Claim Your Territory!

I read an interesting devotional in my Bible the other day. It has stayed with me each day and I need to put it into practice. As Christians we tend to go back to the same scriptures over and over...our favorites maybe or just the ones we can find quickly when we need a good Bible verse. The devotional writer said to picture our Bibles as Abraham must have pictured the Promised Land when God said to him to "Go walk through the length and breadth of it for I am giving it to you." We visit Psalm 23 and Proverbs and Philippians over and over but there is so much more to inspire, comfort, and teach us. Beautiful passages like Job 38 give us new perspective as God says to Job: "Have you ever given orders to the morning or shown the dawn its place?"
We need to claim our land and expand our territory in the God-breathed gift of the Word.

Make a Smilebox photobook

He Wraps Himself in Light

The circumstances in this past week have made me into an irritable, exhausted old woman! The Lord is teaching me about "thorns in the flesh" and has given me one...a person I see often. I have to practice what He has taught me in His word to love one another and be kind and tender-hearted. I hope I don't disappoint Him.
Meanwhile, it comforts me to see these verses from Psalm 104:
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent

3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.

4 He makes winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.

5 He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.

Which then brings me to one of my most favorite worship songs:

How Great is Our God
by Chris Tomlin

The splendor of a King,
Clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice,
All the earth rejoice
He wraps himself in light,
And darkness tries to hide
And trembles at his voice,
And trembles at his voice

How great is our God,
sing with me
How great is our God,
and all will see
How great, How great
Is our God

Age to age he stands
And time is in His Hands
Beginning and the End,
Beginning and the End
The Godhead, Three in one
Father, Spirit, Son
The Lion and the Lamb,
The Lion and the Lamb

How great is our God,
sing with me
How great is our God,
and all will see
How great, How great
Is our God

So....our days are full of the insignificant and the eternally significant. He cares about every detail and I'm so glad He does!

A Beautiful Song

Read the words carefully...such comforting lines. I am a very blessed woman in these days but I know that trouble will come. The Word of God prepares us for joyful days and for sad, discouraging times. And songs like these are gifts.

I Will Rise
by Chris Tomlin

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

Guatemalan Wedding (or 11 People in a Nissan Patrol)

If you are wondering why I'm bringing up the past so much it's because I want to write all these memories down while I still remember them... I should have done this years ago while the experience was fresh in my mind. In 1988, soon after we arrived in Coban, Guatemala, as church planters, we were invited to a wedding out in the countryside. Now you must understand that we lived 3 hours from the capital city, near the rain forest area, in a small town that seemed to appear out of nowhere. We already felt as if we were at the dropping off point of the world so we definitely felt even more adventurous as we set out with a pastor friend to the wedding an hour or so away. We had our 3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter with us. The wedding was held in a small wooden church with very rough-cut benches. The wedding itself was held in the K'ekchi' language...the K'ekchi' were an indigenous group up in Alta Verapaz...the region in which we were working. There were abundant fresh green pine needles scattered all over the floor and many flowers as the people there grow beautiful plants with amazing ease. Our job was to give away the bride and groom which was an honor considering they had never met us. We walked into the church with them (our babies hanging on to us also) and stood with them as the ceremony began. Then we took our seats for the hour-long ceremony. After the couple was married we all loaded up in our Nissan Patrol to head to a nearby house for a reception. Now our Nissan normally held 5 people. But that day 11 people crammed into that car with a couple hanging off the sides. (We used to say that the rule in Guate was "it's not full til I'm in it.) The bride and groom, of course, rode with us also. Everyone else walked and we crowded into the house which was just one room with a bench along each side. We were served caldo, which is thin-brothed chicken soup with spices, and cacao. Cacao is the REAL cocoa drink...straight cocoa which was mixed by our hostess' hand with the water they had on hand. We were the guests of honor besides the bride and groom and we were served first. Delicious stuff! After a full afternoon of festivities and introduction to the beautiful K'ekchi' culture we returned home in quite an exhausted daze. Another amazing first experience for our missionary years.

A Little Bit of This and That

Going Back in Time

We're in the "dog days" of summer here in the South. Not a whole lot going on so I am finding myself looking at pictures of my children and thinking back to those very physically tiring days of being a mom to two young ones. These were emotional days also as we left the United States and went to Costa Rica to language school in preparation for missionary life in Guatemala.
We flew to San Jose, Costa Rica in December, 1986. It was right after Christmas and was even more emotionally wrenching leaving our families and home at that time of year. But we were very excited and knew this was the right thing to do...obeying the Lord to be used for a purpose. There are many images that come to mind when I think about Costa Rica. The buses that we rode on (we had no car), the taxis when we couldn't find a bus. The fact that there were no addresses...we just told the drivers where the destination was near (a store, gas station, plaza) etc. I remember having to adjust to the altitude there and having ear infection after ear infection as did our baby girl. The sights and smells of the market are there in my memory also as we'd go do our "barefoot" learning...going out into the marketplace where no one spoke English and doing our shopping. One had to speak Spanish whether it was correct or not. There are memories of getaways to the rainforest, to the beaches, to nice hotels to get some gringo food. The churches there were so welcoming to us and we funded nursery equipment several times. We wanted the children there to have what they needed but, believe me, it was for my sake also.
Our children were well cared for in the "kinder" as we went to Spanish classes daily. I can still feel the floor and bed shake and the gates rattle as we would barely wake up during the temblores (earthquake tremors)during the nights.
Costa Rica was beautiful...beaches, valleys, mountains, rainforest, orchids that grew wild everywhere, friendly people, and a wonderful beginning to our years as missionaries.

Bradley!

Just wanted to write about my son-in-law, Brad. Or Bratley, depending on his behavior at times! I first met him on January 23, 2004. He and Erin had met at Compton Elementary's ASP program and he'd gotten up the nerve to call her and ask her out. Of course, the date was to a hockey game. He's obsessed with hockey and, by the way, is a good hockey player himself. Anyway, he showed up at the door at 8:30 that evening to take Erin to a KSU hockey game. All I saw was this tall blonde guy with a cap on. I thought,"hmm, quite cute. Erin may like this one." It all took off from there. Now he's our daughter's husband and our sweet Maddie's father. We love him like he's our own. Of course, I knew he was "the one for us" when he told me that he had always loved school and that, in fact, he went to bed with his school clothes on the night before the first day of school when he was growing up! That just touched this teacher's heart! He's a true Southern boy and we have to discipline him at times in his craziness but we are very proud of him and his accomplishments, his support and love for our daughter, and his daddy skills. He's the best at rocking that baby to sleep. We thank the Lord for bringing him into our lives.
So,yeah, enough of this mushy stuff. Bradley, settle down, boy, and quit talking about those bodily functions.

John and Me

Thirty, 30, yes, THIRTY years ago this week John and I were formally engaged. Our wedding was planned for December. So, yes, this is our big anniversary year. Amazing.
I met John the very first day of my freshman year in college at Truett-McConnell in Cleveland, Georgia. We were at the first chapel meeting of the year. He became a friend quickly...at the time I was dating another boy. We'd been dating for about 2 years. That relationship ended around Christmas of that year and John and I picked up our friendship. I was quite fascinated with him. He was very easy to talk to, pretty cute, too! He spoke Spanish fluently and was just night and day different from me. He was a fairly recent Christian whereas I'd been a believer since age 10. He had a Cuban mother and was from Miami. I was a born and bred Atlanta girl. We began dating in September of 1977, broke up in July 1978, and then I came to my senses in April, 1979, after dating several guys that were either heart-breakers, boring, or crazy. I called John and told him I wanted him back. He proceeded to tell me that Jesus was first in his life and he'd have to pray about it. HA! Well, I really was glad about that though. Anyway, we did begin seeing each other again and quickly decided we would get married. We'd had enough of "dating around". So here we are, celebrating 30 years this December. Never boring! My true love!