#GiveHope this Christmas!

We can give hope this Christmas!

...through blankets

...through food

...through Bibles

And much more!

Video link:

  #GiveHOPE for Christmas 2021 on Vimeo

Give link:

  https://www.omsgivehope.org/givehope

Thankful!

I celebrated my birthday this month and I was so encouraged by the kind words of so many beloved family and friends. 

My mom made this creative card and my dad sent these beautiful flowers.

I want to express how thankful I am for everyone who is standing with me in different ways, encouraging me, and praying for me in this time of chronic head pain.

I pray that God may bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

II Corinthians 9:8

Scattering seed

We scatter, but God brings the harvest...

God's Reminders

During the month of September, Pepperdine University commemorates the lives lost on September 11 with nearly 3,000 flags. 

There is a flag for each US citizen victim, and the national flag for each foreign country that lost a citizen in the attack.

One Sunday morning I was feeling discouraged and I was talking to God in prayer on my way to church as I was passing by the flags at Pepperdine. 

And then I saw this flag (below) right near the front easily seen from the highway. I quickly made a U-turn and got out of the car to check if I had really seen what I thought I had. 

The flag of Mozambique

I thought not only about the lives lost, but I was reminded of God's loving plans for our hurting world, including the country of Mozambique. 

Praying

Pray for the people of Afghanistan and Haiti. 

The Luke 10:2 alarm

"Prayer is not something we do when we can't do anything else. Prayer is something we do when we recognize that God can do more than we ever could." (Jacqui Shatto - OMS World Intercessors) 

"The Harvest truly is great, but the workers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." (Luke 10:2)

"The disciples were not asked to advertise or offer added incentives to recruit more missionaries. They were instructed to pray earnestly to the Lord." (Jacqui Shatto)

My missionary organization, OMS, shared an idea that I have been doing ever since I heard it. I have the alarm set on my phone for 10:02am each day to remind me to pray what Jesus tells us in Luke 10:2.

Will you join me, and all those in any time zone, at 10:02am who are praying daily for God to send out workers into His great harvest, everywhere and anywhere in the world??

Specially armed

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A summer memory

As we enter summer here in the U.S., my mind goes back to the times I helped out with Vacation Bible School (VBS) at my Uncle and Aunt's church. 

I remember that I was a young teen the first time, and I was asked to do various tasks - watch over the young kids in the play area, prepare arts and crafts for a lesson, sit with the kids for a Bible story, fill little bags with candy, or help hand out prizes, etc... 

I could easily understand that all of these things were useful and helpful for the children, the church, and the whole VBS plan...until the Thursday afternoon.

My Pastor Uncle told me to go to one of the rooms, saying, "I need you to clean something." When I walked in, there was an old rain gutter sitting on the table, with some clean cloths, a bucket with water and some dish soap. 

I remember feeling hurt as I thought to myself, "Wow. I guess there are no more useful tasks for me. They must think that they need to fill my time and give me something, anything, to do. Or maybe they think I'm not doing a good job with the "useful" "helpful" or "relevant" duties? 

As I mulled over what this perceived demotion in my duties meant, my motivation decreased and I did a very half-hearted job of wiping out the rain gutter. 

After a little while, my Uncle came back and said in an excited voice, "Is it ready?"  Ready?? Before I could answer, someone came in with a huge roll of tin foil, someone else with what looked to be a 5 gallon container of ice cream, another armed with whipped creams, and another with chocolate sauces and cherries. 

Uh, oh...

I said, "Wait Wait!" as I cleaned as hard and quick as I could. I barely got it wiped out well before the tin foil lining went on, then the ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and cherries. It was the biggest ice cream sundae I had ever seen! 

  

I learned afterwards that the Thursday afternoon of VBS week was ALWAYS the Big Ice Cream Sundae celebration!

How many times in our lives has God asked us to do something, or permitted us to be in situations that we didn't understand, and we were tempted to grumble? Have we felt that it doesn't make sense, or that we've failed somehow, been demoted, or maybe even that God has forgotten us? Have we ever felt hurt, depressed and lacking in motivation, or even doubting our faith in God?    

Whatever we feel like, think about, or go through, and these can legitimately be extremely difficult things which only God knows, can we trust that in our empty rain gutters,

God is preparing ice cream sundaes - and not even regular ones - but the biggest and the best?!

A little on being misunderstood

 My mom has been sketching some little cartoons, lately. This one shows how I feel, but not how I look outwardly, during these 5 years.

I told my mom how it feels sometimes when people remind me of the faith filled woman from Mark 5 who reached out to touch the garment of  Jesus.  

Jesus is the One I sought when my pain began, He is the One I seek throughout the pain, and He is the One whom I believe in faith will heal me of this particular affliction, in His time, in whatever way He does it. 

Sometimes when people, with good intentions, remind me of this story, I think to myself, "Hmm, I feel as though I am hanging onto Jesus." It is not that I have not reached out, or am unwilling to reach out, or that I do not have faith that Jesus can heal me. 

Both of these little drawings are about being misunderstood. Maybe you've heard people say to you, "you don't look sick" or "you don't look like you're in pain," and you feel misunderstood. Or maybe people have encouraged you to, "reach out to Jesus" or to, "reach out in true faith," and you feel misunderstood. 

When we go through any type of affliction, I believe that it is almost always accompanied by some form of misunderstanding. People will never really know what it is like and yet they want to say something kind, encouraging, or helpful. 

We should understand this.

But what we can be encouraged by most of all is that we know that Jesus understands everything we go through and He was the most misunderstood of all.

 

"He is despised and rejected by people, 

a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised and we did not esteem Him."

Isaiah 53:3

Please pray for people in Cabo Delgado Mozambique

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56373651

Sowing and Harvest

 I have two small postcards of Vincent van Gogh paintings on my wall, The Sower and The Harvest.

The Sower seems dark and barren...

yet there is hope rising.

The Harvest is bright and plentiful.

~

Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. 

The one who continually goes forth weeping, 

bearing seed for sowing, 

shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, 

bringing in the sheaves. 

Psalm 126:5-6

Why are you cast down, o my soul? Why is my heart disquieted within me? 

Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, my Savior and my God. 

Psalm 43:5

~

There is a harvest after the sowing!