Guatemala Update!

Caryn is back from Guatemala! The staff and students had a great time and God did some amazing things.

Four Lifelines staff from UVM and 10 students left March 6th and returned on the 14th. They were working with and thru a ministry to orphans & the poor in Guatemala called Forever Changed International.

In our desire to bring hope & love to people, we received so much more in return....

We loved on orphans at the orphanage where we stayed, many of whom have no chance for adoption... they loved us back with abandon & changed our lives & hearts with their smiles. We painted a bedroom for the two oldest girls (pictured sitting on their new bedding). The girl on the right in Ingrid... Click here to read the story of how she & her 3 siblings were rescued from an abusive & neglectful situation & taken to the orphanage just last month.

We hiked up to mountain villages where we brought food, toys & medical supplies to some of the most beautiful people on the planet.

We also brought food, clothes & gifts to a women's prison where children are allowed to stay with their mothers for the first 4 years of their lives... we cried & prayed with one mother as she described her fears of the day when her daughter, now 2 years old, would have to leave. This particular woman entered the prison 2 months pregnant, and wrongly serves a 40-year sentence for a crime committed while her entire church watched her singing in her church choir in the ghetto.

We spent a few days in what used to be considered an extremely dangerous and gang-ridden ghetto bringing in gifts, listening to stories of faith, praying, and attending church with the people of God there. We were all greatly moved by how the faithfulness of a few people has transformed this center of poverty into a still-poor, but spiritually growing & much safer place for families to live & love together.

Our last day in Guatemala, we brought food, clothes, & a few toys into the city dump where many Guatemalans actually make their home, literally living off the garbage there. I was humbled by the chance to give just a little to these people - even the youngest of whom uttered "gracias" with each loaf of bread we gave out.

The most exciting part of our trip was how God worked in the lives of the students in our group... all were greatly impacted & many made decisions for the first time to seek after Jesus & allow Him to work in their lives. Pray the Holy Spirit would continue to be at work in our lives & show us how to bring the great & wonderful things we learned back to "real life."

liliana

This amazing woman is an opera singer in Italy & the local coordinator for the Italian version of Magdalena: Released from Shame... Mike worked with her in Milan last year.


Click here to read her testimony & hear her sing!
http://www.lilianaoliveri.com/en/testimonianza.php

while mike's been gone....

"...your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

- Jesus (Matthew 6:8)

maybe i should have posted these prayer requests (see below in blue) on the blog sooner, but for those of you who got the email, thanks for praying for us while Mike's been in Ohio the past week...


as i reread my prayer requests, i laughed & thought maybe i should have been more specific, especially with the last request:

• For Caryn & Hudson in Orlando while he’s gone… safety, rest, health, & a good time together while Mike is gone.

safety.... at 5:30am on saturday morning, my mom, Hudson & I woke up to the alarms blaring & smoke filling our bedrooms... yes, we were all SAFE (for which we are very thankful)... it was just the backup heater trying to keep up with the "cold" down here (yes, only 30s, as opposed to -20s where mike was) & burning up all the dust that had accumulated on the coil since last winter... of course, we thought the place was burning down at the time.
maybe i should have said to pray for a "safe & non-eventful" time while mike was gone.

rest & health.... a few short hours after our little alarm incident, my stomach started cramping up.... assuming it was something i ate that didn't agree with me, i figured the rest of the household was safe as the cramps got worse & i spent most of the next 20 hours alternating between the bathroom & my bed*. just when it seemed we were in the clear, & i was feeling better, i hear from my mom who had since left, but was an hour away with similar symptoms... hudson was next, overflowing his diapers like a pro, though in much better spirits than either my mom or me was while he was doing it. (*special thanks to debbie, my hero through the worst of it, taking Hudson on errands with her while i was detained - and who is not yet feeling any ill effects... AND thanks a ton for the groceries, faith :)
maybe i should have said to pray for a "a lot of rest & GOOD health" while mike was gone.


a good time together.... of course, in God's loving sovereignty, He knows what we need even before we ask, & takes care of us even when our prayers (& prayer requests) are imperfect... i was just telling mike that i actually enjoyed the time i spent with Hudson when (bc i was so weak & tired from lack of sleep & food) i didn't have energy to do anything but just sit on the floor with him & try to make him giggle between dirty diapers.

maybe God knew just what i needed while mike was gone.



mike still isn't home (until wednesday night), so feel free to revise your prayer requests as you see fit :).

Mike leaves tomorrow (Wednesday, January 14) for a support trip in Ohio for a week!

Please pray:

• For opportunities for Mike to speak about our work at 2 churches & 1 small dinner party, where couples interested in our ministry will have a chance to hear more about how they can partner with us.
• That Mike would have wisdom & hear God’s leading on what to share & how to encourage those who attend.
• That God would meet our need for new ministry partners… that many would want to be a part of our team through their prayers & financial giving (especially commitments to give monthly), to help reach people around the world for Christ.
• That the weather would cooperate as Mike travels & as people travel to hear him share – it’s going to be COLD!
• For Caryn & Hudson in Orlando while he’s gone… safety, rest, health, & a good time together while Mike is gone.

Thanks!! Your prayers are so important to us!

sierra trading post

sierra trading post has long been one of my favorite places to get deals on outdoor (& other) shoes, clothes, gear, etc... after my last order, i noticed a clickable bible verse (john 10:10) on my order page, so i clicked on it, & it went here:

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/lp/Founding_Story.html




"The scripture from John 10:10 holds special meaning for me. Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." I have not been the same since that November night in 1975. God has given me a fuller, richer and more wonderful life than I could have imagined. As in everyone's life, there have been challenges and obstacles, but God has remained faithful to His promise to help me and guide me through them."
by Keith Richardson, Founder
Sierra Trading Post

beth

beth moore offers a great audio bible study broadcast weekly...
go to this link... it's updated every monday... right now she's doing romans & talking about the stronger & weaker brothers... good stuff!

http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Living_Proof_with_Beth_Moore/

father & son

True Story.

A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?' The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'. They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together. One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To which, his father said 'Yes'.For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island. Father and son went on to complete the race together. Here's video footage of the duo...



for more of the story:http://www.snopes.com/glurge/teamhoyt.asp

the shack

mike read the shack earlier this year as part of a men's retreat & has been telling me to read it since... started it tuesday... finished it yesterday.

what a crazy book.

i think we could all stand to read it.

no computers at publix...

we received this recently in a counselor's email update:

Can I just tell you that I am getting pretty upset with my local grocery store?! For weeks now I have needed a new computer and for weeks now I have gone into that store everyday, sometimes multiple times a day, looking for the computer section and I have not been able to find what I need. I have been getting so frustrated! So a week or so ago I started asking the baggers and checkers where the computers are and they kept saying they did not have computers, that this was a grocery store. But I knew they either simply did not know where to look or were just too lazy to show me where they kept the computers. A few days ago I finally asked for the manager; he told me the same thing. So I left and came back the next day and the next....and he kept telling me the same thing. NO computers.....but would I want to look at their fresh vegetables or fruit, perhaps some newly baked bread or barbecued chicken, even chips or ice cream? Absolutely not, I said, it is a computer that I need. So this morning he informs me I am creating a disturbance in his store and tells me I can never come back again. I guess he doesn't like pastors or retired sailors or something. He probably just doesn't like me. Fine. I will look somewhere else for my computer....right after lunch. Man, I wonder where you can get some food around here?

Alright, the truth is there is nothing wrong with my local grocery store; in fact, my wife is shopping at that store even as I type. But this is the type of word picture that the Lord gave one of my clients recently to illustrate the truth He was giving her about a situation in her life. And here is the principle....we often experience tremendous relational turmoil when we ask or demand that other individuals give us what they do not have; and furthermore, we can subsequently be so upset with the perception that they simply are choosing not to give us what we desire that we totally miss out on all that they do have available for us.

I have seen folks get angry and leave a church because "the pastor does not have time for me." There have been adults that cannot seem to let positive relationships birth and grow because they are locked in on trying to get one or both of their parents (or children) to affirm them. Marriages and friendship sometime languish as wonderful and fulfilling aspects of the relationship are overlooked because one person is giving relentless attention to the inability of the other person to "understand me." Sadly I even have worked with individuals who miss out on all the amazing items in the "ultimate superstore" of God because He appears to not carry the one item they most think they need most.

Over the years I have done many sessions of premarital counseling. One of the critical aspects of those sessions is getting past the warm fuzzy of romantic love and actually identifying the deepest needs and desires of each of the individuals....and then not guessing or assuming but actually determining the ability of other person to meet those. Failure to do this often leads to disappointment and frustration down the road when they discover that "my grocery store does not carry computers" and it can create such turmoil that they can no longer see all the great and life sustaining products their "grocery store" does have.

If I want a computer then the best place to go would be Best Buy, not Publix. If a person needs a place that they can come to share their hurts, fears, feelings and pain without being rejected or condemned; a place where there are compassionate, caring people who have time to journey at a slower pace then perhaps they might consider coming to JMCF. After all, we carry that product. It is very possible that the people with whom they are most frustrated at the moment simply do not have that product in their store. We would sure hate for them, in their frustration, to miss all the wonderful items that special person does have for them.

Pastor Jim GrovesJourney Ministries of Central Florida, Inc."A safe place to heal"www.journeyministriesorlando.com407-737-8730

from an email forward....

A nurse on the pediatric ward, before listening to the little ones chests, would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts. Their eyes would always light up with awe, but she never got a response equal to four-year old David's comment.

Gently she tucked the stethoscope into his ears and placed the disk over his heart. 'Listen', she said...........'What do you suppose that is?' He drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap - tap - tapping deep in his chest. Then his face broke out in a wondrous grin and he asked, 'Is that Jesus knocking?'

Revelation 3:20

my favorite lines....

from little women by l. m. alcott (a great Christmas read!)

Before the evening was half over, Jo felt so completely disillusioned, that she sat down in a corner to recover herself. Mr. Bhaer soon joined her, looking rather out of his element, and presently several of the philosophers, each mounted on his hobby, came ambling up to hold an intellectual tournament in the recess. The conversations were miles beyond Jo's comprehension, but she enjoyed it, though Kant and Hegel were unknown gods, the Subjective and Objective unintelligible terms, and the only thing `evolved from her inner consciousness' was a bad headache after it was all over. It dawned upon her gradually that the world was being picked to pieces, and put together on new and, according to the talkers, on infinitely better principles than before, that religion was in a fair way to be reasoned into nothingness, and intellect was to be the only God. Jo knew nothing about philosophy or metaphysics of any sort, but a curious excitement, half pleasurable, half painful, came over her as she listened with a sense of being turned adrift into time and space, like a young balloon out on a holiday.

She looked round to see how the Professor liked it, and found him looking at her with the grimest expression she had ever seen him wear. He shook his head and beckoned her to come away, but she was fascinated just then by the freedom of Speculative Philosophy, and kept her seat, trying to find out what the wise gentlemen intended to rely upon after they had annihilated all the old beliefs.

Now, Mr. Bhaer was a diffident man and slow to offer his own opinions, not because they were unsettled, but too sincere and earnest to be lightly spoken. As he glanced from Jo to several other young people, attracted by the brilliancy of the philosophic pyrotechnics, he knit his brows and longed to speak, fearing that some inflammable young soul would be led astray by the rockets, to find when the display was over that they had only an empty stick or a scorched hand.
He bore it as long as he could, but when he was appealed to for an opinion, he blazed up with honest indignation and defended religion with all the eloquence of truth an eloquence which made his broken English musical and his plain face beautiful. He had a hard fight, for the wise men argued well, but he didn't know when he was beaten and stood to his colors like a man. Somehow, as he talked, the world got right again to Jo. The old beliefs, that had lasted so long, seemed better than the new. God was not a blind force, and immortality was not a pretty fable, but a blessed fact. She felt as if she had solid ground under her feet again, and when Mr. Bhaer paused, outtalked but not one whit convinced, Jo wanted to clap her hands and thank him.

She did neither, but she remembered the scene, and gave the Professor her heartiest respect, for she knew it cost him an effort to speak out then and there, because his conscience would not let him be silent. She began to see that character is a better possession than money, rank, intellect, or beauty, and to feel that if greatness is what a wise man has defined it to be, `truth, reverence, and good will', then her friend Frederick Bhaer was not only good, but great.

first bible

big weekend 2

Hudson was dedicated at our church this weekend....

he did really well until the pastor's prayer went a bit long.

uncle Mat visited...

so did Mommee...

humility

“Humility is deciding to let God be God.” — Martin Luther

(stolen from a friend's blog)

psalm 139:7-16

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.



psalm 139

faintest traces

Man is so great that his greatness appears even in knowing himself to be miserable. A tree has no sense of its misery. It is true that to know we are miserable is to be miserable; but to know we are miserable is also to be great. Thus all the miseries of man prove his grandeur; they are the miseries of a dignified personage, the miseries of a dethroned monarch…What can this incessant craving, and this impotence of attainment mean, unless there was once a happiness belonging to man, of which only the faintest traces remain, in that void which he attempts to fill with everything within his reach?

-Pascal

asking questions...

you may have noticed that in the column to the right, you can see what mike &/or i have been reading lately...

on that list is a book a co-worker recommended & gave to us that i've found really interesting... can you hear me? tuning into the God who speaks. by brad jersak
while he comes from a slightly different perspective than i am used to, i've gotten a lot out of his writings... and have been challenged to listen for God's voice & expect to hear Him speak to me... through things like scripture, my pastor, or even an urge to pray for or encourage someone... everyday things we may dismiss as just our own thoughts.
while waiting for mike in bangkok airport last weekend, i did a little exercise he suggested... he called it asking God "friendship questions". it seemed a little weird at first, but i felt prompted (by God??) to give it a go & try the author's suggested list of things to ask God, as my friend (John 15:15):

• What's grieving You these days? Why?
• What's exciting You these days? Why?
• What do you like about me? Why?
• What do You see when You look at me?
• When was the last time You wept over me? Why?
• When was the last time You laughed over me? Why?
• If You could meet me anywhere face-to-face where would it be?
• If my heart is Your home, what does it look like?
• If You could play a game with me, what would it be? Why?

He encourages us to pray first for the peace of God in our hearts & minds, then not to analyze too much or try to "get it right" as we listen for God's answers... He says that anytime we listen to God, we should always dismiss anything that does not line up with Scripture, but take confidence in Jesus' promise that we will be able to discern His voice (John 10) if we are His sheep.

I am not a person who regularly "hears" God... but as i asked Him the questions above, though i didn't hear an audible voice, i did have a very clear impression of His answers in the form of thoughts in my head... it was really surprising! some of the answers spoke very directly to some struggles & fears i was having at the time, though i was not expecting them to. i think i'd like to ask questions & listen more often now!

i hope you'll try it & be surprised, too, by our God who longs for us to have a very personal relationship with Him. let me know if you do!

to pass the time..

just in case anyone is concerned with how we're spending our time apart...

last weekend, caryn hiked 3km uphill with all her stuff (no sherpas here, debbie) to chaperone a high school retreat. she led a devotion encouraging the kids to look at Psalm 139, while asking God to reveal truth about themselves & Himself. Then she promptly fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon, leaving them to the care of the Lord and other capable chaperones. (yes i am out of shape & twice the age of the other campers, but can you find me in this picture?)


meanwhile, mike was taking seriously God's command to subdue the earth and rule over its creatures (and taking advantage of the start of deer season), hoping to have a repeat of the above scene (from several seasons ago... boy was she yummy!)... sorry to any squeamish bloggers.

the meadowlark

Around the time Mike & I were dating, I must have read this excerpt from the book journey of desire (see below)… I was so moved by it that I printed out a picture of a meadowlark & hung it up in my cubicle….

Later, when I went through all of my stuff as I was getting ready to move to Thailand, I found the printout of the meadowlark in a stack of papers… but by that time, I tried & tried but could not remember why the bird was special.... so I threw it away.

I was so encouraged when this came... it solved the mystery and was a timely reminder of the message of the meadowlark to me today….


The Meadowlark
10/29/2006
________________________________________
The meadowlark has long been my favorite songbird. I love its song because it evokes so many summer days out in the fields and streams of the West. Its song means summer, hay meadows, long lazy days, fly-fishing. More than anything else, it has become for me a symbol of hope. The meadowlark returns to Colorado in the early spring, and as I’ve mentioned, that typically means it arrives about the same time our major snowstorms hit. What courage; if it were me, I’d wait until June when the weather warms up. But they come in spite of the snow, and take their place on fence posts and the tops of small trees, and begin singing. Hearing a midsummer song almost seems out of place when the flurries are whipping about your face. But that is exactly when we need it.

I heard two meadowlarks again this spring, calling and responding to each other on a cold and windy day. God began to speak through them. I heard him urging me to keep my own summer song, even though life’s winter tries to throw into my spring cold wind and snow. Do not throw away your confidence, he said. Do not budge from your perch, but sing your song, summer confident, sure of my great goodness toward you. You did not bring this spring, dear child; you do not have to arrange for the summer to follow. They come from thy Father’s will, and they will come.

Brent was buried on a Thursday afternoon. As we gathered by the graveside, Craig read these words: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25–26). He closed his Bible and we all stood in silence, not really knowing what to say or do; no one wanted to leave; no one really wanted to stay. It seemed so final. At that moment, a meadowlark sang.

This is my song in return.

(The Journey of Desire , 210–12)
________________________________________
From The Ransomed Heart, by John Eldredge, reading 302
Ransomed Heart Ministries www.ransomedheart.com


to hear the song of the meadowlark, go to:
http://www.naturesongs.com/weme1.wav

one more...

i'm convicted that my latest blog entries have been a bit "fluffy", to say the least... so here's a little substance for you from the latest Ransomed Heart devotional...
i'd say it applies to the men, as well, by the way... even though it's excerpted from a book for girls :).



What Is It That God Wants from You?
10/01/2006

He wants the same thing that you want. He wants to be loved. He wants to be known as only lovers can know each other. He wants intimacy with you. Yes, yes, he wants your obedience but only when it flows out of a heart filled with love for him. “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me” (John 14:21). Following hard after Jesus is the heart’s natural response when it has been captured and fallen deeply in love with him.
Reading George MacDonald several years ago, I came across an astounding thought. You’ve probably heard that there is in every human heart a place that God alone can fill. (Lord knows we’ve tried to fill it with everything else, to our utter dismay.) But what the old poet was saying was that there is also in God’s heart a place that you alone can fill. “It follows that there is also a chamber in God himself, into which none can enter but the one, the individual.” You. You are meant to fill a place in the heart of God no one and nothing else can fill. Whoa. He longs for you.
God wants to live this life together with you, to share in your days and decisions, your desires and disappointments. He wants intimacy with you in the midst of the madness and mundane, the meetings and memos, the laundry and lists, the carpools and conversations and projects and pain. He wants to pour his love into your heart and he longs to have you pour yours into his. He wants your deep heart; that center place within that is the truest you. He is not interested in intimacy with the woman you think you are supposed to be. He wants intimacy with the real you. (Captivating , 120–21)
From The Ransomed Heart, by John Eldredge, reading 274 Ransomed Heart Ministries www.ransomedheart.com

To subscribe to this mailing, go to the My Profile section on www.ransomedheart.com (or create a profile) and check the Daily Readings List checkbox in your profile.



until November...

God speaks to me.

maize hutton is a very talented woman who creates beautiful, smile-inducing things from the stuff most of us would find ordinary or even cast away... her original product, the "mommy tag", is a sweet tribute to moms crafted from silver that she recycles from old film (along with all her silver jewelry creations). i've been admiring her work, & following her daily creations, finds, & thoughts on her blog at maizehutton.com since finding the site several weeks ago.

wednesday afternoon, i stopped at my PO box to find a package waiting for me with maize hutton written stylishly in the upper left... i tore it open & promptly started crying in the chiang mai post office parking lot. you can see the contents in the squares above, but i'm afraid they probably don't totally explain my emotional outburst :). while i LOVE gifts to begin with, have an affection for old books, & melt over anything shiny & personalized, i really need to share more of the story (& you're probably wondering why a lady who makes jewelry for celebrities sent me a package, anyway - not that i totally know the answer to that question**)...

i've struggled on & off as a Christian with "performance" issues.... after first learning about a God who knows me totally & loves me without condition, i slowly forgot about His unconditional acceptance of me & worried a lot more about "doing things" to please Him, rather than "being" His child. as a result, i've often felt distant from Him... not really feeling His love or hearing His voice...
lately, i've felt God "wooing" me back to Him - in the midst of feeling a bit burnt out from serving a God who i often saw as a drill sargeant rather than a loving Father - i've heard His voice (through a few good books, including the Bible, and some trusted friends) reminding me to rest... to "be" His child & to stop trying to "do" things for Him. it's been a hard transition... learning to rest in Him when i found a lot of my significance in the things i was doing for Him.
at the suggestion of a friend, i've been asking Him for confirmation of His love & to hear His voice more clearly again.
so, as you can imagine, the package was very special.... the handmade necklace reminding me of His special, individual love for me (also a visual reminder of the love He showed me in giving me a wonderful husband)... and the book (a 3rd grade sunday school reader titled simply, God Speaks to Me) reminding me to be His child & that He does, indeed, still want to speak to me.

how is God speaking to you? i pray you'd have ears to listen & eyes to see just how He is showing you His love today.

-caryn

**apparently, when i commented on maize's blog, she clicked on the link to my blog (where she found mike's name & learned a bit about us)... other than her being an amazing woman with huge heart, i don't really know why she chose to bless me with this wonderful package... but i do know that i heard God's voice inside that padded envelope.


"God works in mysterious ways and through others when you least expect it." -maize hutton

(from her reply to my thank you email, in which i explained a bit about my story & why her gift meant so much)

thanks again, maize!