Learning to Love Well!!

Isaiah 58:5 -11 (God has brought this section to me in 3 different situations in one week, none were related -- think the Spirit is speaking!!)

Isn't the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,
and to not ignore your own flesh [and blood]?

Then your light will appear like the dawn,
and your recovery will come quickly.
Your righteousness will go before you,
and the LORD's glory will be your rear guard.

At that time, when you call, the LORD will answer;
when you cry out, He will say: Here I am.
If you get rid of the yoke from those around you,
the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,

and if you offer yourself to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted one,
then your light will shine in the darkness,
and your night will be like noonday.

The LORD will always lead you,
satisfy you in a parched land,
and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden
and like a spring whose waters never run dry.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11
"If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your gates in the land the LORD your God is giving you, you must not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has. Be careful that there isn't this wicked thought in your heart, The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near, and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him [nothing]. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty. Give to him, and don't have a stingy heart when you give, and because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do. For there will never cease to be poor people in the land;that is why I am commanding you,You must willingly open your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land."


The weekend of July 17-18 the Hope shepherds and wives had a retreat together. We all pitched in and organized to have a speaker and food and the Mills hosted our gathering in their home. Daniel put together some structure for us to benefit from prayer and discussion time. We also went through the Hope member directory and caught each other up on what is happening in their lives. We are all prayerful about each one of the sheep and it was refreshing to be able to speak of each member to each other!!

Mark Hewitt of Love and Care Ministry in Abilene spoke to us. After spending the morning with Mark, I continue to pray that I never look at a homeless or poor person the same. I really want to work on having a snack pack available in our car at all times to hand out. Just this week I was reminded by my niece that my parents' love for her is what makes her know there is a God. Our love toward the homeless and poor may have the same impact. The Lima Team has been using a phrase that keeps coming back to me - you have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you (John Bunyon). I have even thought of this as I have been reading The Hiding Place. We have so many opportunities to love others well. Daniel and I have so enjoyed the others God has put us with to shepherd our group in Abilene.

Daniel and Cathie, Mark, Laura and KB, and Mitzi and Foy.


On Friday night, July 23, we enjoyed a party celebrating our sweet friend, Kelli Bryant. She is currently studying at Oxford University. but came through Abilene with her parents. Many from Hope gathered to hug and listen to her stories, eat and laugh!!

Of Course, I Cried

Many of you have followed the Lima Team in their Frazalatera. The funds came in very fast and they were so encouraged. Thank you so much!! Daniel and I didn't even get our funds there before their goal was met. We will act faster next time!!

As I watched the video on John Mark and Tara Davidson's blog, of course, I cried. I hope you will enjoy it as well. Continue to pray for the future of this community. They will be having a medical mission week with these same families in late July. Several from the states will be helping out with this. We are so blessed to watch God's hand in so many ways.

Cathie asked me to share from some of my reading, so here it is.

your little red wagon - a conversation on approaching God
Alex Himaya - The Church at BattleCreek, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Heard Himaya refer to his book while visiting their congregation during a visit to Hannah.

Many of us have great memories of pulling our red Radio Flyer wagon around behind us as kids and all the adventures that centered around the treasures we were hauling or the adventures we were headed toward. While those memories are good one the author talks about another imaginary wagon we continue to pull around behind us. The ones with all the baggage we cant or wont let go of. More often than not this baggage is bad stuff that we allow to continue to haunt us even into our adult years. Sadly, even after we have been cleansed by the power of Jesus’ blood, we continue to pull that heavy load of forgotten (at least by God) garbage. Himaya asks a stark question of all of us wagon pullers, could it be that God is more concerned with us than what is in our wagons? Reconciliation (being made compatible with God) is the theme. The author relates this to the process of having one key open all the locks in a house. To do this they took the key to one lock that was staying in the house to a locksmith who them matched all the rest of the locks to fit with the one key. 2 Corinthians 5:18 says, “All this is from God who reconciled us to himself…

A good 100 page read.


The FEAST by Joshua Graves.
There is a question brought out by this book that is almost haunting - what if Jesus really meant the stuff he said? Sounds almost comical to ask, but based on the way we tend to practice religion (or as Foree Grove, A&M church pulpit minister, likes to call it - high church), you would think we would answer the question with our own question - Do you think he really meant all that stuff he said?

Graves leads us to think about our being a spiritual movement rather than an institutional religion. Believers are referred to as followers of the Way, but sometimes we appear to be leaders of my way (our way if we think we are part of a group who all think/act the same way). So thinking about how to be followers of Jesus is the adventure The Feast takes you on.

In the chapter entitled Wrestling with the Real Jesus, Graves uses Heb 13:11-14 to make a point. In particular, the last part of this passage, Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Quoting from Charles Campbell’s The Word on the Street: Performing the Scriptures in the Urban Context, we read, “it is not that we good Christians take God outside the camp, outside the walls of the church. We go outside because God is already there.” To often, for me at least, it seems that I wait impatiently for seekers to walk into the doors of our churches so we can lead them to the good news. It is even better if they know how to behave as Christians do because that speeds up the process of getting to believing! So much for the go into all the world admonishment in Matthew. I am in need of a daily reminder that ALL THE WORLD is ALL AROUND ME.

A great read if you really want to be challenged to consider if you are practicing a system of beliefs or living a way of life.

Letters from Dad by Greg Vaughn is my current read. A number of years ago Vaughn began meeting with a few guy friends and encouraged them to write letters to their family members. Very intriguing, convicting, and challenging so far.

MY FICTION world has included over the past couple of years books written by Clive Cussler, founder in 1979 of National Underwater and Marine Agency. Many of his books are adventure stories based on the history behind the ships and other lost artifacts that they have gone hunting for. If you watched the movie Sahara, then you have experienced one of Cussler’s books turned movie. I follow his writings from a website called Cusslermen. These are my easy reading so I have been able to get through 15 or so of his NUMA and Oregon series in 2 years. Recently, I completed Sea Hunters, which is part fiction and non-fiction. It is the historical story of a number of sunken vessels and the actual story of NUMA’s search for them.

So, there you have it.

Concepts from God's Way of Life

Recently I have started back on my building up to my running plan. I don't listen to any music while I run, but I have recently asked God to bring to my mind some of His concepts for life as I run. It has been fun and fascinating.

This morning ~ I will try to lay out the trail of my mind.

As I ran down one street a woman crossed in front of me and had a big dog on a leash. I decided to turn left there - it occurred to me, we each take different paths.

As I continued to run it began to get harder. I thought, life is hard, you have to work at it.

There were many flowers and a few cars that were red. Of course the blood of Christ came to mind and the more I ran, the more I saw of red. It was everywhere.

There were birds singing and I thought, there are times that we sing and then times we just need and want to be quiet.

There was a moving truck and I thought about the seasons in life, moving not only physically from place to place, but emotionally from A to Z.

I saw a bird fly to the top of the tree, and I thought I know there are times that we are at the top of something in life, but in general God wants us to give our seat up.

Our neighborhood is known for rattlesnakes and so I'm always on the look out for snakes especially in the empty fields that are at the end of the street. That, of course makes me think of Satan, such a sneaky one, lying in wait for an attack on God's people.

As I run on my street to get home, for some reason I always think of cows....I know that sounds funny. I'm not thinking of myself as a cow, but I do think of how cows come home to eat at the end of the day. I'm glad to get home when I arrive!!

When I get home I am ready for some water. I pray that I never get tired of Living Water from God. He is my refreshment!!

Running really isn't something I love, but I enjoy it more now than I have in the past.

New Things in Our Lives

Tried a new sugar cookie recipe and I would like to recommend it!! I didn't put the sprinkles on them, but I really enjoyed them.


New game in our closet!! Settlers of Catan. Rachel and Sean Landolt drove through and spent the night and taught us how to play. We are hooked now and so when you come, you will have to play!!

New Blackberry phones in our hands ~ ~ mine is the RED one. Our phones were exactly alike before May 1 (for the past 2 years) and they were very easy to get mixed up. Matter of fact twice we have been at the Pope's house and mixed our phones with hers. I kept calling Daniel and would get Beth Pope on the phone and kept wondering what the deal was!! Life is wild anytime you are with Beth Pope!! Since my new phone came in the middle of the wedding details I really am daily learning new things about it. I have enjoyed it!!

The best newness that we have in our life is a person - Jason Lee Grassie!! Our new son-in-love!! What should I tell you about him? Well, for starters he had enough wisdom to go slow in the beginning of his time with Hannah, to come and sit in our living room and ask Daniel --"Is there anything I need to know as I begin to date Hannah?" That is just the beginning of his humbleness!! Jason is a person who is good at making decisions and he is also totally confident enough to ask for advice before making his final decision. Jason is a very hard worker and if something doesn't work one way, he will try another way!! Remembering names is another gift that he has. Very personable when he meets you and is a great listener. He is a seeker of God's Word and has insightful questions. Well, I think you get the idea, We are totally in love with him and impressed with how God has fashioned his life. He is a grad student at GWU and works full-time with Frank Lucas, an Oklahoma representative. DC is the first home for Hannah and Jason and they are off to a fabulous start!!

Recap in Pictures

Hannah and I picked up Alison, Cailyn and Corban on Fri., April 30th. We had a rough drive because Corban wasn't really enjoying his seat. He was very happy to be in Abilene. Cailyn slept on a mat of blankets on the floor of on my side of the bed. We were able to sing and read and pray each night. What a JOY!! Corban slept in the room with Alison ~ he had a harder time getting use to a place other than his own bedroom. I pray his weeks back home can be settled back into a routine for his sake and Alison and Justin. We tried to keep the kids bed schedule for the most part. During the day we had "adventures"!!


The Grace Museum

Vulnerability

Written April 23rd
....Coming home with a new child or being a new bride ~~ these roles can put you in a season of vulnerability. I do remember questioning my mom about getting from raising a newborn to having such a loving relationship with her and getting to know God as I grew up. How was I going to repeat that experience with Alison, our first born? It would be easy to have an ABC plan and it also would be easy to give into the fear that is quick to come.

The years that our girls have dated and married (Hannah's sweet day is quickly approaching) have helped me see our marriage as new when we actually have been married over 30 years. It is helpful to see how the guys have pursued them - flowers, notes of endearment, laughing. Watching them has reminded me what we can lose or forget along the way. Fear can enter in and we become vulnerable and give up on this relationship that can at times be so hard.

This week, I heard that Do Not Be Afraid is the most frequent command in the Bible. I need to go check that out on Bible Gateway. The next chapter in Sacred Parenting sites verse after verse about fear and what God wants for us as parents. Satan is constantly trying to convince us to give in to fear and vulnerability, which can lead to robbing our children of experiences needed for their growth. The author reminds us, "Courage doesn't always get rewarded with success...through sacred parenting we learn to act courageously, regardless of how afraid we may feel. And when we step out in faith, we allow God to shape our souls in ways that will develop us far beyond the parenting part of our lives."

I am finally finishing up this post today, May 23rd. As you know much has been happening in our lives even when I wrote this back in April. I did not finish the book, Sacred Parenting before Alison and Justin left to return to Lima, so let me know if you have purchased it and are reading it and what you think.

Many pictures will follow about our wonderful time with Alison/Justin and the grandkids and also of the great experience of Hannah and Jason's covenant with God and one another. Blessings to all!!