Time is a strange thing. It seems like forever since Matt left for Guatemala---and it seems like just yesterday! In reality it has been five days. Granted, a lot can happen in five days! Later this evening I will be picking Matt up at the airport. I look forward to not just seeing him, but to hearing of what adventures the Lord has given him in these past five days!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Safe Arrival in Guatemala!
Yesterday I wrote that Matt was on his way to Guatemala. This morning I was semi-bemoaning the fact that I didn't have any contact with him. No phone calls. No e-mail. No texts. Nothing.
And then my phone rang.
"Unavailable" flashed across the digital readout. To answer or not to answer? I decided to answer and was so glad I did! It was great to hear my husband's voice. Admittedly, there was an extravagant amount of background noise, but it was definitely him. He'd arrived safely, had spent the night in the capital city, and was heading to his friend's house as we spoke.
Matt will be in Guatemala until Tuesday. He has been given the opportunity to meet with a group of pastors down there, to speak at a combined service of two of the local churches, plus one other speaking engagement. Please be in prayer for Matt, for safety in all his travels, and for clarity and relevance in what he shares with these Guatemalan believers.
And then my phone rang.
"Unavailable" flashed across the digital readout. To answer or not to answer? I decided to answer and was so glad I did! It was great to hear my husband's voice. Admittedly, there was an extravagant amount of background noise, but it was definitely him. He'd arrived safely, had spent the night in the capital city, and was heading to his friend's house as we spoke.
Matt will be in Guatemala until Tuesday. He has been given the opportunity to meet with a group of pastors down there, to speak at a combined service of two of the local churches, plus one other speaking engagement. Please be in prayer for Matt, for safety in all his travels, and for clarity and relevance in what he shares with these Guatemalan believers.
Belief Affects Action
There was a table in the bedroom when we moved in. I didn't want a table in the bedroom but it didn't seem possible to get it out through the doorway! After several failed attempts, I sat down on the bed and thought about it. It seemed reasonable to presume the table had been made elsewhere and brought into the room. If that was true, then it stood to reason that there was a way to get it out of the room! I studied the table. I studied the angles of the doorway. And then the idea came. I tried it out—and it worked!
I didn't understand the perplexed look on my father-in-law's face when he came over to visit and saw the table in the living room—until he explained. When they were cleaning the house for our arrival, since he couldn't get the table out through the doorway he'd presumed it had been made in the room and would have to stay!
How we view life could be paralleled to how we view the table in the bedroom. What we believe to be true will affect our actions. That being true, what do our actions say about our beliefs?
I didn't understand the perplexed look on my father-in-law's face when he came over to visit and saw the table in the living room—until he explained. When they were cleaning the house for our arrival, since he couldn't get the table out through the doorway he'd presumed it had been made in the room and would have to stay!
How we view life could be paralleled to how we view the table in the bedroom. What we believe to be true will affect our actions. That being true, what do our actions say about our beliefs?
Thursday, March 5, 2009
And He's Off to Guatemala!
As I write this my husband is boarding a plane for Guatemala! Yes, he is temporarily escaping the cold! (Am I jealous or what?!)
Having a ministry predominantly to Hispanic men who are migrant workers here in Central New York, they have often expressed a desire that he visit their country, that he preach in their church, that he see where they are from. And the opportunity arose!
My husband will be in Guatemala for five days, staying in the home of one of the men we know. He has been given the opportunity to meet with a group of pastors down there, to speak at a combined service of two of the local churches, plus one other speaking engagement. Please be in prayer for Matt, for safety in all his travels, and for clarity and relevance in what he shares with these Guatemalan believers.
Having a ministry predominantly to Hispanic men who are migrant workers here in Central New York, they have often expressed a desire that he visit their country, that he preach in their church, that he see where they are from. And the opportunity arose!
My husband will be in Guatemala for five days, staying in the home of one of the men we know. He has been given the opportunity to meet with a group of pastors down there, to speak at a combined service of two of the local churches, plus one other speaking engagement. Please be in prayer for Matt, for safety in all his travels, and for clarity and relevance in what he shares with these Guatemalan believers.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
And the Purpose for Mosquito Nets?
Mosquito nets are multipurpose. Thankfully, when my parents were visiting us in the village of Toki, their minds immediately went to the presumed use behind mosquito nets—to keep out mosquitos.
We were sleeping in hammocks at the time but I didn't know how they would handle that. Not having the necessary supplies to make a real bed, we put together a low frame on the ground that would support a queen size foam mattress. Lovingly I made the bed in preparation for their arrival with a mosquito net hung above it.
That first night as they prepared for bed I gave explicit instructions on how they had to be sure the mosquito net was tugged in on all sides. Lying against the side of the mattress was not enough. It had to be tugged in.
They probably thought we had the biggest and worst of mosquitos. We did not. What we did have were an overabundance of rats! Toki, I'm sure, was where the Pied Piper led all the rats to!
Thankfully they are good listeners and the mosquito net did the trick. They never encountered any uninvited guests in their bed during the night!
We were sleeping in hammocks at the time but I didn't know how they would handle that. Not having the necessary supplies to make a real bed, we put together a low frame on the ground that would support a queen size foam mattress. Lovingly I made the bed in preparation for their arrival with a mosquito net hung above it.
That first night as they prepared for bed I gave explicit instructions on how they had to be sure the mosquito net was tugged in on all sides. Lying against the side of the mattress was not enough. It had to be tugged in.
They probably thought we had the biggest and worst of mosquitos. We did not. What we did have were an overabundance of rats! Toki, I'm sure, was where the Pied Piper led all the rats to!
Thankfully they are good listeners and the mosquito net did the trick. They never encountered any uninvited guests in their bed during the night!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Not My Will But Thine
While living in one area of Venezuela we faced the threat of guerrillas. It was unsettling to think that Colombian guerrillas/terrorists known to have killed other missionaries in the organization we then worked with could possibly come to where we were, could possibly kill outright or kidnap and hold for ransom some of our friends—or ourselves.
Under those circumstances you reach the point where yesterday's posting, "Being Safe Isn't all It Is Cracked up to Be," has to become a reality in your life. You know beyond a shadow of doubt that you are living in the center of God's will. You also know you can't console your coworker with false words of hope. You can't say that it won't happen because God just wouldn't allow it. You can't say that since we're living in the center of God's will that we're invincible!
It's a matter of acceptance. It's a matter of saying, "Not my will but Thine be done!"
Jesus got it. Jesus could have stayed in heaven and been invincible. Instead He was obedient to His Father's will. He left heaven. He was born in a dirty manger. He lived what we'd now call an impoverished life without all the modern conveniences we take for granted. He spent three years teaching people and His disciples.
In the end one of His disciples sold Him out—and the world at large rejected Him. They mocked Him. They beat Him. They hung Him on a cross to suffer unimaginable pain. And HE gave up HIS life to make a way possible for mankind to be reconciled with His Heavenly Father, to make His Heavenly Father their Heavenly Father.
Jesus was man, but He was God. He knew all this was going to happen. He knew, but He still came. He knew, but He still submitted to the will of His Heavenly Father. He agonized in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before being arrested. His ending prayer? "Not My will but Thine be done!"
As we face trials that we'd prefer not to face, I pray we will be imitators of Christ, that we will pray, "Not my will but thine be done!"
Under those circumstances you reach the point where yesterday's posting, "Being Safe Isn't all It Is Cracked up to Be," has to become a reality in your life. You know beyond a shadow of doubt that you are living in the center of God's will. You also know you can't console your coworker with false words of hope. You can't say that it won't happen because God just wouldn't allow it. You can't say that since we're living in the center of God's will that we're invincible!
It's a matter of acceptance. It's a matter of saying, "Not my will but Thine be done!"
Jesus got it. Jesus could have stayed in heaven and been invincible. Instead He was obedient to His Father's will. He left heaven. He was born in a dirty manger. He lived what we'd now call an impoverished life without all the modern conveniences we take for granted. He spent three years teaching people and His disciples.
In the end one of His disciples sold Him out—and the world at large rejected Him. They mocked Him. They beat Him. They hung Him on a cross to suffer unimaginable pain. And HE gave up HIS life to make a way possible for mankind to be reconciled with His Heavenly Father, to make His Heavenly Father their Heavenly Father.
Jesus was man, but He was God. He knew all this was going to happen. He knew, but He still came. He knew, but He still submitted to the will of His Heavenly Father. He agonized in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before being arrested. His ending prayer? "Not My will but Thine be done!"
As we face trials that we'd prefer not to face, I pray we will be imitators of Christ, that we will pray, "Not my will but thine be done!"
Monday, March 2, 2009
Being Safe Isn't all It's Cracked up to Be
I've heard it said more times than not that the safest place to be is in the center of God's will. It sounds good, but what do they mean by it? Is it even scriptural? Does it mean that if I'm in the center of God's will that I am safe from harm? Safe from danger? Can I claim invincibility if I'm in the center of God's will?
If we only read the first part of Hebrews 11 we'd be ready to don that cloak of invincibility! There we read of men who through faith stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, and escaped the edge of the sword. We read of women who had their loved ones raised from the dead!
Doesn't that sound great? Doesn't that sound like invincibility?
But then there's part two. Suddenly we're reading of men and women who remained faithful to God despite facing affliction, torment, torture, imprisonment and death.
Doesn't sound so great, does it? Doesn't sound much like a cloak of invincibility, does it?
Being safe isn't all it's cracked up to be. Being in the center of God's will is! I don't want to be invincible, but I want to serve a God who is!
If we only read the first part of Hebrews 11 we'd be ready to don that cloak of invincibility! There we read of men who through faith stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, and escaped the edge of the sword. We read of women who had their loved ones raised from the dead!
Doesn't that sound great? Doesn't that sound like invincibility?
But then there's part two. Suddenly we're reading of men and women who remained faithful to God despite facing affliction, torment, torture, imprisonment and death.
Doesn't sound so great, does it? Doesn't sound much like a cloak of invincibility, does it?
Being safe isn't all it's cracked up to be. Being in the center of God's will is! I don't want to be invincible, but I want to serve a God who is!
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