Sunrise and Sunset

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Sunset

A sunset is proof that God colors outside the lines.  – Beth Moore, Daniel study, pg. 186

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Sunrise — notice the “pancake” clouds

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Colors changing on the previous one

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2nd sunrise

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3rd sunrise

Thanks even in the Crisis

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Although the earthquake in Haiti is a devastating event, and the country will be rebuilding for years to come, there are some positive things for which we can be thankful.  For one, our prayer is not for a restored Haiti (to return to what it was before the earthquake), but for a new Haiti (better than it has been in these last 200 years).  I think this is possible in God’s hands, although it may be a long time coming.  Jerusalem was 49 years in rebuilding after its destruction (Daniel 9:25), but God was Present and working the whole time.

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We do not need to despair over tragedies such as we’ve seen in Haiti, for God is still on the throne, and He brings good and beautiful things even out of sadness.  Haitian people have been worshipping in the streets, and sharing what little they have with one another.  The world is finally responding to Haiti’s needs, too.

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Prayer is a very real, effective and vital ministry of the church.  Still, we are not “in control” — and for that I am thankful.  God is in control and this world is not the end of our existence.

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A Haitian Christian lawyer/friend of Wess Stafford’s was pulled out alive from the rubble of his office.

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God has been giving me so many special scriptures throughout the week, related to Haiti.  We can have complete peace and assurance in times like this!

“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.  We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”  –1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (NIV)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.   — James 1:2-3 (NIV)

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  –Romans 8:37

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.  – Philippinas 1:12 (NIV)

When He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him because they know His voice.  – John 10:4

Be still, and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.  The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. — Psalm 46:10

But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.  O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.  – Psalm 131:2-3

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Believers & children who have died in the earthquake are home with the Lord!  I saw children being pulled out of the rubble — either by relief workers or by angels, bearing them gently away to Heavenly places.  This is not just a image in my mind; it’s true!

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Compassion staff members from the Dominican Republic have been helping powerfully with relief efforts.  I’m thankful for my friend, Cris, who works for Complimentary Interventions such as this in the DR.

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Ephraim, my Haitian friend, and employee for Compassion, is safe!

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Dan Woolley, whom I’ve worked with a bit in the past, was rescued safely from the rubble!

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All 74 of the Compassion Haiti country office staff are accounted for and safe!  This is nothing short of miraculous!  I believe these and many of the sponsored children and Leadership Development students will step up to lead and direct Haiti, under God’s direction, into a much brighter future.

My Children in Haiti

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Josue — completed his sponsorship in 2002 — was in Port-au-Prince the last I heard.

Please pray for Josue and his family.  I’m grateful for ministries like Compassion that will be doing all they can to help the survivors, treat the injured, and raise up leaders to make decisions for the future.

Josue & Juli in 2002

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Enold — the young man I currently sponsor in Haiti — and Josue’s little brother.  These boys’ father is a pastor, and he walks 4 1/2 hours every Saturday to get to his church on the island of La Gonave.

Enold

Christmas Gifts

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A beautiful tree from the Big Horn Mountains

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Gifts around the tree

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Elf under the tree

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My family are precious gifts to me (2008 family portrait)

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Jeremy wasn’t able to come, but this sweater was once worn at a “Tacky Christmas Sweater” party

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Cornish Hen doing side crunches!

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The gift of plentiful food

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Jeremy’s Gift — his wonderful compositions!

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A wonderful photo of Chris

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A beautiful Bolivian bag — From Sarah’s trip with “Engineers Without Borders”

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Paul with a beautiful photo of creation!

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Chris looking Bolivian

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Sarah and gift of a carousel horse, since used to run the carousel here in town

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The gift of photography

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Paul looking Bolivian

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The greatest gift of all — the birth of our Savior!

Blessed Christmas

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Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:  The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.  – Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)

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Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.  – Matthew 1:20-21

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But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times…He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.  And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.  And he will be their peace.  – Micah 5:2, 4-5

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So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.  She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.– Luke 2:4-6

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All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  ”The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel — which means, ‘God with us.’”– Matthew 1:23

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And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you:  You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” — Luke 2:8-12

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Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  – Luke 2:13-14

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So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger…The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.  – Luke 2:16, 20

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After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him…they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed…they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.  – Matthew 2:1-2, 9-11

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The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned…For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.  – Isaiah 9:2, 6-7

Christmas Time is Special

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A nativity set made with our children years ago — still on display yearly!

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An old-fashioned Christmas at The Occidental Hotel

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Christmas cheer

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Ribbons for our service men and women deployed overseas

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A nativity set painted by my mother years ago

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A Savior born to deliver us from sin

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Ice on Clear Creek

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The beautiful Clear Creek walking bridge

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Ornaments from a tree my husband once bought me at “Festival of Trees”

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Christmas in the Wild West is always fun

Thanksgiving

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Two of our kids are here for Thanksgiving this year.  Yeah!

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Our other son was invited into the home of friends.  Thank You, Lord.

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Paul helps with meal preparation

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Plentiful food, even for breakfast

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Delicious pies!

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A spectacular sunset!

God’s Presence

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Bible Study and Spiritual Insight

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Music

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Laughter

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Friendships and deep discussions

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Wind and rain

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Shafts of light falling on my face through my curtain

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Meaningful, spiritual dreams

Family Memories

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Shopping with my mother shortly before her death to cancer in 2001

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My maternal grandparents about the time of their wedding — 1923

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My maternal grandparents with my sister and myself (the youngest one)

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My paternal grandparents at the time of their wedding — 1910

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My paternal grandparents later in life

Miscellaneous

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Artwork by a sponsored Compassion child

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Learning to quilt!

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Babies are so sweet!

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Meaningful artwork on the carillon at Kansas University

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The bell tower at my Alma Mater that I used to play

An Awesome God

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Redemption

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Omni-Presence

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Omniscience

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Forgiveness

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Mercy

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Grace

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Love

More Zoo Critters

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True Love!

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Meerkats crack me up!

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Sleepy little foxes of some type

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Giraffes heading in for the night

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A shy rhino

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Capybaras — one of my favorite animals that I had never seen until now

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I especially like this cute little zoo critter — it was there when I was a child & I always loved it.

I’ve probably rubbed his nose dozens of times in my life!

Zoo Critters

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A beautiful Tiger

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This one was being pushy and greedy

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I gave food to this one because he wasn’t being pushy

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Colorful Sheep

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Kangaroos

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Sea Lions

Quality Times

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I’ve been blessed to see Jeremy several times this fall

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Fun times with Sarah in Lawrence, KS

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Chris got to go horseback riding in the mountains with friends

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People that appreciate the gifts & potential of our kids

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Crazy times with friends — I’m especially thankful Sasha wasn’t hurt

when she rolled her car three times.  Thank you Lord.

Compassion Advocate’s Conference

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Jesus welcomes the little children to come unto Him

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Some of the wonderful Advocates on my team — Autumn, Mindy and Carly

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Silly times with Caitlin

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New friendships among the Child Advocates — Sarah & Carly

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Special friends like Cris — from Compassion’s country office in the Dominican Republic

More Critters

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Massive Bison

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Multi-colored Sheep

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Sheep Dog

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Baby goats in a bucket

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Funny Creatures

Family

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Goofy fun on the road (touring the Wyoming Frontier Prison)

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Family reunion!

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My sister, Robyn, with one of her grandkids

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Babies!

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Smart kids — Sarah giving computer advice to my sister

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Playing games and beating these guys!

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Some of my sister’s grandchildren

Beauty

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My records show I’ve gotten 507 children sponsored; Compassion’s records show 516.  Woohoo!  And who are these extra children whose names I don’t know?

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Great views in the Big Horns

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Late summer flowers

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A beautiful sunset over the Big Horns

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A great place for devotions — I was discouraged and sensed God’s call to me to “come away” to the mountains.  He clearly met me there and brightened my spirits, too.

Scenes From the Past

I had the opportunity to return to my home town of Raytown, MO, recently.  It sure stirred up a lot of memories and thankfulness.

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It’s always fun to get together with high school friends

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Donna, a childhood friend I hadn’t seen for 35 years or so — we still remembered and giggled about all the goofy things we used to do.

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Blue Ridge Elementary School — I received a good education here

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My other grade school, Westridge Elementary School — also excellent

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Paul and I were married here 34 years ago this month

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Sanctuary

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This is my childhood home, which unfortunately has seen better days

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I’m thankful for my childhood town of Raytown, MO

God’s Creatures

I’ve always had a love of nature, and especially of animals.  I’m thankful for all these funny creatures.

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Our beloved Holly, who died a few years ago

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We have lots of dogs in the back of pickup trucks in our town

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A playful otter, seen in Alaska

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A beautiful butterfly, found in the bottom of a trash can

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A friendly cow

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Horses in the shape of a heart

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Turkeys

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A friendly horse

Beauty All Around

Creation is such an interesting variety of beauty, glory and power!  How do flowers open?  What keeps a volcano from erupting for hundreds of years?  Why do some leaves come in green and others red?  God is amazing!

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Sand ripples and moss

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Roses

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Mt. Hood

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Japanese Gardens — Portland

Homelife

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We have a lot of beautiful birds at our feeder, such as these finches

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A cute little chickadee at the feeder

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I love our little western town!

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We often have deer in our front yard

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Our son, Chris, makes the best smoothies!

Multnomah Falls Hike

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Hiking near the falls — beautiful weather and views

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My Compassion manager, Ian, organized a wonderful retreat for us!

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Multnomah Falls

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My friend, Jane, and I at the falls

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Blogging friend, Jill (“Girls Just Want to Have Fun”)

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AC friends waiting for the glorious sunset

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Ripples in the evening sky!

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Sunset over the Columbia River

Portland Retreat

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Compassion International Area Coordinators — NW Region

Area Coordinators

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Daisies

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Scripture Plaque

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Flowering bushes

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Beautiful leaves

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Tiger Lilies

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Multi-colored Pansies

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Chapel at Multnomah College

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Great food and fellowship!

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Excellent seminar about coaching — supporting and listening to others

Daily Blessings

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Sunset

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Sunrise

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The Cross

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Our Town

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Transportation

Little Things

In keeping with Brad’s suggestion that we remember to thank God for the little things, I want to add to my list the following things.  These are considered the “little” (or normal) things in life — but actually, they’re huge.  Ask someone living in poverty if shoes are necessary, or food, shelter, clothing and medications.

Enold

Brad pointed out that his Compassion child, Sabato, needed a new pair of shoes, which Brad’s family supplied.  It caused me to get up out of my chair and go look at the photos of our Compassion children, and I discovered that Enold, of Haiti, did not have very good shoes on either.  I’m sending money to Compassion with a request that it be used for shoes for him.  How many “little” blessings around us do we take for granted?  We have such an abundance of them!  But many involve issues of life and death — food, shelter, clothing, medications.  I’m thankful I can help supply these needs for children in poverty through a company that I trust implicitly — Compassion International.

In the meantime, regarding my needs being supplied –

Thank You Lord; Thank You.

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Medications for all our health needs

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More clothes than we need

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More than adequate shelter

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An abundance of food

Also — a big thanks to Ann for starting this Gratitude Community, for sharing her tears and thanks with me (I’ve shared many over her beautiful blog), and for the warm welcome!

Shoes and Boots

Brad Ruggles wrote an excellent post about Thanklessness. Take a close look at the shoes in the photo he posted of his Compassion child.  After reading that, I was inspired to add “shoes” to my list of Endless Thanks.  I also noticed that my child in Haiti has worn shoes in his photo, too, so I’m sending money to Enold for new shoes.  Thanks, Brad, for the reminder of things I’ve taken for granted, such as an overabundance of shoes like these:

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Crocs

Crocs

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Boots

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Dress Shoes

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Slippers

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Walkin’ Shoes

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Sandals

Daily Walks

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A nice walking path close to home

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Deer in the sunrise

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Funny scenes on my walks, such as this dog with a huge log in his mouth.  His owner says he picks it up every morning and carries it for his walk, then leaves it behind for the next time.

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The Big Horn Mountains

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Canada Geese flying over my pathway, honking loudly

Health — Body, Soul and Spirit

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Beth Moore Bible Study on Esther — today

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Positive comments and support from friends!

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Sunshine today, finally!

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My blog friend, Chris, is reporting that he is doing better today after a tough weekend from treatment for Lyme’s Disease. Yeah!

God is good!

God and Family

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Our third-born, Sarah

Sarah

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Our second-born, Chris

Chris

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Our first-born, Jeremy

Jeremy

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My husband of 33 years, Paul

Paul

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Family

This was the last family portrait before my mother passed away in 2001

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The Presence of Jesus Christ in my life –

Lord, Savior, Counselor, Friend, Lover

Endless Thanks

I’m so ready, finally, to join this group — the Gratitude Community!  The challenge began with Ann Voskamp, and was a challenge (to herself) to come up with One Thousand Gifts from God for which she was thankful.  True to gratitude, it didn’t stop at one thousand, but became a list of Endless Gifts.  

 

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.                                       — Colossians 3:15-17 (ESV)

And so, I begin my list of Endless Thanks in the form of this blog.  Take a closer look at the verses above.  I love them.  We even had them read at our wedding.  Our Pastor, Tom,  just reminded us Sunday of the solid advice they contain:

1. Let the Peace of Christ Rule in Your Hearts.  I think the word “let” is a huge word in these first two points.  We can LET peace rule (control) us in the midst of the conflict, during the trials, not just at the end.  In all things, we can let peace rule rather than anxiety, fear and despair.  Tom compared this to the control of a baseball umpire:  ”Let this peace rule — let it be the thing that rules and controls you and keeps you on track.”
2. Let the Word of Christ Dwell in You Richly.  We can let God’s Word come into our minds and affect how we think.  We don’t have to be controlled by thoughts of rejection, inadequacy or concerns about what others think about us.  Instead, we can fill our minds with the truths of God’s Word.  We can sing songs of gratitude — in fact, psalms, hymns and spiritual songs are one of the best ways to memorize God’s truths, and to express what you’re feeling.  He suggested we sing what we’re experiencing — blues, for instance, came out of tragedy and pain.  It’s interesting to see the words of hymns that came out of the Protestant Reformation.  Spirituals came out of slavery.
3. Whatever You Do, in Word or Deed, Do Everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus.  It’s not all about us; it’s all about Him!  To quote Tom again, “What is not included in this word, ‘Everything?’”  That made me stop and think!  He also spoke truth to my heart when he said, “Maybe the purpose of your life is not about making you happy, but about making others happy — loving and serving them.”    We live to glorify Him, and that includes thinking of others besides ourselves.   And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”  –2 Corinthians 5:15 (NIV)
4. And Be Thankful…With Thankfulness in Your Hearts to God…Giving Thanks to God the Father Through Him.  Tom rightly pointed out that thankfulness is the common thread in all of this — notice how it weaves through all these verses.  He said, “Thankfulness is learning to tie every event in life to God, even the things that hurt the most.  Allow the peace of God to give direction, to impact your life and to overflow to others.”     

As these fall in place — Peace, God’s Word, Purpose, Thankfulness — we will find that everything in our lives points to Christ.  He is central; He rules and controls our very thoughts.  We can then realize that illusive dream — abundant life — and certainly a peaceful and joyful life of Endless Thanks.  Finally, I need to mention that Tom has been battling a mysterious fever and fatigue that has been holding him in illness for over 45 days, since he returned from ministry in Asia, so he knows what he’s talking about.  This is what has come out of that pain, and these scriptures have given Tom the courage he needed to experience peace in the midst of the trials.