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Friday, July 27, 2012

the waiting game

i feel like my life has been at a standstill for the last week

stop. back up. not my life, my future.

life has been going. filled with lots of activities


park days


birthday parties and nature hikes
they tend to happen simultaneously with this friend


saving plastic people


spending time with Papa


realizing we ALWAYS imitate our parents in some way, shape, or form


shooting guns


swinging on tires


getting sick swinging on tires
getting sick watching people swing on tires


spending time with precious family
fighting over watermelon


more guns


and packing lots of boxes

YET.

STANDSTILL.

because we still have yet to find out 
where we will be living

you forget how precious an address is
until you have none

my address is my security in so many ways
so many sinful ways

this has been my greatest struggle these last seven days

every morning I wake up 
completely anxious

YET.

God has been speaking to my heart
and I've been hearing His voice

As quickly as my thoughts begin to question things
 doubt things
scripture and hymns pop into my mind to set me straight

as quickly as my thoughts intend to say "my hope, is that we get a place today"

I only get as far as saying "MY HOPE"

because i'm interrupted with

"is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness" - hymn

When I cry out, "Lord, I am so anxious"

The Holy Spirit responds,

"be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" - Philippians 4:6

When i go to bed, feeling the stand-still
despairing about the stand-still

my devotional reads

"Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord." - Exodus 14:13

so during the standstill 
that is my job
to just STAND STILL

"wait for the Lord" Psalms says....about a billion times by the way

"Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. 
For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in his holy name." Psalm 33:20-21

so I wait
some days with a glad heart
some days struggling to keep one

But let me be clear
there are also times 
where we should not wait

1. if you're not a follower of Jesus, and you've been thinking about becoming one
DON'T WAIT.
DO IT.

2. If you are a follower of Jesus, but have been living in some sin, and thought about stopping
DON'T WAIT.
DO IT.

3. If the Lord has put something on your heart, but fear has been holding you back.
DON'T WAIT.
DO IT.




Remember to check out http://hope4sudan.hopesanmateo.org
They need our prayers
and our financial support


Thursday, July 19, 2012

Hope4Sudan


The Lord provided and opportunity for some brothers in the faith
to take a short-term missions trip to Sudan to share the gospel with the Sudanese people

During this visit it was revealed that there is a massive starvation
 among the people in the Nuba Mountains
men, women, children, babies
starving to death

The Lord has put it on their hearts, and the heart of their local church
to do something to help
and I pray that God puts it on your hearts as well

I am giving you an opportunity to partner with
Hope Church of San Mateo
in raising 25,000 dollars to deliver some relief
to these Sudanese people

this is not purely a trip to give bread for their stomachs
but to also preach The Bread of Life to their hearts

Please PRAY for these men, women, and children who are dying
because of something we take so much for granted

Please PRAY for these men, women, and children who upon receiving this relief
RECEIVE THE GOSPEL as well

Please PRAY for the men delivering this relief
that they would be EMPOWERED with the HOLY SPIRIT
as they answer God's calling to preach and serve this group of people

Please PRAY about how much the Lord might be leading you to GIVE

For more information and to give you can visit the website here




"do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God."

Move Prep

For the last two weeks now
my life has become all about
visiting with friends
cleaning
and packing
and more packing

still don't have a move date yet
but I refuse to be caught off guard
with a weeks-notice for a move
and zero packing accomplished

of course, packing doesn't just mean packing
it means sorting

which we did

a lot

and some friends graciously offered their house for a garage sale

so last Saturday our morning began at 5:30 am
and ended with a crash (literally)

the garage sale was scheduled for Saturday 7/14 8am
of course to some people that means Friday 7/13 mid-afternoon
show up at the house unannounced and insist on seeing the advertised bike
NOT COOL BIKE HOARDER


Anyway, browsing pretty much began at 7:45
I arrived with the kids at 8:00
and Haley peeling off price stickers and putting them on herself began promptly at 8:05


more friends arrived at 9:30
and the lemonade stand was open for business


selling strategy and profit distribution was a hot topic
and the team worked very well together

and Haley
well she just made herself comfortable



one of the larger items for sale was a pottery barn toddler bed
I was sure that it would be picked up by a mom with a 3-year-old
to my surprise
it was sold to a man
with a dog


apparently this little guy required a much fancier bed
than the average pup

I was a little disappointed to see my daughters bed go to an animal
but once he handed me the cash
i got over it pretty quickly

our customer returned again
to pick out some more items

and that's when it happened
upon his leaving there was an accident


Praise God, there were no injuries and
minimal car damage to our friends car

And the Lord was over the entire situation
protecting the kids
keeping the adults calm
and causing the grace of God to be poured out to this man behind the wheel

making sure he was ok
sitting with him
walking him home
inviting him to church
not responding in anger but in love

I don't know where this man is at spiritually
but my prayer is that he recognizes the grace of God
through the love of Jesus
and he returns to our friends house seeking to know more

We came home that day exhausted to say the least
after a short rest time
Jason turned on the movie Up
and as a family we watched the movie and ate our pizza

there's a scene at the beginning where the couple, Carl and Ellie, are saving coins in a jar for their dream trip to Paradise Falls


and throughout the clip they keep having to break the jar
to pay for other things like the car, or the house
and they start saving all over again


we have such a jar
actually its a car
a love bug


it was a wedding gift
and as cheesy at it looks
from the very beginning its use was decided
to save up change to help fund a second honeymoon for our 10th Anniversary

and this is the second time its being emptied
in this case its for moving expenses
cause moving out-of-state ain't cheap

sometimes you save up for one thing, but God has something more important in mind
and His purposes are far better than ours










Saturday, July 14, 2012

the big move

This last month has been one of the most emotional months of my life
As I said before, the Lord's been doing some amazing work in my life and marriage.
I had planned to write a blog before about the spiritual lessons I was learning,
but I'm glad i waited until now to share

Jason and I have been praying about our future for a while now...like almost three years

Its funny, i was expecting God to open a new door to walk into as we prayed

But sometimes God just closes a door first, and then wants you to walk by faith into the new one

And that's exactly what happened with us

I'm such a planner, so naturally I would shy away from this
But i found myself being more excited and eager than ever to just go with it

it came to a point where it was clear that Jason needed to focus on one thing, and God revealed to him that, that one thing was going to Seminary.

So he is enrolled for a Seminary in Portland, called Multnomah. And we are truely going by faith.

i don't know where we're going to work
i don't know where we're going to church
i don't know where we're going to live

but i do know, that this is of the Lord

And as emotional as these last few weeks have been, because I am sad to be leaving so many wonderful friends, it was been one of the most exciting times for Jason and I

We just want to be obedient to the Lord.

A wise man once told us that "being in God's will is the safest place to be"

and he's totally right

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:5-6

this is why I'm eager to let the Lord unravel the details of our life

And don't get me wrong, i know right now is not the toughest moment
Things are most definitely going to get harder
but my husband and I are so together on this
we feel a closeness as friends and companions that I just can't describe

I'm praying for the Lord's provision for our needs
"give us this day or daily bread" Matthew 6:11

I'm praying against anxiety and fear
"do not be anxious saying 'what shall we eat' and 'what shall we wear'...your Heavenly father knows you need them all" Matthew 6:31-32

I know my faith is weak, so I continually ask the Lord for confirmation
and boy is He faithful

Like seriously, I'm counting tons of prayers being answered just in the last couple weeks

And, I can't help but be moved to tears, as I think about how faithful, and loving, and just, and caring, my God is

it is a blessing to be called His child, and it is pure grace that got me there

Please pray for us, but also please rejoice with us
because our God is awesome, and He only does awesome things!

"Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power" Rev. 4:11


Sunday, July 1, 2012

Favorite Moments from Southern California

The last two weeks we've been in southern california visiting family,
relaxing, celebrating, spending time with friends, and attending a conference
here's my top ten moments


ran into this CUTIE in Bakersfield on the way down
great way to start off a trip!

Insert Disneyland picture here...
or not
computer issues
but we went
we enjoyed Cars Land
and we said goodbye
for good...
or at least until we win free tickets on the radio


my grandma took me to lunch
and then i took her picture when she wasn't paying attention


Family picture before our night away in SD
We're happy to have some alone time
Aidan couldn't wait to spend time with Papa and grandma ALONE...no joke
"can you leave now?" was a question heard often that morning
And Haley's just happy because she has food in her hands

              

excited faces for time together celebrating 7 years of marriage


and the most delicious/messiest meal of our lives!


held a puppy for the first time
and I'm sure he was relieved we didn't take him home


went to the Resolved Conference in Palm Springs, Ca
getting to worship Jesus with 3,000 brothers and sisters is definitely one of my top moments


witnessed two of the most beautiful pictures
1. the above picture of guy translating Al Mohler's message in sign-language for his friend
2. no picture of it, but walked past a guy in the parking lot sharing the gospel with the parking attendant
living water being poured out in the desert


                

pool time with our HOPE pals


celebrating birthdays with our friends


deflating pool floaties during Rick Holland's message
sorry for the fart sounds coming from the back, Rick

                                     
                              

double dates and family anniversaries dinners
and I now hate using the flash on my camera
the ghost skin-tone is not working for me