Go. Be. Do.

Things change so quickly here that for even the easiest of tasks I feel a need for a backup plan...just in case.  Not living and working in the same place calls for some thinking ahead for the "what if" moments that could happen the day.  15 minutes is a long drive when things need to take place "now".  Take yesterday, for instance, I hoped to go to Native New Life again...I knew I wouldn't be back at my room before time to go so I had grabbed a sweatshirt along with my jacket so in case I got something on my t-shirt, I could slip on my sweatshirt and be all nice and clean for church. Before I even got in the van to go to Calvary (where the teams are housed) I dropped my sweatshirt in one of a thousands puddles.  Not just wet, but black...(dirt is very black here as Mr. Bobby pointed out to us last year during a very hilarious moment on a van ride...he was looking at a pile of asphalt).  I had my jacket, so I picked up my sweatshirt and got in the van anyway. 

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands." Deuteronomy 7:7-9 God has really been impressing upon me this week that out of my heart...those things that I truly believe...comes what I need to live an effective life for Christ.  If I believe in my heart, soul, mind and strength that God is God and in control of all things, then my life will reflect that in my thoughts, words, and actions.  If I truly believe prayer changes things, then I will pray more.  If I truly believe that God has called me to do something, then I will get it done to the best of my ability.  If I believe power lies in Him, then I will run to him to gain my strength.    Nothing that I believe or don't believe will change who God is.  He is who He says He is.  What will change is how I think and act...how I love and forgive...how I step out of my comfort zone into the unknown

" 'Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel.  I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you.  I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist.  Return to me, for I have redeemed you.' "  Isaiah 44:21-22 What an awesome God we serve.  So many things He has done and continues to do for us who are His...created, loves, forgives, redeemed, claims...remembers.  No one is forgotten.  It's easy to feel like prayers go unanswered, but these verses (and the entire chapter) reminds us that He is working out His perfect plan as only He can.  Our safest place, our perfect place, is in His presence.   Ever get concerned how people will remember you?  I have...the bad choices and  embarrassing moments through life...they seem to be very hard to live down.  Our Heavenly Father sweeps away our offenses like a cloud and our sins like the morning mist...He only remembers us.   Isn't that the hard

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit hi

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him."  Psalm 62:5 Yesterday, as I worked outside in the flower beds, I was reminded of how God used flowers to prove a point to me earlier this year.  He made hope become real to me...in a way I will soon not forget.  Moses had the burning bush.  This is my story of the "blooming bush"... This story starts almost 4 years ago, when we purchased our house and all the overgrown bushes and unkept flower beds along with it.  It was fall, so it was pretty much going to be a "wait and see what happens" kind of thing until spring brought out the best in all things outside.  Spring brought several surprises across the property...daffodils, crocus, irises, jasmine...I loved seeing the treasures pop up and show off their beauty.  Down by the garage, however, stood a bush all fall and winter long just as green and full as can be...surely it will bring a show of some sort come Spring.  Nope.  Didn't do a thin

In a just over a week, I will find myself once again on a plane to Alaska.  There's something just as exciting this third time around as there was on the previous two trips...an element of the unknown, I guess, helps keep it this way.  I have to say that the greatest impact my mission trips to Alaska have had on me has been in my prayer life.  Prayer is powerful...not only for the ones being prayed for, but for those who praying.  Time and time again, God has answered the whispered prayers of my lips in most impressive ways.  God has shown Himself to be great, merciful, and a God of  "the little things in life" in the ways He has answered the prayers of His child who loves all things Alaska.  Prayer has kept Alaska very real to my heart.  Those I've met, played with, served, I hold dear and pray for everyday.  And, for those who still need to hear about God's love and His Son, Jesus...pray that they hear the Truth from us and believe in the One true God.  If you a