Finding the Missions Field

My friend Cindy and I have been hosting a Bible Club at my house this summer. Every Wednesday morning, my yard is open to the neighborhood kids to come for a Bible lesson, story, snack and craft. We get all ages, and anywhere from 2-7 kids. Sharing the Bible with these kids has been very eye opening, to say the least. Most of them know very little of any Bible stories and one boy admitted that his Mom said he was "going to church" when he came over for Bible Club. I know my heart has a "missions bent", but I don't need to go very far to get to the missions field. The missions field comes to me every Wednesday morning. Lord, here am I, send me.

Family Fun?

Today was a gorgeous, Seabreeze kind of day. The local union that Adam works in was having their family picnic at Seabreeze. We went with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Jo (Grandpa also works in the union) and tackled the water slides right off the bat and right off the bat Adam threw his back out coming down one of the slides with Josh. He didn't complain about it too much and we enjoyed several hours of water rides and bumper cars, but by mid afternoon he was very noticeably walking crooked. His back was seriously out of whack by two or three inches. Needless to say, we didn't stay as long as we could have. We went home to ice his back and get some pain killers in him. Adam spent the rest of the evening laying on the bed trying to relax his back muscles. Hopefully, his back will have released most of the tension by morning so he can go to church pain free.

I'm kinda glad Josh and I have another Seabreeze date in a couple weeks, because I didn't get to ride the Jack Rabbit this time...

Showers of Blessing

It is raining. Praise the Lord. It's been so long.

Ezekiel 34:26-27 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.

Chruch Directions

Can I blog this late at night? Because every time I get ready to blog, I realize what time it is and exactly how tired I really feel...

This blog was going to be about church. It's been a very strange "church summer". That of course makes no sense to you, but what I really mean is that our regular attendance of our regular church has been erratic and irregular. Between Josh being sick two Sundays, Adam helping a friend with sound at a church in the city, and being out of town, there has been a slight "disconnect" with our home church. And not only the afore mentioned reasons, but also this past Sunday we visited a friends' church and we really liked it. Adam wants to go again. And if Adam wants to go again, so do I. I have been attending a small group Bible study with some young people who attend there, and I am excited to see how Adam could get plugged in too. Keep us in your prayers as we are stepping in a new direction.

Hot and Sticky Memories

It was Indonesia weather today. Hot, sticky, sweaty, humid, nearly 100 degrees... Brought back memories of sweaty kids singing, laughing, staring, hugging. Funny, that's not so different than the memories I have from today. Only the kids in todays' memories speak the same language as I do. If only I could remember to love my everyday kids the same as I did those far away kids. I mean, everyday kind of love, with hugs and kisses everyday. Like today, I loved them. But sometimes I am grouchy or don't want to hear screaming or fighting children. Sometimes I want quiet, well behaved, perfect children. It is those days when they are not that teach me.

Sigh... Anyways, this day brought me back to sitting in a crowded room, far, far away from my home with masses of children singing in a foreign language praises to Jesus, staring at the Americans, anxiously waiting for a reaction from one of us. Sweet, sweet memories.

Josh still is asking to go to Indonesia. Last night he asked his Daddy if he also wanted to go to Indonesia to see Viki (our newest sponsor child). I tell Josh to ask God if he wants to go. Maybe someday he really will, only God knows.

FYI

By the way, we're friends again. That is a "Praise the Lord" moment.

To My True Love

Will you...

hold my hand?
gaze into my eyes?
stroke my hair?
wink at me?
dance with me?
pray for me?
pray with me?
pursue me?
talk to me?
kiss me?
guide me?
lead me?
hold me?
share with me?
dream with me?
never leave me?
always be mine?

Six years ago he asked me if I would always be his, and I said yes.

And I will.

In Love All Over Again

Smitten. I can't believe she's really a girl. My parents have a granddaughter... I have a niece. Can we really dress this child in pink and put bows in her hair? Buckle shoes and frilly dresses? She's the epitome of tiny girl child. Came into the world with a bang, after just three pushes, 45 minutes after arriving at the hospital. Breathe in her new baby scent and stroke her baby soft skin. Enraptured. That is how I must describe it. Giddy with delight and waiting anxiously until I can see her again.

YEA FOR BABIES!

Woo-hoot! I'm an auntie! And it's a GIRL!!! 5 lbs. 12 oz. Can't wait to see her!

Regressing

I really am "totally at peace" about the matter, but it's nights like this that I wish I was the one in the hospital having a baby.

The Troops

Mom and Dad and the troops. (Adam is MIA.)

The Crazy Wheel of Life

I was told that life is like a wheel, with it's ups and downs. Gotta say, this week has been totally like a wheel. I know that God is at work in my life, but I wish He would would just hurry up, cause His work hurts. It's a good thing that He has balanced His work with some wonderful things along with it. Like Jim is in town this week. And my Gramanita is here from Nova Scotia, for the first time since Adam and I got married. And Leta will have a new baby any day (or hour?). So I have been spending a lot of time with my immediate family and at my parent's house visiting with the family. There is a wonderful sense of community when I go home. Something about not being alone, having someone to share burdens with- even if it is help folding laundry, working together and loving together. I am one of seven kids, so I feel most at home surrounded by people. I'm not much for being alone. I guess you might say that it gets a little lonely around my house. Adam goes to work, comes home tired, and goes to bed early. I miss having time spent with each other, whether it is playing a game together, reading together, going for a walk, or sipping tea while sitting on the deck together. I think quiet time spent together is important and healthy in a relationship and when those quiet times don't happen, a relationship can suffer. I think both of us are to blame here. I fill up my evenings with activities that take me out of the home and away from my family. It's not that I don't want to put my family first, it's just that somehow I want to do other important things too. Before I know it, my weeknights are filled with just snippets of time left for those who really matter most. How do I fix it? How do I make sure that Adam and Josh know that they are the most important to me, with the only exception of Jesus Christ? And then how do we make sure that we have enough Glue (Jesus) in our marriage to keep it strong? Take the "Glue" and time spent together out of a marriage and what you have left is a crazy spinning wheel, careening towards the cliff's edge. And that is the story.