Prayer Hogs.

We have been basking in the glow of many prayers and encouragements from this past weekend.  It was our last Sunday at our home, Antioch Community Church, so we attended all of 2 services and part of another!  It was a long day but super worth it.  At the beginning of each service, we were surrounded and prayed over by our friends and family.  People who love us, support us and encourage us to greater things in the Kingdom.  It seems strange to think that we will not be back to worship with our Antioch family for quite a while.  It is one of the top things we will miss while being gone.

I felt a bit like a prayer hog.   We have been prayed over by so many people recently but still at the end of the 3rd service, my husband grabbed my hand and up we went during ministry time for more prayer from a specific couple that Jody has been wanting to have pray over us for some time now.  (They raised FIVE boys with God’s help so…that explains why.)

That evening we saw on Twitter this picture:

She was one of the teachers in Lucas’ class and knew it was our last Sunday in Waco so she had the rest of the 3 year olds pray over Lucas and send him out as a missionary.  Sweeter than all things sweet!  It made me cry. 

I am so thankful for our church that doesn’t “dumb” down the things of God and the His Kingdom to our children but instead encourages them to live it out now!  It is unnecessary to wait to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus till adulthood!  These little ones have powerful insight into the Kingdom of Heaven that isn’t messed up by adult thinking. Wow!  Thanks Courtney for initiating this.

Luke 18:15-17 (MSG)  People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them.  When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off.  Jesus called them back.  “Let these children alone.  don’t’ get between them and me.  These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy.  Mark this:  Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.”

Tonight we are going to our last LifeGroup before leaving tomorrow.  They are going to pray over us.  Then tomorrow we meet at our church parking for our send off…where they will pray over us before we head out.

Prayer Hog.  Yup.

Coryell Community Church Missions Awareness

During our time here in Gatesville, God brought our family into relationship with a precious couple.  I met Dick & Olivia at the Gatesville Wal-Mart on the cracker aisle.  This couple doesn’t meet strangers but overflows with the love of Jesus to anyone and everyone.  I just happened to be standing near them that evening and it overflowed onto me!  Since then, they have prayed for us, supported us, cared for us, and cheered us on in the things of God.  They also brought us into their community.  We attend our Waco church (www.Antiochcc.net) on Sunday evenings so occasionally we went to their church, Coryell Community Church, on Sunday mornings.  This church has welcomed us with open arms and has been praying for us and supporting our family.

Last weekend, they invited us to their Missions Awareness Fair.  After a short service, everyone mingled around and were able to see the many different ministries that their church supports and learn about how they can be personally involved.  We were able to share more about the work we are soon to join in Haiti (www.HaitiTransformed.org).  Many awesome conversations were had but my personal favorite was encouraging a teenage girl who was interested in missions but felt like she needed to learn more about God and the Bible first.  I shared about my experiences with short term trips as a teen and how I learned and grew so much during those experiences.  I also tried to clear up her obvious misconception that missionaries “have it all together” or have “arrived” at some greater level of holiness.  Just not true.  And if it is, we are in trouble! =)

Check out these pics of us working our booth:

September 11th, 2012. A Day of Life!

September 11th now symbolizes life in our family!  This is the day Josiah chose the Kingdom of Light and received the ultimate gift:  salvation from his sins.  We are so thankful!  Since Josiah was a baby we have been praying that he would accept Jesus as his Savior at the earliest possible age, but to be honest there have been plenty of times in the past 1 1/2 years that we have put him off. in making this decision.  We wanted him to have a true understanding of the decision he was making.  Here is how it happened…

Josiah came into the living room that evening to where Jody & I were working.  He asked Jody to read to him “that thing on your phone that has a bridge”.  Jody has a “Steps to Peace with God” app on his iPhone and he used to go over it with Josiah regularly but it has been months since I have seen them look at it.  It was a bit random for Josiah to mention it out of the blue but Jody pulled it out and started reading it with him.  It discusses how we are separated from God because of our sins and even if we try to do good things, go to church, etc., nothing WE can do will bridge the gap between us and God.  The cross is the only acceptable bridge that crosses the gap between us and God.  Jesus’ death on the cross is the only way that we will be found acceptable in God’s presence.

When Jody got to the end, Josiah said, “I don’t want to be on the enemy’s side, want to be on God’s side!”  After discussing more with him, we felt peace that Josiah truly had an understanding of his sin and his need for Jesus.  He prayed to receive Jesus!  When he was done praying he started laughing and jumping and kept saying over and over, “I just have so much joy!”  It was precious because we know that the Holy Spirit visited our boy that night in a way that he hadn’t experienced before.  He not only experienced salvation through Jesus but he experienced a taste of the Holy Spirit.  And I must say, his joy was contagious!  It was a really fun experience for our whole family.  Lucas was there watching and learning and Josiah quickly ran into my parents room to tell Grandmom and Grandaddy all about his decision.

Yesterday, November 4th, Josiah was baptized.  Here is a picture of him  being interviewed for a short video that was played just prior to his baptism at church last night.  It is him talking about his decision to accept Jesus and about why he wants to be baptized. 

This was a fun night!  We are overjoyed for our little boy to be a mighty warrior in the Kingdom.  Pray for Josiah that he will be filled with the Holy Spirit and have a deep burning passion for the Lord, for His Word and for His Church.

30 Life Lessons

It finally happened. I grew up.

Yep, I turned 30 on April 1st...I guess at some point I should start feeling like a grown woman who is a wife and mother of 3 boys...BUT I still feel like I should be 18. Not that I want to be 18...oh, no! I just can't believe how quickly 30 years has gone by. Amazing...

I remember being a young girl and feeling like it took FOREVER just waiting for evening to come so I could spend the night with my bff who lived down the street. I guess all those silly boys who wrote in my Jr. High yearbook were right after all, "life is like a roll of toilet paper"...the older you get the faster it goes!

Here are 30 things I've been learning the last 30 years of my life:

1) I never stop learning and it's not always new things! I keep re-learning many of the same things over and over and over again...just on a deeper level with greater revelation.

2) If you can be patient potty-training a toddler, you can be patient during ANYTHING!

3) I was made to be in community and need to ask for help more often.

4) People can't read my mind. (shocking, right?)

5) I can't read other peoples minds. (even more shocking!)

6) The things I am TOO tired to do are probably the things that will energize me the most.

7) The things I have judged, I will serve. (stole this from Pastor Jimmy...but i am FEELIN' it! and am thankful for the stretching, humbling growth).

8) I don't have to completely understand or relate to someone to be able to love and serve them well. This frees me up to be myself and not feel pressure to try be like everyone else.

9) I need a Savior more than I know.

10) Thankfulness paves the way for the Holy Spirit to come and break my spiral into a bad, grumpy, self-focused day.

11) I have to rely on God...trying harder doesn't cut it and makes me tired.

12) I can hear God's voice!! =)

13) I shouldn't always do for my boys the things they can do themselves (even if I think I can do it faster and better).

14) I don't have to be doing something "spiritual" to experience God's presense.
15) Sometimes, there's nothin' to it but to do it! I've got to dig down and just do the things I hate or don't want to do and one small step after another and suddenly I'm done!

16) It is easy to be nasty to others...to come up with something sassy or down-right evil to say. It takes deep character and self-control to chose my words and live out of a place of love.

17) My default to sarcasm is sometimes funny. But usually not. (sorry to those of you who I've been learning this on over the years.)

18) I have an ever increasing capacity! Things I thought would have been impossible are now totally doable! God is always growing me...sometimes in small bits that go unnoticed and sometimes in big stretches that are quite painful. I'm looking back with thankfulness that I have greater capacity in knowledge, understanding and energy because of those times of expansion.

19) My husband needs my respect, more than he needs my love.

20) Choose Joy. I mean REAL joy...not fleeting pleasures that this world offers up.

21) This world is not my home. I shouldn't feel or get TOO comfortable. Ofcourse, I SHOULD seem a bit out of place to others because I AM out of place.

22) Lots of small "yeses" can turn into a really big "YES!"

23) Caring for others is annoying when all I care about is myself. When I take my eyes off myself, then suddenly taking care of others becomes an awesome privledge, an amazing responsibility and an overwhelming joy.

24) Peace can be enjoyed anytime and anywhere as a direct result of being in fellowship with the Spirit. I don't always have to have the perfect setup to find peace.

25) Thinking ahead keeps me out of trouble. Not thinking ahead leads to lots of "doh!" moments.

26) The more my family acquires, the less thankful we become.

27) I need less stuff than I think I do.

28) Assume the best of others but don't presume that others should do the same for me. I want to live in such a way that it is easy for others to think the best of me because of my past actions.

29) I don't remember as much as I think I will. I really do need to jot important things down. Mom, I guess you were right about writing after all!

30) Strenght is made perfect in weakness. Thanks for all the paradoxes, God. I love how you like to spice things up!