Leaving on a Jet Plane

Bags are packed, and by last check, all was within the allowed luggage weight to fly without penalty. The house is clean, mostly, the kids are getting dressed. We are ready, to say the least. We were blessed thoroughly yesterday as many friends and family turned out for an ordination ceremony at our church for my husband. It is truly humbling to know that there is such a foundation of people standing with us. To know that you will be going with us and adventuring with us on your knees is just all the more exciting. Well, our flight leaves at 3pm, so we will be heading out later in the morning. Thank you for your prayers, friendship, and support, and I will write again on the other side of ocean. Love y'all!

Overweight

No, I am not referring to me, though the babies did leave their mark. We are knee deep in packing, cleaning, and preparing to leave. Is this an acceptable carry-on?
Seriously, who could say no to this face? She's got her dolls and all. She's ready to go.So we have packed 7 bags, redistributed things, weighed, reweighed, and we are still 26 lbs over the weight limit. The problem is, I am too good when it comes to packing. Seriously. Don't worry. I won't pack the baby. So when I have a bag that's overweight, I have been moving things around, trying to redistribute it into a lighter bag. I think there's something wrong with the scale though. Seriously, I've been saying this for years, but this time I mean it. I'll move a really small thing into an underweight bag, and it will shoot way over, or not change at all. The scale's broken. I'm not kidding.
Well, we are getting wrapped up, excited. Monday y'all. Please don't forget about us. We so desperately need your prayer coverage to bridge the gap for us. We'll be the arms, if you'll hold them up. I'll write more as I'm able. Love y'all.

Baby check up

So, we took Juju for her 15mo check up today, a little early, but we will be in Africa when she actually turns 15mo. She is growing well, is healthy and strong, and has even inched her way up the growth chart by a few percentage points!! WooHoo!! She is now at 50% for height and 30% for weight. Go baby!! But she did get two horrible shots today, one in each thigh, which just breaks a mommy's heart! To see her precious little face looking around, smiling at everyone, maybe wondering why everyone is crowding in on her, and then BLAM! Two gigantic bee stings on her legs. Oh the betrayal!! Oh the horror!! How could this happen??? She was crushed, and cried and cried and cried. Not any normal cry, but the body heaving, can't catch a breath in between type of cry. It was awful!!! But then they gave her a chocolate lollipop, and she was all better. That's my little princess!

11 Days and counting!

So, we leave for Kenya in 11 days, and we have been quite busy around here preparing. I got my international driver's license today, so I can officially drive in Africa, which is a little scary! We have the suitcases out, and we are starting to put together all that needs to go. We will be so busy over the next three months, so it can be a little daunting to pack for such a trip. By God's grace we will have all that we need, and His name will be glorified.
So, in the meantime, I wanted to share with y'all that I taught a class lof about 50 adults last week on 1 John 3:1-6. It was such a great experience and I had so much fun imparting the things that God had laid on my heart about the passage! And, at the risk of sounding like a tremendous nerd, I am officially on a podcast!! I think that is so cool!! Here is the link to the site, if you are interested in checking it out:
222 Podcast

Extreme vs. Obedient

So my husband and I went on a date a few days ago (which was sooo wonderful!!). We went to the move theater and saw a movie called "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed." If you have not yet seen this movie, I cannot recommend it enough, especially as a God-fearing people, because it has incredible implications for the direction that our society, and world as a whole, is going. The movie is a documentary about the tension within the Academia world of Science between those who believe in Intelligent Design vs. those who believe in Darwinism. The tension is not only real, but quite hostile, as those who believe in Darwinism tend to think quite little of their Intelligent Design counterparts, to say the least. There was name calling and personal attacks, not to mention blacklisting for career positions and slandering of character.
There was one part in particular that really stood out to me. One of the Darwinist Scientists was talking about his vision for the future world, saying that the scientific community would like to see science and technology becoming more and more the prevailing guidance and "religion" (as he called it) would be less and less important in a person's life. That decisions would be based upon science and technology more and more, and less and less based on religious beliefs. Where now, they see religion as a "main dish" in a person's life, they would like to see it reduced to a weekend "side dish," a simple Sunday gathering that would be nice for a morning, and then everyone could return to normal life afterwards.
Not only is this scary, but it is already happening. And one of the biggest problems now is that the Church is allowing it to happen. What happen to men and women of integrity who speak the truth boldly, with no fear of natural consequences? What happen to leadership fearing God and not man?
I recently came across a story out of the University of Toledo in Ohio that shocked and greatly disappointed me. You can find the links here. The gist of the story is this:
There was an opinion column published by the University newspaper editor talking about the great injustices being done to the homosexual community, talking about their civil rights were being violated, comparing the injustices of the homosexual community to that against African-Americans or handicaps. A university administrator, and African-American woman, responded to the opinion column with her own opinions on the matter, stating that she strongly disagreed with the comparison of the homosexual community to the African-American or handicapped communities. She cited her own Scriptural beliefs about God's divine order of things and then the natural consequences that come from choices that we make, either in obedience or disobedience to God's divine order.
This university administrator was subsequently suspended from her job by the university president, who cited that her beliefs did not line up with the values of the university. In an official statement, it was said, "Those beliefs are better suited for Sunday morning services only."
Do you see what is happening, friends? Do you see the direction we are headed as a people. My great fear (if it could be called fear) is that the Church in the West will come under great persecution before it decides to wake up and take a stand. The world calls us judgmental and closed-minded because we choose not to embrace the sins of the flesh. I hate my own sin because it breaks the heart of my God. I will no more love the sin in others. But while I will not embrace the sins of the flesh, I will embrace the people, as they were created in the same image of God as I was. It is not a matter of being hateful people, it is a matter of being discerning, hating the actions while loving the people whom God created. That is our great challenge. But we must become a people devoted to standing on the principles of God, speaking truth no matter the consequences, so that the actions of this university administrator would not be seen as extreme, but would be a concerted message from believers across the nation and around the world.
I was at a gathering of believers not too long ago where someone referred to me as the "extreme among them," (presumably because of our calling to serve overseas). That humored me at first, but then made me quite sad. Why would I be thought the extreme, when I am only being obedient? Is true obedience extreme? It should not be! It should be the norm, so that it not a select few who are carrying on the work, but the overwhelming majority who are all doing their share. I assure you that I am as broken as they come, but as God is putting back together the great mess that I created of my life, He is working. There is nothing extreme about that. Well, maybe it is. Maybe it is time for the Church as a whole get radically extreme, lest we will be considered an insignificant "side dish."

In Need of Laborers

There are some stories in life that the heart does not readily forget. There are some words that so pierce the soul that it leaves an ever present heart-shaped indentation that cannot be explained away. One such story was told at a marriage conference that I attended with my husband some years back. The speaker was relaying a story about being in the Denver airport, waiting to board the underground tram to get to the next terminal. He was telling us that as he was waiting to board the train, he noticed a single mother with four children, all loaded down with luggage and various items. The youngest of these children was a beautiful little girl, maybe four or five years in age. He was the father of four boys and had never had a daughter, so he found himself somewhat entranced with this beautiful little girl. He said that as the train pulled up, everybody was crowding the door to get on board, and as the doors opened, it was just chaos as those on board were trying to push past those crowding their way on. He said that as he got on and got himself situated, he turned back to the door just in time to see it closing, with this little girl standing on the other side. In all of the chaos, she had not made it on the train, and her mother had not yet noticed. As the train began to pull away, tears began to stream down the little girl’s face. She stood on the other side and watched her family roll away from her. This man, a pastor and speaker, approached the woman immediately to let her know that her beautiful daughter had not made it on the train, and as the mother began to panic, the man assured her that he would go back to get her and return her to her mother’s arms. The man left his luggage and valuables with this terrified mother, got off at the next stop, and went back for the little girl. As the train pulled up, he could see this precious little girl, standing in the same spot in front of those horrible doors that closed her out, sobbing. He stepped off the train and explained the situation, assuring the little girl with as much information about her family and whereabouts as her mother had told him, and then simply asked her if she would go with him to be rejoined with her mother. She threw open her arms, sobbing all the while, and went with him.

The image of those horribly unforgiving doors closing out the lost is just heart wrenching. There will come a day when our train will arrive. We will be called to board, and all those who do not know Jesus will be left on the outside of those doors as they close and we pull away. The day will come when we will look back toward the doors and see our loved ones, our family and friends who do not know Jesus, standing on the other side. The doors will close and the terrifying realization will come over us all. They will not be joining us for this journey Home. What a dreadful thought, yet we take little action to prevent it. We have become a people of excuses and justifications, rights and limitations. We want to protect ourselves, as if our own lives are ours’ to protect. In the process of protecting ourselves, we neglect the needs of the rest of the dying world. In the process of finding comfort and security for our own lives, we have distorted the gospel of salvation into one of complacency and resignation. We have become content with the fact that our names now rest in the Book of Life, and have ignored the calling and responsibility that goes along with that great privilege. We have reduced His saving grace to mere fire insurance. We put boundaries and limitations on what we are able to do or what we are comfortable doing, forgetting that God is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever imagine. We limit what He can do with us and in us by limiting what we believe He is capable of doing. We pat ourselves on the back after doing a project or two, resigning that we have done enough for the time being. Is it ever enough though? Matthew 24:14 says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” The end has not come, the world does not yet know, it is not enough. Our work is not yet finished.

As we are preparing to leave for Africa in a few weeks' time, the reality of where we are going and what we are doing is sinking in more and more. There is so much work to be done, and yet the overwhelming majority of God's children are not stepping up to take share in the work. It seems as if the Church is losing ground. But how can that be, since we know how the Story ends? Raise up laborers, Father. There is work to be done.

Mixing Politics and Religion is Very Dangerous

So, I got an email today that is evidently being forwarded around to as many people as possible. This one has really fired me up! It started off with this:

This is too serious to ignore! Please read all the way through, take it to the Lord for more insight and than forward to your sphere of influence. THANK YOU!

As if to say, "I am sending this out as a "prayer request." Prayer request or not, it is still filthy gossip. It goes on to slander the character of Barack Obama, all in the name of preserving Christianity in our culture. Supposedly, it comes from a missionary couple who is living in Kenya, and knows the family of Barack Obama personally.

We are living and working in Kenya for almost twelve years now and know his family (tribe) well. They are the ones who were behind the recent Presidential election chaos here.

Surely, they would not in all seriousness try to blame the violence and unrest of a nation on this one people group? It is just plain arrogance to presume to know so much about a people group as an outsider. It doesn't matter how long they've been there, they are still outsiders. They were not there when the nation was colonized and brutalized. They were not there when the people were divided and pit against each other. They were not there when the Kenyans fought for their independence and freedom. Being among a people group does not make you one of them. It makes you among them. Please do not believe for a moment that all that has happened in Kenya can be simplified into saying, "They are the ones who were behind the recent presidential election chaos." The nation as a whole is behind the chaos. The international body who did not step in soon enough is behind the chaos. The Church that did not bring about true forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing from past hurts and colonization was behind the chaos. The West who colonized them to begin with and pitted tribe against tribe for the sake of easier conquests is behind the chaos. Grow up and stop pointing fingers! They also slander the character of Raila Odinga, the opposition party who has been fighting for fair elections and POSITIVE change in Kenya. It says:

Raila Odinga...is a socialist trained in east germany. He has been trying to bring Kenya down for years and the last president threw him in prison for trying to subvert this country!

What we would like you to know is what the American press has been keeping a dirty little secret. Obama IS a muslim and he IS a racist and this is a fullfilllment of the 911 threat that was just the beginning. Jihad is the only true muslim way. We have been working with them for 20 years this july! He is not an american as we know it.

Please do your research before you buy into this crap, and yes, I will boldy call this crap and then send it on out to others! These are just bold-faced lies. If you will pray for anything, pray for a wisdom of discernment and do the hard work to research this stuff. Don't just believe whatever is sent to you because it sounds good, seems to makes sense, or lines up with a political agenda. This email calls Obama a racist Muslim who is trying to create jihad in the US. Grow up, folks!! Political dirtiness is expected, but don't spread this filthy gossip in the name of Christianity!! Christians can be some of the ugliest, most self-righteous, judgmental folks on the face of the planet, always wanting to point the finger at someone else so that they won't seem so bad in the end. To those who know Christ and are passing this crap around, grow up. Stop being so presumptuous as to think you could understand the deep political & tribal tensions of another people group. Stop behaving as the pious pharisees who rise above everyone else. Don't take it upon yourselves to "warn others" by slandering the character of another human being, bearing the same image of the Creator that you do. Truly, if the Body of Christ were living the humble, servant lifestyle that we were called to live rather than slandering the names of others who are trying to make a difference, this planet would be a very different place. This one has really riled me up! I sure wish folks would take responsibility for the filth that they are spreading around, rather than pointing out how bad someone else is. You think he's following a lie, full of corruption? Then humble yourself and pray for your enemies. Don't slander his character by spreading gossip.

***Disclaimer: I am not writing this because I am a follower or supporter of Barack Obama. I am writing this as a follower of Jesus Christ, who has called us to leave worldly ways behind us, humble ourselves, and never cease doing what is right. Gossip is not right. Sending it in email format or as a "prayer request" does not make it any less gossip.

Settle Down!!

I am having such a hard time finding enough time to sit down and allow some thoughts to come together enough to make sense, enough to find a flow. I have too many thoughts floating in the head right now, and can't seem to nail one down. It makes it hard to write anything. I have been working hard to put together a talk/presentation on missions for our local MOPS group this coming Tuesday (April 15th), everything else seems to have taken a back seat temporarily. Hopefully I will be able to sit down long enough to settle these thoughts down, and actually put some form to them. Until then, they will just continue to swim in the noggin. In the meantime, here are some pictures of my sweet little distractions.


They're fun, distracting, but fun.

Mercies are New

I am constantly amazed by the gracious nature of our God, actually am just really grateful that He is indeed God. He is so quick to forgive and forget, I just stand in awe of it. For the number of times that I miss the mark, the number of times that I screw up in any given day, He holds nothing against me. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
It strikes me as a really remarkable thing to forgive sins and purify us from all unrighteousness, considering how incredibly unrighteous I can be. He doesn't hold it against me. He doesn't keep a record of all the wrongs that I have done. He doesn't classify me as sinner, but as child, as priest, as righteous, all because of His Son's blood.
Sometimes our human nature makes it quite difficult to let things go, to forget about past hurts or wrongs done. We tend to label and classify based on past interactions. And we can be quick and bold in doing this. We talk about how people just have a habit of getting in trouble, or letting us down, or hurting us. We say things like, "I don't expect much more out him" or "He's known to be troublesome." Women can be the worst in this act, especially towards other women, saying things like, "She's such a drama queen, always looking for attention" or "She's always got some sort of trouble in her life." Sometimes we set ourselves up to be hurt, looking for the worst in people or situations, telling ourselves it will hurt less if we expect it.
Lies. They are all lies. Schemes of the enemy to divide us and divide our hearts. If we can look at each other and first see all the things that are different and wrong, then we are conquered as a people. If we recognize how different we are before we see what binds us together, the image of the Almighty God breathed into our lives, then we are totally defeated.
I can think of days when my toddler has pushed her limits, moment to moment battling for ground. At the end of the day I would feel exhausted, and would comment to my husband about how troublesome she's been or how challenging she's been. That paints a negative picture that would then characterize my precious little girl. It's wrong and I repent of it. We are not to divide. We are not to judge and characterize one of God's creations. It's not our place. Only the Creator Himself can do that.
And by His great mercy, He does not characterize us, or else I would have been labeled a failure and trouble-maker long ago. But that's not what He calls me. He calls me loved. He calls me precious. And the moment I confess my wrong, it does not cross His mind again. As far as the East is from the West. He doesn't get to the end of a day and remember all the times that I tested Him, challenged Him, and was disobedient to Him. His mercies are new, from moment to moment, His love for me is new and refreshed. As so He arrives at the end of a day and loves me with the same fresh, faithful heart as the one He started out with. My heart should be the same.

Welcome Home

In my younger years, I used to go with my family to yearly gatherings called Rainbow Gatherings. Now, to the lay person who is unfamiliar with Rainbow ways, one would look from the outside and simply assume that it was one big hippie drug-fest. But there was something much deeper going on. You see, once a year for several weeks, people from all walks of life descend upon an agreed upon place to camp out and live in harmony. And I'm not just talking about a few families or even a few hundred families, but thousands upon thousands of people, ranging from white collar professionals to gypsies who haven't lived a conventional life in years, all gathering in one forest to build community. An entire village is built in a few weeks, resided in for a few more weeks, and then torn down and all the people go back to their normal lives. It really is quite remarkable.
The last one that I went to was in 1999 in Pennsylvania. I flew into New York to pick up a girlfriend and then we drove the rest of the way to Pennsylvania, and the closer you get to the site, the more the anticipation builds. For miles and miles away from the actual gathering site, you start to see more and more people who are headed there, and you recognize them immediately, you know them as brother and are bonded because you know that you are both headed for the same gathering, both desiring the same harmony, and that soon, you will both break bread together in a makeshift kitchen run by other brothers and sisters. You will work side by side, both pitching in to help run the village and see that it all comes together, that all are taken care of. It really is remarkable.
I can remember arriving to the parking area, after hours and hours of traveling, and stepping out of the van to be welcomed by a different air, one filled with incense and drum beats, music that just continues day and night. We would rush as much as possible to get our backpacks and gear unloaded and strapped on, to start the journey to the campsite, and the closer we got, the louder the music got, the faster our feet would move to be there. We were drawn to it all. And as you arrive to actual campsite, you are greeted by a huge banner that reads, "WELCOME HOME" and brothers and sisters saying things like, "We've been waiting for you. So glad you're home." Spirits are lifted, you know you belong. Feet move even faster to set up camp and get settled in. Welcome home.
And for several weeks over those summer months, thousands upon thousands of people would live in such community as I have never seen before, loving each other and watching out for each other. Food is a community event, where every mouth is fed and every person taken care of. People come with so many stories, hurts, joys, every sort of baggage that life deals, and somehow, for a few weeks out of the year, none of that stuff matters. All are welcome and all feel at home. It really is a remarkable thing.
I often dream of Heaven, and what it will be like when we get there. The images that are described in Scripture intrigue my heart so much that I just daydream about streets of gold and entering the Throne Room of Grace. I just wonder if it will be like going to the gatherings, where we are making the journey on the streets of gold and are drawn in by the new air that we breathe. The sounds of angels singing and the saints who have gone before us, filling the air and pulling us closer, quickening our steps so that we just cannot wait to be there. We walk faster and faster with the others who have arrived at the same time until we are all out running. And then to enter that precious throne room, to finally stand at the doorway where the Creator of the Universe reigns; I can only imagine of the backup of people who hesitate at the threshold, who are stunned by the glory that their eyes gaze upon, who are frozen in their steps as they finally behold what we now can only dream of. Maybe there are some who cannot help but fall on their face right there at the doorway, to finally behold the glory of the Lord who gave up everything, even His own life, so that they could be there, and to know in their hearts that it was all worth it after all. It's all going to be worth it. Everything that we do, all that we endure now, it's going to be worth it to finally arrive Home. Oh, to arrive at that point, to be at that place, where I will finally see my Savior face to face, to fall before Him in thanks, and to finally hear, "Welcome Home." Everything else fades away.