Lots of paper work!

I am sitting here this morning filling out forms for British citizenship .......wow so much!  Howard and I have been through this kind of bureaucratic situation so many times;  living in 3 different countries needing visas, being different nationalities when going to each others countries, the adoption and working with visas for students/trainees.  Although we find it frustrating, we have always wanted to abide by the laws of the land .....thus lots of paperwork and money! 

As I was going through things today I found this journal notation I wrote recently when I had to take the 'Life in the UK' test in order to keep my visa and file for citizenship .....as I read the words it was a great reminder for me again and especially with the season.  

Here it is ......

I am living here in England now on a spousal visa…..it ends in October.  I have to take a test before I apply again to stay here.  It is really kind of weird to me that I have been married to Howard for 17 years…..we have 2 children…..one adopted that took 5 years to complete.  I think it is safe to say I am not married to Howard just to become a British citizen!

Of course Howard would have to do the same thing if he was trying to become a residence of the States.  I know September 11, 2002 changed lives and it was devastating, but the many laws in place now seem only to affect those of us who want to do the right thing.

Well that is the way it is and I choose not to complain, fuss, resent or hate.  Afterall I do have a choice….that is one of the most amazing characteristics of humanity.

I heard something this morning in worship time here at our YWAM base, the leader, who just arrived recently with her family said she was overwhelmed by many things….but she was more overwhelmed by God’s presence.  This spoke loudly to me.  I may be overwhelmed by this test I have to take, especially after the difficult time with getting my British license, but I ask God to empower me to be more overwhelmed with His presence.

I have thought about this all day…..when we allow everything around us to overwhelm us; we are watching those things more than we are Him.  Is He God?  Is He with us?  Does He care?  When we are more overwhelmed with His presence, those things around us that seem so important, so scary, so intimidating……..come into perspective.

Yes I have to take this test (if I want my visa! :)).  It’s Ok, I am enjoying learning more about this country I am living in….their government, their social system, what is important to them……..doesn’t seem so big to me now.

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It is almost Christmas .....yes as I sit here filling out more paperwork .....I am thinking about God entering into our world, coming to us when we could not or didn't even know we needed Him - He came to us.  

What I am doing is what I have to do to participate with Him in His world ......it is serving the bigger picture!  

And besides I do have a great cup of coffee!

God is Committed to Us!

Shortly after GG came to live with us!  So tiny!

Mom & Daughter

Such a character!

At GG's dedication in Costa Rica

 My daughter has been making some bad choices recently.  I will not share what all those are for her protection, but if she doesn't choose a different path it may be detrimental to her as she grows older.

I love her so much, she is my daughter.  I had a conversation with her just recently.  I told her how much I loved her and I was committed to her; committed to do everything I could to participate with God so she would grow up and be the woman God  created her to be; that this is how she will live to the fullest.  At this point I needed to ask God and see how I could teach her and work with Him to empower her to make different decisions.  I knew that she may not like some of the decisions I needed to make and she would not like the consequences.  I wanted to protect her, I didn't want to see her having to do somethings I knew she would not like; but I loved her too much not to.  I knew it might not be pleasant to her now, but hopefully it would help her in the future.  

Our Heavenly Father is often in this place with us and I am sure He hurts as much as I do with Georgina.  When we say yes to Jesus, He is committed to empower us to be everything He created us to be; He is committed to mature us and empower us to grow up.  Not because He is mean or wants to hurt us in anyway, not because He doesn't care.  It is because He cares, it is because He treasures humanity so much.  

Trust Him, know that He loves you and wants to be with you.  

I would love to sit with you in person, over coffee and talk about this.  Stand on that foundation; that God loves you more than you can even understand.  

Jesus serving breakfast!

Our neighbours brought us dinner last night .....we all enjoyed a wonderful meal together!  As I was thinking about it this morning, I was reminded of how Jesus would often come to His disciples and the first thing - He would prepare them a meal ...very real, practical, very loving.    

The beautiful pictures are taken by Helen Johnson as
she was taking a morning walk near her home.
http://www.helen-johnson.com

John 21: 1-3  After this, Jesus appeared again to the disciples, this time at the Tiberias Sea (the Sea of Galilee).  This is how He did it:  Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the brothers Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.  Simone Peter announced, "I'm going fishing."

3 - 4  The rest of them replied, "We are going with you."  They went out and got in the boat.  They caught nothing that night.  When the sun came up, Jesus was standing on the beach, but they didn't recognise Him.  Jesus spoke to them:  "Good morning!  Did you catch anything for breakfast?"  They answered, "No."

5 - 6  He said, "Throw the net off the right side of the boat and see what happens."  they did what He said.  All of a sudden there
were so many fish in it, they weren't strong enough to pull it in.

7 - 9  Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, "it is the Master!"  When Simon Peter realised that it was the Master, he threw on some clothes, for he was stripped for work, and dove into the sea.  The other disciples came in by boat for they weren't far from land, a hundred yards or so, pulling along the net full of fish.  When they got out of the boat, they saw a fire laid, with fish and bread cooking on it.   

10 - 11  Jesus said, "Bring some of the fish you've just caught."  Simon Peter joined them and pulled the net to shore - 153 big fish!  And even with all those fish, the net didn't rip.  

12  Jesus said, "Breakfast is ready." 

If you continue to read this passage, Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, 3 times and then tells him to feed His sheep.  

But look at this .....it is amazing to me.  Jesus took time to cook them breakfast  Seems like such a simple thing, a meal.  But this is Jesus, have you ever really meditated upon Jesus serving the disciples a meal?

Jesus loved them, Jesus showed them He loved them, before He asked Peter if he loved HIm.  He did ask Peter where his allegiance was and then Jesus gave Peter his vocation.  Jesus didn't even say anything about what Peter had done ....wow!

i believe when we know we are loved, we can respond in love.  We can love because He first loved us.  (1 John 4: 7 - 10)

I am continuing to meditate on this .....His love for humanity, for me ...and what does this mean in regard to me loving others.  

What do you think?

Conversation with GG

My wise, beautiful, charming and sometime silly daughter!!

GG:  "Mom, I know I cannot go with you to this masters intensive, but I believe I need to go with you when you teach in Budapest."

Mom:  "Why would you like to go with me, GG?"

GG:  "Mom, I can be your assistant, plus I can help you teach a little bit and be involved in the activities."

Mom:  "I would love that GG, but you know the school doesn't like for us to take you out and they might even fine us.  But I think it is a great idea."

GG:  "Well mom it could be an educational time, even more so than going to school."

Mom:  "Yes GG I think you are right."

GG:  "OK maybe not this time, but let's do it in the future.  Mom, pretty inspiring conversation!"

The little girl is wise beyond her years .......

You know having conversations with people is a great opportunity to hear their stories, their hearts, what is going on in their lives and how God would have you to participate with Him in their stories.  

Ask God to empower you to be so aware of His presence in the midst of the conversation, to give you His perspective, show you what He is doing in this person's life and listen to see if He wants you to participate with Him in some way.  

You might think is would be draining, but it is energising and we were created to give; in the midst of that you will be blessed beyond your expectations.  This is not why we do it, we do it because we are to enter into people's lives, just like God did with us in Jesus Christ.

Switzerland

I will miss coming to Switzerland, it is a beautiful country.  I have learned so much here with the master intensives.  As I walk through the hills I have come to see that God always wanted to be with us.  He created us to be with us.  If you look throughout the Old Testament God wanted to be with His creation; even after the fall, God went to look for Adam and Eve.  He could have just done away with humanity at that point.  If He was such an angry God, why didn't He do that?  Yes I think He was upset, sad and maybe even angry, but I think the reason for that was because He knew we would no longer be living the way He created us to live.  

Jesus, He entered into our world because God wanted to be with us.  Jesus' life was about many things, His death, burial and resurrection was about forgiveness, rescuing us from the evil one, but I believe all this was about God being with us.  It wasn't about just getting us into heaven.  It was part of His story, the story of Jesus, the Gospel, God's desire; to be with us now and forever. 

As I have walked around these mountains I sense His presence so strongly.  I am so aware of Him with me, with humanity.  When Jesus ascended into heaven, humanity was raised with Him; that is what it means that we are 'in Christ.'  

As I leave here, I may miss the mountains; but I will know His presence with me in this world.      

Things that Matter!

GG & I have been looking at some pictures from where she was born - Costa Rica.  She often asks questions about Costa Rica, loves to hear stories and see the animals.  There were lots of things I didn't like about the tropical country (heat, reptiles, loud noisy dirty cities, slowness of pace), but there were some things I liked (coffee, exotic fruit all year around, the beautiful countryside). The best thing of all is CR is where God gave us our beautiful daughter! 

As I sat with GG and looked at the pictures, I thought about how important it is for us to remind ourselves of where we come from, the truth of what God did for us;  entering into our world in Jesus Christ.  We need to remind ourselves of the Gospel.  I believe paying attention matters; being aware, focusing on Him is how we create space for transformation in our lives.  It is how we hear His voice, His perspective, His clarity.  It reminds us where we came from and our mission in this world with God.  

I use to get so concerned if I did something over and over.  I connected it was legalism, prayers that God didn't listen to.  But now I see where disciplines should always be a means to spiritual ends, never ends in themselves.  They are places of meeting God that do not have value in and of themselves.  To treat them as if they did is to develop a faith that is external, self-energised and legalistic.  This was clear with Jesus.  His embrace of discipline was an embrace of life. 

There is a reason GG likes to look at pictures of her country, see wants to see where she is from.  

There is a reason we want to see where we are from!

Pay attention, be still, be aware, listen .........

"Love pays attention. It offers people an alternative to the distracted, frantic, scattered way of interacting that is so common. When we pay attention, we hear more than words. We hear what's not said. We hear the real story that's being told by others. When we do this in our daily lives, we will find God there, the God of mission, the one who himself sends the Spirit to turn our world around." (Difference Makers: An Action Guide for Jesus Followers by M. Scott Boren)

Here are some pictures GG & I found ......

After the masters

I knew Jesus.  I knew His character and most of the time I believed He really loved me.  I knew something had happened to me when Jesus died on the cross that brought me back into relationship with God.  When I would read in the Bible it said I was a new creation, I knew it somehow ......that it was real.  I knew that Holy Spirit empowered me to live this life now.

But there were things that still bothered me, held me in bondage and I knew I was not reaching my potential .....even with my chronological age!  I was still making decisions in my life that were hindering me from being all God created me to be.  It was so frustrating, but I did not understand what else to do.

The only words that kept going through my head was 'whole gospel.'  I sensed that I did not know the whole gospel, I knew there was  more and I wanted to learned.  I had such a desire to know more.

With this masters course that I am almost coming to an end with, I met the person that I knew, trusted and believed with all my heart; but I heard His story!  I heard the story of Jesus, the One I had known since I was 14 years of age.

Wow, I studied His story.  I studied the history of this faith I had believed for so long.  As we went through the history......I saw doctrine, theology, and fathers of our faith for the first time.  I wasn't scared about it any longer .....yes for some reason I had not wanted to look at all this when I was younger.  Maybe I didn't think it was necessary, maybe somewhere or sometime I was told just to believe what a pastor said.  I am not sure.

But through this course I met Jesus in a whole new way.  I saw His story starting in Genesis and moving throughout the New Testament.  You see I thought His story started at the cross; as amazing as the cross is, it started way before this life altering event in history.

I grasp more of the Triune God I am in relationship with and I now know I am participating with Him in His mission in this world in a whole new way.

I was always apprehensive to look at the end of time.  There were so many ways I heard how this was going to happen.  I just knew that I trusted God now and I trusted Him to handle the 'end of time.'  But now I understand I am bringing this future time into the very present when I am participating with Him with His work right now in the present.

As my pastor, David Chadwick, from North Carolina says, "the mission field is between our feet."  When we are living from that centre where we are united with God because we are linked with Jesus through the power and ministry of Holy Spirit, we bring the His kingdom into everywhere we go and with everyone we meet.

Are you struggling with only hearing parts of the story of Jesus?  Seek him, ask Him, He will show you.  Or maybe we can have coffee and talk!?  : )

I cannot credit these pictures, I did not write down where they came from.  Sorry about this and I am going to try in the future to always get the photographer.

Aim for the Heart

My 2 beautiful children!

My son is almost 16 now, so hard to believe.  I never understood what parents met when they would talk about how fast their children grew up; but I understand that now.

JohnLuke asked me the other day if everything I have said about Jesus is true.  Yes my inside kind of shook a bit, but my desire is to give him space to explore, test, ask questions and find Jesus for himself.  I believe God is big enough to handle his questions; if He is, then I ask that He empower me to do the same.

JohnLuke is a gentle, loving, courageous young man.  He asked Jesus to come into his heart when he was 4 years old.  I believe so strongly God met him at this point, but I also believe he is at a place right now where he needs this to be real for him.....what does it mean for him day to day.  It is hard sometime to hear the questions, I often want to say, "What!"  Or tell him he shouldn't feel that way, but I believe that would be dishonoring him.  I don't want him to be scare to ask questions, voice concerns, doubts; I want him to be able to come to me and ask these questions and share these concerns.

Howard and I always sensed we were to aim at our children's hearts, not their behaviour.  Now I am not talking about the organ that pumps blood throughout our body.  According to Scripture, the heart is the centre of life and your orientation toward life.  In Proverbs 3, Solomon talked about his strategy for discipling his son ......his primary concern for his son was his heart.  He wanted the centre of his son's life and his orientation toward God to be a good one.  Solomon knew if he missed his son's heart, the best advice in the world would mean absolutely nothing.  Howard and I claimed this strategy also.

How do you do this?  It starts by building relationship with them .....jump into their world and do what they like to do ....participate with them.  This is ultimately what God in Christ did for us.  He left His place; His position on high, He came low and He related with us, He loved us.  He initiated relationship with us.

This is our job as parents, but I think it also our job with other people; we need to enter into their world.  This creates space for God to capture them with His heart of love.  This love can change their lives.

Maybe the question for us to think about today is .......do our children, other people see a transformed life and a life that is transforming ......becoming more and more who God created us to be .....becoming more and more like Jesus?

Let's Reclaim Vocation!

Jesus ......called to be a carpenter ........one day while being baptised by John the Baptist, a voice from heaven said "you are my son, in whom I am well pleased" then He was called to be a minister of the Gospel.                                        

God has a calling on your life.  Everyday is new.  If you look back in history, work was called vocation until the industrial revolution.  In industry you could no longer necessarily see the end product, people worked on assembly lines; thus new name ....occupation.  Work became an occupation, people going through the motions till the end of the day or the week so they could have fun on the weekend.  Their job was a place where they were occupied and made money.  No longer was it a vocation, a calling.

When you go to work, see it as a vocation, where God wants you to be.  Ask God if there is someone you can touch today or He can touch through you, is anyone in need of hope, maybe you can pray for someone.  Say each day ......"Lord I am following you into my work place today, this place is yours and I want to be an instrument of your peace."

Where is your mission field?  Between your feet!  Your vocational calling of God is between your feet, where ever you are ....you are a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ; that is your mission field.  Work was never intended to be merely an occupation to occupy your time!

Martin Luther King said, "If I am a street sweeper, I do unto the Lord."  Work doesn't define you, but you are called to be His representative where ever you work.  Be His presence and hope in the midst of people.  

Your mission field is between your feet!

Let's Reclaim the Arts!

I love impressionist art!  I use to live in Washington DC and one of my favourite things was to go to the wonderful art museums there, walk around for hours and look especially at the impressionist arts.  I didn't want anyone to go with me, it was my time and I didn't want to be hurried.

Did you know you are a work of art?  God in His creation and recreation of you through Jesus Christ has made you a beautiful piece of art; art that reflects His beauty, majesty, and character.  

In Christ, the greatest work of God is that we are God's work of art in which He reveals Himself (Ecclesiastes 3:11 and Ephesians 2:10).  Redeemed people, pursuing a resurrected Christ makes a real difference in a real world.  If we are in Jesus Christ, we are a masterpiece!

Let's reclaim the arts through which the reality of God can be communicated.  Let's install in children the wonder of God!  We can access the truth of God in very creative ways, let's not ever crush creativity in children or anyone!

Doesn't this inspire you?  We can display God proudly and humbly .....we can transform lives through art and creativity.  

Let's tell His story .....He is still in the business of making good art!

Looking at the history of Christianity

I love studying the history of Christianity.  Now if you had asked me this years ago I would have laughed.  I didn't think it was necessary to be a Christian.  It is not necessary to be a Christian, but knowing what you are a part of ....knowing the story of Jesus is amazing!

In the masters course I am coming to an end with right now ....I am in my last module and am really sad about it.  I was able to look at the early church, study what God was doing from Old Testament through to New Testament, look at theology, doctrine and see the whole story.  This was just what I needed at this point in my life.

I have been in mission work for over 22 years with very little time off; even when I married Howard.  We took 3 months to combine families from 2 continents, prayer/financial teams from 2 continents, get to know each other better, be together, adjust and have fun.  There are absolutely no regrets, but I was at a place where I needed something.  I didn't know what, but I was restless.  When a lady who I admired a great deal shared her desire and plan to start a masters course in spiritual formation and discipleship at the University of the Nations (a university with Youth With A Missions), I was immediately interested.  I had learned so much from her, her life and wisdom.  

Howard did not have the need that I did, but when I talked to him, he was completely supportive of my desire.  So I started a masters course at my age!  Some people still ask why I am doing this?  We are life long learners - we are to always grow in our relationship with God.  Jesus told His followers to go and make disciples and teach them all I have commanded you.  

Did you know that everything changed with education after the resurrection?  During that time only the wealthy men were educated, not women, not children and not ordinary men or women.  The church started teaching women, children, and ordinary men and women to know more about God and the world.  

JohnLuke!  Looking very serious as he talks about his education!

My son is talking about university at this time.  I always wanted him to go to university, but to be honest recently I have been a bit apprehensive.  The universities in the US and UK are very liberal in their thinking.  Do you know where the name university comes from?? The Christian fathers and mothers were coming together to study the universe, the world God created ....thus university was the name given to these schools.  The teachers were called professors because these people were professing Jesus Christ .....thus professors.

Cambridge, Oxford, the university of Paris, Harvard, etc was started through Christianity.  The resurrection changed everything.

I have been talking to my son about this.  I don't want him to wait as late as I have to know history.  If he goes into university, I want him to love God with all of His mind.  I want him to use his mind to bring science and faith together.

Look back at history, study the story of Jesus; the early church - so many things changed after the resurrection.  

Do you know who first taught to value women and children ....study the story of Jesus! 

He Entered into Our World

My daughter started secondary school today.  Her dad and I were taking a picture of

GG in her school uniform!

Georgina in her new uniform.  She was standing so tall and looked so pretty.  After the picture, she reminded her daddy of when she was 4 years old (she had just come to live with us, we adopted her in Costa Rica .....she was so small!) and helping him with some baking.  Howard had to leave the room for a few minutes and told Georgina not to touch the mixture.  He had not been gone long when he heard a loud noise!  When he returned to the kitchen there stood GG (this is her nickname!) with batter from her head to her feet.  she had the spoon in her hand and said, "I didn't touch it."

Howard also reminded her of what he overheard her say one day after he had broken his ankle ......"JohnLuke, we can do whatever we want to, dad can't chase us!"  She had lived in an orphanage 4 years, this is what she did when she thought she was in trouble.

She is almost 12 now and such a delight for us.  We are so thankful God brought her to us!

JohnLuke looking very handsome!

My son, JohnLuke, starts year 11 here in England .....this is grade 10 in the States.  Year 11 is the year of tests .....JohnLuke takes 23 GCSE's and these determine how he will move forward in what they call college (grades 11 & 12 in the States).  He is a bit apprehensive about it, the school tends to pressure them a great deal. 

Now that JL and GG are older it is a bit harder to grasp what is really going on inside them.  I wish I could get them to sit down with me, have a coffee and talk .....but NOT .....especially my son.  GG will occasionally go out with me, have a hot chocolate, while I have coffee and we will visit.

But I have come to realise to really hear their heart, to know what is bothering them, what they think about things, how they feel, what is hurting them and/or what makes them happy ....I need to enter into their world!  

My son enjoys long boarding, karate, football and playing an occasional video game.  Yes I have tried long boarding .....scary .......can't do karate, but I do watch football with him (I hate football (soccer!).  When I sit with him, I hear all about football, but then I hear other things .....I hear his heart.  Same with my little girl .....she loves horseback riding and crafts (I hate crafts too!), but when I make things with her, I hear about her day, what she thinks, feels, how she might have been rejected by a friend and just her wild imagination!

God entered into our world when we didn't even know we needed Him; when we didn't even know we were not living the way He created us to live.  Jesus showed us God, He broke through all the distortions we had; and He show us how to live .....dependent on the Father, working with the Father and trusting the Father.  Through the power and ministry of the One He sent ......Holy Spirit we can live that way today.  And we can enter into people's lives to hear them, to create space for God to work .....so He can heal, restore, redeem, change and transform.  

Whose life do you need to enter today?  Who do you need to let enter your life?

My son and daughter!  Love them so much!