I would like to share with you guys a piece of my journal that displays some of what I have been learning (how slowly I learn! Forgive me God!).
"We make Gods' gifts to us our gods. -Husband, child, family- Many times I 'worship' these way more than my God who gave these gifts to me. -Brains, Talent, Work, Ministry- We view these things as 'ours!' How twisted our minds are- they are gifts from the ultimate brainiac & talented One! -Food, home, time- We take advantage and for granted the fact that we have food, a house, and are living. We think those are things we need. All we truly need is God Almighty- the giver of these unlimited gifts."
Do we have a yearning for God? What is the one thing you long for with all your heart? Is it God? Or is it simply a gift given by God?
"Give me a man in love; he knows what I mean. Give me one who yearns; give me one who is hungry; give me one far away in the desert. who is thirsty and sighs for the spring of the eternal country. Give me that sort of man; he knows what I mean. But if I speak to a cold man, he just does not know what I am talking about." -Augustine 1,500+ years ago.
Do we long for God like a man in love or deeply thirsty or extremely hungry?
God has blessed us with a great home. Look at the great view we have of the city! We are amazed at his provision.
Late Merry Christmas!!
We made red and green pancakes for breakfast!!
Loren started putting on his stockings after he got all the goodies out of them! Christmas break was a great time for us to spend quality time with each other and our Lord.
For New Years Loren and I went to the beach!! It was beautiful and a very relaxing time to re-focus.
Hollands new years: Imagine sitting on the beach at night with a giant fire in front of you, not to keep warm, just to make smores and for some light. In the background you see the ocean and hear the waves crashing in. Look up and down the beach and you watch the display of many fireworks. And the not so pleasant part: Loud techno music blasting from next door. When I say loud I don't know if you understand... I'm talking about so loud it is hard to hear the waves of the ocean although your sitting right by it... so loud that you have to lean in to hear the person next to you talking if they are using a normal voice volume. And did I mention repetitive? It is not only the same beat but when the music has lyrics it is the same line over and over and over again... That is how Ecuador likes their new years. Loud music and lots of fireworks.
We stayed at this house right on the beach where other missionary families joined us. One night we had a Cajun Shrimp Broil. We ate it right on the table on top of newspaper!! It was so good!
Once the clock hit 12 we celebrated then went to bed. Let me re-phrase that... tried to go to bed. The music did not die down 'till 3 in the morning!! We wished we had ear plugs!
We had a time of reflection when we were by the fire and Loren and I realized it was a hard year. It was hard loosing our baby. Thankfully God is in the business of restoration and He is enough for us through the trials. God is teaching us many things through these last few months. We have learned to focus our attention on the Giver of the good gifts we have here on this earth and not on the gifts themselves! The gifts are momentary but our Lord is eternal!!!
God has blessed us with a great home. Look at the great view we have of the city! We are amazed at his provision.
Late Merry Christmas!!
We made red and green pancakes for breakfast!!
Loren started putting on his stockings after he got all the goodies out of them! Christmas break was a great time for us to spend quality time with each other and our Lord.
For New Years Loren and I went to the beach!! It was beautiful and a very relaxing time to re-focus.
Hollands new years: Imagine sitting on the beach at night with a giant fire in front of you, not to keep warm, just to make smores and for some light. In the background you see the ocean and hear the waves crashing in. Look up and down the beach and you watch the display of many fireworks. And the not so pleasant part: Loud techno music blasting from next door. When I say loud I don't know if you understand... I'm talking about so loud it is hard to hear the waves of the ocean although your sitting right by it... so loud that you have to lean in to hear the person next to you talking if they are using a normal voice volume. And did I mention repetitive? It is not only the same beat but when the music has lyrics it is the same line over and over and over again... That is how Ecuador likes their new years. Loud music and lots of fireworks.
We stayed at this house right on the beach where other missionary families joined us. One night we had a Cajun Shrimp Broil. We ate it right on the table on top of newspaper!! It was so good! 
Once the clock hit 12 we celebrated then went to bed. Let me re-phrase that... tried to go to bed. The music did not die down 'till 3 in the morning!! We wished we had ear plugs!
We had a time of reflection when we were by the fire and Loren and I realized it was a hard year. It was hard loosing our baby. Thankfully God is in the business of restoration and He is enough for us through the trials. God is teaching us many things through these last few months. We have learned to focus our attention on the Giver of the good gifts we have here on this earth and not on the gifts themselves! The gifts are momentary but our Lord is eternal!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment