Everyday Thanksgiving

Perspective was my word for 2014 and God has drove home to me over and over the need to change my outlook on what comes my way.   With Thanksgiving right around the corner I could write about so many things I am thankful for, family, friends, blessings, even heartache that has taught me more of His mercy.  Being thankful is easier knowing that His mercy is new every day.  I don't have to draw from the used up mercy  of yesterday or run ahead and try to use tomorrows.  I can rest knowing He will never run out of mercy. 

My part is to never run out of thankfulness. 



Happy Thanksgiving

The Family of God expanded.

Two families work,  Chris and Maggie Hostetter along with Nate and Elizabeth Claasen work in the remote village of the Pal people in Papua New Guinea.  The family of God has been expanded because of the sacrifice of these two couples along with countless others who give so these people can be reached with the gospel.  I hope their story excites you because it sure does our Lord.  The angels of heaven are rejoicing over these new ones added to the family.  

The last lesson has been taught. On Wednesday we shared with them that Jesus went back to heaven after God raised him from the dead, and that he is going to come back again someday. It was the last in a long line of Gospel lessons we’ve been teaching every day since August, and God has accomplished great things through his word.


Several village leaders have given clear testimonies of salvation through faith, and many others have shared with us that they now understand what Jesus did for them and are putting their faith in him alone to save them. Men and women alike have told us and others about their new faith and freedom from sin with tears in their eyes and joy in their hearts.


Immediately after the last lesson a man and his wife each stood up separately before the group to profess faith in the Gospel, and they were both so overcome that they couldn’t find words to say (which is a very unusual thing in this culture!). Since then we have walked through villages and seen people packed into houses listening to a new believer share his faith and encouraging them to believe it, too.


We have seen people’s hunger for God’s word skyrocket. (As I write this Chris is in the office going through my translation of the book of Acts with some translation helpers who are devouring every word and enthusiastically discussing it among themselves.) We have seen and heard believers stand up in a crowd and preach against clinging to the old beliefs about sacrifice and spirit-worship. We have seen people flock to a neighbor’s house to ask questions and ask us to tell them more about what God says.


Praise God with us for the harvest he has allowed us to reap, and thank you for standing with us in prayer and financial support as we live here as God’s field-laborers. We know that the church has only just been born and that there is much to be done to bring it up to maturity, so please continue to stand with us as you have done.


And please continue to pray for those who have not understood or have chosen not to believe. We know that there are some who still yearn for the material blessings promised to them by those who profess to know the truth. There are some who have gone along with the crowd in saying they believe, but have privately held on to their ancient practices for warding off sickness and transferring power from generation to generation. Pray for us as we partner with the new believers who are their sons and daughters and parents and friends to reach out to them. We believe that God’s spirit is not done with them yet and we look forward to a second harvest, and a third, and a fourth.


Many of you have been praying for a specific Pal person or family and we want you to know that we will let you know as soon as we are able whether or not they have made a clear profession of faith in Christ so that you can know how to continue to pray for them. It may take us a while to be able to talk to each of them because of sheer numbers and because many of them have had to hurry off to the garden to make up for the time spent listening to the teaching! Please continue to pray for them as you wait to hear.


So what now? Everyone will gather again next Wednesday to hear the first lesson of “Phase 2″ in which we tell them that God has lots more to say to his followers and that we want to continue to meet with and teach those who have believed. We will also let them know that we will continue to teach Phase 1 review lessons so that if there are people who need or want to hear it again they will have another opportunity to hear and understand.


We are planning on meeting once a week for formal teaching time, first doing a quick review of the things they have heard so far and then teaching through the book of Acts. Please pray for us as we try to make it clear that there is a distinction between Christians and non-Christians; we don’t want to be giving non-believers false hope that they are entitled to the promises that God only makes to those who trust him for salvation.


We are so excited to be suddenly surrounded by men and women who have received the same spirit of God that we are all given and who will now be able to step in and help us with the work using the spiritual gifts that God has given them. It is an amazing thing to witness someone being born again. I encourage all of you to do anything you can to be able to witness it in others as you wait for Christ’s return.


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It was this kind of story that challenged our hearts to leave behind the comforts of home so others could hear.  Knowing how hard this kind of ministry is gives us common ground when we meet with couples coming home for a furlough after a few years serving in villages just like this one.  For those of you who get the chance to meet a missionary, listen to their story, they need to tell it and quite frankly we need to hear it.    Christmas is coming, the best gift we can give is telling someone about Jesus and the free gift of salvation. 

What A Waste

A recent visit to Hearst Castle was a bit over whelming.  After a hour or two of walking, climbing stairs, viewing room after room of furniture and listening to stories after stories, we came to one conclusion...."what a waste"!   Before anyone gets up in the air at our conclusion let me explain.  My husband and I did not hear one things or see one thing that would further the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We were reminded of the scripture that says,  For what does it profited a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul, Matthew 16:26. 

I have no idea where Mr. Hearst is at this moment , heaven or hell but I know one thing for sure he took none of what he build for himself with him.   Nothing we have read or heard about him indicates he ever believed in the gospel somewhere in his life.



Mr. Hearst was  rich and had gather so much stuff to himself that he had no idea what he even had in his castle.  There is a story that he sent his trusted friend to buy a certain painting. This man looked all over the world for that one painting.  He returned to Mr. Hearst and told him first the good news, he had found the painting. The bad news was it had been in the basement of the castle all along and Mr. Hearst did not even know it. 


Have you ever laid up an expensive treasure and forgot you had it?  I know I haven't.

It comforts my heart to know anything I use for His glory and furtherance of the gospel will meet me in heaven, including the most expensive treasure on this earth and in heaven, the souls that have been won through our years of ministry. 
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matt. 6:19, 21


It was beautiful though on top of the mountain over looking the great expand of land Mr. Hearst owned and the ocean below.   God's earth is always more beautiful then anything man can build.  Seems Mr. Hearst tried to have heaven here on earth, but it was decaying and rotting daily which was why  there are people there constantly working to keep it up.  The treasures we sent to heaven will never rot and decay.

I was glad our trip  took us through Yosemite Park in which I found beauty beyond anything man can build.  Those majestic mountains that God spoke into being, the forest surrounding the mountains, the streams of water, all there to not only awe us but to produce life giving oxygen to help us breath, water to nourish our bodies.  Below is the place I could have moved to for the rest of my life here on earth.  The park services can keep Mr. Hearst castle with it's ever ending upkeep.  Give me God's creation with out the touch of man's hand to mar it's beauty.
C.S. Lewis says, aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.  

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Fifty years and counting.

First thing I think as I look at the pictures to the right is, where did all those years go to? Seem that is a common thought for people our age especially after 50 years of marriage.

On  Oct. 20th  Ace and I  at 17  joined our lives together.  Did we have any idea how hard being married was going to be?  Any idea of the countless sacrifices we would make to struggle through some hard years, (notice I put an 's on the end of year)?   Without Christ in our life for the first 15 years it is nothing short of a miracle we stayed together.  Young love wears off after a few trials. 

In 1980 we took another step of faith and joined our life to Christ and life begin to take on meaning beyond just living the American dream.   Were the hard times gone? Of course not, in this life you shall have tribulations Christ said but with His help and His love motivating us we begin to learn how to over come time and time again.  

Endurance is the word that comes to mind as I look back at 50 years.  We have endured each others petty and not so petty frailties and stayed the course.  With both of us having a common goal of being transform into the image of Christ those struggles God used  to show us our sin and help us repent.   Forgiving one another became a way of life.  After 50 years we still have to forgive each other, which I am sure we will be doing till God takes us home. 

God took our broken lives and begin to use us in ways we could never imagine.   He has not  wasted a thing in our lives and only He can pick up the broken pieces and turn them into something that will glorify Him. 

Do we have any regrets, of course, getting married at 17 is not a wise choice but here we stand on this side of 50 years together.  Now, we know there is not another 50 years ahead for us... lets see, that would make us 115, hummm,  not gonna happen unless God preforms another miracle.  The few years we do have left we want to be used till we are empty so He can fill us up again.  

Funny...this morning as we were packing up the car to head out on our anniversary/ ministry trip my husband said, we did not have this much stuff when we got married and moved into our first apartment.  Amazing the baggage we have accumulated in the past 50 years, the things we think we need to even take a weeks trip.  Back then, there were no computers or bags, no golf clubs, no pill  boxes, I don't  even remembering having a cooler,  nothing by dreams and zeal that says, we can conquer anything. We know now, we cannot conquer anything without Him and He has given us wisdom on what to take as we travel.  One thing for sure traveling is a whole lot easier with a Wal-mart in most towns. 

It's been a wild 50 years of life and we have lived it fully and find ourselves thankful for all those 50 years contain, yeah, even the bad times.   Most people our age have a paid for house, a nice paid for car,  a pension, an RV but God put us on a different path, and we have loved every minute of it, no regret. He has always supplied our needs. 

Thanks for reading our "story".  Of course we would like prayer as we continue to minister. 
 1. for our health
2. for wisdom and understanding as we work with missionaries home for furlough. 
3. prayer for the one thing we don't like to mention but one must have, money,  it  buy gas to put in our car to visit these ones home.  Our support has dropped since we took up a stateside ministry.  And if I could be specific, we are looking to buy an newer car. Our 1992 Buick runs pretty good because my husband works on it a lot.  We have experience a few  breakdowns on the road which are costly so we have taken to renting a car for long trips. 
4.  For our two children, Jared and Tara and their families.   Our son and daughter in the picture are the best of the best and they have given us five grandchildren.   Yeah, we are blessed. 

After Thoughts

   af

Hindsight will turn into insight when God is in the picture.  As I look back to months ago when I first started studying for the ladies retreat then look at the pile of notes taken I am amazed at how God whittled down, changed and brought focus to what He wanted me to say.

For those who prayed for me, it was nothing short of a miracle that as I spoke I did not cough once and my voice according to those ladies did not sound raspy.  I felt the power of everyone praying all through my body...there was strength in my spirit.

After three session on being  wise  hearted God helped me bring it to a close with these three points that keeps us from being courageous wise hearted women of faith.

1. Full garage, empty soul.  Materialism conditions our soul to play life very safe and be  selfish.  By contrast, courage requires us to be thankful and not trust our stuff here on earth.   Jesus warned against materialism...a life comprised of a full garage but with an empty trivial souls.

2. Cynicism drains our lives of hope, optimism and creatively..raw material that help build our foundation of courage.  The ability to always see the worst in people and situations is often a hiding place for fear, timidity and indifference. It allows us to be invulnerable observers rather than participants in stepping out in faith  which could result in sacrificing.  Worse, the cynic often justifies his lack of redemptive and courageous action. Ultimately, cynicism is the language of self preservation, which drains us of courage and shrivels our soul

3.  But the one that robs us most of courage is fear.  Fear is destructive and irrational. For example, some people possess a destructive pre-occupation with what others think about them--what the Bible calls part of the "fear of man", that cause them to betray their values and integrity .  They have the disease to please man instead of God. 

We all face a staggering array of "what if". What if I get cancer, what if my spouse dies, what if my husband never loves me, what if my child never believe in Jesus, and the list could go on and on.

The uncomfortable truth is, any of those things could happen.  No one is free from tragedy and pain. There are no guarantees of an easy life.  For any of us, Ever.

What steal courage from you, materialism, cynicism or just plain fear?

Dancing Deer Retreat

Hello my blog friends, Sending out  a prayer request to those of you who come by my blog.  This weekend...Oct. 10-12 is the date of the Ladies Retreat  I am speaking at.  I am a little over a week into a nasty upper respiratory illness that has caused a cough that grips me till I am short of breathe.  Tomorrow morning I return to the doctor seeking help again so need your prayers for wisdom and direction on how they should treat me.  

Pray also for the group of women who will meeting at this gorgeous retreat center located near the coast in California. 

God has been fine toning my outline as I read and study and read some more.  Now today I am putting to paper all my notes into an outline that will be easy to follow so  I will not get side tracked. 

"Wise Hearted" is the heart of my three session.

  A wise heart is a seeking heart. 

A wise heart is a forgiving heart 

A wise heart is a courageous heart. 

To top that off I get to give the message before we take communion on Sunday which I count a huge honor.

Thank you for your prayers. 

Do It Again

Do It Again

Our three year old grandson, Austin  talking to his Grandpa. He said, Grandpa, do you remember when you gave me all that candy?  He went on to say, would you do that again?

  Austin knew he was asking the right person. 

He  expected his Grandpa to listen to his request.

  Third, Austin fully expected his Grandpa would not only listen but would fulfill his request. 

A simple request from a wise three year old spoke volumes to our hearts about our Lord who loves us.   Austin Grandpa is a wise man for he will only give his grandson candy after he has eaten his meals.  He is careful when and how much to give for he knows the consequences of too much too soon is not good for Austin.  Being only three there was a few tears when Grandpa said, no, not now, maybe later.  Of course at three how much explaining can one do about the harm of too much candy.  

It made me think of the times I ask the Heavenly Father to give me something that He knew was not good for me at the time.  We think candy, He thinks steak and potatoes, something a little more solid that gives strength.  I realized that like Austin, I was looking to recapture a moment in time.  But that’s not the way God works. 

There is never a time God does not hear my request of that I am sure, I expect Him to.   What has changed as I matured a little is my request.  I no longer ask for candy, well, that is not totally true, I do ask for chocolate sometimes.   Lately I have found myself asking God to  bless us abundantly AGAIN, so we can do something special for our 50th anniversary coming up in October.  Then because I do want His will for my life, I tack on to my prayer, if it be your will.   I know I am asking the right person, I know He is listening to me and I know He will give me and Grandpa what is best for us.  There is peace in my heart  over this request for I have tons of memories of His goodness to us.  His goodness has enlarged our life so we can have a ministry in other lives.     
            One must become pliability in the Master’s hands for their life to become enlarged.
                                 He doesn’t repeat the past. He creates newness

Isaiah 43:19 (NLT) “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

There is an element of excitement in my heart knowing God has something more for us to do then what we did in the past.  He wants to enlarge our territories so we can have a greater impact on others.  

Are you asking God to work the same way He has before or are you open to Him enlarging your heart so there is more to give out?

                                                                   

Chocolate Is From The Lord

One of the many things we loved about our time living in Bolivia were these little chocolate rolls called Baton.  It was worth the effort to chop them up and make cookies, put over ice cream but my favorite way to eat them was frozen. Yep, when frozen they melt slower so the enjoyment last longer. 

Bolivia was the first country we served in with New Tribes, from August 1991 to June 1998 as dorm parents to high school boys.  Another set of dorm parents took care of the high school girls, two more sets of dorm parents for middle school children.  Most of their parents worked in remote places translating the bible into an unwritten languages, a few were Asian children whose parents wanted them to get an English education.  Most of the time we had five cultures living in our dorm...sure made for some interesting conversation. Those guys taught us a lot about trusting the Lord.   

Our pastor in Kentucky always had missionaries coming through so we were exposed to the needs from day one after we got saved.  Each one that came through made our hearts cry, we'll go with you, let us go, but like all things it's better to wait on God's timing.  We needed a little more chiseling and refining before we were ready to serve Him overseas.

 A fifty  some year old widow working in the Philippines in a tribe teaching literacy to the children came just in God's perfect time.  She shared her slides and after talking a few minutes about the needs we felt like she sit those people down in our church and God said, whose going to tell them????   It wasn't like we weren't already busy telling folks the gospel, I taught Sunday school, Ace had a bus route, we were faithful to witness every chance we got, sometimes to the same people and we were already supporting missionaries.  To know there were people tucked in remote place who had never heard the gospel one time again caused our hearts to say to God, we'll go.  

People have said to us, "you must love God very much to do what you did".   We tell them, no, He loves us very much and how could we not go give others a chance to know the love God.   My husband and I took II Corinthians 5:14 to heart...For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that, one died for all therefore all died, and He died for all , so that they who live might no longer  live unto themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

You know it's not about the location we serve it, it's about what are we doing in the location we live in right now.   It's harder physically to serve in a third world country but we think it's harder to serve spiritually in good old USA with too many choices of chocolates to keep us confused. 

Back to the Baton.  They were hand delivered by a missionary father bringing his daughter back to the states from Bolivia to enter collage. 

We knew him and his wife when they were both single, was there for their wedding.  He had no idea my husband and I had been talking about those little rolls of chocolate and our time in Bolivia.      When he handed them to me, these words popped out of my mouth straight from my heart.  " Oh, God loves me so".   He loves me so much He wanted to bless me with a box of chocolate Baton's.  Actually the better blessing was the few hours we had with this dear family.  Phil is the government rep for New Tribes Mission in Bolivia.  His wife and other children had to stay in Bolivia just because it expensive to fly the whole family. It's one of the sacrifices missionaries make to give the gospel out to the unreached.  

One last note:  God loved on us through those rolls of chocolate carried by hearts that are not living unto themselves.  How has God loved on you lately?

Deferred Hope/Tree of Life

Proverb 13:12  Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes it is a tree of life. "

I love this commentary of Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick - When once a good is discovered, want of it felt, strong desire for the possession excited, and the promise of attainment made on grounds unsuspected, so that the reality of the thing and the certainty of the promise are manifest, hope posts forward to realize the blessing. Delay in the gratification pains the mind; the increase of the delay prostrates and sickens the heart; and if delay sickens the heart, ultimate disappointment kills it. But when the thing desired, hoped for, and expected comes, it is a tree of life, עץ חיים  ets chaiyim, “the tree of lives;” it comforts and invigorates both body and soul. To the tree of lives, in the midst of the gardens of paradise, how frequent are the allusions in the writings of Solomon, and in other parts of the Holy Scriptures! What deep, and perhaps yet unknown, mysteries were in this tree!

 My simple mind has  always believed the tree of life represented Christ, life is in Christ.  Gen. 3:24 So, He drove the man out; at the east of the garden of Eden, He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the "tree of life."   Jesus says in John 14:6 I am the way, and the truth and the life: no one comes to the Father but through me.

 I've had my hope deferred countless times both before and after salvation.  Before salvation I look to Betty to pull myself up by my boot straps and stop being depressed.  It worked pretty good and I took that mentality into my walk with the Lord.  Till a trial came along I could not for the life of me pull myself out of the pit of despair. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for the truth God taught me and continues to deepen my knowledge of the truth, through Him all things are possible. Life is in Christ not in Betty, not in others, not in what this world offers, not in my circumstances no matter how good they are.  Life is in Christ, not in my family, my friends all a blessing but they did not stay at the gate of the garden of Eden to keep Adam and Eve from destroying all hope of ever being reconciled with the Creator.

One of the thing suicide shows us is the result of man taking his life into his own hands, the life God gave him.  My heart is sadden like everyone else at the death of Robin Williams.  Last night I chatted with a dear friend whose brother killed himself and once again she was battling grief and those thoughts of, what more could I  have done to prevent his death?  Her brother made a profession of faith as a teen  but always struggled with depression and it got worst after his Dad died.  So many attempts were made by family and friends to help him and it seems he was on an up swing the week  before his death.  How little we know what goes through the mind of one,  minutes before they take their life. My husband shared at this young man funeral Roman 8:35-39 who shall separate us from the love of God, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, death, life, angels, principalities, things presents, things to come, powers, height, depth, nor any other created thing , will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  This is my belief, nothing , not even suicide can separate us from the love of God.  If we are His, we are His, even in the bad times, even when we follow our way in doing anything we are still His, even my stubborn will cannot separate me from His love if I am already His. 

I have read some profound words today on blogs, Facebook and even the news but none touched me more then this post .  http://www.aholyexperience.com/2014/08/what-the-church-chri . . .

The flaming swords are gone,  The Word is our sword now.  The angels are gone, no need to protect the Way. He has come, lived, died, rose again and  return to His heavenly home leaving us with the Comforter to guide, teach, comfort us through this sin sick world.    He waits leaving us with hope that He will return for us.  His hope does not disappoint because HE has met the desires of our hearts to be reconciled with the Father. 

All of us know someone who struggles with depression, lets be proactive in reaching out to them. Lets be proactive in praying for them and their family.  I have someone right now I am praying for, a friend and a family member.   I sending them them  the link above and praying it will encourage their hearts to look to the one who alone can give eternal hope.    
 

I Will Praise Him

                       This song makes my heart shout, what song does that for you?