Wednesday, June 29, 2011

D.R. Trip

We're there. Pray, Pray, Pray and know that we are grateful for every breath sent heavenward. You can read our team blogs here and know that I'll have tons to post when we get back. Love to all!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Friends ReVisted

i'm out to change my worldFirst Love

She always prefaced her story with how she was just a simple girl. This spoke to me. I too am a simple girl. I have freckles and fair skin. My lineage full of pioneer stock. My future full of normal. Her normal looks spectacular. In Christ, well that's what normal becomes. Her little stories of simple flood my eyes with tears and inspires me to love people, just love them right where I am, right where they are. When we were young Mom would read her book aloud before bed. Each evening just one more of Ann Kiemel's little stories.




If you're ever in Manassas, Virginia make a stop at Mckay's Used Books. I miss this store. It's like shopping at the library. Old books, new books, stacks and stacks of books and you choose a genre and you get to see the way that genre has been covered through the years. And then, so many times you run into old friends. That's what happened when we were visiting our old stomping grounds and a rainy day left me scanning shelves. There, I reunited with Ann. The book I found wasn't the one I remember from those childhood days but I bought it anyway and greedily gobbled up her words. Ann is authentic. She is authentic even if it means incriminating herself. She's not afraid of the world knowing when she sinned or how. Her honest walk inspires me.

She's currently writing her 18th book and she now has a blog. Want to experience just a taste of Ann then click here and  read her inspiring post titled, 'i believe', and be encouraged by her words.

Grateful Heart for Finding Old Friends and...:

982. 
A peace about upcoming days that can only come from God 

985.
Crazy ideas and being  bold enough to ask when it really feels so crazy


986.
Teenagers saying and doing hard things.


988.
Bags of clothing  for only $29.00


989.
A grocery bill smaller than  the amount saved


990.
Mentors who think none of it is crazy and they encourage us to keep on, persevere.


993.
Studying 1 Peter as a family


994.
Quizzing my Bible Bee Contestant and she's got it and her stack keeps  getting bigger and bigger.



Friday, June 24, 2011

Have you Heard?

Have you heard of the Harris Family? Have you heard particularly of Alex and Brett Harris? Have you heard of The Rebelution? Have you heard of Do Hard Things?

Well spoken, organized, relatable, disciples of Christ. Just a few  words  that describe these dynamic young men.

The fee turned out to be per person but it's the last time they'll offer this conference. They're now 22, this set of Rebelutionary twins. Their journey started one summer day around the age of 16. They had summer visions of creating, learning the film industry. But every door slammed in their face. With vast amounts of summer free time looming before them their Dad put together a plan, a summer reading plan. They were hard books, challenging books, fat books.


The reading list inspired a blog. The blog inspired a survey. The survey inspired a book,  The book inspired a conference. A generation of teenagers have been changed. Set expectations regarding the youth of today and what they're capable of, is being challenged. To quote a very old  Bill Gaither Trio song from my childhood, "I am a promise, I am a Possibility, I am a Promise, With a Capital P! I am a great big bundle of Potentiality". These teens are believing it not for the distant future, but for today.


These young men have spent their teenage years preparing for adulthood by putting into practice their book title, Do Hard Things. They did hard things, as teens they rebelled against low expectations and they asked it of their friends, their peers. They relate story after story of youth accomplishing great things. I read their tales and placed the book in queu for Girlie  #1. She read and intrigued by our discussion Girlie #2 moved it to the top of her reading list.


But, this isn't just a conference, read for teenagers of today. As a mom, a mentor, teacher I see the bigger problem lies in the older generations. The bigger problem lies with the parents, grandparents, bosses, aunts and uncles, teachers, pastors and youth pastors. Read the book you'll know why. Even when a parent requires hard things from their child the rest of the world screams at them to, "enjoy your youth", "don't grow up too fast", "why are you _____? You should be out playing". They propagate this eternal attitude of youth, or as the Harris brothers title it the 'Kidadult'. We need to get on board with this vision. We need to encourage the teenagers of today and demand that they do hard things. Start now. Gather together every teenager/pre-teen you know and go to that conference. I took Girlie #2 and she's only 10. She loved it. Don't know a teenager then just go it alone. Sit in the back and take it all in. You will NOT be disappointed. You WILL be inspired.

Awesome real time audience polling of the 10-22 year olds

Can't get to one of the Rebelution Confereencs then head to the library and get the book. I believe to whom much is given, much is expected. We need to start expecting it from our teenagers. If we do I don't think they will disappoint.
Meeting  the brothers and getting  books  signed

1 Timothy 4:12
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Miracle One

 Miracle One: Sell This House


Well, the inks dry. My heart says it's final. It lasted  2 weeks on the MLS. We told our children not to sweat  the house for sale because in this economy it would take a miracle to sell. Then we all prayed  that God would grant us two miracles. Miracle One, sell this home and Miracle Two, provide a new one. We live in Florida so selling a  house without paying the buyer to take it requires a miracle of massive proportions. We embarked on a faith building exercise. God's taken us up on our endeavor.


We listed this domicile on a spur. Years ago, The Man and I decided to sell and downsize. Our home demands too much of us. It's like a screaming toddler requiring our undivided attention and every time we think we've got it settled down it presents us with a new time consuming, resource consuming issue. Four years ago we came to this  realization and we scrubbed it clean and windows sparkled and people came, but no one bought. It went on like this for a year. Exhausted we decided this must be our home for now and God would let us know when to move on.


The desire to move was firmly planted in our hearts but we had no plan to act on it. The kids were on Summer Adventures and us adults left alone to finish thoughts and do homework. We found that houses around us were selling. We contacted an agent and she informed us it's true. One week later it was listed. Two weeks later and we're doing appraisals, home inspections with a rock solid contract and I'm reeling wondering how did we get here and where do we go from here.


When I answered the customary phone call asking  if some folks could come look at the house  I said certainly and packed the kids up to run errands. As we pulled out of the  neighborhood Girlie #2 informed me that these were the folks who would buy our house. I started, my spirit said the same. They were only the second viewers.


Girlie #2's inspired utterings proved correct. Those selfsame folks presented an offer. It arrived the same day another couple had an  appointment to view. We waited  to respond. The second  family wanted to make a full price offer. This cemented the resolve of our first folks. They were bidding up the price of our house all on their own. We made a counter offer and our agent didn't even get a chance to present it before they came back with a higher offer.This type of sale, the norm seven years ago, is unheard of today. It's a bargain basement price these buyers are getting, but we won't be paying them to take our domicile. We reel at the miraculousness of it all.


As all this whizzes around us we struggle. We've put sweat, vision, heart and memories into the walls of this house, but when you are called to a new land, you go. Yes, you go and pray you don't make such a mess of the going that you end up wandering in the desert for 40 years. As we pray for Miracle number Two we're following up on that, asking God to protect us from ourselves, our grumblings, our pinings for  leeks and onions, or in our case hardwood floors and a fountain laden swimming pool. He already knows where we're going and  it would seem we're going to get that information 'Just in Time'. I'm centering my focus on him and learning to be patient.

Friday, June 17, 2011

How to Drive a Stake Part 2: Just Go!


Granted, she said it quite a bit ago, and her yearly digits were smaller, but it shocked me all the same. It seems a sense of entitlement flows steady and fast through the veins of my children. I'm not proud of it. I'm just stating the facts. The day she said it was the day my eyes opened wide to the reality of the path my American Babies were walking. It needed redirection.

I read World Magazine faithfully. I love that magazine. It often covers news that no one, I really mean no one else is covering. And the news that everyone is covering....Well, it just gives a different perspective. Isn't that what America is all about, the freedom to see it all from a different perspective. My dedication to a new issue's arrival peaked the curiosities of resident children. Thus, they began to pick it up and read.

World


In the kitchen, assembling lunch, she assisted me in various directed ways. We were chatting and in the midst of our discussions she commented, "Mom, people don't really live like those pictures in the magazine. That's all just staged for the picture right?" I had to stop and clarify what she was saying and indeed I had heard her correctly.

This incredibly blessed, American born, healthy girl had convinced herself that folks don't live that way. Those photographs of cardboard box homes, babies with bellies swollen from malnourishment and shoeless feet from lack of resources....  well, she convinced herself it all staged to pull at her heartstrings. In her mind, at the end of the photo shoot, they went home to dwellings much like the one she called  home. I immediately had a pow-wow  with her Daddy.

It didn't require a lot of prayer, or even thought, to decide we would find a place to serve and just go. The original plan included one child and one Dad but as we mined deeper into the hearts of her siblings we found similar veins of entitlement and our trip became a family affair.

So, June 25th we'll load our Party of 5! onto a plane for the Dominican Republic. Working alongside  missionaries who live there we will serve. The local church has a dirt floor and the walls are crumbling. The native pastor's home has electrical wires dangling dangerously from his walls and we know what to do about that. We have bought up shoes and plan to teach Sunday School. We're preparing our hearts  and our minds with resources like  Foreign to Familiar written by Sarah A. Lanier. It's helping us better understand other cultures so we can be good guests in their country.

Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot - And Cold - Climate Cultures


We're  hard workers and we plan to push ourselves and serve well. I'm praying children's hearts are changed, eyes opened wide to see the world the way their God sees it.  I'm praying for a life changing trip. I'm praying our hearts are forever moved so the next time we see the depravity on the glossy pages of a magazine we will immediately be drawn to prayer. That those prayers include asking God how we can be the hands and feet to those in need.

Oh, how I'd  appreciate your company down here on my knees. You could pray for our team as we travel. Our group is full of families, like us, learning to serve together. The photo below shows all the teams serving this summer from our home church. We're the Yellow Team and we're 23 members in all! We will be traveling at the end of June and we thank you so much for encouraging us as you lift us up to our heavenly father.


Blessings to you all!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Just In Time

I haven't written in weeks. Not anywhere. Not here, not in a journal, It's silence on my part. I'm wound so tight. I strategically avoid my Bible. I hear his whisper calling me, trade burdens. I stubbornly shake my head no, hike my burden higher up on my shoulders and push forward.

But now I am about to explode with the overwhelming reality of it all. The tug of war between my standard dysfunctional response and the option of falling on my knees to find peace has played out. I must have peace.
We prayed as a family last night. Prayed for change. Prayed for hearts that embrace adventure. It's been busy here and the busyness is in the right place, doing the right kind of stuff, eternal stuff. I can't always say my busy is focused there. A paradigm shift is happening in my heart. I am running for faith that really believes my God will supply all my needs. Belief that supply all my needs may mean eating peas when I want dessert. A heart that chooses to be okay with that. Living life proving I believe those lilies in the field are truly clothed beautifully. This is hard stuff. I'm the rich man and I hold all this stuff with a closed hand. God's got to surgically remove it from me.
Our house is for sale. I have a love hate relationship with this house. This dwelling has manifested itself excatly the way I envisioned it eight years ago when we stood on the flat sand previewing its 2D glory on printed parchment. It's been years of labor to achieve the beauty we dwell in. I love dwelling in all this beauty. I hate that living here isn't what God has called me to. So, I must be moved. A million times a day I mentally take our house off the market and declare it mine. The Man and I have an agreement, when one is weak the other must be strong. He feels the same about the house. Dare we call it an idol we worship on a regular basis?
It seems my stuff and my way die hard. I am at war against me. I have to hold me down, binding and gagging her so I can hear my God's voice. The act of waring with my self  leaves me gasping, the pain is real. My sin, even when handing it over, is cancerous. Its tentacles wind, twist through joint and marrow as a real, connected, living parts of me. I cry, scream at the pain, but I push on.
My faith is weak and I want to strengthen it. As I sacrifice my self I realize I also lay my children and their comfort on the alter. I beg that God honor my sacrifice and be Lord of their little hearts.
Already The Man is changed in the journey. He emerges stronger, deeper, more assured-- A true Leader of his little family, this family. We joyously fall in line behind him. My respect runs deep for this gentle, compassionate man who works so hard to lead well. He's our beating heart, our road map.


He's traveling today and I load up our brood to give strangers the run of this, our current castle. We exit to let them dream of making it their own. I don't know where we'll live but I'm learning to believe in miracles, trusting that God who created those lilies and provides my salvation knows where The Party of 5! will go from here. I am believing that God will provide-- in his time, the author of 'Just In Time'.

He has never let me down.
Never.
And yet, I still doubt his faithfulness.
I am so very, sinfully, human.

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