Great Resolve

Jubilee, Jem and I are studying the life of William Bradford - along with William Brewster, England, the difference between the Puritans and the Separatists, and the Pilgrims. And what fun we are having! But how convicted we are, too! While reading about William Bradford I caught myself thinking 'things were different back then.' When in reality, the people we were reading about were just men - human - like us. What has stuck with me the most is the resolve of William Bradford - even as a youth. As a teen, when friends and family were trying to persuade him not to leave the Church of England, he said the following.
"To keep a good conscience and walk in such Way as God had prescribed in His Word, is a thing which I must prefer before you all, and above life itself. Wherefore, since it is for a good Cause that I am likely to suffer the disasters which you lay before me, you have no cause to be either angry with me, or sorry for me. Yea, I am not only willing to part with everything that is dear to me in this world for this Cause but I am thankful that God hath given me heart so to do; and will accept me so to suffer for Him." WOW!
And the Pilgrims - again, people like us with thoughts, feelings, wants, desires and temptations - were willing to sell everything they had - EVERYTHING - say good-bye to friends and family - maybe forever - and face unknown dangers, hardships and heartache all in order to freely serve, love and worship God. Again I say - WOW!

May we use the lives of those who have gone before to inspire and encourage us to live our lives fully sold-out for Jesus Christ. And may we always remember the sacrifices they made.

Snakes

Snakes are reptiles. They are cold-blooded, which means they are unable to make their own body heat. Snakes can live almost anywhere - deserts, grasslands, woodlands, swamps, water. In cold areas, snakes hibernate in the winter. More than 10,000 garter snakes can live in a single den and they can release stinky, bad-tasting liquid, helping them to escape predators.
As I was reading about snakes one thought kept coming to mind - the church. Bear with me here. Just as snakes need the sun to fill them with warmth so, too, we need the Son to fill us. There are members of the church everywhere - rich areas and poor, city and rural, across the globe. Just as snakes are lulled into sleep by the coldness of winter, the church can be lulled into a waking sleep by the comforts and security of a mediocre life. And it can 'hibernate' together, in small country churches or heart-of-the-city mega churches 10,000 members strong. And as for the stinky liquid that seeps out of garter snakes - well, the church is full of those who seep bitterness, judgementalness and just plain blandness. Not very tasty to those who are searching for the Bread of Life.
Snakes also have a bad reputation. The word snake is even used as a slang word for bad guy.
Although snakes are actually SUPER COOL creatures I, for one, do not want to be like one -I do not want my passion for Jesus Christ to grow cold, for the things of the world to lull me into hibernation. And I don't want to secrete smelly goo.
However, giving off the fragrant smell of joy, love, hope and thankfulness, living in true community and being filled with the Son are all things I would like to be. May we, the church, stop hibernating and, instead, live a passionate life devoted to Jesus Christ.

Go Cougars!!

Wow - what an adventure! Hayley Ann and I just got back from Pullman, WA, and we had a great time! We arrived safe and sound, albeit a tad tired. After a couple hours of sleep we spent the day exploring the Washington State University campus - and walking about 52 miles!! That being said, the WSU campus is amazingly great. It is beautiful - and actually green - with a nice layout. We were welcomed by their distinguished entomology professor, were able to sit in on an actual lecture, spoke to admissions advisers, ate in one of the cafeterias, took a campus tour including dorm rooms and lots more. We got to see where they keep the cadavers but we didn't get a chance to see the bears. Did you know that several grizzly bears live on the campus - real, live bears? And just when I felt like my legs were about to fall off - mind you I had just had a full day of normal stuff then I drove seven hours then slept for about four then walked about fifty two miles and then was about to get back in the car and drive for seven more hours - we found it... a real Barnes and Noble store with a coffee shop - on campus. Ahhhh..
And Pullman was fun, too. There are cougars painted in the intersections and WSU banners literally all over the place. The new Safeway store even has a cougar tiled into the floor. All of Pullman seems to be rallied around WSU. It really is a college town.
Needless to say, we had a great trip. And, no, nothing has been decided. Although WSU would be a great fit for Hayley, so would the other universities on the list. We have toured two and she is considering a couple more. So as she is filling out applications and we are writing checks for the application fees, please keep Hayley in your prayers as she seeks wisdom and direction on what avenue to take in regards to continuing her education. And no matter where she goes we will always say... Go Cougs!

Great News

Guess what! Someone sent a flock of chickens to a family in need in our name. Isn't that super great!! Ok, they didn't personally box up a bunch of chickens and send them oversees but they made a donation to Heifer International - and Heifer takes care of the details. Heifer is an organization dedicated to ending world hunger (a passion of mine, as well!). Heifer is taking steps toward this goal by giving livestock to families devastated by hunger, training the families how to take care of the livestock and requiring each family to pass on the gift - meaning that the family who receives 'our' chickens will need to give a flock of chickens (once theirs start reproducing) to another family in need. So you see, the family 'we' are helping will now have fresh eggs and meat to eat, eggs and meat to sell (providing an income and helping to break the cycle of poverty) and the joy of being able to help another family. We have been involved with Heifer for several years and when we received the email saying someone gave chickens in our name, well, we are just thrilled and had to share! With the holiday season coming, check out the Heifer catalog and give the gift of life - by way of chickens, cows, sheep, bees, etc.. It feels great!

Tigers

Last week I had several conversations about why we are the way we are - why do we like something that others don't - why aren't we good at things that others are - why do some things get our blood boiling while others don't seem affected - why am I different - and so on and so on and.... And throughout those conversations I was reminded of the tigers we saw on our zooapalooza. Yes, tigers, the largest of the big cats. The Siberian tiger is the largest of all - growing up to eleven feet long and 455 pounds. Tigers have great night vision and they are very sneaky. Although the Siberian tiger once roamed throughout Siberia, it's habitat is decreasing and so now it lives in the cold, northeastern part of China and the far eastern part of Russia. Adult tigers live solitary lives and each one claims its own territory - between 174 square miles (females) and 772 square miles (males). This would be a good time for me to discuss the reasons why males need so much more space but that is not why tigers popped into my head. It is because of their stripes. Tigers are so beautiful - the colors, the stripes, the muscles and majesty. But let's focus on the stripes. No two tigers have the same stripe pattern. That's right, no two are alike. Each and every tiger is unique! God made them that way. And wouldn't you know, He made us that way too! No, not the stripes but the uniqueness. He knit each of us together, individually, uniquely, personally, wonderfully. So, next time you are met with the why-are-we-the-way-we-are questions just think of tigers and the beauty that comes from being unique. Then thank God for the stripes!

More on Malawi

Back on January 21st we told you that God had put Malawi on our hearts and we have written a few posts with factual tidbits about it. A few weeks ago we had the privilege of meeting and visiting with a couple who are missionaries to Malawi. Chet and LeAnne Burns were stateside for a couple of months and a few days before they left to go back they graciously gave us some of their time. It was a very long day - traveling 11 and a half hours round trip - but what an incredible meeting we had! God's timing might not be ours but He continues to amaze us - like dropping this meeting in our laps, so to speak. We learned so much about the Burns' and their ministry - Chet has a background in business - they have adopted internationally - they home educate - Chet is constantly driving people to the hospital because there isn't any medical care in the area they live and people would die without him - they are involved in pastoral leadership development, feeding centers and much more -they are alone on the field, the only ones serving a ginormous area (they work in the rural district of Ntcheu). The potential for ministry in this area is so vast; the harvest is ready but the workers are few. Our hearts once again connected to Malawi and we so desire to go visit and see it first hand. Please pray for us, the Burns' family and Malawi. Zikomo.