a new adventure

i got married.  i moved back to the homeland.  my husband left his home to start a new one where i was born.  it was all his idea too - promise!  this is a new adventure.  to be honest, there are people who i am quite sure thought i would never get married.  but that isn't the reason for this post.  i don't dwell on that, nor do i dwell on the fact that i am married.  what i do want to say is that when i got married, while i thank God for this blessing, i don't know that i have taken seriously of honoring God through my marriage.  Of course it goes through my mind, but i am not really practicing that day to day.

no, i am not being unfaithful to my husband - i am being unfaithful to God by not allowing Him to work through my husband and myself.  nor am i glorifying God when i want to do things my way.  just because my husband and i do not do things exactly the same doesn't mean that one way is right and the other is wrong - it is just different.  and when i do not do something my husband asks me to do, doesn't honor God, nor does it show respect to my husband.

so i want to start this new adventure with a new approach - Glorifying God in every situation!  even with my husband!  the world needs examples of Godly marriage (& families!) today just as much as ever.  this world also needs families and marriages where each one respects the other, but gives glory to God.

it is the small things that mean so much and cost you dearly

it is true - it is the simple things in life that matter.  today, i learned that not only do they matter; they are costly.

towards the end of work, i was helping build up inventory.  i was with one other co-worker, a male, and he had his ipod playing.  the words were of a different language, so i asked what the song meant.  he did not understand my question, due to answering by telling me the style of music, but that was okay.  it led us to discuss what types of music we enjoyed.  he asked me specifically if i listened to Christian music.  i said i did, but i enjoyed various types of music.

this type of conversation led me to ask my co-worker what church he attended.  i told him that i knew from a previous conversation between several co-workers, that he went to church and was just wondering what church he went to and how he began going there.

he started at the very beginning (a very good place to start!).  he attended the "church of the mormons".  he didn't start out at that church, in fact he went to another type altogether, for many years.  he started going because he had a wife and wanted to change his life.  he drank and was on drugs and so he stopped those things.  he gained a lot of weight.  a lot!  it caused him health problems so he went to the doctor.  he ended up having a heart attack.  he was laid up for two months due to health issues - between being in the hospital and home, he said not one person from his church contacted him - no phone call, no visits.  nothing.  then one day there was a knock on the door.  it was the mormons.  they reached out to him in a tough time.  people who didn't even know them, came to them in a time of need and when friends would have been welcomed!  (and wanted!)  the pastor of his former church came by to visit due to a long absence on my co-worker's part.  too little, too late.  they began to go to church w/ the mormons, and to this day, they still do.

i'm not going to get into mormons and all that jazz; that isn't what this post is about tonight.  the people i want to address are those who are professing faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  I want to speak to the body of Christ - the church of believers.  special programs, bigger and more beautiful buildings, prizes galore, peppy bands, glamour and glitz are nothing if we are not going out and meeting the needs or even just visiting the people around us, who even sit next to us on Sundays or Wednesdays or whatever day you go to fellowship w/ the body.  people are not going to know we care for them if we are not willing to show we care for them - until we put action behind the words we say or believe.

it doesn't take much to do the little things: write a letter, dial a number, get in a car or on a bike and go visiting.  i was very saddened to hear my co-worker's story.  but i was more broken from my brothers and sisters in Christ who failed to reach out to him and his family in a time when they needed them most.  it turned them away; and it may cost them dearly.

i am stubborn; God is gracious

just thought i would share this w/ you all today - read it from my little devotional book Our Daily Bread and it struck a chord w/ me, and maybe it will with you.


                "As we put our faith into action, we need to avoid portraying God as having only our favorite attributes.  We must worship all of God, not just what we like." - Julie Ackerman Link

               'Then [Moses] said, "If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance."'  Exodus 34:9 nkjv 

vocal performance

we aren't that great to a lot of people - but to some people we are just fine!  so for my buddies back east - this is for you!  good times.  & its obvious to say we own no rights to the songs we sing - and who knows -maybe they might take away our right to sing - we just enjoy it!

sidetracked: leaving the 99

my dad has been a coach for a LONG time.  i really don't know how many years, but i think it is safe to say about 30 years he has been coaching.  he has been a coach at the school i grew up in for at least 20 - at least. but today he was told he is no longer going to be coaching.  he was an assistant to the football team and head coach of the softball team.  he recently started up with the softball team b/c no one else would help out and he has been coaching football for as long as i have been alive!  but apparently Edwards County High School no longer needs his services in the realm of sports.  i think its shady, but i'm sure my opinion doesn't matter in this case.

i want to say that while my dad isn't perfect, he is a good role model for high school teenagers and will help both boys and girls learn sportsmanship on and off the playing field.  most importantly though - he is a God-fearing/following man who cares about the lives of his students and athletes - that even goes for his co-workers.  i have known my dad to invite new coaches to church or help them find a church of whatever denomination they like to attend.  i have heard my dad talk about the potential in a student and wish that student would realize it themselves - as well as their parents see it too.  i have seen his response when he has learned his athletes have passed away or been in trouble with the law.  i'm glad my dad is in the public school sector - as well as my mom.

i say that to say this:  these days, i think Christians are opting to stay with the 99 and expect the 1 to come to them (or figure it out themselves)

as stated, i am glad that my mom and dad are in the public school sector b/c that is one area where Christians are starting to bail ship - and establish schools of their own.  now, let me just go ahead and say that i don't care where people decide to school their children - public, private or home school - don't care.  what i do care about is more specific towards the Christian community and that when they begin to build their own little communities through schools they usually speak ill about other systems in place - such as public schools.  they have also been getting more into the sports arena - and there is nothing wrong w/ that either per-say - but i want to know is this:  has the Christian community decided to stay w/ the 99, expecting the 1 lost soul to come to them?

Christ cares so much for people to come to know Him, that he gave the illustration of a shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to go and look for the 1 lost sheep until its found! (Matthew 18:10-13)  i wonder if we are doing the same thing?  or better yet, are we even willing?!

i know public school systems aren't perfect - even teachers in the public school system will tell you that!  however, i wonder how many Christian parents get involved w/ their children's classroom or school?  how many Christians volunteer for school sports, activities or what have you?  how many of us are willing to get into the world around us, instead of cultivating our own communities for people to come and join us, instead of us influencing the communities around us by getting involved with them?

now maybe those who establish schools and sports organizations believe they are influencing their communities and believe they are involved with them - but that isn't the way i see it and i'm writing this from my perspective and how i view this shift.  how can we expect to influence the world for Christ if we keep trying to keep to ourselves?  we need more Christians in the real world!  we have a broken system, that is true - but let us not leave it and expect those who are broken to come to us - let's get in there and share the love of Christ in practical ways!  let's leave the 99 in order that the 1 may be found!

at home

home is a special place. a place where childhood is explored. a place where you are welcomed with open arms - at least in my home. a place where you can jump on the bed when mom isn't looking!  a place where "boo-boos" get doctored and where a kid can be a kid!

now that i am older and have lived in many different places - none of them have felt like home and while i still go home on occasion, i know that is not where i am to be.  i know that this world is not my home, that i have a place waiting for me, that is being prepared for me.

the one place i could have called home is overseas in the former soviet union & i didn't know why that was - but i think i have figured it out.

i live in Oregon now.  i am looking for a church and for a way to witness to others.  Sunday i attended a church and took part in a brunch with a singles class and if it wasn't for the 2 young girls in the class i would have been the youngest one in there - and i'm pushing 30!  anyway, one of the girls looked pretty dour, so i asked her if she liked coming to church (after we had exchanged several convos of general information) and she said yes. so i asked, what she liked about coming to church and she said hearing about God. so then i asked what she liked best about what she has heard about God and she said that he saved us.  He did indeed!  and i just interjected that i too love to hear about how God saved us, but that he also saved us just as we are - he didn't require that we be perfect!

then a lady came by & asked if she could sit at our table b/c the table she was invited to sit at told her that there was no room for her to sit b/c it was the popular table.  seriously??  what are we 12 y/o?  anyway, i just started talking with her and asking what she did.  she is a believer and had interesting stories to tell.

but i tell you all this to say that while i was talking with these people about God and trying to figure out what they think about God, i felt at peace - at home.  sharing the love of God with others and being His witness gives me comfort and brings me peace.  i am at home when doing God's will for my life.  He has called me (and all other believers ) to "go therefore and make disciples" so it should be no surprise when i feel at home doing what the Lord has commanded.

out with the old, in with the new

i could list what happened in 2011, as a year-in-review, but i don't really want to take the time to think that much right now! so i guess i will just list the biggest thing that has happened.  i moved to Oregon.

after seeking direction while on hiatus in Kentucky - which was a good learning experience and had God teach me some good lessons - i felt He was leading me to Oregon, and so i moved.  2 major points in this respect:  1) relationship with a guy who i would like to get to know more and it works better when you live in the same state.  2) Eastern-Europeans:  Oregon has a large influx of Russians and other Eastern Europeans and i definitely want to be able to minister and work with them in some way.  so i sold my car and flew to Oregon after the new year.  i have a place to live and i have an interview for an AT/PT Aide position on tuesday and i am praying it goes well, which i believe it will.

the first few days were a little hard, but i am making my way around and with the prospect of a job and being able to get to know people, it is getting better.

so let's see what 2012 has in store, in OR.