Yesterday was a great day!
I woke up to a breathtaking sunrise.
I read a passage in Luke that had me in awe of Jesus again.
I hosted a brunch for seven girlfriends. A mini-retreat. A joy to do.
I had a long Sunday afternoon nap.
I went to church and heard from missionaries. Some of my very favorite people.
We stayed after church and listened to one of the missionary couples share some victories and some hope and some challenges. This particular missionary couple is a couple I was first introducd to eighteen years ago. They were just leaving for the mission field when we met them in Plano.
Over the years they have come back and shared how difficult the area they are ministering to is. You could see in their faces the burden they carried for this people who did not trust what they had to share about God. They would ask us to pray. We did.
This time the joy on their faces was so beautiful to behold. A church has been planted. The pastor is someone local. All that was prayed for, for so many years by so many people is now in existence.
So now there are new prayers to pray. There are new challenges to face. There is hope to face them with.
Then we went to dinner as a family.
Then God ended the day with a beautiful sunset.
It was a great day to become 40 years old. :)
Monday, August 20, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Thankful
I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I'm receiving an answer to prayer today that I didn't know until just recently if this request was going to be in God's will for me or not.
I believe it is God's will to provide shelter from the elements. In some places that may just be a shade tree. In fact this morning I was reading on a blog about a mission trip to Africa, to the nation of Angolia. This country is five years beyond a civil war. Some progress is being made in feeding the children of this country. The mission orgaznizations however only have food to offer to the children and nursing mothers. So the workers feed the children and have to observe the adults standing off to the side waiting for their children to eat the one nutritious meal they will have all day.
On the same day I reflect on her mission experience, I'm receiving a gift today which is more than a shelter, it is a home that matches with desires of my heart. The cupboards will be bare when we walk in today but very soon they will be filled up with food. My husband and I will not have to choose which one of us will go without a meal so our son can grow and avoid dying from a mosquito bite.
The extreme differences between these two existences makes so little sense.
In places like Isaiah, which I can't quote right now, there are passages that basically translate, You got fat and happy and you stopped caring about those who were in desperate need. I, God, hold this against you.
So I'm extremely grateful that God has orchestrated the purchase of this home in such a way that I am confident this is a gift from God to us. Our family is going to enjoy living there and sharing the home with others. And I'm asking God to somehow help me enjoy it and at the same time avoid getting fat and happy and ambivalent or arrogant towards those who have less.
Dear Lord,
Thank you. Help us to truly be grateful and even humbled by what you have done for us. Thanks for taking stuff away from us and showing us its more blessed to be without stuff and with you then the other way around. Thank you now for trusting us to have stuff again. Please convict us when we're losing perspective. Please show us how to demonstrate that we care about the needs of others.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
I believe it is God's will to provide shelter from the elements. In some places that may just be a shade tree. In fact this morning I was reading on a blog about a mission trip to Africa, to the nation of Angolia. This country is five years beyond a civil war. Some progress is being made in feeding the children of this country. The mission orgaznizations however only have food to offer to the children and nursing mothers. So the workers feed the children and have to observe the adults standing off to the side waiting for their children to eat the one nutritious meal they will have all day.
On the same day I reflect on her mission experience, I'm receiving a gift today which is more than a shelter, it is a home that matches with desires of my heart. The cupboards will be bare when we walk in today but very soon they will be filled up with food. My husband and I will not have to choose which one of us will go without a meal so our son can grow and avoid dying from a mosquito bite.
The extreme differences between these two existences makes so little sense.
In places like Isaiah, which I can't quote right now, there are passages that basically translate, You got fat and happy and you stopped caring about those who were in desperate need. I, God, hold this against you.
So I'm extremely grateful that God has orchestrated the purchase of this home in such a way that I am confident this is a gift from God to us. Our family is going to enjoy living there and sharing the home with others. And I'm asking God to somehow help me enjoy it and at the same time avoid getting fat and happy and ambivalent or arrogant towards those who have less.
Dear Lord,
Thank you. Help us to truly be grateful and even humbled by what you have done for us. Thanks for taking stuff away from us and showing us its more blessed to be without stuff and with you then the other way around. Thank you now for trusting us to have stuff again. Please convict us when we're losing perspective. Please show us how to demonstrate that we care about the needs of others.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Wondering what God is going to say...
Many people I know and love are asking God to answer a long-term prayer request this week. When you sit and contemplate the number of lives that will be affected by the answer to this one request it's a mind bender. God deals with these kind of requests everyday all day long.
His answer may be "not yet" and then the waiting and praying will continue. Or his answer may be "yes" and a new list of prayer requests will begin.
So we pray:
Our Father who is in Heaven, Sovereign over all people and situations, we praise your holy name. We desire your kingdom and we desire to be a part of your plan here on earth. So above all of the things, we think or we want, we turn our wills over to you and ask for your will to be done. We ask for your grace.
Thanks for giving us what we need every single day. Help us to get that it is you meeting our needs. Keep us mindful when we don't do things the way you desire us to do them. Help us to forgive others when they make that same mistake. Since we know that evil is real and this decision this week is a really big deal. We ask for protection for all those involved.
Lord we praise you for letting us be apart of you and your kingdom. We desire to give you the glory and honor and praise. It's good to be a part of what is eternal. Help us to increasingly desire to be a part of what is eternal.
Amen
His answer may be "not yet" and then the waiting and praying will continue. Or his answer may be "yes" and a new list of prayer requests will begin.
So we pray:
Our Father who is in Heaven, Sovereign over all people and situations, we praise your holy name. We desire your kingdom and we desire to be a part of your plan here on earth. So above all of the things, we think or we want, we turn our wills over to you and ask for your will to be done. We ask for your grace.
Thanks for giving us what we need every single day. Help us to get that it is you meeting our needs. Keep us mindful when we don't do things the way you desire us to do them. Help us to forgive others when they make that same mistake. Since we know that evil is real and this decision this week is a really big deal. We ask for protection for all those involved.
Lord we praise you for letting us be apart of you and your kingdom. We desire to give you the glory and honor and praise. It's good to be a part of what is eternal. Help us to increasingly desire to be a part of what is eternal.
Amen
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