New video of our time in Espinillo, Chile coming soon...!

Ramblings

I will not fear great statues of gold;

Or all the worth of this world

I will fear the LORD, for from Him

Comes Mercy and Love Unfailing

Oh Lord, teach me this Love,

A LOVE that Forgives,

That No Record of Wrong Keeps,

That does not Boast,

Nor Envy’s for what the World Has

A LOVE that never GIVES UP,

A LOVE that ENDURES,

A LOVE filled with FAITH

For In You LORD, are riches unimaginable

Father, Today I give YOU might thoughts,

I give you my worries and FEARS,

I give you my relationships,

I give you my ambitions, so futile

And most importantly, I give you my heart,

And the DESIRES it holds

And I ask instead, that you fill and cover

Every part and parcel

With YOUR LOVE!

With a LOVE that brings

Freedom

For Who Can Fathom

the Great Love of The King

For His Children!

Father, ABBA

I Delight Myself In You

I trust You, I believe In You

I BELIEVE in You,

I believe in Jesus as the SON of God,

And In the Work of His Spirit

When Changes on the Outside Can Bring Changes on the Inside

SO, to continue where I left off…

These past days have been hectic! Ness and I arrived from Santiago on Monday the 7^th, and in that first week we had the chance to get situated, visit with Tio Emilio and Tia Monica (who are leading outreach to Espinillo), and head out for our first visit to Espinillo. And as I said earlier, things truly have changed in Espinillo!

Paved road & new homes

It’s amazing to drive in to the village and see paved roads throughout, to see nicely rebuilt homes scattered across the landscape, and it is especially amazing to see the people meeting together and being much more unified.

Inside of yellow house in previous pic we built

When we were in Espinillo nearly two years ago, the roads were unpaved, ruins of adobe houses were visible to the eye all around and the people met us, as well as each other, with a wary eye. One couple, Don Francisco and Senora Maria, used to be unsmiling and unhappy couple. Now they look you straight in the eye and smile with pure joy. You can tell that Jesus has come and changed their outlook on life completely. It’s absolutely amazing to see!

At the Women's Meeting

I’m adding several pictures to show you what Espinillo looks like now.

We attended a women’s meeting in Espinillo on Thursday, where Ness shared a bit about her view on their chosen topic of ‘Relationships’, and then the ladies shared with each other one happy and one sad moment in their lives. The ladies were very shy at first, but by the end everyone was smiling and we wrapped up by sharing a cup of tea and some cookies, sitting around a table. Lovely! Incidently, these women hope to share some of their practical talents with each other like sewing, weaving and pottery so that they can learn and eventually go out and earn more money. It seems to be the beginning of a little microenterprise.

Senora Isabel y Senora Teresa

Their rebuilt kitchen

On Sunday we went out again to go to the church service that’s been started. It’s really just the people fellowshipping together, singing a few songs, sharing a word, and then eating dinner together.

The ‘we’ this time included a group of 15 dentists, doctors and their assistants. They had arrived the previous day to offer free care to people in Pichilemu and Espinillo.

And that leads me to explain what we’ve been doing on the days we haven’t gone to Espinillo.

Ness and I were asked to help translate for the doctor and dentists for a few hours on several days during their stay here. A few hours turned into 2 very full days! I’ve been rapidly immersed into the Spanish language once again these past days, and have been going to bed at night and waking up thinking of Spanish dental terminology! Talk about having a fried brain J.

Another rebuilt house, baby w/ club foot

 

 

In fact, yesterday we went out Espinillo on our own, handing out audio and children’s bibles, praying for people and visiting with a family who had their kitchen rebuilt after the earthquake. And believe it or not, we came home feel more refreshed and rested than any of the 3 previous days we’d spent with the dental/medical team from the U.S.!

The dental/medical team has been a great blessing though, and they work 10+ hours a day fixing people up. They even checked our teeth, and took a huge splinter out of my foot. Yay!

Hopefully this gives you all a bit of glimpse of what we’ve been busy with!

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

On NOT Being Adventurous....During an Adventure in Chile

As I sit here, listening to the Pacific Ocean’s breeze passing by our cabin’s open door, I’m pondering what to write and how to update the ‘world’ (which in this case is very small ;)) about what is happening out here in Pichilemu, Chile.

As is often the case with travels and journeys, though, I feel more compelled to write about what I am learning thus far from this experience. God often tends to packages trips where we are permitted to give to others in combination with new revelations of what He is doing inside of us. In this way, I am blessed to have received much thus far.

All this to say, if you are looking for a more factual entry, wait for the next one!

So, I got here just last Thursday, after a long 20hr flight involving 10 hours of laying on cold hard seats in the Lima airport overnight. My friend Ness from Brazil met me at the airport and we went straight to Rodrigo and Male’s house (good friends of ours, read their story here) in Santiago. And the first thought I remember hitting me? How completely comfortable and at home I felt taking a shower in their less-than-stellar bathroom complete with water running either extremely hot or cold, and nothing in between! Ahhh, so good be back!

Incidently, Rodrigo and Male are now doing very well, and have an amazing testimony. When we met them before, they opened their house, offering their only bedroom to us even while they had no food in the fridge and huge debts to pay off. Male now is one of the managers at her workplace and earning a good salary, while Rodrigo started his own micro-enterprise, providing not only for his own family but also providing jobs to women from low-income families. These women can now work from home, be with their kids and earn an income!

Just being with Rodrigo and Male and their son Dani this past weekend was a blessing in itself.

That aside, our first ‘event’ in Chile was going to a conference in Santiago which we had been invited to attend with some of our friends from Chile and the U.S. Ness and I didn’t know what to expect, but we were blessed to get free tickets to the conference and felt it would be good idea to go! On the first evening, a lady named Eleanor Mumford spoke, and the one thing that stood out to me was how she emphasized that ‘we have to be willing to go on this adventure with God and to allow His Holy Spirit to lead us whatever it is we might do or wherever it is we might go. If we don’t, we’ll miss out on the best parts of life’.

I nodded my head sagely, feeling that I already knew this to be true. However, the last few days have been a testimony of how difficult it is to truly be open to every adventure.

I’ve arrived here with lots on my mind, including potential job offers, work, and various projects I’m involved with back home. And added to that, things have changed a bit around here (more on that later)! All in all, it’s left me a bit at a loss as to what I’m doing here and if I want to be here. I know, incredibly spoiled and selfish sounding right? What has hit me though, is that I’ve changed. That’s what revisiting old places does: it sets you to reflecting on the ‘before and after’. Some things have definitely changed for the better, others not so much. The past two years, through the struggle of lacking a job and getting one closed door after another, have refined me. In fact, oddly enough, I can say that I haven’t felt as content and settled as I have in the past little while in long time. Yet, as our trip has progressed, I’ve had to rethink my initial reaction to ‘being willing to go on this adventure with God’. I’ve realized I really am not so good at that, nor do I understand entirely well how to do that. I’m confronted with the need to constantly have to lay myself down and open myself up to this adventure. You see, as with anything in life that is unseen and uncertain, my reaction is often of fear, of need for control and/or apathy and lack of willingness rooted in pride. The unfamiliar and uncontrolled is not always fun.

And so I’ve been asking myself how willing I really am? I recently read a blog entry of a friend of mine, in which she writes about ‘resistance to the maturing process’ and how we often want to remain in the fun, carefree and often clueless childhood seasons of life. Even as children we like to try on a grown-up pair of shoes, but in the end we like to revert to our old comfortable pair. And that’s exactly my conundrum. In this past year or two, I’ve been given a new set of clothing, and new ring on my finger, and a new pair of sandals (see the story of the Prodigal Son). But everything in me now says, ‘I’m not ready!’ I’m griping about how the shoes don’t feel comfortable and don’t fit, and in the process I’ve taken a seat and decided to ‘sit out this dance’. And then, much like a pouting child, I’ve also taken on the attitude of feeling left out and acting like no one wants to dance with me (when in reality it is the other way around). Are you following me?

My basic challenge right now, as we are in Pichilemu and Espinillo, is to allow God to take me on this adventure, to wear the clothes He’s given me for this trip (and those to come) and to not be limited by my own lack of maturity or past grievances! I am ready, but not because of me, but because of Him who has given me a new Spirit, and Spirit of life and not death (see Romans 8).

Time to be “more than a conqueror”!

More interesting news to come soon….;) I've posted a few pics to tantalize your senses already!

Chile - The Return!

Please read the following newsletter to find out about the upcoming trip I'm taking with friend(s) back to Chile, where we worked after the earthquake hit in February 2010!

Fire: Dare I Say, 'Let the Flame Burn'?

Fire. I write this as wildfires have come raging across Texas, seemingly unquenchable. And we prayed and still pray for rain to come, for the winds to calm down...and yet, no seeming answer. Yet today for the first time I had to ask myself, perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from this when we look at it from a different angle?

You see, a couple of weeks ago I was reading about seeds planted in soil that are in danger of wilting, being scorched by the sun and having no root (see Mark 4). A week later I read about how the Lord can "[r]estore our fortunes, as streams renew the desert" (Ps.126:5).  I thought, well that's well and good, and just kind of left those texts on the back burner, so to speak. However, today my eyes fell on an unusual text wherein Jesus says a quite unusual and radical thing: "I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning!" (Luke 12). Well needless to say I had to rethink a few things, including all these references to deserts, heat, sun, fire and so on. And yet, what kind of fire is Jesus talking about, and what on earth does that have to do with wildfires?

That's the question I'm grappling with, but I do feel there is something to this. You see, a couple of verses after Jesus says he has come to set the world on fire, he talks to the crowd saying, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right. When the south wind blows, you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is. You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times." I believe that is what is at the heart of this. Let us take a moment to ponder how what is happening in the physical reflects upon and touches the spiritual. (For that is what man is after all, flesh in this world, but also spirit, now and for eternity). 

Let me lead you down a rabbit trail for a moment. In God's Word, fire was used as a symbol for refining, judgment, but also interestingly, was a symbol of God's presence and of worship. In particular, fire was used on the altars where various offerings were made to the LORD. The fire was always started by the hands of man, save in a few instances where the Bible talks of God lighting the fire on the altar and also of His presence coming like a consuming fire, literally burning and consuming the offerings given to Him. Other religions of the time also had altars with fire and offerings, namely to the god Molech to whose firey altar they fed their own children. The point? Fire can be man made, but there is also such a things as God's Holy and All-Consuming Fire. Oh I could go on. How Jesus is described as having eyes that blaze like fire, how believer's go through the refiner's fire, how the Word talks of a baptism by the Holy Spirit and by fire...and lastly, how there is an eternal lake of fire. But note here the difference between God's pure, powerful and ultimately good fire, and the rather weak and at times nefarious use of fire by the hands of man.

So - lest I drag this on longer than it already will - what struck me the most in all of this, is that these wildfires are certainly not something caused by God. Rather, they are an example of fires that have been brought about by man, in that they are a reflection of a quite broken world. The earth is groaning, and it is not functioning as God created it to be because of man's sin. 
Yet what also became clear to me is that, God does desire to bring fire, but it is primarily a spiritual fire. It is His holy fire, a refining and purifying, lasting flame, upon the hearts and spirits of mankind that He desire, but we are simply not letting Him. 

You see, His fire is not always free of pain. It brings about a choice in us to live more consecrated lives to His will and ways, it requires us to lay down all of our ugly selves, to  let Him 'burn all that is within us that He desires to be silent' (Jason Upton: Silence) so that we might truly know who He is and what He's all about. And that's a fire that we as the Church, have not allowed to burn. Remember the parable of the virgins that need to keep the flame burning? My question becomes: have we kept the flame burning? And what consequences has that had on this earth? Have we now let the unholy fire of man rage on unquenchably? And is that not a spiritual state that we are seeing happening in the physical? And yet we are indeed still as blind as Jesus accused His crowd of being, where they could easily read the signs and patterns of the weather, but truly could not read the signs of the age and time they were in.

Oh but my prayer in this is not only that we as the Church would invite His holy fire to burn once again, but also that we would have the courage and strength to let Him do so, to stand in the midst of the fire that can be oh so painful to us that have built up so much dross. Truly, Ps. 126 is prophetic in this, because it is their hope and joy in God that becomes their strength, where even when they go through trials and pain, they ultimately come rejoicing as they bring in the fruits of their labor.

  ⁵ Those who plant in tears
      will harvest with shouts of joy.
 ⁶ They weep as they go to plant their seed,
      but they sing as they return with the harvest.

Hoping in the Power of Prayer?!

My heart is overflowing, with hope and something akin to trepidation. Why? Because I have this vision to see this world changed through prayer: prayer that shakes, heals, multiplies, MOVES! And how I wish that we would catch just a small glimpse of how God desires to draw close and build something new in the hearts and lives of mankind through praying, through seeking His face and crying out to Him!

I can't really put it into words very well, it just feels like this rumbling from deep within that won't let me go. I think of Jeremiah 20 v.9 "But if I say I'll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It's like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can't do it!"

I have a dream of groups of people going out into the world, praying into the situations and circumstances that effect the lives of man, and watching as GOD provides miracles and solutions to problems man cannot fix. Like the famine in Somalia... the first thing that came to mind, ridiculous as it might sound, was how great it would be to pray over bags of food being distributed and watch as GOD miraculously multiplies the food until the people are filled!

I want to hold on to these crazy ideas and dreams, because when I stop praying and believing, it will feel like the fire has gone out within me.

You see, I've seen GOD do miracles, in my life and in the lives of others. I've seen Him come through in situations that seemed truly broken, where no solutions or resources could bring an answer. I've seen Him work beyond the hands of man to truly transform and change communities in a way I would and could never dream up. And sometimes I forget, you know...and then I get little reminders like this one:

In January of this year I got in a -first ever for me- car accident, and I was found to be at fault :(. No one was injured, but the car I was driving was total loss (I guess the theme was, if you go, go all the way??). Anyhow, given my unsure financial situation, I was really worried about extra costs because the accident. Luckily the insurance covered most of the cost and I had just a small out of pocket to pay. However, in July a letter came in the mail from the insurance, stating that the other party was filing a personal injury claim, and that the insurance might not be able to cover all of the costs. Safe to say, I got a little panicky, envisioning getting stuck forever trying to pay off that debt! (Overactive imagination, I know). But so I just prayed, feeling I just needed to renew my trust in God's provision. Somehow I managed to pray "Lord, reveal your truth in this situation and let this not be used for evil. I put my trust in You, amen". So...fast forward to a few weeks later. We talk to the insurance and find out there was some kind of crazy story behind this case. The lady over the phone said, "I've never seen anything quite like it in all the years I've worked in the insurance business". As it turns out, the fraud investigation team at the insurance company found out that the other party had forged false records of doctor's visits and even surgery in the hospital (!) in order to get money. The team in turn contacted the claimant's lawyer and he said he wanted nothing to do with this and promptly withdrew ALL claims, including ones that may have been potentially valid (according the insurance company).

Amazing huh? This is my latest little 'hallelujah' story that lets me know that God truly provides.

I hope that in all things, I can truly learn to seek God and His answers for every circumstance, above any financial, political, legal or social answer out there! And yes, I'll continue to dream of teams of people going out to the nations, praying and watching as God moves His hand over every broken circumstance! (The current circumstance catching my heart: watching and praying for God to end sex trafficking). Many are already faithfully praying, may even more rise up and join His battle for victory!

Get Connected, and Get Involved!

Ever wondered how you can get involved with local non-profits and/or ministries? Read on to find out how and to share some of the ministries you like in your area. Let’s get people connected!

Now, I have struggled with connecting with non-profits, churches and/or ministries alike. Though not intentional, sometimes the focus tends to be inwards, or they simply don't have a clear way displayed on how to get involved/connect. Also -speaking for myself- websites and online media often do not speak as strongly as having personal contact with an organization or with an issue I feel strongly about. All of this can make it hard to connect and find something to jump into.
So, in the spirit of encouraging others to step out there and find something they can get involved in, I’ve come up with a small list of organizations I have come to know in the (northeast) Houston area that can get you connected with real issues and needs, right outside your doorstep:

Heaven’s Army of Resources and Recreation Center – Providing food, clothing, ESL classes and various activities like gymnastics throughout the week to poor and needy families in the New Caney area. They have a vision to become a ‘mall of ministries’, reaching out to various specific needs in the area.

Exodus Cry – A prayer and abolitionist movement to end slavery (human trafficking). Hosting a documentary screening/informational evening in the northeast Houston area soon.

Redeemed Ministries – Reaching out to victims of sex trafficking here in Houston. They offer trainings on the weekends every 2nd weekend of the month, open to all who are interested.

Somebody Cares Humble – Has great volunteer program for youth to work in service with and for other youth, and reaches out to local families that have pressing needs.

Republic Pilgrim USA – Supporting orphanages in the Ukraine that are an alternative to the state-run orphanages where kids receive abuse and maltreatment. They strive to get kids off the streets and rehabilitated.

A new ministry reaching out to 190 pregnant teens in Montgomery County is being started up right now by an awesome couple, the Krouskop's.

Are you interested in branching out further into Houston or out to the world? Being a YWAMer, I like what Youth With A Mission is doing reaching out to the homeless in downtown Houston. But, there are many more organizations out there. Don’t be afraid to toss out an email or phone call to organizations that you read or hear of. Chances are, if they don’t need help, they will know of others who do or who work in the area you have a heart for. Remember, the heartbeat of the world does not lie in its many organizations or businesses, but lies in its people who care.

This is by no means a comprehensive list. These are just a few organizations I really like here in Houston. What are some of yours?

(If you would like more contact info, shoot me an email or comment below).

Waking or Sleeping

She screams in the streets,
On every street corner I hear her,
From billboards to bus stops
From the homeless girl in the alley,
To the news I see on TV.

She cries, "Come to me all you who are weary and burden-laden,
Come to me, and find rest...
Yet the rest she offers is like that of the calm glass surface of a sea,
where storms rumble underneath.
The rest she offers is in exchange
For the torment of the soul.

She's the Harlot of the Age,
But with the face of an angel.
How come we don't hear her,
How come we don't see her?

We've plugged our ears and blinded our eyes,
Filled our stomachs to satiation,
Living bodies with deadened souls
To the raging, teeming, screaming humanity
Crying for breath,
Crying, HELP.

I hear her now, I hear her now!
A blood-curdling scream, igniting
Not pleasure, but terror.
Like children we become, huddled in a corner,
Rocking back and forth,
Hoping to drown out the noise.

I see her now, I see her now!
When I turn on the TV, while surfing the web,
When driving down the street, when ironing shorts
Labeled, 'Cambodia'.
When I see children playing on the playground.

I wonder, who's fallen prey?
They think they see an angel,
When it's been the devil all along.
Now I see her true face.
The abused girl on that playground,
The underfed mother of 3 sewing my shorts,
Wondering if she should listen to the Harlot and find other means...
The doors of houses, shutting out life.
Society, deaf to the lies & perversion,
Making the virtual their reality.

Is it fight or flight?
I can't decide.
Can I live life,
willing to hear and see the suffering & misery?
Or will I go back to sleep,
Joining the other unliving statues
That mark the ranks of our age.

HOPE
MERCY,
JUSTICE,
COMPASSION,
FORGIVENESS,
RIGHTEOUSNESS,
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

A flame flickers in my soul,
Will I let it burn?
Will YOU?

A Story to Ponder

So, here’s a strange story I read recently and have been puzzling over. Read, ponder, and feel free to comment on your impressions:


"A king was standing before an altar, about to make an offering, when a holy man came from another kingdom by his God's command and cried out (these were God's orders) to the altar: "Altar, Altar! This is God's message! 'A son will be born into king's family. The priests from the shrines who are making offerings on you, he will sacrifice—on you! Human bones burned on you!'" At the same time he announced a sign: "This is the proof God gives—the altar will split into pieces and the ashes of the holy offerings spill into the dirt." For the altar had been built to self-invented gods.

When the king heard the message the holy man cried out against the altar, he reached out to grab him, yelling, "Arrest him!" But his arm was paralyzed and hung useless. At the same time the altar broke apart and the holy offerings all spilled into the dirt—the very sign the holy man had announced by God's command.

The king pleaded with the holy man, "Help me! Pray to your God for the healing of my arm." The holy man prayed for him and the king's arm was healed—as good as new!

Then the king invited the holy man, "Join me for a meal; I have a gift for you."

The holy man told the king, "Not on your life! You couldn't pay me enough to get me to sit down with you at a meal in this place. I'm here under God's orders, and he commanded, 'Don't eat a crumb, don't drink a drop, and don't go back the way you came.'" Then he left by a different road than the one on which he had walked into the town.

There was an old prophet who lived in the town. His sons came and told him the story of what the holy man had done that day, told him everything that had happened and what the holy man had said to the king.

Their father said, "Which way did he go?" His sons pointed out the road that the holy man from the other kingdom had taken.

He told his sons, "Saddle my donkey." When they had saddled it, he got on and rode after the holy man. He found him sitting under an oak tree.

He asked him, "Are you the holy man who came from the adjoining kingdom?"

"Yes, I am," he said.

"Well, come home with me and have a meal."

"Sorry, I can't do that," the holy man said. "I can neither go back with you nor eat with you in this country. I'm under strict orders from my God: 'Don't eat a crumb; don't drink a drop; and don't come back the way you came.'"

But he said, "I am also a prophet, just like you. And an angel came to me with a message from God: 'Bring him home with you, and give him a good meal!'" But the man was lying. So the holy man went home with him and they had a meal together.

There they were, sitting at the table together, when the word of God came to the prophet who had brought him back. He confronted the holy man who had come from the other kingdom: "God's word to you: You disobeyed God's command; you didn't keep the strict orders your God gave you; you came back and sat down to a good meal in the very place God told you, 'Don't eat a crumb; don't drink a drop.' For that you're going to die far from home and not be buried in your ancestral tomb."

When the meal was over, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. Down the road a way, a lion met him and killed him. His corpse lay crumpled on the road, the lion on one side and the donkey on the other. Some passersby saw the corpse in a heap on the road, with the lion standing guard beside it. They went to the village where the old prophet lived and told what they had seen.

When the prophet who had gotten him off track heard it, he said, "It's the holy man who disobeyed God's strict orders. God turned him over to the lion who tore him up and killed him, just as God had told him."

The prophet told his sons, "Saddle my donkey." They did it. He rode out and found the corpse in a heap in the road, with the lion and the donkey standing there. But the lion hadn't touched either the corpse or the donkey. The old prophet loaded the corpse of the holy man on his donkey and returned it to his own town to give it a decent burial. He placed the body in his own tomb. Then they mourned, saying, "Ah, brother!"

After the funeral, the prophet said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the same tomb where the holy man is buried, my bones alongside his bones. The message that he preached by God's command against the altar and against all the false temples of worship in the surrounding towns will come true."

After this happened, the king kept right on doing evil, recruiting priests for the forbidden shrines indiscriminately—anyone who wanted to could be a priest at one of the false altars. This was the root sin of king's government. And it was this that ruined him."

Something New

As the period of Lent starts, I'm giving it new thought. I don't think I have ever very seriously taken part in Lent. Yes, it has become a rather 'religious' thing, but it also is representative of the 40 days Jesus spent in the Wilderness, right after receiving His call and blessing, fasting and wrestling it out for God. For me, it now represents a time of getting straight with God, of facing our temptations and stumbling blocks, and being freed of them so that we can walk in new purity and with healed bodies and souls. Sounds too dreamy or spiritual for you? Well, it kinda is, and it kinda isn't.
I think of it a bit like having a wounded shoulder or knee. Or a kink in your neck. After a while, if that pain continues, you start adjusting the way you walk or move so that the wound or kink doesn't hurt quite so much. So that you achieve the most comfortable position possible. Any physical therapist will tell you that that is often why people come in: after an injury, patients have to relearn how to use their bodies properly, rather than conforming their bodies to the pain they used to feel, and thereby causing further injury.

Long story short, I'm ready to not live according to my injuries, but in new freedom, moving and living fully as I was meant to. But how do I do that? I've gotta turn around and kick some things in the butt. Go to my 'physical therapist'. Healing is not often achieved just lying down.

I think of a song, "Healing Rain", where the artist sings,'Healing rain is falling down, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid'. You see, while going to a physical therapist, or going to the doctor when your injured, is probably good, it also can be quite painful. My niece had a fever, and she didn't want to take any medicine for it. Finally, her parents made her, and they asked the next day, 'Do you feel better?'. She of course said 'yes'. But when asked if taking medicine wasn't too bad, she said 'No, I didn't like it'. Same goes for us grown ups.

This year, I'm letting go of a few things I feel are keeping me from a having "hands and a heart that are pure" so that I can "climb the mountain of the LORD", see doors opened, and see the King of Glory - He who is victorious over all - come claim the victory! A victory that frees me and brings me life! Read Psalm 24, and see if you get a small glimpse of what is getting me excited. It's not really about something we all call 'Lent'; it's about Jesus, the Son of the Living God, and learning to live as He did: freely, purely, sacrificially. He is the Faithful One.

Isaiah 43:19 "For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway throug the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."

An Ocean We're All Sinking In

Sometimes, when we're on this journey called Life, things become a little foggy. I woke up this morning feeling very out of focus, as if even though I was awake, I was in this dream-state, where I could almost stand outside of myself and just register what I was thinking and doing with each step, just like in a dream. I think at times we walk through life like that, not fully in a moment, but just registering what is going without really being part of what is going on. Why do we do that? (It occurs to me that it is because we either refuse to be on the journey we are on, or because we know we're not on the journey we're meant to be on.)
I've become disconnected like that lately, and what it has done is put me in danger of disconnecting from others. And in the space between us and others, a lot of junk can build up. Somehow, what's helping me to hold on is a phrase from the song "How He Loves Us", singing that "if Gods grace is an ocean, we're all sinking". All of us are connected by this invisible thread that is Gods grace. And really, it is all that ultimately keeps us connected, to each other and to Him and to LIFE. I came across the following song weeks ago, and it keeps coming to mind, and is something I'm slowly digesting:

Brother, let me be your servant
Let me be as Christ to you
Pray that I may have the grace
To let you be my servant, too

We are pilgrims on a journey
We are brothers on the road
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load

I will hold the Christlight for you
In the night-time of your fear
I will hold my hand out to you
Speak the peace you long to hear

I will weep when you are weeping
When you laugh I'll laugh with you
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we've seen this journey through

When we sing to God in heaven
We shall find such harmony
Born of all we've known together
Of Christ's love and agony

Brother, let me be your servant
Let me be as Christ to you
Pray that I may have the grace
To let you be my servant, too
(The Servant Song, by Richard Gillard)

Eph.4
v.3-6 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.
v.16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Its time to move ahead in the ocean of Gods grace, to FORGIVE, and let go of anger, bitterness, regrets, worry, fears, and all the nasty crap that is our human nature.
We easily become like seeds scattered on the footpath, picked of by birds on the sky because we are not UNDERSTANDING the message of the Kingdom of God, not letting it take root in our hearts (Matt. 13:4).