Seek His Face

Seek His face at the start of your day.
Giving Him your moments.

Seek His face at the end of your day.
Resting in His peace.

Look for Him when you make plans.
Finding His will.

Seek His strength under heavy labor.
When you are burdened and overwhelmed.

Seek Him when you feel weak.
It is a reminder to depend on Him.

Find Him especially when you feel strong.
We are never so weak as when we depend on our own strength.

Look for His glory when you think you've succeeded.
Because it was His plan, and His strength,
And His opinion is the only one that really matters.

Look for His glory when you think you've failed.
Because His is able to bring glory out of all your circumstances.

Look for His forgiveness when you've sinned against Him.
If you humbly repent, He offers it freely.

Look for His Spirit when you find yourself in bondage to sin.
He alone holds the path to freedom.

Search Him out when you are confused or deceived.
Jesus said, "I am the truth..." Find Him!

Find the Comforter when pain draws a blazing path of agony through your life.
The Holy Spirit will take you to the arms of your loving Father.

Just seek His face. Set your heart to look for Him in all things. Find His pleasure, find His friendship, find His strength. Find His glory.

When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
(Psalms 27:8)

Wonderful, creepy, annoying, cute...

This is for you, Dad! (aka, redneck preacher) I saw it, and thought of you. Also, it made my kids laugh. And me.

Fear

People like to play with fear this month. They like to tickle that thing inside us all that makes us jump and yell with shock, revulsion, and terror. I personally think it's appalling.

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. (Psalms 19:9)

God's people need to fear nothing, if they live a life that is marked by their godly fear. You see, it's a fear of One whose love for us is perfect, so it is unstained by hopelessness. It is a fear of One who is omnipotent, so it is unstained by helplessness. The fear of God is good and right because God is just; He is One Who can be trusted.

It saddens me to see God's people afraid to trust Him, as if He is just waiting to smash them with some huge trial, call them into service, or do something unbearable. What kind of God have you asked to save you from sin, Christian? Is He cruel and hard, like a villain in a bad October movie? No, He's the kind of Lord who can sustain us in a huge trial; He's worthy of our service; and He promises to provide an escape from the unbearable temptation.

It saddens me to see lost people afraid to trust Him to save them. None of the junk available on screen this month can compare with the wrath of God for sin.

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26)

The dirty, ugly fear offered by Hollywood this month can't compare to the amazing power, justice, and love of our Creator. When He saw that I was directly in the path of His deadly wrath, He became a man, and stepped in the way! He bore my sin for me, Offering this salvation as a free gift to be taken. Can I fear anything when He did this for me?

The season of sneezing!

While I hope none of my friends and family would need any of these, I realize that some of you will deal with the yuckies soon, because it is that wonderful season again. Here is a place I go to for tips. I've tried a few of them, and some work better than others. The old honey and lemon thing is an oldie, and a goodie. I also make tea with oregano if someone needs an expectorate. Good luck with the bugs!

Home remedies for you to try

Hope from a fortune cookie!

I'm not one to put much credence to those little strips of paper in fortune cookies. Some of them have given me pause for thought, though. A year and a half into deputation I got one that I kept on our dashboard for a while. It read, "You should travel more."

Today I saw one that said, "Your lost possession will be found within the month."

I'm looking forward to getting my mind back!

Sweet friends

Last week, a dear friend of ours, offered to take the critters for the day, so we could go play somewhere. We took them up on it yesterday, and we had a blast. We went to the Olive Garden, and then to miniature golf, where my husband skunked me soundly. When we came back, they had dinner for us! It is such a blessing to have such kind and loving friends. They are truly from the Lord!

We just got back from a conference on Thursday, and we are heading out to a meeting today, so time spent in r/r is precious! Thank you!

Pictures for those who crave them

He's a lawman who's serious about his job.

Rebecca, sunburned and upside down

Elisabeth gives me her cheesiest grin possible

Ruth hanging out with a very dusty brother

Furlough adventure

Someone gave us a van to help us finish up furlough. It's a blessing, and I'd love to have pictures of it, except it is in Oregon; more on that later. We were trying to figure out the best way to get the van to California, and Ryan decided to tow our blue van with the new one, after consulting with a hauling company as to the best way to do this. We had a meeting in Oregon on Sunday, another meeting on Wednesday, and then a long drive on Thursday down to Northern Cali where my parents are. We prayed before we went that Lord would protect us, and show us if anything is not safe.

Things started happening on Sunday. We drove out of Vancouver, Washington early in the morning, took it slow towing the van, and drove for two hours on the freeway, going 55-60 miles per hour. Right before the exit we needed to take, the back wheels started to slide around. Ryan stopped and checked the tow bar, thinking that if anything was wrong, that would be it. But it was fine, so he got back in and we drove slowly to the off ramp. Right after we took the off ramp we felt a huge bump, then SCRAAPE. Ryan pulled over. Our left rear wheel was lying on the road next to our van, and long white mark on the asphalt showed where it had come off.

Ryan called the pastor, and he came out with a mechanic from the church. No serious damage was done; only loose lug nuts. However, when the mechanic took a look under the tires, he saw that the brakes were all bad! Here we are, planning to tow another van up and down mountain ranges with bad brakes!

Coincidentally, the mechanic happened to have a van exactly like ours that he happened to be using for spare parts. He replaced the brakes for us, and we got back on our way. I'm so thankful for the way God protected us.

On Thursday, Ryan was more than skeptical about our towing arrangement, and he was not happy with the way it was moving at all. We made it down to Medford, Oregon, and stopped there. Our van is waiting in a church parking lot. Ryan is going to get it next week.

Neither of these vans are going to be able to be imported to Mexico City. When we go, we will have to buy a vehicle there, because of new laws that have been made. We are praying about this, and we don't know how God is going to supply this need, but we do know He will provide. How can we doubt when He's taken such good care of us every step of the way?

Back in Cali!

We made it safely to California, with quite a story to tell about our passage here! The Lord takes such good care of us, and I'm looking forward to taking the time to post it here, just to brag on Him and show His amazing providence. Right now I'm putting the stuff in order, picking blackberries, and trying not to melt in 100 degree + heat. The girls got to experience a slip'n slide for the first time yesterday. I enjoyed watching them until Ryan decided I was too dry and got me with the sprinkler. I got him back, but it was less than satisfying, knowing how much he enjoyed my revenge.

I'm still here!

We've been busy as bees, which is how we like it! Last week we met with three different churches on Sunday! After this week, we are heading back to California, for some more meetings.

I don't have much more news, we finished our first year of home school a couple weeks ago, so now when we get back from a meeting, we can just rest.