What We Wish We Could Send To Kansas

(both the rain and the green)

Snow for Christmas

We actually traveled "home" for Christmas this year.  Yes, we celebrated Christmas at our real address.  We had fellowship and Christmas carols last night with Mr. Amazing's sister and her family.  Lots of fun playing with the nieces and getting up-ended as they "knocked you over!"  Christmas Day has been quiet with Mr. Amazing, Mom and Dad B. and the new book they got me for Christmas.

Thanks for praying for my tooth.  By the grace of God, a wonderful dentist in Dallas, an amazing staff at Pratt Family Practice, and great friends at my local pharmacy, I was able to pick up antibiotics before we left for Atlanta!  That's kept things from getting any worse and then I have an apt on Monday.

My verse for Christmas this year has been in Isaiah 7.  "Behold, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign.  Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

It's been a season about believing the Lord.  Ahaz, to whom this promise was given, was a prime example of NOT believing God, even after God had promised.  Yet God was still faithful to His promises.  God's been teaching me and enabling me to believe His promises too. :)

To top off the Christmas fun, guess what?!?  It's snowing!!!  Yep, this Kansas girl came to Georgia for Christmas and they're treating me to gorgeous snowfall!  Thanks, Georgia!

(eating snowflakes)

Camping, laptops, and a calf

I'm sitting here at the illustrious Anthony Lake with my laptop and our mobile internet.  We hiked out here last night and camped and then are doing office from here this morning.  I wish I would have brought lunch supplies!  Oh, and a baby calf is out here too.  I don't know who it belongs to, but apparently, it decided to see the wide, wide world.  It's been hanging out around the play equipment a lot.  Maybe it's looking for friends. :)

Back in Kansas (but not really)

We left Charleston, IL this morning and, seven hours of driving later, pulled into Leavenworth, KS.  As we drove through the outskirts of Kansas City, I watched the sun set amidst gray clouds tinged with gold and purple and blue.  There was a treeline in the distance, but you could still see forever and the sun was setting against the plains with simple but catching beauty.  And it seemed like such a sunset could only exist in Kansas.  Not in Michigan or in Illinois or in Indiana or in Ohio or Arkansas or Texas (although all those places are nice).  Only in Kansas.

We're not here for long.  We leave in 7 hours for the Kansas City airport to catch our flight to Seattle, Washington to help a mission organization there for two weeks.  After we fly back from that, we'll start heading towards "home."

And Greg, my love, happy Valentine's Day - from your Kansas girl!

Watching the sunset

A storm system moved through this evening while I was Auntie Candy's house for our weekly prayer/visit and supper. We watched as the local TV stations preempted their regular programs for round the clock weather coverage including helicopter footage, radar, and eye witnesses. I was pretty impressed! I think that's the first time since I've been here that I've seen the TV stations do continuous storm coverage.

I had spoken with Greg on the phone earlier as he was en route to ICCM and he was encountering major storms in OK. I have now have a little more empathy for his stormy travels. :P Why is it all the "really good" storms hit when we're not in the same place?!? (Greg and I both love to watch a good thunderstorm develop!)

The storms are leaving now - leaving our house without power. But the storms also left behind a beautiful golden sunset. Gen and I watched the sun lower itself through the lingering clouds and moisture and marveled at the deep pinks and golds of the evening.

When I was tempted to complain about the 80+ degrees in the house and no A/C, I was quickly reminded of the recent loss of homes and lives in West Bengal, India as a result of Hurricane Aila. At least 200 people killed, millions homeless, crops destroyed, and water supplies polluted with salt water.

A quote from one of our field correspondents: "Children are crying without proper food, and parents have lost hope. They look at the sky and weep. We can give no answer when they ask us with tears, ‘Where will we go now? We have no home, no cattle, no fields . . . '"

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!

Ice Storm Comfort

The promised ice storm which shut the office down yesterday finally came through last night about 8:00 or so. By 11pm, the sidewalks and ground were white with sleet and the roads were getting messy. The sidewalks got slick about 7pm. I know. L., you weren't the only one to have a "touchdown" yesterday!

The office is closed until noon today as the streets are frozen over. Prayer meeting has been moved from last night to tonight. It's cold outside (umm... except compared to Anthony where it's 7 degrees and my dad is delivering miles of city mail on foot today).

So... I'm going to go check out the gfa.org update on bicycles for missionaries and then head back to my papasan to cuddle with a good book and my grandmother's quilt. Yay for flannels PJs and warm houses!

In Your Hands

Not a hymn, but still...

My life is in Your hands;
My heart is in Your keeping.
I'm never without hope,
Not when my future is with You.

My life is in Your hands,
And though I may not see clearly,
I will lift my voice and sing
'Cause Your love does amazing things.
Lord, I know my life is in Your hands.

On other notes: the GFA office is closed today due to the pending ice storm. I gotta pack up and get outta here so I can work on a home computer for another staff member and get home before the roads get bad.

Lightning Flashes

I'm working on supper plans for tomorrow (bierocks) and watching the lightning out my window. Jes and I walked to the post office this evening - just so I could watch some more lightning! I love to see God's power in nature! (Oh, and Big K - thanks for the surprise!)

We had all the interns at our house this evening as one of the ladies in the ministry shared her testimony and some things the Lord was teaching her.

*pauses to stir the cabbage and meat*

One of the verses she mentioned was Jonah 2:8 - Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

It made me think. What worthless idols am I clinging to?

His Spirit Within Us

I haven't been on my computer at all much in the evenings - leaving my blog suffering as well as my personal correspondence. These few weeks are the calm before the storm. Although Jes was gone the last two weekends and Caz is gone the next weekend, the "busy-ness meter" is generally down. My room is clean, my laundry is...party done, and we made do-nuts last night from Grandmother Coulter's "Best of Washington County" cookbook. Yum, yum!

We're going through 1 John 4 in Bible Study. How do we know God's love? What is the difference between knowing it and believing it? Do we really believe it? I mean, do we LIVE like we believe it? And the whole God-dwelling-in-us-And-us-dwelling-in-God thing that is repeated three times in five verses? Does that "just happen" as a result of being a Christian or is there a daily choice on our part to dwell in Him? Just questions we've been discussing...

It was a joy to see college friends Ed and Andrea and Jeni and Michael briefly last week. Although our vists were brief, it was good. I had never seen Ed and Andrea's youngest three kids. We talked small towns and community and real church and the tornado that took a swath through Chapman, KS (nowhere close to my family). But Anna does have some awesome pictures there. You can see the path of the tornado through the town.

And my family started wheat harvest in KS. I talked to my Dad on Sunday and he reminded me of God's faithfulness and grace in all situations. I love my daddy. He reminds of God.

Still a Kansas Girl

We went out for ice cream this evening -- myself, two of my interns, and two lady interns from another intern house. We knew there was a storm blowing in (with possible hail), but we figured we had 45 minutes to get our frozen custard treats and get back home. By the time we got our order figured out at this little outdoor eatery, the lightening display to our west was become slightly more active and the rain was beginning to fall, albeit quite gently.

We were setting up a camera on self-time to snap a photo when we hear the first faint (and I mean faint) rumblings of thunder. There was still plenty of time to enjoy our treats and get back home.

Set the timer, race to get in the picture, run back, check the camera, race back to the picture, freeze, flash, laugh... and just as we were cracking up over the photo, the tornado sirens went off. You Kansas people know what I mean -- the long, sustained note that says (without words), "The National Weather Service has spotted rotation in the radar or a trained weather spotter has spotted a funnel in your county. Take cover immediately."

Being a Kansas girl, I sprang into action, grabbing the camera and barking orders. "Get to the car - now! We're getting out of here." The girls ran screaming for the car as I scanned the heavens, trying to figure out where in the world this tornado was in this peacefully falling rain.

I headed to the closest intern house as fast as we could. I flipped stations on the radio to find the weather, but to no avail. The sirens were still sounding as we scampered into the house, but I still couldn't see any signs of a tornado. We turned on the TV and found the weather man. The storm had dumped golf ball size hail on the Ft. Worth area (45 minutes away) and would be arriving in southern Carrollton in about 15 minutes.

No rotation. Not even a tornado watch. Just a severe thunderstorm. I felt pretty sheepish. I scared everyone for nothing.

The hail? I never saw it. I think we got maybe .3" of rain during the next hour. I'm sure we got the light part of the storm, but still - there was no tornado. There was no reason to leave the pavilion and race to the nearest shelter.

You can take the girl out of Kansas, but you can't take the Kansas out of the girl.

Friday Night Prayer

There's nothing like a good Friday All Night Prayer to help me start blogging again. Prayer finished a little early this time -- I'm back at the house preparing for bed and it's only 3AM. We were a few people short due to a massive storm system that moved through the area just before prayer meeting started. It just wasn't safe for them to travel.

It was interesting -- I was awaked about 6pm from my pre-prayer nap by tornado sirens. Slightly panicked, I ran outside (smart, Dorinda!) and couldn't figure out what was going on. We were getting rain and wind and the clouds were dark, but there was no green sky, no wall cloud, no rotation, no fingers dipping down from the sky. Why the tornado sirens? Surely if there were tornado sirens, there must have been a tornado spotted.

My intern girls already had the news on and a tornado was being report in Haltom City -- about 45 minutes SW of us. I'm guessing the sirens went off since the southern part of Carrollton was in line to receive the northern part of that cell. We live in northern Carrollton, so we didn't even get the "teacup-sized" hail they were advertising. We did get wind and rain for about 15 minutes, but that was the worst of it.

Topics from prayer meeting: Indonesia, Radio ministry, the upcoming Gospel Music Association event, more staff for our Canadian office, more opportunities for our staff to share about the ministry in churches, and the huge need for additional child sponsors. www.gfa.org/bridgeofhope

Quote from prayer meeting: The Holy Spirit is the "how" to accomplish the Bible's "what."