The Blessing of Happiness

You know happiness is not promised to those who follow Christ. In fact, we are promised a life of suffering, persecution, challenge, misunderstanding, pain and injustice. We are being pursued by this world, not so we can be fulfilled but so that we feel like we are separated from God.

The Word says we can never be separated from the love of Christ, but if the enemy can succeed in making us feel like we are unloved then he has us cornered.

Because happiness is not promised to us, because we are not entitnled to it...it shows us how much we are loved by God. To me...this makes the taste of happiness so sweet. When we get a little bit of it...it's like honey on our lips. As few and far between as true happiness may be, it is worth the wait and it needs to be savored...not scarfed.

Don't forget what a blessing you have in happiness. There are some who walk through life in a famine, a drought; they wander through the wastelands of their life wondering what that sweet honey tastes like.

So please, cherish it. Savor it. Don't worship it...but see it as a real blessing from God...and by all means....ENJOY IT!

I sure am.

My Prayer These Days

So I have been reading Colossians for a while now. Just 4 little chapters, but such a powerful read. In this book Paul is writing to new believers...he is encouraging them in Christ and giving them instruction on living set apart and having a new life in Christ.

In the 1st chapter Paul lets them know that he is praying for them...He not only lets them know, but he tells them what he is praying. It is such a cool thing, when people pray for you, but then to know what they are praying and see it happening in your life...talk about a faith booster!

The scripture is Colossians 1: 9-13 and it reads (NLT):

"So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.

We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father, who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God's holy people, who live in the light.

For he has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son."

I know that is a lot of scripture...but if Paul can pray this prayer for people he has never even met...how much more should we pray this for the people who are important to us. I have taken to inserting people's names (even my own) into this scripture and praying it over them.

This is such a strong prayer. It asks for wisdom, patience, endurance, purity, living to honor God, joy and thanksgiving! So I can't get out of this little book of the Bible. It is packed with wisdom and insight and you can really tell that Paul cared so much for these Christians he would never see face to face.

So here is the challenge...start praying this prayer and see what happens! Pray it over yourself, your children, your close friends, your spouses...anyone. The Lord is faithful and scripture is strong.

Bus Ride

I took the bus into town today. This is not unusual for me, public transportation is a major part of life in Honduras, but today it was a little different. Or maybe I was a little different.

Today normal went right out the window as soon as I sat down on my green vinyl school bus seat and propped my knees up against the seat in front of me. As I looked out the window the landscape came alive. I guess if you don't live in the rain forest it always seems green, but when you are here through the dry season everything takes on a brown tinge. Dust is always flying through the air and covering everything with a powdery film adding to the already dull appearance.

But today...the greens came alive. We have been getting a healthy shower every afternoon. The rains bring a refreshment to the land and a reprieve from the heat of the day. The dust is washed off of the leaves and everything seems to sing out at your eyes.

As I rode down this morning there was a parade of green. Deep hunters and bright kellys...lemon limes and kiwis...imagine all of the crayons in the box being a different shade of green. Then just when I thought it couldn't get any better I let my eyes trace the mountain side and sweep up to the brilliant blue sky. Gone were the misty clouds of morning and in their place where bright white cotton balls set against the Caribbean colored sky.

The landscape was peppered with hot pink hibiscus, neon orange bird of paradise and deep red ginger blossoms. A feast for the eyes...When you come to this place the first things that hit you are the heat and the colors which can only be described as tropical.

In the rainy season the greens just get greener...they get richer...they get deeper. Instead of being set against a brilliant topaz sky they are cloaked with a thick grey shroud, like a cozy cashmere sweater. The blue sky fades into a storm cloud and the turquoise rivers turn chocolate brown...but the greens...they never really die.

So I rode the bus to town this morning, but I rode it back a little bit different.

Patience

Why is it that when we ask for patience...we have to wait?

I know this is a silly question, and I don't want to seem like a whiny little girl or anything...but waiting is hard. I remember this feeling a while back. I remember waiting to be in Honduras...waiting to pack my bags and bring my body to where my heart was already living.

I can remember trying to enjoy the wait. I knew then...the same thing I know now...that you have to come to a place where you truly enjoy the period of waiting until you are released from it. You have to come to a place where it doesn't feel like waiting anymore.

Man...I can't wait to be there.

No, but it's true. I think the root of patience is trust. Trusting in God's timing and that his will is best delivered in that timing. It is also comes with a big dollop of humility...I am not God and I don't get to decide when, where, why, how or who. That will put the brakes on for sure.

So here I am, in my living room, eating humble pie...feeling a bit silly and ashamed that I would ever need to be reminded that the garden of patience is tended by time, and the sweetest smells are produced after we have forgotten we were even waiting on them.

But that's ok...we all need reminders from time to time. I just happen to need them a bit more frequently right now. God is good to us, He doesn't know how to be anything else.

Breathe...trust...breathe...trust...work in me Lord. Till up the soil in my heart and plant your garden of patience. Let me rest in the shadow of your wings until harvest time. Lay me down in those green pastures and lead me to the still waters of life. As always, I am yours. Lead me and I will follow.

Home Sweet Home

our front door...look at that new awning!

I know I have posted a lot about this idea of home. I wanted to let you see where I live...not just the outside of a house...but the door to my home. This is a place where God speaks to me the most. When I am cleaning up, putting on make up or fixing dinner...He just has lots of causal conversations with me there.

I think of times when I am stressed out and running back and forth from the clinic to the dorm to the house. Times when I am all tied up in knots and my body is fighting the sore muscles and dry eyes produced by lack of sleep. It is in these times...when I stop, step back and let my mind rest, that I find the Lord is ever present and waiting for an opportunity to be a part of my day.

the champa...a great place to soak it all in

In the heat of the day, in the throes of a project or all of those other times when we tend to let the mundane tasks of house work or personal appearance slip...you know when your house looks bad and you look bad that you are way too busy for your own good :o) When I stop...and make dinner or sweep the floor my mind settles in and I am able to have some great Father-daughter time.

Where is that place for you? Where is your home?

So here are a couple of pics of my place...my home. I want to do a video before I leave so you all can see what an incredible transformation this place has had in the past few months. So hopefully that will be coming soon!

Gotta Have Faith

I am learning a lot about living by faith, and the first lesson of the day is...that you always need more. I don't want that to be a discouraging sentence, because in actuality it is the greatest hope anyone can ever have! If you need more faith in God it is because your view of Him just got bigger, and now your once sufficient amount of faith must grow to match the grandeur of your God.

Lesson 2...emotions are not faith. When you are living by faith, it doesn't matter what you feel like. When it feels like God isn't there or isn't hearing you...it is just a feeling because the fact is that He IS...He is the I AM. We can't base our lives on the ebb and flow of emotions...they do not provide anything to stand on...we CAN, however, stand on the Word of God and His promises for us.

I read something this morning, and I wanted to share it with all of you:

Believe God's word and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your Rock is Christ, and it is not the Rock which ebbs and flows, but your sea. --Samuel Rutherford

How many times have I pulled away from my Rock, and wondered why things got so crazy?

I want a faith that says: "Thou art here: though the bush does not seem to burn with fire, it does burn. I will take the shoes from off my feet, for the place on which I stand is holy ground." --London Christian

Forgive me Lord, and help me to have faith without feeling. Let me always stand on your holy ground.

Baby...It's what's for dinner.

This is Louis Alberto...my favorite baby. I could just eat him up! haha...He is our poster child for breast feeding. Many of the women here try and quickly wean their children onto cow's milk and rice or corn cereal. Often because of this the children suffer from allergies, bronchitis, and many other sicknesses because they don't get enough antibodies from mom's milk.

Well we are hoping to change things around here. People love fat babies...aka "lots to love" babies...no matter what culture you are living in. So I giving a shout out to Senora Alba for giving her baby the good stuff! Hopefully we will start a fat baby trend in these parts!

What I Really Want

God, put your heart in my chest, put your words in my mouth. Let me bring you nothing but glory.

I ache for your presence.

I long for your touch.

Be with me like you were with Moses...give me the courage, the words, the patience, the heart...everything I need to make you famous.

You gave your life for mine, and I will give my life for yours.

John 3:30, "He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less."

So many things...

It has only been 5 days since I have posted a blog...but I feel like I have experienced a lifetime of joy, excitement, laughter and hope. I don't know where to start...I don't know how to express the light I have in my life.

For starters...the HPC roof crew landed safely in New Orleans early this morning. I miss them already...but it is different from last time. I was expecting a sense of loss...a feeling of emptiness like I felt back in May, after the Medical/CFC/HPSM trip was over. I was not myself for awhile, I was torn.

This time, however, I am so hopeful. Maybe it is because my friends, Tabitha and Mary Beth, are coming to visit in a week. Maybe it is because I will be Stateside in less than a month. There are a lot of maybes...but just maybe... I am adjusting.

It takes so long to adjust to living here, to missions, to a different culture, to a new life, to new friends, to a different everything....and now...I will have to adjust to returning.

I won't lie. There is a bit of anxiety buried deep down in my heart... a bit of worry creeping up like bile in the back of my throat...what will it be like when I return. Will people remember me? Will people care about what I have been doing? Will they even notice that I have been gone? How will I find the finances to return?

There are so many questions, so many feelings...so many lies the enemy is trying to feed me. That is where the Word comes in...it washes my heart, soothes my mind and gives me the strength to stand in the face of adversity. I feel so small sometimes...like I am standing in the middle of a wide open space with the icy rain beating down and the wind whipping my face, but as I cling to the Word, my God gives me the strength to press into the wind and push forward along the path He has for me.

So many times I hear Martin pray to God, saying "make it easy for us to follow you" and I never understood what that meant. For me it is not easy...I often feel like I am holding on the the last bit of strength I have or the last bit of hope. But yesterday the Lord spoke the meaning of that to my heart. He said....It is not that the way should be easy but that the path should be clear.

Oh God, make my path clear...I don't care how many mountains I have to scale, or how many times I fall, or how lonely I am, or how many tears fall from my eyes...if I can see you...if I can see that the path in front of me is lit by your lamp I will follow. I will bear down, I will hold on, I will cling to your Spirit and I will follow you.

So you see...I have hope. My hope is in Him and He is everywhere. I am not sad this time. I am not empty, in fact I am so full I could burst! There is a little concern...a little worry but that is being kept in check. I am back to savoring...I want soak up every minute here. I want to taste it, to smell it and to breathe it in...so that I will be sustained while I am away.

God, make it easy for me to follow you.

HPC in Action

The 15 guys from HPC are such incredible workers. They braved the heat, the altitude, the termite-infested/rotten wood, and razor sharp tin panels to replace more than 1/2 of the hospital roof on just the first day of work! I have never seen guys working together with such unity and cohesion....and they do it all with a smile on their face and a joke on their lips.

It has been an incredible honor to serve them. We had an great dinner last night...I bought out the Cajun Cookin and took care of my boys...I think Brother Larry would have been proud! I still have a little New Orleans in my blood after all...with Cajun chicken pasta and sweet tea to let the guys know this is their home away from home.

I will be sad to see them go on Thursday, but their work will continue to give to this ministry long after they are gone! What an incredible blessing and perfect timing...right before the rains begin.

Oh and keep up the prayers! It hasn't rained significantly since they have been here so they are moving quickly and we want it to stay that way! Continue to pray for the saftey of the crew, as this is dangerous work even for the experienced.

I love you all and I am so glad you are along for the ride on this one!

HPSM at it Again

This week HPC is sending a 15 member team to replace the roof on the hospital and outpatient clinic before the rainy season begins. We have exactly 4 days to replace approximately 6500 square feet of roof. If there is any team on the planet that can do this job...it is a team from HPC lead by Neil Jackson...they don't call him the Pharaoh for nothing!

Life here on the mission field requires heavy duty multitasking to say the least and all the members of the HHIM team have had their hands in various construction projects this past year...but none of us wanted to take on the responsibility of setting up for the roof replacement. It is too far out of our scope of knowledge and we are happy to admit that. So we called on HPC once again for help, and asked them to consider sending us someone who could help us prepare for the group...get all of the materials ordered, on the ground and ready for action as soon as the team hit the ground. And as always they delivered!

Mark Younger has been with us for a week prepping for the change over. He spent a day in the attic, AKA the "swimming pool" because when you come out you look like you just jumped in with all of your clothes on. He counted and marked rotten rafters that need to be replaced along with the roof. He ordered supplies and received the deliveries, helping us make sure everything is ready for Sunday morning.

Mark receiving a maerials order for the roof.

He has also been helping us with the many ongoing construction projects here on the HHIM campus. Our last group from Seacoast church began installing a drop ceiling in the intern house and Mark, with the help of our yard guy Nelvin, finished the rest of the house, along with building and installing 2 awnings to keep the rain out of our house during the upcoming storms. He installed shelves in the Williams' make shift house, and rewired some lights in my kitchen.

Mark is a first year graduate from HPSM and the training he has received from the internship program has made his week here so successful. His heart to serve, willingness to get the job done and do it with excellence has quickly made him a part of our team. He can work hard and play hard right along with the rest of us!

Thanks HPSM for doing it again! For bringing up servants in the house of the Lord...ready to do Kingdom work no matter what the cost. Your internship program continues to provide this world with much needed servant-hearted leaders.

Happily Unbalanced

It recently hit me how quickly time passes. Do you remember when you were a little kid and summer seemed to last forever...those long hot afternoons in the middle of July just trickled by, and you were itching for school to start, just to have something to do. Well, those days have long since left me, and time seems to slip through my fingers like sand through an hour glass.

Living in the States...where everything is designed to increase efficiency and productivity, the world seems to race by and your only job is to keep up with the pace. Ministry moves quickly, busyness threatens to invade your schedule, and as always, the difficulty to lead a balanced life is the greatest challenge for those in the first world.

Here in the third world we have to be OK with leading an unbalanced life. We live on the edge, with one foot in the States and the other firmly planted where our hearts abide. We operate in a place where 21st century technology collides with stark need and want. Missionaries walk the line between staying plugged into the world network while being relevant to the specific culture they serve. This, I have realized, is a tall order.

As a member of a team on the field, we want it to look easy. We want our groups to focus on the people, the projects, the needs...not the when, where, and how. We want trips to flow seamlessly in an environment that is full of logistical mountains, valleys and rocky river beds. It is a blessing when a group says they want to come and serve with us, but is an extreme honor when they reschedule even before the boarding call on their flight home.

I have to give props to missionaries all over the world...those who forsake the ease of communication and constant connectivity, all the while producing similar scale results in the sluggish Third World setting. I have to give a shout out to those who, not only do this work...but love it with everything in them...those that can't imagine doing anything else.

These people are my heroes. The modern day Pauls, Stephens, Esters and Ruths. Those who would give everything to their Father because, in the end, they trust He will give them everything in return.

All I can say is thank you. To all the people who make this possible...Thank You.

Faith Like Potatoes

Last night...I wished more than anything I could send a TwitterPic. I was sitting in my hammock chair on the second floor, of our fully screened-in veranda, watching a movie projected on 2 pieces of 4'x8' Styrofoam...BIG screen style.

I wanted to share it with you so bad. I wanted you to look into my heart and see the gratitude I have for all of the teams that sacrificed this summer and came to sow into our infrastructure and the people of our valley. I wanted you to see the commitment God has made to this place, through buildings and vehicles and teams that want to return next year.

My heart is full.

So the movie we watched was Faith Like Potatoes...I know it is probably old news to most people, but it is the true story of a farmer in Southern Africa and how God turns his life around. It was an amazing testimony of hardships, faith and God's unabashed love for His people.

As I look back at my life, and I look forward into the promised future...I am full of faith. I can't wait to see how God parts my Red Seas and feeds me in the wilderness. I can't wait to see the people healed and raised from the dead in His name. I can't wait to hear the parties in Heaven when the lost are called back to Him.

I am holding onto the promises He has made. I am holding onto the call He has given. I am on my knees before Him with hands lifted high in praise. I am full of anticipation and expectation that my God will provide in the way that will bring Him the most glory.

I am honored.

I am excited.

I am full.

And I can't wait!