beauty in the details

I was walking with my kids this evening while Jeremy was planting the fields. They picked dandelions and waived them in the wind and watched the seeds blow. They would bring me a few of their favorites…mostly just the stems by the time they made it to me. I picked one myself and really marveled at the beauty and complexity of the dandelion….a common weed.

laura: worldrace 11n11

This month I would like to introduce you to my friend Laura who is now preparing herself for a mission called the WorldRace. She will be leaving everyone and everything she has known, to go with a group of people on mission for eleven months, touching the lives of people all over the world. It was a big move and I have seen so much excitement as she prepares for this journey. She will be traveling to Ireland, Romania, Ukraine, India, Nepal, Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa, Thailand, Cambodia, and Taiwan.

Laura with a little friend

I was first introduced to Laura's desire to go on mission last summer when she told me she was accepted to be a part of the WorldRace. She informed me she was selling most of her possessions, moving back in with her parents until she left (she has been on her own for awhile now), and dedicating herself to the mission to which she has been called. So what will she be doing on this mission? Holding babies, building homes and churches, fighting human trafficking, living in real communities and sharing Jesus with people the world over.

You can help! Really. Laura needs to raise $15,000 to fully participate in this mission. Essentially, she is living off of that amount for one year, while traveling to several communities around the world, eating what they eat and living like they live. If 150 people give $100 she will be covered. So what is the next step? You can be a prayer partner, you can financially support, you can help raise funds, you can create opportunities for Laura to share what Jesus is doing in her life.

1. Visit her blog, get acquainted, and click "Support". 
2. Follow her blog while she is on mission: http://lauraschaefer.theworldrace.org 
3. Print her support card (below) and share with friends
4. Allow her to share about her upcoming journey at your church or school
5. Fill a jar with spare change and let kids join in the fun of supporting a missionary
6. Send tax deductible support via mail to:  Adventures In Missions P.O. Box 534470 Atlanta, GA 30353-4470

Caring for others in Jesus' name truly is the adventure of a lifetime, whether they are in your community or across the ocean. For the least of these we share all we have been given, because Christ gave all for us!

just one step

"In the winter of wet years the streams ran full-freshet, and they swelled the river until sometimes it raged and boiled, bank full, and then it was a destroyer."                           John Steinbeck, East of Eden

It is no longer snowing here in Ohio; it is raining. And raining. The pretty coat of white has been replaced with gray skies and fog. It would be very romantic as seen in a Jane Austen movie with English countrysides and proper manors. And lush green gardens. They always seem to edit out the continual sound of the rain with the melodies of a string quartet. 

quiet country on a gray day

I love watching flooded rivers flow with the power of the water. They can sweep entire trees down the river as if they were twigs. I remember when I was in elementary school I watched an entire embankment disappear as a wall of water pushed it over, and full grown trees folded in half and washed away in a matter of seconds. It was awe-inspiring, and a bit frightening. I was amazed at the power of the water. As I was driving in the rain today, through flooded roads and muddy driveways, I was reminded of the flood stage at harvest. In Israel. 

local river cresting its banks

fast current

soon to cover the road

both overflows from Echo Lake 

This relatively small river was nearly over the bridge, and the water was moving at a fast pace. I would not dare walk through, or try to swim in a river such as this. It would be risking my life. Yet, when Joshua was asked by the Lord to cross the River Jordan at flood stage, he was obedient. He and half-a-million people walked on dry ground. The Lord commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous. He said, "Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged." Why? Because if you do as the Lord has said, he will be with you wherever you go. What did the Lord require? Obedience - to everything written in the law. A commitment to his word - for it to be always on our lips, to be ever mindful of what it says, and do everything written in his word. Speak. Remember. Do.

This is a time of new beginnings, new resolutions, new ideas. I am a planner. I am futuristic. I would like to accomplish many things in 2013. As my mind rushes through the year, trying to ensure I have the many months covered with my plans, I hear his voice behind me saying...."This is the way, walk in it." The Lord is asking me to be obedient. The Israelites did not know how they were going to cross the Jordan; they just knew they were going to cross the Jordan. The Lord is asking me not to over-plan: just be obedient. 

What does it take to be obedient? Just one step. The first step. And then the next.

"Now when the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing.....until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground." {Joshua 3:15-17} When we are obedient, the Lord will be with us. Take that step to the water's edge - whatever....or wherever....that might be for you. He is waiting to turn your flood into dry ground.

13 for Christmas

Christmas is a very favorite time of year for me because there are so many things you can do for other people, and with other people. It is giving at its best, and it should be love at its finest. My friend Olivia posted on her blog about Christmas Throwback, and it started me thinking about all that I love during Christmastime. So here is a fun compilation of things to do.....and things I have enjoyed at Christmas.

 

 

1 - Put up the Christmas tree. If you do it right, it should take all day. I use an artificial tree because I love nature and I don't want to cut down a tree....say I'm "going green" by saving a tree. :-) I made my own Pandora channel of Micheal Buble holiday mix. Turn it up loud and dance with the kids while decking out the tree. It's OK if they don't do it right.....what's right anyway? (Found my tree for $5 at a garage sale...score!) White lights, red and white wood beads, red ribbon and ornaments, and vintage candle holders. My dad bought me my angel on top - she looks vintage too.

2 - Watch White Christmas. It is a classic by Irving Berlin, and stars Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. I love how it shows people willing to put aside their holiday plans to help someone else and show them how much they are appreciated. Post WWII-era setting.

3 - Go to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. One of my favorite people attends this concert every year. It really is an amazing concert: the piro is great, the music is AMAZING, and it has a good "story" with the show.

4 - Story time with Kids. Read the Christmas story to your children while setting up the nativity scene. They talk about Jesus and His birth all through the season, and the wise men get moved all over the house. (Maybe they are trying to make the nativity more correct.) Frederick puts them all the in barn together so they can all see Jesus at once. Matthew 1-2; Luke 2

5 - See Christmas lights. If you like a destination, the Columbus Zoo has a great light show they call Wildlights. Our friends Toni and Marlen took us a few years back and it has more lights than I could imagine in any one location. Opens at 10AM (though I don't know why you would go during the day) and shows until January 1. We also look for Christmas lights while driving in the car because it is a great diversion when the oldest two in the back seat can't leave each other alone. Competition as to who can find the most lights first seems to quench the fussiness.

6 - Send a WorldVision Child a Christmas Present. There are so many creative things you can fit in an envelope and send to a child for Christmas. WorldVision does an excellent job of fighting poverty and injustice all the while bringing Jesus to children all the world over. You can sponsor a child or send a gift from their gift catalog. Here is a great gift idea: Thai bracelet for supporting this amazing ministry. Better yet, give the gift of life to a child! Sponsor: you won't regret it!

7 - Make Christmas treats to share. My mom does this every year and she takes plates of cookies and candies to share with their neighbors. I always enjoyed arranging everything on the plate to look nice. Jeremy's family would also make caramels, peanut butter balls, and pretzel turtles. As with all gift-giving, make sure nothing needs to be returned.

• Pretzel turtles recipe: melt caramel block, adding a little Eagle brand milk. Dip short pretzel rods into caramel, then into diced pecans. Let harden, then dip into melted chocolate.

8 - Thank a soldier / veteran. If you are out shopping and see a soldier or a veteran (the uniforms or hats will help identify), thank them for serving. It is a small gesture of appreciation, so small compared to what they give to us. If you know a soldier who is not home for Christmas, send him/her a card and/or send a care package to their families. It is hard to be alone at Christmas.

9 - Support a single mom. We have a gentleman at our church who has a Christmas ministry of supporting single moms and their children. This is a great way to teach children that Christmas is about giving to others, and that shopping does not have to be centered around them. Let children choose presents for other children, as nice as something they would like to receive for themselves. It is humbling to watch the generosity of children!

10 - Operation Christmas Child. Another great ministry is Operation Christmas Child - if you missed sending a package in November, you can stock up for next year. Again, we love to go to the Dollar Tree and get essentials and fun stuff to send to a child. My kids thought this was so fun and they wanted to help wrap the present too. Each child was able to send a box - so fun.

11 - Wrap presents. I LOVE to wrap presents....a little crazy, I know. Don't bag....how boring! (OK, in a pinch it will work.) How fun is it to start with a plain ol' box, take some cute paper, wrap it nice, then top it with a ribbon?! Here are my colors this year:

12 - Christmas Eve pizza. I adopted this tradition after Jeremy and I were married. His family would get together on Christmas Eve and they would make homemade pizza with the whole family around. They would eat their homemade pizza with frozen applesauce on top!  OK, I didn't adopt all of it....my applesauce gets eaten separate, but it is a tradition. My family opens one present on Christmas Eve, so we have merged traditions and have a fun time!

13 - Christmas Day meal. I love my mom's Christmas meal....maybe because the whole family is sitting around the table, and there - together - is one of the best presents I could receive. It is more than the food, it is fellowship. And don't forget the egg nog and custard pie.

Give LOVE. It truly is Christmas, when God - who is love - came to earth as a child, to bring us his love, to die upon the cross, to forgive us our sins. There is no greater love than to give one's life for one's friend. God has called us friend, and we call him Saviour. Share his love with someone this Christmas.

Give. Bless. Love.

treasures

It's Sunday evening and I'm sitting on the couch watching my children dance to Jackie Evancho's version of Nella Fantasia. They stretch out their arms, twirl round and round, then giggle as they get dizzy and fall to the ground or bump into each other. The sounds of happy children; there really isn't anything quite like it. Sometimes it is good to sit for a moment and appreciate what we have been given, to find the good in what we have been given, to enjoy what we have been given. It could all be gone in a moment. Life goes so fast and it is so very easy to get caught up in the mundane that the treasures pass us by.

To help me remember, I would like to share some recent treasures.

- My son has the funniest expressions. They make me smile. "Buzzert" - dessert. "Butterfly sword" - flyswatter. He gets close to Claire and whispers, "Hello, my beauty." He is driving his tractor on the floor and looks at Elauna and says, "Get out of the field." :-) Oh, it still makes me laugh. He runs up to me and says, "Let's play the game 'It's nice to meet you'" and sticks out his hand to practice meeting someone. He just giggles when I shake his hand.

- I wanted to go shopping with my mom and told Elauna that she wasn't going because I might look for a present for her upcoming birthday and it wouldn't be a surprise if she saw. She told me "three is enough {presents}, I don't need any more." She grabbed my hand and looked at me...she wanted to be with me more than getting a present.

- The toys take a long time to get cleaned up because it is as much a game to put them away as it was to  make the mess in the first place. The dozer, backhoe, and grain wagon get used to transport each toy....normally one at a time...to the proper location. Speed is seldom a factor, nor is my agitation.

- Miss Claire broke Elauna's bracelet and Elauna brought me the pieces. "Can you put my beedles back together?"

- Elauna tells me, "You're the best mommy ever!" {at least she thinks so and that is good enough for me, it is my own treasure}

- Those priceless video moments when I am taking pictures of my children and pan from one to the other....and when I get to Frederick his finger is up his nose. {I laughed later.} Boys do so many things that you dare not react to while they are doing them.

- My children name their toys after family and friends. They spend hours going to "Mimi and Papa's farm" (the toy barn), then driving to "church" (the couch), then to "camp"(under the desk), then off to one of their aunt's houses. The Duplo people have been named and stuffed into a toy car or tractor and round and round they go. Right now Frederick is asking, "How 'bout this be Eli?" and off he rides on the Duplo horse. Imaginations are a wonderful thing.

- My parent's horses are named Adam Raynyday, Lovey, Blackbird and Sunny.  {above mentioned Duplo horses have been named after them: "Rainyday", "Sunnyday" "Doveydovey", and "Blackbird" went unchanged}

- Miss Claire squeals with delight to play with her brother and sister. She gets the biggest smile when she sees people she knows. Oh, and if I'm barefoot she will sneak up and bite my toe. :-) {do you love a child? tell them. hug them if you can. they know}

Yes there are trials, and discipline required, but I don't want that to be the culmination of my memories....or their memories for that matter. I want my children to know I enjoy being with them. So if you stop by and the house is a mess, I am probably dancing with my children.

be mindful of character bloopers

And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. Let me tell you, trying to do a photoshoot with 4 kids, four years old and younger was testifying to the fruit of my spirit....and I found myself praying for a change of heart. To be honest, I ought to post the "blooper" shots, because it takes the bloopers to appreciate the good ones. :-) So while I was capturing the moment on the outside with the kids, I was capturing the moment on the inside for me. I have a little editing to do myself! 

Here are the kiddos...

looking serious

my little beauty, elauna,  almost 5 

miss claire, almost 1

mr. frederick, almost 3

 

he is such a cutie

4 sets of eyes at the same time...amazing :-)

26 for the heart

Have you ever had times when you are so overwhelmed or burdened that you cannot remember simple things? I had a situation like this years ago where I woke in the middle of the night, and while I was trying to pray Scripture, I couldn't bring it to mind. This just made my situation worse. So I spent the next day putting a verse to each letter of the alphabet. (I use the alphabet as a mental trigger). I designed cards with each letter, so I could carry them with me, but I also memorized the 26. The Bible says to hide God's word in our heart so we might not sin against him. Now I always have at least 26 verses that I can pull to mind using the alphabet.


A - All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
B - Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved - you and your household. Acts 16:31
C - Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3
D - Depart from evil and do good. Psalm 34:14
E - Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right. Proverbs 20:11
F - For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
G - God is love. I John 4:16
H - Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up. James 4:10
I - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
J - Judge not and you shall not be judged; condemn not and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37
K - Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3
L - Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30
M - My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:8
N - Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5
O - Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. Hebrews 13:17
P - Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Psalm 103:1
Q - Quench not the Spirit. I Thessalonians 5:19
R - Remain in me and I will remain in you. John 15:4
S - So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. I Corinthians 10:31
T - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
U - Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it. Proverbs 16:22
V - Vengeance is mine; I will repay sayeth the Lord. Romans 12:19
W - Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind your saying, "This is the way, walk in it." Isaiah 30:21
X - eXamine me, O Lord, and prove me. Psalm 26:2
Y - You give me your shield of victory, your right hand sustains me. Psalm 18:35
Z - come and see my Zeal for the Lord. 2 Kings 10:16

thirty-one 26

I was reading through Proverbs 31 (v10-31) again this morning and I wanted to find one verse that closely fit my personality, to find the one that would describe me the best. I read each verse, and liked several, but I landed on verse 26. "She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue." This suited me. And then it was as if a light bulb turned on and I saw Proverbs 31 in a whole new light. Each woman has a gift, spiritual and/or by a given talent, and this gift reflects who God has made her to be. The verses of Proverbs 31 represent several gifts, and the fruits thereof.

A few examples
Compassion, Helps (v20) she opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy
Craftsmanship (v13, 22, 24) works with eager hands, makes coverings for her bed, makes linen garments, etc
Leadership (27) watches over the affairs of her household, manages her servant girls

I believe this is a painting of a woman through stages of her life. The strength and energy of youth; the ingenuity and hard work of a businesswoman; the dedication and compassion of a mother; the wisdom and grace of a God-fearing wife. It truly is a beautiful painting.

God has gifted each woman and given her a task for a time. Sometimes we can wish away the "time" we are in for another. Embrace the time you are in and know God's will is for your complete trust in him as he guides you...guides me. Be confident of this, "that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion." (Phil 1:6)