The Goodness of the Lord in the land of the LIVING!

My mind is racing about all that the Lord could possibly have before us on our upcoming adventure to America. There are things that my mind goes to on what to pack, or what are we going to do in freezing temperatures with "flip flops" on our feet?!?! But then there are things I am excited as I think of seeing my parents faces, my brothers & their kids faces – hugging them! To see in person, laugh & worship the Lord with our friends! Wow! It is going to be such a beautiful time! Then there is another part of me that is thinking about all that the Lord has done in our lives. What would it be that He would have us return with. I could give testimonies of healings, provision & the surrendered lives – and we will! But, as I was with the Lord this morning I was taken back to a verse:

Psalms: 27:13 – I had fainted, UNLESS, I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

That was a Scripture that a friend of mine gave me prior to coming to Thailand. I was really struggling with seeing my family in pain over our call to Thailand. I remember this verse was given to me just after a personal word I was clinging to. That being that through my greatest struggles, will be my greatest victories in Christ! That was something I believed for my parents and family as well - as they would draw near to the Lord. Anyway, it brought me great hope & great expectations of all that the Lord would do in our lives if we would call to Him.

So this morning I was reading Psalm 116:13, "I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord." Man have I done this! I have done this & God does hear & God does answer!!!! He is so faithful! He is so caring and good! He is all that the Word says He is & personally that can become something He desires to reveal intimately. Something that to look back you KNOW you can TRUST the Lord! Thank you Jesus for your faithfulness!

The next Scripture I went to was Matthew 26:17: "And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, "Drink ye all of it." ALL OF IT. There is no halfsies. You have to go all the way with the Lord! The true message of the Bible is not a prosperity message, but a reality in Christ. Yes He has good things for you & yes He wants you to prosper, but He always has an eternal mindset with that.

There are difficulties I have gone through that I know that I know I went through to draw me closer to the Father! The tears I have cried out in my walk have never returned void! I have truly seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!

Another Psalms says, "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever! Amen to that! I am quoting a line from a movie, I think it was Love comes Softly, anyway, the guy says to the lady, "The Lord never promises that you will not walk through valleys, but that He walks through them with you."

Ok, well that was on my heart & I thought I would share. I hope to stay regularly connected through our travels! Pray for us and that the Lord would direct our every step! May God bless you!

Time is flying!

I cannot believe it but we are actually flying to America on Tuesday at 2:45 a.m.!!!! So we are beginning to prepare for this international journey!!! We are so excited, but a bit sad too. Having the team all back together again has been such a blessing. I cannot express it in words – but there is such unity and love & I will be sad to leave it for even for a few weeks. On the other hand, I am beside myself about getting to see my family & our friends! The kids are so excited too! They have had a blast playing with the cousins & now even more to look forward to seeing Mimi & Papa & all their family and friends too!

 

We have officially started Thai school & it is going GREAT! I am so happy for this opportunity! Trent and I are in a class together & Jackson, Braden & Trinity are in a class with all their cousins. So we are all learning Thai! About time as we have lived here 15 months!!! Anyway, we are getting it & please pray against discouragement as this language is VERY difficult. There are tones & pitches and if you mess up in one area you could actually be saying a completely different word. Wow! We need prayer J

The discipleship program has restarted & Koh Ling, Koh Ow & Ko Yea Win have all committed to another 3 months. We are excited to see the fruit of Christ in their lives. We pray that these men will be future leaders & take the Gospel to other Burmese people.

 

Discipleship family style….. Well! That is our word for 2008! We are FAMILY! Meaning our kids will be going through discipleship training as well & we will all be out in the community with the children in outreach! I am so excited for our children to grow up preaching Christ crucified as a normal part of their daily life! Hallelujah!

 

GLORY TO GOD!

 

Happy New Year!

Wow! It has been too long since I have blogged! I do not know where to begin, but I will try to do a speed round up of the recent events.....




We had our first visitors!!!! Amar & Isabelle Guillen came to Thailand & we were so blessed by their stay! We had a great time catching up and showing them around Ban Nam Khem. Both Amar & Isabelle are professional photographers and they were able to go through the village and take amazing pictures. I hope to have copies to share with you soon. My highlight of the trip was an elephant ride! Living in Thailand we had never done Elephant trekking & they treated us to our first ride. I tried to take pictures, but 99% of my shots were blurred from the elephant's movement. It was nice to have them here to work in some fun! We tend to get so wrapped up in the ministry & it was nice to have some fun with our friends!




There was a graduation on December 31st! It was great! The 3 disciples who lived in the house graduated a 3 month program where they sought the Lord in prayer, studying the Word, attending the school, evangelism & outreach. It was a beautiful celebration as the men have been forever changed with the love of Christ. Amar and Isabelle captured the night with their cameras & I hope to have pictures to share soon.

Our kids were given bicycle training by our Burmese friends….priceless….





The team is BACK! Well almost, we are still missing Isaac, but…. Wow! I cannot tell how long 5 months feels like without them! Just this week Donna returned, Todd and Renee & their children return & Brad returned also! It was crazy seeing so many white people! We have a lot or catching up to do & are all excited for what the Lord plans for this upcoming year!

In other news, it is only 20 days until we leave for America. I can hardly believe we are actually getting to go home for a visit due to mandatory visa expiration! We are looking forward to Christian fellowship & sharing the vision & the encouragement of friends and family!


Ok, well that is the speed round. I will do my best to stay up to date as much as possible. May God bless you!

Merry Christmas

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Asked to Evacuate

Hello! Our family wanted to inform you all about a possible flooding to our area. The Poo Yai Ban (village leader) has been broadcasting regularly asking everyone to evacuate our village between December 22-24 because high tides are expected. High tides that could cause severe flooding.

If you do not know, we are serving the community of Baan Nam Khem Thailand. This fishing village was the hardest hit area in Thailand by the Tsunami. Half the community was lost. Needless to say, the community has taken this notice very seriously.

There are 3 landmarks that attract much attention to our village. They are large fishing boats that washed up with the Tsunami. The boats were left there as a memorial, and have helped in local business through tourism. These landmarks have been moved. Moving these boats is not small thing - they are huge boats and required cranes and took a lot of effort. So the community is bracing itself for the "High Tides".

Please keep us and the local believers in your prayers. The people we serve are the poorest of the poor. They have precious little, and are Burmese. These people live in fear everyday. Fear of everything. Fear that they will be sent back to Burma. Fear of evil spirits. Fear of the Thai. Fear. We are praying for a FREEDOM IN CHRIST that will break these strongholds & maybe the Lord will use this time as we trust in Him.

We are trusting the Lord to lead our family & to lead the people.

Chew on this:

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he….. Proverbs 23:7

 

It is so crucial that our thoughts be centered on God, not our desires!

 

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. ….Philippians 4:8

 

Feel free to post your comment……..

An elderly man.....

As God's chosen people…clothe yourselves with….kindness. (Colossians 3:12)

There is an old story of an elderly man who always carried a little can of oil with him everywhere he went, and when he would go through a door that squeaked, he would squirt a little oil on the hinges. If he encountered a gate that was hard to open, he would oil the latch. And so he went through life, lubricating all the difficult places, making it easier for all those who came after him. People called the man eccentric, strange, and crazy, but he went steadily on, often refilling his can of oil when it was nearly empty, an oiling all the difficult places he found.

In this world, there are many lives that painfully creak and grate as they go about their daily work. Often it seems that nothing goes right with them and that they need lubricating with "the oil of joy" (Ps. 45:7), gentleness, or thoughtfulness.

Do you carry your own can of oil with you? Are you ready with your oil of helpfulness each morning? If you offer your oil to the person nearest you, it may just lubricate the entire day for him. Your oil of cheerfulness will mean more than you know to someone who is downhearted. Or the oil may be a word of encouragement to a person who is full of despair. Never fail to speak it, for ourlives may touch others only once on the road of life, and then our paths may diverge, never to meet again.

The oil of kindness has worn the sharp, hard edges off many a sin-hardened life and left it soft and pliable, ready to receive the redeeming grace of the Savior. A pleasant word is a bright ray of sunshine on a saddened heart. Therefore give others the sunshine and tell Jesus the rest.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love (Romans 12:10)

I would like to personally thank those of you have shown kindness to me in love, care & friendship! You are gifts of God to me!!!!

I took the above story from the devotional Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman & wanted to share it because it was a great story!

Church Service

Hello! Most of the time I use this blog for more personal things and the newsletter for the Ministry. But! I thought you might enjoy some pictures I took from church last night.

We often have the children upstairs during service. There we love on them & play with them while the adults get ministered too. These kids have precious little, and it is a great ministry of love. We do share a personal message with them after the service downstairs is over. We only have 1 Burmese person, Laid Laid, that speaks English to translate and share the Word with the children.


Laid Laid preaching to the children



Quizing them over past lessons to make sure "they get it"



Ok, this is just an "extra"! These brothers LOVE EACH OTHER!

Church Pictures

Above: Man Tan Zin & Bou Bou & Dowie.



Braden & Laid Laid before service



The kids and I went upstairs and had some fun!

Trinity lost her FIRST TOOTH!

Wow! My baby lost her 1st tooth!



She is big stuff, now!



Trent, my handsome hubby!!! Doesn't he just make you smile? Awe...



PRECIOUS! Thank You God for my babies!!!!

Trinity's "Girly Room"

Recently we have begun to have the children express their need for "privacy". Up to this point we have had all 3 children in the same room. We were not sure what to do about this need, but found a way! Now Trinity has her very own room & the boys have a boy room! Everyone is happy :)


We did not have another room, but were able to drape a curtain up with a shower rod and move a book case to seperate off "a room" for Trinity. It actually looks pretty cool!



This little princess needed a "girly room" & it just turned out Royal! All we had to buy were hooks and up her dress up gowns went and "Princess Room" it is!


Of course we already had some "flair" to hang! Thank you Danielle & Jesse for the Name plate to add to this addition :) Perfect!


Trinity and I had so much fun seperating all things "girly" as the boys worked on the "boy room". We even decorated the back of the book shelf. We had a precious moments book & cut out the pictures and put in the middle of scrapbook pages to add a "girly" touch! Everything is all about being "girly"!

The Boy Room

Braden & Jackson in the bunk beds. Jackson, as always sitting on his head..... He is ALWAYS sitting on his head?????



Superhero suits hung & ready for play


Braden with "Fwoggy" turning him into Batfrog......


Daddys idea of fun. Rules. You have to love Trent & his demand for order! Jackson and Braden with their rules under their "Code Names" Isaiah & Ezekiel.