work and could not get my mind off it. Throughout the day God either trickled down one time monetary gifts or leads for possible relationships via our brothers and sisters in Christ. I think being ridiculously discouraged is a great place to be; it helps me notice more clearly when good things are happening because they seem so out of the ordinary!
Last night I drove up to Dallas so that I could go to the North Texas Irish Festival today. I spent the night with my mom, which was great. We got to go out for breakfast this morning and catch up. She is one of the most encouraging people in my life when it comes to moving to Australia to share the love of Jesus with people, and that means the world to me.
By the way, the festival was fantastic!
17 February 2010
Why does God want to be at the center of my marriage?
However, I saw something at almost every restaurant we ate at during our vacation that made my stomach turn. On Thursday night we sat down to a late dinner at the hotel. It was a really romantic setting. I looked over at one of the few other couples in the room, a couple in their early fifties. They both sat there, totally immersed in their phones. They barely looked up at one another and shared very few words the entire evening. On Sunday morning when we ate breakfast at IHOP, we sat next two a father and his two kids. The son stared at his iPhone all morning, and while he would contribute a little to the family's conversation he would never look up and make eye contact. The couple in back of them was on their iPhones most of their meal as well.
Am I saying that iPhones are evil in the form of a box that can call, surf the web, text, and hold 762,000 apps? Although I'd kind of like to...I can't blame the iPhone. I've noticed something among couples that have been together a long time. They (like all of us) get immeres in things. For most people it's their jobs, but it could also be hobbies or any other number of things. For some reason it all becomes old hat; a husband gets tired of hearing about how Joe Shmoe made his wife mad at work for the two hundredth time, so his wife just stops talking about work. The problem is that when work is your life, that means a line of communication breaks down and your available topics of conversation have been greatly diminished. That's where the iPhone comes in. Who needs to talk when you can eat a meal and keep yourself occupied in other ways? The problem is that you're losing your spouse! This is why I think God wants to be at the center of my marriage. He knows that the world around us gets dull and monotanous, but He never does. If we're paying attention to Him then we are always noticing what He is doing in our lives. When that happens we always have something to talk about! Work, where people make us angry and let us down, is no longer the be all and end all of our lives. Can you imagine if we all put away our iPhones at dinner and instead talked about how God brought us into a powerful conversation with a person at the gym, or shared the imagery of the beautiful sunset we saw on the way home from work? Everyday would be new and exciting (not always easy, because I know as well as you that this runs the risk of us experiencing the hard and hurtful things about being part of the Kingdom of God as well) with a new story to share! It is amazing how well God knows us. He wants to be at the center of our relationships so that we can share a more abundant life with one another, a life that sees Him everyday.
Don't be afraid, put that iPhone away during dinner and talk to your family about what God is doing in your life. I think it will be worth your while...and facebook will still be there after you're done helping one another put the dishes in the dishwasher.
06 February 2010
Rain, rain, rain
It was freezing and raining most mornings, but I gave in and took Bane for a walk Thursday morning. I quickly walked him down to the mailbox as my car sat in the road heating up. When I got into the house and looked through the mail, it was like I had opened the golden ticket for the chocolate factory. We had two pledge cards in the mail! We have not received many pledge cards, so to get one is quite good and to get two at a time seems like a miracle. God was not only raining down the wet stuff, but he was raining down some financial blessing and provision on Matt and me in preparation for Australia. As if that was not enough, he decided to rain down blessings all day long. Thursday Matt was formulating an email to send to the church we attend to discuss more with them the next step in the process of them giving us a one time donation to help with our moving fund. I won't lie, this was a big chunk of change and it was making me a little nervous to not just have the check sent to our supporting church. Anything could happen, minds could change, we could fall off the radar, you name it. However, as Matt was preparing to write the email the recipient of the not yet written email called Matt! No joke, it was pretty awesome. He said, "We're ready to cut this check, are you ready for us to send it?" All I can say is that I'm grateful for times like this when God decides to rain down a lot of blessing all in one day.
On Saturday Matt and I held a come and go open house for people to have the opportunity to come by and learn more about our financial need and what it means to be a financial partner. We had a few people come with interest, and a few people come to encourage. Overall it was a good day. We had a dear friend come by who lived in Australia for many years, it is always good to see his face and hear his stories. I'm fairly glad that the week is over because it was exhausting for many reasons, but I am very glad for the rain.
28 January 2010
Giving thanks where it's due
Last weekend Matt and I went to visit my sister, brother in law, nephews, and mother. We were having a very late Christmas celebration. One sad thing about the trip was that we were taking Carol with us to drop her off with my sister and brother in law. No, Carol is not a dog...she's a boat. My dad fishes in Corpus Christi Bay, and got a new bay boat a few years ago. When he got the new one, he let Matt and me borrow the Carolina Skiff...Carol. It's a little fiberglass boat that can fit four people. It has one seat in front and a cooler behind the steering wheel that can be sat upon. It has a "big" front platform that two people can stand on and one can cast a fishing pole from. It is an amazing boat, and Matt and I have many fond memories of taking it out on Lake Fort Phantom and Lake Brownwood. However, we no longer have much time to take it out since we are preparing to leave, and we need the space in our garage to get things organized. It is time for my sister's family to make some memories on it. We are glad they will enjoy it, but we are really sad to see it go! However, that leads to the first thing I'm thankful for--that my dad let us borrow the boat.
Like I mentioned earlier, my mom was in Bastrop with us this weekend. My mom loves her family, and she always wants to take us out to eat. It gives her joy to treat people to a meal, and not all parents are that giving and hospitable. I am thankful for that.
On Saturday night my uncle came to Bastrop from Houston and spent the night with us as well. We played a domino game for a few hours, and while it got a little crazy it was fun. I am thankful that I got to play a game with my family...even though it was a little intense at times! I'm also thankful that my sister and her family are geographically closer to us now.
Fast forward to today; I'm pretty stuck in that rut I mentioned earlier. It has been a good week, we've gotten a few really good things done. Last night our teammate Gregory came over and we spent some time catching up, reading God's Word, and praying together. Yet with all that, I still felt blah. This morning I woke up not feeling good. The beginning of a sore throat, stuffy head, and a general feeling of not being well swept over me. I went to work, and my dear friend Sherry helped me catch up on filing. Don't tell anyone, but I had filing from 2008 that had not been done...our secret! I am thankful that she helped me with that, it took us at least an hour and a half to do it together. I am also thankful that my boss was so willing to let me go home at lunch and not come back for the rest of the day. She's a great boss. Although I thought about how those things at work were really nice today, I still wasn't as thankful for them as I should have been.
I came home at lunch to Matt heating up soup that we ate together. I was thankful that he got that started for us. It hit the spot when I was not feeling well. I laid on the couch for the rest of the day, and really didn't get up and start moving around until about 5:30. I got up and took Bane to the mailbox before it got too dark, and that's when it happened. Let me catch you up on the history for this to make a little more sense. About a month ago our bathroom sink started to drip. Matt and I are fully capable of fixing it, but the problem is that we have a new faucet in our vanity that we are going to put in when we get our new vanity for the bathroom. We have been putting the bathroom renovation off because if you've been to our house you'll notice that we still don't have two cabinets painted white. We've had all white cabinets but two for at least four months now...it's ridiculous. Anyway, all that to say we don't want to fix a leaky faucet when we're just going to replace it soon. We've been catching the water that's dripping and have been very creative in what we've used it for, but to be honest it's starting to get out of hand. I mentioned the fact that it is about to drive me crazy to Matt and he suggested that we go get the vanity this Saturday and do the bathroom. I agreed. The only thing that I'm not looking forward to is spending the money to buy it. We still have some money on a Lowe's gift card, but it will not cover the entire expense. We have had strange medical bills this month that we've had to pay, so spending more money on something out of the ordinary does not excite me.
And back to this evening when I got the mail. We got this random card in the mail from Lowe's for $10 off a purchase of $50 or more, amazing! $10 is not exactly going to pay for the vanity, but it was amazing how God decided to bless us with that little bit of help. I'm so thankful that He drops blessing in our laps when we need them most. As I was sharing my thanks with God, all the other things that I should be thankful for started flooding my mind. Our teammate Gregory got a job today, and that is something to be very thankful for. I then started to think back, and all the other things I listed above came to me. God used a Lowe's gift card, of all things, to get me out of a rut. He's pretty awesome.
18 January 2010
Three day weekend!
-the desire to know and be conformed to God's will
-the unity of all those striving to follow Christ
-the sharing of the good news of Jesus
I was surrounded by a lot of college kids fresh out of high school on Friday nigh, and I could sense the cynicism in the room. All some of them wanted to do was bash the people from our Church of Christ past who haven't lived up to the standards of achieving these three goals. I have a feeling I know quite a few adults who would do the same thing...come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I have done the same thing. Funny how that works! This leads to my greatest epiphany of the night: some of satan's most powerful work is being done in Christians not loving one another. We talked a little about this on Friday, and it really stuck with me. Before Jesus died he prayed that his followers would love one another so that the world would know they belonged to him. Satan probably sits back and smirks when we as Christians have more negative to say about one another than positive. If we can't get along with people who have the single greatest thing in the universe in common with us, then I can imagine people who don't yet believe in Jesus don't think they have a chance of being really loved and respected by Christians. Think about it.
Saturday I spent some time making phone calls to more of the people we sent fundraising packets out to. It's easy for me to get discouraged about calling people, because can we be honest and admit that asking for money is not the funnest thing in the world to do? I think what discourages me the most is having people show so little interest in what we're doing, which to me equates to them not caring about the people of Ipswich. Big leap, I know, but it's still how I feel. I also get bothered because even as early on as when I was a college student, I was giving money to help missionaries. It was often not much, but it was consistent, given with love, and bundled up in prayer. That's all we ask for; a few people who are willing to give a little on a consistent basis and cover it in prayer. I continue to pray for God to provide those people, and do not allow satan to discourage me.
Sunday and today were spent both cleaning up around the house and enjoying fun/spontaneous moments with my husband and dog. Back to work tomorrow, it's been a great three day weekend.
06 January 2010
passion
There are a few things that I am really passionate about. One is that I become and remain a woman of faithfulness, confidence, and good character to my husband, other family, co workers, friends, and strangers. My reputation as being someone that people can come to and trust is very important to me. I am also passionate about martial arts, self defense and kickboxing to be more specific. I won't lie, I really like to punch and be punched in a controlled situation...and I like to be trained to know that I can still punch and be punched in a serious, dangerous, and uncontrolled situation. Another part of that passion for the martial arts is instilling confidence and strength in others, especially women.
Another, and hopefully forever the greatest, passion I have is seeing people who seem to have very little in common share the greatest thing ever in common...salvation in a relationship with Jesus. Tonight I gathered with a bunch of people who for the most part look like me, WASPS. Yes, I am remembering a term I learned in a university sociology class: White Anglo Saxon Protestant. Besides our age, there was not much difference in the people seated around me when I went to sing songs of praise to God and listen to people reflect on his Word tonight. Don't get me wrong, it was a very encouraging and thought provoking evening where God's people gathered to give Him glory, so it was amazing. All I'm saying is that we were a group of people with very similar backgrounds and life circumstances. Toward the end of the evening was when things really started to get exciting. There is a large group of refugees in Abilene from the Bhutan/Nepal region, and members of our church are helping them out with various day to day activities. One of the married couples decided to be baptized tonight, so many of the refugees came to celebrate with them and see what the baptism thing was all about. A preacher from Clyde (a very small town near Abilene) also came to celebrate with us...did I mention he is from India and converted from the Hindu religion? Amazing! People from other churches around the city who have connections to the refugees also came to celebrate the baptism. So here we are, tall people and short people, light people and dark people, people who have known Jesus for many years and others who don't know if they want anything to do with Him, and people from other denominations (what a concept) watching this couple participate in the death, resurrection, and eternal life of Christ. It was amazing! As the couple went back to get changed we sang some songs. After singing through the few "planned" songs, we started singing others that just came to the leader. We sang Our God is an Awesome God, and it's like the whole gathering just came alive! You could see people clapping, moving around, really enjoying the fact that our God is awesome. It was exhilarating and beautiful. It welled up passion within me. It reminded me that this is what God will have me be a part of in Australia, participating with people who seem so very different as they realize that we have all been made in the image of God. I felt like I was looking into my future, and it was amazing.
I would really like to hear what you are passionate about. Please leave a comment and share your thoughts with me!