Friends, Friends, Friends

This post is really, really, really belated, but for the fun of it...

When Mr. Amazing and I drove back from Seattle at the end of September, we detoured through Oregon so I could meet several friends that I had only emailed with or talked with via computer.  Include a random stop in Utah and we had a ton of fun!

Stop #1: Mt. Saint Helens.  That missing top/gaping hole in the mountain just flabbergasts me!

Stop #2: Meeting a LightSys volunteer that I had worked with via phone and email.  (And she is SUCH a blessing to me and the ministry!)  She wonderfully packed a last minute picnic supper for us and we had great fellowship with her and her children.

Stop #3: An overnight stay with gracious hosts Aaron and Lindsay and their three blessings.  In conversation, they recalled Greg's last visit in Jan '09.  Greg had seemed distracted, caught up in thought, and often sighed.  We did the math and realized the cause: it was the day before Greg asked me about pursing a relationship.  So yes - he had a lot on his mind!  (So glad I said yes!)  We had a good laugh over the memories!  Thanks for your hospitality, Aaron and Lindsay!

Stop #4: A quick detour by old friends (people I actually HAD met before).  So great to see and visit with the Dawes!  (Their daughter Jen is a good friend at GFA.)  They graciously loaded us up with Hanson soda and Sunchips on our way out. :)

 Stop #5: Bend, OR so I could meet the chairman of the LightSys board and his wife.  I had talked with him via phone and computer, but hadn't met them yet.  Again, gracious hosts and much fun!

Stop #6: Ogden, UT for a late lunch.  We randomly rendezvoused with college friend Angelynn and friends for a quick lunch.  So good to see her and her brothers again after 9+ years (and meet her boyfriend Ben)!

And then came the end of the trip.  We stopped for a rest day at Arches National Park in Utah (see Greg's amazing post) and then traveled on home to Colorado.  SO blessed to be a part of the family of Christ and to have so many people rooting for us, praying for us, and encouraging us -- thank you!

Fun with Supporters (in March)

File from the archives - a fun memory from my March support trip was my visit with Mrs. H. - a dear supporter in the Anthony area. After visiting, we took time to sing through a few of the old hymns...

Escape to Escape

After supper with the J-Fam tonight, Greg and I took our laptops to Escape coffee house and worked on some schedule logistics for the next month or so. The barista on duty went beyond her duty - treating us to free day-old doughnut holes and custom mixing a drink for me. In fact, the evening was wonderful - a combination of logistics and smiles and fun and closing with a random, brief video skype call to my KS family!

We sat there at Escape, close to each other and holding hands and Greg made the comment, "We sure weren't doing this last time we were here." No, we sure weren't! We had stopped by Escape in January when Greg was here and we were still seeking the Lord's direction on whether or not to enter a relationship. Wow! The memories associated with that Monday night... but that story will have to wait until we get our joint blog up. :)

My newsletter finally got printed today, so we're working on getting that sent out. I've been starting to make a list of things I need to document for my responsibilities at the office and setting aside time to work on those. But then we have a whole bunch of new people/volunteers /interns starting next week, so that's keeping me busy too!

Meanwhile, on the field, a missionary was arrested over a week ago and still remains in police custody. Pray for his release and pray for the boldness and safety of the church that he pastors!

Now? I'm off to bed... sleepy, sleepy...

Final Count - 37 supporters, 2 churches, 1 deer

I made it back safely from my 10 days support trip - glad to have seen so many of you and glad to be back with my GFA family as well.

The mission of my trip: visit those families in KS and OK who have been prayerfully and financially supporting me over the last six years as I served here at GFA. Share stories from the mission field and from my life with them, encourage them, fellowship with them, and find out how I can be praying for them and for their families.

The start of my trip was Friday, March 20th, when I left Dallas and headed for Hydro, Oklahoma. From there, I stopped by Okeene and Meno in Oklahoma and started up into Kansas. From there, I visited Coldwater, Medicine Lodge (where my sister L. joined me for the trip), Kingman, Wichita, Newton, Sterling, Partridge, Yoder, Hutchinson, Inman, McPherson, Lindsborg, Concordia, Olsburg (where I waited out the snow storm), Manhattan, Lawrence, Reading, Harper, Coldwater, and finally - Anthony.

I visited 37 supporter families and 2 supporting churches in 32 stops and traveled over 1900 miles in my little Toyota Corolla. Overall: Mission Accomplished!

My trip back to TX was a little delayed. I was about 30 miles out of Anthony on Wednesday evening (April 1), heading back to Dallas, when my car met a cute little deer. The little deer didn't survive. My car suffered injuries and is now at the West Street Body Shop and Fender Repair in Anthony, KS. I'm now driving a green mini-van. (Thanks for the loan, Mom and Dad!)

Praises: the Lord's grace in the planning, the Lord's safety during travels, costs covered for the trip, fun times with my sister L., hospitality and open guest rooms from so many people along the route! And you! I praise God for you! Thank you so much for your prayers and support! I would not be here without you.

Travel the Road

It's been way too long since my last post and I've been so many places and have so much to write! My internet time has been a little limited and what time I have found has been occupied with other matters besides blogging.

I left Dallas on Friday evening, 3/22, to spend 10 days on the road visiting prayer and financial supporters! I've put over 1000 miles on my car in the last 7 days and visited 25 supporters in 20 stops - thanking them for their prayers and support and encouragement over the last 6 years. It has been such a joy to be able to sit at their kitchen tables and sip tea and visit with them about their families and their businesses and their lives and be able to pray for them! We are truly so blessed to have the family of God!

It's fun and refreshing to be traveling the backroads as I crisscross through OK and KS. I picked up my youngest sister Lucinda in Medicine Lodge, KS and she's traveling with me and keeping me awake. We've named our loaner GPS "Gypsy" since it tends to take us all over the place - but we're extremely thankful for it!

The "epic storm" (as the Weather Channel is calling it) moved into Olsburg about half an hour after we arrived yesterday. We've got some ice overnight and about 5" of snow here today, but the roads have cleared and we're getting ready to head for Manhattan. I'm so thankful God arranged my travel schedule so I didn't have meetings all day yesterday/today, but I was at locations where I could just wait out the storm. Isn't God amazing!

Praising God for you!

Calling All Supporters!

Road trip! The details are coming together and I'm busy planning a 10 day road trip to visit prayer and financial supporters at the end of this month. I'll head north out of Dallas on Friday, March 20th, arrive in Hydro, OK that evening, and pursue points north from there.

I've spent the last hour or so on the phone, figuring out times to just sit and visit with my supporters and find out what God is doing in their lives and let them know how God is using their lives to change eternity. I am SO looking forward to this.

If you're in the OK or KS area and would like to make sure you on my list of people to visit, drop me an email or a facebook message and I'll get in contact with you!

I gotta run to prayer meeting - see you soon!

Oh, oh!

Oh, oh! You should be proud of me. I signed and stuffed newsletters for an hour and a half this evening. I was so excited that I went back and counted how many I had finished.

Twenty-two.

You would think I could get more than that done. *sigh* I only have 158 more to go. But - I'm so thankful I have a wonderful team of financial and prayer supporters! You guys are a huge blessing to me!

Surprise Book Review

It was a pleasant surprise to check my Google reader this evening and find a book review on Revolution in World Missions. Jaime had ordered a copy and read it and posted her thoughts. Wow! We share copies of the book with thousands of people, but it was so encouraging to me to see how the Lord could use it to impact one of my friends. Thank you so much for taking time to share that, Jaime, and for spreading the word.

If you've stumbled here from Jaimer's Blog or just want more information, feel free to use these links to get started:

• Get your free copy of Revolution in World Missions
• Sign up for GFA's email updates
• Find out more about sponsoring a missionary or even sponsoring me.

Me getting better.

I'm getting over the sick, but still struggling with a cough and a bit of a headache today. Probably due to a couple late nights.

Had a great time with the Lowry's and the Helms' on Monday night. Papa Murphy's pizza, the Helms' four kids, great fellowship, and a good time of sharing. Very much fun!

A. Lowry is here in the Dallas area getting special contacts for her eyes. When I saw her Tuesday afternoon, she was jumping up and down with excitement. She hadn't seen that well since she was in junior high! PLEASE PRAY for the continued fine tuning for the contacts and for complete healing for her eyes. They are really bad.

Me knows grammar. I know - my use of the word "me" recently has been astonishingly rampant. I'm not even using it to refer to one of my favorite friends. (i.e. Me has moved. I hope Me gets unpacked at her new place soon.)

I know. My grammar is getting worse with time, but I have a question for my grammatical friends to answer.

The light bulb in your kitchen light fixture burns out. You comment on it, saying:
a) That light bulb needs replaced.
b) That light bulb needs to be replaced.
c) That light bulb needs replacing.

Which would you normally say and which is grammatically correct?

Me Sick

Well, I came down with the yucky stuff this week that a good portion of the US has. High fever turns into congestion stuff. Yuck. Trying to get better.

Whee!!! Lowry's are in the area next week for a visit. Lord willing, I'll get to have supper with them.

Prayer: Persecution is on the increase in India. Pray for steadfastness for the believers.

Pray for my house as we have extended time with the Lord this weekend. Wouldn't you know - the weekend we decide to spend extra time with the Lord is the weekend everyone holds movie parties! A good contrast, perhaps? But it really has been a long time since I've seen Inn of the Sixth Happiness.

10 days later

My computer battery just said it's about to die, so this may be shorter than I planned.

We had a great time at Mission Arlington last weekend -- we handed out fliers door to door inviting people to attend a free Valentine Dinner. It was a pleasure to hand these out because I knew that the Gospel would be shared with each person that attended. Even as we handed out the fliers to the apartment residents, they were already commenting how much the Mission Arlington staff and family has meant to them. Praise God for this ministry that is planting churches and discipling new believers right here in the US!

Jes and Cas are doing well as the internship starts. Caz is still delayed, so you can pray for her soon arrival. These next two weeks will be busy for us. Between prayer meeting and classes, we're usually at the office from about 8 to 5:30. Plus evening stuff these next few weeks...

Monday Night: House Meeting
Tuesday Night: GFA Prayer Meeting
Wednesday Night: House Bible Study
Thursday Night: Special speaker at GFA.
Friday Night: House cleaning and grocery shopping
Saturday: All day at Challenge Course
Sunday: Free!
Monday Night: House Meeting
Tuesday Night: GFA Prayer Meeting
Wednesday Night: House Bible Study
Thursday Night: Free?
Friday Night/Saturday: Weekend (as a house) to spend in prayer/solitude.

Thanks for all your prayers! I'm so grateful when I picture your faces and know you are praying for me. I can't really express it in a blog - maybe I should call you. =)

This morning at church, I was hit by a wave of "me-ism." I've been doing that a lot recently--allowing myself to get tied up my own wants and thoughts, even when I know the Lord's promises. Right on cue, Aubrey and the worship team started into the song "Lead Me to the Cross." I needed the chorus:
Lead me to the cross
where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord, I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
O lead me,
lead me to the cross.

So great a cloud

Therefore, since we are encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us set aside every sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus...

This evening's illustrations:

• The crowd in the movie Miracle. The 1980 USA Olympic hockey team was struggling, but the crowd in the stands was calling to them - encouraging them in their fight. But even with that crowd of witnesses, they still needed to fix their eyes on the the goal.
  
• Those who have passed on before us. The wife of our leader in Myanmar died today. She contracted hepatitis through a blood transfusion several years ago. After many years of faithful service alongside her husband, the she went to be with the Lord. Pray for her family to fix their eyes on the Lord.
  
• You. As I labor and work here in this office, cheering on the missionaries, you are cheering for me. Thank you so much for your prayers and support! Pray that I would continue to fix my eyes on the Lord.
  

The Masterpiece

Pause. Take 11 minutes and watch The Masterpiece. It's a short film and well worth your time. You can watch it online or (if you have FIOS or some other really really fast connection) you can download it and play it with quicktime. Watch until the end of the credits.

Want to share it? Please do! Ed told me to pass it on.

Beauty comes from brokenness.

Five years!

Today marks my 5th anniversary in Texas. Can you believe it?!? One Monday morning, five years ago, we packed up the family van with all my stuff and moved me down to start working full-time for GFA. I've moved a few times and changed phone numbers a few time and even changed job descriptions a little bit. However, I'm still just as convinced that this is where God has called me to serve.

And I'm so thankful for each one of you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Someone's praying

Somebody's praying for me -- I know it. You know that complete sense of peace that sometimes rests in you? That peace that is there even when there are burdens and things that you want to fix and things that grieve you. That peace that you can't shake (and don't really want to). That peace that helps you be at rest and realize there is nothing you can do except pray (and that's enough). That peace that reminds you that God is the one who can work in that situation far better than you can. That peace that you know is not coming from yourself.

Somebody's praying for me. And I'm so thankful.

Homecoming Hangout

Thanks for your prayers for Dee - she's in India and we didn't end up having to go to the doctor. Her foot was still swollen, but she could walk on it without a problem. Continue to pray for the interns while they're in India.

I've been visiting supporters and friends in Anthony and Sterling the last few days -- it's been such a joy to share stories from the mission field and hug people's necks. It's also been a privilege to hear just a few of their prayer requests and hear what the Lord is doing in their lives.

Homecoming highlights: 5 year reunion with classmates, Ultimate Frisbee with students, musical with my sister, conversations with friends.

Celebration List

Several things to celebrate:

• I'm getting better and was in the office working on Friday.
• Auntie Candy's poison ivy is dead - ending an eighteen month saga! (see picture)
• Cousin SS and his new wife Jen moved into their new apartment. I spent a brief five hours today assisting with the assembly of their new office desk.
• Awesome story on the GFA website about a family who found Jesus as the one true God.
• YOU - thanks for your constant prayers and support. I hope to see some of you in October.
  

Upcoming Homecoming

In the Kansas area? Maybe I'll see you soon!
Thursday evening, October 18: Open House for supporters in the Anthony area
Friday/Saturday, October 19-20: Sterling College Homecoming
Sunday morning, October 21: Korean Presbyterian Church in Wichita

My church family

My church was having a special time of praise and worship this evening. I found myself standing in the corner -- distancing myself from the rest of the congregation. I was feeling a little alone and was quite willing to continue my pity party--alone. But the Lord reminded me that I'm only as alone as I choose to be. So I slowly moved to one of the rows and slipped in beside a lady I knew. I was singing with the second or third song when I paused and looked around me. Teresa, one of my prayer supporters, was on my right. John and Barbara, financial and prayer supporters, were in the row behind me. Dana and Joe, prayer supporters, and their two boys were on my left. And I could see Pastor John and his family ahead of me and Jen and Aubrey worshiping on the stage. I was no longer alone, but surrounded by people who love me and pray for me.

I enjoyed eating afterwards with Pastor John and his family and Pastor Scott and his family. They treated me to Fuddruckers and I enjoyed their stories and conversation. I left tremendously encouraged. Thank you, my church family!

Lead me to the cross where your love poured out.
Bring me to my knees; Lord, I lay me down.
Rid me of myself; I belong to you.
Lead me -- Lead me to the cross.

Running as a team

This evening, one of my interns banged on my door and said, "We're going running, wanna come?" Soon we were all in running shoes, heading down the sidewalk -- 4'10" Dee running beside 5'8" Steph with 5'4" Sara and 5' 10" me following close behind. The laughter and stories and fellowship reminded me of my days with the SC cross country team. Okay -- so the pace today was a little slower, but the teamwork and encouragement and mutual challenge was there! And the killer sprint at the end was still there too!

Since I started my interest in running as part of a cross country team, I've never been a good solo runner. There's the occasional run by myself, but it's not a usual thing. I miss the companionship of a team.

Kind of like our spiritual lives, I guess. God created us to live in community -- to run together. While some people like to live their lives solo, I need to run as a team or I get too self-focused, too discouraged.

I've been blessed with a wonderful family-family and a wonderful GFA family to run alongside me! And then there's you -- thanks for being part of my team!