Revival

What is our goal in ministry? What are churches and para church ministries suppose to be doing? This last week the topic of revival has come up. When asked of some leaders the question "do you what revival?" there was not an immediate answer. I think it is well worth the pause. Revival is not without cost...I've seen it cost people power and position, the pride that wants control, money that must be given away, the cost of laying some things down in order to restore what is much more important. As God begins this process, none of knows what direction the Wind will blow or how the Wind will blow or what the scene will look like afterwards. All I do know is, as much as it will cost, as mysterious as it seems, when revival breaks out you never want it to stop and you never want to go back because you are never the same again.

Lookin good

One of their bestest friends...
the fantastic four?
who knew...he took the queen!!!

Soccer bros

Not sure where the ball is...football or soccer?
Definitely hitting the ball first.
unbeatable bros (well, maybe not unbeatable but definitely cute!!!)

Fun on Capt Gary's boat...

God is always previous

I started reading AW Tozer's The Pursuit of God.
Hosea 6:3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain...
We've been having a lot of rain lately so I was thinking how does he come to us as the rain? We try to forecast the rain and sometimes we are right and it comes when we expect it to but sometimes it comes sooner or later or not at all or it comes when we didn't think it would. Water and rain seem to me to have so many characteristics - a light, drizzle in the summer that makes you want to snuggle up with a cup of coffee and a good book...a good lightning show that lights the sky up and is fun to watch...a foreboding, dark and angry looking sky that makes you a little apprehensive...booming thunder and rain and wind that reminds us who is mightier than that.
Tozer reminds us that God is always previous. Before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man.
"The modern scientist has lost God amid the wonders of His world; we Christians are in real danger of losing God amid the wonders of His Word."
I hope I never lose God when I watch the absolute wonders of his creation. What a shame to view a great rain storm and miss the wonder.

Good to have friends

Leah, if you are reading this I just want to say 2 things...see, I AM posting due to popular demand AND thanks for being a friend to my Joy. It was great seeing you. I know Joy was blessed by your visit.
Friends are such a blessing. I think there are seasons where you have friends. I remember my college roomie - she put up with me for 5 years. We were so different but we learned from each other. We lost touch after school. Then she shows up at my dad's funeral and it was as if it was yesterday that we had seen each other. I think that is some of what makes a friend a friend. They say that a person is rich when they have friends. I'm sure that is measured in quality not quantity.
So, for all you avid readers, I have posted. Not profound and totally thought thru but I posted. Hey, thanks for reading, friend!

Graduation

Yesterday Faith graduated...the end of a season. Life is full of seasons. I love spring, it's my favorite season. But, in order for spring to come, winter happens (which is my least fav season). Sometimes we are in a season of life we like and other times in one we would rather skip. But spring cannot come until winter is over.

Seeing our children grow up sometimes is like the end of a season I rather would see continue but then that wouldn't be normal. So, grow and go, my Faith. Know I love you now and always will. You will go far and do great things. God does have a plan for your life, just ask Him and follow His path. His path is sometimes bumpy but know you will never be alone on it. I love you. Congrats!

End of the Spear

I just finished reading End of the Spear by Steve Saint. It was one of the best birthday presents ever. What an incredible picture of trusting God. Trusting is easy when things are going well but when your whole world falls apart it seems hard. I wonder why? Where else can we go when things fall apart? This story was captivating but it didn't necessarily have a "happy" ending. It spoke to me about how we can learn from each other and life isn't aways neat and orderly. It spoke about taking risks and seeing eternity. Here are some quotes:
When deciding whether to go back:"A hundred years from now no one will care how much money any of us made or what we did with our lives unless it serves a purpose that outlives us."
"I realized that it would have been far safer and easier for my family and me to just stay plugged into the good life we had built in Florida and give up on the idea of moving to the Amazon. But there would be danger in that too. If we let the staus quo determine what we did with our lives, we would risk living lives of self-indulgence and insignificance."
I don't consider myself a risk taker but I do want a life that makes a difference and counts for God. I need to see that there really is risk in everything.
Wanting my children to count for God might mean letting them go around the world and letting them find their niche in God's scheme of things...even if it doesn't fit some preconceived mold.
Maybe that's part of my risk.

Activity of daily living

Okay, so due to popular requests, I shall post. Yea, so I got a new cell phone. I had my old one for over 3 years. I actually got a new one because Nick had to have a rzor so he thought since I was due to get one he could get mine. Well, that did not work out because you can't get around the system. Or should I say, you can't get something for nothing. So I got a new one - not a rzor but whatever was free or cheapest. Well, it did not work so today I had to go back to the store and get another. Why is it that what should be fun and exciting turns into a bother and time consuming, traffic waiting, ordeal? So, I get a text message while in the store and couldn't figure out if I was getting a call or if the sales person had done something right - Eval when well...thought it must be the eval of the phone. Yea, so this is not deep and thought provoking just a provoking activity of our daily living.

Questions

Does everyone go through a time of questioning all the "givens" we've been told all our lives? I remember doing that with my beliefs and someone I love very much is doing that now. I remember actually going so far as to buck the institutional church by creating a "new" set of systems, only to find that, it too, had imperfections. Now I am on the verge of going back into the very same system that I was originally involved with. I have weathered some pretty significant storms by bucking and re-entering only to arrive where I had begun, hopefully a bit wiser. I guess there is something to be said for the wisdom that comes from the years. I only wish we could learn from those who have gone before us, so we could avoid the fall out of trying something "new" only to find there may not be anything "new" out there. Maybe part of the journey that this life takes us through is learning things the hard way or coming to grips with the fact that maybe the Bible is true all along...there is nothing new under the sun. I'm just not sure what to do with the rest of that verse...everything is vanity. Well, maybe I'll tackle that next time.