Bibles

How many Bibles do you own? How about if you add in those of your spouse and children? We have a lot - different versions and sizes, with commentaries and without. Last week I read a little children's book written by David Hazell and was, again, reminded how special it is to own even one. The Hazell family has been involved with Bible translation for a long time and David's book - God Speaks Numanggang - is the story of Bible translators and how one family worked for over thirty years to translate the New Testament into Numanggang. And how this family is still working on translating the Old Testament. It also stresses how important it is to have the Bible in everyones heart language.

Did you know that there are 6,909 languages in the world? Interesting, isn't it? But what about this: Only 438 have a complete Bible. Only 438 out of 6,909! That is not interesting; that is sad and downright shameful. But let us keep going. Only 1,168 have a New Testament. Yes, that is better than 438 but let's not pat ourselves on the back yet. 2,393 do not have a completed Bible, a New Testament or any sort of Bible translation in process! 2,393. 2,393 languages include bajillions of people and those people have no way of reading God's Word or learning about Jesus Christ.

Next time you pick up your Bible say a prayer for those who don't have the Scriptures in their language and ask the Lord to raise up people willing to devote their lives to Bible translation so that one day all people will have His Word in their heart language.

Statistics from Wycliffe Bible Translators and God's Word for the Nations

Ups and Downs

Growing up, Chutes and Ladders was one of my favorite games. We had the board where the ladders and slides actually meant something - good behavior=ladder and bad behavior=slide. (I say that only because I recently saw a version that wasn't about behavior, just cute little pictures.) And, actually, the board in the photo is hanging on the wall in our home. Yes, that's right, on the wall - near the tricycle wheel, old suitcase and - oops, I digress, this post is not about what is on my wall; it is about ups and downs. While playing Chutes and Ladders players spin the spinner, move their person and, depending where their person lands, climb up, slide down or stay on level ground. The path to square number one hundred is never the same - and it is never boring.

I find that to be true with life, as well. Each person's path is different even when the destination is the same. And with God, it is never boring. There are ups and downs, bumps and potholes, straight stretches and curves. There are times when we climb, slide and stay on level ground. Sometimes we can't see where our foot will fall when we take our next step and other times we are allowed a glimpse of where the path is taking us. And like playing Chutes and Ladders, sometimes we feel like we are winning and sometimes we feel as though we are losing. But when we commit to play, we know we will make it to the finish eventually. And that is where I am now - simply living in my commitment to play.

May we learn to walk with passion, embracing the ladders and slides, and may we wholeheartedly commit to play.

Please Pray

Last night I learned the following. Two Christian Pakistani men were abducted from a hospital in Pakistan. One thirty year old missionary was abducted in Yemen. Both of these incidents happened last month and no one knows their whereabouts. These are our brothers and sister. Please pray - right now - for them, their families and their kidnappers. May we stand together.

"Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body." Hebrews 13:3

Tickets and Tingles

Now I will be the first to admit that I don't know the difference between a 737, 767 or an A353 - or, quite frankly, anything about flying - because all that matters to me is that I get from point A to point B. And in June, point A is Seattle and point B is Lilongwe, Malawi. That said, we have our tickets!! Wahoo! I just had to share that with you! But not just that - I want to share how the hand of Providence has been guiding us.

When we went to purchase the tickets we had already done our research and knew the ballpark cost. We had picked out a flight plan and had double checked it with the travel agent, making sure it was a low fare. I drove to town, met with the agent in person and prepared to finalize the arrangements. But before I did the agent decided to do one more quick check on flights and we are so thankful she did. She found a previously unknown plan that saved us $400 per ticket - that is $800 total!! (I will leave off the fact that it is a much longer and more grueling flight schedule because God made a way for us to save so much money!)

When traveling oversees it is a good idea to have evacuation insurance. We purchased a policy for the Zambia trip and we were planning on purchasing one for our trip to Malawi. While speaking with our agent during the planning stages of our June trip she suggested this to us and I told her we were planning on getting a plan and that we had already found a place to do that - thinking we would simply use the same agency we did for Zambia. However, when we were finalizing plans, she told us that her office just started offering travel insurance and asked if I wanted to see what they were able to do. I thought that I might as well and guess what?? They had just started offering a great travel insurance plan - much better than the one we had for our previous trip. I was so excited! And thankful to know that God is taking care of us!

But that is not all! Now come the tingles!! A woman overheard me talking to someone else about changing dollars to kwacha and when I walked past her she asked me if I was going on a trip to Malawi. I was a bit shocked and told her that, yes, my husband and I were heading there in a few months. She did not ask our reason for going - she simply got excited and proceeded to tell me that I needed to contact a local couple who is connected to Malawi in a major way. The wife is Malawian - they started a ministry in Lilongwe working with youth (tutoring, feeding, etc.) in the poorest area - the church they attend here in Whatcom County is involved with the ministry - a brother is involved with an anti child trafficking organization based in Blantyre - they have many connections and contacts in Malawi. I literally walked away from that conversation with tingles - again knowing that Providence had orchestrated that meeting.

I wanted so desperately to call that couple but, yes, I was chicken. I mean, what was I supposed to say? But the tingles stayed and I did call. And guess what? While speaking with the gentleman, he was also very excited and said he had tingles about our conversation! Once again, a connection set up by God Himself. We are planning on meeting in person sometime in the near future. How amazing it was to find out there are others in the county who are connected to Malawi and are partnering with what God is doing there.

So, in short, we have tickets and tingles! And we are so excited and thankful to see the hand of Providence making a way for us - and you - to partner with Him in Malawi.

Our Family

Just look at what Hayley made for me!! Isn't it super great?! She even added special details that go with each person. This is family fun at its finest! Can you guess who each one is??

Butterfly

I have nothing close to a green thumb. In fact, dandelions are the only things I can grow with consistent success. That is why I am so proud of my butterfly bushes. Yes, I know no special care is needed and they will grow almost anywhere...but still. At our previous home I planted a start from one of my parents' bushes and it grew into a beautiful, ginormous bush with a natural arch - forming an inviting tunnel entry into the backyard. And here at our current home, near Mt. Baker where the growing season is months shorter than it is elsewhere, my three bushes bloom and beckon the butterflies to come and visit.

Butterflies are gentle, fragile and beautiful. But they don't start out that way. Butterflies begin life as caterpillars - long, lumpy with lots of legs. After a caterpillar eats its fill, it makes a chrysalis, somewhat liquefies itself, reorganizes and transforms into a butterfly. Even after years of research scientists do not fully understand this metamorphosis. But simply put the caterpillar changes; it gives up itself. And only when it gives up itself and changes do we see the beauty that is a butterfly. God could have made butterflies to begin life as butterflies but He didn't. He made self-sacrifice and change necessary for them to be all that He created them to be.

What we can learn from a caterpillar! Some of us are able to embrace change and others, like me, find it way too prickley to embrace. So as big change is looming on the horizon for us I find myself thinking about caterpillars and butterflies and hoping that I, too, can willingly give up my self, my dreams, my wants, embrace the change and emerge on the other side all that my Creator created me to be.

Take Courage!

"The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph..." Thomas Paine