The long road home...

I just arrived in Irving a few hours ago. The kids and I came up today for Christmas and James is meeting us here on Sunday. He is going to the Rockets game (his favorite) with his dad and brother on Saturday night, but told us to come on up. Now Irving is not technically "home" anymore, but since I spent roughly two thirds of my life here, it will always be my "hometown". It is just 4 hours north on I-40, but it is one LONG 4 hours. Of course, it was even longer because I got a huge Coke before we left and I had to stop 3 times to go to the bathroom :)

Anyway, it was dark and the kids were fairly quiet, so it gave me time to think about Christmas and things like that. My family had a nice Christmas. We got to see lots of family, the kids got way too much stuff (and we still have more to go here), and yesterday was a great day. On the drive as I thought about Christmas, three people came to mind, and I spend a good deal of time praying (and crying) for them (when I wasn't stopping to make a run to the bathroom).

First that came to mind was one of my dearest friends Tracy. She and her family moved to Iowa in June. I miss her so much! Thanks to all the technology, we still keep in touch, but it's just not the same. I wish that schedules and finances allowed me to just hop on a plane and visit Iowa. I can't wait till I can do that! This is her first Christmas in Iowa. Now, while I think that 4 hours to Dallas is a long trip.....she thinks that 5 hours to Indiana (her home and family) is a breeze since she was driving something like 17 hours from Texas to get home for holidays. I am so thankful that she gets to see her family more often. My prayer for her is that she meets new friends up there and has awesome friendships with them. Of course, they will never be as good as her Texas friends ;) but I remember how lonely I was when I first moved to Houston, and I pray often for her not to feel that way. She was one of the ones who went out of her way to make me feel a part of my new home, and I hope that she finds someone just the same!

On the long stretch of dark highway, God also brought to mind my college roommate's husband. He's battling (and it sounds like winning against) cancer right now, and even though he just completed his last round of chemo, he had to spend Christmas in the hospital, missing his newborn's first Christmas. He is an avid blogger and so (most likely unbeknown to him) I've been following his whole course of treatment and been praying for him and his family all along the way. I am so impressed with his strength and HUMOR, despite his current situation. He is definitely a Godly man and his wife Shanda and his kids are blessed to have him. I pray that even while he had far less than ideal accommodations for Christmas, he still was able to find peace and joy.

On the last leg of my journey, I did most of my crying as I thought about and deeply prayed for a sweet friend who lost her 3 year old son in an accident about 4 months ago. Wow! I'm glad it was dark and my kids couldn't see because boy did I cry. I just cannot imagine....and with the holidays....just wow. I have no words to say. She also has a great blog which I read her latest entry last night. She is the most amazing woman! What a woman of faith and strength she is. I know that she doesn't realize the impact on others that her faith and confidence in God has, but I know that one day in Heaven she will see just how her life and her steadfast faith in the midst of such grief has so positively and deeply affected all who know her and even those who don't.

If you are reading this, please do me a favor and lift these three up in prayer this Christmas season. Thanks, and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas day yourself!

Dear Lord,
I lift up to you these three dear people. Please bless Tracy and her family. Give her friendship and the fellowship of other women who share her love of You. Bless Aaron with healing and strength. May his recovery be swift and full. And Lord, I ask an extra measure of peace that passes understanding for Marsha and her family. Wrap them in your arms and hold them tight as they miss their little Christian. Give them joy and warm memories despite their sadness. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Snowflakes and awe....

It is officially snowing in Houston! Big ole honkin' snowflakes! This is only the second time it has snowed in Houston since I've lived here (James says it's more than twice, but I don't think so), so it is a real treat. The kids were is awe and so were a lot of the adults. Everyone is standing outside, even though it is freezing cold and dark, just to get a glimpse of these beautiful giant flakes of frozen water floating down out of the sky. It's just something we don't get to see a lot of and so we enjoy it just as if it were something we had never experienced before.

Wouldn't it be cool if we all reacted the same way to God's love as we are reacting to the snow? As amazing as snowflakes are, God's love is so much more awe-inspiring! I sure wish that I approached the throne of God with so much wonder, but so often I don't. I pray that each and every day I can find as much newness and amazement at what God is doing as I can to snow in Houston. Because let's face it....God's love is way cooler plus it lasts forever (unlike snow in Houston that only lasts a few hours).

On chopsticks and joy.....

We had a meeting of the ladies going on the Taiwan trip last night. We got to meet the missionary we will be working with, Renee Hord. She is on furlough right now in Oklahoma and came down south for our meeting.

She shared with us her vision for the women's retreat and then we all had a dinner of Chinese food. Now I realize that this was not authentic to what we will be eating in Taiwan, but I ate a few things I normally wouldn't choose to eat, and it was OK. We ate everything with chopsticks too, and I even handled that pretty well. Renee was telling us some of the things they had to eat over there, and I'm actually even a little excited to try some of them believe it or not. It sounds like I will be A-OK on the breakfast food, so if all else fails, I will just pig out each morning and hope it carries me through the day :)

Renee also shared with us about her vision for the women's retreat. She said that God had given her a clear direction that He wanted us to share with these women joy more than anything because it is something they know so little about and need so desperately. I really am starting to "feel" the trip now instead of it just being an idea. Love on these women and show them the joy of Christ. Something I should be able to do. BUT.....

I had a really rough weekend. Really, it was lot of little things, but they all started adding up. Nathaniel fell and bumped his head at pre-school so I had to take him for 2 days to the hematology clinic downtown, we had a terribly busy weekend, someone hit our van and it wouldn't run, Dakota is struggling in school, and so on and so on. It hit me this afternoon how I was allowing all of these things to rob me of my joy and it was my choice to do so. How am I going to stand in front of hurting women and tell them of the JOY that God can bring into their lives when minor things leave me joyless? I need a serious attitude adjustment!

Joy is something that should not be fleeting. It is not an emotion...that's happiness. Joy is something that comes when you are being filled by the Spirit, and I am so guilty of not following the last few days. God has given me so many blessings, even in this aggravating weekend. Nathaniel was not hurt and got to enjoy a wonderful Christmas party at the clinic. Our busy weekend consisted of several parties, a concert, a birthday celebration, and work (which is helping me pay for Christmas and this trip)...all good things. The accident was minor, no one was hurt, and we already have a rental and the car is being repaired at no expense to us. While Dakota is struggling, he is a beautiful, bright boy, and he is learning some lessons now that will make him a stronger adult.

But you know what....even if nothing was going right in my life (and really, so much is), I can and should STILL have joy! I have Jesus as my Savior. That alone means everything! So, today (this evening, anyway...the morning I didn't do so good), I am surrendering MY nature and going to be filled with HIM. I desire to live in joy! Pray for me........I want so much to be of service to the ladies in Taiwan and have the right attitide, but even more so do I want to be pleasing to God.

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:11

On submission and trains.....

Today was the last day of the semester for my women's Bible study group. We've been working on a study by James MacDonald called "Lord, Change My Attitude". It was a really good study, and this last week was on submission.

One of the lovely ladies in my group Hildy had this great example of what submission is in a marriage.

It's like an engine and a coal car. The track is only wide enough for one train car at a time to go down the track. One of them has to go first. Husbands are like the engine. They are designed to go first and to do the work of pulling the train. The rest of the train goes where the engine leads because it is first on the track. Wives are like the coal car. They follow right behind the engine. The always follow, but the engine cannot lead without any coal. The coal car is equally as important as the engine, but it just has a different function. Just as the engine cannot function without the coal car, so too is the coal car not usable without the engine. One cannot work without the other....they are interdependent. What a mess it would be if the coal car tried to go around the engine and lead the train! Not only would it cause all sorts of chaos, but the train would not go anywhere fast because coal cars were not designed to pull a train. That's the engine's job.

Many times we have the same problem in our relationship with God. Granted, God can pull the train without any help from us (the coal car), but how many times do we try to pull the whole train ourselves instead of letting God be the engine (AND the coal car, for that matter). How free we could be if we just followed instead of always trying to lead!

It's a choice we make. Do we submit to the authority that God places over us and ultimately submit to God, or do we step out of God's protection by not submitting? I firmly believe that if we submit to the human authority God has placed in our lives, He promises to provide protection and blessing EVEN IF the human authority makes a mistake. If we rebel against that authority, we step out of God's umbrella of protection.

In the beginning....

Well, there's a first for everything :) I'm an Internet junkie, yet I have never given in to the blogging thing. Maybe it's because I'm not that much of a writer, or maybe because I tend to write in a somewhat "stream of consciousness" kind of way (a.k.a. not making sense to anyone but myself), but none the less, here I am blogging. Actually, I was talking to my mom about my upcoming mission trip to Taiwan and she said that I really needed a place to share pictures and notes about it, so that is what my blogging will be about for the first few months with a few tidbits of the rest of my life thrown in.

So about Taiwan.....
I am SO excited about the trip! We are going to work with several missionaries in Taiwan to help them with a women's retreat for the ladies in Taiwan. Now, a women's retreat in Taiwan different than in the US, with a big difference being that Taiwanese women are not allowed to spend the night away from home without their husbands. Also, while the Taiwanese government is open with the sharing of the Gospel (unlike in China), only about 2% of Taiwan is Christian and the culture is heavily steeped in Buddhism and Taoism. They live in a culture that has little regard for women and are living with little or no hope. This retreat may truly be the first time these women have ever heard anything about Jesus or the first time they will ever see that there is hope for something different. The task seems daunting, as I'm not sure I've ever met someone who had never at least HEARD about Jesus before, but I know that I am just the vessel and it is GOD that will be doing the work. I am so excited to get to just love on these women and share with them the hope that we have in Christ!

We have just formed the group of 11 women that will be going on the trip and have only just begun meeting together. As the next few months go on, I will be sharing more and more about what I'm learning and what God is showing me. For now I will leave you with a few prayer requests:

-First, that God settles my life down a bit or at least gives me peace in the storm (more like lots of little whirlwinds). Nothing major is going on, just lots of busy-ness and such that goes with having a big family and also the holiday season. I really want to be still and hear God, but I have a hard time being still and quiet most of the time.

-Second, that everyone on the team gets to know each other and works well together. I am not foreseeing any problems at all, but when you get 11 women working closely together, well....you know :)

-Third, for God's blessings on the ladies in Taiwan that we will be working with.

-Lastly, that God will work on my taste buds and give me a new sense of adventure in eating. I'm foreseeing that as being a challenge in Taiwan, but I am officially not going to speak on the matter anymore and I'm giving it to God right this second. :)

Well that's it for my first official blog post. Good night!