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Have you ever had a sense God was waking you up, clearly calling you... but you do not know when or where? Or how?
Watch this. Grabs your heart. Teaches your mind. True. Real. Reflective. Honest. Convicting. Hopeless. Hopeful. Is God calling you?
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
A Must Summer Read
The idea of summer reading lists is ingrained from school days I guess. Summer is the time I make lists of what to read, what to do, where to go, what to eat for goodness sakes, and what not to miss before Labor Day rolls around.
The favorite read so far... Left to Tell: Rediscovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza.
In 1994 during the 100 day genocide in Rwanda which took the lives of 1,000,000 Tutsis, Immaculee was hidden in a tiny bathroom with seven other women. They were cramped and could barely move. They were silent, knowing even a cough could betray their location and their lives. They were starving: Immaculee was 115 pounds when she entered the bathroom and 65 pounds when she emerged. Her story is inspiring, her God real and compelling. Most of all, her story is of forgiveness and her legacy of faith will be found alongside Corrie Ten Boon's.
It is a quick read, yet one that will stay with you for a lifetime. One excerpt at the end of the book touched my heart:
Rwanda can be a paradise again, but it will take the love of the entire world to heal my homeland. And that's as it should be, for what happened in Rwanda happened to us all - humanity was wounded by the genocide. The love of a single heart can make a world of difference. I believe that we can heal Rwanda - and our world - by healing one heart at a time.
The favorite read so far... Left to Tell: Rediscovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza.
In 1994 during the 100 day genocide in Rwanda which took the lives of 1,000,000 Tutsis, Immaculee was hidden in a tiny bathroom with seven other women. They were cramped and could barely move. They were silent, knowing even a cough could betray their location and their lives. They were starving: Immaculee was 115 pounds when she entered the bathroom and 65 pounds when she emerged. Her story is inspiring, her God real and compelling. Most of all, her story is of forgiveness and her legacy of faith will be found alongside Corrie Ten Boon's.
It is a quick read, yet one that will stay with you for a lifetime. One excerpt at the end of the book touched my heart:
Rwanda can be a paradise again, but it will take the love of the entire world to heal my homeland. And that's as it should be, for what happened in Rwanda happened to us all - humanity was wounded by the genocide. The love of a single heart can make a world of difference. I believe that we can heal Rwanda - and our world - by healing one heart at a time.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Secret Church
I have discovered a gold mine. If you are looking for a Bible study you can do at home, on your own time, at your own pace, here it is... David Platt's Secret Church.
If you have heard that Secret Church is held twice a year - true. If you have heard that tickets (although it is free)go in 3 hours - true. If you have heard that it is held on a most inconvenient Friday night - true. And if you have heard that the teaching goes well after midnight - all true. The topics are pivotal to our faith and the body of Christ is well taught. Every resource from every Secret Church is available to us.
Secret Church Click on Resources, then Browse Secret Church Media. Each topic has 4 parts that you can either listen, watch video, print materials. Excellent teaching. Each segment is about an hour in length. I began with Angels, Demons and Spiritual Warfare and I have learned so much. Take a look, try a segment.
If you have heard that Secret Church is held twice a year - true. If you have heard that tickets (although it is free)go in 3 hours - true. If you have heard that it is held on a most inconvenient Friday night - true. And if you have heard that the teaching goes well after midnight - all true. The topics are pivotal to our faith and the body of Christ is well taught. Every resource from every Secret Church is available to us.
Secret Church Click on Resources, then Browse Secret Church Media. Each topic has 4 parts that you can either listen, watch video, print materials. Excellent teaching. Each segment is about an hour in length. I began with Angels, Demons and Spiritual Warfare and I have learned so much. Take a look, try a segment.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Compassion Team in Boliva
This week four of our Wednesday Girls - Rica, Susan, Jennifer and Debbie - are in Bolivia with Compassion International. We have been following their blog and praying, praying, praying!
Tomorrow is child visit day and Compassion-sponsored children come to meet the team. Some will get to meet their sponsor. Many of the children travel for quite a distance, for some this is their first time away from home, and some will be flying. Pray for their safely, God's love to be evident, the walls of culture to quickly fall, the team to be healthy and physically strong, and for each ambassador to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit as He ministers in various ways.
This is Sebastian. How could anyone see this face and not want to be his sponsor? Well, that is exactly what happened. One photo sent to one family and he has a sponsor. the family asked if Sebastian could be packed in a suitcase and be brought to them on the return trip home. Well, no. But maybe another trip and Sebastian's sponsor will be on the team. God does so love the little children!
Tomorrow is child visit day and Compassion-sponsored children come to meet the team. Some will get to meet their sponsor. Many of the children travel for quite a distance, for some this is their first time away from home, and some will be flying. Pray for their safely, God's love to be evident, the walls of culture to quickly fall, the team to be healthy and physically strong, and for each ambassador to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit as He ministers in various ways.
This is Sebastian. How could anyone see this face and not want to be his sponsor? Well, that is exactly what happened. One photo sent to one family and he has a sponsor. the family asked if Sebastian could be packed in a suitcase and be brought to them on the return trip home. Well, no. But maybe another trip and Sebastian's sponsor will be on the team. God does so love the little children!Monday, June 13, 2011
Peanut Butter Balls
This is the dearest story of God's call on a young life and how it has come to fruition. This may be my favorite Coffee Tea and Thee post ever, so if you do not have time to read please come back to it. If you do have time to read it through, take a few minutes more at the end for a word of prayer and a word of praise to our God for a ministry such as this. I received permission to tell this story with my most ardent promise that I would give only God, and none other, full Glory. Soli Deo Gloria.
Once upon a time there was an 11 year-old girl named Fran. She lived in our city, in an affluent neighborhood, went to a good school and a large church. At this early age God began to tender her heart toward those who were hungry. She desired to go into the government housing projects to take food to people. And she wanted to teach Bible stories. She shared this desire with her mother who surprisingly agreed to take her. I'm not sure if this was surprising for Fran's mother, but it certainly would have been for mine. The next Tuesday they loaded up the family car with peanut butter balls, Kool Aid and Bible study materials, and headed to streets unknown. Fran says these were the days when every mother in the south was making peanut butter balls, and every kids had their favorite flavor of Kool Aid. Ah, Iremember those days. On their first visit they slowly drove into the projects, stopped the car and got out. It was only when they pulled out the peanut butter balls that a few kids came around to check them out. The next Tuesday afternoon they attracted a few more, and within a month Fran and her mom had over 20 children leaving the tv and their after-school kickball games, to get a peanut butter ball, a cup of Kool Aid and Fran's Bible lesson. The crowd grew to even higher numbers. You are getting this, right? She was 11.
Fran's mother continued to drive her, and foot the bill for peanut butter balls and Kool Aid, until she was 16. And on Tuesday afternoons no less! Not on a weekend when it might have been more convenient, but on a Tuesday when she had to rush home and get dinner for five children, get their homework and to bed! Fran says she never grumbled or complained. She was raising her children for His service! A true servant of the Lord. I write this to encourage those of you I watch who are doing the same thing. Keep listening to your kids and serving their need to work for God, and keep doling out the money to underwrite their kingdom work. Bless all of you! Then Fran got a license and a car, took over her ministry and drove herself. In her her own words, she says that she was quite proud of her Bible lessons and abilities to keep a crowd coming!
This continued until she went to college. After college she moved away and it was a long time - like 10 years - before she moved back. Okay, hang with me here... One day she was driving an unfamiliar route in an unfamiliar area. Remember she had been gone quite a while. She needed a few groceries and pulled up to some kind of market in a not-so-good area of town. As she was checking out, a young man, African American, kept looking at her oddly. He asked her, "Aren't you Miss Fran?" She said yes, he told her who he was, and she remembered him. He had come to her Bible studies years earlier in the projects. If you know Fran, you would know that she whooped and hollered and gave him a big slap on the back. Made him feel loved and happy and welcome and important.
She must have made him feel all of that because he opened up to her in a few short minutes. He said, "Miss Fran, you know all those Saturdays when you came to teach us Bible stories? I didn't really come for your stories. I came for your peanut butter balls. I would eat one of your peanut butter balls on Tuesday and I would sneak two more and hide them in my pocket. We had very little food. On Wednesday nights we ate at the church. From Wednesday until Sunday when we ate at my grandmother's, I would ration out my two peanut butter ball and be able to make it until I could get back to you on Tuesday. Miss Fran, you kept me from starving."
Are you sobbing yet? I can't tell, write or hear this story without bawling. That very day God grew Manna House. Fran is still feeding people, still whooping and hollering and still making everyone feel loved. She works with churches and businesses and hundreds of volunteers. She asks God to fill the need and then waits to see what will show up. One time someone needed Pepto Bismol for an upset stomach. Reluctantly Fran said Pepto Bismol wasn't really food. Two days later God sent one lone bottle of Pepto Bismol in the middle of a pallet of food. Fran says things like that happen all the time.
Manna House does more than serve food. Manna House serves love. The concrete floors and few rooms are God's workspace. It is holy ground. I know this has been an extra long post, but go here to to read more about it, to volunteer, to take your kids.
Once upon a time there was an 11 year-old girl named Fran. She lived in our city, in an affluent neighborhood, went to a good school and a large church. At this early age God began to tender her heart toward those who were hungry. She desired to go into the government housing projects to take food to people. And she wanted to teach Bible stories. She shared this desire with her mother who surprisingly agreed to take her. I'm not sure if this was surprising for Fran's mother, but it certainly would have been for mine. The next Tuesday they loaded up the family car with peanut butter balls, Kool Aid and Bible study materials, and headed to streets unknown. Fran says these were the days when every mother in the south was making peanut butter balls, and every kids had their favorite flavor of Kool Aid. Ah, Iremember those days. On their first visit they slowly drove into the projects, stopped the car and got out. It was only when they pulled out the peanut butter balls that a few kids came around to check them out. The next Tuesday afternoon they attracted a few more, and within a month Fran and her mom had over 20 children leaving the tv and their after-school kickball games, to get a peanut butter ball, a cup of Kool Aid and Fran's Bible lesson. The crowd grew to even higher numbers. You are getting this, right? She was 11.
Fran's mother continued to drive her, and foot the bill for peanut butter balls and Kool Aid, until she was 16. And on Tuesday afternoons no less! Not on a weekend when it might have been more convenient, but on a Tuesday when she had to rush home and get dinner for five children, get their homework and to bed! Fran says she never grumbled or complained. She was raising her children for His service! A true servant of the Lord. I write this to encourage those of you I watch who are doing the same thing. Keep listening to your kids and serving their need to work for God, and keep doling out the money to underwrite their kingdom work. Bless all of you! Then Fran got a license and a car, took over her ministry and drove herself. In her her own words, she says that she was quite proud of her Bible lessons and abilities to keep a crowd coming!
This continued until she went to college. After college she moved away and it was a long time - like 10 years - before she moved back. Okay, hang with me here... One day she was driving an unfamiliar route in an unfamiliar area. Remember she had been gone quite a while. She needed a few groceries and pulled up to some kind of market in a not-so-good area of town. As she was checking out, a young man, African American, kept looking at her oddly. He asked her, "Aren't you Miss Fran?" She said yes, he told her who he was, and she remembered him. He had come to her Bible studies years earlier in the projects. If you know Fran, you would know that she whooped and hollered and gave him a big slap on the back. Made him feel loved and happy and welcome and important.
She must have made him feel all of that because he opened up to her in a few short minutes. He said, "Miss Fran, you know all those Saturdays when you came to teach us Bible stories? I didn't really come for your stories. I came for your peanut butter balls. I would eat one of your peanut butter balls on Tuesday and I would sneak two more and hide them in my pocket. We had very little food. On Wednesday nights we ate at the church. From Wednesday until Sunday when we ate at my grandmother's, I would ration out my two peanut butter ball and be able to make it until I could get back to you on Tuesday. Miss Fran, you kept me from starving."
Are you sobbing yet? I can't tell, write or hear this story without bawling. That very day God grew Manna House. Fran is still feeding people, still whooping and hollering and still making everyone feel loved. She works with churches and businesses and hundreds of volunteers. She asks God to fill the need and then waits to see what will show up. One time someone needed Pepto Bismol for an upset stomach. Reluctantly Fran said Pepto Bismol wasn't really food. Two days later God sent one lone bottle of Pepto Bismol in the middle of a pallet of food. Fran says things like that happen all the time.
Manna House does more than serve food. Manna House serves love. The concrete floors and few rooms are God's workspace. It is holy ground. I know this has been an extra long post, but go here to to read more about it, to volunteer, to take your kids.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Wedding Season
... there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the Lord. They will sing,
‘Give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
for the Lord is good.
His faithful love endures forever!’
For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the Lord. Jeremiah 33: 10-11
Excuse me while I digress from my usual topics, but we have a wedding in the family! These days the wedding is my topic.
Sarah and Sean kicked off the wedding season last weekend and I thought you might enjoy some photos of family and friends. This is such a happy joyous time for our family. We already are hearing the happy voices of bride and bridegroom. Our thankfulness to God is overflowing! To see the full post and all the pictures go to Molly's blog, Sweet Mondays, on my sidebar.
‘Give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
for the Lord is good.
His faithful love endures forever!’
For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the Lord. Jeremiah 33: 10-11
Excuse me while I digress from my usual topics, but we have a wedding in the family! These days the wedding is my topic.
Sarah and Sean kicked off the wedding season last weekend and I thought you might enjoy some photos of family and friends. This is such a happy joyous time for our family. We already are hearing the happy voices of bride and bridegroom. Our thankfulness to God is overflowing! To see the full post and all the pictures go to Molly's blog, Sweet Mondays, on my sidebar.
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