It's really here! Our GFA missions conference is coming up. It starts tomorrow. I pray the Lord goes before me and prepares me in every way. I want to be others-focused and be a blessing to those I meet.

I was so tired from my shoulders hurting these past couple days, I crashed last night at 7:00 and didn't get up until 7:30 this morning. Now, granted I didn't actually end up really falling asleep until around 9:00, I don't think, but still I think all the extra rest helped me so much. Today my shoulders aren't hurting. I'm so grateful for that.

Tonight I need to get stuff ready to go out there tomorrow. I'm working the bookstore, and my first shift is at 12:15. :-) So far we have more than 800 people coming out for the conference. Yay! It will be a good weekend, I think.

Oh, and last night, before drifting off to sleep, I even read a little bit in The Magician's Nephew, the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. :o)

It is the Land of Narnia and Aslan, the great lion and King of Narnia, has been killed in Edmund's stead. Some time has passed. Suddenly, right before Susan's and Luci's eyes, the Stone Table breaks and Aslan arises.

I love what Aslan says next, for it speaks so powerfully of the victory we have because of Christ.

If the Witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the Deep Magic a little differently. For she would know that if a willing victim who had committed no treachery died in a traitors stead, the Stone Table would crack and death itself would begin to unwind.
-Aslan

This would describe how I feel at this time in a lot of ways. I feel hopeful, and encouraged about what the Lord has been doing in my life. I know I can trust Him in all things. And I am looking forward to GFA's missions conference this weekend. My shoulders have been hurting really badly so I need to get plenty of rest before then, but I know He will sustain me.

My deep desire is that I would have a servant's heart throughout the conference and that I would always represent Christ and His kingdom well. That's what's most important.

Praise God.

[P.S. After watching Narnia, I was inspired to go to the library Monday night and check out the first two books in the series. I look forward to reading them ... when life quiets down a bit. :-)]

Other than my shoulders hurting, it was a pretty good day! I can't believe how quickly the day has gone by.

Now I have the evening before me, with lots of possibilities! Here they are, in no particular order :-)

- Go walking at the nature preserve. [Haven't done that in a while]
- Make some returns I've been needing to make in Lewisville.
- Re-watch Chronicles of Narnia before I have to send it back, since my free trial has ended and it has to be back within 7 days. :-)
- Catch up on stuff around the apartment.
- Make sure I have an outfit ready for our staff picture re-take that's tomorrow.
- Catch up on the rest of the reading I had intended to finish this past week for my CPC small group book study. :-)
- Write notes on some of my newsletters to send out to supporters.
- Spend quality time with the Lord.
- Pay my electric bill.

Or ... just hang out around the apartment and relax most of the night, and maybe just do a couple of the above. :o)

The poolside barbeque with folks from my church was nice. Some of us even roasted smores! A couple of guys there declared themselves the "smore tribunal" [I kid you not!] and made "rules" pertaining to the roasting and eating of smores, such as you can't eat one on a plate. :-) Good times.

And yesterday was great! From 4 P.M. on to about 10:00, all of us young people from the office had a volleyball extravaganza. I played volleyball, went in the pool, ate, played some more volleyball, got back in the pool. :c) It was great!

Tonight I'm going to a bi-weekly small group study. Other than that, not much to post. Other than that I am ever aware of an increasing desire to know Jesus more and become more like Him. There is nothing like being in His presence, and it's something I definitely want to make more time for! Really, when it comes right down to it, that's the whole reason I was put here on this earth, although it can be so easy to forget that while we're still in the "here and now".

Life is good.

Whew! I just now turned in my big projects for the week. That was a good feeling. Even though I enjoy working on such projects, these particular ones took a while because I kept needing to tie up loose ends and find photos to go with them ... then figure out how to best incorporate the photos into the text. :-) It's hard to describe, but it almost felt like a battle getting these projects completed. Praise the Lord that they're done. It's way exciting, though, what God is doing among these Mising tribal people in North India, and I hope to post more about that soon.


I can't believe how quickly this week has gone by. Looking back, it's been a pretty good one! In between working on projects, taking walks, and petting Dorie's neighbor's cat Chester, I managed to watch Beyond Narnia, a docudrama on the life of C.S. Lewis. [Okay, so what is a docudrama anyhow? Maybe a cross between a drama and a documentary? ;o)]

When four kids (strangers) came and stayed in the country with C.S. Lewis and his brother during WWII (for their safety), their normally quiet and peaceful life was totally disrupted. Yet through this "interuption" came the inspiration for Lewis' classic Chronicles of Narnia. This totally spoke to me about how some of my experiences can be used in my writing, and how the hard things we all go through in this life as Christians can be used in our lives to reach out to others. That really encourages me!

I also had the opportunity to watch for the second time the new Narnia movie. Wow. So much great spiritual application there. But on a different note for now, as I fear time is of the essence, I will just leave you with what has got to be one of my favorite scenes of dialogue in the whole movie. :c)

*************************************************************************************
"Further in," Beaver urges, looking around nervously, when Luci asks if her friend Mr. Thomas is alright.

Peter and Luci begin to follow him.

"What are you doing?" Susan cries out in surprise.

"She's right -- how do we know we can trust him?" Edmund sputters.

Peter shrugs. "He said he knows the faun."

Susan's response: "He's a beaver. He shouldn't be saying anything." :oD

Busy day ahead for me. But I'm looking forward to it!

Finishing up projects. Group lunch that I'm organizing. :-) Finishing up the rest of the projects. Maybe helping with welcome kits for our upcoming Renewing Your Passion Missions Conference. Staff photo at 5:00. [Which is why I brought extra clothes ... I don't trust myself not to spill something on my light-colored outfit. ;oD]

Then after work and the staff photo, catching up with my good friend and former roommie Dorie over a burrito we're splitting at Chipotle. :o) I love our times of fellowship together and am so much looking forward to that.

Okay, now it's off to the drawing board. Um, I mean, the keyboard?

Last night at prayer our ministry leader shared a story that really grabbed me.

In the early days of GFA, our ministry was supporting native missionaries who were already there, but not yet actively training more laborers for the harvest in Asia. Well, God really put it on the heart of K.P. Yohannan to believe Him for a Bible college in India. And ... he heard about a set of washer machines for sale in the paper and decided to buy them, in faith that there would one day be a training center ... and those washing machines would be there, washing clothes. [Editors note:They are very unique and not at all like your typical washing machines today ... I would try to describe them but would probably do a really bad job of it. :oD]

So there they sat in his garage ... UNTIL God laid it on the heart of a man here in the West to call GFA and see if we had a pressing need. He and his wife lived simply, but had received a one million dollar inheritance from her side of the family, and wanted to give ALL of it to GFA!

K.P. was really moved by this gesture, and wanted to take the matter before the Lord before giving an answer. So he prayed about it and felt that at that time God only wanted GFA to take enough money for the one building for the training center. This was considerably less than the million dollar amount.

He trusted God to provide for other ministry needs. Well, the man took the remainder of the inheritance, invested it, and decided to give several million to GFA since then, over the course of a number of years!

Hearing this story gave me much hope and encouraged me that I can continue to be patient and trust God to provide for something in my own life. Surrender, hope, rest, patience. These are things God has been speaking to me about lately.

BTW, those two washing machines? They are still in that training center today, washing clothes. In fact, I saw them when I was in India, and my clothes were washed in them. :o) And they--and the thousands of men and women who have now graduated from GFA's 54 Bible colleges and gone on to share the Good News in the 10/40 Window--serve as a visible testimony to the abundant provision of our ever-faithful God.

P.S. It was a good day at work and passed by quickly as I worked more on projects. I will need to work on them some more tonight, but I don't mind. I'm really hoping they'll all come together by sometime tomorrow. I love the stuff I'm getting to write about ... it's about exciting things going on among the Mising tribe. Soon I'll try to post some more about that. Just on a day when I'm less busy and haven't practically posted the contents of a book already. ;o)

8:20 A.M. I report to the Denton Courthouse, watch a video with some pretty funny parts, and then hear that I am one of 184 chosen to report back later (2:00 for my group) to be considered for an actual case. [128 people were free to go after the movie and presentation.]

I was pretty excited to be picked. I've never done anything this before and thought it would be fun to see what it's all about. :-)

And as a Barnes and Noble was conveniently located down the road, I went over there and was able to make much headway on my projects! (Praise the Lord.)

The morning was GREAT.

The afternoon? Sort of a different story. ;-) I didn't find out until after I reported to the court (at the Sheriff's office) that it was a "driving while intoxicated" case.

I unexpectedly got kind of emotional. [With my brother being killed by a drunk driver, it's an issue that kind of hit close to home for me.] Not that I said anything inappropriate or anything like that, just more that I cried a little. It was kind of an emotionally draining afternoon.

They sounded like they really wanted to pick me for the jury (I was kind of surprised) but in the end I realized I couldn't 100% assure them I could be unbiased in my opinions on the case, and so I told them. [I wanted to be as honest as possible!]

But ... seeing as the case probably would have lasted most of the day tomorrow and I still have more to do on my projects for tomorrow, I think it was a blessing in disguise. And God is good. Always.

Okay, now I'm off to prayer meeting. :-)

Fajita butter?

Okay, get this! Yesterday I'm sitting in church, reading the announcements in the bulletin. My eyes travel to the one about the women's evangelistic outreach pertaining to the Da Vinci Code movie. [Which, by the way, I think is awesome, even though I can't make it because of our Tuesday night prayer meeting at GFA.]

Suddenly I read, in the middle of the paragraph, "Free fajita butter will be provided."

Wait a minute, I think. I know I won't get to make it to this anyhow, but what on earth is fajita butter, and what's up with this? :-) Oh, wait. [Takes another look] Fajita buffet. Okay. That makes more sense.

Since tomorrow I've got to report for jury duty selection in Denton and don't know how much I'll get to work on my projects that are due Wednesday [although I'm bringing them with me for times when I'm waiting], I'm hoping to go to Barnes and Noble or Borders again this evening and work on stuff!

Oh yeah ... just in case my eyes decide to play tricks on me again, I know Barnes and Noble closes at 11 on weeknights. :o)

I think my eyes are playing tricks on me.

Check this out.

The other night, I went to Barnes and Noble to work on projects. As I walked to the door, I thought it said they close at 10. Wow, I thought, they must have changed the hours. I thought they were always open until 11 on weekdays.

I was totally bummed becuase I'd so looked forward to hanging out there and making some progress on my projects. Thankfully, I looked again. And a closer examination revealed the number 11:00, not 10:00.

Then the other day, getting back into my car after I checked my mail, I thought I saw a large doberman pincher. A closer look revealed it was a brown (or was it black?!) garbage bag.

Hmmm. Maybe it's time to think about getting my eyes examined. :-)

Wow. It has been such a good day. Looking back, I feel like someone was probably praying. :-)

Incredibly, all my projects that were due today came together. It was so much fun seeing how the Lord brought things together, and especially how He helped me to communicate a story that had touched my heart. I thought the story may be a good way to start out my article about women's ministry but wasn't sure how to go about it and in a way didn't want to go to the extra trouble at first.

But I'm so glad I did! :-) I guess this is a lesson to not give up and to persevere even in the hard things.

All the glory goes to God. I think about that sometimes, how I go about my daily business and eat and breathe and talk and laugh and write ... but yet really, it's not me. It's really HIM equipping me and working through me.

We are nothing without Him.

I had such a nice night last night.

After I prayed with my friend, I had chicken tacos at Chipotle and just sat there for a while, working on my projects for work. [Big deadlines Wednesday] It went so well and the time was so relaxing and invigorating.

Then I drove around a little bit, came home and got some things done around the apartment, read in some good Christian books and went to bed.

Today I have felt very rested and for the most part have had a good day, too. There were a few hard moments, and I know there are some "long-term" challenges that I still desperately need to hear the Lord's heart in and trust to Him.

But all in all, it was a good day. I am so grateful.

It was a rough day.

Yesterday was nice, though. Church, Sunday school, and then a nice time of relaxing in the afternoon by seeing a really cute movie at the dollar theater and then working at Borders on one of my assigned projects for work.

Then at 3:45 I went and played piano for our church senior home ministry. It went really well, and I enjoyed being there with everyone and getting to play! There is this one man at the home who has the sweetest smile. I saw him last week, too! He and his wife came by for the worship and devotional.

Last night was great! I went out to someone's home for a small group Bible study we're having every other Sunday night. We all had supper together and a nice time of fellowship! I love their house; it's back in the woods and up on this big hill, with a wrap-around baloncy. :o) And the father who lives there helped me with my tires, which was so nice! [One of them was super low, and I just noticed today!] He even checked it again before I left. Their family is so nice.

I may try to work on some more projects tonight. Also, I am praying with a friend of mine for our weekly prayer time. I'm looking forward to that!

God is good. Always. Even when we can't always see it. I am so grateful for the nice day He gave me yesterday, too.

I have realized that a lot of my posts this week have sounded like I'm going through kind of hard things. I won't deny that it was sort of a rough week. None of these things are major in the big scheme of things, just challenging at the moment. I know that as a Christian, we are not promised easy lives. In fact, we really are promised just the opposite! That there will be trials, struggles, hardship in our lives. But all these things are accomplishing a greater good, which is so encouraging to me.

And when I just stop and think about it for a moment, I really have much cause for rejoicing, and much to be grateful for. A place to serve the Lord and be used each day to further His kingdom. A wonderful, loving family. Plenty to eat, and plenty of clothes to wear. :-) A beautiful apartment and furniture that the Lord provided for me. A new church that I love, where the pastor's messages are always so encouraging and challenging in my walk the Lord. The beautiful Texas sunshine and sunsets. Laughter. Good times. Deep times of fellowship with other believers, praying for one another and sharing what God is doing in our lives. The beautiful birds outside.

And I could go on and on ...

I feel so much better now! :o) The song "Count Your Blessings" is way true.

God is awesome.

It is beautiful outside (even if very hot!) and I think I shall work just a little more on stuff around the apartment and then head out to Kohl's to make a return and look around. I'm looking forward to the rest of this day. :-)

It's the weekend! And I'm glad.

In some ways it hasn't been the easiest week ... as you could probably gather from some of my earlier posting. ;-) But all things considered, I'm doing pretty well at the moment [and looking forward to starting my weekend!].

God is faithful. This is something I've been reminding myself of quite a bit throughout this week. And you know, even if our lives on this earth were always hard, and "ALL" He had ever done for us was His death and resurrection to atone for our sins, He would still be infinitely merciful toward us. Something I heard at an RUF Conference years ago really grabbed me -

God is just as good to us on our worst day as He was on that monumental day when He died on the Cross for us.

So very true. And I feel encouraged just thinking about that. It all comes back to what I was sharing earlier this week from Romans 8:32, how if God provided for our GREATEST need [salvation], how will He not also provide for everything else we need? He is so good.

Well with that note, I'm off to start my weekend. Heading out to the Denton area for a girls' night with some friends from church. Pasta and garlic bread -- yum! Not to mention a fun night of female bonding.

Ever feel all huffy and out of breath because you just climbed a big mountain? Not literally, but figuratively speaking. Well, I've kind of felt that way the past couple days. This afternoon things were better, though ... and I went and ate at Quiznos with my good friend Shelley after work - good times!

The good thing through this all is that I have been driven to seek the Lord more passionately. My deepest desire, of course, is to know Him more and be transformed a little more into His image every day ... but how often do I "really and truly" live this out, moment by moment? When I really stop and think about it, He is so very patient with me.

It's not fun going through difficult times, but I thank God that He loves me enough not to let me stay where I am in my laziness and stubborness as sinful human flesh! That He deliberately orchestrates my life's circumstances in such a way that I am driven to my knees before Him. Truly He is water to my soul, comfort to my heart. He is everything. I want to forget that less often.

Something I have pondered a bit a different times and thought I'd throw out there to the "blogger world" of my good friends who frequent this blog, in the event that 1) You also struggle with these things and can relate and 2) The Lord has shown you things that have helped you in these areas ... :-)

How do you truly, fully, and joyfully trust the Lord for those things that are nearest to your heart, in all circumstances?

It seems that the Lord's really brought me a long way in this area, through various circumstances and has helped me in many ways to trust Him by faith, even when I don't always understand what He is doing! But it's definitely an area I still could stand to grow in ... and sometimes am just not sure how? I think sometimes I expect the growth in my Christian life to be practically overnight ... but I have to remember that He has a lifetime to work on me and that His timetable is not mine.
:-) [He's definitely been teaching me that on many levels throughout my life.] I take comfort in Philippians 1:6, that He will complete that good work He has started in me.

Also very encouraging in this whole area of trusting God for my heart's desires was yesterday's message at church. Pastor John shared how, in the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus first and foremost was meeting their deepest need, which was for God's Word. This was more important than their secondary, lesser need [for food], which nevertheless he still met.

He also mentioned how whatever is going on in our lives at this moment, God has us in a place where He can sow His Word into us. That was encouraging. Trials and difficulties are all for a reason! And also I think of Romans 8:32, which tells us that if God did not spare His own Son, how will not also with Him freely give us all things? He knows what we need, far more than we could ever. His view is unlimited, and He knows what He's doing!

I feel like I should also post something about a snake or something ... well, I did see a snake at Arbor Hills when I was walking there yesterday. Yikes -- two snakes in one week. That's enough for me! :-)

Story of the day.

Okay, I've got this great story. I may need to cut it short because I am wanting to head out and get some R&R before all-night prayer, but it's a classic!

Last night I reached my apartment to find a snake coiled around the porch railing outside by my front door. I was pretty startled, especially since a snake would have to climb the walls or stairwell to get up to the level of my 2nd story apartment! I promptly screamed [surprised my neighbors didn't hear me!] and then froze for a few seconds.

I then regained composure and knocked on the door of a young married couple on staff, who live across from me. Christie's husband would have loved to have helped us, she was sure, but he wasn't home! So, long story made short, we ended up calling another co-worker, Bobby, who lives in our complex.

This is where it gets good. Bobby immediately comes over, holding this broom. By now, the snake had slithered over to my kitchen window, precariously close to my front door and looking pretty content. Well, Bobby reaches his broom over and flings the snake so he falls down to the first floor breezeway.

We all run down the stairs, my friend Christie and I curious about what kind of snake it is and wondering if Bobby can give us some insight. [It almost looked like it could be poisonous, but really hard to say for sure.] But before we can say a word, Bobby proceeds to use the other end of his broom to whack the snake, flings him over to a bush and tells me he won't bother me anymore!

Christie and I look at each other still in shock from the whole experience, but about to laugh, and she says, "I feel like we're on National Geographic!" I kid you not, he had the khaki shorts, the hat, bright yellow t-shirt, and everything -- It felt like we were on the Discovery Channel. Or one of those reality shows like Survivor. :o) It was pretty funny. [We were very thankful for Bobby and his timely rescue; Christie says we should make him cookies as payment!]

Of course, needless to say, I will be watching my balcony railing pretty closely when I go home in just a few minutes. : ) My co-worker Bobby came by my desk this afternoon and told me he had thought about putting a black rubber snake near my cubicle but then figured I may not appreciate that too much. :-) We are still in shock that the snake slithered all the way up there. It was quite the adventure.

Okay, so, now I'm off to more mundane things like buying hamburger buns for tonight and walking at the nature preserve. :-)

God is so faithful.

Long story made short, He totally orchestrated an opportunity for my friend's two young boys to volunteer here. Perfect timing, and God is so faithful.

Her visit truly made my day! Hardly anything thrills my heart like helping to spread the word among other Christians about how God is spreading the Good News through GFA. And it was nice to see her and meet her two boys.

I can't believe how quickly this day has gone by! Something I am wanting to do more of is make time to read good Christian books. A good friend gave me John Piper's Let the Nations Be Glad. I have been so excited to read it and was reading in it some yesterday when I got home from work. The part I was reading had all these great verses about God's glory and how everything in life is all about that! Awesome.

One thing that really stood out to me was the reminder in that chapter of how it's all about God - how only HE truly satisfies. How wonderful He is.