Fine Line

Have you ever heard someone say, "There's a fine line between this and that"? I've definitely had a hard time staying on the good side of the fine line between a few things lately. Let's look at fine line #1: standing up against injustice versus judgment and anger. Here's what happens with me...I like to think of myself as an honest person who tries to do the right thing and help others. I will generally go out of my way to do something that will help someone else. What I easily forget is that I live in a world where a lot of people don't care much for God or their fellow man. Therefore, when I try to do the right thing and I'm only judged, unappreciated, or looked down upon it really ticks me off! It seems like Jesus might have talked about that at one point....
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.

November Update

I can't really think of anything better by which to title this post, since an update is exactly what it will be. No bells or whistles, just a way to catch you up on the life that I can barely seem to catch up with myself.

On October 31 we had our FSFA fund raiser. If you know us at all I'm sure you knew about the fund raiser, we plastered info about it on every form of electronic media we could find! We had a good turn out, raising $6,140. Granted, it was not the $80,000 we were shooting for, but we knew that was a very high expectation! We are grateful to those who helped us out, and were very surprised by some very large gifts from some unexpected people. God always uses the extraordinary to bless us. If you would like to be counted in the FSFA tally, it's not too late! Let us know you're interested in giving, and we'll be more than happy to help you do that!

If I can remember correctly, we were supposed to paint the exterior of our house the first weekend of November. However, it rained cats and dogs in Abilene so that plan was debunked. However, I still put Matt to work and we painted quite a bit of the interior of our house. Bane helped too, rubbing paint into the walls and catching drips of white paint on his back before they could hit the floor! To be honest we might not have even painted that weekend...but who's really keeping track?!? We painted sometime, so it might as well have been then.

The next weekend we traveled down to Halletsville to visit the land that my dad and stepmom own. We worked on the land, and got to hang out with my middle nephew Andrew. I am always amazed at how God is very real in his life. It's really exciting to have conversations about God with him! On that Sunday we traveled to Bastrop to enjoy about an hour of my oldest nephew's eighth birthday party. We got to watch him play with his friends, and enjoyed seeing my youngest nephew for a little while. My sister and brother in law gave us a lot of stuff to sell in our next garage sale, which was a total blessing. My sister also loaded us down with queso and chips for the road. Queso and chips in the car...not the cleanest snack!

This past weekend Matt and I planned to replace the facia on the front of our house so that we could start to paint the exterior (start counting how many times I've mentioned painting the exterior of the house). For those of you who, like me until this weekend, don't know what facia is, it's the wood that hangs down vertically from the roof of the house. It's kind of an accent piece. Anyway, we pulled off the facia, and low and behold, half the succotash behind it came off. It's not really called succotash, but it does begin with an s and I can't ever remember the name! Anyway, that meant a second trip to Lowe's and more time pulling down bad wood and trying to replace it with good wood. Matt said we were doing Jesus work (carpentry). I'm glad Jesus loves me no matter how bad I mess things up, because I am no carpenter! By Sunday night we'd gotten about half done of what we needed to on the wood, and had not painted. Maybe next time. Today an awesome guy from our house church came and spent a good bit of the day with Matt helping him finish up the job. Travis, I owe you one!

A lot more has happened in the past few weeks, but I'll save that for another time. For now, I just wanted to let you know why I've been off the radar.

Exodus is pretty awesome

I'm reading through the Bible. I'm trying to be very intentional in how I read through the Bible, instead of flying through a chapter a night. Sometimes I make it through about four verses, sometimes I make it through a chapter. It all depends on how well I'm paying attention to what I'm reading. And let's be honest, sometimes I'm paying very little attention to what I'm reading. I hope I'm not the only one!

I started Exodus a few weeks ago, and I'm in chapter four right now. You do the math. Anyway, the past two nights in Exodus have been pretty awesome! As most of you know, Matt and I are doing a fund raiser that will reach the final leg of its journey this Sunday, October 31. If you don't know about the fund raiser, visit our website: www.teamipswichaustralia.org (I can't help but put in a plug). Anyway, so as with the rest of life for the past almost three years, it's been fund raising, fund raising, fund raising. It's very hard to find that line between "God will provide" and "you're not doing enough". I pray that I'm doing enough trusting that God will provide! Anyway, with fund raising on the brain and heart I read these words from Exodus three a few nights ago:

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!

Over the sea and back again

Matt and I returned from our two week long trip to Australia last week. I say two week long trip, but we were really only in Australia seven days. You heard me right...seven short days. It was a crazy, busy, exciting, exhausting, convicting trip! We met some fantastic people, got some good ideas, learned a lot, and experienced quite a few adventures! Those stories can be shared another time, or you can ask me about some adventures.

We got into Dallas Thursday afternoon, where Matt's dad was. Keep in mind that Matt's dad actually lives in Australia; we stayed in his house while we were there. However, David was in Dallas seeing his new grand baby. It was strange not seeing David in Australia, and instead seeing him in Texas! Matt and I got back to Abilene 12:30am Saturday morning, and have been running ever since. David came to Abilene to see us yesterday and today, and we had a great time showing him around good ol' West Texas. This place is different than any other!

Matt and I would love to slow down, but this weekend will not be any better. For no other reason than the fact that we won't have anymore weekends until well into November, we will be painting the exterior of our house Saturday. That will be quite a chore, but it needs to be done and will really help the house look better. We will also be finalizing some of the details of FSFA. What is FSFA, you ask? Well, I'm glad you did!

FSFA is Fifth Sunday for Australia; it is the fund raiser Matt and I will be hosting on October 31. What we have found in our almost three years of fund raising (yep, three years) is that people are unable to give to long term mission work in Australia...for whatever reason. However, plenty of people are able to give a small, one time donation to our work. We're inviting churches and individuals around the country to participate with us on October 31, and give a one time donation to the work we'll be doing in Australia. We're talking change collected over the course of a month, eating out money saved from the weekend, whatever people have. It's that simple! Give on your own, or get together with your family, friends, and church to combine your gifts to send to us. Checks will be made out to our sponsoring congregation to ensure that gifts are tax deductible.

Join with others around the country as we are a testimony to the world that many members form one body in Jesus Christ. Please visit our website for all the details regarding how to give on FSFA. There you will find specifics on how to make out your check and where to send it. You can also email us to find out more about FSFA, or more about our team in general. We would love to hear from you. Visit our website, www.teamipswichaustralia.com, or email us at info@teamipswichaustralia.com

Words in Action

Wow, what a crazy couple of weeks! We can see evidence that our move is nearer and nearer. Conversations, gifts from neighbors, endurance, growth, and frustration revolving around our move have all been strong and constant. We are grateful for this journey with all its ups and downs.

Matt and I were working out last night, and something funny happened. The trainer on the video said, "I know you're doing good right now". Matt said, "Shawn T., how do you know I'm doing good right now? I could be sitting on the couch!" Yes, we address the trainer as though we are old friends. Anyway, I chuckled as Matt said that because I thought, how ridiculous would that be? Seriously, to sit on a couch, watch a workout video, and think it is going to get you into shape is just stupid. However, in our culture I'd almost believe that someone might do that! We buy things or read things, thinking that just watching them happen will change our lives. It's ignorance in the grandest form.

After reflecting on that for a few minutes I thought about James. Not my one friend named James, but the James who wrote part of the Bible. In the first chapter of the book of James he said, "don't just listen to the word and so deceive yourself, but do what it says". Why did he write that? Because that's the lifestyle Christians were living. They were reading about abundant life but not practicing or enjoying it. Well you know what, not much has changed. I read words of life from God's word and don't live them out. It's like I'm sitting on the couch watching a video on how God can transform my life and wants me to share that transformation story with others, and then just turning off the DVD player and not doing anything about it. I have to get up and exercise this faith!

I've been learning and thinking a lot about how living as Christ in this world does not have to be so hard. Sure, being a Christian means I have to make tough decisions about the person I'm going to be to those I'm building a relationship with, but the actual first step of loving people in the name of Jesus does not have to be so hard. After all, the God I follow IS LOVE. He's not like love, He is love! The problem is that I'm an analytical introvert. I've got two things going against me; I over think things way too much, and half the time I'd rather be alone than surrounded by people! I'm working through those, and am trying to just relax when it comes to pursuing relationships with people.

So what are you sitting on the couch about, instead of getting up and exercising abundant life?

Thinking

Where have you been? Oh wait, where have I been? I have no good excuse for not writing in almost a month, but boy do I have some good stories! I think my last post was August 18. On August 21 my nephew Riley was born in Plano. Riley is the first little baby born to Matt's sister and brother in law. On August 29 my nephew Avery was born. Avery is the third little baby boy born to my sister and brother in law. Avery was born in Bastrop. Needless to say, those were two very busy--and amazing--weeks!

Okay, so that's two weeks knocked out of the way. What about the rest of my life up to this point? That's a good question, and if you figure it out please let me know. As I've told many people, it's like I just couldn't get a grip on life last week! Doing a million things, late to bed every night, not putting on eyeliner....That last bit might sound strange, but it's actually a very good way to gage if I'm totally running behind in life or not. If I don't have time to put on eyeliner in the morning, then it means I'll be behind all day. It's true.

One other thing I could not get a grip on last week was my time spent with God. On Sunday my husband and I got together over a meal with some people like we do every Sunday, and one of the topics of discussion around the table was what everyone was doing to stay in tune with Jesus. Everyone had great things to say about practical, meaningful ways in which they were staying in tune with Jesus throughout the week. Needless to say, I felt pretty useless. I didn't have any good stories to share about the fantastic things I'm doing to stay close to Jesus. Sitting there in silence, wanting to climb under the table, I realized that I didn't have to have a fantastic story. I just had to have an honest story. I put a constant burden on myself to be a strong, "has it all together" leader type, but that's not a burden that Jesus has given me. I am in a relationship with Jesus and his other followers, and that means that I don't always have to be strong and have it all together. What it does mean is that I always have to be honest. ALWAYS. Well folks, just like it's hard to say, "I'm sorry" or "I was wrong" to your spouse (and you're kidding yourself if you say that's never happened), it's hard to say "I struggled in my relationship with my Lord this week". However, I piped up and shared how every one's stories were really nice, but mine was not so exciting. I shared how I didn't give my relationship with Jesus much time, energy, or respect. And you know what? No one threw rotten tomatoes at me. No one called me a sinner and ran me out of the house. People listened and nodded. Do you know why they nodded? Because they've been in the same exact spot before.

I don't really know the point of this post, my fingers just started to fly. Maybe it's meant to be an encourager. If you're an all out follower of Jesus, don't be afraid to admit when you're struggling in your relationship with him. Confession is good. If you don't quite know what to think about Jesus and the commitment it takes to be a Christian, then don't be afraid to talk to someone who does. Questions are good. And with that...good night.

Peace

This will be a very short blog post, but I think it is one worth sharing. I have experienced something interesting tonight that I think we all need to experience. I heard the same, very specific statement made in two very different settings this evening. The words were, "Peace be with you".
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/

Telling the Truth

This weekend my dad and stepmom came to visit us in Abilene. We had a great time! Saturday afternoon we ate with Matt's family, and then drove to Comanche after lunch. Matt and I have been to a winery in Comanche that is very quiet, relaxing, charming, and has good wine. We thought that sitting down to share a glass of wine with my parents would be a great way to spend the afternoon.

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!

FPU

Some of you know what those three little letters mean without me even spelling out the words...Financial Peace University. More on that later.
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.

Us too!

Yesterday Matt and I had a great day. We ate breakfast (very late!) and then got ready to go to our friends W and E's house. Matt, as usual when we have plans to do something, got called to a vehicle accident and had to leave for that. I finished getting ready and went to their house. W and E are moving to Chile early next year, and were having a garage sale to get rid of many of the things they will not be taking with them. They, along with another person they are moving with, were at their house Friday and Saturday hosting a garage sale.
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!

And then there were two

A lot has happened in the past week and a half. The weekend of June 5 Matt and I drove to Corpus Christi to share more about our team's progress with the members of the church I grew up in. As usual, we were surrounded by encouraging words and faces. Matt always does a great job sharing our powerpoint presentation...and as usual we were still tweaking it the night before!
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.

What is God up to?

I have quite a few things I could write about tonight. Over the past week I have had little snippets come to mind and have thought, "Hm, that might be something worth blogging about". However, today a series of events occurred that made me think I should write something different tonight. Strangely enough, my topic has a lot to do with my last post.
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!

Passion made real

Caution, the following article might not be suitable for all readers. I found it disturbing.

http://www.qt.com.au/story/2010/04/28/an-ipswich-magician-and-childrens-entertainer-is/

Most of you know that I do martial arts. It is a passion of mine. It is working itself out into a much bigger passion as we prepare to move to Australia. I have been doing much praying about the idea of my job in Ipswich being to teach women's kickboxing and self defense classes. I greatly desire to see teen girls and women, especially those who have been hurt sexually and emotionally, transformed into confident women who believe in a God who gives them a new beginning, a renewed strength, and a greater sense of who they are. In a perfect world, I imagine myself teaching a few classes a week at a rec center somewhere and then going into schools and working through crisis centers to do seminars.
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.

Friends and Enemies

Most people have them, but they look a little different. I have them in Hawaii, Abilene, Thailand, Australia, Georgia, and other places around the world. They're friends, really important friends...the kind of friends that I have a very special bond with. This is the bond that people share when they leave it all behind and move to another country to tell their new friends and neighbors about God. I know most of these people because we trained through the Halbert Institute for Missions together. Because of this, we've cried together, laughed together, learned about other countries, and learned a lot about one another. I don't talk to all of them on a regular basis, but I do talk to God about them on a regular basis. However, whenever we talk to one another through skype or email it's like we were never separated. Why is this? I think it's because we're traveling on the same journey. Some are preparing to go to or are already in other countries, but our purpose is the same. We've left the same things behind and are making the same sacrifices. We're all living lives of great uncertainty (I know, who isn't), and that creates one strong bond!
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!

Longing for heaven

On Monday afternoon I hopped in the Corolla and started the trek to Wichita, Kansas. My grandmother passed away last Thursday, her funeral was going to be Tuesday, and her burial Wednesday. I will go through the significance of those two days in a few moments, but for now let's focus on the drive up. The drive to Kansas from West Texas is scenic in its own way...there are a lot of farms and open skies. Some people might deem it boring or ugly. I however hold within me a gift and a blessing, it's that of being able to enjoy any car trip regardless of the location. Would you like to know my secret? It's the fact that there are two very specific bits of scenery that transport me to magical places. One is wide open wheat or hay fields (they might actually be the same thing for all I know) and the other is seeing the moon or big, fluffy clouds in the sky during the day. I could actually add the ocean as number three...but I see it so rarely these days that I don't count it in a regular list. Anyway, if you drive across the country you will see one or both of those natural occurrences as you drive. Let me explain to you why I love them so much.
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.

The past week and a half

Sitting down to blog has been harder and harder to do lately. I've been busy, but when I look back I don't really know what it is that has been keeping me busy! I'm sure it's been a little of this and a little of that, just like everyone else in this world.
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!

So close, and yet so far

I have not felt much of an urge to write lately, partly because I do not feel that anything life altering has changed with our status in the past few weeks. However, to believe that would be to believe a lie. This won't be the most exciting of updates, but it will be informative!
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!

Why does God want to be at the center of my marriage?

I got back Monday evening from a wonderful four night vacation with Matt in San Antonio. After a very stressful couple of months (and many more to follow), we decided to take advantage of me having Monday off and took the Thursday and Friday before the weekend off as well. We decided that if we went to San Antonio, we could have a great time and get the most bang for our buck.The hill country infinity pool

We had a wonderful time at the resort where we stayed: I got my nails done, we played around at the mini water park (in the freezing cold), walked around, went to the zoo, slept in, enjoyed cable television, and ate at good restaurants. The last on the list brings me to tonight's point. Matt has an iPhone. It has its pros and its cons, one con being that for the most part you can use it to do things like check your facebook or email just about anywhere. All I know is that given the fact that I think kids in Australia use their cell phones even more than kids in the U.S., we are going to have to have some serious laying down of the rules when we have kids who are old enough to legitimately have cell phones (the mere thought of it is enough to give me a heart attack). Matt is pretty good about not using it too much, especially when we are sharing a meal together. If we're talking about something and it seems worthy of looking up, he might check it out on the iPhone and save it for later perusal. I couldn't resist putting this picture in...Matt just happens to be on the iPhone!
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.

Rain, rain, rain

It rained a lot this week. On Wednesday it did not stop raining ALL DAY. The rain is an amazing blessing in a lot of places, especially Texas. However, when you have a big German Shepherd and a backyard that is missing quite a bit of grass you tend to accentuate the negative instead of the positive. We've done it all: used a towel to try and dig the mud from between his toes and his legs, filled a bowl with water and dunked and scrubbed his paws, Matt actually managed to pick Bane up and get him into the bathroom for a bath on Friday (which I'm sure was disgusting). Needless to say, Bane was not allowed to go out and run around the backyard much this week. This led to extreme boredom and many sad eyes...but what are we supposed to do?
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.

Giving thanks where it's due

I don't know about you, but it's pretty easy for me to get in a rut and forget what I'm thankful for. I was in one of these ruts, and it took a Lowe's discount card to get me out of it. That story will come at the end, but for now I'd like to share a few things I'm thankful for this week.
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.

Three day weekend!

On Friday night our team, along with another team and some soon to be interns, attended a "Reformation workshop/dinner". To many the word reformation does not mean much, but some of you reading this know exactly what I'm talking about. Some of you are smiling and some of you are cringing! My background/heritage/whatever you want to call it is the Church of Christ. Some people call it a denomination, and others will fight until they are blue in the face that it is not. That conversation might have its time, but that time is not now. What I want to share are the three points that the leader of the evening shared with us, and then a few thoughts of my own. The professor who led the evening's discussion is a reformation history guru, and he encouraged us to "be about these three things that the Church of Christ wanted to be about":
-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.

passion

What are you passionate about? Have you ever allowed yourself to take a deep breath and plunge into that scary yet exciting place where you explore what it is that makes you tick? A few weeks ago our team was part of a module (weekend retreat) where we talked about this very thing...and tonight God brought it all together like some beautiful masterpiece.
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!