May 2014 Prayer Letter link

Please click here to read our May prayer letter. God is good. He is faithful. He provides.

We are thankful for all of you who support our family and the ministry that the Lord has allowed us to participate in.

Happy Birthday, Ethan Matthew!

I remember this day. You were not many months into this life of yours. This is how you have lived most of your life, with a smile on your face, laughter spilling out through that smile. You were such an easy going baby. We went everywhere with you, even sat outside a Def Leopard concert with you at the Indiana State Fair when you about three months old! 

As a toddler, you were full of life, a bundle of energy, always ready to learn, curious, and very protective of your sister, Isabelle. You two were inseparable. You did everything together. You were best buds. You loved Batman, Spiderman, Woody and Buzz, and somewhere in those toddler years, you found your love of Legos. 

When Audrey was born, you were really beginning to develop your own personality, do things on your own, and you had started pre-school, which you loved. Do you remember how you used to stand at the window in the play room and watch the bus go by...in your diaper with your Winnie the Pooh backpack on? You wanted to go to school so much. You were so excited when we went I told you that you finally were going to be able to go. And you loved it from day one! That first day I dropped you off was one of my most difficult days as a mom...the first bit of letting you grow into your own person, on your own. You loved having two sisters. You loved making Audrey laugh. But by now you had began making your own friends, too. Rob became your best buddy in those early years. 

When we moved to Costa Rica, you were ready! You had already spent a year in kindergarten and had done so well. God had been preparing you during that year for what was to come, even though none of knew it yet. Three-fourths of your kindergarten class spoke Spanish as their first language. And you made some good buddies that year. God gave us a wonderful family as neighbors whose first language was Spanish. Do you remember Enrique? You had a lot of fun with him. When we moved away from Frankfort, it was very difficult. But out of all of us, you made the transition the smoothest. You made instant friends with the Nicaraguan and Costa Rican boys in the churches we served with. Your dad and I still remember seeing you sitting across the street from the church playing cars with Elvis, talking, on our first or second week in the country. You had no fear, no stress, no worries. You picked up Spanish as if you had spoken it all your life. Do you remember that time Dad and I were doing our homework and we were so frustrated because we did not understand...and you turned around and gave us the answer like it was nothing?

You eased into life in the ministry, despite a hectic schedule, lots of travel, and two sisters who did not adjust quite as well as you. There was so much change in those first two years in Costa Rica, so much stress on our family, and things were not always smooth, but you kept us laughing. You loved the school you went to that first year and made some great friends. But it was in those first two years that the world began to press in on you and you learned some things the hard way, not the way we would have chosen for you.

We moved to the Guanacaste region of the country and this was the first time in your life that you really struggled. It was the first time you came face to face with having to choose for yourself whom you would serve in this life. You had to choose to believe, even when it was hard, or you had fear. You began to understand that to choose your own way was to disobey God and that was sin. The world began to press in on you more and more. God provided for you though. He began to put other men in your life at this crucial time, like Pastor Phil and Eddy, who love you so much. He also allowed us to begin serving with Potter's Field and we started PFK in Villarreal. There you got a much better picture of what ministry is all about. As you began to serve yourself, you began to develop a love for children and you also began to understand how much you have to rely on God to be your source of strength...

You learned about forgiveness, restoration, and what it means to be a true friend with Joel. Remember  how you were once enemies, but how how we saw God work in him and how you became such good friends?

You overcame so much in those years in Villarreal. And leaving was the first and most difficult test of your faith. You had found home there. You had your dogs. You had friends. And you did not want to leave. But you also trusted that your Dad and I believed with all of our hearts that leaving Costa Rica was what we needed to do to be obedient. You knew that we really did not want to leave either. You saw our pain. But you also saw our joy in knowing that if God was calling us to leave a place and people we all loved so very much, he must have something so incredible for us. We believed that. 

I love this picture of us tarn when we visited Niagara Falls on our way to Indiana after leaving Costa. Here we were, literally with all we had in suitcases, we'd been up all night in the New York JFK airport...yet, arms open, ready for whatever the Lord had for us next...we had no idea, did we?

We spent a month in Indiana before we took off on our cross-country adventure moving to Montana. These two pictures remind me that as we continue on in life, and as you grow in years, more and more you will be making your own decisions. Sometimes, those decisions will take you on a way that turns out favorable. Sometimes, they won't turn out so favorably. But as you learn the RIGHT way, the ONLY way and how to find it and WHO the One is who will be your continuous guide, your dad and I will be right here, just a few steps behind you, watching, praying, and ready to steer you back when you've gotten a little bit off the path. As I watch you grow, I realize more and more the plans the Lord has for you are great. I don't know what they are or where He will lead you, but I do know that all these years we have prayed for God to reveal His perfect plan to you, that He work out in your life the plan for you that is good and meant to bring you peace and not meant to harm you, we see Him doing that now. I know He is answering those prayers in real tangible ways, in these very years.

No matter what God's plan is for you, it will never be easy to be away from those that love you most who remain far away, like these guys. Even though your time with them each year is so short, you always make the most of it. They love you so much. It never was your dad and I's plan to live so far away from your grandparents, but God has always provided in awesome ways for us to visit them and for them to visit us. We are so thankful for them and for their love for you and your sisters.

We're also so very thankful for these dear people who God has placed in our lives. We believe they are part of the perfect plan He has for you in some way, Ethan. They love you so very much.

Montana was full of firsts for all of us, new friends, and fun adventures! None of ever could have known how much we would love Montana. We never could have imagined the things God was going to allow us to experience, the people that He was going to bring into our lives, or how very difficult it was going to be to leave there...

But prayers were already being answered and God was working out the next steps of His perfect plan for our family, and for you, my son.

We arrived in Antigua, Guatemala last June and none of really knew how very different it was going to be from Costa Rica. The Spanish was very different, so many new words, the culture was so different, and there was not one part of life that was even similar to Costa Rica...but God is good and faithful..and you transitioned much like you always have. Once the July IGNITE class arrived, you really found your way. God has blessed you so richly Ethan both with the young men as well as the older men He is placing in your life.

God is giving you such wonderful examples to watch as they live out obedience in their daily lives. Remember them and do as they have done...keep your eyes Jesus.

Love Jesus with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your strength and all of your mind. Live out that love by by serving Him, not for glory or honor or position, but motivated by your love for Him. Remember that you are deeply and intimately loved by Him. He bought you for a great price. He rescued you out of the mirky depths and is raising you up into the man He has planned and called you to be. He will continue to transform you as long as you remain in Him and yielded to His will for you.

As for your dad and I, we are so very thankful that God gave us you. Fourteen years have flown by for us. I can fill all of this space with pictures and memories and there are so many more. Yet, here you are, taller than me, your feet are bigger than your dad's, your voice is changing, you are maturing, and you are growing and changing every day. I cried last night as I pondered all of this. Not tears of sadness or despair, but joy because you are a gift from God, as your middle name suggests. We love you so much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TITO!

As one who serves

April/May Journal
April 24
Luke 22:24-32
Jesus is sitting in the upper room with his disciples ready to partake of the Last Supper. Having just learned what this traditional Passover supper would have been like and how Jesus changed it and exactly when he changed it, I am so much more greatly impacted as I read this today. At the point in the supper where the Jewish would have drank the third cup of wine (they drank four total), which was the cup of redemption, Jesus introduced the Lord's supper. He broke the bread and poured out the cup (Luke 22:14-22). Just before this, at the appropriate time during the supper where the people would have washed their hands, Jesus had washed the disciples feet. This job was usually done as guests entered the home and it was performed by a lowly servant. It was not a job that anyone would choose to do. Yet, Jesus, the Messiah, humbled himself and washed his disciples feet. Next, he introduces communion to his disciples.

And, as we also tend to do in our flesh, the disciples broke out into an argument about who was the greatest. At first glance, my thoughts would be, "How could they argue about who was the greatest at a time like that? They had Jesus right there with them." But the Lord has reminded me of how often I tend to rear up and live this life of service to him as if it were a competition. I love how the Lord, in grace and love, exhorts me through his word.

And so here, Jesus also exhorts his disciples.

"Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be the greatest. Jesus said to them, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves...."

This reminds me of something Pastor Don McClure said to Matt and I the last time he was here in Antigua. He told us that no matter what position we find ourselves in, whether it be deacon, elder, teacher, pastor, or evangelist; we must never forget that we still serve in each of those previous roles. So as a deacon is a servant, so too is an elder, as is a teacher, etc. it is the same thing that Pastor Mike and Pastor Steve tell each new IGNITE  class about the inverted triangle of ministry. The world looks at success and climbing the ladder as growing in authority and position. But in a life of service to Jesus, the greater position, if you will, that one might gain, the greater responsibility they have as a servant. I love this and believe it because I have seen it lived out by those in leadership of PFM and Calvary Chapel. One of the things I love most most about serving with  Calvary Chapel churches and PFM is the rich heritage of generational discipleship that makes up both the CC movement and  the ministry of PFM. And in both, it all starts with being a servant.

I am thankful for the example we have in Jesus as a servant. We see over and over again that his disciples were not perfect, they made many errors, they doubted at times, they were ashamed at times, BUT God, who is rich in mercy, poured out his grace upon them, continued to love and invest in them, and entrusted them with His ministry.

This blows my ever lovin mind, as Pastor Mike would say. And it humbles me. I am so thankful for the pastors and their wives, that the Lord has placed in our lives who demonstrate mercy and grace and love in our lives as they model being a servant, teach, and exhort us as we live and serve together.

Today, as I meditate on this, I ask the Lord to continue to remind me of the cross. Thinking through all He has taught me about what a life devoted to him really looks like in the past couple of weeks, I will look for opportunities I have to serve. As the Lord gives them to me, I pray my heart will be surrendered to Him and not given to the desires of my flesh.

Thank you Lord, for beloved friends who have taught us so much over the years. Those that love you and walk in obedience to you. Thank you for leading them to give us the opportunity to serve with PFM. Thank you for their leaders and pastors, who had first invested in them, and who have a relationship with our leaders. Thank you for the way you weave together your body in service. Thank you for Pastor Mike, who trusted your leading and in his relationship with others. Thank you for Pastor Steve, who from the beginning, has been one of our biggest cheerleaders, who has supported, encouraged, and believed in your perfect work in us. Thank you for Pastor Jim, who you continue to use as an example in our lives daily. Thank you for his life of service, example of being a servant, his love for laughter, his oversight, his discipleship, his love and his grace that I know come from you. Thank you for the wisdom he imparts into our lives. Thank you also for Pastor Don, who leads us all with grace, integrity, and wisdom. Thank you for the legacy of faith he is passing on to the generations that have come after him. Thank you also for others on our team who you have given us the opportunity to serve and to serve with. Thank you for those who we co-labor with across the nations, whom we may not know face-to-face but are united in spirit with through our service to you.

Holy Week or a life of living holy?

For the last ten months we have called the city of Antigua, Gautemala ‘home.’ We’ve grown to love being here, not because of anything the city or the people can offer us, but a love born fully out of our love for Jesus and to walk in obedience to His call on our lives. I remember my first few months in language school in San Jose, Costa Rica how everyone would talk about Antigua and how beautiful it was here and particularly about how special, beautiful, and fun it would be to be in this place during Semana Santa or Holy Week (the week leading up to Easter Sunday). At that point in our lives, I never would have imagined that I would actually call this city that everyone wanted to go to ‘home.’ But I do now. I walk the cobblestone streets every week. I talk with the vendors. I maneuver my way through the throngs of tourists that crowd the streets, as I go about my daily life here. This is the place God has called our family to serve. It is a place that we most likely never would have picked to live, however, that is why we surrendered our choice long ago. Our ways are not His and our plans fall so much shorter than the ones He has for us. 

Jeremy Camp sings this song called “Speaking Louder Than Before.” The song contains these lyrics, 

“

We are, we are in desperation

We need to reach this generation

We are speaking louder than before                      

“

When Queen Esther realized the plot against her people, the Jews, her uncle Mordecai, spoke words to her that ring so true to me today. He said to Queen Esther, 

“Yet, who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

I believe with all my heart that God has our family serving here through PFM and alongside Calvary Chapel Antigua for such a time as this in order that we may be a light through which He might reach this generation as we speak louder than before.

During the five years we served in Costa Rica, we were able to witness so many people who have been deceived by a mix of animism, witchcraft, legend, and Catholicism- a conglomeration  called religion that had been passed down from generation to generation. We began to learn that the Catholicism of Latin America is not the same as the North American religion. However, because most of the people in the areas in which we lived and served in Costa Rica were merely Catholic by name and did not go to mass or even have an understanding of what it is they said they were or believed, we had a only a very small glimpse into the religion. 

Since arriving here in Guatemala, we recognized an extreme difference in the people and the importance they place on religion compared to what we experienced in Costa Rica. Catholic people here are very closed to Christianity and are generally hard-hearted toward the gospel. God is good, He is faithful, and He is working despite the hard hearts and stiff necks that abide here. People are coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus and finding their salvation in His amazing grace. But the reality is that Antigua, a city perceived to be rich in its religious heritage and traditions, is actually a desperate city, deceived and enslaved by Satan. 

The last week or so in and around Antigua began the ‘processionals’ or parades that make Holy Week in Antigua famous. People began preparing ‘alfombras’ or carpets and just as a family finishes the alfombra a ‘float’ weighing thousands of pounds passes over top of the alfombra. The float depicts some aspect of the crucifixion, usually Jesus carrying the cross and Mary crying or with a knife to her heart. Many have small signs on them with various different sins listed. Others have depictions of hell and suffering. All are carried by men, women, or children wearing purple or white robes or all black. These people pay high fees, like $100.00 (more than a weeks wages for many), to participate in them and to ‘carry the burden’ of the float. The alfombras, the floats, the purple robes, and the carrying of these ‘burdens’ or floats all are done in hopes of gaining the favor with God. There is an undeniable feeling of oppression as you hear the somber beating of drums and sad, mournful music as the parade approaches. You can smell the incense carried by several scattered throughout the processional. And then as the float approaches, you see the faces of those carrying the float. Many times they are hunched over due to the weight of the float on literally their shoulders. As the float approaches the alfombra and proceeds to walk across it, the belief is that the items used to create the carpet like sawdust, palm leaves, lilies, flowers, fruit, vegetables, and many other items, become sacred. As soon as the float crosses the alfombra, destroying it in the process, the crowds rush the remains of the alfombra and the gather anything that might be useful to them as fast as they can. 

Many look upon all of this and see tradition, rich heritage, and culture. But as I walk through the streets during this time, I see the faces of the people, watch the cameras snapping pictures, hear the oohing and aching of the voices bantering back and forth about how beautiful all of this is. My heart breaks. I remember when Jesus approached the city and looked down upon it and wept. I have wept over this city. Watching and learning the deep seated roots of deception that come with all of these celebrations and traditions have only caused my heart to ache more for the salvation of the Guatemalan people. As you go further and further and learn more and more about the reasons behind why all of this is done, you begin to realize the inaccuracy of ‘Catholicism’ that was brought here when Spain conquered Latin American. 

These traditions demonstrate what the real belief of the people is: that salvation is earned through acts, works, and by suffering, none of which is true according to God’s Word. Our salvation is by grace through faith and not by works, but rather it is a gift of God, so that no one can boast.  Yet, the Guatemalan people believe that if they put themselves through suffering, as Christ did, they will gain salvation and favor and remove the sin from their lives. 

The root of all this is the same deceit that was present in the Garden of Eve. The enemy roams around like a roaring lion looking for who he will devour. He seeks only to steal, kill, and destroy. His hand has been allowed to bind many, leave more wounded, and unfortunately has even destroyed some. You see, one thing we see during these celebrations and traditions is many, many drunk people walking along with the procession, carrying the float, wearing the purple robes. They’ve paid the price to be a part of the whole grand procession, and therefore are now free to do as they choose…until next year. 

But Jesus came that we may have life. He died on the cross, yes. We must never, ever forget the cross. But HE paid the price for all sin, ONCE AND FOR ALL, on the cross at Calvary, so that we do not have to carry the burden of our sins. There is no price that anyone could ever pay that can take away sin. Jesus is the only way that one can ever be free from sin! We we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us of them and cleanse us completely. He asks us to come to Him, all who are weary and burdened, and we will find rest in Him. He asks us to take upon ourselves His yoke, which is light and we then will learn from Him. We will find rest then. He takes upon himself our burdens precisely so we do not have to carry them ourselves. So the entire idea of carrying a thousand pound float upon ones shoulders and proclaiming to do so in the name of Jesus is absolutely contradictory. 

Another part of the Jeremy Camp song, Speaking Louder Than Before, says the following:

“

Many hurting hearts are crying

But our voices seem to be dying

Can you see the battle raging on?

“

These people are a hurting people. The problem with doing things in order to gain salvation, peace, and favor with God is that it is a vain effort. Nothing we can do will gain us favor with God. Nothing we can do will earn our salvation. The battle rages on throughout this country. 

This is why we have asked for prayer this week. This is why our hearts are breaking. We wake up every morning knowing fully well that we have nothing to offer Jesus. He has called us here, given us much opportunity to serve Him, and we have nothing, absolutely nothing to offer Him except the choice we have to serve Him every day to the best of our ability. We sit in the park often and watch the people walk by. Just yesterday, as we watched the tourists and people walk by, our hearts were deeply burdened. Sometimes, the Lord directs our conversations and we have the opportunity to share His love with people He has chosen for those exact moments. Sometimes all we can do is pray. We always ask Him to give us His eyes, His heart, to see and hear the way He would at all times.

We are the light to reach this world

We are the salt preserving these souls

Let's show them the love that we've received now

This city is in bondage and chains and what is most heart breaking is that the voices that carry the light of Jesus are only but dimly heard, crying out, proclaiming  the truth, in desperation to reach this generation. You can see them walking amidst the people, talking and buying, see them carrying their cameras and taking pictures of the ruins, the famous Catholic churches, and in front of the ancient architecture. How can we, who carry the Spirit of the One True Living God inside of us not stand firm, speak the truth, and call sin sin? 

Every thing's so surreal

But this urgency I feel

We should be reaching out to

All these desperate pleas

There is such desperation in all of this. We really do not know what the answer is as to how to reach the people here. But the Lord has made some things so very clear to us and so we walk obediently in those things. And we continue to seek Him. We continue to try to understand. But as we try to understand, we must guard our own hearts, being careful not to turn to the right or to the left, so as not to be deceived ourselves. 

I’ve been reading through Deuteronomy in my personal devotions and I’m reminded of chapter 11-12. Moses gives the Israelites instructions, exhortations, and warnings as he reminds them of the faithfulness of God and the many ways in which He has shown His greatness to them. 

From chapter 11:

13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then I[a] will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’ 16 “Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, 17 lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

18 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.

22 “For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him— 23 then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. 24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea,[b] shall be your territory. 25 No man shall be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.

26 “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.

12 “These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. 2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4 You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.

5 “But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. 6 There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7 And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

8 “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— 9 for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11 then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord. 12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. 13 Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; 14 but in the place which the Lord chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

The Lord is so careful to remind the Israelites to be careful not to allow themselves to be deceived by the false idols and practices of the people in the land they will soon enter. He gives them the promise of rain, and blessings, if they earnestly obey His commands and serve Him with all their heart and soul. He exhorts them to teach His word to their children and that it be made known to all who pass by their homes who they are and that their hearts are for the One True God. And the Lord also promises them that He will drive out the enemy, the idolatry, and the false gods. He tells them to completely destroy the places of worship of these people, the sacred pillars, the wooden mages and to cut down the image of their false gods.

And then He tells them to be careful about where they worship, to go only to the place in which He will direct them. He is careful to tell them that not only will He direct them about where to worship Him, but that the temptation will be there to do as other men do…but that they must not do that. 

Theses verse have made such an impact on me. I believe that the Lord has given them to me for such a time as this. That I might not allow the false gods, false hope, false worship into my life. That I might not accept what I see before me as tradition or culture, but see it for the sin it is and stand firm against it. 

Following Christ always has a cost. We’ve counted the cost - it is a daily thing as we constantly have to make the choice to follow Him or go our own way. It never gets any easier, but it is always the right way. It is always the better way. Our way often looks like the God life, as Pastor Mike Rozell often shares with new IGNITE classes. But no matter how good our way might look, God’s way is always the better life. 

I feel a heavy, heavy burden this year for those who have yet to open their hearts to Jesus, both here in Guatemala, but also those we love back in the United States. Please consider joining us in praying through the weekend for the people of Guatemala, especially those thousands upon thousands in the city of Antigua this weekend. There is all of this emphasis on making this week holy. Please pray that instead of a holy week, they would seek a holy life; one surrendered completely and fully to Jesus, their Savior, Redeemer, and the One who forgives their sins. 

Happy 12th Birthday, Isabelle Adair!

Oh Isabelle, today is the day we celebrate your birth and we thank God that He gave you life, He gave you a plan that includes a future that He has picked out just for you. We thank Him for making you part of our family, because we would not be complete without you. You shine the light of Jesus every single day. You bring joy and encouragement to everyone around you. This shy little smile you have in this picture has been with you from birth and it shows your heart: kind, humble, loving, compassionate, caring, and ultimately full of Jesus and His Spirit. As you grow and change, life seems to move faster and faster and I know that is sometimes scary. Always remember that God is with you and He will never leave you. His plans are far greater than anything we could ever come up with ourselves. Sometimes it is scary to not know what is next or sometimes it is scary to know what is next but not know how it will all work out. Sometimes, we just fear change because we like the way things are. But always remember that our God is greater. Our God is stronger. If He is with us, we have nothing to fear. Remember what Joshua 1:9 says? "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Never be afraid to walk in the future that God has given you. It is so worth it Isabelle. Look at your life. Look at how much change God has brought into it already. And think about how wonderful the adventures that He has taken you on have been! Would you have ever thought you would have lived in Costa RIca for 5 years? Then, lived in Montana? And now, you live right next door to a volcano in Antigua, Guatemala! You have a BIG God, girl! He loves you so much. Your Daddy and I do too, Iz. You bring us such great joy! My heart swells with joy when I see the acts of kindness you think of doing for other people. When you share with me what God teaches you and challenges you with, I cannot help but thank God for giving you to me. I know that I do not deserve to have you as my oldest daughter, but God has given me such grace and blessed me with you in my life. I can remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. Oh my goodness, you came so early and you were so tiny, and so incredibly beautiful! You have always been your Daddy's sidekick girl, your older brother's little buddy, and your younger sister's best friend in the whole world. What would she do without you? As you all three grow, things have changed and will continue to change but always remember that they are your family. There is nothing more important than keeping them as your best friends. They love you so much. You bring laughter to our family and pass it along to others. You always know the goofiest thing to God that will make all of us laugh!

We are so thankful to God for your life. Today we celebrate and give thanks for you!

Happy Birthday, Izzy!!!

2010 Villarreal, Costa Rica

2012 Tamarindo, Costa Rica

2012 Niagara Falls 

2007 Frankfort, IN -  5th birthday

2013 Whitefish, MT

2013 Whitefish, MT

2010 Tamarindo, Costa Rica  -  the day you were baptized!

March 11, 2013 Happy 11th birthday!! Whitesfish, MT

2013 MT - skiing with your Daddy!

PFM Ranch March 11, 2013

...to be continued next year...  

:)

Please click here to check out our March prayer letter.

We love serving Jesus. Every day is a new adventure and we are so thankful for the work He allows us to participate in. May He be glorified!

Galatians 6: Those Who Care Share

Galatians 6

"Let him who is taught the word share (koinonia) in all good things with him who teaches." 6:6 

I love this verse. It is the perfect picture of life discipleship. It is life on mission. Most of what I teach my children comes by actually doing things with them. To teach my girls how to cook eggs or pancakes, I have them by my side while I am cooking. In order for Ethan to learn how to clean the bathroom correctly,  I have him with me and show him the expected way to do it. But as I spend that time with them and see the fruit of my labor like fried eggs, pancakes or a sparkling clean bathroom, they share in that goodness. We experience fellowship together and they are learning in the process. They share in my joy of a job well done. 

As I am taught, I also share in the life of the one who teaches me. As Matt and I serve alongside Pastor Jim and Patti, we are learning so much. As they teach and instruct us, and as we put into practice what we observe from them and they teach us, we share in their joy. 

Throughout this entire chapter, one theme is repeated over and over again...that of doing good. It is common for those in ministry to grow weary because many times they work long hours with little to no time off. As a wife whose husband is in ministry, I find this to be a frequent struggle for me. 

But verse 9 says, 

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart." 

Finding a balance between life and ministry is admittedly a struggle for me. But maybe the struggle exists because ministry is my life and there really need not be a balance or separation between the two...maybe I find it so difficult because I still so often sow to my flesh...and verse 8 teaches us that sowing to the flesh only reaps corruption. 

There are so many references about doing good here in chapter six or about things of God being good. He who does good will be blessed. It will go well with he who does the things of God.  There are also several references to how he who has his eyes on himself or who pleases his flesh will suffer.

 I am struck with this thought:  what do I really think of myself? Is my struggle because I have made myself more important than others? 

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God." Vs 15-16

Acts, service, outward appearance mean nothing to our God. What He cares about is the heart. If my heart is right, I will walk in obedience to Him and to His word. And I will find peace and mercy with him. 

Application: When I begin to feel like life is out of balance, I will stop and look at why. Am I serving myself or my family? Am I looking out for my own interests or am I thinking of others? Do I feel peace or am I anxious? As I journal through these things and spend time with the Lord, I will seek His face, I will wait upon him, and I will walk in obedience to what he teaches me. I will also make a list of what I need to rearrange in my life so that my ministry to family comes first before anything else. 

Galatians 5: The Contrasted Christian

Galatians 5

There is such contrast in this chapter: freedom and slavery, liberty and bondage, Spirit and flesh, circumcision and uncircumcision...and even more.

What speaks to me most is the fact that when we are in the Spirit, we walk in freedom. 

Vs 1: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."

Vs 16: "walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

Vs 18: "but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

Vs 25: "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

For most of my life, I allowed myself to live in bondage, to be held captive by things from my past, to live in my flesh and in doing so I grieved the Spirit of my God. I was far from God's grace, as verse 4 talks about. After becoming a Christian, I attempted to live by the law, never truly understanding God's grace and the freedom it brings to His children.    

I love these contrasts Paul give us here because I know personally the contrast of my life before  I discovered the freedom I had in Christ and the way I lived before. I now understand that all those things that I held so dear for so long: anger, bitterness, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, drunkenness...and the like...held me captive, robbed me of living a joyful life, and kept me from the very freedom I had all along in Christ. All of that was my flesh waging war against the Spirit of God, that lived inside of me and had freed me and had and has victory of all of these things. 

I had desperately desired to see the fruit of the Spirit evident in my life, but never did. It seemed I always fall short. 

However, now, having gotten back in the race, I run at a more steady pace than ever before. I have a great joy inside of me that I honestly had never experienced in 15 years of being a Christian. I have a true love for people, even those that are very different than me. I am learning daily lessons on patience and how to be long-suffering. Through God's great kindness...I am now experiencing more and more desire to show that very thing to those in my life. I have learned that my faithfulness to the little things yields a faithfulness in my heart that rarely wavers. Doubt doesn't visit very often anymore, Praise God! The Lord has used other women in my life to teach me gentleness...and I am continuing to learn. And now there is a level of self control in my life that has become something that I do not even have to think about anymore. 

As Paul says, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me..."

I am not perfect, nor do I exhibit the fruit of the Spirit every single moment of life...however, I pray that more often than not, others see Jesus and not me!

"He must increase, but I must decrease." 

The saying goes "It's all about me." And we all laugh at that...the truth is it's all about Jesus but it is all up to us to let him be more and ourselves be less.

My application is to do a word study on kindness and gentleness. I know that I need the Lord's help in there two areas of my life. I will ask the Lord to show me opportunities to apply what I have already learned and also to continue to teach me. I will also ask Matt help keep me accountable to practicing these two fruits of the Spirit. 

Don't forget the salt!

Leviticus 2:13
"Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings, add salt to all your offerings."

I was so intrigued when I read this in my devotions the other day...

When I went to dig deeper into what the use of salt here meant, I found this on Blue Letter Bible:

All meat-offerings were seasoned with salt (Lev 2:13). To eat salt with one is to partake of his hospitality, to derive subsistence from him; and hence he who did so was bound to look after his host's interests (Ezr 4:14)

Jesus made such an emphasis on salt and how we as his followers are salt and light, salt of the earth, and so on...This really impacts me that God put emphasis on the importance of salt in the Levitical offerings and also that Jesus did the same thing...in light of the BLB definition and how salt relates to the hospitality of a person and that as the partaker of salt you are bound to look after the interests of the one giving you the salt...I learn that I am the salt of the earth only because I am a follower of Jesus Christ. So therefore Jesus is the generous host offering me hospitality and as consume of the  salt that He offers (as I know Him more and grow in Him more and therefore am more 'salty') I derive substance from Him and am bound to Him, as one who partaker of His provisions...it is my reasonable sacrifice to represent Him well...to be salt in this world...to look after His interests which are that all men would know Him....

How will others ever know Jesus if we as His children do not 'pass the salt' in our every day lives?

In the passage from Leviticus, we see that even the grain offerings were to be seasoned with salt. The use of salt was a representation of a covenant with God between the one making the offering. The last part of verse 13 says to 'add salt to all your offerings.'

Every new day is a gift from God. We have the option each day to choose whom we will serve. It is our reasonable sacrifice that we give God the control over each day and that we serve Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind. May every day be an offering to God and may each offering be seasoned
with salt, that those around us, both believers and the lost, be able to taste and see that the Lord is good!

Don't forget the salt today!

Galatians 4: Children of the promise

Galatians 4

We must remember the context of the previous parts of Paul's letter to the Galatians. He is writing them, strongly exhorting them, because they have fallen away from the grace of God and have been trusting in their good works and the law. Paul is reminding them of the power of the Holy Spirit that lives in them and of Jesus Christ who has set them free from bondage to the law and from their sin. 

In chapter four, we find that the Galatians are being wooed and flattered by false teachers, and must be being swayed by them. Paul attacks this attempt to tempt the Galatians toward this false teaching. He appears to become frustrated with the Galatians however and even tells them he just doesn't know what to do with them anymore. They have freedom in Christ; they no longer have to live as slaves, yet are zealously living for the law. 

Vs 28-31 NKJV

"28 Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the scripture say? 'Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.' 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free." 

NLT "28 And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. 29 But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born of human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born of the power of the Spirit. 30 But what do the scriptures say about that? 'Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman's son.' 31 So, dear brothers and sisters, we are children of the free woman."

There is so much rich truth in these verses. First, there is a promise. This promise refers back to the beginning of chapter 4, where Paul reminds the Galatians, and us, who we are in Christ. The Galatians, just like Christians, are children of God, those who believe in His Son Jesus, and are heirs to the inheritance of eternal life with Him. The Galatians, and those of us who are Christians, have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and have been adopted as sons and daughters into His family. The Galatians, like us,  have His Holy Spirit living inside of us and God is our Father. We cry out to Him and he hears us. Because of all of this, both the Galatians and present day Christians are no longer slaves, but are free. And so verse 28 is Paul's reminder that we are not slave children, but we are children of promise. This teaches us that God is faithful. God gave Abraham a promise that His children would be more numerous  than the stars in the sky...and here thousands of years after Abraham's life, Paul reminds the Galatians of this promise and that they too are heirs of this promise. They are children of Abraham and therefore their very life in Christ is proof of God's faithfulness and they are living testimonies that He has fulfilled this promise to Abraham. And the even more amazing thing is that we are too! Even now, more than 2000 years after Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians, our very lives in Christ are a living testimony to God's faithfulness! 

If only the Galatians had just clung to that promise and walked in the freedom they had been given in a Christ Jesus. But they did not. And sadly, most often, we as Christians, do not either. 

Paul addresses this very same issue with the church in Ephesus, in Ephesians 4:21-24, 

"But you have not so learned in Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." 

For most of my Christian life, I carried around the 'old woman' of my past, like these verses in Ephesians talk about. Instead of walking in the freedom that I had in Christ, living as a child of promise, heir of Abraham and Sarah...I lived a persecuted life of slavery and bondage, simply because God's grace was not enough for me. I just could not let go of all that I thought made who I was. I just could not let go of my past. I would not take my eyes off myself and put them completely on Jesus. I desperately wanted to be free, to live joyfully, and to believe in God's faithfulness. But I would not let go of the past because I feared the future being totally in God's hands...

So, like Hagar, I envied women who had had that peace, joy, and freedom I so desperately wanted but seemed always just out of my reach. I lived as Ishmael and persecuted others. My heart grew bitter and hard, even though I knew Jesus. I was a 20th century Galatian. 

Then, a dear friend sat me down and spoke to me the very things Paul speaks to the Galatians through his letter. 

Vs 12: "Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you..." NKJV

"I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you -free from tho laws." NLT

Paul is reminding the Galatians that they were NEVER under the law. They never lived in the shadow of the law, as he had as a Jew. They were born into the faith simply under God's grace. They were born into the faith free and they have willfully placed themselves under the law. 

Just as this sounds ridiculous to me, it was just a ridiculous to Paul and we can hear that frustration  in his words. 

  In Galatians 4:30, Paul teaches the Galatians the instruction for Abraham was to cast out the slave woman, Hagar, and her slave son, Ishmael. This seems harsh, because Ishmael was in fact Abraham's son. But Ishmael was never intended by God. We was born out of Abraham and Sarah's attempt to make God's perfect plan happen in their own time. So, God being all-knowing, understands far better than Abraham ever could the danger of having Hagar and Ishmael continue to be in Abraham's life and so he says to cast them out. 

We must do the same thing to anything in our life that is not in the will of God. Anything we have done in our own strength. Anything we have made happen in our own will. Anything in our life that is a result of our own fleshly desires. All of it must be cast out. Just as Ephesians 4:teaches us, we must "be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." 

After I finally let the 'old woman' die and put on the 'new woman' really for the first time, my life changed drastically. All that I had desired for so long, I finally had found. The joy, the peace, and the freedom were finally mine. 

This is the promise that we have here in Galatians. Paul is desperate for his beloved brothers and sisters of the church. He sees their wayward way and desperately desires to help them find their way back. 

I am so thankful for my friend, who was a female version of Paul in my life. She brought me back and righted my path again. Today, I will write her and thank her for being wiling to be used by God to teach me His way. Her investment in me has allowed me to live in a new way I never thought was going to be possible for me. I will also share with her how the Lord continue to use the things she taught me to continue the work He started in me