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Daddy on the Road, Mommy on the Run
January 1, 2007
The Year of JUBILEE!
The Year of Jubilee... aaahhhh, our God is GOOD!!!
The command of God to Moses in Leviticus 25 is so sweet -- the Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee are such GIFTS! I am continually amazed by a LORD who loves me enough to create me with a desire for Him and with His divine prescription for margin.... ah, how beauty is life when I REST...
And so much in my life needs REST. My children NEED rest. My husband NEEDS rest. My marriage, my motherhood, my work and waking and sleeping and thinking and speaking and doing -- they all NEED REST.
So, my sweet, sweet Jesus says "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy lade, and I will give you REST. Take My yoke upon you, and LEARN OF ME; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find REST unto your souls." And the Father Himself reminds me that "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it."
Let me assure you that those days are OVER. I will have ALL of it! I will LEARN OF HIM! And I will REST this year! See, the coolest thing about resting in Him is "Be still and KNOW that I AM God" -- being still never means a standstill. There are always "preparations that must be made" but those preparations no longer take my peace.
Have you READ, really READ Joel 2 lately?
Whewwwwweeee! If that don't light ya fire, ain't nothun gonna!
See, I know what the LORD has put in my heart -- ETERNITY -- and I know what He has placed in my hand -- DISCIPLESHIP. So this year, I am going to REST in Him; find my sufficiency in His love, let myself have my being in Him, trust that His divine power has given me EVERYTHING I need for life and Godliness (and, as our amazing associate pastor said, "Can you name ONE thing that doesn't fall under those two words?"), and WALK ON IN REST.
I'm going to wear a yoke.
Whether I like it or not.
I will wear a yoke. As much as I would like to sit here on this couch and eat me some bonbons, I am going to wear a yoke. (And the bonbons will only make it tighter).
It will either be a yoke of bondage or it will be a yoke of REST.
Today, He has set before me once again Blessing and Cursing, Life and Death.
And today, I choose life. As for me and my house, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD. There have been hard days, and there have been trials, and there have been questions, BUT -- HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR ME! And I will delight in the law of the LORD.
So yes, I am rejoicing in the Year of Jubilee -- I don't fully understand it, I can't explain how He does it, but oh, how I rejoice in it! 2007 is a Sabbath for my family! Old bondages have been broken, new cords of joy have drawn us to this year, and we will REJOICE!
"Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. AMEN." |
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December 3, 2006
We wish Thee a worshipped Christmas...
Yesterday, to my absolute delight and surprise, a friend gave me the gift of The Glorious Coming by Ann Voskamp. Tomorrow, I will be climbing into the attic to retrieve our smallest Christmas tree and begin the devotions with my sweet babies. Tonight, I snuggled down into my couch and read greedily the Word and the words of the first days' readings.
What a blessing! What shocking revelation!
God's infinite gift -- covered in skin and wriggling in arms and inhaling the very breath of life He'd exhaled to create us -- began at "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
His redemptive plan unfolded fresh as Adam's eyes opened for the first time.
The picture of sacrifice, Isaac on the altar -- scandalous, horrific, cruel; the power of sacrifice, Jesus on the cross -- freedom, redemption, hope, eternity.
And tonight's devotion -- Abram moving out on the authority of a single Voice; taking Sarai his wife, Lot his nephew, and "the souls that they had gotten in Haran...." Pure trust. The evidence of things hoped for. And I love the KJV: "the souls" they got -- their slaves, their "employees." Abram's faith would undoubtedly yield a nation, God said it. But I love that the eternal destinies of each "soul" traveling with him would likewise never be the same. Whether or not they believed Abram, whether or not they thought he was crazy, they were on the move with him -- and I believe that just as Moses came down shining from the mountain, Abram's very countenance must have shown his peace with God and resolve to go.
Ann points out that the Lord is still asking if you and I have the trust to go -- without the directions, without photos of the destination, without human approval or interest.
Am I one of the 11 holding down the boat or am I the crazy fisherman crawling over the side?
Am I the one feeling threatened by a slave girl or am I calling out for The God Who Sees and trusting Him when He tells me to go back home?
LORD, You alone know how much this passage meant to me tonight; thank You for the example You made through Abram's life of what it means to walk in dangerous faith with You. Would You please forgive my shortsightedness? I sometimes think that Christmas is about me worshipping You, only to discover that Christmas is about You. Period.
Oh, Holy One of Israel, I am grateful that with the glorious sacrifice came a powerful invitation to walk with You into No-Eye-Has-Seen-Nor-Ear-Has-Heard territory. Let me never mistake that invitation for anything else than what it is -- You do not need me. You do NOT need me. You want me, You pursue me, You pour out Yourself that I may live with You forever, but it is not because You need me.
May I stand in awe over Your manger, once again, remembering that You didn't have to be there in the first place.
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September 20, 2006
PLEASE BE PRAYING!!!
April over at Salt for the Spirit and
her dear husband, Dennis, were informed last week on the way home from
her uncle's funeral that the precious new life she's carrying may be at
risk for Trisomy 18. So the doctor ordered more tests; April was
going to the hospital yesterday to have them done.
UNFORTUNATELY, on their way to the hospital, they were in a HORRIBLE
car accident. PRAISE OUR FATHER that they are alive and overall
ok -- there were broken bones, surgeries are needed, but they're going
to be alright.
PLEASE lift this sweet sister up in prayer and pop over to her blog to leave them some encouragement.
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September 15, 2006
Please Be Praying
July 31, 2006
Africa Pictures part 2
Ok, here are more pictures from our
trip. These are arranged chronologically, moving from events in
South Africa to our time in Kenya. Enjoy!
This is the TeamHouse
in Cape Town, South Africa. It's an AMAZING place, beautifully
situated between the coast and the mountains. The TeamHouse
specializes in providing missions teams complete accomodations.
If your church or homeschool group is hoping to take a short term
missions trip, contact The TeamHouse for complete information &
service opportunities!
One of the rooms in the TeamHouse.
The dining room of the TeamHouse (hey! We're Baptist! I am all about the food!)
A beautiful shot of the Cape Town coast; truly, all creation proclaims the supremacy of Christ!!!
Though I don't have any good pictures of the concert in Cape Town, here
is one from the concert in Pretoria. Both cities were amazing,
and there were over 550 people who received Christ and were connected
to local, discipling churches in South Africa through these two
concerts! God is so, SO, good!!!
This is the Rusam Villa Guest House
in Nairobi; we stayed here with Ruth & Sam (RuSam... get it?) for
over a week. By the time we all arrived -- our group, the youth
group, and the group doing the youth worker conferences, there were 35
of us! It was WONDERFUL! Sam and Ruth have a phenomenal
business, an excellent staff, and a heart for the work of Christ in
Kenya. Again, if your church or homeschool group is looking for
options for missions in Africa, Rusam is the place to be -- it was
truly our Home Away From Home!
A picture of our very peaceful room at the Rusam Guest House.
Ok, now, this is a picture of our bathroom; no big deal, right?
Well, please notice that the shower, toilet, and sink are all
together. In many Kenyan homes & hotels, the shower isn't in
a separate stall, it's just above everything else with a wooden
platform to stand on and a drain in the corner of the floor. Let
me tell you -- Kenyan Lesson #1 for me was "where not to leave the
toilet paper."
A view of one area in downtown Nairobi. This building is one of
very, very few with color. Most are completely cinder block drab,
some with billboards painted on the sides, but most are simply grey as
in the earlier picture of my husband leading at Bahati.
This is only a side view of the largest slum in all of Africa --
Kaibera. Nairobi is, in part, a developed and advancing place;
the poverty and struggle that happens in Kaibera is like no
other. It's truly the only place more harrowing to me than the
Townships in S.A.
A picture from the concert in Nairobi. There was more warfare
going on in the minutes before this concert began than we've seen in a
long, long time. It wasn't your "usual" ccm concert; there were
several African school groups who came and sang with, and our drummer's
wife led The Victory Chant which is very popular in Kenyan churches and
schools.
Truly, this was the most life changing trip of my
life. We've been in this ministry for several years and have been
privileged to see the Lord do some truly miraculous and beautiful
things; however, there has been nothing to compare to the beauty of His
people or His work in Africa.
O, Lord, there are no
words to say Thank You! Bless You for the beauty of Your
holiness, and thank You for the privilege of serving and learning from
Your people in Africa. We love You, Lord!
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