Touching Heaven

Book Review-Scared:A Novel on the Edge of the World by Tom Davis

2010-03-01T18:02:00.002-06:00

Scared is the story of Adanna, a young girl living in Swaziland, just northeast of South Africa. It tells of her and her young siblings life growing up in an AIDS infected and poverty stricken land. A land where men aren't around to support their families because they have died or are working in the mines. A place where the men that are left think it is ok to use little girls to satisfy their urges. A place where death and sickness are so prevalent there is no family unaffected.

It also tells the story of a young international photographer, Stuart. A man on a mission, to get the perfect picture and save his career. A man who arrives in Swaziland to do one thing but leaves a changed man after living the life with the people.

The book, written by Tom Davis, a man who has obviously spent much time in Africa due to his incredibly detailed depictions of Africa, is an incredibly difficult read. Although the book is fiction, it accurately depicts the plight of the widows and orphans of many parts of Africa. I dare you to read it! You will not be unchanged.

You can even read it free here at the time of this post. It is downloadable to your Kindle, IPhone or computer.

I'm blogging!

2009-07-15T16:14:00.004-05:00

Summer activities
Valleyfair
The 4th of July
Our 22nd Wedding Anniversary
Jeff Streucker speaking at our church(Black Hawk Down veteran)
Tornado in Spicer
Sonshine Festival

There. I just blogged about some of the things I've had on my mind the past few weeks but haven't had a chance to post yet. Our family is gearing up for Sonshine Festival this weekend. Everyone is pretty excited. The stores and restaurants in Willmar are already very busy, only to get worse. The city of Willmar, with a population of approximately 18,000 has around 21,000 guests attend the festival each year.

Seriously though, I will be back in the near future to get some of these posts and their photos posted.

Just for fun-Snowball the Dancing Parrot

2009-06-26T08:31:00.002-05:00

Many of you know that we have an Amazon Blue Fronted Parrot. Chester is 6 years old now and we got him as a baby. He's a member of our family and is quite talented. He says several phrases, can sound like a chicken, laugh, wolf whistle and more. He likes to "dance" by bouncing his body up and down, however, Chester is nowhere near as talented as this bird. Enjoy.

Tanzania Trip-May 2009-Part 3

2009-06-17T22:09:00.002-05:00

Friday May 22nd
Today Pastor Richard, Wayne, Shannon and myself made one more trip across the channel on the ferry and back. We traveled out to Kamanga village to take some pictures and video of children in the area. The purpose was to help with fundraising as end Time Glory begins to move into the process of raising the money that is needed to begin construction of Phase 1. In Tanzania, especially in the poorer areas and small villages there are a great many who do not want their photos taken. They believe we are taking the photos with an intention to sell them and make money off of them. Having Pastor Richard with us was a great help as he was able to explain to the villagers what our intentions were. We also walked out to visit the village chairman who has been a great help in gaining the villagers support of our project. While there, a woman, maybe his wife, brought out a large feed sack full of vegetables she had harvested from the ministry property. There was maize, sweet potatoes and some kind of nut grown underground. We brought the harvest back to Mwanza where Gertrude prepared the different items for us to try. That evening, at Pastor Richard and Gertrude's home, in addition to the meal, we had maize. The maize is prepared either by boiling it or by grilling it. Boiling softens it some but leaves it quite chewy and it tastes nothing like sweet corn here. Grilling it leaves the kernels quite crunchy and I didn't prefer it but was able to eat it. The sweet potatoes were yummy and like nothing I've ever had here. They looked like a regular white potato looks here and are prepared by boiling. We ate them with butter but they tasted like we had also sprinkled sugar on them. The nuts, that Pastor Richard could not come up with an English word for and none of us recognized, were also prepared by boiling. Then we peeled the shell off and popped them in our mouths. They tasted a bit like a regular potato to me and it seems like they eat them like popcorn over there. Gertrude is a great cook and meals in her home are always a treat.

Saturday May 23rd
Today was the day of the big presentation given by the Engineering Ministries International team members to End Time Glory Ministries representatives. We all arrived upstairs in the hotel just before 10. In attendance were Wayne and Debra, Pastor Richard and Gertrude and Shannon and myself. Though we had electricity all morning at about 9 it went out. We had to wait for the hotel management to go get fuel to start up the generator since the team uses projectors and other electrically powered helps for the presentation. Just as we were all getting a bit impatient and ready to try to do the presentation with all of us crowded around a computer screen, the generator started and the power came on. The presentation was amazing. Each team member stood up and shared their portion of the plan. The surveyors, after spending three grueling days on the property in the heat, rain and sun had surveyed the entire 22 acres. The water engineers had tested several currently used wells in the area, done drainage testing on the property to see how fast wastewater drains away and made reccomendations based on their findings. The architects and designers had made to scale drawings of the plans for the property and each individual building as well as a site overview. Members of the team had gone into the community and priced construction materials in order to give the ministry an idea of the costs to build. Several on the End Time Glory team had tears in our eyes as we watched our dream come to life on paper. There is no way that we can thank EMI enough for accepting the project. It is estimated that the cost to hire professionals, rather than have volunteering professionals as we did, would be in the $80-100,000 range.

We spent some time this afternoon packing our suitcase and getting ready for the return home. This evening, while checking our email, on the now working hotel internet, we discovered that the 22 year old son of our neighbors back home was killed in a motorcycle accident yesterday. Dustin had babysat for us for a couple of years in his teens. I grieve for his parents, Jodi and Denise, and his only sibling, Jacinda as they go through this time. Jacinda graduated high school the same day Dustin died. He left behind a nearly 1 year old son.

Sunday May 24th
Today is church day! We were brought to Pastor Richard's church at around 10AM and arrived as praise and worship was starting. We were warmly welcomed at the door and ushered to the front row of chairs. Praise and worship in Tanzania is truly exhilerating. There are no inhibitions. There is dancing and singing and raising of hands. Clapping, yelling and children all around. Although we could not understand much of the lyrics we knew that this church loves God. Rev. Debra gave the sermon and later Wayne, Debra, Shannon and I prayed over those who came forward. I prayed using a young woman of the congregation as my interpreter for several young men preparing for school exams as well as for a young child fighting malaria and kidney problems. I know that I was blessed by the prayer time far more than they and I wept during my time praying over the child. After a three hour service we were ushered back to the hotel for the afternoon and then to Pastor Richard and Gertrude's for supper and fellowship with friends and family of Pastor Richard and Gertrude.

Monday May 25th-Tuesday May 26th
Today was the beginning of the day that never ends. It began with a cab ride to the Mwanza airport several miles from town. Saying good bye to all there at the airport was difficult. These people have become more than friends to us. They are an extended family and it breaks our heart to say farewell. We weren't just leaving the people but we were also leaving the culture we have grown to love. As the plane left the runway from Mwanza I pressed my face against the window and sobbed, so sorry to leave and already anxious to get back. An hour later we arrived at Kilimanjaro airport where we waited around for 8? hours for our flight out. At around 10pm our flight left 'Jaro to go to Dar Es Salaam and continue on to Amsterdam. A few hours in Amsterdam to shop and wander and stretch our legs and then yet another 10 hour flight but this time arriving in Minneapolis. We were through customs within a few minutes but spent quite awhile waiting on our luggage. Bill and Nancy Allen picked us up in their huge van. We stopped for lunch at a McDonalds then arrived back home around 6pm.

Everyone was pretty happy to see us. The kids were all back home from their different locations and after getting everyone settled for the night, we too, collapsed into our bed. Our Select Comfort mattress felt pretty good after nearly 46 hours in transit.

Tanzania trip-May 2009-Post 2

2009-06-03T14:07:00.003-05:00

Pictures will be added later

Tuesday May 19th
Today was a bit more laid back. Since we had all been to the property yesterday and the vision of End Time Glory Ministries was shared, now the EMI team could get busy. A couple of the members went back out to the property with two of Pastor Richard's nephews, Alex and Dominic, to begin topographical surveying of the property. That ended up being a three day job by the time they finished. Other team members spent the next several days designing buildings on paper, pricing construction materials in the city, checking building codes, doing water testing and drilling on the property and near it. While the EMI team worked, Wayne, Debra Shannon and I did get a chance to go with Pastor Richard and his wife Gertrude into the city. I personally wanted to go to check out some American grocery stores in town to see what kinds of things are available and for what price. The things that can be bought there look like they run about three times the cost of what they can be bought for back in the US. It is obvious to me that our eating habits will change dramatically once we move but that there are some things we will still buy as comfort foods for the times we need to get over a hump when we are missing "home." Unfortunately, I didn't see any Velveeta cheese anywhere, LOL. We also visited a market where I was able to buy some authentic African fabric. I paid about $1US per yard for gorgeous thick African prints. We also shopped at a couple of the clothing stores Gertrude likes to buy her dresses at. I was a bit bothered by the fact that when I saw a dress that would have fit Star in one of the shops, I had Pastor Richard ask about the price for me. Things are not marked over there. Everything is bargained for. It was a dress I would pay , maybe $15 at Target in the US. The shop owner told Pastor Richard the equivilent of $45US. Pastor Richard explained to me that it was because I was a "mzungu" and that Gertrude could probably get it much cheaper. Although I knew this happens over there, it still frustrates me that we are thought to be rich because we are white. In reality, we are very rich compared to the vast majority of the world but that does not mean we are all stupid or foolish in our spending. I am still very frugal and careful in how I spend my money. I guess this is a simple fact of the African culture I will need to get used to but honestly, can you imagine, if you walked into a Target and they charged white people $20 for something they would charge an African American $40? It just couldn't and wouldn't happen. I didn't buy the dress. Sigh...

Wednesday May 20th
Not a lot happened for Shannon and I today. I know that Wayne and Debra have been meeting off and on pretty much every day with different members of the EMI team. We have seen some preliminary drawings of the layout of the different facilities on the land as well as the building lay outs. It is very exciting to see this coming together. I the hotel, sometimes we have electricity but not always, the water has been on and off due to construction on the new portion of the hotel going on next door and the internet hasn't been working.

Since it has been very difficult to get online here at the hotel all week, Shannon and I did get to the internet cafe this afternoon. We were dropped of fat the place in the van with Pastor Richard as our guide. He then took us inside and introduced us to his nephew Gideon who was working there. We spent a half an hour on the internet and paid the equivilent of .80US for the privilege. It was similar to slow dial up here in the US so we couldn't do much more than check our emails and quickly send one off. After we finished, Shannon and I walked the aproximately half mile back to the hotel by ourselves. There was no shortage of taxi drivers stopping to offer us a ride. I once read a book titled, White Man Walking. It was written by a missionary who traveled through the African Bush by foot. The African people he ministered to were always amazed to see him arrive on foot since , in most situations, white men don't walk. Shannon and I enjoyed the walk but got a lot of stares on the way.

WE joined the Zimmer's at Pastor Richard and Gertrude's for coffee this evening. It was nice to see their two boys Ben(15) and Sharon(11) as well as their new baby daughter Darlene. Darlene is 7 months old and is the daughter to Gertrude's sister. Gertrude's sister, a single mom, has decided to allow Pastor Richard and Gertrude to adopt Darlene. It is obvious to all that Darlene is very loved and will be in capable hands with Pastor Richard, Gertrude and the boys. Darlene had never before seen a mzungu and so we were unable to hold her. We sat near her and allowed her to reach out to us but did not force anything. She will have many opportunities in the future to get used to our strange looks. We also saw several others of Pastor Richard's family who stopped by to say hello and it was great to renew friendships.

Thursday May 21st
Pastor Richard, Wayne, Shannon, myself and Megan from the EMI team went back out to the property today. We wanted to walk the land again and see how wet the lowlands are and whether they can be built on or not. While we were there we saw the surveyors and Dominic and Alex, still hard at work on their topographical mapping. We also had the opportunity to further discuss the adjoining property to purchase and to meet a woman who lives on a portion of it. She is willing to sell her small bit which would fall right in the middle of the land with some stipulations which were all reasonable as far as I was able to understand.

As we walked back through the village on our way back to the ferry, the school children were just getting out of school. We were followed by quite a few and we heard some English They asked us to take their pictures, they asked if we liked Barak Obama and others, just stood off to the side saying, "Ona(Look), Mzungu(white person)." I tried to greet the children with a wave of my hand or a Jambo(Hello) but we were in a hurry to meet the ferry so didn't take a lot of time.

End Time Glory Ministries meets Engineering Ministries International-Tanzania trip 2009-Post 1

2009-05-31T17:29:00.007-05:00

More pictures will be added to this post later. I'm having some camera problems. Check back.
Friday May 15th and Saturday May 16th
Shannon and I got each of the 5 children off to their places for the day. Only Molly and Evan will be together most of the next 12 days while the others stay with friends or the best places for them. My(Christine's) stomach was a bit upset. I thought it was because we were both leaving all of the kids for so long but found out later it was due to the anti-malarial drugs we are on. We arrived at Wayne and Debra's to load our luggage into Bill and Nancy Allen's spacious conversion van. We would come to appreciate that spaciousness even more on the trip home after being in tight planes for days. The Allen's are an incredible blessing to
End Time Glory Ministries. They have servant hearts and are always looking for a way to help. They took the day off of their jobs to bring the 4 of us to the airport.

At the airport we went through security. That's always fun as we remove shoes and wait while Shannon's CPAP machine is inspected quite carefully. Over the next week and a half we would find the experience repeated many times. Next, Wayne, Debra, Shannon and I decided to have our last meal of American food before boarding our plane. The guys chose Burger King while Debra and I each had a philly sandwich.

The flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam was an uneventful 9 hours. Even though I had brought several books along on the trip, I found myself watching movies on the individual screen. Evan though I knew the children would be disappointed, I took the time to watch the animated film Escape to Madagascar 2. It was funny.

In Amsterdam we had several hours before our next flight. We laid down on some lounge chairs they have in certain areas of the airport and brushed our teeth. After boarding our plane in Amsterdam we spent two hours sitting on the tarmac while an engine that wouldn't start up was fixed or replaced. It was beginning to get a bit warm and stuffy by the time this was completed and we hoped the fix was a good one since we were to be at 31,000 feet and 600 MPH.

8 hours later we arrived at Kilimanjaro Airport. Located near Mount Kilimanjaro, the airport is quite a bit different than we had previously been in. Unfortunately, arrival there was after dark. We got through customs, gathered our luggage and proceeded to a van that would take us 2 km to our hotel for the night.

Arrival at the KIA Lodge was interesting. We arrived with a group of about 10 others who were going to be going on a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in the morning. The lodge is made up of beautiful gardens with two room huts scattered throughout the property. The footpaths leading to the huts take one through the beautiful gardens. Arriving after dark we couldn't see what was awaiting us in the morning as we were led by the hired Masaai men who escorted us to our homes for the night.
(We have now moved 8 hours ahead on the clock due to the time change.)

Sunday May 17th
The next morning we woke up to the strange sounds of the native bird population. We ate breakfast then returned to the airport for our flight to Mwanza. After only one hour in the air we arrived at the Mwanza airport to be greeted by Pastor Richard Nzwalla and his wife Gertrude. Both Shannon and I felt happy to be there as we have such a love for the area. As I wrote in our first email home, Shannon and I are truly amazed at the love God has given us for the people and culture of Tanzania. For us to both feel it so strongly truly seems to be a God thing.

We arrived at the Monarch Hotel, happy to be at what would be our home for the next 9 days. Wayne, Debra, Shannon and I had supper and right as we were finishing the Engineering Ministries International team arrived. There were 8 of them and they were exhausted after a 16 hour drive over very rough roads from Uganda. We said quick greetings to them and made plans to meet them officially in the morning.

Monday May 18th
This morning after breakfast Wayne, Debra, Shannon and I met with the EMI team where we did formal introductions of all 12 of us then Debra shared the vision that End Time Glory has for the property. An orphanage made up of home like settings rather than institutional, medical clinic, church, school, bible school Christian radio station...the vision is big but God is bigger. Then we all traveled by ferry to the property. This was a process as we waited for vehicles to load, then people packed in between them with no seating on this trip though the other ferry has some seating. It is 30 minutes across the channel of Lake Victoria over to the village of Kamanga. Then 15 of us piled into an 8 passenger 4 wheel drive vehicle to go to the property. The first couple hundred feet on the main road was good but then we turned off onto what looked like no more than a rutted foot path. The driver got hung up on big rocks just trying to enter the path and it wasn't better from there. The ruts in the road ran between the tires and were often several feet deep. In places the van leaned dangerously to one side or the other and there was some nervous laughter emitted from some of the passengers. It was determined after this trip to the property that future trips would be made on foot.

The 22 acres of property that is currently owned by End Time Glory Ministries was more beautiful than we could have imagined. It was previously farmed but is currently mostly covered in tall grasses. There are two hills on the property, one which Debra has dubbed Glory Mountain. These hills make designing tricky but will end up making great dividers for the different portions of the ministry. The purchase of another 12 acres adjoining the land is already in process. From the top of Glory Mountain can be had the most incredible view of the southern shores of Lake Victoria.
After a couple of hours walking the property and visualizing it, we all made our way back to the ferry. On the ferry Pastor Richard pointed out the property as we could see it from there. Some enjoyed the view, some rested and some just visited. We returned to the hotel to order lunch/supper then met upstairs with the EMI team to further discuss ministry issues. This was the opportunity where the EMI team threw out questions of Wayne and Debra about how they wanted things built, what types of facilities and helped to decide how to put together the seperate building phases. As we discussed toilets versus squatty potties Pastor Richard joined us. We all laughed as Brad, the EMI team leader expressed his happiness that Pastor Richard was joining us as we were "just a bunch of Mzungus(white people) trying to decide what Tanzanians would want."

Holy Ambition by Chip Ingram

2009-05-12T22:16:00.002-05:00

This morning as I was doing my mail route a program came on the local Christian radio station called Living On The Edge. Chip Ingram is the preacher and today's message was a good one, especially for me, right now, as Shannon and I prepare to leave for Tanzania in a couple of days.

The message was titled Holy Ambition. Although I didn't hear all of it I want to share with you a few things I heard him say that caught my attention.

God has created, in each one of us a hunger for a particular ministry. What that means is inside of each of us is a magnet that draws us to a particular need. For one it may be Chinese orphans, for another it may be teen moms, for another it may be African Civil War refugees and for yet another it may be the starving people of Haiti. Chip said that most likely, as we listened to his message a particular thing came to mind. It is often something that makes our heart beat a little faster and the butterflies in our stomach increase. You might have that vision as you read this.

For Shannon and I, our hearts beat faster for the orphans and widows of Tanzania. The thought of hungry, homeless children, with no adults to hug them to sleep at night breaks my heart. Widows, mainly due to AIDs who have young children but can't afford food for them because they can't get a job because the children are too young to be alone. Or widows who do choose to go to work, knowing that leaving the 5 year old home to raise his two younger siblings is better than watching her children starve to death.

When I look back, I remember, even as a young child, being drawn to these people as I would watch television infomercials of young malnourished Ethiopian children with flies on their faces while an unseen announcer tried to convince me to send in my money to help. I wanted to help too, but found the idea impossible with a $3 or $4 per week allowance. It seemed like the cost of monthly sponsorship was always just out of my reach to do alone. By the time I was a teen and had some money, I was going through the selfish stage of thinking my money was better spent on the newest record album rather than a starving face I'd never see again.

Now...well, now I've grown up. In my middle age I have finally found my focus. It is such an amazing thing. Shannon has described it to others as follows. He says he used to just go through the day to day of life, kind of wondering why he was here and what he was supposed to be doing. You know, that feeling of, is this all there is? Don't get me wrong, life was good, we were Christians, but something was just... missing. After Shannon and I separately, but at about the same time, finally realized our calling, it all just made sense to him. Life seemed to be more worth living. He had a purpose.

Chip Ingram did say, that when you realize your vision, your calling, it may not mean you are supposed to sell everything and move to another nation. It may not mean you are to quit your job to go work at a local Crisis Pregnancy Center but it may mean that you are to pray, that you are to financially support others who are doing the work, or that you are to do some volunteering.

What makes your heart beat a little faster? What makes you get butterflies? What are you thinking about right now as you read this? Pursue that dream. It is God who placed it within you. Turn it into a Holy Ambition.

To listen to the full broadcast of Chip Ingram's message go to the Living on the Edge website and click on listen online. You are wanting to listen to the Holy Ambition broadcasts.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-09T22:50:00.004-05:00

We want to wish all of the moms out there a happy day.
And don't forget to visit or phone your Mom as well.

"Food" for thought-Chicken Ala Carte

2009-04-29T11:33:00.002-05:00

As Shannon and I prepare to leave for Tanzania in the next couple of weeks I am reminded of the street children over there who don't eat even this well. In His name, I hope to be just a small part of the solution soon.

Getting the toothpaste back in the tube

2009-04-22T12:48:00.002-05:00

The past couple of days for our homeschooling science/bible adventures we have been talking about the tongue. The tongue is one of the most powerful muscles in our bodies. What I mean by that is that with the words spoken by a tongue, wars can be started...or ended, emotions can be damaged, self esteem can be ruined, dreams can be crushed and it goes on and on.

We tried a couple of things. One experiment we tried was to each brush our teeth well, with a toothpaste that contains sodium laurel sulfate. Then take a quick swig of orange juice. We discovered that two people in our family have the gene that is more sensitive to detecting bitterness than the others. Everyone in the family except Evan and I said, "Tastes like orange juice after brushing your teeth," while Evan and I were spitting and sputtering over the bitter taste in our mouths.

I also had the kids each take a travel sized toothpaste tube and squeeze it out onto a plate. Then I told them I'd give $10 to the first person to get all of the toothpaste back in the tube. I could see right away that Evan might be able to do a pretty good job of it so I added a time limit of 2 minutes as well. The girls had paste toothpaste while Evan had the gel. It was what I had on hand. Evan immediately blew on the end of the tube and started dribbling the gel back in the tube. He did a pretty good job, but not within the 2 minutes and he never did get it ALL back in there.

We talked about how our words are like that. Once we speak them we can't take them back. We can apologize and try to put the toothpaste back in the tube, but when it is all over there is still a mess left behind. I hope my children got the lesson. I know it sure hit me between the eyes. Maybe someday when I grow up I will be better about keeping my mouth shut when I should too.

"So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire." James 3:5

Oh Happy Day!

2009-04-12T20:33:00.001-05:00

My favorite day of the year is here!

2009-04-11T23:03:00.002-05:00

I am looking forward to two services of church in the choir then visiting with extended family in the afternoon. Happy Easter everyone!

Watch Out! Collin has a drivers license now.

2009-03-23T23:12:00.002-05:00

Today Collin took his behind the wheel test for his driver's license. He passed. Shannon and I are more thrilled than he is as we are tired of playing taxi. What a perfect week for him to get it. He is on spring break and working full time. Now he can drive himself. The nice thing is, the neighbor also works at the same place during the same hours. The boys are already smart and trying to save gas by taking turns driving and carpooling each day.

Stay off the roads...

Both of us are going...and check this out!

2009-03-20T15:20:00.004-05:00

It has been decided that both Shannon and I will be making this trip to Tanzania in May. It is so important for both of us to be there, if possible as there will be so many important decisions being made. I never thought Shannon and I could pull together child care for 5 children for us to do something like this but God pulled it together. In just a few hours, care was arranged for everyone. We still have some finalizing of those plans to make but friends and relatives have stepped up to help us make this happen.

Also, Engineering Ministries International, East Africa branch is who will be working with us to do the engineering and design. Check out their website but make sure you also check out the specific page relating to our project. It is so incredibly exciting for us to see this in print online!

Please pray for us as the details come together. Prayer for our children to have a peace as we prepare and while we are gone, prayer for the entire design team to pull togethter as needed and prayer for finances. This trip is going to be around $5000 total now that we are both going.

Our Superstar

2009-03-19T16:49:00.002-05:00

Brag time for momma..if you don't like it you can skip this post.
Collin is in the school play tonight, You Can't Take It With You. He is playing Martin VanDerHoff, the grandfather and owner of the home the family, including grandchildren, live in. He has a bunch of lines and we are hoping he can pull it off. The only other acting he has done is a few lines here and there in church children's plays and once in the Night of Music he had two lines so this has been a pretty big challenge. Here is a photo of him with one of the girls at their final rehearsal yesterday. . West Central Tribune Photo by Gary Miller

They are going!

2009-03-18T09:48:00.002-05:00

Shannon, Wayne and Rev Debra will be travelling to Tanzania to meet with the engineering and design team on the ministry property in late May. We need continued prayer for finances to pay for the trip, just the airfare is nearly $1800, and we also need prayer for child care during that time while I am working at least.

We are actually, exploring the possiblity of me travelling along as well, if we can find care for the kids and work it out with my jobs as well.

Prayer needed, especially in the next 24 hours...

2009-03-16T20:43:00.002-05:00

Wayne, Rev Debra and Shannon need to make a quick decision in the next 24 hours. The design and engineering team has made an offer to meet them on the Tanzania property in May. We need to decide by tomorrow if that is a possiblity.If they can't go in May, it could be Sept but more likely later before the get together could happen. Please pray for them to make the right decision, for jobs to allow them the vacations they need and for finances to pull together by then.

Disclaimer: This post is not ministry related...at all

2009-03-13T07:25:00.004-05:00

I ran across this as I was reading at a favorite site of mine. You will have to choose if you want to watch the video first or read about it here first. I watched it first, then read about it and had to go watch it again.

A complete do over and a meaningful dream

2009-03-04T07:22:00.002-06:00

The past couple of months have been a bit tough around here. Nothing incredibly serious but just a lot of little stuff. We've had some financial stretching as Shannon's paychecks have changed from weekly to every other week. That has made us one week's worth of pay behind. Shannon had surgery numbers 4 and 5 for a polinidal cyst he's been struggling with for several years. It is looking like neither was successful...again. I fell on the steps outside our front door and broke my tailbone then less than two weeks later fell on solid ice back by our hen house. I landed flat on the back of my head and sustained a mild concussion which had me rather sick for a couple of days and headachey for weeks. My work car had two breakdowns in less than a week and the list goes on. A couple of weeks ago Shannon said he wanted a do over on the past month or so. I told him there was no way I wanted to do all of that over again.

Last night I had a dream. It was very real. You know those dreams where you wake up and your heart is racing and you need to get up and walk around to be sure it wasn't real? Anyway, it was about a tornado. My aunt(Janelle) and I were taking refuge in a shower stall while the rest of our families were in a bedroom underneath a mattress. Janelle and I hadn't had time to join the rest of our loved ones as the tornado was so close. We were waiting for just a few seconds and could hear the wrath of nature bearing down on us. In those few seconds, we hugged each other and I began praying. I can still remember now what I was praying at the time, and then I woke up from the dream.

Wide awake, I got up and walked around and made a trip to the bathroom then laid back down in bed. As I lay there thinking about my dream I found it comforting that even in a dream, especially in a dream, I had had the sense to turn to my God when in a crisis. I had remained calm and at peace with the future knowing that He was in control of the outcome.

As we go through our current tornado of life I am reminded that I need to remain calm and in prayer, trusting my God for the outcome. Whether the hills and valleys be high and deep or low and shallow, prayer is the ultimate peace keeping and peace making tool.

If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I lie down in the grave, you are there. If I rise with the sun in the east and settle in the west beyond the sea, even there you would guide me. With your right hand you would hold me. Psalm 139:8-10

Glory Mountain and the Tanzania property

2009-02-15T18:21:00.005-06:00

Just this past week I was able to get my hands on some photos of the property in Tanzania that the ministry will eventually be building on.
This first picture is one of Rev. Debra standing in front of one of many Mango trees located on the property. On the right edge of the picture you can see a bit of the trail leading to the property.

This photo shows the view from one of the higher points of the property as it overlooks a village at the bottom. All of the land right up to the homes is the ministry's. No "squatters" will have to move, however, as you can see, they were farming some of the land. It shows us that some of the land is tillable and fertile soil. The residents in the area are very excited about the ministry moving into the area.

This shows what Rev. Debra is calling Glory Mountain. Taken from a distance it doesn't look very high but it is. It is likely that one day there will be a Christian radio station tower and/or a wind turbine located on top of Glory Mountain.

Here is the Tanzania ministry team that was there at the time, along with Pastor Richard and his nephew Alex, anointing the land for God's work and having communion together.

And the following is what Rev. Debra wrote about the trip to visit the property in her latest newsletter.
"We traveled across Lake Victoria on a ferry in our van and after only a fifteen minute ride, we were on the opposite side of the lake.(Actually it is a narrow channel on the southern edge of the lake-explanation mine) We then drove right off the ferry and traveled up a mountain road, a thirteen minute drive before arriving at the land and End Time Glory Mountain. An official from the area came with us to help in the surveying of the land. Upon seeing the land we were awestruck by the favor, and the blessing and wonder of our God! He truly does go before us and make a way. We saw the beauty of the Lord in that place with mango trees and even a few monkeys were seen by some. We then climbed Glory Mountain, and there on the highest place of the land sanctified it and cleansed it by the pouring out of oil and the elements representing His blood. Psalm 24:7-10 was read(see below), and we then took communion together, rejoicing in all that God had done!"

Look at this incredible view as it overlooks Lake Victoria!
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"Lift up your heads, O you gates, be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up you ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. Who is He, this King of Glory? The Lord Almighty- he is the King of Glory." Psalm 24:7-10

ATruly Historic week

2009-01-25T17:35:00.006-06:00

It has been a historic week in the nation. We have watched as the 44th president of the United States of America was sworn into office during the same week we commemorate the birth of Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King, the man with a dream would have been thrilled to join us as we watched the transfer of power,from Caucasian American to African American, from Republican party to Democratic party,take place Tuesday morning. The transfer of the presidency took place in a peaceful and joyous manner with the entire world watching. Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States is also the first African American to be elected into that office. Although I disagree with most of his politics I am truly thankful to live in a nation where it seems that the color of ones skin has less to do with life than it has in the past.

This week was also the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade legal decision of 1973 that reversed all of the laws at the time that were against the killing of tiny unborn human babies. The legal decision said that it was against a woman's constitutional rights to force her to bear the child she had conceived, completely forgetting about the human and constitutional rights of the babies whose lives the abortions take. Since 1973 aproximately 50 million babies have not been given a chance art life due to this decision.

Imagine the potential that our human race has lost. We have allowed to die so many inventions, ideas, cures and dreams as well. Each of those lives lost is a tragedy and it truly grieves my heart.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13

President Obama has promised that one of the first things he'll do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), a law that would overturn the few existing state and federal restrictions on abortion. Researchers estimate that FOCA would generate at least 125,000 more abortions a year in a nation already devastated by 4,000 a day.

Ironically, it is the African American race that has been most affected by abortion. Here are the latest sobering statistics.
*Nearly half of black pregnancies end in abortion.

*Three in five black women will abort a child.

*1,500 black Americans are aborted every day.

*America's black population has been reduced by roughly one-third because of abortion.

Abortion has done for the African American race far more than the Ku Klux Klan could have ever dreamed of. I can only pray for the changing of hearts. If the hearts of our nation believe that unborn children truly are children, that those babies have a hope and a future, then maybe, just maybe, it won't matter any longer what the laws of our land say and unborn children will all have a chance to fulfill their potential.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that

2009-01-04T16:58:00.004-06:00

Once again it seems I have taken some time off from posting on the blog for a few weeks...and a couple more weeks of not really writing anything personal. I am back now to reminisce and share things in our lives.

When I first started this blog, it was to be a place to share our thoughts, feelings and happenings in regards to our missions work in Tanzania. Neither Shannon nor I had any idea that the process of getting there would take this amount of time. We thought then, that we would be moving overseas much faster and wondered if we possibly could have enough time to process it all ourselves much less share all of our thoughts about it here. Here we are, 2 1/2 years later, still as positive today as we were then, that God has African missions in our future. So often, when we have agreed upon or decided to do something we just weren't positive we were doing the right thing. This, missions, to the Tanzanian orphans and widows, still remains one of the few things in our lives that Shannon and I are sure about. We know that is what God is preparing us for and we continue to wait on and trust in His most perfect will and timing. With that said, here is the recent family update.

The past four months have been difficult ones for myself and the family as I have worked many hours, many more than we anticipated when I first took the Census Bureau job nearly two years ago. Due to a new survey September through December were very busy. The survey still continues in addition to my previous survey work but will now be mostly by phone. This will cut my running and away from home time dramatically and it is a much anticipated change. When I finished my December work by mid month last month, we all enjoyed the couple of weeks of respite. Time that was spent with immediate and extended family preparing for and celebrating Christ's birth. It was an enjoyable time.

A big decision that was made in that time frame was that we removed Star from her private school setting. Due to some staffing changes at the school as well as the difficulty of the third grade level work for her there she has had a pretty tough fall and we knew it was time for a change for her. So, effective tomorrow, Star joins Molly and Evan in our homeschool. Due to Star's special needs, we have decided at this point that the best thing we can do for her is to bring her home where she can work at the academic level she is at, at a slower pace and with curriculum that best meets her needs. She is excited about it and so is her full-time Personal Care Attendant who will be assisting me with Star's daily care and helping to keep her on task with her schoolwork when I am working with the other children. I just purchased for Star, online, a Math program called Math U See. Collin, Molly and Evan used it several years back and enjoyed it. At the time we switched I felt it would be a better program for younger elementary which is where Star is at. We are backing her up a bit to get her addition and subtraction facts down better and also need to spend some time working on time and money. These are abstract concepts which are something Star struggles with very much. We are hoping that Math U See can help her to process it out. It is a program that has been used with special ed students with great success.

Another upcoming educational decision we are facing is in regards to Collin. Collin is currently a sophomore at the local Christian school. In the stater of Minnesota there is something called PSEO-Post Secondary Enrollment Option. Under this program, any Minnesota high school junior or senior can take college courses paid for by the state of Minnesota. The college credits count as high school credit but they also count as college credits. It is a great way for a student to get partially through college at minimal expense. We are looking at the possibility of bringing Collin home as a homeschooler next year and enrolling him in PSEO courses. The decision then becomes one of wanting to choose the right college now rather than a year or two from now. He could take the course through our local community college but I know too many who have done that and not been able to transfer all of their credits. Currently we are looking at the PSEO distance learning options through Northwestern in St. Paul or North Central in Minneapolis. If you have any personal experience with either school please get in touch with us and share.

So that's the latest with us. Please keep us in your prayers as God continues to grow us all and prepare us for bigger things.

A Couple of Christmas Music videos

2008-12-17T17:12:00.003-06:00

These guys are incredible. They sing everything acapella.
First up...Silent Night, acapella style

Next up, a comedic performance of the 12 Days of Christmas. This is one of my least favorite Christmas songs but I like it when these guys do it.

You can find more by these guys on You Tube and they also have a website

Since laughter is good medicine...

2008-12-15T12:35:00.003-06:00

After some wintry weather over the weekend I am home with the kids today. School has been canceled and most of my daytime census bureau work is done for the month we have been doing some cleaning and sat down to browse the internet. I have spent the past couple of days with a horrible cold or maybe the flu but this video made me feel a bit better. I laughed until I cried and so did the kids.

The comedian at the Comedy Barn pulled some guests up on stage for part of the show and got a bit more than he bargained for. Take a look.

A long overdue update

2008-12-10T07:46:00.002-06:00

I've known for a couple of weeks now that I really must get on here and post some form of an update so here I am. I've been incredibly busy with my jobs which has made it hard to get on here. My work load has nearly doubled with my census bureau job and I just returned from a couple of days in Minneapolis for yet another training. The workload there should decrease just a bit in January. I've also been working a lot at the post office while the regular carrier harvested his crops and then took some time off. I really enjoy doing the mail route but lately have been very thankful that it is only a 4 hour route. There have been many days where I've gotten off the route only to go out for an 8 hour day with the Census Bureau.

Everyone else in the house is doing well. The kids are all busy with schoolwork, thankfully some of Molly and Evan's homeschooling is done with a computer program removing some of the teaching from my "to do" list. Our hens have been happily laying and we have lights on them to keep them laying through the winter. For awhile we were getting 20-21 eggs per day out of our 23 laying birds but this past week, as it has gotten colder and our girls spend less time outside, the laying has slowed down to about 15 per day. Either way, it is more than e can eat. WE have been eating eggs for breakfast, lunch and supper. We've had fried eggs, scrambled eggs, egg bakes, omelets, french toast, popovers and more. Send your egg recipes here. We need them!

We are preparing for the holiday season. The decorating is in process and we still need to get a few things done with that. The shopping is nearly done and I am trying to get my work done early this month so I have more time at home later in the month. The church's Nights of Music are half over. We still have 4 performances this weekend. The stories and testimonies that come out of the event are always so wonderful to hear and I feel privileged to be a part of it.

Collin turns 16 today. We had his family/grandparent birthday party about a week and a half ago to beat the mad rush in December. I'll bake him a cake today so it doesn't seem like too much of a non-event. He doesn't seem in a hurry to get his drivers license, at least not as much as I would like him to have one. He's got his permit but doesn't drive very often. Hopefully we will get him to take the test in the next couple of months which will save me some tips to town getting him to his praise and worship rehearsal and other appointments. I've got to admit I never was very crazy about him getting his license in the winter anyway.

A friend sent this to me yesterday and I want to share it here at the risk of sounding hypocritical. This 3 minute video is a great reminder to all of us in this busy time of the year.

Check this out-Christmas LIght Display Extraordinare!

2008-11-29T19:50:00.003-06:00

This guy named Richard Holdman, from Utah does a huge Christmas Light display each year and then sets it to music. I love it!

This is video of last years display where he had 45,000 lights. THis year he plans to have 150,000 lights!

Amazing Grace Techno - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Unfortunately, this year he needed to change the location due o his gated community not wanting the traffic there again. I guess I can understand but it is kind of sad for Richard. It looks like he has a found a good location and I will try to keep you updated once he gets that display up and going in the next few days.

A Chronic Disease

2008-11-13T15:11:00.002-06:00

A journalist was invited by friends to travel to Africa. He accepted the invitation, but as the departure date drew nearer, he became more and more apprehensive about the trip. When the day arrived, he went to the airport with every intention of canceling his plane ticket. Though his friends did their best to reason with him, the journalist seemed resolute in his decision. Then a shadow fell across their discussion, and standing tall above them was a holy man with an ancient, pointed beard and long black robes. The holy man addressed the journalist, saying, "I have a word for you from God." The journalist, noticeably shaken by the man's presence, nevertheless asked him to continue. The holy man said, "You will go to Africa-and you will come back with a terrible disease." Hearing this confirmed the journalists worst fears. The holy man went on to say, "The disease IS Africa. It will be in your blood for the rest of your life. And you will not be able to stay away." With trepidation, the journalist boarded the plane and went to Africa. And went, and went, and went-again, and again, and again.
Copyright Ward Brehm, White Man Walking, Kirk House Publishers

Thank You to all current and former military members

2008-11-11T19:40:00.002-06:00

I'm not much of a country music fan but this video and song seem appropriate for today. Thank you veterans and current soldiers, marines and airmen.

Top Ten Predictions No matter Who Wins the Elections

2008-11-04T22:00:00.002-06:00

No matter what your political affiliation or beliefs are regarding the different candidates for the many different races going on all over the country, the following ten statements ring true.

#1-The Bible will still have all of the answers.
#2-Prayer will still work.
#3-The Holy Spirit will still move.
#4-God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
#5-There will still be God anointed preaching.
#6-There will still be singing of praises to God.
#7-God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
#8-There will still be room at the cross.
#9-Jesus will still love you.
#10-Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

Thank you God for who you are, for what you have done and for all you still will do.

Good Bye and God Bless You, Kallevig Family

2008-10-27T19:52:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday evening our family went to say hello and good bye to a family in our area. About 8-10 years ago I served on the steering team for our local Mothers of Preschoolers(MOPS) group. It was there that I met Kelly Jo. Even though Kelly Jo and her family live in the area, about 8 miles from us, we never saw each other again after I left the steering team. Life gets in the way and we just never connected in person. We had spoken on the phone a few times over the years. I remember one time was when she and he husband were in the process of adopting from overseas at about the same time we adopted our daughter. Another time we spoke was when I found out, about 6 months after Shannon and I knew we were eventually moving to Tanzania, that Kelly Jo and her husband were going to moving to the mission field of Zambia. Zambia is located on Tanzania's south border so we will, even 8,000 miles from "home", be virtual neighbors once again.

So, anyway, last Thursday we picked up pizza and stopped to see the Kallevig's in their sparsely furnished home. Nearly everything they own had either been shipped over to Zambia many months ago or sold on recent garage sales. It was fun for me to see Kelly Jo again and for the Shannon and Brian to get a chance to meet. I know Shannon and I enjoyed spending some time with people who truly understand our feelings about our upcoming work in Africa. We felt a definite connection with Brian and Kelly Jo and we talked about many things-international medical insurance, raising financial and prayer support and what to ship and when to ship and how to ship. We talked about prep such as MTI-missionary Training International, ECHO-Educational Concerns for Hunger Organizationand other things. Our 5 children and their 6 played well together while their 7th, a new baby, took turns sleeping in people's arms. After several hours together, knowing we could have easily visited all night long, we prayed together and said good bye joking that maybe in a few years we will vacation at each others African homes.

Please visit Brian and Kelly Jo's blog and say a prayer for them. This will be a tough week of good byes and last minute packing leading up to 30 hours in the air or in airports with their 7 children beginning on Friday.

Brian and Kelly Jo, thanks for taking the time to meet with us before you leave. We wish your family safe travel and true joy in serving God over in Zambia.

Hearing the Voice of God

2008-10-17T11:07:00.005-05:00

For those of you unfamiliar with Beth Moore, she is an incredible bible teacher. She has written many bible studies, mainly for women, although Shannon loves her teachings as well. Anyway, I have been facilitating her bible studies at our church for several years now. Her studies are great ones to "lead" because leading basically consists of keeping the women on track during discussion time and then pushing the play button on the VCR. In a recent study, she shared the following story on video. It was great to see her tell the story. Just yesterday my aunt sent me the email of the story and I thought it would be a great one to share here. It's a long one but well worth the read.

April 20, 2005, at the airport in Knoxville , waiting to board the plane, I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I was doing. I'd had a marvelous morning with the Lord. I say this because I want to tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you. You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise. Life in the
Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons not the least of which is
your ego.

I tried to keep from staring, but he was such a strange sight. Humped over
in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously
fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees protruded from his
trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger was still in his
shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones. The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy, gray hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long, clean but strangely out of place on an old man.

I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning my face. As
I tried to imagine what his story might have been, I found myself wondering
if I'd just had a Howard Hughes sighting. Then I remembered that he was
dead. So this man in the airport..an impersonator maybe? Was a camera on us
somewhere? There I sat; trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being
concerned about a thin slice of humanity served up on a wheelchair only a
few seats from me. All the while, my heart was growing more and more
overwhelmed with a feeling for him. Let's admit it. Curiosity is a heap
more comfortable than true concern, and suddenly I was awash with aching
emotion for this bizarre-looking old man.

I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall.
I've learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something so
contrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen.
And it may be embarrassing.

I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my spirit
and I started arguing with God in my mind. "Oh, no, God, please, no." I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, "Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please. I'll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don't make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!"

There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His Highness, "Please don't make me witness to this man. Not now. I'll do it on the plane." Then I heard it..."I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair."

The words were so clear, my heart leapt into my throat, and my thoughts spun like a top. Do I witness to the man or brush his hair? No-brainier. I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, "God, as I live and breathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm on this Lord. I'm your girl! You've never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he is not redeemed? I am going to witness to this man ." Again as clearly as I've ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of my mind. " That is not what I said, Beth. I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to go brush his hair."

I looked up at God and quipped, "I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane. How am I supposed to brush his hair without a hairbrush?" God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from God's word: "I will thoroughly furnish you unto all good works.'" (2 Timothy 3:17)

I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself. Even as I
retell this story, my pulse quickens and I feel those same butterflies. I knelt down in front of the man and asked as demurely as possible, "Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?"

He looked back at me and said, "What did you say?"

"May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?

To which he responded in volume ten, "Little lady, if you expect me to hear
you, you're going to have to talk louder than that."

At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out, "SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?" At which point every eye in the place darted right at me. I was the only thing in the room looking more peculiar than old Mr. Long Locks. Face crimson and forehead breaking out in a sweat, I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face, and say, "If you really want to." Are you kidding? Of course I didn't want to. But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right about then. He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, "Yes, sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem. I don't have a hairbrush."

"I have one in my bag," he responded.

I went around to the back of that wheelchair and I got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger's old carry-on, hardly believing what I was doing. I stood up and started brushing the old man's hair. It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I don't do many things well, but must admit I've had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two little girls. Like I'd done with either Amanda or Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands, remembering to take my time not to pull. A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man's hair. Everybody else in the room disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me. I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair. I know this sounds so strange, but I've never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life. I believe with all my heart, I, for that few minutes, felt a portion of the very love of God; that He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home for a short while. The emotions were so strong and so pure that I knew they had to be God's. His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's.

I slipped the brush back in the bag and went around the chair to face him. I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knees and said, "Sir, do you know my Jesus?"

He said, "Yes, I do.'"

Well, that figures, I thought. He explained, "I've known Him since I married my bride. She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior." He said, "You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself, what a mess I must be for my bride."

Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known. It was a God moment, and I'll never forget it.

Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane. I was deeply ashamed of how I'd acted earlier and would have been so proud to have accompanied him on that aircraft. I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She said, "That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing. Why did you do that? What made you do that?"

I said, "Do you know Jesus? He can be the bossiest thing!"

And we got to share.

I learned something about God that day. He knows if you're exhausted, you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on but you feel too responsible to budge. He knows if you're hurting or feeling rejected. He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you as an individual. Tell Him your need!

I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like that one had I missed along the way all because I didn't want people to think I was strange. God didn't send me to that oldman. He sent that old man to me.

Slow Fade

2008-10-09T16:31:00.003-05:00

I have fallen in love with this song. It's kind of sad but it is so true that people don't usually fall off of a cliff but they just slowly fade into negative choices. I was thrilled to hear the song was in the soundtrack for Fireproof. Check it out.

Slow Fade by Casting Crowns

Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade

Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day

The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you're thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day

Oh be careful little eyes what see
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Copyright Casting Crowns

Look what we found!

2008-10-06T18:09:00.003-05:00

On Saturday Shannon went to check on the chickens and he found a cute little brown, farm-fresh egg in one of the nest boxes. Here is a photo of it next to a store bought size large egg.

So, for lunch on Sunday, when we made scrambled eggs for brunch, our one little egg got added to the others bought from the store. Here is a photo of it on the right, next to a store bought on the left. You can see it is quite a bit smaller as they are when the chickens first start laying. You may also notice that the yolk is darker. That is because our chickens eat much better than caged chickens. They eat greenery from our yard as well as lots of leftover fruits and veggies from our kitchen.

Since the first one was found we have found three more so our girls are finally starting to figure it out. As far as we can tell, all the eggs have been laid by different chickens. All 4 eggs are different sizes and colors-the first was brown with dark brown specks, the second was a light tan, the next was a pure dark brown and the next was a lighter tan than the second. We aren't sure who's laying but are excited to see some results from our efforts.

I recently ordered a book called "The $64 Tomato." It is about a man who starts a garden and figures his tomato cost him about that much to grow. WE have been joking about the cost of our eggs and are excited that with each egg that appears our cost per egg goes down. Right now with all expenses including set up, the building and fence and feed and other supplies I'm thinking each of our 4 eggs(so far) cost about $100 each! Keep laying ladies!

End Time Glory Ministries now owns land in Tanzania!

2008-09-30T09:16:00.004-05:00

Rev Debra and her team just returned from Tanzania and Burundi last week. Yesterday Shannon had a phone conversation with Debra about the trip and the land. The team was able to travel from Mwanza, by ferry and Land Rover, to the property. It is located across the channel from Mwanza. The land is about 15 minutes from where the ferry dropped them off via a fairly bad road(ahh, Africa...). Rev Debra thinks that with a little work on the road it could be turned into a 5 minute trip. The land is 30 acres of mostly tillable land that was being farmed. There is no one currently living on the property so those that were paid for the property were farming it. There are some mango trees and the exciting part is that there is a small mountain on the property. There are several reasons we want a large hill or mountain. It will be a great place to put a radio tower to broadcast God's word to the nation. Also, it will be a great place to locate a wind turbine to generate electricity which is not currently in the area. It sounds like there are plans for electricity to be in that area in the next few years but we are well aware of few years may be closer to many years, especially in Africa. A city council member is very excited about the ministry coming to the area and was involved in obtaining many signatures from area residents encouraging the farmers to sell us the property. The entire community is looking forward to the ministry's arrival which excites us greatly. Here is what Rev Debra had to say in her recent prayer chain email newsletter:
We were AMAZED to see the beautiful 25 + acre piece of property that now belongs to ETG Ministries! It has 'million dollar' views of Lake Victoria, mango trees, good farm land and even a small mountain - Glory Mountain - which we climbed, anointed, and had communion on! Pray for the remaining acreage ETG is expecting. None of what we saw is actual lake frontage, BUT the official who showed us the property lines was approached that very morning by a "squatter" who had adjoining lake frontage and wanted help in "selling" it! God is so AWESOME! Also, pray for favor with Engineering Ministries International - that they will approve the ETG application for their services for the Tanzania property.
This is good news and we are excited, and just a bit nervous, to see what God does next.

Fireproof-Movie Review

2008-09-27T18:02:00.002-05:00

About a year ago we saw the movie Facing the Giants. It's a football themed movie that was put out by a church- yep, a church- in Albany, Georgia. The church had a budget of $100,000 and with that money they were able to put together a great film that included Christianity without it being the "in your face Christianity" that offends so many. It was a movie they had produced for their area as an outreach tool that ended up going nationwide and was pretty popular. We were so impressed with the movie and the church's efforts, we bought a copy of our own.

Two nights ago, we rented the movie, Flywheel. Flywheel was the first efforts of the same church to put together a movie several years prior to Facing the Giants. Though filmed with a $20,0000 budget which limited them in sound quality somewhat it was still a great story with a saving message.

Last night, Fireproof was released. Sherwood Baptists Church third film was a hit for our entire family. We do not go to see films in the theaters very often but this one was a must for us. It was important to us that we be a part of the opening weekend crowd, to show Hollywood that these are the types of movies we want to see.

The movie was all we expected it to be. A story of a heroic firefighter and his wife and their struggling marriage. Lest you think this was a "chick flick" that would be of no interest to the guys can I just say that there were fire and explosions, firehouse humor(clean) and relationships. We watch as this adorable couple decides it is time to end their marriage. The father of the firefighter requests that he give it 40 days before filing for a divorce and sends him a book called The Love Dare. The book has 40 ideas, one per day, of ways for him to show love to his wife and as he follows its suggestions he finds it to not be working. It isn't until he finally comes to the realization that he can't give something to his wife that he doesn't have to give that there is a turning point in the story. Without giving any further info and possibly spoiling the movie for you I think it is fair to say that the movie gets 6 thumbs up from the 6 of us that went. Get to it if you can.

FIREPROOF!-Coming Soon!

2008-09-23T12:23:00.004-05:00

This new movie, by the creators of Facing the Giants is going to be one of the few films we won't wait to see on video.

Show your local theaters you want to see more movies like this by being there during opening week.

Refreshing

2008-09-23T08:54:00.002-05:00

As my children have gotten older it has been difficult to find them modest clothing, good television(is that an oxymoron?) and wholesome music. In a world of clothing that shows belly buttons and cleavage on girls barely out of diapers it has been a struggle for sure. In a world of music and video that has swear words I hadn't even heard yet, words that would make a sailor, or in my case, a Marine Corps veteran, blush, it has also been a struggle to find good music. In a world that has young girls literally worshiping Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus, we have tried hard to steer our girls away from that.

Recently we discovered a couple of musical groups that have us wanting to tell the world about them.

PureNRG is a trio of tweens that can sing and dance to the delight of any tween girl. A group of two gals and a guy, they sing a lot of older, clean but fun songs like "Footloose" and have a few of their own as well. They have some Christian music and are moving into more worship songs as well. Jordan, the guy of the trio has this to say about their newest album, "“Here We Go Again” opens with the buoyant title track, a high-energy tune with a catchy chorus that is an instant sing along. “Any Which Way” continues the good time vibe, and Jordan cites it among his favorites on the album. “It’s saying to give yourself to God and to let Him take you wherever He wants you to go, and that’s what we do.” As a mom, I find myself excited about these energetic kids.

The Rubyz is made up of three young ladies aged 13-17 whose name comes straight from the book of Proverbs-"A worthy woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies." -Proverbs 31:10. Their first album came out this past April and their goal is to fill a void in the mainstream media. to tell young ladies that they are valuable and that it is ok to be young and there is no hurry to grow up faster than God desires, that it is good to act and dress your age.

I hope if you have any young children, and even if you don't, you can get your hands on one or more of the albums put out by these adorable kids.

Stay at Home Mom?

2008-09-17T08:07:00.003-05:00

When I first started having children, being a stay-at-home Mom wasn't a really big priority in my life. As more children came along, out of necessity I stayed home and left my job with the post office. At the time I was a rural carrier sub in a small town we lived in at the time but childcare was just too expensive. That was when I was actually paying childcare for 3, sometimes 4 and it didn't pay to work. As the children got older, I started working again at my current post office, again as a rural carrier sub. It's a job I really enjoy-being out in nature, seeing animals and the peace and quiet...well most of the time. The bad days are when it is raining or a windy winter day and I get a flat tire.

The spring of 2007 brought a letter to my mailbox from the Census Bureau. I had worked for them during the 2000 population count. The letter was inviting me to a testing and interview session in the area for "part-time intermittent" work. I decided to check it out. When I was offered the job, Shannon and I both thought it was a great idea. We had recently stopped doing foster care so didn't have young children in and out as much. Our own children were getting older and able to be along once in awhile and paying private school tuition for two of the children was really stretching us financially. We also saw an opportunity to bring in some extra income to help pay off debt. We both knew that we couldn't move to Tanzania with a debt load here. I took the job, happily plugging away on survey work about 20-30 hours per month. I found the work itself to be a challenge but also fun to travel over a 5 county area near our home meeting people and seeing the countyside.

Recently another survey was added to my position and it has increased my workload dramatically. Dramatically as in, I have worked about 90 hours so far this month with another 15 or so to go. This particular survey will have a very heavy workload through the rest of the year but in January will have me doing most of my work at home by phone.

For the first time in a long time though I find myself feeling very divided. I feel that my first God-given responsibility is to my husband and children-to being a helpmeet to Shannon, to raising our children together and being available for them, cleaning our home and cooking-you know, the stay-at-home Mom kind of stuff. The Census Bureau loves my work and are trying to move me into more full-time work. They think they are doing me a favor. They are, I appreciate the hours and pay and the benefits that will be starting soon but it is so hard. I feel like I am letting down my family and myself but I also know that for this time, earning this income to pay down debt and tuition is what I need to be doing.

I hate being gone on the weekends and in the evenings, being unable to make plans with extended family for the times when most people are off work. It's frustrating to me but a necessity as well.

Please keep our family in your prayers through these next several months as we adjust to me being away even more than I had been. We are hopeful that once January comes and the work turns into mostly phone calling I'll be able to keep up the pace without so much struggle.

Oh and by the way, that's why I haven't been posting as much. When I am home, being on the computer is pretty low priority, at least for the time being.

Still Missing in Action...

2008-09-08T07:44:00.002-05:00

After returning from our 8 days in the Black Hills, I was home for a literal 22 hours before leaving again. I hurriedly unpacked bags and did laundry, spent a few hours at church Sunday morning, then packed my bags again to leave for a training for my job with the Census Bureau. The Bureau has added an additional survey to my assignment, effectively doubling my workload. I spent 5 days there before returning home to prepare everyone, including myself, for a new school year.

We did spend Labor Day at Christine's parent's lake home where we visited with my parents, my sister, and several aunts and uncles and a cousin. It was nice to see my Aunt Karen from Hawaii who I hadn't seen for many years. My cousin and Evan, in their adventurous mood, took the boat over to the old railroad bridge across the lake. They were hoping to jump off of it as they had seen others do in the past. Before jumping we told them they had to measure the depth of the water. Using a rock and a rope they discovered the water to be only 7 feet deep this late in the year, so to my mother's relief they put that activity aside for another year, maybe in the spring when the water is deepest.

We are still trying to find a routine that works for us this year. With my post office and Census Bureau jobs, homeschooling two of the children and other activities and scheduled appointments, life is pretty crazy busy. I am working a lot more evenings and weekends than I did in the summer which I hate but find necessary. It has made our Sunday's all the more precious a we try hard to keep them completely unplanned except for church services. Funny thing is, those are busy too as Molly serves on the praise and worship team in Kid's church during the first service and Collin has his High School praise and worship team rehearsal during the second. I don't mind too much as I like to be there for both services to be in the choir loft anyway.

At church last evening, I was reminded of the importance of taking time each day to listen for God. So often we complain that God is speaking to us but I think the question is usually, "Are we listening?" I start a bible study this Wednesday that will force me to get in the word more. I say "force" although once I get there I very much enjoy it.

As stated in an earlier post, Rev. Debra and a team are in Tanzania right now. We know they were planning to visit the property while they are there and also attending a wedding. Along with ministry in several cities in Tanzania as well as the country of Burundi, they have a full schedule too. Please keep them and the ministry they are doing in your prayers.

Black Hills Family Vacation

2008-08-31T21:21:00.017-05:00

Hopefully my readers will forgive my absence over the past few weeks when I explain that our family went on an 8 day vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota. A vacation to the the Black Hills is something we had wanted to do for several years now but with our missions trips to Tanzania, the finances just weren't available. This year, as the team leaves for Tanzania tomorrow, we are both very sad that neither of us is going but we were both unable to leave our jobs for three weeks straight this year. Shannon will travel with Rev. Debra and Wayne next year when the engineering team is there.

Anyway, this summer our trip happened. We spent the entire summer planning and anticipating. We gathered info from the state dept of tourism and I spent hours online researching hotels, cabins, and activities to keep us busy. We found there was no lack of family activities in the area and scheduled one extra day in...just in case. We were so glad we had the extra day, otherwise our previously planned activities wouldn't have all gotten done. I had planned out each day perfectly, or so we thought. I think it was on day three that the schedule was thrown aside as a reference only to remind us of all we wanted to get done.

First stop, DeSmet, to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead. We spent several hours exploring the dug out home and shanty, animals in a barn, and riding in a covered wagon to an old schoolhouse. The children each made a rope the old fashioned way, saw how soap was made, wheat was ground in a coffee grinder during the "Long Winter" and laundry was done on a washboard. The girls each made their very own corncob doll like Laura had.

Wall Drug...where there are plenty of photo ops and more junky treasures than one can imagine seeing in one place. And yes, we each had a free glass of water or two.

Feeding the prairie dogs at a small gift shop near the entrance to the Badlands.

A drive through Badlands National Park. What a wondrous area. We were all awestruck.

The South Dakota Air and Space Museum located at the Air Force Base. Shannon and Collin enjoyed this more than the rest of us and but was fun to see airplanes similar to those we guarded while in the Marine Corps.

Reptile Gardens. The tortoises were a favorite. This one seemed to love when Evan rubbed its neck.

Dinosaur Park in Rapid City is just a bunch of concrete dinosaurs high up on a hill. I visited it as a child but the dinosaurs have shrunk since then.

The Cosmos, an area where people stand sideways and gravity doesn't seem quite right. We laughed hysterically as our minds and bodies were thrown for a loop. The one picture is not crooked, it just looks like it because the people are. The other picture shows Evan standing on the wall.

Bear Country USA where we drove through to see bears and much more.

The 1880 Train that runs between Hill City and Keystone. The three guys rode the train while us gals drove to Keystone to pick them up. Our van goes faster so we had a few minutes to shop before they arrived.

Big Thunder Gold Mine. Two men dug the mine using hand tools and dynamite. At the end of their 32 years they had each earned a grand total of $50 in gold. The mine turned out to be unprofitable for mining but Shannon and I joked of how profitable it has been since then. At $8 per person for tours as well as charging visitors to pan for gold it seems to be a true gold mine now. We didn't pan but did see people finding tiny specks in thier pans that they were allowed to put in a tiny bottle to keep.

Feeding the burros in Custer State Park was a riot. We knew we would be doing this and planning ahead, had bought several bags of over date donuts at our local bakery. The car in front of us was feeding them carrots and another was feeding them wheat thins. I bet you can guess which car they followed most closely.

Wind Cave, a 1 1/2 tour of a cave formed mainly by wind. It had a lot of what is called boxwork inside.

The Mammoth Dig Site is an old sinkhole where animals, including mammoths used to go to drink. The theory is that they would fall in the sinkhole which had very steep sides and end up drowning when they were unable to get out. So far they have found the fossilized remains of over 55 mammoths, as well as a short-faced bear, mountain lion and multiple smaller mammals. We were amazed at the tremendous size of these creatures as you can see by the picture of Shannon and the kids next to a cut out model of one.

A quick stop at a park in Rapid City where a couple of pieces of the former Berlin Wall are was an interesting spot.

Rushmore Cave, a 45 minute tour of a water formed cave that still has many stalagmites and stalactites. Unfortunately this one was broken off by visitors many years ago.

Mt Rushmore, a must see, of course. Our children were finally able to put to rest the joke we have had going with them that there are backsides carved into the back of the mountain. We learned more about those 4 particular presidents and why they were chosen for the monument.

Crazy Horse Monument, a truly amazing work in progress. This thing is huge! Shannon and I doubt it will ever be finished, it has already taken them 60 years and they are really not very far when you think about the big picture.

The infamous Needles Highway with it's rock tunnels and the needle formation at the top.

And Sylvan Lake. This is a beautiful, relaxing location in the midst of the craziness. It was a nice place to sit for a few minutes after our hike while Star and Evan took a dip.

Another fun location, a can't miss in our opinion, was Evan's Plunge in Hot Springs. This is a naturally, hot spring fed swimming pool with waterslides and hanging rings. It was originally used by the Native Americans then the wagon train participants. It was commercialized in 1890 and has been in operation now for over 100 years. I don't have any pics as we were all having to much fun to bring the camera in and risk it getting wet.

We also visited the city of Keystone and their famous taffy shop where you can watch the taffy being made. We spent quite a bit of money buying taffy for family, friends and ourselves.

Here is a photo of a sign that I found incredibly humorous. We saw it in several places out there during the week. Uh, no kidding? If they weren't "at large" they wouldn't be "wildlife" would they?

On the way home we stopped in Mitchell South Dakota to visit the corn palace. In a day reminiscent of National Lampoon's Vacation where the family arrives at their destination to find the theme park closed, we arrived at the Corn Palace to find it closed for the afternoon. It was corn capital days and there were many activities going on, one of which required a sound check it seems. Hey had locked the doors of it for a couple of hours, of course, just a couple of minutes before we arrived.

In our efforts to save the stop by visiting the local Bonanza restaurant for lunch, we arrived at the restaurant to find a sign hanging on the door stating that they had closed for the day as well.

We finally arrived home, after 8 extremely filled days of fun and learning to our own beds and two dogs, a cat and a parrot missing their owners very much. We are already hoping for another trip next summer. Next time we want to go further west to see Yellowstone National Park, Custer's battlefield, Devil's Tower and more.

The Grass Isn't Always Greener

2008-08-15T22:11:00.004-05:00

A couple of months ago, after we first allowed our young chickens outside, we discovered that one was missing. We searched our 6 acres and the fields around the property but could find no signs of it. We did discover a small hole at the corner of the fence that it may have gotten out through but we never did find the chicken. We fixed the hole and also added on an n larger 100x100 foot fenced in area for the birds.

About two weeks ago we discovered our black lab in the back yard eating a freshly killed(by her)chicken that must have flown over the 4 foot high fence. We bought a bunch of chicken wire and proceeded to make the fence about three foot higher in an effort to keep them in.

Last Sunday evening I heard a squawking coming from the back yard and saw our black lab near the gate of the fence. I took off running and yelling at the dog. When I arrived at the scene I again found a dead chicken, this one our favorite, her name was Lucy. When we had added to the fence we had forgotten the gate and she must have gone over that to get to the "greener grass." The kids and I were horrified, especially after the most recent killing of our favorite chicken. We have since heightened the fencing over the gate and hope we have the problem solved.

I've been thinking a lot about how so many unsaved people are afraid to come to Christ because they aren't willing to give up the things that they think are against the rules and they think make life fun. Even we Christians often wonder if we are missing something by following God's commandments. God has put His commands into place not because He is trying to limit us but because He is trying to protect us. I hope that my family and I will be unlike our chickens and always remember that the fence is there for our protection.

"God still has big plans for you, Mom!"

2008-08-07T15:38:00.003-05:00

Sometimes children say the silliest things and at other times they spout great wisdom. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, Collin and I were in a pretty serious car accident a couple of weeks ago. It was after church. Our family had driven two cars to church that day due to ministry commitments we had a different services. Some of us needed to be there for both services but others didn't. After church was over, Collin and I took the van to the local feed store to get some chicken wire while Shannon took his car with the other children to go pick up Brandon from his group home. When Collin and I were finished at the feed store we were going to go directly across the four lane highway to the local Menards.

As I sat at the stop sign waiting to cross there was quite a bit of traffic on the highway. There were also three, I think, cars across the highway in the Menards driveway waiting to turn left onto the highway in front of me. I felt a bit of pressure to go as soon as possible, knowing that if they were following traffic laws, they were waiting for me to cross before they could go. I waited for a couple of cars going one direction, then a couple going the other. The road looked clear as I looked both ways and I kept my eyes on the car in front of me to be sure they wouldn't try to turn out in front of me. All of a sudden, seemingly from out of nowhere, I saw the front of a car hitting my front wheel and engine compartment from the left.

Although the picture of the van may not show it, the impact was incredible. The car that hit us was just coming into town on a main highway and was probably going between 50 and 60MPH when she hit. Fortunately she had an airbag and she was cushioned by that as her car hit us then flew across the highway and into the Menards driveway facing the opposite direction she had been going. Our van spun to the right and ended up against the curb facing nearly the opposite direction as well. I hit my head and eye on the left side of the van and Collin and I think I may have been knocked out for a few seconds based on my slow response to him telling me to turn off the van.

It ended up that both our van and her car were totaled out. We had just put $2800 in the van in the previous two weeks fixing the transmission and putting on new tires in preparation for our vacation. The other driver had a small cut on her hand, probably from when the airbags deployed from out of the steering wheel, but was otherwise fine. Collin had a sore lower back for a couple of days and I have been fighting a sore back, neck and shoulder. My entire left side was bruised and I had a black left eye. We discovered a surprising thing after the accident. We knew the van had both front and side impact airbags and were baffled as to why the side airbags didn't deploy. I sure would be feeling a lot better physically if they had. Anyway, after we found out that the van was totaled out, Shannon took the panel of the side of the seat where the airbags belong. Lo and behold, there wasn't one! We believe at some point in the vans journey to reach us via used car markets and auctions, someone removed them to sell them. Nightline has done stories on this and it looks like we experienced it personally.

We spent the next 5 days car shopping, not fun when on a deadline. First we were looking for the same style of van(it was a Pontiac Montana), then we switched to looking at Toyota Siennas. After a couple of days of looking at them we quickly realized they just weren't big enough for our family. Although Toyota's have great safety ratings and reliability, they are the smallest of all minivans and we were concerned about the lack of cargo space. WE ended up getting a Chrysler Town and Country. The children are ecstatic with the fact that the new van has a DVD player, it wasn't however, a huge selling point for me. We will maybe let them watch a video on the way out to the Black Hills on our vacation but it is one feature we are very unlikely to wear out.

As I've thought about how this all played out and how I honestly don't know how I couldn't have seen the other car it has frustrated me to no end. Just this morning I read an article about a driver's ed instructor who was killed when someone ran a red light and hit his side of the car at a similar speed as my accident. As I talked with the children about that this morning and how, if it had happened a split second later, it would have been my door rather than the front wheel area being hit I realize how very fortunate the three of us involved in the accident are to walk away in as good of condition as we did. During this conversation it was Molly who said, "Mom, God still has big plans for your life!" What could I say to that other than what I did, "I know God still has big plans for my life!"

"For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

By Whose Authority?

2008-08-06T16:26:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago at church, Pastor Keith announced that he would be fasting and praying in the sanctuary every lunch hour for the next 10 days. He invited anyone in the congregation who wished to join him to do so. I wasn't able to be there all 10 days but I made an appearance for quite a few of the days. Each day we prayed as a group for different needs within the church. One day we were praying about evangelism. We prayed that we, as a church, would be more bold about speaking to others about our faith-whether it be as we are shopping, out for a walk, or visiting over the fence with neighbors.

Isn't is sad how intimidated and fearful we get about speaking about our faith? We have something to share with people that can literally change their lives but we often want to use "lifestyle evangelism" to reach others with it. I am so glad that the people who shared Christ with me weren't just using lifestyle evangelism or I'd still be doomed to an eternity in hell. I'm not saying that how we live our lives isn't tremendously important in reaching others, but it's a rare person who finds Christ simply from watching. They still need to hear.

One of my part-time jobs involves knocking on doors and asking strangers personal questions about themselves for the Census Bureau. Yes, we do work all of the time, not just during the 10 year population count. Anyway, I drive into people's farms or driveways, knock on their doors, explain what I am doing, and then do it with minimal fear. A lot of the reason is because I am there under government authority. I wear a badge that basically identifies me as someone who can be at your door, as long as your address is on my computer screen. I have authority to be there doing what I am doing.

I need to remind myself that when I am out telling others about Jesus Christ and what He has done for me and what He can do for them, I also have authority. I have a God-given authority to be doing it. That authority, dear reader, is the best kind of authority I can get!

"If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31b

Life's been busy

2008-08-03T19:52:00.006-05:00

Sorry I haven't been around for a bit. Life's been busy. Right after my last blog post we went into a 3 day glory conference with End Time Glory Ministries. It was a great weekend with a lot of praise and worship and teaching. We were able to see many friends from the ministry including Pastor Pierre from Haiti and Pastor James from Uganda, both of whom Shannon knew from former missions trips.

Then last Sunday I had a pretty bad car accident. Collin and I were in the van and a young girl was in the car we had the collision with. We won't talk about whose fault it was(mine) but let's just say I am driving more carefully now. Our van ended up being T-boned by her car which was moving around 55MPH at the time. Fortunately her car hit our front driver's side wheel and engine compartment rather than my door. I came out with a swollen black eye and some left side bruising, shoulder, back and neck pain. Collin seems to be ok after a couple of sore days and the girl went face first into her air bag...a very good thing. Both her car and our van were totaled out by insurance so Shannon and I have spent the last week car shopping. We have spent several days and many miles traveling from here to St. Cloud, Princeton(sorry we didn't stop by Lisa, we were in a huge hurry), the Twin Cities and the suburbs plus more. In the end, we bought a car locally. I'll share more on that story maybe later.

Then we can add in Molly's 12th birthday, Happy Birthday Molly!, and party and work, well, it's been crazy.

I've had a couple of blog posts swimming through my head for awhile now and hope to get them written soon. Bear with me, this is my busy week for one of my jobs and next week is crazy with both jobs but I'll try to get them done soon.

"Purchase" of the land in Tanzania

2008-07-23T10:14:00.005-05:00

I just wanted to share the latest news we have from Tanzania.

As you may remember, the governor of the Mwanza district gifted 30 acres of land to End Time Glory Ministries last fall. It is a law in Tanzania that when taking ownership of property, if there are any squatters they must be paid off. In the Tanzanian culture there are very few people who actually own land. Most people find a place they like and they build their home. It is typical in the culture to be living on land you do not own. Tanzanian law states that squatters must be paid at the rate of $1000US per acre. Several months ago, Pastor Richard, a native Tanzanian, was able to convince the government to accept $500 per acre. As of last week, the money was over in Mwanza and Pastor Richard was in process of paying the people on the land. The plan was to have that done last week and to have the surveying done this week.

Engineering Ministries International has agreed to work with End Time Glory to engineer and develop the property. This is great news! They will travel to the property in either February or June of next year to help design the buildings and projects to best fit the property and the culture. We are all very excited about EMI's willingness to join with us in our efforts to help the widows and orphans of the Mwanza area.

What does this mean for our family? Well, End Time Glory Ministries would like our family in Tanzania when the building starts. Depending on when EMI visits the land and then their time frame of finishing the plans we would likely try to be over there in late 2009 or early 2010. Realistically, Shannon and I know that the whole process may take longer, especially when we still need to raise our monthly support. Shannon will likely be traveling to the land at the same time that EMI is over there as well-so likely in Feb or June.

Please keep this process in your prayers. We all want God's will for this entire project and His timing.

One more tornado photo

2008-07-18T09:38:00.004-05:00

I just got this one in my email box. This photo was taken by a friend at our church. The photo was taken as he stood right by the church basement doors and aimed the camera to the southwest as the tornado came in. The line across the corner is the corner of our main church building.

As I stated in my earlier post, the tornado passed within about 200 yards of our church. The photo was shown on our sanctuary screen last Sunday and makes us all very thankful we have a church building.

We are OK after the tornado

2008-07-15T16:02:00.004-05:00

I have had a couple of people ask if we are ok. We are.

Last Friday evening an F3 tornado passed along the southern edge of Willmar, continuing east until it finally retreated back into the clouds. The closest it was ever on the ground to our home was about 5-6 miles away however there were also straight line winds that took out a lot of trees and buildings just south of us about a mile. This photo was taken by someone in the area and shows the twister in its early stages as it bears down on a farmsite.

As the tornado was on the ground we stood in the parking lot of a restaurant in Willmar watching it pass along the edge of town. It went within about 200 yards of our church. Here is a photo taken by a friend from the front door of our church, looking to the southeast. The big white building is the church's youth building just built a couple of years ago.

This tornado left an 8 mile path of destruction, completely destroying three homes, damaging several more, completely demolishing two turkey barns and damaging two others. It also went though a farm implement dealership and a mobile home dealership bending trailer home frames in half and throwing implements across fields. There was no loss of lives and no serious injuries.

We all experience tornadoes in our lives. Sometimes they are physical but more often they are emotional or spiritual. It is in these times we need to lean on God even more than we usually do. We have a church friend who lives right along the tornado's path. It took out his two neighbors homes leaving his mostly untouched. His home was covered in mud and debris but had no permanent damage. As our family joined a couple of others to help him with clean up on Saturday I thought of how, after the storm we were all in better shape than before. We worked together to get an unpleasant task done, building relationships, laughing and loving together. We all walked away from the experience better appreciating family, friends and the blessings God has given us.

First days out

2008-06-16T17:04:00.003-05:00

My mom used to tell the story of how when she first placed me outside on the grass as a young toddler I immediately began to cry. I'm not sure if it was the texture, the color, the temperature or just a bad day but it seems I wasn't to happy about the development. On Friday evening, after finishing setting up our fenced in chicken run, we herded the chickens out of the hen house and through the door into the great outdoors. They were not pleased.

It was immediately after a fresh dousing of rain so the dirt covered areas were a bit muddy and the grass was damp. It was quite humorous to watch our young girls pick up their feet to look at and peck at the mud on their feet. They were only out for a couple of hours before it was time to put them back in for the night.

On Saturday they were out most of the day and a bit happier about the circumstances. We did some more work to the run, adding chicken wire to the bottom of the chain link panels and digging it into the ground several inches to deter predators who might try to dig under the panels. Then on Sunday morning we let them out again, knowing we would be gone all day. I was more than a bit nervous to leave my "babies" outside all day, alone, being unable to save them if I heard or saw any mean animals looking to eat them. On a website forum I've been spending some time learning about chickens I recently read several horror stories come true of chicken owners arriving home to an entire flock of dead chickens caused by neighborhood dogs, weasels or coyotes. We arrived home around 8PM to find all 28 little chickens running around in the pen grazing and chirping happily.

Now this morning, as I opened the hen house door they all piled out into the run as quickly a they could. I think they like it outside and it looks like their feed should last a lot longer now too.

In case you are wondering how we ended up with 28 chickens, here's how along with the different breeds for those who know chickens.
*2 given to us by a friend-1 is a rooster, the other an Aracauna that will lay blue/green eggs
*21 from the hatchery-I ordered 20 in 4 different breeds, 21 arrived healthy and well-Silver Laced Wyandottes(6), Buff Orpingtons(5), Plymouth Barrred Rocks(5), Red Sex Linked(5)
*5 more from the local feed store, they were too cute to pass up-Black Australorp, Brown Sex linked, California White, and two others of unknown breeds.

As crazy as you may think we are, we are really enjoying the chickens. We will go out to feed them, let them in or out or water them and end up out there with them for an hour or longer just watching them or feeding them worms. We are looking forward to being able to eat farm fresh eggs straight from the hen house this fall.

I'll add pics later.

Statement of Faith #16-New Heaven & New Earth

2008-06-13T09:00:00.003-05:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #16-We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and new earth wherein dwells righteousness.

In the book of Revelation, where John describes his visions given of God, there is a picture of the New Jerusalem coming down from above as the home of the redeemed. At the close of the Millennium the saints will be ushered into our new home where we will live eternally.

Some of the characteristics of this new home will include:

It will be a place of:
beauty and light-Rev. 21:23-24
knowledge 1 Cor. 13:12
rest from toil and tumult Rev. 14:13
meanigful service Rev. 7:15 and 22:3
joy Rev. 21:4
Wonderful fellowship Heb. 12:22-23
eternal Rev. 21:27 and 22:3-5

There will be no:
Satan, demons or his followers Rev. 20:10
Death, sorrow, crying, pain Rev. 21:4
Night Rev 21:23 and 25 and 22:5
defilement, abomination or lies Rev 21:27
curse Rev 22:3

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, " Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away...To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my child."

Teenage Affluenza

2008-06-10T18:33:00.004-05:00

After my first , and only missions trip, which was taken to Tanzania nearly three years ago now, I returned home a different person. I found myself frustrated with the American culture and our financial situation as a whole. Here in America we tend to always want better and more and are typically unhappy with our old car or small home or used clothing. I had just returned from a culture where there were hungry unclothed people with no homes everywhere I looked. Children played with tin cans or empty milk cartons and were excited to have them. A culture where people focused on the simple, loved their families and spent time with them, where people look to God for everything in their lives. A culture where people praise God for even the smallest of provisions and depend on him for everything.

I ran across this video today and although it addresses teens in Australia, I find that it applies to all of us in one way or another. No offense is intended here but rather I hope to cause my readers to think deeper about their spending habits and focus more on their blessings.

Last Day of School-Valleyfair

2008-06-07T06:45:00.004-05:00

Last Friday, for the last day of school, Shannon, Molly, Evan and I joined Collin's high school group of 15 students to make a trip to Valleyfair. Shannon and I have both been there many years ago but it was a first time experience for the kids.
Collin went off with his friends as expected. Shannon and I went with a focus on the roller coasters.

Most of the other rides, like bumper cars and smaller spinning rides can be found at our local county fair but we did go on the bumper cars. Molly and Evan stayed with us and since neither had ever been on a coaster they were unsure of this but as soon as we arrived we went to one of the big ones. By the end of the day we had been on the High Roller, the Renegade, the Wild Thing and the Corksrew
as well as several other rides. My favorite ride was the Power Tower.

On the Power Tower you sit in a seat that leaves your legs dangling. The ride brings you straight up into the air to 275 feet and after a couple of seconds at the top, it allows your "car" to freefall to the bottom. I have been one who has always wanted to parachute. On this ride you reach speeds over 50MPH on the way down and have over 3 seconds of weightlessness. Shanon did not like it and Molly wouldn't go on it, but Evan and I made half a dozen trips on it.

Collin really enjoyed the steel venom that takes you straight up into the air at a 90 degree angle at 70MPH and gives you a little twist.

It was a quiet day at the park with light traffic so we waited in very short lines for our rides and after about 3PM actually walked right onto many of the rides.
A great day was had by all.

Memorial Day:Praise You in the Storm

2008-05-26T20:31:00.002-05:00

Praise You in This Storm
words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

Chorus

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

Chorus

Over the HIll Surprise

2008-05-26T09:49:00.002-05:00

As you may know, earlier this month I turned 40. I was hopeful that my loved ones would forget about it or at least forget it was the big 4-0. Back at Easter time my mom had me look something up for her on her computer and her email inbox was open. I saw a message from my sister and the subject line said Re:Christine's Birthday. I very quickly closed it not wanting to ruin any surprises they may have had for me but for the two weeks preceding my birthday and following it, I was definitely on guard. On my birthday, mom brought a cake to our bible study for all to share and I thought I had gotten by pretty easily. Then on Mother's Day while at my parents home, cake was served and all present sang Happy Birthday to me. I wiped the sweat from my brow and was thrilled I got by.

This past Saturday we went to my parents lake home to celebrate Memorial Day. I was told that my aunt would be down from Alexandria that day as well as my sister and another aunt and uncle from the cities. We arrived just before noon to find a lot of people and food and balloons, cards, and Over the Hill signs all over the house. Come to find out, my mom and sis had been planning this for a long time and Shannon helped by providing part of the guest list. I was completely caught off guard and very surprised.

It was a fun day of visiting with extended family and friends and great to see relationships from different areas of my life all in one place. The children in attendance played in and around the lake while adults supervised and visited, laughed and told stories. It was a great day.

They say 40 is the top of the hill. Boy am I glad. Climbing hills is tough work. Just this past winter the kids and I traveled to a large hill about 30 miles from here bringing our sleds for a great day of sledding. The hill is huge, the snow was perfect, the weather chilly with a brisk wind. We chose the less windy side to sled on and began our ascent to the top. We reached the top, panting but with great anticipation and each plopped onto our sleds and began our trips down. What fun it was, the breeze in our faces, the snow kicked up into our faces and that tingle as it melted there. The speed, the bumps, the tree we barely missed, the slowing to a stop, giggling and standing up to turn around and look at the steep ascent ahead of us again. Our day of sledding ended up becoming about two hours of sledding due to our complete and total exhaustion after climbing that hill a dozen or more times.

As I look upon my life, I am thrilled to be at the top of the hill. The climb has been tough. There have been times I wanted to give up. There have been times I wondered if it was worth it. There have been tears and anger and frustration and yet there has been hope and love and laughter. The view from the top is great. The best is yet to come and I know that God still has huge things ahead for me and my family. I look with great expectancy to the ride down...and hope I miss the trees.

Please pray for the family of Steven Curtis Chapman

2008-05-22T07:59:00.003-05:00

By Joe Edwards, The Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The five-year-old daughter of contemporary Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman was struck and killed Wednesday by a sport utility vehicle driven by her brother, authorities said.

The girl, Maria, was hit in a driveway on the family residence Wednesday afternoon by a Toyota Land Cruiser driven by her teenage brother, said Laura McPherson, a spokesman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

McPherson said no charges are expected.

"It looks like a tragic accident," she said.

She said several members of the Chapman family witnessed the accident, which happened in Williamson County just south of Nashville.

The brother apparently did not see the little girl, McPherson said. She did not have the name or exact age of the brother, only that he is an older teenager.

The girl died later at Vanderbilt Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Laurie Holloway said.

Chapman, originally from Paducah, Ky., and his wife have promoted international adoption and have three daughters from China, including Maria.

Chapman has won five Grammy awards and 51 Dove awards from the Gospel Music Association.

The singer's website said that Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, were persuaded by their oldest daughter to adopt a girl from China. The experience led the family to adopt two more children and create Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation and ministry to financially assist thousands of couples in adoption.

The Chapmans did missionary work at Chinese orphanages in 2006 and 2007, according to the website.

"After our first trip to China, my wife and I knew our lives were changing - our eyes and hearts were opening to how big God really is, and we have wanted to experience more of that," Chapman says on the website. "We've really wondered whether or not we should just go to China and stay there. But I don't think so. I believe God is saying, 'I want you to go, get your heart broken, your eyes opened, and then take this story back to the church in America and around the world."'

Chapman also has released a book about being a father entitled "Cinderella: The Love of Daddy and his Princess."

Here is a video of Steven Curtis Chapman with his daughter Maria.

Here a chick, there a chick, everywhere a chick, chick...

2008-05-14T07:32:00.005-05:00

The chicks are here! At 11PM last night I got a phone call from the post office hub that our mail comes from. They knew I was wanting to pick the chicks up as soon as they arrived so called me before I had a chance to call them. Molly and Evan and I piled into the van(we can do that since they are homeschooled and can sleep in you know). We arrived at the back door of the post office to be handed a box full of peeps. We opened them right there on the spot, recommended by the hatcheries in case of any DOA chicks. Everyone was healthy and well and the count was exactly 20 as we had ordered. There are 5 each of 4 different breeds. Here are pictures of what they should look like when they grow up.

This first picture is of a Silver Laced Wyandotte.

This is a Plymouth Barred Rock. This breed was the most popular and familiar barnyard chicken for several generations.

This is a Buff Orpington. These will be our biggest and fluffiest hens. They make great meat birds too.

The last 5 chicks are a cross between two types of chickens-the Rhode Island Red shown here and the Delaware below. We are anxious to see what they end up looking like.

And of course, not to be forgotten are the two we got from a friend last week. They are supposed to be Aracuanas but we are not yet sure if they will be hens or roosters. I think one may e either a rooster or a different breed due to its size and coloring. Time will tell.

All of our chickens except for the Araucuanas will lay brown eggs. The Araucuanas will lay either green or blue eggs. There is no nutritional difference between the different colored eggs.

All of the chicks are in a children's wading pool in our basement. There are pine shavings on the floor and a heat lamp hanging above for warmth. After several hours we decided we needed to separate the two larger ones from the little ones. They were picking a bit on the youngers. This is fairly common and by placing the two in a small wire cage set inside the pool they will still be able to get used to the new babies and should be able to be placed all together in about a week. The cages bars are actually set far enough apart that the babies can get in with the biggers but the biggers can't get out. This way the babies can leave if they need to. Everyone is eating and drinking nicely. We are very happy with our chicken family.

Stop that before someone gets hurt!

2008-05-13T09:07:00.003-05:00

My mom used to say that when I was young and would wrestle on the floor with my dad. I hated when she's say that but there is a lot of value in the phrase. Around our home, with 5 kids and a husband in the house, wrestling is common place and it usually doesn't end until I either make them stop or someone gets hurt.

Last night Collin and Shannon were wrestling and I couldn't pass up the temptation to join them. Collin is incredibly ticklish under his arms and along his sides. I just had to help Shannon get him good. So, how do you think it ended?

As you can see, I ended up getting the worst of it when Collin's elbow connected with my upper cheek right below the eye socket. We have several outings planned over the next couple of days so I won't be able to hide out in the house until it disappears either. Next time I think I'll say, "Stop that before someone gets hurt!"

Statement of Faith #15-Final Judgement

2008-05-08T09:59:00.002-05:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #15-There will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised and judged according to their works. Whosoever is not found in the Book of Life, together with the devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, will be consigned to the everlasting punishment in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

There are actually two separate judgments in the end times. There is the Judgment Seat of Christ which is a judgment for believers only. This will not be a judgment for sin but rather where Christians will receive their rewards based on what we have done for Christ during our time on earth. The other judgment, the Great White Throne Judgment, will take place after the Second Coming and the Battle of Armageddon and is a judgment of sin reserved for those who rejected Christ as their savior. It is at this judgment that those people will be condemned to punishment, forever, in the lake of fire, otherwise known as hell.

As the doctrine class has moved into the lessons involving the end times it has been enjoyable watching the 6th graders really begin showing interest in what they are learning. So much of doctrine is really over their heads(and mine for that matter,LOL) when it comes to a complete understanding. I have told the teachers that in many ways I think the class would be better for high schoolers. The problem is, that often, by high school, it is hard to get them to attend. Anyway, each week for several weeks now the questions have taken up more of the time than the actual teaching itself. Of course, so many of the questions, especially in regards to the End Times and prophecy are hard to answer and based upon what we read in the bible that is usually written in symbolic form.

I guess I will end this post the same way I ended another recent one. All that seriously matters to me about the end times is that I make sure that I am living a Christian life today and never give that up even In the most difficult times. I need to remember that I could enter eternity at any time between now and the "end times."

Statement of Faith #14-Millennial Reign of Christ

2008-05-07T16:04:00.003-05:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #14-The second coming of Christ includes the rapture of the saints, which is our blessed hope, followed by the visible return of Christ with His saints to reign on earth for one thousand years. This millennial reign will bring the salvation of national Israel, and the establishment of universal peace.

We believe that at the end of the 7 year tribulation, Christ will return to the earth to establish his reign for 1000 years. During this time there will be no war as there will be an establishment of universal peace. In Isaiah 11:6-10 and 12 the bible speaks of the lion and the lamb lying together, child leading the animals, an infant playing near the hole of a cobra. It will be a truly peaceful and wonderful place. All of this will occur after the Battle of Armageddon in which after the tribulation, Christ arrives on the earth and their is a great and bloody battle with Satan and his army. Satan will lose and will be bound during the thousand years.

Also in the bible, in Ezekiel 7:21-23, it says that God will bring the salvation of Israel. "This is what the sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people and I will be their God."

"He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. THey will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken." Micah 4:3-4

No chicks yet

2008-05-07T15:54:00.003-05:00

We received a phone call yesterday on the answering machine. Our 20 chicks were not shipped from the hatchery. It sounds like they will be able to ship to us next Monday though. We have a home all ready for them.

The one above is not a photo of ours. Ours in fact, is a child's wading pool, lined with pine shavings. There is a container for food and one for water. In actuality it is unfair to say "no chicks yet" since we know someone from church that has chickens. He had a bunch of chicks born just last weekend and on Sunday morning offered us some. He has Aracuanas, otherwise known as Easter Egg chickens because they lay eggs that are in shades of blue and green. This is a breed of chicken we had wanted to order but was unavailable until later in June so we had changed our order to a different breed. Anyway, we picked up two of those chicks Sunday evening. So we have two tiny little chicks in a wading pol. They look kind of lonely in there but are satisfying our chick craving until we get the others next week.

Statement of Faith #13-The Blessed Hope/The Rapture

2008-04-29T08:57:00.003-05:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #13-The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord is the imminent and blessed hope of the church.

The rapture is, in short, when God will remove the Christians from the earth and take them to join Him in heaven without dying first. There are many different opinions about the rapture-Pre-Trib where the Christians are taken up before the 7 year tribulation, Mid-Trib where they are removed in the middle of the 7 year tribulation and Post-Trib where they are taken up to heaven after the tribulation. The Assembly of God church believes that the rapture will occur before the 7 year tribulation.

In general the time line will be that just before the 7 year tribulation, all Christians will be raptured or caught up into the air with Jesus. There will be two men working in a field and one will be gone while the other remains, two sitting together and one is gone while the second remains. Then there will be a 7 year tribulation or a period of very difficult times. It is 7 years when God is trying to draw the people of Israel to Him. During the tribulation, the Anti-Christ will be revealed and God will perform spectacular things. We believe that there will be 144,000 saved in this time frame as spoken about in Rev. 7:9-17. At the end of the 7 years will be the revelation or second coming of Christ and the Battle of Armageddon will occur and Satan will be bound. Then will come the millennial reign or 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ on earth and after that the GreatWhite Throne Judgment when nonbelievers will be resurrected and brought before the Lord for judgment. Satan will be cast into Hell and there shall be a new heavens and earth for the rest of eternity.

To try to explain the end times here in one post as I believe it to be, is not possible and in all honesty I still have some questions about the Rapture and other end times events myself. Shannon and I are hoping to study about this at a later date in more detail. Ultimately, what this entire doctrinal statement comes down to for myself is that I need to be sure that I am a believer in Christ because I have no way of knowing exactly at what time God will choose to remove me from this earth, whether it be through death or the rapture. I need to also remember that no matter when my death or the rapture should occur, as long as I remain faithful to Christ and do not allow myself to renounce Him under any circumstances I will live with Him forever.

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the LOrd forever." 1 Thess. 4:16-17

End Time Glory Spring 2008 Conference

2008-04-24T08:58:00.002-05:00

It is the weekend for the spring 2008 Glory Conference. You can find more information here. Feel free to join us there. We'd love to see you. Take note of the location since it has changed since the last one. It is sure to be a blessed time with praise and worship and good teachings. I won't be blogging until next week now as we will be busy attending and ministering at the conference.

Statement of Faith #12-Divine Healing

2008-04-23T13:41:00.003-05:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #12-Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, and is the privilege of all believers.

Throughout the bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, are examples of Divine healing. Some who were healed were Jews and non-Jews with blindness, leprosy crippling conditions and even death. Because we believe in an unchanging and merciful God, it is also a very large part of our belief system to believe that God still heals. Sometimes He uses doctors to accomplish the healing and other times there is no scientific explanation for a healing. I have seen this personally in those I have prayed for in church, at home or overseas. I have seen healings of blindness, deafness, fibromyalgia, and other physical problems. Several years ago a man was completely healed of his Multiple Sclerosis right in our current church. He is now a pastor.

This is such an important part of what we believe we use the word integral in the statement of faith. Integral means that it is necessary for completeness or essential to our faith.

Even though we believe that God does still heal, we cannot find ourselves focusing on those times where He does not. It is quite common, especially in less developed countries, but I have seen it here as well, for Christians to believe that if they are not healed, it is because they do not have enough faith or because they still have sin in their lives. That is not true. There are times that even though we are not miraculously healed we need to remember that God is still using that condition or illness to His glory. He may be refining the person with the malady but more often, in my opinion, it is because He is using that person's ongoing faithfulness and love to God as an example to others around them. Both Christians and non-Christians cannot help but notice when someone remains peaceful and calm through the bad times as well as the good. Your actions and attitude through the storm will often be more of a witness to God for those around you.

"He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. As you go, preach this message: The kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, and drive out demons." -Matthew 10:1,2,8,9

Chickens!

2008-04-22T11:19:00.005-05:00

On May 5th there will be 20 newly hatched chicks that will be placed in a box with a shipping label to Minnesota. They are coming here, to our house!

Before you call us impulsive, as some who have known us for a long time think we are, may I say that we have been considering having chickens here on our 6 acres since we moved out here in 1997 and have been considering it more seriously for a couple of years now. After some research, talking with a cousin(Thanks Minke!)and discussion as a couple then as a family, we have decided this is something we want to do. Here are some reasons why.

Chickens are easy to care for and make a good family project. They are inexpensive to purchase and to keep. They lay eggs. The cost of groceries continues to climb and the nutritional value of eggs cannot be denied. Our family likes eggs and eats a lot of them. Home grown eggs usually have better, more flavorful yolks and are just plain better for you than store bought. Imagine, collecting the eggs just a few minutes before cooking them. Finally, this reason being one of the biggest to us, is that we are eventually going to be moving to Tanzania where we are hoping to have a mini-working farm within the ministry to help feed and support the children in the orphanage. We know chickens will be one of the first animals there and that we will be raising and eating a lot of them. Anything we can learn to do here in the relative comfort of our own culture seems like it would be a benefit in the long run. Although, we aren't quite ready to branch out into goats, cows and pigs yet, we know that will come once we are over there.

Call us crazy if you will but this is one of the least crazy decisions we have made in a long time.

Edited to add:For those with chicken knowledge who may want to know, here are the breeds we ordered. We have 5 of each coming to us-Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, Silver Laced Wyandotte and a Rhode Island Red/Delaware Hybrid. We chose based on our research of personalities and egg laying capabilities as well as looks. The rest of the decision lay in how long we wanted to wait for our chicks. One breed we were considering would have held up delivery until June so we decided on a different breed. For those without the knowledge, there will be pictures later.

Tags or Labels

2008-04-20T18:38:00.004-05:00

I wanted to let everyone know that I have finally decided to add tags to my posts. Tags are simple "search" words that are assigned to each post. These tags can then later be used to help search for posts on specific subjects within the blog. For example, "doctrine" would bring up all of the doctrine related posts or just for fun would bring up jokes or funny videos I have posted. My tags will eventually all be listed on the side of the blog where clicking on them will bring up the related posts.

I have found that even I, the author of this hang out, am often unable to find my own posts to refer to later so I am hoping this will be helpful to myself as well as our readers. Give me some time to get this done. I hope to eventually get every post, all 215 of them, tagged.

Statement of Faith #11-The Ministry

2008-04-20T17:16:00.003-05:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #11-A divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry has been provided by our Lord for the threefold purpose of leading the Church in: 1)Evangelization of the World. 2)Worship of God. 3)Building a body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son.

In class we actually covered this statement of faith on the same day as the church and its ministry. These two statements are so closely related that they kind of blur together. Ultimately, in a nutshell, this statements says that we believe that those in authority in the church have been selected or appointed for duty and called by GOd to be our leaders.

We also believe that the various positions of church leadership were put into place, ordered, established and explained in the scriptures as follows.
Apostle-a person sent by another, a messenger Luke 6:14-15
Deacon-a servant Acts 6:5-6
Disciple-a student, follower of Christ
Elder-a person of authority entitled to respect Eph 4:11, Acts 20:38, Heb 13:7, 1 Thes. 5:12, Numbers 22:7
Evangelist-preacher of the gospel
Overseer-another term for elder
Pastor-another term for elder
Prophet-a spokesman for God and speaks with God's authority

1 Timothy 3:2-13 and Titus 1:5-9 give the requirements for leadership.

The purpose then of the church leadership is to lead and direct the members of he church at large to do the three duties of the church mentioned in Statement of Faith #10. Namely, evangelization of the world, worship of God and Building a body of saints.

It is important for us as church members to be constantly in prayer for the leaders in our churches. Often, it is the church leadership that Satan attacks the hardest. This is because if the leader can be brought down many, many followers will be too.

Statement of Faith #10-The Church and Its Mission

2008-04-16T07:27:00.004-05:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #10-"The Church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven."

I have known people who did not want to be members or attenders of a church. Sometimes it is because they just don't want to take the time to go, and often it is because they have been hurt emotionally by members of a church and they have decided they don't want to attend anymore. Ultimately, whatever the reason may be doesn't matter. As a Christian it is very important to be a part of a church. This particular statement refers to Christians, who as a group, make up the body of Christ, the church. It refers to the importance of believers needing to be part of a larger group of Christians. That larger group is responsible for encouraging, teaching, leading, helping and supporting as well as holding us accountable to our Christian beliefs.

There are three main purposes to the church. The first is to evangelize the world. We cannot reach the people of the world alone. Each of us does not have enough resources or time to do so. However, working together, we can financially support missionaries overseas as well as ministries locally. Our prayers put together accomplish more than they do alone.

Another main purpose of the church is to worship God together. We can come together and with or without music, praise God as a group. It is often within a group that great things happen-prophecies are spoken, prayers for each other happen and the power of a group of united Christians cannot be denied.

Another purpose for the church is to build up the body of saints. We can edify each other through teaching, discipleship and fellowship. It is very important that we spend time with those who believe similar to ourselves. Iron sharpens iron they say and working together we can all become stronger Christians. I do not want to ignore that there are times that other members of a church hurt us. Within a church there can be disagreements and pain and I want to refer you to another post of mine written last summer about porcupines to address that issue.

If you are not involved in a Christian church right now I would encourage you to become so. It can be one of the best things for you and you can also be good for the others there. If you currently are involved in a church that is great and I hope you find it to be a good thing for your Christian walk. If it is not, then you may need to find a different church, but do not go without church altogether. And no matter what, do your best to keep those porcupine quills at bay.

"You are...fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." Ephesians 2:19-22

Another just for fun video...

2008-04-15T16:48:00.003-05:00

This one is only a 30 second long commercial so for those of you still on dial-up, it will only take you half a day to see it.

I promise, I'll get serious again soon. I have several doctrine posts to do to get caught up to where we are in the class.

Statement of Faith #9-Sanctification

2008-04-10T07:36:00.003-05:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #9-Sanctification is an act of separation from that which is evil and of dedication unto God. The scriptures teach a life of "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord." By the power of the Holy Ghost we are able to obey the command: "Be ye holy, for I am holy." Sanctification is realized in the believer by recognizing his identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, and by the faith reckoning daily upon the fact of that union, and by offering every faculty continually to the dominion of the Holy Spirit.

Sanctification is a big word and rightly so, it represents a big thing. Sanctification occurs when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior (instantaneous sanctification). It is also an ongoing process that we call progressive sanctification and eventually leads to final sanctification when we reach glory in heaven.

According to Romans 12:2 God calls us to separate ourselves from the world and devote ourselves to righteous living. In reality, this is an ongoing process. I know there are many non-Christians who look at Christians and see ongoing sin. This is reality. A pastor at our church has said that we are all sinners, saved by grace and unfortunately, we are all hypocrites. Becoming a Christian does not make us automatically sinless. We must continue to struggle against sin on a daily basis. It is necessary that we maintain a constant state of awareness and vigilance against evil in our lives. But, the Holy Spirit living inside us gives us the power we need to overcome sin. Do we always choose properly? Unfortunately we don't and I thank God for his continuous grace.

Please, if you are not currently a Christian, do not allow someone else's Christianity, or lack of it to affect your own personal decision. On judgment day you will need to answer for yourself alone and not for those around you. Another person's unwillingness to live a righteous life will not be a valid excuse for your own unwillingness to accept Jesus as Lord over your own life.

"I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2

Wordless Wednesday-For the Birds

2008-04-09T07:22:00.006-05:00

Last night we looked out our window to see A LOT of birds on the power line out in front of our house. There were a bunch of them and they were making quite a racket. We talked of how it reminded us of a short cartoon we saw for the first time back about 5 years ago. We had taken the children to see the film Monsters, Inc and there was a short clip on the front end of the movie. We enjoyed that several minutes far more than the movie that followed. Pixar animation is known for their short cartoons and we actually bought a DVD containing about 20 of them several months ago. If you haven't seen this one, take a look, if you have, take another look. It's worth a laugh.

Home again and camera program working

2008-04-08T07:20:00.005-05:00

I arrived home safely on Friday evening. It is always good to be home but I hadn't missed the laundry and cooking that were waiting for me to return. I am still working on getting the laundry caught up again. I ended up putting in a full work day again on Saturday-4 hours on the mail route and 8 hours on Census work. Shannon had done a good job of holding down the fort while I was away and everyone got where they needed to all week and was cared for. He did have some help from his parents for a few days while Molly and E stayed with them.

The photo program on the computer is working again so here is the photo I wanted to share with you a couple of weeks ago. This is E, anxious for spring. The temperature was in the high 40's that day and the snow was melting fast. If you notice, you will see that he is barefooted in the picture and he had to walk through the snow to get to his location. Brrrr. I was just so humored by the picture and it wouldn't have surprised me if he had taken a book with him out there since he is such a reader.

I am hoping to start writing the Statement of Faith posts again. Molly and I missed the class on Sanctification because we were at quilt retreat but they videotaped it for us so as soon as we can sit down and watch that I will post-hopefully yet this week. Some of you have told me you are anxious for them to start again. Stick with me...they're coming.

A Weekend Retreat and Weekday Drive

2008-03-31T19:10:00.003-05:00

Molly and I returned yesterday afternoon from quilt retreat. We had a great time with friends and relatives visiting and working on our latest quilts. Molly and I were up until 1AM Saturday morning and 2AM Sunday morning working on our quilts. Both mornings we were awake again around 7. Sleep was not our goal, quilting was. Molly came home with a completed quilt. All she has left to do on it is to hand stitch around the outside edge to attatch the binding. She was complimented over and over for her maturity and ability to stay focused on her project. I was very proud of her. She made the quilt for a young girl whose house burnt down a few months ago and hopefully we can get it to her next week or so. I will try to get a photo of it to post here too. My quilt is in the finishing stages as well and although it is peiced, and pinned with the batting and backing it still needs a bit more quilting stitching on it before adding the binding.

This morning I left home for more trainig for my job with the Census Bureau. The first two hours took me about 3 to drive because of the blizzard that was happening in Minnesota when I left home this morning. I saw at least 20 cars in the ditch before hitting the Iowa border. Even after I was on the interstate the driving was dificult as there was so much slushy snow on the roads. Changing lanes was nearly impossible and was likely what caused most of the cars in the ditch to be there. Once I got into Iowa things setled down a bit as the snow changed to rain and wind. I arrived here at the hotel in Kansas City around 5, about 9 1/2 hours after leaving home. I could have flown at the Bureau's expense but after my last experience with that(last spring I had my flight cancelled home-I ended up going through Houston, Texas to get home!) I didn't want to do that again. Driving doesn't take much longer than flying and I am paid mileage so it works out.

Pray for the family back home, that they function well without me. It is a scheduling nightmare to get everyone cared for when I am away with Shannon's schedule but we think we have it worked out. I believe they have quite a bit of snow up there again-7-10 inches had been predicted when I left home an I know school was let our early because of the snow too.

Computer problems so no photo

2008-03-28T09:26:00.004-05:00

I am so disappointed. I took a great photo on Thursday and in light of the recent snow pictures I wanted to share it but alas, my computer is confused...again. Our computer is 7 years old and needs an upgrade badly. It is possible that just a proper "dumping" would be helpful and we may need to do that soon. Programs are getting slower, some don't even work, and it seems, at least for now, my camera program is taking a break.

Anyway, I looked out my sliding glass door on Thursday afternoon to see E(10 years old) outside. We have a huge playground out in the back yard and he was sitting on the timber that holds the swings. This timber is about 8 feet up in the air and there he sat, leaning against another post, comfy as could be, sunning himself in the 45 degree weather we were having. What really humored me was that he was dressed in shorts and a sweatshirt with nothing else-no shoes or jacket. He had to go through snow to get there but found boots to be a hindrance. Here in Minnesota, at this time of year even 40 feels pretty warm and I guess E thought so too.

Molly and I head out today to go to quilt retreat at a bible camp. This will be her second retreat and second quilt. It will be my 7th. We both have intended recipients of our quilts already figured out. Hopefully we can get the camera program working soon so I can post photos of our efforts. We are excited to join 12 others of our extended family and friends circle and always enjoy the time of fellowship and fun.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-03-26T09:23:00.004-05:00

Fun in the snow last Friday. The little dog could hardly get around in it. It sounds like there is more snow coming over the next few days too. March-it came in like a lamb but it's going out like a lion.

The Folded Napkin

2008-03-25T08:43:00.005-05:00

"So Peter and the other disciple(John)started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed." John 20:1-8

Disclaimer:In my research on this topic, there is some disagreement over the validity of the following. In part the disagreement lies in the biblical translations and whether the napkin itself was actually folded or rolled up. I share it with you because for some reason, John felt it important to share that the face cloth/napkin was definitely separate from the rest of the linens.

What was it about seeing the empty grave linens that made the disciples believe that Jesus had risen from the dead? Was it just the empty strips of fabric lying there that convinced them or is it possible it was the way in which the fabric remained that helped them to believe?

No one knows exactly what thoughts went through Peter and John's mind that morning but it is interesting that although the strips from Jesus body lay in a heap, John took the time to describe that the face cloth, or napkin, was not in a heap but that it had been carefully folded. To you or I, the folded cloth holds little significance, to a couple of men familiar with Jewish culture and looking for their "master", it meant much.

In those days, a Jewish servant would serve his master's dinner at a table carefully prepared with furnishing placed perfectly and a napkin folded at the place his master would sit. The Jewish servant would stand off to the side and wait while his master ate. When the master removed himself from the table, the servant knew, by the placement of the napkin what to do next. If the napkin lay crumpled on the table it meant that the master was finished eating and the servant could clear the table. However, if the master had carefully folded the napkin and placed it on the table, it meant that he was coming back. Jesus was telling his followers that He is coming back!

Let the Veil Down

2008-03-22T16:49:00.004-05:00

I am just finishing the Beth Moore bible study A Woman's Heart. The study has focused on the Old Testament tabernacle and the meaning behind the different parts of it. God was very specific in how He wanted it built and He was just as specific about who was allowed to be inside of it and how they must prepare themselves to be there. The most important part of the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, was the dwelling place of God. Only the high priest could go there at specific times to commune directly with God. There was a veil that separated it from the rest of the tabernacle where the people were.

The video I have placed here is of a song that our choir will be singing tomorrow morning at our church's Easter service. It is such a privilege to be a part of an 80+ member choir, with each and every individual being completely committed and dedicated to giving God our very best in praise and worship. The song speaks of how Christ's death on the cross caused that veil to be torn, literally from top to bottom, in two, allowing us direct access to God. We no longer need to go through the priests to commune directly with our Lord. We can speak with Him directly at anytime and anywhere because of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Let the Veil Down, Let the Praise Go Up!

The First Day of Spring? It is Minnesota after all...

2008-03-21T13:50:00.005-05:00

Here are some photos of what the first official day of spring has brought to our area of Minnesota.

The ruler is a standard 12 inch ruler. In case you can't read it, we had 11+ inches of snow by noon today and it is still snowing heavily out there now, two hours later.

The treeline of our property.

Playing in the snow. The kids even made homemade snow ice cream this morning

More fun in the snow.

Our new snow friend. He is pretty tall, about 8 feet.

Good Friday services at our church have been canceled. I don't believe the girls will be wearing spring dresses with white sandals on Easter this year. Fortunately, it is supposed to be in the 40's and 50's next week so this too shall pass.

143 Million! 1 every 18 seconds!

2008-03-19T08:41:00.003-05:00

What would God have you do to help the orphans? Can you sponsor a child through an organization such as Compassion International? How about spiritually and financially supporting a missionary helping orphans? Maybe God would even have you consider adopting one of these children as your own.

Thanks to my friend Renee at Steppin' Heavenward for posting this so I would see it and be able to share it with you.

Movie Review: Horton Hears a Who

2008-03-17T09:16:00.005-05:00

Shannon and I took the 4 youngest, ages 9-15, to see this movie over the weekend. Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss has been one of my favorite children's books since I worked at a local Crisis Pregnancy Center. The movie has been added to, as it needed to be, to fill up an hour and half on the big screen but the main message, "A person is a person, no matter how small," remains.

The story focuses around a bumbling elephant named Horton, who discovers a miniature world on a speck of dust that he carries around on a flower in his efforts to save it from destruction. The rest of the jungle creatures seem unable to hear the voices coming from the speck, likely because their ears are nowhere near as large as the lovable Horton. The jungle animals, include an over-protective, domineering, nearly abusive "pouch schooling" kangaroo mama and her poor unsocialized joey who says that Horton is causing the children to use their imaginations and not to think for themselves. That was an area the filmmakers seemed to have a theme going on throughout the movie that was offensive to me but also allowed for some good conversation with our children who do not feel the way the producers implied homeschooling to be. It was noticeable though that it was the young pouch schooled joey that ultimately saved the speck from its intended hot oil destruction, therefore thinking for himself and making the right decision. A few usages of the words boob and idiot spattered through the movie could be offensive to some as well.

As a family we were able to discuss homeschooling, the value of life including the unborn and the protection of God for his people. We also talked about the filmmakers efforts to sway people's opinions and thoughts on certain subjects. Overall, we give the movie 6 thumbs up.

A good clean joke-Pastor's business card

2008-03-13T16:31:00.001-05:00

A new pastor was visiting the homes of his parishioners.

At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home,

but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door.

Therefore, he took out a business card and wrote 'Revelation 3:20' on the back of it and stuck it in the door.
When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned.
Added to it was this cryptic message, 'Genesis 3:10.'
Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter.

Revelation 3:20 begins 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.'

Genesis 3:10 reads, 'I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked.'

Here's what's happening

2008-03-11T16:43:00.003-05:00

First I want to let you know that I will be taking a break from my doctrine posts for a couple of weeks. This coming Sunday in class the kids are taking their first test which will be on the first 8 statements of faith. The next Sunday is Easter with no class so the next class will be on the 30th. Unfortunately, Molly and I will miss that class as we will be attending another quilt retreat that weekend. I hope to post that week with the next statement anyway.

Next, I wanted to update you on how things are going with Tanzania. I know that things seem to be moving along slowly but first of all, we continue to remember that God's timing is perfect. God will have us there exactly when He wants us there. He will not send us too soon, before we are ready or before everything is in place for it to happen. It is important to remember too, that as slowly as things may seem to move in America, in Africa they usually move slower. The culture there is much more laid back. Schedules are fairly unimportant, a meeting set up for 10AM may not take place until 2PM, or maybe even the next day since many businesses and government offices close for the day very early in the afternoon.

Pastor Richard has made several trips to the area where the ministry was gifted land by the government. As I have stated in the past, the land lies across a channel from the main city of Mwanza and is accessed by a ferry. He was shown two different plots of land and given a choice. He says the land he chose is very beautiful and is located right on Lake Victoria. We have been told that it is approximately 30 acres. In Tanzania, the majority of people do not own property. Rather they find an empty spot to build and build. They are, in effect, squatters. In the year 2006, the Tanzanian government passed a law that says any entity taking ownership of property must reimburse those currently living on the land so they can rebuild elsewhere. The first number we were told was $1000 per acre. Pastor Richard has talked to someone who has lowered that down to $500 per acre. Pastor Richard is still negotiating with the powers that be over there for the property. What we have discovered is that free doesn't exactly mean free. So we continue to wait on the finalization of that.

In the meantime, End Time Glory Ministries has filed an application with a ministry here in the US that provides architectural and designing help for Christian organizations looking to start ministries overseas. If they approve us as someone they want to help, they would travel to the property possibly as early as this fall to look it over and come up with a culturally acceptable layout and architectural designs for the property. They would also provide cost estimates and fund raising brochures for the end project.

The directors and board of the ministry and Shannon and I are currently thinking that we could be looking at a move sometime in 2009, possibly as early as spring. We are all aware that there is a lot to be done before we could move including selling our home and fund raising and of course the exact move date would be affected by those factors as well. None of us feel comfortable putting too much else into process until the details of the land get worked out.

All of this to say, we need prayer. Please pray for the property, for the approval from the other ministry that may help us and the other details involved. We so appreciate all of you who just continue to pray with us for God's will in this entire project and we look forward to seeing how God continues to work.

Statement of Faith #8-Speaking in Tongues

2008-03-10T07:58:00.003-05:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #8-The baptism of believers in the Holy Ghost is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance. The speaking in tongues in this instance is the same in essence as the gift of tongues, but it is different in purpose and use.

As I stated in lesson 7, the gift of tongues is one of many gifts from the Holy Spirit. In our church, we believe that at the time of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the believer, now filled with the Holy Spirit, will begin to speak in unfamiliar words. This is the initial physical evidence of infilling of the Holy Spirit.

We also believe there are a couple of other situations when tongues will be spoken. The first, as stated above, is as the initial evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Another is during an individual's personal prayer time.(Romans 8:26,27) It is a time when the Holy Spirit, prays through our mouths in a language we do not know. It is a submission of ourselves to service and the Holy Spirit prays what He wants prayed because our minds and thoughts are removed from the prayers. One could wonder then, what the purpose is in allowing the Holy Spirit to do this when the Holy Spirit can do it without us. That gets back to the original idea of why we pray at all. It is because it is something God asks us to do, it is an act of submission and obedience and love to Him.

The third situation where tongues are spoken is when, on occasion, the Holy Spirit will speak through someone in the church to minister to the entire church(1 Corinthians 14:26,27). It is when this is done, when a message is given in tongues to the church body in attendance, that an interpretation in a familiar language will also be provided, often through a completely different person. This is done to edify the people. I will never forget the first time I experienced this. We were standing in a church service during praise and worship when a loud voice came from the balcony. I looked up to see a friend of ours speaking, but it was obvious it was not of himself. His voice was a bit different and he was not speaking in English. After he was done, the church attenders waited in silence for several moments and then, from across the building, another member spoke in English an interpretation of what had been said. Also, On Monday evenings we used to get together with a small group of believers for praise and prayer. It was a mixed group of people and some spoke only Spanish. A friend of mine was ministering and praying in tongues over a Spanish speaking believer. There was another there who spoke Spanish that was interpreting my friends tongues into Spanish for the person being ministered over.

It is important for us to remember that God still works in the Christian church today in the same ways He did in the early church. God would not take away a gift for the early church from us now. In 1 Corinthians 14:39, the bible warns, "Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues." This is one of the many gifts of the Holy Spirit, not more important than any others but just as important. It should be welcomed and encouraged.

"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. " Acts 2:4

Statement of Faith #7-Baptism in the Holy Spirit

2008-03-04T07:36:00.004-06:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #7-All believers are entitled to, and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Ghost and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian church. With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry. This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth. With the baptism in the Holy Ghost come such experiences as:an overflowing fullness of the Spirit, a deepened reverence for God, an intensified consecration to God and dedication to His work, and a more active love for Christ, for His word and for the lost.

In Joel 2:28 it states,"I will pour out my spirit on all people...everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Then in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4, Jesus tells his followers(those who are already saved) to wait for the arrival of the Holy Spirit to come and give them power. We can read over and over in the bible, in the early days of the Christian church, of the Holy Spirit coming upon believers and as a different and separate event than salvation.(Acts 11:15, Acts 15:7-9, Acts 8:16) In our church we believe that, at the time of salvation the Holy Spirit comes into the believer to help guide them and change their life. We call it an indwelling of the Holy Spirit but we also believe that, sometimes, at the time of salvation, but more often at a later time, the Holy Spirit fills the person to give them a greater power for living and ministry, an infilling of the Holy Spirit.

With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit come the fruits of the spirit into the person's life-love, joy , peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control(Gal. 5:22). With the infilling of the Holy Spirit come the gifts of the spirit-wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues and interpretation(1 Cor 12). Those gifts of the spirit provide the believer a certain power not only for daily living but for ministry as well. Not all who have been filled with the Holy Spirit will receive all of the gifts. According to 1 Cor. 12:7-11, and 13, the Holy Spirit gives the gifts to each as he sees fit for the betterment of the church.
It is important too, to remember that the Assembly of God church believes we have an unchanging God and that He still works the same with Christians today as He did with them in the early church days. This is why we still believe that healings, miracles, prophecy and other gifts of the Spirit are still for today. More will come about that in later statements of faith as well.

Although this is a main doctrinal statement of our church and most other churches do not teach it or even believe in it, I have seen people from many other denominations receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Often, they do not know what it is or what happened that changed them and often they know exactly what it is. I also know many people in my own denomination that have not yet received it or are not even seeking it. I just know that I do believe in it, that I have experienced it(as have Shannon, Collin and Molly) and that I desire all to receive it.

To receive the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit one must first be saved(John 14:16,17). The person should be obedient to God(Acts 5:32), ask(Luke 11:13) and believe(Galatians 3:14).

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

Statement of Faith #6 Part 2-Holy Communion

2008-02-29T08:27:00.003-06:00

I just want to remind you that this is part two of the sixth Assembly of God statements of faith. I broke it into two parts for ease of posting.

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #6(second half)-The Lord's supper, consisting of the elements-bread and the fruit of the vine-is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ, a memorial of His suffering and death, and a prophecy of His second coming, and is enjoined on all believers "until He come!"

As I explained yesterday, the belief of the Assembly of God church is that Holy Communion, or the Lord's supper, is considered to us to be an ordinance. That is, a command that has been given to us through the Word, that as Christians, we are expected to obey. It is not a requirement of our Christianity or something that makes us more Holy but is a simple act of obedience that we wish to do.

Communion is a symbol of our sharing in the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. God created us in His image and in 2 Peter 1:4(NIVC) it states, "Through His glory and goodness...you can share in being like God."

It is a memorial of His suffering and death. The bread reminds of His bodily sacrifice on the cross while the wine/juice helps us to remember His shed blood. 1 Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 16 states, "The cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks is a participation in the blood of Christ. The bread that we break (is) a participation in the body of Christ." Some denominations believe that the bread and wine actually become His body and blood through transubstantiation. We simply believe that the bread and wine represent those two things, that they serve as a reminder to us of His body and blood, shed for us on the cross.

It is a prophecy of His second coming by reminding us that Jesus promised we would be with Him in glory. (Matthew 26:26-29)

And finally it is asked of all believers until He comes. This refers to the fact that this is a command, an order of Jesus to partake in if we want to walk in obedience. It is a visible representation of invisible realities. Communion reminds us that Jesus will come to take us home with Him to heaven.

"Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." -1 Corinthians 11:26

Statement of Faith #6 Part 1-Water Baptism

2008-02-28T07:26:00.004-06:00

Just to clarify, I am dividing the 6th Statement of Faith into two separate posts so I can cover the two parts-Water Baptism and Holy Communion-in more detail.

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #6(Part 1)-
*The ordinance of baptism by immersion is commanded by the scriptures. All who repent and believe on Christ as Savior and Lord are to be baptized. Thus they declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that they also have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life.

In our church we believe that participation in water baptism and holy communion does not make us a Christian but rather they are symbols of what Christianity means to us. Let me explain, we believe that the two acts are ordinances while some denominations believe that baptism and communion are sacraments. An ordinance is an outward sign of an inward grace. It is a ceremony commanded by Christ and in the church as a part our public worship and prayer lives. The Assembly of God though believes that participation in the two ordinances is an act of obedience and that we do not become more holy or receive more grace by doing them.

In regards to water baptism, we believe that total immersion is scriptural. The root word of baptism is baptizo which means "to immerse." When being immersed, the water does not actually wash away our sin but it represents the washing away of sin and removal of our old selves. Coming up out of the water represents rising into our new Christian lives. The bible states in Romans 6:4, "We were buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

Because of the meaning of baptism to us, we do not feel it is a choice we can make for someone. This is why in our church, we wait to baptize until the person reaches the age of accountability and is able to make the choice of Christianity for himself. Often one will see older children or teens baptized but more commonly as an adult. Just this past Sunday in our church there were 19 baptisms. Only about 4 of them were children/teens.

When an infant or young child joins our church family at birth or through adoption we perform a child dedication ceremony. This is a time during which the child is welcomed into the family and the parents and church membership dedicate the child to God and pledge to raise the child in a Christian environment in hopes that the child will one day choose Christianity for herself. In Luke 2 Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the temple to be dedicated to the Lord.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." -Matthew 28:19

Worless Wednesday

2008-02-27T08:10:00.003-06:00

Here is the picture, promised awhile back, of Molly with her first quilt. The pattern is called Grandmother's Inspiration and the fabrics that Molly used came completely out of her Grandma Sharon's fabric stash. She cut the pieces with Grandma Sharon before the retreat weekend then pieced the quilt together that weekend. Then it was brought home pinned to the batting and backing where she quilted it, by herself and put the binding around the edge, including the hand stitching.

She is excited to be attending the next quilt retreat coming up in the end of March. She is going to be giving the quilt she makes then to a little girl we know whose house burned to the ground.

Good job, Molly!(And she's only 11)

Statement of Faith #5-The Salvation of Mankind

2008-02-26T07:52:00.004-06:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #5-Mankind's only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Conditions of salvation:Salvation is received through the repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost(Spirit), being justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God, according to the hope of eternal life. Evidence of Salvation:The inward evidence of salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit. The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness.

We learned in the last lesson that all have sinned and that the wages of sin is death.(Romans 6:23)In other words, death must be paid for our sin. God provided a way for our ransom to be paid so that we could continue to have spiritual life after our physical deaths by sending His son, the physical form of Himself and sinless because God is unable to sin. The sacrifice of Jesus is how we receive redemption.

However, there are conditions to receiving this salvation. Just believing in Jesus Christ is not enough. Even Satan believes in Jesus Christ and the demons know His name but they certainly are not able to receive salvation. We receive salvation by recognizing that we are a sinner and that we have a need for redemption and admitting that Jesus Christ is the answer to that.(Romans 10:9) In other words we Admit we are a sinner, we Believe that Jesus Christ is the answer and we Confess that.

Finally, our salvation will be evidenced by a personal knowledge, given to us through the Holy Spirit(Romans 8:16) and will also be shown on the outside by a changed and righteous life(Eph 4:22-24). Does this mean that all Christians never sin again? No. We are all sinners, saved by grace, who still struggle with temptation. We often make bad choices but it is important that we recognize those and repent of our wrongs.

Becoming saved then means that we have become a child of God, adopted into His family. We are now brought into a family relationship with God which gives us all of the rights and privileges of a natural child.(Titus 3:5-7)

This is the Good News!

"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:5-7

Statement of Faith #4-The Creation and Fall of Mankind

2008-02-25T08:48:00.008-06:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #4-Man was created good and upright; for God said, "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness." However, mankind, by voluntary transgression, fell and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God.

This is probably one of the saddest and hardest lessons that we have covered in class so far. In fact it is the saddest lesson we will learn. In Genesis 1:27 the bible tells us that God created mankind in His own image. Something interesting is that after each day of creation, God said, "It is good." However, after He created Adam and Eve, God said, "It is very good." God was very pleased with what He had created. When He breathed life into Adam, He placed inside of mankind an inner self that shares some of God's characteristics- intelligence, will(the power of choice), morality(the knowledge of right and wrong) and sensitivity(the ability to love and be loved. Everything was good.

Then Adam and Eve chose to sin by breaking a rule God had given them in the garden. Gen 3:6 tells of how they took fruit from the one tree He had asked them not to eat from. This was what brought sin into the world, causing all of mankind to be forever affected by that choice. Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Since then man has experienced hard work, sorrow, sickness and physical death. In addition to that man has experienced spiritual death and a separation from God. Physical death refers to the death of the body while spiritual death refers to the death and separation from God of the spirit. It is the part of us that connects and communicates with God.

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." Romans 5:12

But, there is hope! We will learn about that in Lesson #5!

Something to think about

2008-02-14T07:36:00.002-06:00

Statement of Faith #3-The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ

2008-02-11T10:15:00.002-06:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #3-The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. The Scriptures declare:His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His substitutionary work on the cross, His bodily resurrection from the dead, His exaltation to the right hand of God.

The deity, or kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ is another important belief to all Christian religions. According to the Bible, Jesus was born of a virgin(Matt. 1:23 and Luke 1:31-35), lived a sinless life (1Peter 2:22), and performed miracles (Acts 2:22 as well as many specific instances in the gospels). Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. He came to the earth to show us not just who He is but to provide a bridge for the gap that man has created between himself and God through sin. It is because of His sinless life that He was able to do his work on the cross(2 Cor. 5:21)and after He died he was physically resurrected(Matt. 28:6 and Luke 24:39). After appearing to many He was then exalted or raised to the right hand of God(Acts 2:32, 33, Phil. 2:9-10 and Hebrews 1:3)

There are many who do not believe that Jesus is God or that He was only a good man or a prophet at best. When one reads the Old Testament there are dozens of prophecies about the coming Messiah. The prophecies include the circumstances surrounding His birth, where He would be from, the family line He would be from and even how He would die. It is possible for a person to fulfill one or two of these specific prophecies through coincidence but the possibilities of fulfilling more drop dramatically. Here is one site that explains it more thoroughly. According to many experts, the odds of Jesus fulfilling only eight of these prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th power or 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000! There were over 300 prophecies about the Messiah that Jesus Christ fulfilled. How can one even compute the odds of that!

Lord-this word indicates His position as King and supreme authority in our lives
Jesus-His name, we are acknowledging that He was fully man
Christ-this indicates His function as savior of mankind, we are acknowledging that He is fully God

2 Peter 3:18 "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen."

Statement of Faith #2-One True God-Three in One

2008-02-07T09:08:00.002-06:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #2-One True God-Three in One-The one true God has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent "I AM," the creator of heaven and earth and the Redeemer of mankind. He has further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship and association as Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

This doctrine is the basis of Christianity. God the Father, Jesus the man and the Holy Ghost/Spirit are all the same. This is also one of the most difficult for humans to truly understand. How can three things be one? Or for that matter, how can one thing, be three?

Think of water-it can come in three different forms-water(liquid), ice(solid) and steam(gas). How about people? We each have three different parts-our physical body, our mind or soul(what we think with) and our spirit(the part that lives eternally). Each of us as an individual serves many diferent roles. For example I am a mom, a daughter and a wife(as well as many others). Each of those parts of me make me who I am and each of those parts of me communicate with each other to best serve my purpose for the moment. Looking at it this way helps me to better understand the Holy Trinity.

Genesis 1:1 and 2 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." Then in John 1:1-4 it states, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men." These verses tell me that God/the Word and the Holy Spirit are the same entity.

Next we can read in Matthew 1:14a, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." So if God is the Spirit (Gen 1:1-2) and the Word (John 1:1-4) and the Word became flesh (John 1:14) then that tells me that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all one in the same. Just as I fulfill more than one role for different tasks so does God.

God is the all-powerful, Creator who took on the form of man as Jesus to fulfill the role of redeemer to mankind by dying on a cross to pay for our sins. Then after leaving the earth in bodily form He comes to us as the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) to guide us and speak to us through our spirits. Three different purposes, three different forms but all of the same entity.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14

Statement of Faith #1-The Scriptures Inspired

2008-01-30T08:35:00.002-06:00

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #1-The Scriptures Inspired-The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct.

The first statement of faith, and ultimately the most important, since all of our doctrine stems from this one, is that the scriptures, the Holy Bible, is inspired by God. If there is any doubt to the validity of the scriptures than all that we believe is at question.

The Holy Bible, 66 different books as we know it, was written over a period of 1,500+ years and had over 40 different authors. Each of the writers was inspired by God to write what he wrote. The Bible, even though it was written by so many people over a long period of time, verifies itself. The same stories are told by different authors, different prophecies by different authors that later were fulfilled. Creation verified the Bible. There are archeological records proving the bible. A couple of great sites to read more about some of those are Creation Science Evangelism and Answers in Genesis.

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16

The Assemblies of God Statements of Faith

2008-01-28T09:12:00.001-06:00

Here is a list of the 16 Assembly of God doctrinal statements of faith that Molly's class is currently learning about.

1-The Scriptures Inspired
2-One True God-Three in One
3-The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ
4-The Fall of Mankind
5-The Salvation of Mankind
6-The Ordinances:Water Baptism and Communion
7-The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
8-Speaking in Tongues
9-Sanctification
10-The Church and it's Mission
11-The Ministry
12-Divine Healing
13-The Blessed Hope-The Rapture
14-Second Coming and the 1,000 Year Reign of Jesus Christ
15-The Final Judgment
16-The New Heavens and Earth

May I clarify that our reason for this series of posts is to help the readers- especially those who have asked-who we are and why we believe what we believe. Our goal is never to offend. You can disagree with us and that is fine. We will still love you and hope you will still love us!

Molly's Doctrine Class

2008-01-28T08:54:00.001-06:00

Beginning a couple of weeks ago, Molly has been attending Doctrine Class at our church. We attend an Assembly of God church and there are 16 different statements of faith that she will be learning. Each week, she will learn about a new statement including a bible verse to go with it. She will also be expected to know the Lord's Prayer(she knew that already), the Apostle's Creed(already done), be able to recite the Statements of Faith and explain what each one means as well as write a paper about her Christian Faith and personal testimony. At the end of the 19 weeks there is also a written test on all of the information.

The best part about this is that I will be assisting in the classroom, listening to memory work and helping the children learn. So far I am really enjoying it. I went through confirmation in the Lutheran church at about this same age. I was taught a lot but so much of it I think went over my head and of course, unfortunately, there is also some disinterest at that age.

Shannon and I have decided that the blog would be a great place for me to write about what Molly and I are learning. This way our readers will understand a bit more about who we are and what we believe. Understanding who we are, and where we are coming from is an important goal of our blog. I would like to have a new post for each individual Statement. I have a few weeks to catch up on and will try to get them written this week so stay tuned. First up, listing the 16 Statements of Faith in one post.

Simple Acts of Obedience=The Miraculous

2008-01-24T09:52:00.001-06:00

I've written here before of how, often, God will give me similar teachings through many different sources, in a close time frame to teach me, or even just remind me of the simple but profound. Most recently, God has used Pastor Jeff Johns from the Glory Conference, Beth Moore and her book A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place, and a radio teaching, it might have been Gregg Lourie to bring me the same reminder. A very simple act of obedience to the Father can lead to a huge miracle.

For example, look at the story of the floating ax head in 2 Kings 6:1-7. Or how about the staff turned into a snake in Exodus 7:8-13. The bitter water made sweet(Exodus 15:22), Peter walking on the water(Matt 14:29-30), the widow woman's full jug of oil(1 Kings 17:15-16), the examples could go on and on.

As I have studied, been taught about and read these many examples of simple obedience becoming great miracles I can't help but wonder if I would be so obedient. If I heard God tell me in my spirit to throw down a stick to become a snake would I think, uhhh, that's silly, I must be hearing wrong? Would I be willing to get out of a boat to walk on stormy seas. I think maybe I might based upon what I have read in the bible, however if He asked me to do something strange that isn't yet recorded in the bible or recorded history, then would I doubt? Would I obey? And if I don't I can only imagine the great blessings I would miss out on. God will still accomplish His purpose, even if He has to use someone else but the missed blessings could not be regained.

Since God has chosen this subject to specifically remind me about, it is something I must try to remember in my daily life. I pray that God will use me to accomplish great miracles in His name through simple acts of obedience.

Book Review-Fields of the Fatherless

2008-01-17T15:05:00.002-06:00

I have never really done a book review here on the blog but this book has prompted me to do my first. The book is called Fields of the Fatherless:Discover the Joy of Compassionate Living and is written by C. Thomas Davis. This is a quick easy reading book with large print. The book tells of how Christians are missing out on so much joy and blessing that they could be receiving if they would only choose to follow the Father's heart and reach out to the orphan, the widow and the stranger. Those who are most in need are those God is wanting us to show love to. The front flap of the book cover gives a clue to what's inside. It reads as follows,
"In this world you are an orphan-eagerly anticipating your adoption as god's child. In this world you are a widow-longing for reunion with your bridegroom. In this world you are a stranger-a pilgrim waiting to become a citizen of heaven. And in this world, God has called you to care for the orphan, the stranger and the widow. Fields of the Fatherless is a book that brings you back to what Christianity is really about: Giving yourself to others, being Christ to a hurting world and living for the One that comes next."
I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a tug on their heartstrings towards the needy and hurting people around them.

It was a great weekend

2008-01-14T11:09:00.001-06:00

We are getting back into our regular routine now after a three day Glory Conference with the ministry. The speakers were anointed, the praise and worship was, as always, amazing and there was personal prophecy given to many. Our family enjoyed our time as we served in several ways. Shannon, Collin and I helped with the screens for the words to the songs. Collin and M helped with serving the banquet Saturday noon and all of us helped with the clean up afterwards. I think I hand washed more silverware that afternoon than I have in the previous 10 years! Thankfully the plates and cups were all disposable. Then afterwards, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming and preparing the building for church services the next day was the grand finale and we had fun working with others to get that done.

I was proud of our children as they so willingly pitched in wherever they could and we received several positive comments about them. I feel so very fortunate that our kids are getting it-understanding how to serve and realizing the value and privilege in being a part of God's work.

Last Tuesday evening, the orphanage committee meeting went well as we all explored topics that need to be researched. We all realize we have a huge job ahead of as we pull together this new branch of End Time Glory Ministries. At the end of the meeting as the group prayed, one of the members thanked the Lord for our family and our willingness to serve. I cried as I truly feel so incredibly honored that God wants to use us in this way. It isn't a willingness on our part but rather a feeling of incredible awe(fear and trembling) and a complete inability to say no to God. I wish there was a way to help more people understand that this isn't a choice for us. We are positive that God has asked us to do this and there is no way we could ever say no to Him.

Pray for Kenya

2008-01-09T16:51:00.001-06:00

As you likely already know, Kenya is going through some difficult times right now. The recent presidential election, which had voter turnout in some areas of 115%(say crooked politicians) has caused tremendous upheaval. There have been fighting and attacks going on in a country that has always been known as a stronghold of peace in East Africa. Somewhere between 3-500 have been killed and thousands left homeless. Kenya is located directly north of Tanzania. Shannon and I know a native Kenyan woman running an orphanage/feeding program in the slums of Nairobi. We emailed her to let her know we were praying and here is her response:

Dearest Friends,
Praise Jesus,
Thank you so much for your email. Things has been so bad here, but I thank God for He has hidden me and the Children under His Blood. Last week 100 houses were burned down at night in our Slums where our Children Home is. God saved our Children. To-day we are feeding more than 150 Children whose houses were burned down. Thank you for your prayers and concern. Please pray that God will provide more support so that we can be able to feed these children who has been left without a home. some of them their parents has been killed.
I write this with tears, but our God will save us.
Pass my love to your family.
Shalom and blessings.
Anne.

Last night, I woke up after having a dream of a man with a machete standing over another man lying on the ground covering his head and face with his arms. I immediately began praying for Kenya and after awhile fell asleep again. Then this morning, about 10 minutes before my alarm clock went off, as I lay in bed waiting for it to do so, the Chris Tomlin song Amazing Grace was running through my head. The line "My chains are gone, I've been set free..." caused me to think of the people in Kenya whose earthly chains have disappeared as they have left this life for a new one in heaven but it grieved my heart as I realized that certainly there are some who have gained new chains, the chains of hell.

Finally my alarm clock went off. I have it set to radio rather than buzzer and Praise FM is the station it is tuned to. The same song is what was playing when it went off.
This has caused me to really pray today for Kenya. For the safety of her people, for the restoration of a true and good government. Will you join me in those prayers?

Reflections

2008-01-08T14:22:00.002-06:00

I will not make excuses for not posting for nearly three weeks other than to say I have been as busy as anyone.

I have found myself over the past week, since the new year began, reflecting on the year 2007 and even the past few years. What is it about a new year that makes us look back? I guess it feels like a new beginning in a way.

It was about three years ago now that both Shannon and I knew we were being called into the mission fields of Africa. It wasn't until a year later though, that we finally accepted that. The first year, neither of us really talked about it, we were both aware of it in our own ways but it seemed so "far out", so impossible, so crazy, that neither of us could imagine it could be real. When we finally realized that with God's help, none of those thoughts are actually true.

These past couple of years of preparation have brought about tremendous growth and changes in each of the members of our family. As I look back at how God has been preparing us and what He has done in us in a couple of years, I am excited at what He can do with us, in us and through us in the next year. We have watched our children mature and come into a greater understanding of their role in this adventure. We know that God sees our children as tremendously important to the ministry as well. It is something we remind them of and we are excited to see them begin to understand that.

This evening we have the first "official" meeting of the End Time Glory Ministries orphanage committee. We are excited to see people, chosen by God through the ministry leadership, come together with a similar goal and mindset-one of seeing the orphans and widows of Mwanza ministered to so that they can eventually become strong Christian leaders in their community.

Please keep the ministry and our family in your prayers during these continued times of preparation.

Tanzania 2007 as posted at the ministry website

2007-12-19T18:39:00.000-06:00

I wanted to let you all know that the most recent trip to Tanzania, the one Shannon traveled on in September, has been written about in detail and is posted at the End Time Glory Ministry website.

As I prepare for Christmas in this final week, which feels like the only week before it after spending so much time with my jobs and the Christmas program at church, I can't write but wanted to be sure everyone saw the details at the website.

Daily life update

2007-12-12T09:02:00.000-06:00

Things have been crazy at our home. As you already know, M and I returned from a quilt retreat last Monday. Since then, there have been more rehearsals for Collin and I for the church musical which started last weekend with three performances. There are four more to come this weekend. Collin also had a school choir concert last week where he sang a duet with Michael. Michael just joined CCS this fall as he was entering the 10th grade. He is the only 10th grade boy in this Christian school which only recently added high school to its program. He and Collin have become good friends.

Last week was also the last meeting for the Beth Moore bible study I had been participating in. I am still planning to facilitate the same group of women as we come back together again in January to do another study by Beth.

Collin turned 15 this week and in the hullaballoo his birthday party with the grandparents has to be put on hold until after the holiday season. He was aware when he chose to take a part in the church musical that this way the way it would have to be. We plan to bake him a cake today and then he will get another in January when the grandparents visit. It seems like a good deal to me!

I recently had an overnight training out of town for my job and am pushing to keep up with my Census Bureau work this month. I also did a self-study for more work I will be getting next month. Being a full-time stay-at-home mom, unfortunately cannot happen for me right now as we work to get bills paid so that when the time to prepare for a move to Tanzania arrives, we don't need to worry about finances.

We are hoping to meet with members of the ministry board soon, probably next month, to talk more about the future. Pastor Richard, who is currently responsible on finalizing things with the land over there, has been very sick with malaria and has only recently been recovering. Our family has prepared a small box of goodies to send over to them which will be mailed today, hopefully, but possibly not, in time for Christmas.

We are hoping to get a Christmas letter sent out to friends and family soon. It never got done last year. Then I had decided I would make it into an Easter letter but that never happened either.

Blessings to you and your family as you prepare for the holiday season in the midst of your own form of busyness.

As you are aware, I have missed a few Wordless Wednesdays. I plan to bring it back so stay tuned.