A&A

our blog moved to maynorfamilyblog.blogspot.com

2010-07-04T11:40:00.004-06:00

OUR BLOG HAS MOVED

Come visit us at our new site

Just Click here...

Maynorfamilyblog.blogspot.com

An infinite God who is personal and compassionate

2010-02-07T07:23:00.003-06:00

It was Samuel Rutherford who said, "Whether God come to his children with rod or a crown, if he comes himself with it, it is well. Welcome, welcome Jesus, what may soever thou come, if we can get a sight of thee: and sure I am, it is better to be sick, providing Christ come to the bedside and draw the curtains, and say 'Courage, I am thy salvation', than to enjoy health, being lusty and strong and never need to be visited by God."

MY 13 MILE WALK FOR ORPHANS THIS SUNDAY!

2009-02-11T11:16:00.005-06:00

My walk for orphans in the Sarasota Half Marathon is this Sunday! Only a few days left before I walk 13 miles for orphans. Due to my the injuries to both my knees a few months ago I will be walking instead of running. Dissapointing but the results will still be the same, awareness and finances raised for orphans. I would covet your prayers for this event. Please pray for myself and other orphan advocates who will be walking or running in this event, that we will be free from injury, that awareness for orphans and God's love for them will be made prevelant. Praise God for the finances and resources he has already raised for orphans through this event. Thank you to those of you who have partnered with me through prayers and financial donations.
I will give a full report next week! If you would still like to make a donation to my race click on the Running Hope banner to your left or click here.

Fight The Freedom of Choice Act

2009-01-17T12:29:00.004-06:00

Mr. Obama has promised the first thing he will do when placed into office of President of the United States is to sign into law the Freedom of Choice Act. This is devistating news for millions of children and women in this country. The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is set to be signed if congress passes it on January 21-22 of 2009. If made a law then all limitations on abortion will be lifted which will result in the following:

1) All hospitals, including Catholic hospitals, will be required to perform abortions upon request. If this happens Bishops vow to close down all Catholic hospitals, more then 30% of all hospitals in the United States.

2) Partial birth abortions would be legal and have nolimitations.

3) All U.S. tax payers would be funding abortions.

4) Parental notification will no longer be required.

5) It would no long be a requirement that women be given information about the risks of getting an abortion.

6) Performing abortions no longer restricted to licensed physicians.

7) The number of abortions will increase by a minimum of 100,000 annually.

In November 2008 Stephen Adams of Focus on the Family wrote, "Americans won’t have to wait for liberal nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court to undermine pro-life policies: President-elect Barack Obama reportedly is set to begin his attack on life during his first days in office. Obama pledged during the campaign that one of his first acts in office would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act if it hits his desk, a bill that would overturn many state abortion regulations such as parental notification and waiting periods.
He also is expected to rescind Bush administration restrictions on the use of federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research, and for abortions and abortion referrals by international agencies.
Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said this is not speculation.
Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said her organization is regularly advising Obama’s transition staff. 'We expect to see a real change,' she told The Washington Post.
Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president and chief executive officer of Americans United for Life, said Americans can expect to see more of their tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood and international abortion businesses."

Please take time to pray that God would keep FOCA from being passed, that he will raise up Christians who will stand up and be a voice for the voiceless.
Please visit http://www.fightfoca.com/ for more information.

I met my favorite Folk Artist, RUBY C. WILLIAMS

2008-12-02T15:29:00.005-06:00

Amanda and I, along with her Grandma Katy, Father Robert and Uncle Billy cruised on over to St. Lucie on the Eastern coast of Florida, directly across from Tampa, for the Thanksgiving Summerlin Family Reunion. This is Grandma Katy's family and where she grew up. There is alot to tell about this reunion as it was quite the experience for a man from Mississippi/Alabama and deserves its own post which I will post later. But I wanted to post these couple of pictures. As many of you know, I love art and try to be at least a little bit of an artist. Four years ago as I was doing research on Florida Folk art on the Internet, I ran across Ms. Ruby C. Williams. She quickly became my favorite folk artist. I really enjoy her work and could stare at her paintings for days on end. My friend, Lance Williams (no relation) also loves art and met Ruby years ago while he was a reporter for NBC. They struck up a friendship which has lasted many years. I have enjoyed talking to Lance about Ruby's work and looking at the art work of Ruby's in Lance's house. On the way to St. Lucie from Tampa on SR 60 we ran across Ruby's fruit and art stand in Plant City. Back in the 90's Ruby had a fruit stand and would paint colorful signs to direct people into her stand from the highway. From encouragement from a passerby and friends Ruby started painting. Ruby has become one of the most beloved Folk artist in Florida and even across the USA. Ruby even had art work on display at the Smithsonian. In addition to her fruit stand she also now paints and sells her artwork. I was thrilled to be able to stop and meet her in person and visit with her. She is a dear Christian lady and I was so encouraged by her dedication and desire to use her talent for God's glory and the spread of the gospel in missions. Ruby will tell you herself that she is a missionary and preacher. She does mission work with children in the summers. In the picture above, Ruby poses with me and hold the painting that Amanda and I bought. I am thrilled to own some of Ruby's work and have it in my house to gaze at endlessly.

Ruby also wanted us to take a picture of her and her orange tree. She said she had been wanting and praying to have an opportunity to have a picture taken with her tree. As she put it, "I'd been talking to God to have my picture taken with my tree and then He sent you along." I mailed her the picture today.

Ruby C. Williams is a dear sweet lady and a fantastic artist. I am convinced she is destined for the history books and people young and old will be enjoying her art for centuries to come. It was a highlight of my life to meet her and I am sure we will be driving over many times to visit with her.

So if you are ever traveling through Florida on SR (stateroad) 60 near Plant City, be on the lookout for Ruby's fruit and art stand and be sure to stop by, chat a little and buy some beautiful art work.

You can visit Ruby's website here...Ruby C. Williams Website

Great weekend with nephews and neice

2008-11-19T13:11:00.004-06:00

This past weekend I flew to St. Louis to spend a few days with my nephews and neice. It was a wonderful trip. I love those four kids so much! I wished we lived closer so that we could see them more. This picture is of my oldest nephew M. (6). His younger brother B. (4) took the picture. My neice L. is 6 and her brother G. is 3. I cant wait to see them again.

To M,B,L,G,
Skima rinki dinki dink, Skima rinki du,
I love you!
-Uncle Andy

To see more of MBLandG visit my Sisters in laws blogs .
Just click on these: Maynor.blogspot.com and Lilygray.blogspot.com

143,000,000 orphans one at a time.

2008-11-10T09:06:00.004-06:00

I just added a video at the bottom of this page that puts into perspective the fact that there are over 143 million orphans in the world today. Please spend a couple of minutes watching this video. It is important that we understand the reality of how many helpless children are fending for themselves out there in our world, however, this reality can be overwhelming. Individually we can't possibly help all 143 million children, but we can help one at a time.

Thailand Partnership Meeting

2008-11-09T09:41:00.006-06:00

On October 3rd Dustyn Eudaly (our associate pastor) and I flew to Atlanta, Georgia for the First Thailand Partnership Meeting. This was a time for the MTW (Mission to the World)* Thailand missions team to meet with several churches that have partnered together to support the mission to Thailand. Dustyn and I attended for a couple of reasons. First because our church supports several missionaries on the team and the work in Thailand. Secondly, because Amanda and I have increasingly felt called to join the work in Thailand. I was able to meet with Dave Veldhorst, the MTW team leader and talk about the possibilities of ministry available for Amanda and I, the current and needed children/orphan ministry in Thailand, and preparations for Amanda and I as we consider whether God is calling us to join the team and serve in Thailand. It was a wonderfully informative and relationship-building meeting. Rhianna Mills, a Thailand team member, also joined in our conversation. It was such an encouragement to her insights. A few day's later, Dave called Amanda and I on the phone so that Amanda could be hear everything Dave shared with me and ask any questions she might have. We are continuing to pray and seek God's guidance as we pursue full-time service in overseas missions.
I was incredibly impressed with Dave and the Thailand team. Dave's leadership and commitment to discipling the team members, involving Thai nationals in the work, and growing relationships with partnering churches in the US is phenomenal and should be a model to all missions teams and leaders. We were able to meet three Thai nationals who have joined the team. It was a blessing to meet them and hear about there love for their country and the Thai people. Meeting them and hearing their hearts was my favorite part of the day.

Tim Mills, husband of Rhianna Mills (mentioned earlier) and MTW Thailand Team member, was able to come visit our church a couple of weeks ago. It was great to be able to fellowship some with Tim and hear him as he addressed our church in the Sunday service and then talk to us as a missions committee. I, personally, have enjoyed getting to know Tim and Rhianna over the last couple of months and hope Amanda and I will have the privilege to serve with them one day in Thailand.

I would encourage you to click on the following links and read about the MTW Team in Thailand and pray regularly for them.

Links:
MTW Thailand Team Website
Paul and Crystal Henry
Andrew and Becky Bronson
Tim and Rhianna Mills
Yupawadee Praignam (Yu), a Thai staff member

*MTW, Mission to the World is the sending missions agency of our demonination the PCA, The Presbyterian Church in America. To visit the MTW website click here.

***********************************************************************************************
Adoption Update:
We are planning to proceed with our adoption in January. We are planning on pursuing adoption from South Korea with Wide Horizons adoption agency. There are two other directions in which God might direct us in our adoption. There is also the possiblily the Thailand adoption program will open back up at the first of the year. Also our friend Emma from Uganda is looking into adoption from his village in Papoli Uganda. I helped Emma set up his blog this past week ( look to left for link to his blog) and I will write as post very soon about him and his work with the orphans, widows and needy in Papoli.

Quick Updates

2008-10-15T15:13:00.003-06:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. Really busy this time of year.
Quick updates:

1)Our adoption has been put on hold for a while because of the bad economy and the fear that one or both of us could be laid off from work at any time.

2)Our church orphan/adoption ministry is taking shape. The church session approved my first proposal and came back with suggestions and asked me to do some research on those suggestions and make some recommendations back to them. I will submit those recommendations soon.

3) After repeated re-injuring my knee several times while running, I have decided to try and walk the marathon in February instead of running. I hope I will be successful in this.

More posts are coming when I have time....

Spotlight on Ministry: THE ABBA FUND

2008-09-05T08:37:00.007-06:00

The following is an interview with Jason Kovacs of The Abba Fund. I am challaged and encouraged by Jason's dedication and desire to serve orphans, churches, and families who have adopted or a desire to adopt. My thanks to Jason for taking the time to answer these questions!

Links: The Abba Fund

The Abba Fund Blog (Jason's blog)

Together for Adoption (T4A)

LegacyChild

So Sit back, read and enjoy learning about The Abba Fund...

What is The Abba Fund?
The ABBA Fund helps Christian families overcome the financial obstacles of adoption by providing interest-free loans that can be paid back over time. We also administrate Matching Grant and Interest-Free Loan Adoption Funds for churches at no cost so that local churches can help their families with adoption costs.

Does The Abba Fund have a missions statement?
We don't have an "official" missions statement but it would be to bring glory to God through enabling His church and His people to follow His call and live out His heart for orphans through adoption.

How did the Abba Fund begin?
The ABBA Fund began 4 years ago after the founder, Eugene Allison and his wife, adopted two children from Russia and experienced first-hand the “cash flow crunch” posed by adoption expenses. Eugene and Carol had enough money to start, but not to finish the process. Through significant financial gifts from friends, they were able to complete the adoption. God soon placed a burden on their hearts to start a ministry that would help other Christian families get through the cash flow crunch on the way to growing their family through adoption.

How did you personally become involved with the Abba Fund?
I became involved with the ABBA fund 3 years ago during our first adoption. At that time I was a pastor at a church plant and finances were very tight. We were trusting God to provide everything needed for the adoption and one of the resources God led us too was the ABBA Fund. The way in which Eugene and the others involved not only helped us with an interest-free loan but prayed for us and cared for us in the process touched me deeply.

What is Legacy Child?
LegacyChild is a ministry of the ABBA Fund designed for families to set up memorial funds in memory of a loved one. The family that creates the memorial fund is able to choose the families that benefit from loans out of the memorial fund from pre-approved adopting families that are featured on our website (http://www.legacychild.org)
This is a great way to not only remember a loved one in a meaningful way but to help family after family adopt, as the interest-free loan is paid back the family can choose another adoptive family to help.

What is the process a couple goes through in order to receive financial assistance.
The basic process first begins by completing a homestudy. Once that is complete couples can fill out our application and send it in with the required supporting documents. If anyone has questions during the process, our Family Coordinator, Julie Franklin (an adoptive mother of 2), is available to answer any questions!

What are the criteria for a couple to receive help through The Abba Fund?
Our primary criteria is spiritual maturity. Our desire and prayer is that every child that we help bring into a home through adoption will be raised to know the Gospel and love of Christ. The maturity of the parents is key to this and we look closely at their faith as well as their philosophy of education.

Do you find that there is a big need for financial assistance for adoptions?
YES! I believe it is the number one hurdle and need for Christians considering adoption. Many couples consider adopting at some point but too many of them are discouraged by the cost and stop right there. Our vision and prayer is that one day we can say to the evangelical church in America that if God is calling you to adopt finances no longer need to be a hurdle because there is enough financial resources available.

How much does the typical domestic adoption cost? Foreign adoption?
The typical domestic adoption costs anywhere between $15,000 and $20,000 and foreign adoptions between $20,000 and $30,000. There are exceptions to that both domestically and internationally. It really depends on the agency and where you are adopting from.

What are some of the most frequent questions that couples have pertaining to the financal aspect of adoption?
How much will it cost? Is there a way to know for certain we will have enough money? What resources are available to help? What can I do to fundraise? Should I even think about fundraising?

Where can I find grants and financial help!?
I have a link on my blog that lists some of the other resources out there - http://abbafund.wordpress.com/how-to-fund-an-adoption/

What would you say to a couple who sees no other way but to go into debt in order to adopt?
I would first ask them about their financial situation and explore whether that really is the case and counsel them to apply for all the grants that they qualify for. That takes some hard work but there are many great organizations out there with passion to help folks adopt. I would also encourage them to look at the many options for fundraising. There are so many creative ways to raise money for adoption. If they still fall short and need to take out a loan I would encourage them to try and get an interest-free loan first and then go from there. If the couple has huge debt already that is another issue and I would encourage them to talk to a pastor or financial advisor about their situation.

Does The Abba Fund provide grants or just loans?
Through our general fund, we only provide interest-free loans. For the funds that we administrate for churches, organizations, adoption agencies or businesses we facilitate matching grants.

What is a church adoption fund?
Church adoption funds are a way for the local church to care for their families and encourage adoption within their local body. It takes what we are doing as a ministry and places it within the context of the local church - where the ministry ought to be!

How does The Abba Fund help churches establish and maintain an adoption fund?
The ABBA Fund provides our expertise and experience in administrating the fund on behalf of the church. This frees the church from having to reinvent the wheel and enables them to utilize our existing loan and grant process (i.e. qualifying families on mutually agreed upon criteria, disbursing and administrating funds, receipts etc.).

What advice would you give to a church wanting to look in to starting an adoption fund?
I would encourage them with the fact that for many couples the possibility of funds being available to help them with their adoption encourages them to take the first step of faith in the process. I have seen a simple church adoption fund open wide the doors to adoption that has led to the lives of families and children being changed forever.

I would also encourage them, whether they partner with us or not, to use our resources and ask as many questions as possible. More than anything we want to see churches caring for their families and helping them obey God’s call to adopt.

Finally I would strongly encourage them that while there much more administration involved to seriously consider doing interest-free loan and/or matching grants because of the self-sustaining and self-perpetuating nature.

There are several agencies that offer adoption funds for churches. How does The Abba Fund differ from the others?
I was a pastor prior to coming on staff with the ABBA Fund so my heart beats for the local church and really seeing the Bride of Christ live out God’s heart for the orphans. That’s what gets me most excited about partnering with churches and helping them establish adoption funds. That said, there are so many churches and we are really thankful for the other organizations that are serving in similar ways. That just means more resources and more support for the church!

Can you share an Abba Fund success story?
Can I share two. One involving a church and one involving a family? One of our first church partners in Illinois started a fund with $7500. They are not a large church but their fund has been used greatly! That original money went to help the first family almost immediately 3 years ago. They were able to pay it back within a year and another family used that money to adopt. This second family paid it off in time for the first family to use again for their second adoption. We just made that interest-free loan to them last month and they told us to only give them $5000 because they knew of another family in their church that is about to adopt! So, within 3 years 4 children will be helped into Christian homes through adoption in one church!

One of the first families we helped with an interest-free loan were missionary church-planters in a rural area of North Dakota. Their biological children got so involved they put their paper-route money towards the adoption of their new sister. That family has since adopted again and we were blessed to help them with a second interest-free loan!

How can our readers support The Abba fund, ie through prayer, awareness, financially, etc?
Prayer is definitely the first and most important way readers can support The ABBA Fund. Apart from God’s grace and blessing what we are doing will be in vain.

Readers can also spread the word about adoption and the orphan situation in the world and the fact that there are organizations like us that are out here to help folks financially.

For those who feel like they want to help others adopt we would love to provide them with the opportunity to do that – they can go to our website here (www.abbafund.org) to donate.

Does The Abba Fund partner with any other agencies or ministries, ie Shoahannah’s Hope?
We are blessed to have many great friends in the adoption and orphan care world and are continuing to make new friends. I really believe the more we work together the more we can do for the sake of the kingdom and God’s glory when it comes to adoption and orphan care.

Shoahannah’s Hope is one of our very good friends with whom we work with in helping churches get matching money for adoption funds.

I am also deeply involved in Together for Adoption, a ministry hosting regional adoption conferences focusing on theological adoption and its implications on our adoption of orphans (www.togetherforadoption.org). This past year we were also blessed to be exhibitors at the CCEF conference in Philadelphia (www.ccef.org), the Desiring God Conference for Pastors in Minneapolis (www.desirnggod.org), and most recently at the Alliance for Orphan Care Summitt IV in Ft. Lauderdale.

Is there any thing else you would like the reader to know about The Abba Fund?
Every dollar donated to the ABBA Fund goes directly to help unite a family through adoption. That is the same for the funds we administrate for churches. This is something we are committed too! All our operational costs are covered by our board and donors who have a vision for the long term sustainability of the ministry. We are actively praying for the day when we will have enough funds to provide financial help to every couple that applies! Join us in praying for that as well!

Above all we are excited about what the Lord is doing around the country in His church when it comes to adoption and orphan care. We count it an incredible privilege to play a small role in helping families live out God’s heart in caring for orphans through adoption.

Saturday with an Orphan Advocate

2008-08-21T18:08:00.006-06:00

Once in a while,... every so often, God sends a person across your path that radiantly shines forth his love and goodness into the world. The light of Jesus just seems to burst from this person. Their love of Jesus and compassion for those that need to feel God's light shine upon them is infectious. Once in a while,...every so often you meet a person who just gets it. They get what it means to follow Jesus. They get what it means to be His son or daughter. And just being with this person makes you feel closer to God himself. That is because Jesus lives in them and they live for Jesus.
This past Saturday, Amanda and I had the privilege to spend the morning with just such a person. It is amazing to me that as I become more involved in orphan ministry, the more of this kind of person I run into. This Saturday we spent the morning with Deb Gangemi. I first met Deb this past march in Sarasota. She and her husband, Tom, and two adopted boys host an orphan conference every year. This was the second year that they had hosted it. Before I went to the conference I talked to Deb on the phone, and Amanda can tell you how ministered too and encouraged I was just talking to Deb for only a few minutes. Deb is also arranging our orphan advocate team running/walking in the Sarasota Marathon in February. Deb is also a physical therapist and unselfishly, in Deb-like fashion, offered to give any of us on the team a free strength and flexibility testing. I took her up on this offer and spent Saturday morning learning all about myself and how I am build. She gave me exercises to do to get ready for my race and I know the things she taught me and Amanda will help me do well in the marathon and be useful the rest of my life. When we were finished with the testing, She told story after story of God's provision for orphans and adoption, both her own and ones shared with her. She brought tears to Amanda and my eyes as we listened to her shared how God works in the details of adoptions and the lives of those involved. She shared how adopting a son or daughter isn't a second choice, but just as good as having biological children. We were both encouraged and challenged. Thanks Deb for being all there for our Heavenly Father and letting him radically work through you. When I look at you I see Jesus.

Too visit Deb Gangemi's blog, (and I encourage you to do so) CLICK HERE!

Training update & New and Improved TeamHope Webpage

2008-08-13T15:38:00.010-06:00

I am excited about my new and improved RunningHope Webpage. As you might already know if you are frequent visitor of this blog, I will be running in the Sarasota Grouper Half Marathon on February 15, 2009 to raise money and awareness for orphans. This will be my first half marathon and I am training extremely hard. I have teamed up with an organization called Running Hope to use my physical efforts to help these children in need. My goal is to raise $2500 with this first marathon. The money I raise will go directly to Shaohannah's Hope, an orphan and adoption ministry started by Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman. Shaohannah's Hope ministers to orphans and children in need in the US and around the World and also helps more families experience the miracle of adoption by reducing the financial barriers, primarily through awarding adoption grants.

Please check out my new webpage, just click on the RunningHope banner to your left.

In training news, I will be receiving my strength and flexiblity testing Saturday in Sarasota. This is being provided free from my friend Deb, who is a physical therapist and orphan advocate. Deb is the person who told me about the opportunity to run in Sarasota Marathon and introduced me to Running Hope. Many thanks to her. Since I hurt my knee several months ago, I have not been able to run. Instead I have been training on the eliptical machine and riding my bicycle. I believe my knee is finally to the point where I can run again and I am looking forward to a "go-ahead" from Deb on Saturday. I will also be receiving my official training schedule.So please check out my site and donate if you feel God is leading you to do so. I appreciate any support I receive whether financial or in encouragement and prayers.

More to come.....

An Appeal for the orphans of Uganda

2008-08-08T13:54:00.003-06:00

The following is a post from my friend and fellow orphan advocate Deb Gangemi that she posted on her blog and asked me to post here. Uganda is a special place with some special children that need our help. This is need from Children's HopeChest as they start there new ministry to the orphans of Uganda. They are setting up scholarships for pastors to attend an upcoming vision trip and need your help. Please read and see if this is a need God is calling you to fill...

An appeal for the orphans of Uganda
About two years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Daniel Clark, the outreach director of Childrens HopeChest. I knew I was meeting an orphan care advocate. Little did I know I was also meeting someone I would consider friend.
Daniel is leaving on a Vision Trip to Uganda in October. Childrens HopeChest is preparing away to serve the orphans there. In a country with a population of about 27 million people, there are 2 million orphans. They are an easy target for the LRA to kidnap and enslave, forcing the children to become trained guerrilla fighters or to participate in the sex slave industry. The situation in areas of Uganda are dire.........
But! The Lord, our Lord, knows that! He has not been caught by surprise. He has opened doors for orphan care ministries like Childrens HopeChest to be the very hands and feet of Jesus to the orphans there.
I have invited Daniel to guest blog today about the trip he is leading. All I ask of each of you is to prayerfully consider sharing this information with others. Our Father knows who needs to know this information. You may be the one who knows that person or persons!
For those of you who are uncomfortable sharing this type of appeal with people, I understand! But I have become convinced that these opportunities may be the very way God is asking you to obey His call to care. Raising awareness of the needs of the orphan is an immense responsibility and will lead you to moments of asking for involvement of others in ways you may be uncomfortable asking. I have found myself in that place many times and it doesn't get easier! But our comfort level is not the measure by which we should decide how to respond.
We are His Body, that is a fact. We are His mouth speaking for these kids. We get to be part of this incredible journey of faith and joy by using our bodies to be His Body. Let me say, if you are the person who knows the person, and you become part of this story in a deeper way, you are going to be amazed at the blessing of joy He showers down!
And so my friends, may I present my friend Daniel!
The reason you are reading Deb’s blog, the reason Deb and I are friends and partners in orphan care, is that we have all been captured and compelled by the compassionate heart of God and the intense and unjust needs of children around the world. Deb has been a great friend to Children’s HopeChest in the last few years and I know that her heart is also for the orphaned child. That is why I’m guest-blogging today. I am leading HopeChest’s effort to launch orphan care in Uganda. There are three pastors that are very interested in going with me in October and getting their churches involved. A great tool for our ministry has been what is called a ‘pastor scholarship.’ For $3,500, you can send a pastor to Uganda to see the needs firsthand and discern how their church can connect in a holistic, long-term, and redemptive way. We have found that 9 out of 10 pastors that travel overseas with Children’s HopeChest will get their churches involved in a way that $40,000 per year is invested into orphan care for a decade or more. If you look at that as an investment, it is an incredible return. In addition to the financial piece of the picture, hundreds of people are transformed through relationships and mission, hundreds, and even thousands of children are transformed through God’s hope and practical help.I know that this is a difficult economic season for all of us. Families, businesses, churches, and ministries are suffering. But we are committed to caring for the world’s poor. We are committed to responding to God’s heart for orphaned children. And we are committed to connecting churches with orphanages and watch hope and help transform lives. Please consider being a part of this by offering a pastor scholarship.
If you would like to know more about this opportunity, please email me at daniel@hopechest.org.
For the Fatherless,
Dan Clark
Outreach Director Children's HopeChest
office: 719.487.7800 x1012
mobile: 719.440.7917

Ospreys and Orphans

2008-08-04T14:23:00.004-06:00

This past Friday, Amanda and I rode our bikes back and forth on the Friendship Bridge across Tampa bay. The Friendship Bridge is a 3 mile long pedestrian bridge that connects Tampa and St. Petersburg. On this breezy yet humid day the bridge was a flurry of activity as people enjoyed the bay. Some were bay watching, some fishing, and some cruising across the bridge via feet, roller-blades or bikes. As we were pedaling, I noticed an osprey on a lamp post enjoying his evening meal of leftover fish a fisherman had left behind as waste. Ospreys are scavengers. Scavenging is how they get their next meal and they like it that way. They were made for it. As I stared at this giant bird devouring his meal, I started thinking of all the orphans and other children living in poverty around the world that have to scavenge for their next meal as they live on the streets, garbage dumps and other places not fit for children. Unlike the ospreys, Human Children were not made to get their food this way. Human children were made to have their food provided to them by their parents. They were made to be apart of a family and have the security and love that living in a family provides.The fact is that millions of children have to scavenge and scratch for enough scraps to stay alive. Millions of these children are orphaned and millions more live in families that can not provide the basic nutrition a growing child needs because they live in poverty. A sad reality is that 400,000 orphans die every year due to malnutrition. And while Animal lovers in the United States and Europe spend more than $13,000,000,000 (thats 13 Billion!) on pet food each year, more than 300,000,000 children are undernourished in today's world (1) and every 5 seconds a child dies because he or she was hungry. (2)

Every child should be apart of a family and have parents to provide nourishment for them. That is why I believe so much in the reason I teamed up with Running Hope and I am running in the Grouper Marathon in Sarasota in February. Beside raising awareness of the plight of orphans around the world, my goal is to raise $2500 to donate to Shoahannah's hope, which will go directly to a family's adoption grant and bring a hungry orphan home to his/her forever family. Would you consider helping me take an orphan out of poverty and hunger and place him/her into a loving home by donating an amount of your choosing? If so, go to my Running Hope page and then click the "Donate Now" button. Your donation would be gratefully appreciated.

No child should be without a family. And certainly no child should go hungry needlessly. Children are not like Ospreys. Ospreys are animals. Children are human beings, loved by the God of the Universe and created in His image. Please prayerfully consider what you can do to be an advocate for these children without a voice.

Sources: 1. Food for orphans 2. State of Food Insecurity in the World 2003

Opportunity to help Orphan's Hope

2008-07-25T12:22:00.005-06:00

I received this via email. Here is an opportunity to help Orphan's Hope with Summer Camps for Orphans...

Giving Orphans a Great Camp!
We Need Your Help.
We have a team of 40+ people from nine countries this summer, showing God's love to orphans. They are beautiful children who need compassion and help.
Typically in the summer the food is bad, portions small and kids are often hungry. You can see they are lonely children, missing a family and the joy of basic activities. They lack water for bathing and toilets are reeking open holes bad for health. No child who has lost their parents should suffer this.
Please Help & Click to Donate - We still need $5000
Your Support for Camp Provides:
The Highlight of the Year for OrphansAges 6-18 in Three Camps.
Sports, Crafts, Swimming, Games, Fun Nights, etc.
Distribution of Needed Clothes and Shoes
Major Shower Renovation - Kerch Orphanage (fixing very bad conditions)
Lots of Love and Encouragement to the Kids
Small Groups - Bible Lessons, Raising Vision and Instilling Spiritual Values
Large Group Dramas, Music, Teaching, Movies, etc.
Team of International Volunteers, OH Staff, and Translators
Teen Camp - Aug. 1-17 - Tent Camping on Black Sea

Top Recent Successes: 1. 26 Families now adopting Ukraine orphans through Orphan's Hope. 2. Thousands of clothes and supplies distributed to orphans in Myanmar. 3. U.K. volunteer team finished a great trip to Myanmar. 4. 150 Children from Kerch orphanage received needed clothes, shoes, and toys during OH Camp this week. -

How about becoming a monthly donor (our biggest need), and together we can help more kids?
Thank you for your support!
Steve Cassidy President/FounderOrphan's Hope
Phone: 1-952-941-1546Fax: 1-952-944-2078
Email: Info@OrphansHope.org
Orphan's Hope is a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) public charity, and all donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Thank You for Supporting Orphan's Hope!

Tim Borland interview

2008-07-20T08:39:00.006-06:00

If you would like to be encouraged, inspired and challenged, then I am excited to tell you about a radio show you really need to listen to. My friend, Tim Borland, Executive Director of Running Hope, was interviewed on Friday's (7/18/08) program of the radio show MoneyLife, with Crown Financial CEO and MoneyLife Host Chuck Bentley. Tim talked about how God called him to use his running to glorify the Lord and help children in need. Tim stressed the importance of surrendering one's self completely to God and in doing so, how God can use one person to minister to many. Tim, in association with A-T Children's Project ,ran 63 marathons in 63 days to raise awareness and money for children with Ataxia-Telangiectasia. Tim discusses how God called him to this mission and God was there with him throughout the process as He promised. I would highly recommend for anyone to take a few minutes and listen to this interview. I promise it will be worth your time. Click on this link...http://www.crown.org/ ...then go to the archives page.

(Tim is now the Excutive Director of Running Hope, a ministry that uses running in marathons and races to raise awareness for orphan causes, especially Shoahannah's Hope. I am proud to be a member of Running Hope and am looking forward to running my first race in February. To see my Running Hope page or visit the Running Hope site click on the Running Hope banner to your left. )

God's Word Pertaining to Orphans

2008-07-13T08:04:00.005-06:00

God's Word is filled with God's expressing his heart for orphans and widows. It is said that if these were evenly distributed throughout the Bible then there would be a reference to ministering to the poor and oppressed every fourth page. Doing a study on these verses in the Bible will clearly convey how much helping the poor and oppressed is on the heart of God. Here are just a few of those verses.

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute."
Proverbs 31:8

"When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands."
Deuteronomy 24:19

"Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?"
James 2:15-16

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
James 1:27

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families. "
Psalm 68:5-6a

"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless."
Exodus 22:22-24

"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.... At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. "
Dueteronomy 10:18, 14:28,29

"But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more. "
Psalm 10:14,17-18

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed."
Psalm 82:3

"' I will come to judge you. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers, lying witnesses, and those who cheat workers out of their wages and oppress widows and orphans. I will also testify against those who deprive foreigners of their rights. None of them fear me,' says the LORD."
Malachi 3:5

a child's response

2008-06-28T07:29:00.002-06:00

We were invited last Sunday to go with an orphan ministry from a local baptist church to a local group home for foster kids in the Tampa area. It was a wonderful time. We shared with the children the parable of the four soils and helped them make little terrariums. The empty terrarium tray represented the pathway the seeds landed on, the rocks that lined the bottom represented the rocky soil, and potting soil as the good soil etc. The terrariums were then given to some special elderly women in a local nursing home. We also gave the kids their own New Testament. The kids seemed to have a great time and were receptive to the gospel message. The following is a encouraging letter one of the boys wrote as soon as we left. (I have corrected some grammar for clarity sake and also left out the boys name and group home name).

How God Changed My life

"When I was little I never believe in God but ------- changed that when they started talking about God. I started to realize that he is real. I believe in him so much that I think he is real. How did they get me to believe? Sponsors came and helped me believe in God. They would sit down and help us and tell us about him and they gave us a bible so we can sit down and read more about God and Jesus. I love them alot!!!! and am proud that when you can believe you can do anything."

Have Gear, Will Run...(for orphans)

2008-06-26T16:35:00.006-06:00

I received my gear (running shirt, shoe laces, running hat, gear bag, and "For Orphans" bracelet) from RunningHope today. Needless to say, I was very excited. Tim Borland has been very helpful in getting me started on my marathon journey. Even with my knee injured, he was able to give me advice of ways in which I can train, once it gets a little better. Although there is still constant pain, it is alot better than it was even last week. If all goes well, I plan to get back in the "gym" next week and maybe run a little the week after.

Wow, what a privilege it will be to run for orphans and raise funds for Shoahannah's Hope via RunningHope!

More details and updates to come...but in the mean time, click the link at the left that says "RunningHope" to see my personal TeamHope page and visit the Running Hope site.

EXCITING NEW FOCUS FOR BLOG

2008-06-23T18:51:00.006-06:00

I have been praying and thinking about what direction this blog should take. I have decided the focus of this blog should be on orphan care and adoption. I have been leaning in this direction for two main reasons. First, because that is where my heart is. And secondly, in recent months the most frequent visitors to this blog have been changing from those who are interested in the daily life of Amanda and I, to those who are mainly interested in orphan care and adoption. My desire is for this blog to be a resource that points it's visitors to orphan care and adoption ministries in which the reader can partner with through prayer, action and financial support; to promote awareness of the plight of the world's orphans; and to share about Amanda and my ministry to orphans and what God is teaching us in that area. So if you are a frequent reader you will notice some changes over the next few weeks. Whether you are a frequent reader or a new visitor, please come back often, click on and explore the links and learn about how God can use you to minister to these precious children.

Plumbego, Yellow Allamanda and Blue Moonvine

2008-06-21T14:40:00.005-06:00

I love the flora that surrounds us here in South Florida. For a person who loves plants and gardening Tampa is a great place to live. There is a nursery going out of buisness close to us and we were able to get most of these plants and the ones below for $1-$5. In addition to these we also got a couple of butterfly plants to attract butterflies, two bushes that I don't remember the name of and my favorite, a stag's horn fern.

Hibiscus and Don Juan Rose

2008-06-21T14:37:00.004-06:00

Cigar plant and Double hibiscus

2008-06-21T14:37:00.003-06:00

The cigar plant will produce flowers that attract hummingbirds and butterflies.

I can't wait to see what the double hibiscus flowers look like.

Mandevilla

2008-06-21T14:35:00.001-06:00

Heaven's Gifts

2008-06-14T05:32:00.005-06:00

I wrote this poem thinking about God's two greatest gifts to me. There was a time when I was spiritually lost, without hope and dead in sin. God loved me so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus, to die for my sins on the cross, so that I would know true freedom on earth and so I could be with Him where He is for eternity. Then, in God's timing, because I was free to love, ( the only true love has to come from God and only those in Him can know this love) He sent my sweet Amanda to me. God knew that I would need a constant little glimpse of Heaven to encourage and help me for the the rest of my journey here on earth until I got to Heaven.

Heaven's Gifts
by a.w.maynor

For much of time, through much of earth
my weary heart did earnestly search
for the missing piece of life
and toiled and labored with unknown strife.

Then God in endless mercy sought
to give me love, the missing part;
First gave me life his Son's blood bought
Then gave me you to heal my heart.

Most precious gift I could receive
Sin paid for and guilt relieved.
Jesus died for me on Calvary's tree,
Oh, my soul He paid for thee!

Now free to live and free to love
Gifts kept coming from above
God gave me beauty to gaze upon
With you by my side til eternity's dawn.

True joy, love, contentment found
In hair of curls and eyes of brown
Radiant beauty that draws me in
Beauty that only Heaven could send.

God in his wisdom to help me through
To heaven's home my journeys end
Poured on me sweet blessed heaven's dew
Sweet beauty, my wife, my lover and friend.

-for Amanda Maynor, 2008

Knee injury

2008-06-12T06:43:00.002-06:00

Well, my marathon training is out for a while. About three weeks ago I slipped on some water and fell on my knees on the tile floor in our hall (part of me, not sure which, went through the drywall). It really hurt for a day or so but I thought no big deal. It was a little sore when I went running for the first time but I just figured that was because I was out of shape. Last Tuesday both my knees really began to hurt badly when I ran. Wednesday they really hurt but I ran through the pain. I could only run a mile before it was too painful. Thursday I was determined to run through the pain and ran 2 miles. Friday I could not walk. Saturday was even worse but I had to be on my feet for a wedding. Sunday I rested and kept ice on my knees. It is still excruciating to walk but I have to be on my feet all day for work. I am keeping ice on them when at home and an ace bandage all the time. I went to the doctor yesterday and he said I had severely bruised knees, with the slight possibility of a cracked knee cap on the left knee. The running inflamed them. I will get an x-ray if they do not improve. Also I will get cortisone injections if they are not better in a few weeks. He said the left knee is severely inflamed and has a fever. Deep bruised knee bones can take 8-12 weeks to heal. It is surprising to me how painful this is. I have had some painful injuries in the past, including many stitches, herniated disk in my back, root canals, my car flipping over and the roof landing on my hand, etc. This knee injury is the second most painful injury I have encountered, second only to the reconstructive pins being taken (or dug) out of my finger after the above mentioned car accident. Hopefully I can still train for at least the half marathon when they get better but I will have to see how things go. If you have any insight or knowledge about this kind of injury, I would love to hear from you.
So if you see me hobbling around with a grimace on my face, you will know why.

surprise in a barrel

2008-06-02T08:41:00.009-06:00

surprise in a barrel

-an original poem by a.w.maynor

you'll never believe a single sound

of this tale of what i found

hiding in a old brown barrel

a yellow cat mean and feral

i learned i was not so tough

when i reached in to grab his scruff

screams and cries my mouth did make

as my skin his claws did take

as i ran i looked back and saw

smiling teeth and multiple claw

the yellow cat's face had a big grin

and i knew against such a creature i just can't win.

************************************************************

My father responded to this poem a few days later by sending me one he wrote in response:

I liked your poem about the cat
And all its attributes
One important fact you left in doubt
Was the wild cat cute?

Was its face angelic
Or was it the devil’s own
Did it have fire in its eyes
Or was its halo shown?

I’ve known cats nice
I’ve known cats mean
I’ve known cats quite mischieving
But I’ve never know a single cat
That wasn’t a bit deceiving.

-----by w.w.maynor

*************************************************************

Then my father-in-law followed with....

When it comes to matters Feline
It would seem that family Maynor
Should fall back on history Canine
This is where they excel as Trainer

by r.h.mims

Spotlight on Ministry: CHILDREN'S HOPECHEST

2008-05-30T11:20:00.007-06:00

With this post I am hoping to start a new segment for our blog. I call it Spotlight on Ministry. The idea is to spotlight different orphan care/adoption ministries via interview to give the reader a quick personal overview of the spotlighted ministry.

The first spotlight will shine on a ministry in which I have gotten to know over the past couple of years, Children's Hopechest. I first heard about Children's Hopechest two years ago when I read Fields of the Fatherless, by Tom Davis, President of Children's Hopechest. Fields of the Fatherless has been recently re-published. I also had the pleasure of reading Tom Davis' book, Red Letters. ( See my recent blog post, A Book Review of Red Letters. ) The more I am exposed to and learn about Children's Hopechest, the more I am impressed and encouraged by this incredible ministry. I recently interviewed Hannah Chynoweth, the Special Projects Coordinator for Children's HopeChest via email. I enthusiastically thank Hannah and Daniel (Outreach Director) for taking the time to answer these question.

Andrew: What is the primary ministry goal of Children's Hopechest?

Hannah: primary goal – twofold – bring holistic care to orphaned children living in orphanages and poor communities, and to prepare them for successful adult life socially, spiritually, emotionally, and in education and vocation.

Andrew: What areas of ministry does Children's Hopechest have?

Hannah: Church/Orphanage sponsorship – within that there is child sponsorship, mission trips, letters, prayer, and special projects. Additionally 5for50/Saint’s Coffee ,funds feeding programs and meets other basic needs.

Andrew: In what areas of the world does Children's Hopechest work?

Hannah: Russia, Swaziland, Uganda, in the coming year Ethiopia, Liberia, South Africa, and Ghana

Andrew: How was Children's Hopechest formed?

Hannah: George Steiner worked for Int’l Bible Society. [While]distributing Bibles in orphanages in 1993, God gave him the vision to bring holistic care. Started with shoe distribution and summer camps. Grew a few years later to sponsorship.

Andrew: What role does God play in Children's Hopechest?

Hannah: Our first core value is total dependence on God. We are a multi-denominational Christian ministry that adjusts our ministry methods to the different contexts where we work. For example, overt evangelism in Russia is simply not effective; however our African partners are evangelical or mainline pastors.

Andrew: Suppose someone is overwhelmed by the huge numbers of orphans in the world and the problems of world hunger, poverty and diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Malaria and doesn't know where to start, what are some ways they can get involved helping through Children's Hopechest?

Hannah: First and most basic step is 5for50. After that, meeting with mission pastor or mission committee at church to see what current ministries address these problems. Third, contact Dan and Hannah [@hopechest.com]. [Write in a ] Blog: Read/review Red Letters and Fields. Be a voice for children who have no voice.

Andrew: What kind of work is Children's Hopechest doing in Russia ?

Hannah: Linked churches/businesses/faith communities with approx 70 state-run orphanages for holistic, long-term care. Supporting older orphans through ministry centers, independent living, and family centers.

Andrew: What kind of work is Children's Hopechest doing in Swaziland ?

Hannah: Churches/Businesses/Faith Communities sponsoring Care Points

Andrew: What is a care point?

Hannah: non-residential centers for feeding and discipleship that are administered by local pastors and gogos (widows/grandmothers), as well as HopeChest staff – see Tom’s blog

Andrew: What kind of work is Children's Hopechest doing in South Africa ?

Hannah: currently identifying in-country partners. Anticipating active ministry in next 6-12 months

Andrew: What happens to orphans when they are too old to live in orphanages?

Hannah: Russia – state-provided education through age 23 in many cases. However, living arrangements and quality of education are often inadequate. (See statistics from CRY brochure). Swaziland – they currently aren’t living in orphanages – continue living in communities of poverty. Goal is to send children to university.

Andrew: How does Children's Hopechest minister to orphans who are too old to live in orphanages?

Hannah: Grad programs include Ministry Centers, Family Centers, Independent Living Programs, education initiatives, social workers and psychologists, Young Mothers Program, legal and medical aid

Andrew: Is it important to minister to the orphan care givers? What ministries does Children's Hopechest have for orphan care givers?

Hannah: Yes. We train orphanage staff and gogos in best practices for care of children with extreme needs. Relational and prayer support

Andrew: What are some facts that every Christian should know about caring for orphans in the world?

Hannah: It’s close to the heart of God – see multiple passages in Deuteronomy. It characterized Jesus’ ministry. The early church was known (in a negative sense to the Greco-Romans) as people that care for widows and orphans. God went to great lengths to adopt us into his forever family.

Andrew: How would someone find out more information about Children's Hopechest or caring for orphans?

Hannah: Hopechest website, Tom’s blog, request info (DVD and brochure), phone conversation with Dan, and go on a Vision Trip

Andrew: Is there anything else you would like the readers to know?

Hannah: Red Letters Campaign is a new partner for ministry start-up in Ethiopia. Raising funds and recruiting relationships. Using online community. Exciting new approach that we are already seeing fruit from. Tom’s first fiction release in Spring 2009 – based on the life of an African AIDS orphan and an investigative journalist.

Red Rose

2008-05-26T15:57:00.003-06:00

I painted this rose today, 5.26.08. I decided to try a more abstract approach for this rose. With this painting, as with all my paintings, I just used my fingers, no brushes.

I've started to add some of my paintings in the lower left column of the blog. Click on one and it will take you to Flickr where you can read more about the painting.

I am practicing water color now so maybe soon I will have some watercolors to show.

Tears

2008-05-23T07:51:00.007-06:00

I have shed an abundance of tears lately on behalf of others who are experiencing grief and loss. A Christian brother in my church family lost his sister to cancer last week. His circumstances were much like my circumstances with the loss of my brother a couple of years ago. My heart grieves with him because I know the valley of pain that he is passing through. I hope that I can use my experience in that valley to help him through.
I grieve for the Chapman family with the loss of their precious youngest daughter, Maria. The Chapman’s are champions for the orphaned children of the world and to see this tragedy come to their home is devastating. I know there are thousands of us in God’s family who have been ministered to by the Chapmans and are grieving for and with them in their pain.
I, as I have said, am no stranger to the pain of losing a loved one. I have lost two brothers in whom I was extremely close. My twin brother died in 1994 and my older brother by one year died in 2005. I know what it is like to shed some tears. But my tears, my Christian brother’s tears, and the Chapman’s tears, are not desperate tears. They are not tears without hope. Our losses come from the love of our Father in Heaven. Though we can not see on this side of heaven, He is working out his perfect plan for us, the loved ones we lost, and all his children.
More than that, our loss is not forever if we and our loved ones are in Christ. We will see our loved ones again.
Even more than that, Christ sheds tears with us! Christ is no stranger to tears and losing a loved one. In John 11:35 we read that Jesus wept. He lost his friend and brother Lazarus. He knows our pain and sorrow. He cries with us. He mourns with us because he knows our pain; he has passed through that valley as well.
God the Father passed through that valley in the ultimate way when His only Son Jesus died on the cross and was separated from Him, for the first and only time in eternity, because of our sin. This is the reason why our tears are not desperate tears.
I recently discovered a Christian brother, Edward Massie, who was an English poet in the 1800’s. I started reading his poetry on line from his published works, Sacred Odes, and could not put them down. The following is one of his poems. I put this here for Sam, The Chapman family, and all of us in Christ, who have shed tears in our own sorrow and in our sorrow for our siblings in Christ.

Tears

"Jesus Wept"-John xi.35.

Who bids me feeling to extinguish,

And streaming eyes for shame to hide?

The hand which sends the pain and anquish

In love doth also tears provide.

Forbear your taunts, unfriendly scorners;

What! know ye not how Jesus wept?

Oh think of Him amidst the mourners,

Weeping with them the friend who slept.

Yea, Christ, who reigns in heaven for ever,

Once meekly stooped on earth to grieve;

We wept, who can from death deliver,

Who bade the dead come forth and live.

Then flow, my tears, like mountain river,

Stream from my heart uncheck'd by shame;

Flow on, blest boon, and praise the Giver,

Who cools with dew grief's burning flame.

From Sacred Odes, Edward Massie 1866

Please pray for the Chapman family.

2008-05-22T06:30:00.004-06:00

My heart and prayers are with the Chapman family during this difficult time.

Meet Maria:
hhttp://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/

The Tennesean
"Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child died Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s Williamson County home.
Maria, one of the Christian singer’s six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver’s name.
The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home at about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson said. He did not see Maria in the driveway before the vehicle struck her, she said.
“It appears to be a terrible accident,’’ McPherson said.
No charges are expected, she said. The accident was witnessed by two other children; the entire family was home at the time, McPherson said.
Singer/songwriter Chapman, who recently was inducted into Music City Walk of Fame, is one of contemporary Christian music’s most recognizable and most awarded names.
He and his wife Mary Beth have long been supporters of international adoption, having brought three girls from China into their family. Maria was the youngest.The couple is so active in the cause that they formed an organization, Shaohannah’s Hope, to aid families wanting to adopt.
With his latest music tour, which came through Nashville in November, Chapman started a campaign called “Change for Orphans”. He asked audience members at each stop to bring spare change to the concert, where it was counted and given to a local family to aid in their adoption process.
“I don’t know of anybody who loves his children more than he does and is so committed to the adoption concept, and to lose one, no matter what the circumstances, is heartbreaking beyond all comprehension,” said John Styll, president of the Nashville-based Gospel Music Association.
“He talks about his kids all the time. That’s his life. His kids are more important to him than music, that’s for sure.”
The tragedy was announced during Wednesday-night services at Harpeth Hills Church of Christ, which the family attends. Maria had just graduated from the church preschool.
And word spread throughout the tight-knit Christian music community on Wednesday evening.
Styll got the news not long after Maria’s death.
“I’m confident I can speak for everyone in the community to say we will do everything we can to support this family, as we would do at any time, but especially at a time like this,” he said.
Most of the Chapman family was at Vanderbilt children’s hospital after the accident and could not be contacted. The long, gravel driveway leading to the home west of Franklin was blocked off by Williamson County sheriff’s deputies."

1John 3:14-18

2008-05-16T05:26:00.008-06:00

I have been thinking about these verses. How far am I willing to love those around me? If I was really loving others as Christ loves me, how would my life be different? So, I put them here before you so that we can ponder them together...

1John 3:14-18 (ESV)

14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit IV

2008-05-09T07:19:00.007-06:00

There's just something special about being in a place where there are 600 people sharing a desire and passion for living out James 1:27, "For religion that God accepts as pure and undefiled is this: to care for the orphan and widow in their distress..." The Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit IV was simultaneously heartbreaking, encouraging, and informative. I am extremely glad that I was able to attend. Kay Warren, used a phrase that became sort of the phrase of the conference, " Gloriously Ruined". This phrase simply means that once a Christ Follower comes head to head with the facts of 143 million orphans and the effects that world hunger, diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS, child labor, prostitution, extreme poverty, etc are having on the world's children, and when those facts seep down from the head to the heart, all of his or her desires change and all that matters is helping these children and bringing them relief and eternal hope. God's heart for the poor and oppressed becomes your heart and all that matters now is being Jesus' hands and feet to the hurting.

The conference was amazing. I learned alot and gleaned many ministry ideas and concepts. My awareness of what the worlds children, both abroad and at home, are facing every day was broadened. I enjoyed one on one fellowship with many who are Christ's warriors for the orphans and was encouraged by hearing their stories and what they are doing in ministry.

My favorite part of the conference was World Help's children choir, Children of the World, http://worldhelp.net/MusicOutreach.aspx , who opened the conference with an amazing performance. Children of the World is a choir made up of orphan and disadvantaged children from around the world. Their praising God in song was inspiring. To see children of all races from around the world, who have faced more adversity than I could imagine, singing together and praising God, moved me greatly. At the end of the performance, the children walked through the audience, which was made up of people who were giving their lives to help orphans, and gave them hugs to thank them. One little girl gave me a hug. That moment was a very moving moment for me.

I have added more orphan ministry and adoption resources to the link list on the left side of your screen. These links are from ministries and resources that were at the summit. Please consider visiting some of these websites to become more aware of the plight of the fatherless and see ways that you can help. And hopefully, if you are not already, you might become "gloriously ruined."

*********************************************************************************

My very special thanks go out to Chuck and Margaret Clarke, who made me aware of the summit and who helped me be able to attend. God bless you guys for your heart and tireless work for the orphan, widow and stranger. Your sacrificial lives are an encouragement to me.

Work and Ministry Update

2008-04-28T16:26:00.007-06:00

It's that time of year again. It seems as if the beginning of summer is always busy for Amanda and me. This week is no exception. This weekend is the golf tournament that Amanda, as the Special Events Coordinator for Hospice, is in charge of directing. She has been working really hard. She works all day and into the night. I am not sure how she keeps going with so little sleep. I am very proud of her. Proverbs 31 comes to mind.

Thursday I am off to the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit IV in Ft. Lauderdale. Just a few hours drive from Tampa. I am extremely excited. I have never been to this conference but have been told that it will be phenomenal. The Christian Alliance for Orphans is a group of many Christian ministries, churches and individuals coming together for the cause of orphan care and adoption. Here is a quote from the CAFO website: "The goal of the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) is to inform, educate and engage churches and individuals in orphan and adoption ministry. As an alliance of Christian ministries, this unified effort is being undertaken to reach the broader Christian community about the needs of orphans and the opportunity for adoption, foster care and orphan ministry worldwide. CAFO is coordinating resources and efforts to expand orphan ministry in the Christian community." Speakers this year include John Fuller, Kay Warren, Dennis Rainey, Howard Dayton, and others.

After much strategizing, information gathering, prayer and planning, my goal is to meet with a few of the deacons from our church next week, after the conference, to discuss officially starting the orphan and adoption ministry at our church. Please be in prayer about that.

Two weeks from Thursday I will begin volunteering at a home for abused and neglected kids that are now in the foster care system. I am looking forward to spending time with the kids and getting my hands into ministry again. While I am excited, I am a little apprehensive about being face to face with hurting kids and I know I am going to want to adopt them all. But that is, after all, what ministry is about. Bringing the hope and joy of our Lord Jesus into places where there once was hurt and loneliness.

Be on the lookout next week for a report on the golf tournament and the conference as well as ministry updates.......

A book review of RED LETTERS

2008-04-22T17:16:00.007-06:00

A child becomes an orphan every 14 seconds because of AIDS.

The number of children orphaned by AIDS is expected to exceed 25 million by 2010.

With these realities, someone is desperately needed to "stand in the gap" (Eze 22:30) on behalf of Christ's church for the children and adults in the world suffering with HIV/AIDS, especially those affected most in Africa. Author and President of Children’s Hopechest, Tom Davis, has answered this call. In his book, RED LETTERS: Living a Faith That Bleeds, he effectively persuades all of Christ's followers to be Jesus' hands and feet to our neighbors effected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and around the world and provides practical steps on how each follower of Christ can begin to do this. In RED LETTERS, Tom Davis beautifully captures and portrays God's heart for the poor and oppressed, namely those living with HIV/AIDS in Africa, and what it means for those who confess to be Christ-followers to live out their faith by being Christ to the hurting world. Through his gift of storytelling, Tom brings the reader into the lives of those suffering because of HIV/AIDS. Tom builds a bridge by helping the reader relate to those suffering, by putting faces, names and stories on individuals who were once merely seen as statistics. Being confronted with the reality of the enormity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it is easy to become overwhelmed and frozen by not knowing where to start ministering. Tom clearly gives the reader practical ways to help and minister to the children, women and men in Africa and around the world who are suffering because of HIV/AIDS.
I was deeply moved, encouraged, inspired and empowered by RED LETTERS. Just like Tom’s other book, Fields of the Fatherless, I am sure I will use RED LETTERS time and time again in my ministry to orphans. I enthusiastically recommend every Christian read this book and then give it to a friend to read. RED LETTERS will inspire and empower you to see Christ in others and, by living the words of Jesus, become His hands and feet to your neighbors, those suffering because of HIV/AIDS in Africa, the orphan, the widow, the stranger and those living right next door. Please purchase this book (by purchasing it you will feed and orphan for a month), read it, and live the words of Christ.
Visit http://www.5for50.com/ or http://tomdavis.typepad.com/ to learn more about this book.

Amazon

2008-04-17T17:55:00.003-06:00

It was a beautiful morning. There's just something about waking up just before sunrise in the middle of the Amazon Jungle. One of my dreams had always been to visit the Amazon Jungle in Brazil and in 2001 when an opportunity arose I jumped at it. Last night I was sitting reminiscing about my favorite morning there. The sun, just rising over the trees that encompassed us, rained down rays of light that danced on the surrounding mist. The air was clean and fresh, with only the smell of trees and the nearby river. I thanked God for His creation and for allowing me to enjoy this special part of it. I climbed out of my hammock and started to make my way down to the river that was our source for drinking water, bathing, and a daily swim when the sun was its hottest. As I made my way down the path, carver ants were busy stripping several trees of their leaves. It were as if large pieces of leaves had grown legs and learned to dance and were now performing in their own version of a Mardi Gra parade. Large flashes of blue decorated the jungle as Blue morpho butterflies flew about graceful as ballerina's in the air. Flowers, ferns and other plants of unspeakable beauty served as their playground. Halfway down the path I heard it. A sound I had dreamed my whole life of hearing. I wanted to see as well. The rustle in the tops of the trees started out quiet but grew louder and louder. I looked up frantically, eyes darting here and there trying to spot the source. There...coming this way! A group of monkeys were migrating from their sleeping spot to the place they would spend the day. Flying through the trees like acrobats in the circus. Swinging, jumping, flying they came closer and closer my way. I was in awe. Before I knew it they were over just over head. I followed them down to the river. How would they get across the river, I thought. It must have been 20 or more feet from the trees on this side to the other side. They couldn't jump that could they? What happened next, I will never forget. This large group of monkeys was made up of several families of monkeys. The male/father monkey would get to the edge of the tree by the river and wait for his female partner and her babies. I assumed he was showing her where to jump from. He would wait for her to make the huge jump, with baby or babies hanging on her. When she had successfully made it to the other side, he would jump. This went on and on, monkey family after monkey family. As I sat there alone in the middle of the Amazon Jungle on the bank of this tributary of the Amazon river, feeling the breeze of the morning, watching and listening to the monkeys fade into the distance, I was in awe of my God and I thanked Him for His creation and his overwhelming love for me.

A Russian Orphan Needs Your Help Today

2008-04-09T13:41:00.003-06:00

"When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God...Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:9-10,18b.

In the 10th Chapter of Luke, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan to an "expert in the law".. In the parable a man was robbed and beaten and left by the side of the road to die. A priest passed by and did not help the man. Then a Levite came by and did not help him. Then a Samaritan came by and had mercy on the man and helped him. When Jesus had finished telling the parable he asked the man who he thought the neighbor was. The expert in the law answered "The one who had mercy on him". Jesus then told him, "GO AND DO THE SAME."

Caring for orphans is not only caring for them while they are little children, but ongoing care as they reach young adulthood and beyond, through helping meet their physical needs and discipleship, educationally, vocationally and spiritually.

I plead with you to read the following from Children's Hopechest. Pray about it and see how the Lord would have you be his hands and feet to your neighbors, the orphans of Russia.

http://www.hopechest.org/

In addition to our sponsorship program, Children's HopeChest helps 1,000 orphans who have "aged-out" of the Russian orphanage system.

Why is this important?

When a girl "ages out" of the orphanage she faces a 50-50 chance of sexual exploitation. Up to 40 percent of the young men will commit a crime, and about 15 percent will commit suicide.

As you can see, the stakes couldn't get much higher.

Thanks to you, we've taught life skills and provided Christian-based family settings to thousands of children over the past decade.

But today, we're facing a challenge and we need your help.

Click here to get a copy of Family Blessings
We're fighting for orphans in Russia at a time when the US economy is facing great uncertainty. Because we're forced to do more with less, there are many children in danger of losing services unless we can develop more support. Unfortunately, the situation may force us to cut the number of kids in our programs. Make no mistake, this would place them into harm's way.
But you can make a difference.
We've prepared a special proposal called Family Blessings that you can download, read, and pray about. Please share Family Blessings with your friends, family, and anyone who might share our passion for saving orphan lives.
Your donation, of any size, will provide the resources to keep our ministry thriving and send the message that the orphaned children of Russia are not forgotten.
And don't forget, your support can make the difference between life and death for an orphan.
Will you make a donation now?
DONATE NOW
When we opened our first Family Center for older orphans in 1998, we invited a special young lady named Elena to become one of the first participants.
She said, "No."
Elena opted to go her own way while her best friend, Tamara, enrolled in the program instead. Can you guess the end to this story?
Today, Tamara lives in Moscow and is living her dream of becoming an actress. Our staff have even seen her in some local television commercials.

Sadly, Elena became an alcoholic and literally drank herself to death one night.

So many orphans chose this path after they "graduate" from the orphanage as young as 15-years-old.

There's one thing we know about these programs: they work.

98 percent of Family Center graduates are living independently and exhibiting none of the traditional risk behaviors of other orphans.
Right now, our transitional living programs include:
- One-on-one foster care
- Family Center group homes
- A network of Independent Living apartments
- Outreach to technical schools where orphans live and study
- The Ministry Center program.
Totaled up, these programs require approximately $700,000 to run and benefit 1,000 individual children. That's $700 on average for each child enrolled in one of these programs.
Help us keep every child enrolled in our programs:
DONATE NOW
Many faithful donors already support these programs, but we still require additional and consistent support. Would you please consider making a gift, maybe even a monthly commitment?
When we started our transitional living programs in 1997, we believed in the power of restoring family to orphans. Over that time, thousands of children have "joined our family" and found the love and peace of their True Father.
We cannot do it alone. We could never do it without you.
The average cost to help our kids is just $58/month ($700/year). We invite you to

find out more, and make a gift commitment today.
Your donation brings true hope to the life of an orphan:
DONATE NOW
Interestingly, Russia has declared 2008 the "Year of the Family." We couldn't agree more.
Thank you for taking ownership in this ministry, and providing the blessing of family to so many children in need.
On behalf of the kids I want to thank you for all you've done and continue to do.

In Christ,
George Steiner
Founder

143 Million Orphans

2008-04-05T13:32:00.003-06:00

There are over 143 million orphans in the world today. That is a hard number to wrap your mind around. The most helpful illustration I have come across to help understand this statistic is from the Orphan's Hope website (link to your left). Here is the illustration I found there:

Today there are estimated over 143 million orphans in the world. That is enough children to go three times around the world at the equator. It is hard to grasp such large numbers, so picture being on a very long road trip. If you had these orphans hold hands in a line, you would see over 1,700 orphans per mile. If you were to follow that line of Orphans holding hands, driving 60 mph, you could drive 24 hours a day seeing 1,700 orphans every mile, hour after hour, day after day without stopping for over two months, and you would still see orphans holding hands.

Drink coffee, feed an orphan!

2008-03-28T15:46:00.008-06:00

"Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? "James 2:15-16
Caring for orphans is not just something you do or a compassion you have every now and then. Caring for orphans is a way of life, it is how you live your life in the small details of your life. Amy Carmichael, a missionary to children in India, once said that she asks herself daily, "What can I do without that I may have more to give." A month ago at an orphan ministry conference I discovered Saint's coffee. Saint's coffee is a small coffee company owned by a couple of guys that have a heart for serving the Lord by ministering to orphans. About one third of the price of a pound of coffee goes directly to feed orphans in Swaziland, Russia, Romania and the Ukraine through Children's Hope Chest, a ministry to orphans (Check the links to your left). One pound of coffee bought feeds an orphaned child for a month! Wow!
Everybody drinks coffee. Don't you buy coffee regularly? Instead of buying your coffee at the grocery store or at a coffee shop like Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, why not feed a hungry child for a month and enjoy some of , if not THE, best coffee you have every had? Even you coffee aficionados like me will agree that Saints is the best coffee you have ever had! Saint's coffee is honestly the best coffee I have ever had and now I get the blessing of enjoying a great cup of coffee and having the great feeling that I have feed an orphan.
Alot of the time we Christians in the United States know of the needs of the world. We honestly feel for the hurting in the world, but even though we think of them now and then, and may say a short prayer or give a little money, we do not live the small details of our lives in a way that realistically help the hurting. Buying Saint's coffee is one way that you can practically ease the suffering of little children. I urge you, please check out the Saint's coffee website at www.saintscoffee.com and see for yourself. (There is a link to your left). For $10 a pound you can't go wrong.
"When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands."
Deuteronomy 24:19

Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church Easter Egg Hunt 2008

2008-03-22T19:00:00.004-06:00

Our church, Holy Trinity Pres., had our annual Easter egg hunt today. Rosemarie, a lady in our church hosts the event every year. Amanda and I had the privilege of taking an extremely cute 2 year old boy from a family in our church whose parents were not able to go due to work and health issues. D is the cutest, funnest little kid you would ever meet, besides my nephews and niece. He always wants a hug and is very excited about even the smallest things. We both love kids and were very excited when this opportunity became available. I got D a monkey Easter egg basket this morning and then we went and picked him up. He greeted us with smiles, hugs and glees of excitement. He loved his monkey basket. He talked the whole way to the hunt. There were over a two hundred people there and half of them were kids. It was a lot of fun. D got a little frustrated at first because we got there early and he could see alot of the"hidden" eggs and wanted to go get them, but he was a trooper and waited with great patience. The hunt went great and D found alot of plastic eggs with little blue, yellow and pink pipe cleaner chicks inside of them. Some even had tootsie rolls. He would get excited at each toosie roll and take one small bite then throw it away. Then we all sat down on the lawn and heard the story of how Jesus died on the cross for our sins and how he conquered sin and death by rising from the dead on the third day, the first Easter Sunday. Then we had hotdogs and the famous Holy Trinity slaw and sweet ice tea. Then all the kids played for a while and we took D home.
It was a great day and alot of fun. Easter is definitely my favorite holiday.
Some one asked yesterday why we have eggs at Easter. I started thinking about that. I don't particularly like the Easter bunny as I think it takes away from celebrating Jesus at Easter. This is also how I feel about Santa at Christmas. Jesus is the center of these celebrations and I think the bunny and the whitebearded man tend to try to take the center spot away from Jesus. If/when we have kids I think we will not celebrate with the bunny or santa. Anyway, while I don't like the Easter bunny, I do like the symbolism behind the eggs. Eggs symbolize new life. Easter is about new life and a new beginning. Jesus rose with new life after having been dead for three days! Death and sin were conquered for those of us who are in Christ. We are free. Adam was the first man. He was the beginning of mankind at creation. Adam really messed up and ruined our relationship with God. There needed to be a new Adam. A new beginning. The relationship needed to be restored. The third person of the Trinity, Jesus, God the Son, became man and being fully God and fully man lived the perfect life without messing up. He then did an even more amazing thing. He took Adam's punishment. He took my punishment. He took your punishment. He paid the price for our sin and died physically and spiritually. He was separtated from God the Father. The curtain of the temple tore into, there were great earthquakes and some godly people who were already dead were raised to life and walked around town. But even though Adam's and our dept was paid, death and sin were not conquered yet. That happened on the third day. A morning much like today when Mary went to the tomb to mourn. When she got there the tomb was open! There was no body! Where was the body? She was sad, frantic. Then she hears a voice calling her name, "Mary, Mary." It was the Savior Jesus raised to life again. Jesus conquered sin and death. There was a new beginning. Thus the symbolism of the egg.
If you are still struggling in sin and feel as if you have no hope. The good new is that you do. God is waiting for you with open arms. If you trust him with your life and give it to him fully, and invite Jesus to be the Lord and Master of your life then your relationship with God will be restored. You will spend eternity with Him in Heaven when your time on this earth is over. You will have peace and freedom on earth as well. You will have a new beginning. He died and rose again from the dead for you. This Easter celebrate your new life in Christ.
Oh how I love Easter!

Lake Oconee

2008-03-16T13:08:00.008-06:00

Last Tuesday evening Amanda and I packed up the car and headed out of town for a much needed vacation. It was the first time we have gotten away since we got here a year ago and were really looking forward to time away to relax and revitalize. We headed up to Reynold's Plantation Golf course on Lake Oconee, just outside Eatonton, GA, the birth place of Joel Chandler Harris, author of Uncle Remus, and Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple. We saw both of their birthplaces. Harris home is made into a museum of Uncle Remus and has a statue of Brer Rabbit and even has a briar patch. Our friends, Pat and Sandy, have a vacation house on the golf course and they are gracious to let us stay there. We stayed there three years ago during part of our honeymoon. It brought back memories to be back there again. Neither of us play golf, that is besides frisbee golf, but it is a very quiet place to visit and relax. Lake Oconee is just a short walk through the golf course and we spent some time down on the "marina".

Madison,GA is also a short drive away. Madison is a quaint little town with alot of antebellum homes and antique shops. We enjoyed a couple of meals there. I took advantage of the opportunity to have some yummy sweet tea, something you can't really get here in Tampa. Well, you can but it just isn't the same. It just tastes better in the deep south. Anyway, we had a good visit to Madison. While in Madison, we witnessed a man trying to park his car. The parking spaces are perpendicular to the glass store fronts with only a sidewalk in between. The man meant to step on the brake but instead pressed firmly on the gas. He jumped the sidewalk and went right into the store through the big window. That was pretty exciting. It was fortunate noone was on the side walk.

We had a very relaxing stay on Reynold's Plantation. We enjoyed taking walks and especially the lake. We laid under the stars one night and watched the stars slowly move by. We had a rainstorm Friday evening, remnants of the storm weather that included a tornado that crashed through down town Atlanta. It was pretty docile by the time it got to us. We enjoyed watching many hawks and birds. I tried my hand at painting with watercolors. Amanda read a whole book in two days and got half way through another one. We enjoyed our rest and thank Pat and Sandy for there generosity and friendship. We look forward to visiting again.

(check out flickr for more vacation pics, as well as pics of Amanda's party for her dad's 65th birthday last weekend)

Orphan Ministry

2008-03-02T14:24:00.003-06:00

"To God, pure and undefiled religion is this; to care for orphans and widows in their distress..." James 1:27a.
This past Saturday I had the privilege to travel an hour away to Sarasota to attend a orphan ministry conference at Faith Presbyterian Church. This conference was hosted by "Threads of Hope", a married couple named Deb and Tom and their two adopted sons. Deb and Tom answered the call from God to start a ministry to orphans. This is the second year they have hosted this event. Tom Davis, president of Children's Hope Chest orphan ministry and author of "Fields of the Fatherless", a fantastic book that I recommend ever Christian read, was the keynote speaker. Emily Chapman, daughter of singer/songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman also was a speaker. This was a changing event in my life. I now have a clearer vision as to how to begin to build the orphan ministry that Amanda and I have wanted to start and have made several contacts in the Tampa/ South Florida area as well as nationally. I also have practical ways that Amanda and I can minister to orphans around the world and right here in the Tampa area. As I assimilate all the information I have received, you will be hearing more about what we are doing. I am very excited about what God is going to do and how he is awakening his church to care for orphans. I ask for your prayers for God to direct Amanda and I as we embark on this endeavor. I have posted links on this blog for resources for anyone who wants to get involved helping the 143 million orphans in the world. Please take time to visit the websites and become aware of the millions of orphans and their caregivers that need our help. Please pray for them and ask God to show you how he wants you to be involved in serving his little ones.

"I WILL BE LIKE THE DEW TO ISRAEL..." Hosea 14:5

2008-02-24T11:37:00.006-06:00

" I will be like the dew to Israel..."
This is a small phrase and easily missed. I just finished my study of Hosea with my friend Don from our church. I thank him for all his insight from this book that he has shared with me. I will never look at this book the same. What a picture this book is of our sin, God’s holiness, love and redemptive power. My favorite phrase from this book comes in chapter 14, the last chapter of Hosea, "I will be like the dew to Israel...". Israel was living as orphans. They did not know who they were in God. They looked to other gods and religions for help. In their deep sin they had forgotten that they belonged to the ONLY true God and that He loved them. God, through Hosea, says in verse 3 that if Israel turns from their other loves and inept sources of help, namely Assyria and their man made idols, that...."I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon."
"I will be like dew to Israel." This is a picture of the righteousness of Jesus being imputed onto us, the children of God. Jesus died for our sins and is now in Heaven interceding for us. We can now come boldly before the Father because Jesus’ perfect righteousness has been placed upon us. Now when The Father sees us, he does not see our sin, for our sin has been forgiven, but he sees Jesus and his righteousness. Jesus’ robe of righteousness has been placed upon us and is totally covering us. What does dew do? It covers, cleanses, and nourishes the grass. Dew covers the grass totally as Jesus’ perfect righteousness covers us. Dew cleanses the grass just as the blood of Jesus washes the dirt of our sin away. Dew nourishes the grass just as being conformed to the likeness of Christ nourishes us to bear fruit. Look what God, through Hosea, says after saying he will be like the dew to Israel..."I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon." With the covering, washing and nourishing of Christ’s righteousness, Israel will blossom and take root. Once you have acknowledged that God is the only true God and that Jesus is the only way to the Father and give your life to God totally and trust that Jesus’s love and grace is sufficient to save you from your sins, then Jesus covers you with his righteousness, your sin is washed away and you will grow in Christ and bear fruit by bringing others to Him. Oh Jesus, thank you for covering me with the dew of your righteousness. Thank you for washing my sins away as far as the east is from the west never to look upon them again. Thank you that because of your covering me with the dew of your righteousness, when the Father looks upon me he does not see my sin but sees you instead. Thank you that now I can come boldly before the Father in humble adoration and gratitude. Thank you for giving me a peace that surpasses all understanding. Thank you for your Holy Spirit which is a seal guaranteeing my inheritance in Heaven. And thank you for the Bible, your holy, infallible, unchanging Word.

Rosie the Cat

2008-01-19T15:57:00.001-06:00

Rosie is our cat. No, we are Rosie's people. Amanda belonged to her before Amanda and I met. When Amanda was living with her grandma Katie in Tampa, Rosie wondered up one day, very skiddish and frightened. She was obviously a feral cat who had either been owned by a scary person or had a bad experience with people at one point or another. Anyway she was very scared. Amanda befriended her and Rosie learned to trust Amanda. Rosie had found a forever friend and started living inside with Amanda and Grandma Katie. When Amanda moved into her Aunts house, while they were on extended vacation, Rosie came with her. I first met Rosie in August of 2004. I wasn't sure exactly what she looked like because all I could see is a flash of gray dart in and out of the furniture every once in a while. Amanda talked alot about her cat back then. She obviously loved Rosie very much. A month or so later, Rosie and Amanda moved into the one room studio on Tampa bay. I then moved there in January of 2004 because Amanda and I were getting married in May. Amanda moved to her parents house and Rosie and I lived together for a few months. It is no secret that I am not a cat person and Rosie didn't seem to take to me moving in and taking her mother's place. She was very skiddish still of everyone else except Amanda, and even attacked Amanda every once in a while when Amanda would be petting her and I would inadvertently startle her. We became friends though, after a while. Well, maybe not friends but at least use to each other. Molly, my dog who was in Birmingham, and Rosie wouldn't have gotten along, so when Amanda and I were married and moved to Birmingham, Rosie went to live with Amanda's parents. She also had another female cat, Mookie (aka Wormy) living there to compete with. There were just a few fights. They would later become tolerable of each other. Rosie did get a boyfriend. A lazy feral tomcat that frequents the Mim's yard took a liking to Rosie and vice versa. Mongo is the only other cat Rosie has ever tolerated. Two years later when we moved to Tampa, Amanda and Rosie were reunited. It was like they were never apart. Rosie had become a little calmer but not like she is with Amanda. You couldn't pet her too long or she would draw blood. When we got our new home, Rosie came and is living with us once again. She has really come along way. She comes up to me all the time and wants me to pet her. She greets me every morning and follows me around the house. She only follows me around because Amanda isn't up yet. On the weekends, she follows me around until Amanda gets up then goes straight for her. That's Rosie's story. Come visit her sometime.

Amanda's Roses Video

2008-01-11T19:52:00.000-06:00

Amanda got a new camera for her birthday from her parents and brother. I also gave her roses (among other things) and we took these pictures. I just made this movie with her camera software. Be sure you have the sound on. I think I am going to have fun with this.

Christmas

2007-12-25T08:40:00.000-06:00

So, I’m sitting here on this quiet Christmas morning. I made some coffee and lit a pumpkin and cinnamon candle. The two aroma’s together seems to put Christmas in the air. Amanda isn’t awake yet. We went to the midnight candlelight service at Amanda’s parents church. Amanda has been working so hard on Hospice Gift-wrap at the mall and even though she was exhausted when she got home last night, she insisted on worshiping our Lord amidst all the commercialism. When we left the service she said, "Now it is Christmas." I love her.
As I was laying in bed this morning I started thinking of Christmas’ past. While I was growing up, Christmas was my favorite day of the year. Not so much because of the presents that we would get, although that did bring a lot of excitement, but because of the closeness I felt to my family on that day. Don’t get me wrong, we were a very close family. We did have our problems as every family has, but on that day all that seemed to disappear. All that was on our minds was being together and having a lot of fun. On Christmas Eve, there would be George Beverly Shea or Perry Como singing on the record player. The tree and decorations help set a warm and fuzzy mood. We would just be together as a family. Us boys would be sure to go to bed early and rise early with expectations and excitement. In the morning around six o’clock we would all get up and run to mom and dad’s room and pile on the bed to listen to dad read the Christmas story from the book of Luke. That meant a lot to me to have parents who knew the importance of keeping Jesus the focus of the day. We would then line up single file, first Brian, then me, then Allen, then Peter and run into the living room where Santa had laid our presents out for us. One of my favorite Christmas memories was when I was about seven or eight and we went to my grandparents house in Moss Point, Mississippi. We were all in the den hanging our stockings, all except dad. He was taking a shower. Then to our amazement we heard a sound on the roof! Footsteps? Do I hear a bell? Sleighbells! Then a deep voice came down the chimney, "You boys aren’t asleep yet?" "Ho, Ho, HO! Merry Christmas" I think there was some little boys to Santa chatting and then at Santa’s warning we all hurried off to bed. We ran into dad in the hallway drying his hair. He asked what the commotion was and we told him. I found out later that he already knew. That was my favorite Christmas, up until the Christmas of 1993. Little did we know that God was at work during this particular Christmas. He knew, but we didn’t, that the Christmas of 1993 would be our last Christmas as an entire family, and He, in his grace and because he loves us so, made sure that Christmas was filled with and extra amount of joy and laughter. I remember I made a fire in the fireplace and the smoke came into the living room. Allen went and got an actual gas mask and came back into the room. I guess you had to be there, but there were dozens of funny and joyous moments that Christmas. Less then thirty days later, Allen would be in Heaven. The next Christmas, God would again show his grace and love toward us as a family. The five of us were all wondering to ourselves how would this be a joyful Christmas without Allen. How would we make it through the holiday. I know I was feeling this and not wanting to ruin Christmas for everyone else kept my emotions inside. I’m sure everyone else was the same. Then a miracle happened. After all the presents were opened, we all sat around the tree looking at the stash that came from our Christmas stockings. Santa had left some silly children’s books in them as a joke. Brian started reading his with a comedic style as only he could. The laughter started to flow. Rolling on the floor, can’t breathe, tears coming from your eyes laughter. Emotions were being released. We would make it through the day. Not only make it through, but have joy. Comfort and joy.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-10T16:58:00.001-06:00

May this Christmas bring you great joy in its true meaning,
that the God and Creator of all the universe
loved us so much he sent his Son, Jesus,
to earth in all humility as a baby born in a manger,
who, being fully God and fully human,
lived a perfect life without sin,
and died on a cross for my and your sin
so we would not have to,
resurrected from the dead on the third day
to conquer death and sin,
and ascended into Heaven
where He is interceding on our behalf
before God the Father
so that those who put there full trust in Him
can spend eternity with Him in His heaven.
May Peace and Joy fill your heart and
be with you and yours this Christmas!

Merry Christmas,

Andrew and Amanda

My head is spinning!!

2007-11-14T14:02:00.000-06:00

WEEEEE DOOOGIE!!!!!!!!What a couple months this has been! With the ongoing saga of the Birmingham house, Amanda's big Hospice event, getting settled in our new house, and church doings, we haven't had any time to breath, much less write in a blog.
Our house in Birmingham was robbed a couple of times for the copper pipes and the copper in the outside air conditioner. I am still wrestling the insurance company about that. Our realtor had a conniption fit and was pouting, so I was dealing with her and eventually decided to take the house off the market for now anyway. I am now in the process of working with a management firm to manage the property and rent it out.
Amanda's biggest Hospice event of the year was this past Sunday. I am so proud of her. She worked extremely long hours the previous weeks/months leading up to the event, some nights not getting any sleep. I tried to help her as I could. The event was a huge success and everybody is saying it is the best one since they started this event 16 years ago. I am extremely proud of her. She is an amazing woman.
Amanda and I are heading to the PCA MTW Global Missions Conference in Atlanta this weekend. I am very excited about that.
So there's a quick update. I apologize to our 2-3 loyal readers that entries have been few and far between.

moved in

2007-09-30T15:53:00.000-06:00

There are pictures of our new (rented) house on flickr. Click the link to the left.
We were able to get all moved in on Saturday with help from our church family.

Quick Update

2007-09-27T21:17:00.000-06:00

Ha Ha Ha...when are our blog entries ever quick?

November event...not going so good...overall more than 40% of our past sponsors are not returning this year to organizational politics and other unforeseen circumstances...YEAH!!! That just makes this job even more fun. We did get 9 new sponsors (praise the Lord) but we are still way behind. My V.P. at this point doesn't seem too concerned even thought my great christian boss and I keep meeting with her and asking her what to do...she shrugs her shoulders and starts laying out the excuses and just doesn't seem concerned. Hmmm...but now I am more concerned about my job....it's a bottom line job and if we don't make goals...bye bye. FUN!!! So PLEASE continue to pray for me...we have 6 weeks left before the first big event and then I will be able to take a brief sigh of relief and then I get to spend the month of Dec organizing our gift wrap event and 300 vols for 17 days...yea! Pray especially that I will be able to get to sleep at a decent hour. One of my sufferings is that I am a TERRIBLE sleeper and my mind races a mile a minute as soon as the lights go out so 6 weeks is a long time to not sleep well.

The GREAT news though is that Andrew and I have decided and found a house close by to rent!!! And since life is just not busy enough we decided that it would be fun to move this weekend. Fortunately we have a FAB church and many who are willing to pitch in. I am grateful that we will finally have a place of our own again and it has 3 bedrooms so we have LOTs of room for out of town guests!!! Hint Hint :-) (But maybe not until after all these events). But please do feel free to come and visit we would LOVE to have you!!! The peter maynors will be our first official guests on Sunday and hopefully we won't make them work on their vacation. PRaise God for this provision. WE are also awaiting news about whether or not a woman from our church in B'ham will rent our house....so pray for another act of the Lord to intercede concerning our B'ham house.

Comfort in the Wilderness

2007-08-08T21:58:00.000-06:00

As you know, I have felt this "season" for me has been a time to be in the desert or wilderness concerning my job. What a mixture of emotions as I view the overwhelming and mounting tasks before me as the main impending special event looms in the distance. And though it isn't till November, it feels like it is right around the corner! To help you better understand my anxiety, I am responsible for the tasks and fundraising that previously a team of 4 people were responsible for-and that was when the event structure was stable and relatively simple. Now however, things for the past two years have not been stable due to lots of staff turnover and now it's just little old me and we have completely recreated the event! And to make things even worse there is HIGH expectations from my CEO, V.P., and stakeholders to pull this thing off because it has been "a not so good event" the past two years and they are ready for me to deliver an "excellent event."
So, often throughout the day I find myself asking God "what were you thinking? Why me? Why did you lead me to this place of such great discomfort? Why did you call me to this task in which there is so much at risk?" And once again, I find that my normally very confident, self sufficient, independent demeanor is squashed and I honestly don't know how in the world I am going to be able to pull of this event and the other fall/winter events.
Then I am reminded of the story of Gideon, an unremarkable man called to a daunting task. Gideon pulls together every resource he possibly can to defeat an enemy army and comes up with a pretty good size army-but God whittles the army away to just a few so that Gideon can't take the glory for victory-only God can.
I want to take comfort in that, but again in Gideon's story his faith was weak like mine and numerous times he had to have "proof" from God concerning God's will and promise. I question Him too often especially then the obstacles are mounting. I want an easy victory and I want it to come quickly. But instead I fret, my anxiety grows, I get discouraged, I can't sleep (like tonight), and I looks sight of my beloved Savior whose hand is all over this.
So my prayers have changed a little. I have started praying for the daily comfort and mercy that the Lord graciously gave to the Israelites as they wandered in the desert. In the morning-they knew God was with them because of the daily manna He faithfully provided, and as they travelled-he was with them in the form of a cloud by day and in the form of fire by night. What great comfort that must have been-to have had that visible presence of God with them at all times. So I have been pleading with God for that same visible presence to be with me each day to remind me that He really is in the business of all these overwhelming details and He isn't going to just lead me to this place and abandon me for the wilderness to consume me. And then it just hit me...wait a minute-the visible reminder I have been asking for has been right in front of me the whole time-isn't God's word my visible reminder at all times? Isn't Jesus the Word of God in Flesh and Blood? So as I make my way back to bed and wrestle with my anxiety and insanely busy mind-I pray that God will stamp out those thoughts and replace them with His comforting presence found in His word.

Amanda's favorite rose

2007-07-29T14:35:00.000-06:00

Amanda's favorite roses are the orange roses with some red in them. This is a photograph I took of one of them from a bouquet I gave her this week. These have less red in them then usual but they are especially beautiful.
I love flowers too. Almost any flowers. They remind me of their creator and I think are a glimpse into the character of God. They are also a glimpse into heaven. Heaven is heaven because God is there. God fills up that place. When we are there, we will be submersed in the presence of God with out sin or the effects of it. Total purity. Total beauty. Flowers, as a glimpse into the character of God and his heaven, remind me every time I look at them as to where I am headed. They remind me of Home.

Jehovah Jirah

2007-07-18T16:42:00.000-06:00

I wonder why it is so hard for me to trust God. Hasn't he promised that He will take care of his children and supply their needs? His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me. Isn't that right? God has always provided my needs. Always. Never, not even once, has he let me down. Why then do I always question God's promises? Well, I think it has something to do with this pink squishy stuff I am covered in called flesh. I think I am in good company. If you are reading this, you are covered in that squishy stuff too. Don't you struggle with this same unbelief? We all are in good company, cause guess who also struggled with not believing God... Twelve Middle-eastern men who walked along side Jesus here on earth. They walked with, talked with, and were taught by God himself, Jesus. I am glad to know I am not alone. In Mathew 14, The disciples witnessed Jesus feed feed five thousand men, (this isn't even counting the women and children present) with only five small loaves of bread and two fish. I would love to say that after seeing that with my own eyes I would not worry any more about where my next meal was coming from, but I think I would be more like the disciples. Only a few days later they were in the exact same pickle. Four thousand men to feed (a thousand less then before) with only seven loaves and a few fish. Less people and more food and yet they still worried about if Jesus was going too, or if he could, provide. Jesus did provide and those four thousand men, along with the women and children slept with full stomach that night. Now I know after that I would learn a little trust. Wrong again. I am like the disciples. Still they did not believe. A little while later Jesus tried to warn the disciple about trusting in the wrong teaching using bread as an example. This made the disciple start thinking about what they were going to eat since they had forgotten their bread on the other side of the river. Jesus rebukes the disciples, " O you of little faith, why are you discussing amongst yourself that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?" Matthew 16:8-11. Alot like the disciples I am. I see God faithfully over and over again providing for my needs and beyond and yet I still sometimes worry about things. But we need not worry. God will provide. He will keep his promises. What a peace and rest when we totally trust, like the disciple eventually did, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

God, help me to trust you to keep your promises. Since you created man, you have never failed to make good on a promise you have made to him. You are a trust worthy Lord. You are all sufficient. You are my Jehovah Jirah. Let me rest in your arms Lord Jesus, my Savior and friend, and be all content knowing you will take care of me. You saved me from the depth of the pit. You have made my eternity secure, because of your love for me. How much more will you provide the things I need on this earth. You will not leave me alone. You are faithful.

Choppy Waters On The Bay

2007-07-14T10:22:00.000-06:00

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailors take warning!"

One of my favorite sights here is looking across Tampa Bay when there is a storm approaching from a distance. The skys grow dark, sometimes with a colored horizon. The winds pick up making the water choppy. Lighting strikes every now and again far in the distance. It is quite a sight to behold. The whole experience fills me with excitement watching God have fun with his creation. I imagine what it would be like to be out in a boat in the middle of all the action. I tried to capture this in my last painting. (I apologize for the bad photograghy.)

Vision and God's Provision

2007-06-30T09:27:00.000-06:00

I’ve been learning that when God gives you a vision or calls you to a task, he always provides. He provides you tools to succeed in the quest, and provides your needs along the way. God’s been teaching me this through various ways. One of the ways was to immerse me in the life of Nehemiah. I was meditating on the book of Nehemiah in my own devotion time, our pastors started preaching through the book of Nehemiah, and Amanda brought a sermon series on Nehemiah for us to listen too on CD. Nehemiah was everywhere. It’s a good thing too, cause Nehemiah’s story is one that I have needed to hear these last few months. It’s amazing how the Holy Spirit always teaches specific truths and meditations to his children when they are needed most. Hey, there it is, one of the ways that God has provided! God doesn’t send you on a journey alone. He always goes with you! He will remind you of truths about himself and teach you life lessons that will strengthen you along the way. He is always there to encourage and strengthen us and for us to share our concerns, struggles, and praises with him.
Through Nehemiah, God has taught me that he will always provide for our physical needs as well. He has taught me that when he gives you a vision or mission, it will always take sacrifice. Not just a small sacrifice but a bigger sacrifice then you think you can make. One preacher said that if think you know the sacrifice God is asking you to make and you say to yourself, "Oh, I can do that" then that is not the sacrifice his is asking you to make. Think bigger. I agree, the bigger the sacrifice is the more we and others will see that it could only be accomplish by the almighty hand of God. But even though we sacrifice something for the vision, he will always fill in the gap with his provision of bigger and better things. Holy things. Heavenly things. Things that point us and others back to himself.
As Amanda and I have started down this journey to which God has called us, he has been faithful to provided everything that we have needed and beyond. (More specifics in a future blog.) I look forward to studying more about Nehemiah and watching God teach us in practical ways in our lives about vision and God's provision.

fat lazy squirrel

2007-06-18T18:51:00.001-06:00

Amanda and I house sat for a friend this past week. She has bird feeders on her back patio. I caught this squirrel stealing the birdseed out of the bird feeder. That's fine by me cause I love squirrels. After eating all the birdseed, he was so full, he took a little nap. Much like me after lunch on Sunday.

Hot Hot and Hotter!!!

2007-06-11T09:19:00.001-06:00

Poor Andrew...as you may or may not recall, he was REALLY excited about moving to Tampa. He loves the water, the plants, and the weather-at least until summer hit full force. He was not quite prepared for the scorching thick humid heat and insatiable misquitoes. Summer in Tampa has finally arrived and the heat is overpowering. It was 80 degrees this morning at 6:45am and the humidity level seemed to be 90% so when I leave to go to work my glasses fog up and it hits you smack in the face.
On Sat we bought a new bike for me and yesterday Andrew was working on adjusting it and was attacked by misquitos-I think he was bit over 10 times on his ankles in just a few minutes! Needless to say, reality is sinking in and he is slowly learning how to adjust to living here in this type of heat and conditions: Bug spray, lots of fans, flip flops are a must, kakhi pants instead of jeans, and lay low from about 1pm-4pm.

House Update

2007-06-11T09:15:00.000-06:00

The housing market has come to a screeching halt and we are dead in the middle of it. Our house has been listed for almost 4 months now and we have not had ANY movement on it. A few phone calls according to our previous realtor, but other than that nothing!!! But we have changed realtors and are praying that our new realtor is a little more connected with our community so we'll see. No worries though-we know God has called us to Tampa and to sell our house so in His timing He will present the right buyer at the right price :-) Hopefully it won't be 2 years from now-but even if it is-Praise the Lord for His faithfulness!

Vision

2007-05-30T20:41:00.000-06:00

Andrew and I have been listening to a sermon series by Andy Stanley on vision. It's about 10 years old, but it is now one of my favorite sermon series EVER! It's interesting that the series was preached about 10 years ago because it was at just the beginning of his now amazing church, North Point Community. Anywho I digress...
The sermon is of course focused on Nehemiah. I am not finished with the series and it has taken me about 2 months just to get through 4 cd's because every time I listen to 1 cd I have to listen to it over and over because it just really fires me up.

I was blessed about 8-9 years ago to be discipled by a woman who had great vision. She was so passionate about what God was doing and about what could be if only she would make herself available to live out His will for her. She was very focused in her ministry and really impacted the lives around her-I was one of those. She challenged my discipleship group with an exercise to help us develop what God's vision was for our lives. It took some time and a lot of prayer to discern what that was for me, but it has revolutionized my life.

While I was in China with ELIC I was also challenged in this regard and challenged on developing a 5 year plan that was in line with my vision. This too fed my passion and zeal for God's work and has made a lot of decisions more clear.

What is so interesting about this sermon series is that it has hit us at just the right time. You see for most of the time that we were in Birmingham, Andrew and I both just felt weird-useless-just there-blah-like being in a vacuum. Often, we found ourselves asking each other, "what are we doing?" "what are we supposed to do?" "what is the deal with this place?" "where is God's direction and voice?" But looking back on it, we see that we were in a place where we were called to just be still and quiet for a LONG time. That our purpose was to just "be" as newlyweds and that our "vision" was just each other. And it was SO odd because I am a passionate person and am driven by God's vision for what can be and I just felt passionless (with the exception of my love for my husband).

I share all this with you because it goes back to why God has called us back to Tampa...our passion and zeal is back. God is shaping for us a vision for what could be:
A vision for the souls that are lost that can be redeemed.
A vision for the lives that are without hope-we serve a God of mercy and hope.
A vision for the church with many opportunities to pour ourselves out like a drink offering.
A vision that allows us to surrender and watch God who can create a universe out of nothing.
A vision for the impossible because with God all things are possible.
A vision for ministering to those who suffer deeply.
A vision for the power of prayer.
A vision for redeeming broken people and broken relationships.
A vision that reminds us to sacrifice and die to self because our lives are not our own.
A vision that keeps us up at night because of all the God sized possibilities.

We're not completely clear yet on all the specifics of our vision as a couple-but after we finish this series we will let you know.

Surrender

2007-05-11T22:27:00.000-06:00

Have you ever experienced a time in your life where you were completely out of your comfort zone? Have you ever experienced a time when the task before you was so great that you weren't sure how it was going to get done? Have you ever related to the Israelite spies who saw the obstacles to the promised land and thought-no way!
I am so grateful for those like Joshua and Caleb that have gone before us and understood the greatness of God and His ability to make good on His promise no matter how great the obstacles. In fact often times I see that God may even allow the obstacles to stack up against me so that I recognize that it would be an impossible task for me to do on my own. Isn't that sort of what happened to Gideon? Gideon raised a massive army to defeat the enemy and God whittled it down to an overwhelming minority? Yikes! But God defeated the enemy and did the seemingly impossible.
Work for me has become an overwhelming task and the obstacles continue to mound up. For the first time I feel very insecure in my ability to do my job well. And what makes it worse is that my organization went out of their way to hire me! For a very prideful, self confident, self reliant controlling performance obsessed individual, I am completely unnerved. And everyday I am reminded that I am in this very position-not because I chose to be, but because God called me to be here. Like, Jonah-I tried to find a way out.
I have finally begun to learn the daily meaning and posture of surrender. I am finally at a place where I feel so stripped of my talents and "self" strengths on a daily basis that the only way I can possibly get through my day is to start each day by surrendering to God and humbling myself and acknowledging my weaknesses. I used to loose a lot of sleep and peace of mind over big tasks and obstacles. But my God's grace and will, I am learning the joy of being in a place where I can experience the peace that surpasses all understanding. I am learning how to daily cast my anxieties and fears onto Him. I am learning to trust Him and look to Him to fulfill His promises that the waves will not overcome me and the flames will not consume me...do not fear-right? I feel so utterly helpless...like the empty and broken vessel that longs just to be used not for noble purposes, but for ignoble purposes. "Lord, today please provide my daily bread. Be my strength, be my refuge, be the master of my calendar, be the master of my 'to do list.' Be the master of my mind, be the master of my event strategies. Be glorified that when I am weak-you are strong!!!"
Each morning I cry out to Him-not for deliverance-but for grace and that HE would be victorious. I never realized the joy that comes from having your face to the floor and being pressed on all sides.

I Love This City

2007-04-07T14:22:00.000-06:00

I love my new city. Where else can you walk 10 feet from your front door and pick a grapefruit off a tree for breakfast. I discovered this tree this morning. I knew it was there before, but none of the current or former Mims' eat grapefruit and I got the impression that the fruit off this tree was not edible. I tried one this morning and they are deliciously wonderful.
Where else can you be surrounded by a tropical garden to relax or putter around in all year round. I have been enjoying helping my mother in law and father in law reclaim their garden for spring. I also enjoy taking my coffee or hot tea out there in the morning on weekends and relaxing in the warm sun and cool sea breeze. This afternoon I sat in the garden and painted a fun painting (Ross, the afro painting guru on PBS would say it was a happy painting) of the Tampa landscape as I see it, while Beverly, my mother in law, knitted a washcloth while Amanda slept in on a Saturday morning.
Later this evening I think Amanda and I will go for a bike ride on the Bayshore to come home later to cook out bratwourst on the grill and enjoy cocktail hour on the deck in the cool night breeze with the rest of the Mims family.
I love this city. Especially on Saturday.

More to come...

2007-04-02T14:38:00.001-06:00

This is just a short post to let our readers know that we are still writing our blog and will resume shortly. Everything is crazy right now, but Amanda and I will write more soon. Too keep you up to date. We are both in Tampa now. I arrived two weeks ago and have not slowed down since I got here. I have a job at Moffitt Cancer Research Center at the University Of South Florida. Amanda finished her first big project (the golf tournament) at Hospice two weeks ago. She is gearing up for her next big project. I don't know how she does it, but she seems to enjoy it. We stay busy during the weekends too. Last Saturday we went to the Greenfest Plant festival here in Tampa. I got a Old Man Cactus. It has long white hair all over it. Looks like Cousin It from the Adams family. This past Saturday we went to the Tarpon Springs art festival and drove through the Tarpon Springs Sponge docks. There is always something to do here and around Tampa. Tonight we will be busy witnessing the Florida Gators win the National Basketball Championship....AGAIN! We are also enjoying our little church down here in South Tampa. Holy Trinity is an amazing little church and it is good to be enjoying this fellowship again.
Be on the lookout for more entries. There are more to come, if we can slow down long enough.

Miles Apart

2007-03-10T14:40:00.000-06:00

On Feb 18th, I said goodbye to our little house as Andrew and I pulled away with a packed 17' truck and my little car. The day before, we spent 9 hours intricately packing the truck to ensure that everything would fit. This was the beginning of our journey to Tampa.
After 12 hours of driving we pulled up to my parents yellow house and it all seemed so surreal. When we left Tampa over 20 months ago, I never anticipated that God would have called us back. But here we were, surrounded once again by hibiscus trees and the stinky bay air that I have grown to love. My parents welcomed us into their home with open arms and tears in their eyes-grateful to have us back-their hearts filled with dreams of gardening together in their backyard. You see my parents had begun praying for this moment 12 months ago and now they were witnessing God answering their prayers.
God is busy answering prayers on this journey of faith that we have begun. A week after moving all of our stuff to Tampa, Andrew returned to Birmingham to finish some work on our house and work a few more weeks at his job so that at least one of us would be getting a paycheck. It was hard to say goodbye to my husband since we haven't been apart for more than 48 hours since we were married. At that point there were still many unknowns...when would Andrew find a job in Tampa? When would we be able to sell our house? Where would we live once we got here? What in the world were we doing??? But God knows the answers to all these questions and much more.
So it's been 2 weeks since we said goodbye and Andrew was offered and has accepted a great temporary full time job with the University of South Florida that will enable him to come to Tampa sooner than we had anticipated. This job could turn into a salaried position but there are also other options that are still out there that we are waiting to see if they pan out. But in order for those other options to pan out Andrew needed to be in Tampa. So God provided and we are tremendously grateful.
We are having an open house tomorrow so we will see if there are any leads for our house. So far, it has been pretty dead and we may have to reduce the price...but we know God will provide in His own perfect timing. As far as where we will live? For a few months we are staying with my parents as we look to see if it would be better to rent a house or buy. The market here is plagued with out of control insurance rates and property taxes so it might be cheaper to rent-but who knows what God has in store. What we do know is that this is where He has called us and we have found tremendous peace from being in His will.
One of the many blessings from this transition has been returning to my little beloved church family-a community of closely knit souls who share a passion for worship, truth, and open up their lives and hearts to the strangers in our midst. I am extremely grateful and feel privileged to once again be able to minister along side them and be sharpened by their faith in action.
Again, like Abraham and Sarah-we continue to see how God's call to the unknown unfolds before our eyes. Don't get me wrong-we aren't living in a blissful dream- He has called us to the battlefield to once again pour out our lives for the sake of the gospel but not before arming us and providing for all our needs.

Faith

2007-02-24T00:57:00.000-06:00

Hebrew's Chapter 11 is such an inspiration.
Andrew and I have been called out of our comfort zone to take a step of faith and move from everything that is given and secure to a place of many unknowns. Surprisingly we have been called to move back to Tampa. This is a journey that Andrew and I never thought would be plausible, but God has opened these doors and we are in the process of throwing off our securities and stepping through doors of unknown.
I can only imagine what that would have been like for Abraham and Sarah (remember her? She's the one that chuckled like I did!) Here was Abraham and Sarah comfortable in their dwellings and all of a sudden this God-the Great I Am (who they really didn't know all that well) gives them this WILD promise and calls them to uproot themselves and go into the unknown. And the CRAZIEST part about it is that they never really saw the promise fulfilled-they just believed in the HOPE of the promise! Granted, being young and weak-they did freak out a few times when they travelled into foreign lands and caused quite a stir-but their faith grew. And when the ultimate test of their faith came they were obedient and didn't question the outlandish cost of God's call.
Moses did the same thing, he was called to leave the comforts of his home and family and do the craziest thing and NEVER saw the fruition of that promise.
These verses, the Hall of Fame for Faith in Action, comfort me as we step out in obedience to respond to God's call to return to Tampa. You see, God TOTALLY unexpectedly opened a door for me to return to hospice in a position that overwhelms me...I ran and had hoped that maybe I could have gotten another position with hospice that was more comfortable-but that door clearly was shut. God clearly called...and called in a very quick manner. So we responded by resigning from my current position and putting our house up for sale. Not really sure where in Tampa we will live. But God has provided us with a much welcomed temporary housing with my parents.
At this time there are two great unknowns which are our test of faith: the ability to sell our house quickly in a dry market and finding a job for Andrew. When I read Hebrews 11, I realize the silliness of the obstacles before us in comparison to the tasks God laid before the Hall of Famers. But for us, what we have done is hard and it seems foolish in the eyes of the world. But doesn't God sometimes use the foolish things of this world to shame the wise? And won't it be marvelous to reflect upon this time a year from now and be able to see how much our faith was stretched and to reflect upon the provisions of our marvelous God?

Be Still...

2007-01-29T18:14:00.000-06:00

Being still is so much easier than wrestling with God. So why is this a lesson that I find myself continually having to learn? A few weeks ago God opened up a very surprising door and like Sarah, Abram's wife, I found myself chuckling at the prospect and immediately shut it. Later, I even gave it a minute's thought until I discovered the cost and once again laughed out loud quite loudly and once again shut the door...not giving it a second thought. Of course then that is when the wrestling match began. You see part of the prospect was concerning something that I really wanted, but not His way, I wanted it on my terms. So I began to devise a better plan for me...to scope out an even better prospect, something that would be easier, more enjoyable, more comfortable. I ran from the door God opened and began the hard toilsome work to break through brick walls and create my own door which would lead me to get want I wanted.
I have done this over and over again and yet I always fail to remember how hard the fight is and that it doesn't have to be. He says to us in Jeremiah that He knows the plans He has for me, plans to prosper me and not harm me, plans to bring me a hope and a future. God also tells us that He will do abundantly more than we could ever ask for or imagine-again so why is it so hard for me to just welcome those open doors and rejoice at His way?
Because often, while those doors lead to everlasting joy and a peace that surpasses all understanding, in order to walk through those doors you must die to self not matter what the cost. In order to enter you must give up things you have been clinging to and almost always take up your cross and begin a journey to the High Places that include rocky paths, steep mountains to overcome, and obstacles that seem insurmountable. My problem is that I get caught up in "the details;" I grow anxious about how hard His call might be, I fear failure, I weigh my abilities against His call and tremble with fear. I weigh the cost and forget the reward of obedience. But time and again, I grow weary of wrestling and eventually give in knowing that obedience is ALWAYS better than denying Him.
And the reward? WOW! It is often hard to to describe. In the midst of those difficult paths and painful rocky roads, I experience His complete provision and blessings, I experience such grace, I forget about the cost and am SO grateful at what it cost Him. I never once have looked back from those times with regret or sorrow...only thankfulness for the opportunity to be passed through the fire and purified.
Maybe one day I will get it...maybe one day He will open a door and instead of fighting Him I will learn to just Be Still and Know that He is God.

Refurbished Hoosier cabinet

2007-01-22T17:48:00.000-06:00

By poular demand, here are after and before photos of one of the Hoosier cabinets. Check out flickr for more pics.

What is of ultimate worth.

2007-01-12T14:05:00.000-06:00

Some people might think chocolate is of ultimate worth, while others might think that they are of ultimate worth. What is of ultimate worth in your life?
On Wednesday Night Andrew and I went to a new class at church that is focused on reclaiming family devotions. One tremendous benefit of family devotions is that time when everyone can sit and be still for a moment and reflect upon that which is of ultimate worth. Time to sit and be still is something most of us struggle with because of the business of the day. C.S. Lewis summed it up quite well, "It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in." (Mere Christianity 198)
Worshipping God is what is of ultimate worth. It's what we were created for and it is what those in the Lord will be doing 24/7 throughout all eternity. So Andrew and I are working on reclaiming that time to be still, that time to shove the "wild animals" back. I often marvel at the chance Moses had to be still in the cleft of the rock and marvel at the Glory of the Lord. But then I am reminded that in those moments of stillness and in those moments of worship, I am in the midst of the Glory of the Lord...and that is of ultimate worth.

GO GATORS!!!!!

2007-01-09T09:12:00.000-06:00

Somehow God performed a miracle last night and ordained that the Gators should win the National Championship!!! Don't forget that we also won the NCAA Championship this year as well. Just thought I would mention that too.
What a game! I always make some noise when I watch the Gators (and do some funny dances too), but last night to my delight I also heard some serious noise out of my quiet husband!
For those of you that missed it, we had a rough start...Ohio St scored the first seconds of the game, but the Gators returned by scoring in the next 3 possesions and went on to win 41-14. It was unlike any game this season.
On a side note, my splurge (queso and chips) was delicious and so far I have survived the salt indulgence.

Weekend Update

2007-01-08T08:46:00.000-06:00

Friday I got delightful news that the company I work for is downsizing due to the slowdown in the housing market. At this point I have been reassured that the CSR's are not a concern because we don't make enough money and they are going to be targeting the sales reps that have been with the company a long time and make a lot of money. Needless to say I spent most of Saturday job hunting and posting my resume on lots of websites. I hope to not be around to see what other kind of downsizing they decide to do.
Andrew spent most of the weekend dodging rain and working on fixing up one of the Hoosier cabinets that we got over a year ago. We have been using them on our screened in porch to hold all of our gardening stuff but I decided one of them would be great in the kitchen next to our stove because we have an old gas stove and the enamel top on the cabinet would be a great match. It looks great! Andrew just has another coat of paint to do on the inside and then it will be ready.
Tonight is the BIG GAME...the National Championship between Ohio St. and the Gators!!!! I am splurging tonight with some salty Queso and chips and am praying that all will be ok both for the Gators and for my ears! GO GATORS!!!

Christmas Gifts

2006-12-28T14:37:00.000-06:00

Sorry we don't update this more often...

Even though Andrew had to work half of Christmas Day, our Christmas this year was especially wonderful. This year Andrew's family decided that instead of exchanging presents, each family would pick an organization to donate a financial gift to and then write a letter about why they picked that organization. The letters arrived and on Christmas Eve Bill and Maryhelen came over to our house for coffee and desert after evening worship to read the letters. Of course it could have been the "Thomas Kinkaide" setting(a beautiful Christmas tree, cozy house, lots of candles, and yummy warm apple pie), but I was especially touched by the contents of each letter. The gifts were as follows: provision of 2 oxen for a family in Africa to relieve them of the physical burden of plowing tough soil, supporting a special local winter women's shelter, supporting ministries at a Christian school, and support for orphans hurt by rebel troops in Africa.
It was a unique and interesting glimpse into the true heartbeat and passion of each family...one that I would have missed from just opening an impersonal wrapped gift. Prior to reading the letters we had listened to our pastor talk about the Indescribable Gift (Jesus). Those letters were a revelation of the impact that the Indescibable Gift has had on our families and played witness to the outpouring of His love on our lives. All the gifts were such a clear Mercy and Truth gospel driven picture and truly reflect the reason for a Christmas celebration. What a blessed Christmas!

Take me to the Dead Sea

2006-12-07T15:57:00.000-06:00

I'm beginning to have dreams about being dipped into the Dead Sea just so I can get my salt fix. It's been a week now since I seriously dove in to my low low low sodium diet. Last week when we returned from Tampa I realized that I was retaining water and started to get nervous again so I dove in and began to embrace this new phase of my life. I am now also on a daily diuretic in order to also prevent dizzy spells.
So what does life without sodium look like for me? Andrew and I hit the store and spent two hours realizing that almost EVERYTHING that I love is LOADED with sodium as a preservative! I am supposed to have less than 2,000 mg/day but even my favorite little travel creamy tomato soup cup alone has 980 mg!
I am a HUGE tomato fan and love to cook with canned tomatoes, plus add garlic salt to almost every dish-tons of sodium in both...and Publix only had one kind of salt free canned tomato product-bummer-will have to really get creative.
I have also dearly missed my easy microwave popcorn in the evenings. I attempted one night to make popcorn from scratch the old fashioned way, but after putting salt free butter on it and sodium free salt substitute I excitedly put some in my mouth and was SORELY disappointed and disgusted. My cravings have gotten so bad that even the idea of having something remotely sweet in my mouth has become really distasteful-very odd for me.
But finally I have come across my salty fix...Sodium free bouillon. It doesn't taste too bad and leaves me with a lingering taste-which is what I have been craving. So thanks to Herb Ox now I think I can live with this new diet.

Praise Report

2006-11-17T12:22:00.000-06:00

Andrew had been talking to a friend from church and somehow it came up about me having
a meniere's attack. Well our friend Beth chimed in and said she knew all about Meniere's because her daughter has had Meniere's for the past 20 years! I talked with Beth some yesterday as well as her daughter Tammy. Tammy is going to be a great resource for me and is such a doll! Tammy said she has lost all her hearing in her right ear. She also is one a no salt diet and takes a diuretic everyday. A normal person is always producing and absorbing fluid in their inner ear, but someone with Meniere's for some reason does not absorb the fluid as well if at all which is what causes the ringing, pressure, and dizziness when the fluid really gets bad. So Tammy has found that if she does those things then she can go months without having an attack. But even after that radical change in diet and taking a diuretic she still does have spells, but just not as often. She also mentioned that there have been several times when a spell came on and she was driving. She said that when that happens she pulls over, takes her medicine and then calls someone to come pick her up. I am SOOO thankful to have met someone else who can relate and someone who is a busy person and can encourage me.
Although one the other hand she also mentioned another woman at our church who also has Meniere's and who was bed ridden for years unable to get up by herself and finally had an extreme invasive surgery because the other "tricks" didn't seem to work for her. But after the surgery she is now able to get out of bed but still needs a lot of help and has a hard time hearing. I am trying to stay positive and not focus so much on those types of cases and pray that mine will not get to that point.
So now Andrew and I are both going to try to cut out as much salt out of our diet as possible...I am not looking forward to this as I LOVE salt! I am thankful that Andrew was wanting to do this as well to help with potential high blood pressure in his future! I am not quite ready to do the diuretic thing yet.

Meniere's

2006-11-13T12:03:00.000-06:00

A few months ago I was diagnosed by my ENT as having Meniere's Disease. At first I was relieved that someone had finally accurately given a name to the reason I was having dizzy spells and why my ear was ringing. You know because it is nice to be given a reason why you aren't feeling well as opposed to "gee we aren't really sure why." So I briefly glanced at some websites and confirmed the symptoms were the same as what I had experienced and then I moved on because I figured that aggressively treating my allergies would take care of the problem. Allergies can exacerbate the problem. Well I have gone through all the allergy testing and have now started on shots and my allergies have calmed down some due to lack of pollen. And last tuesday I was knocked down with the reality of this disease...Literally.
I was at work and all of a sudden I got a really weird feeling, felt really tired, nauseated, flush, got a splitting headache and felt just weird. There was no way I could still function at work so left and barely made it home. I went immediately to bed and slept for hours. At first I attributed it to my allergy shot that I had gotten the day before. Then the next morning I woke up at 5am needing to use the bathroom and I was the dizziest that I have been so far. My eyes were rapidly bouncing (yes bouncing-not spinning) and any little movement rocked my world. I woke up Andrew to help me to the bathroom and he had to hold me to keep me from falling. It was AWFUL. By the time I made it back to the bedroom I threw up. I took my medicine that is supposed to help with the dizziness, but had to take more because I couldn't keep it down. I have had a few of these spells before, but none this bad. All I could do was lie perfectly still with my eyes closed because any little movement was painful. Eventually I fell asleep and for most of the day Andrew had to hold me in order to get to the bathroom. By that evening my eyes had calmed down and the dizziness had leveled off to a tolerable level.
The next day I called my ENT and asked if this was a side affect from the shot and they said it wasn't because it was such a low dose and happened after too much time had passed. Then it hit that this was just an attack of meniere's. So I did more extensive research and realized that this is what it is like to have meniere's...to have sudden attacks that can last for hours and even days...to have your eyes bounce and be so dizzy that individuals craw to the bathroom and then pass out on the floor because they can't bear to make it back to their bedrooms. If andrew had not been there I would have done the same thing. So I am now realizing that even though my allergies are better...meniere's can come at anytime...there are no known triggers or warnings and it can just happen all of a sudden.
My ears have been ringing on and off, I have lost some hearing, and now I am realizing the impact that this could have on my life. Many people with this disease retire early or go on disability because the dizziness becomes more frequent and they loose hearing. There are also no known cures. Doctors can only just treat the symptom of the dizziness when it hits.
Andrew and I are praying fervently that this will not impact my life too much...that God will take this away. This weekend I started to get a headache and in the back of my mind I started to worry that maybe I was getting ready to have another attack. My main worry is that an attack with severe dizziness will hit while I am away from home and that I won't be able to get home-I cannot move or be moved when I am that dizzy. Please pray with us as we learn more about this disease and learn how to cope with it.

The rose

2006-10-27T19:04:00.000-06:00

Here is my latest painting called "The Rose". The first rendition of this painting had a yellow background which didn't work so I repainted the background with blue hues, which I think works alot better. The next two paintings will also be rose paintings which we will display as a set.

orphan ministry

2006-10-26T19:12:00.000-06:00

Tonight Andrew and I had the blessed opportunity to attend a kick off meeting at our church for a new ministry that Briarwood feels called to start...it's called the Great Compassion and the heartbeat of this ministry is mercy towards orphans. There are two parts to this ministry one is a support group/program for couples to receive all sorts of help when they are considering adoption and the other part is outreach to orphans. A couple, the Clarkes, who have had a real passion for orphans are the ones who had the vision for this ministry. During the meeting, while listening to the Clarkes talk about how they got to this place, and listening to them outline the components of the ministry, my heart was flooded with joy and excitement about the work God was doing in their lives and now in the life of our church. For those of you that know Andrew and I, our passion and the desire of our hearts is minister to orphans and single mothers overseas and we pray that one day we will be able to be overseas ministering in that capacity. So the fact that the Lord has just now opened up this door at Briarwood is SO exciting. It was hard to sit still in the meeting and I left having such a confirmation that that moment and this ministry is why God has led us to Briarwood. Andrew and I are also praying that we will be able to be more involved in the Clarke's family...they are SO passionate about this ministry and so far have adopted 3 children from the nations-what an opportunity to be able to be a part of their lives and to glean something from them. Since moving to Birmingham and beginning my new life with Andrew, I have longed for God to show me/us where we are to be plugged in...we don't want to just be pew warmers. God chose in His faithful timing not to show us right away where our ministry would be and that has been difficult...but instead He wanted us to focus on our marriage. But now He has flung open this door and it is beyond anything that Andrew and I could have asked for or imagined. Please pray with us as we seek God's wisdom about what aspects of the committee to be a part of-there are of course are many needs being a new committee/ministry.

Fascinating Bugs

2006-10-18T20:32:00.000-06:00

What can I say... I grew up as a tomboy and am still fascinated every now and then by a bug. Here is a picture of my latest fascinating bug.
Andrew and I were planting some new plants in our yard this weekend and came across two silver dollar size spiders living about 12 inches underground. Of course I made Andrew catch one of them so I could get a closer look and take a picture (he was just relieved that this time it was just a spider and not a snake like a few other times)...my friend's dad who is a bug expert identified it as a Trap Door Tarantula! Harmless, but a little alarming when you are rooting around in the dirt!

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...

2006-09-23T07:24:00.000-06:00

Each year our church has a focus. This past year it was Transforming Truth and this year it is Love. Last Sunday we looked at how Love for our brothers and sisters in Christ is one of two main markers for Christians: "they (the world) will know we are Christians by our love" and the other being to proclaim Him (giving the reason for our love).
I have been in a very difficult atmosphere at work for awhile now. I work in an office FULL of women and you can only imagine the drama that takes place there. I am usually a pretty easy going person to get along with. I tend to try to see the best in people, not create a lot of drama and can tolerate a lot of "worldliness." Yet lately I have been struggling to continue to have a loving spirit towards my colleagues. They have a terrible work ethic, they back stab, lie, cheat, and even steal from the company. And though management is aware of this, management does nothing. This has all really gotten under my skin and it is a daily battle for me and my attitude while I am at work.
But this week during my commute God seemed to be reminding me about Jesus' teachings from the Sermon on the Mount: "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt 5:44). I have always just skimmed past those words because I never really felt like I had "enemies" to content with. But know I am wondering if some of these women are my enemies. The question I have is what makes a person an enemy as opposed to an unredeemed person who behaves as an unredeemed person?
I know that the bible says that we ALL were once enemies of God before Jesus reconciled us to God...does that make all those who are not redeemed our enemies too? I would love some feedback and wisdom.
In the end though...the point is Love...no matter who they are whether they are your brothers in Christ, your neighbor, or your enemy: Love them.
Amanda

Winkin

2006-09-22T18:34:00.000-06:00

This is Winkin. Winkin is my favorite. We are good buddies now. Today, Winkin crawled into my lap while I was sitting on the front porch floor. She was after the cheese I was bribing her with, but still, it was a big sign of trust on her part. I was also able to pick her up for a few seconds before she got really mad and hissed at me. We will be working on that. I was also able to tell today that Winkin is definitely a "she". Winkin, Blinkin and I played "chase the ribbon" for long time this afternoon, while Nod looked on from the sidelines. Notice that Winkin has a white spot on her chest. She also has some white on her stomach.
Yesterday Winkin followed me inside when I got home from work. I gave her some food inside and watch her for a few minutes, then she ventured back out.

Blinkin

2006-09-22T18:28:00.000-06:00

This is Blinkin. I think Blinkin is a "he". He is the more shy of the two kittens. He is coming around though. Today He came right up to me and ate out of my hand again and I was able to pet his head while he ate. That is a very HUGE step for Blinkin. It will take a little bit more time for him, but I have hope now that he will warm up to us.

Nod

2006-09-22T18:25:00.000-06:00

This is Nod. She is the mother of Winkin and Blinkin. She is a friendly cat but not as friendly as Winkin. Nod has your typical cat attitude.

Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod

2006-09-18T18:01:00.000-06:00

I think it was about three months ago that a mother cat and her two new kittens started hanging out around our house. We began feeding them, but they were too scared of us and would only eat when we weren't around. Slowly the mother started hanging around more when we were around and would call to her kittens to come when we put out food. It was only about a month ago that they all three became more comfortable around us but still would not come closer than within a few feet of us, especially not the kittens. I decided to name them Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod. The mother is Nod. One kitten, Winkin, is extremely curious and is becoming more and more bonded to us. Even more so then Nod. Blinkin, is , well, literally a scaredy cat. You flinch, he runs and hides. He wants so much to be apart of things but is too scared. You can see the dilema turning round and round in his head.

Tonight was a big night. I was able to get all three to eat out of my hand. Winkin, more then any of them. Winkin and I played a little bit too. She(?) would bat my fingers. I was even able to pet her nose. Winkin is my favorite one. We are going to officially adopt her. We will get her spade (or neutered if she is acually a boy) and she will be allowed to become a house cat. We would get them all spade or neutered if we had the money, but we don't and there is not a program here for feral cats like there is in Tampa, for example.

This picture was taken in July. I will take a better picture and post it tommorrow. My camera batteries are dead and I have to recharge them. Anyway, it is fun to have some new buddies. Amanda is more of a cat person then me. However, I really like this little cat family, especially Winkin. I think this might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I will keep you updated.

Counseling and Evangelism

2006-09-12T15:55:00.000-06:00

Break time is over. Amanda and I took the first year of marriage off. It talks about doing that in the Old Testament and we thought it was a good idea. We didnt get involved in alot of stuff, either at church or socially. Just spent the year focusing on each other. But we are now rested and ready to get to work. Amanda is starting a year long Lay Biblical counseling class at Briarwood. She has a great gift at discipling women and after she takes the course she can become a lay counselor at Briarwood. I started EE (Evangelism Explosion) a couple weeks ago and am very excited about it. We, the trainees, are given tools to be able to present the Gospel more clearly and effectively. We also go out in teams of three, a trainer and two trainees, to people's houses who have visited the church or where ever the Spirit leads us and we present the Gospel. Evangelism is one of the parts of my ministry and christian life that I have always wanted to do but have been scared to and felt ill-equipped to handle. I have envied the people I have heard about or known who can share the Gospel with anybody, on a plane, on the street or where ever they may be. I am scared to death to undergo this training process, but I also am enjoying it. I love the feeling of doing something that God has told us to do but that I am scared to do or know I am unable to do and just resting and relying TOTALLY on him. I love watching God work through me when I know it is all Him and none of me. That is true adventure. So I am terrified and yet really looking forward to it. We go on our first outing tommorrow night (Wednesday). The training is 13 weeks and then I hopefully will become a trainer. Both of us have been waiting for a while now to get back into ministry and I finally feel like we are getting somewhere. That's a great feeling.

Molly Jasmine Maynor

2006-09-06T07:14:00.000-06:00

February is usually a cold month here in Alabama, but not on one particular February day back in 1995.( February 27, 1995 to be exact. ) Everybody else might have been cold but at least I was warm with the excitement of going to pick out my new puppy at the humane shelter. You see, I was still having a hard time with the Heaven going of my twin brother a year before. I had never been by myself before, I had always had my brother and needed another companion. I had also always dreamed of having a dog. Well, that day at the humane shelter, God blessed me beyond my wildest dreams. Little did I know that he had sent one of His angels there in form of a puppy to spend the next 12 years with me. I was beaming with excitement as I entered the shelter. It was very crowded that day but I think I pushed my way through everybody to get to the front of the line. "I would like to adopt a puppy." I announced and a woman, without looking up pointed the way. I went into the back passing several barking dogs to the puppy room. And there she was in a little stainless steel cage, a seven week old chubby white puff ball. Our eyes met for the first time. It was something special. "You’re my dog", I said, after letting her lick my fingers. I then rushed up to the front again to tell the non responsive lady that I had found my dog. She went back with me and we retrieved the pup. After filling out the paper work and handing over the $35 fee, my new best friend and I left and went to our car. I put her on the front seat in the little cardboard box they gave me to transport her in and opened it up. She poked her head out. "That will be your seat for now on." She just looked up at me with those deep brown eyes. "Now for a name....Jasmine. Yes, Jasmine. Like that name? Wait, no your middle name can be Jasmine, your first name will be Molly and I will call you MoMo for short. Molly Jasmine Maynor, a.k.a. MoMo. Yes that’s right." That night, Molly slept under my night stand, which began her love of sleeping under stuff. I think she felt safe that night being with me, and sleeping under things reminded her of that feeling.
From that day Momo and I formed a bond that would never be broken. We had many adventures over the years. Too many to name here. Molly loved to go hiking with me. She would play in the streams. She had a bout with Canine Parvo at the age of 6 months that the vet said she would not recover from. I prayed. God worked. She recovered. She and I have lived in several states, numerous houses and been on countless adventures. She was a child’s counselor dog at a youth home in Alabama with me, she also herded cows there (until she got kicked in the head). She ran beside me on the tractor at our work at a school in St. Louis. She loved her giant yard in Jackson, Mississippi. And loved to hike and go camping in Birmingham. Her favorite game we played was "ghost". I would put a sheet over me and chase her around the house. She would come and pull the sheet off me, run away and get under it.
Molly passed away this past Friday. I had been dreading that day for years. Tears have been in my eyes for days now, and I am sure there will be many tears for my dear sweet daughter and best friend. Molly was my best friend I have ever had. But God is good. Molly had a wonderfully rich life, filled with love, adventure, and companionship. Life will never be the same with out you, Momo. You made my life better. You gave me so many gifts and joy. I will always love you. You will always live in my heart. You will always be apart of me.
I love you, Molly Jasmine Maynor.

Busy

2006-08-23T15:57:00.000-06:00

Well, as can be seen by the absence of any blog entries in the last few weeks, Amanda and I have been extremely busy. After much frustration and wrecked nerves, (mostly due to plumbing issues, my weak suit) the kitchen is almost finished. The cabinets are in, the plumbing is done, the new sink and faucet is in, the new refrigerator that began leaking water(after the new cabinets were put in) is fixed, a new wall cupboard is installed with a new hand crafted (by me) towel rack, the walls are painted, and half the floor is in. The other half will be done this weekend.

Amanda and I have also been going through the in depth membership process at Briarwood Pres. Church PCA. That process included several nights of classes, several meetings, two tests- personality and spiritual gifts, and a lunch. We will join this Sunday.

Hopefully I can start writing more next week.

The Snatched, The Snatchers, The Protected and The Protector

2006-07-09T10:58:00.000-06:00

The crows were circling. Greedily signaling to each other with eerie caws that the time for attack had come, one by one they dive bombed the nest. The mother mockingbird screeched back hoping to fend off the assailants from her nest. She had two baby birds to protect. One crow dived toward the nest and to distract the mama bird as another crow went in for the meal. She was doing fine for a while, the mama bird. She wouldn’t give up her young that she had so patiently nurtured over the past few weeks. The fledglings were almost ready to start their flying lessons, the first stage of being on their own. But she was no match for the four giant crows that were invading her home. The bait and switch maneuver finally worked. One crow snatched a baby from the nest and greedily flew away with the struggling bird in his talons. Another crow tried to steal the meal from his counterpart but the prize winner would have none of that. He fought back and kept his prize. The mother bird screeching and pecking tried to protect her other baby. She was hit hard by two crows and while she was recovering from the blow, a third crow snatched the other fledgling. All the crows fled the scene, leaving the mockingbird mother screeching angrily, mourning her loss.

Amanda and I helplessly watched this scene from our front porch. I wished I could have helped the mockingbird. I couldn’t get the scene out of my head and I thought about it the rest of the night. I was reminded of the evil forces of the earthly and spiritual variety that would love to snatch us away from the Lord. But much different from the small mockingbird, our Protector is much stronger and mightier than those who seek to snatch and devour us. Our Protector even promises us that we will be safe. Two passages from His word come to mind. First in John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” What a promise! God knows us. God gives us eternal life and we will never die. We are eternal! No one will take us from Him. He promises to protect us. Secondly, in Romans 8:38,39 Paul states, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers , nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing can separate us from God and the love He has for us. Nothing! Not even our sin, no matter what we have done God will forgive us! We are the Father’s gift to the Son. He is protecting us. We can not lose our salvation. Once we are His, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance (Ephesians 1). We are protected. We are safe from the crows of this world that would love to snatch us from our home with our Father. We are protected. We are safe. We are secure. We can rejoice and rest in our Protector.

The Great Car Search of 2006

2006-06-17T21:18:00.000-06:00

It all started a few weeks ago. I had the day off work and was going to visit Amanda at work to have lunch with her. My 1991 hand-me-down Toyota camry with almost 200,000 miles and I were cruising down the highway on the 40 minute journey to A's workplace. Little did I know it would be the little car's last ride. Well, to make a long story short, it over heated and to find out the radiator busted, as well as two hoses ( the most expensive one to replace, mind you). Corrosion traveled thoroughout the engine causing the repair bill more then I had to spend or the car was worth. I sold it to the car machanic for $400 bucks.

So started Amanda's and my search for a new/used car. Amanda had been driving her 1996 Ford Explorer to work, which is very expensive on gas, so we wanted to get her a fuel economic car and I would drive the Explorer, which is fine with me cause I am a truck guy anyway. ( I think I got that from my Paw Paw.) Anyway after searching high and low for the right car that fit our confined budget, this past Thursday we stoped in at a Kia dealership across town. We were looking at used PT Cruisers and they had a great selection. After looking at some of there inventory, we saw this Kia Spectra5. Amanda and I both loved it, especially the 35mpg. We bought her and brought her home that night. When we got home we looked on the internet and saw that it was overpriced. $2000-$3000 overpriced. We looked on the website of the dealership where we bought the car and found the exact car for about $3000 less then what we bought it for. Well, we went over to the dealership again on Friday night, I in my tough pokerfaced mode ready to deal forcefully with a certain car dealership finance manager. After letting him talk for a minute about how there was nothing he could do, I told him that we found the exact car on his website for a certain price. " That's impossible." He firmly stated. "We couldnt make any money on that price." It was then I produced the print out of the page with the car and the new price on it. He said, "Wow" and took it to his General Manager. He came back and said that it was a mistake but that if that was the advertised price he would have to sell it to us at that price. He was very nice and cooperative and I appreciated the courteous professionalism.So we have a 2005 Kia Spectra5. It is a great car with 30,000 miles, sunroof, cd player/ radio with 6 speakers,and many other features including sourround airbags and a weigh scale in the seats so that if a child is on the seat that weights less than 40 lbs the airbag will not deploy on that side.

I hope it is a long time before we have to start another car shopping adventure.

(oh yeah, what's my favorite part of the new car, you ask? I reply, Amanda looks smokin' hot driving around in her little black sports car.)

painting

2006-05-28T21:21:00.000-06:00

Amanda and I painted this painting together this weekend. We didnt use brushes, only our fingers. This is just a portion of the picture. To see the whole picture you will have to come to our house. I really enjoyed painting with my talented wife. We had a lot of fun creating together. We are looking forward to producing many more paintings together.

He IS still in control!

2006-05-27T10:27:00.000-06:00

Amanda and I have been enjoying our garden this year. We decided to make the entire front yard a garden, inspired by Amanda's parents backyard. We took a few days off last week for vacation and worked in the garden. We had fun picking out new plants from nurserys and gleening cuttings from friends and family's yards and gardens. My grandmother-in-law taught me, while in Tampa, to get most of your plants for free.
I was watering the garden this morning, (everything is struggling to survive because of a lack of rain) and I noticed a rare albino maypop flower on the maypop vine. In the three + years I have had this vine, it is the first one I have seen.
I think it is wonderful how God sometimes, just for kicks I think, throws in an unexpected surprise in His creation. I think it is one of the ways He reminds us that He is still in charge of everything and He can do what ever He wants.
I love Him!

Inexpressible and Glorious Joy

2006-05-05T13:41:00.000-06:00

I have been meditating on Amanda's and my memory verse for the week 1 Peter 1:8-9:

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9

The Apostle Peter knew what he was talking about when he mentioned inexpressible and glorious joy. He demonstrated it himself. Peter's friend, John, described the scene in John 21. Peter and a few of the other disciples were fishing. Jesus had already appeared to His disciples two other times after He had conquered death and rose from the dead. Peter and the others were fishing. Peter had probably been eagerly waiting to see his friend and savior again. It had probably been the only thing on his mind. As they were fishing Jesus appeared on the shore and gave some fishing instructions. Peter didnt realize it was Jesus. John was the first to recognize Him. "It is the Lord!" John shouts. What does Peter do? The inexpressible and glorious joy that Peter talks about in his own letter, immediately fills him all the way up. He put on his clothes and jumps into the water! I can just see the look on Peter's face as he realizes it is Jesus. He probably uncontrollably let out a "AHHHHH!" and with arms flailing about in excitement slings himself into the water and starts swimming to His Savior and friend.
That is inexpressible and glorious joy!
I pray for the excitement and enthusiasm that Peter had when he was looking forward to seeing Jesus. And knowing the inexpressible and glorious joy that I have when I spend time with Him in prayer, I can only imaging the inexpressible and glorious joy when we see Jesus face to face.

Moxie

2006-04-13T19:37:00.000-06:00

One of my goals over the past few months has been to try and develop some Moxie. I work for a brick company and it is difficult to not get run all over in my line of work unless you have some Moxie. The 4 other women I work with are Moxie Masters and can say some of the most daring things to people-things that really need to be said especially to the salesmen we work with. I am a true wimp when it comes to trying to dish out some Moxie. I back down easily, I try to be agreeable, and it's hard for me to speak up or assert my self and say something when it needs to be said. I have also been taken advantage of or run all over because I didn't have the guts to speak up. So naturally I started out by practicing on Andrew, after all, he wouldn't mind if I asserted myself a little more and didn't back down so much-right? It went well the first couple of times-although it would sometimes catch him off guard. We worked through those kinks and I began to build up some more Moxie confidence. Today was a real test for me. At my brick showroom we have this middle aged gentlemen who has come in several times looking at stone and with him comes his large mutt. Leo is the dog's name and Leo proceeds to race around the showroom and terrorize the building while his owner goes about his business oblivious. I am sure you have seen a similar scenario in a store except with parents and their out of control kids. Anywho-it has always bothered me, but today it was the breaking point here is what happened:

Customer walks in, it is just me and another colleague-Jackie. Jackie helps customer, Amanda is staring down customer (tired of him) and watching dog race around showroom. Dog makes pitstop next to plant. Amanda hears running water then witnesses dog shift to the left of plant and proceed to leave a nice messy (and very runny) brown present next to Amanda's desk. Amanda interrupts (very firmly) customer and Jackie and says "Your dog is pooping in our showroom." Customer looks at dog and continues to talk to Jackie. Amanda (now FUMING) says "DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR DOG!" Customer rudely says "what do you want me to do about it?" Amanda, appalled says "make him stop and get him out of here!!!" Then I walked away, knowing I was going to say more to the customer that I would regret. Yippie! Finally found some Moxie!!! Later the customer called Jackie to offer to pay for carpet to be cleaned and apologize. He also said he would not bring Leo back. Then I heard him apologize again and say "I really think that other girl was quite upset."
Yep, I was VERY upset and finally spoke up! I am still a newbie, but after today I think I might be able to assert a little more Moxie now and then!

First Rose of the Season

2006-04-11T17:53:00.000-06:00

First Rose of the Season. I love spring.

The Sunday before my trip and the beginning of my exhaustion...

2006-04-05T19:49:00.000-06:00

Have you ever lived in Birmingham? They have the wackiest weather! Coming from Florida you would have thought I would have been able to get away from hurricane's-but in less than a few months after moving here I experience 2 of them. The other CRAZY thing is that we live in tornado alley! Fun times! Hurricanes are nice because they slowly approach you, usually giving you fair warning to get out. Tornadoes on the other hand just pop out of no where-scary! I love watching the news when there are Tornado WARNINGS-(not just watches) and what an experience it has been to have them tell you that there will be "an area of rotation" passing over our house for the next 15 minutes as the alarm sirens roar outside. Fun Times! And then this past Sun night I got to experience another wacky weather phenomenon-LARGE grape size hail at 3am! I tore out of bed after a commotion of noise that in a dazed state caused me to think many people were throwing stones at our windows. But when I came to my senses I realized that it was either shingles from a tornado, or maybe hail? After daring to look out the window I saw the LARGE clumps of ice bouncing around and covering the street and my neighbors standing on their porches startled as well. Needless to say, my body had been shot with adrenaline and I never did make it back to sleep. FUN TIMES!!!

What a time!

2006-04-05T19:16:00.000-06:00

While I hope this does not seem an inappropriate follow-up to my dear husband's post, I just had to comment on some strange and unexpected aspects about my quick trip to Moss Point. My state of mind even before this quick journey was a little skewed because of the night before (see next post). Unlike Andrew, I did not have off from work on Mon, so I started the morning exhausted knowing I had to make a 5 hour trip down to Moss Point after 8 hrs at a job that is exasperating enough. After a lovely day at the brick house, Andrew picked me up (all rested I might add) and we made our way down to Moss Point. We arrived at the hotel shortly before 8pm tired and hungry. Andrew dropped me off to go to the room while he parked the car. I walk into the room and the first thing I notice is the toilet and it looks like someone has forgotten to flush it-how RUDE! So I flush and more brown water fills the bowl. So I turn on the sink-and MORE brown water fills the sink. My first thought was that a pipe had busted and that the hotel didn't know. So I call downstairs and tell them something is wrong with the water, the girl giggles at me and tells me that that is just how the water is in Moss Point-YUCK! I was tired, all I wanted was to take a hot bath and curl up in bed and watch the Gators kick some UCLA butt. Bummer! What was the deal with the water??!!?? By this time Andrew had made his way up and when I told him what happened-he laughed too and said the water had always been like that. Men-sometimes they leave out important little details when they are telling you about stuff.
I finally got over the water and we decided we would head over to Ruby Tues across the street and grab a bite to go...we pull up and they tell us they closed at 7pm! What? First it's brown water and now this? At this point my patience was slim and we settled for McDonald's-anything so I could get back and watch the game. WHAT A GAME!!!! GO GATORS!!!!
I really did enjoy meeting the rest of the Wood family and all the aunts, uncles, and cousins-what a group! My 0nly other startling revelation came after seeing two little blonde headed boys running around the cemetary and learning they were Andrew's first cousin's twin boys...twins do run in the family! Andrew wants twins SO bad. Of course my dear husband who also loves kids pictures our twins being sweet, quite, and low maintenance like he and his brother...but when I start to think about 2 amanda's-yikes!!!
I am completely exhausted from the past few days, but feel more apart of my new family now that I have finally experienced the (unusual) beauty and charm of Moss Point.

Greg and Mary Alice, Together again

2006-04-05T11:29:00.000-06:00

Heaven celebrated the arrival of a new citizen last week, Mary Alice Wood, my grandmother. Her husband of 70+ years arrived there before her last year. While Paw Paw waited I know he was helping Jesus prepare thier mansion to be spectacular for Grandmother. The memorial and grave side services were yesterday and Monday in Moss Point, Mississippi, the town where Paw Paw and Grandmother had spent thier entire lives up until the last couple years. (I liked Uncle David's comments that the last couple of years they were in Jackson and then Atlanta, they were serving as missionaries.) It can be said that I kinda grew up there too. At least it was the only constant location in my life since we moved around alot when I was growing up. Amanda and I visited thier old house after the service. Katrina had destroyed the inside of the house and it was gutted, only the den fireplace mantle remained. PawPaws workshop walls were off on both sides so you could see all the way through to the other side. As I walked around that place, memories envaded my mind. Old ghosts could be seen every where. I remember playing king of the ditch, catching fiddlercrabs, racing around with my three brothers in PawPaws wheelbarrow cart, fishing down at the bayou, playing football with my cousins and uncles in the big yard after Thanksgiving meal with grandmother reminding us to be careful of her bushes and flowerbeds, going to VBS every summer, grandmother bringing us orange juice in the morning, PawPaw cooking pancakes in whatever shape we wanted, playing cards scrabble or rummicube with Grandmother, PawPaw teaching me woodworking tips in the workshop and grandmother encouraging me in my artwork, PawPaw chanting "Andy has a girlfriend, Andy has a girlfriend", playing with Red Fox, PawPaw encouraging us to catch turtles to keep them out of his garden, going over to Aunt Clara's to eat oatmeal cookies and play oldmaid while we watched the birds in her birdfeeders, PawPaw playing practical jokes. I could keep writing page after page of memories. It is ironic and fitting to me that that house was mostly destroyed after they left. At least the inside and parts of the yard. As Uncle Larry said, change is inevitable and sometimes good. PawPaw and NaNa are in thier new home. Thier permenant home, thier mansion in Heaven. A home that Grandmother doesnt have to clean up.

Thank you Grandmother and Paw Paw for all the love you showed to me over the last 35 years. I always felt loved by you both. Thank you for all the great memories. Thank you for showing us what a true, honest, godly marriage looks like. Thanks for the heritage you have given us. I love you both.

One of Our Father's Gifts

2006-04-02T19:42:00.000-06:00

Amanda and I spent an evening at our house the other day with a missionary couple who are friends of ours. They are missionaries in Peru. Another missionary couple, who are friends of ours stopped in today. They are missionaries to college students in Georgia. For the past few weeks, especially with the visits with these missionary friends, I have been thinking alot about one of the greatest gifts God has given us. It is the gift of letting the people He has saved be apart of his work. God saved us, His children, from sin. And He did this by sending His only Son to come down to this earth (this meant leaving Heaven) to become man and die for us and go to Hell so we would not have to. Then Jesus went back to Heaven and is preparing a place for us to reign with Him. A place for US to reign with HIM. US, sinners. He could have stopped there, and that would have been incredible. But in His love, decided He wanted us to have the joy and purpose of being His Feet and Hands to bring His Gospel to the world! I am around lost people all the time. People without any purpose at all. They are just here. They don't know how they got here, don't know why they are here, and don't know where they are going. They just exist, without any reason. How hopeless! But our Heavenly Father in His love gave His children purpose, the purpose of glorifying Him and bringing this joy to those who are lost. What a joy it is to be able to share His love with a hurting person, especially those who are lost. What a joy it is to have peace knowing who created you, why you are here and where you are going when you leave this place. What a joy to be a part of our Soverign God's plan.

Muddy Buddy

2006-03-05T10:54:00.000-06:00

I gave Molly a bath this morning. She WAS nice and clean. After bathtime was over she proceeded to her favorite dirt patch and rolled over and over again in the dirt. She then got up, walked proudly in my direction, stopped half way, looked at me and then smiled.

The Most Beautiful Flower

2006-02-23T17:57:00.000-06:00

I think the flower in the middle is the Most Beautiful flower I have ever seen!

I was sitting across the table from Amanda last night at a restaurant. I must say that I had a hard time concentrating on what she was saying because I kept thinking to myself how beautiful she is. Those eyes! I get lost, pulled into those big gorgeous brown eyes. Her cute little playful button nose drives me insane! Her round, high cheeks are the perfect compliment to her face. Not to mention her beautiful curly brown hair. Her beauty takes my breath away. Sometimes the sight of her can bring an awe inspired tear to her husbands eye. When God made Amanda, He worked extra long and hard to perfect the human female face. He wanted to make something extra special. Something that out did anything else He created before. Let me tell you, He certainly succeeded. Sure he made oceans full of colorful beautiful fish, trees that bloom with every color filled with birds of magnificent plumage, breathtaking sunsets, captivating snowcaped mountain ranges, and amazingly beautiful flowers that make the imagination soar, but God out did all of those with his creation of Amanda. She is the perfect most beautiful flower.

Amazing Love

2006-02-19T16:44:00.000-06:00

Amanda and I, a few minutes ago, were sitting and singing together hymns to our Heavenly Father. I love hearing Amanda's singing voice. She sings with such excitement and passion. If you are around her when she sings I am sure you will feel the love of God pouring out of her. Hearing her sing made me start meditating on the love of God.
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God! AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE!" (1 John 3:1a) How blessed we are to have a God in Heaven that loves us! And not just a little bit, but with the all of Him, which is endless! Just think about it. Think about what God has done for you. He loved you so much that he sent his only Son to die for you. Not out of something you did. Not because you deserve it. Not because you loved Him first. He loves you and me because he wanted to. Thats all. Not only that but Jesus was raised from the dead and is in heaven right now praying to the Father on your and my behalf, making us look beautiful before the Father! Jesus, the King of...well, everything, is praying for You by name! Hurting when you hurt, longing for you to be with Him in heaven, rejoicing and thanking the Father for YOU! HE loves you so much He is building a house, a mansion just for you in His Heaven. Jesus is praying for you and me making us look beautiful before the Father. He is laying his righteousness on you so that when Father God looks at you He sees Jesus! He doesnt see your sins. He has forgiven them and thrown them as far as the east is from the west. He has erased them. He only sees Jesus and His righteousness! How wonderful is that!
God loves you, if you are His child, and gave his Son for you. Jesus, The King, died for you. In your place. And is now praying for you, covering you with His blanket of righteousness making you look perfect and beautiful before the Father. He conquered death and all sin and its effects by rising from the dead. We, as his children, have true freedom. We are free to serve our God and Father without worry about how eternity will play out. He has already won. Our eternity with Him is set in stone because of the Holy Spirit being a deposit garanteeing our inheritance. We are no longer orphans. We are sons and daughter's of the Most High God, The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
So relax. Dwell in the Love God has for you. Meditate in the wonder of what God has done for you. If you look into Jesus' face and ponder what Our God has done for you I can garantee a song will start to flow from your soul as well.
"I sing because I'm happy. I sing because I'm free. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me." -From the hymn, His Eye is on the Sparrow

Matthew 6:25ff

2006-02-07T17:44:00.000-06:00

Amanda bought these tulips (her fav flower) and I took pictures of them because they reminded me of this verse:
"Therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life,... consider the lillies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Soloman in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Matthew 6:25,28-29 ESV)

"Be not afraid, only believe." mark 5:36

2006-01-28T14:30:00.000-06:00

He could feel himself trembling as he rubbed his clammy hands on his Sunday pants. His heart was beating fiercely as if it were going to jump out of his chest. Panic surrounded this ten year old boy as he sat in Sunday school class as everyone was going around and introducing themselves at the teacher’s request. “It’s almost my turn. Oh No! It’s almost my turn!” His racing mind yells at him. “What if I stutter? I know I won’t be able to talk. Everyone will stare at me. They will think I am weird or something. Oh NO! It is almost my turn!” While trying to hide his shaking hands, he opens his bible to pretend like he is calm and nonchalant. Little does he know that the Holy Spirit is really the one turning the pages. The bible rests open on the fifth chapter of Mark. Verse thirty six catches his eye. As he reads it a peace floods over him. “BE NOT AFRAID, ONLY BELIEVE.” (Mark 5:36)

I don’t remember if I stuttered that day or how well I got my introduction out. What I do remember is that is the day that I took that verse, Mark 5:36, as my life verse. I have been thinking lately about what those words of Jesus really mean. The awesome implications of that short phrase, that promise which came from our Saviors lips, are endless. For me at that young age, it meant not having to be afraid of the stuttering. God was in charge. His loving arms were around me. He could stop the stuttering and make my words flow fluent and effortlessly from my lips, and even if He didn’t, He had a plan that I couldn’t see. Perhaps He was growing me, making me stronger. Maybe He was ministering to an observer of my weakness. I have seen evidence of God doing both of those many times throughout the years. God had his part to do. He was telling me what my part was… to put away the fear and anxiety and trust Him. I can’t express how through the years those words have calmed my spirit.

“Be not afraid, only believe” means not looking at the waves, but as Jesus taught His disciple Peter, to look into His beautiful compassionate, unwavering face. Jesus is constant. He is worthy of our trust. He is a rock that we can rest upon. “Be not afraid, only believe.” These words can be applied to any situation in life where fear, or doubt, or worry, or anxiety is creeping in. God doesn’t break His promises. They are as sure now as the day they were uttered from his lips. “Be not afraid, only believe” means trusting and resting in His promises. It’s ok! You can trust Him!
That is Freedom! True freedom from fear.

“Be not afraid, only believe” means believing His promise that He will provide for your needs when there are financial struggles in your life. He is our provider. (Mathew 6:25-34)

“Be not afraid, only believe” means trusting God through illnesses or physical ailments. I remember a few months back when my older brother, Brian, was battling cancer. He called me on the phone one day and as we talked he thanked me for including that verse, “Be not afraid, only believe” on the signature of my emails. He told me how much it meant to him when he would look at those words and be comforted by the Holy Spirit. I saw that belief in Brian and Susan when they were going down that scary road of a terminal illness. I know they were scared sometimes, but they also trusted God to carry out His promises. They believed God was going to heal Brian either in this life or the next and God was going to use this cancer to minister to His people and bring others to Himself. I can remember going to church with Brian and Susan their first visit back after Brian’s first surgery. They had just found out it was cancer a few weeks before and instead of being terrified and angry at God, they trusted God and joy was replacing the fear. They couldn’t wait to get back to church and praise their God. I can still see Brian and Susan raising their arms to God in praise during the hymns. That is Believing and not being afraid. God is our healer.

“Be not afraid, only believe” means resting in God when we are being persecuted for the sake of the Gospel. Jesus said don’t be afraid of those who persecute you for God will deal with them and will protect you. God is our avenger. (Mathew 10:26-33)

“Be not afraid, only believe” means trusting God with our relatives, friends and loved ones who are not saved. God says we are to be faithful to preach the gospel to them, love them and pray for them and leave the saving part to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit transforms the heart, we cannot. I know it is very hard to put the eternal fate of our loved ones in the hands of Someone else. We fear for them and worry about if they will be saved. But God says He is faithful to complete the work He has started. (Philippians 1:6) God is our Savior.

“Be not afraid, only believe” means trusting Him with our eternal salvation as His children. I remember growing up always having doubts creep into my head as to if I was going to heaven when I died. I knew I was a Christian, but I was filled with fear. I just never had a real assurance in my eternal fate. That is until I learned just to trust Jesus to do what He said He would do. He says that if we give our lives to Him and trust Him as our Savior and Lord that we have eternal life. Simply trust. He is our deliverer. (John 14:1-4, Ephesians 1:13-14)

“Be not afraid, only believe” means believing the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say when we are terrified to share the gospel with someone, whether it is to our neighbor, co-worker, a person on the street, or on the mission field. He is our confidence. (Acts 1:8)

“Be not afraid, Only believe.” If we are afraid, we do not believe. If we fear or are worried or anxious we are not trusting God. If we believe we are not afraid. To believe we must be confident in God’s power and sovereignty and rest in His promises. Pay attention to that small but important word, “ONLY”. Jesus didn’t say, “Be not afraid, believe instead.” He said Only Believe. The word “only” is singular. There is no room for any thing else but belief! There is no room for doubt or fear. Only Believe.

So take this verse with you. When the deceiver tries to slip doubt, worry, anxiety or fear to your head, no matter what the situation is, put the fear away. Claim the promises and power of your Savior. He can handle it. He is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe! Trust him. Believe Him. Don’t be afraid of this world; only believe your Heavenly Father.

“Be not afraid, only believe.” When Jesus said these words to Jarius, the situation looked grim. There wasn’t a lot of hope in Jarius’ heart or options in his head. But Jarius believed Jesus was who He said He was. The people around Jaruis’ dead daughter were laughing at Jesus when He said there was hope. He was the hope. Jesus raised that little girl! When there was no way out and fear was only logical, Jesus found a way out. He was the way. Trust Jesus when there is no other way out and fear seems the only logical reaction. Trust God with Every part of your life and in every situation. His promises are true. You can rest in them. You can believe him.

“Be not afraid, only believe.” Mark 5:36