Please Take Two Minute and Read This

This was posted to facebook yesterday by our friend Kerri Johnson who we went to school with in Mozambique. It is such a great model to us of what normal, everyday ministry can look like in America. There are times I feel the Holy Spirit prompting me to talk to someone but I don't obey. Think if Kerri hadn't . . .

So I have been going to local shops and praying before I go in for who He wants me to pray over, listening to what I hear before I go in and great signs and wonders are happening. So today I was going into Walmart. I prayed before I went in and heard "April" and saw a rose. So I was like, what does that mean? I went in and started to pray for people. I was walking around the store looking for people and I came across a man who was at least 6 feet 5 inches and I heard "pray for Him". So I went over and introduced myself and asked him if I could pray for him. He said "ya, ok." So I started to pray for him and I heared the Lord tell me "family death". So I said "Has anything happen in your family recently?" He said "Yes, my four year old daughter just died 3 weeks ago with cancer." So I asked what her name was and he replied "April Rose and he told me that his wife died during child birth four years ago." I prayed for him and at the end he was sobbing and said to me "thank you. I was going to commit suicide today that is what I was at the store for to get the stuff for it. I didn't think that God heared my prayers anymore and I don't see a reason to live." At which point I told him my testimony of how I had tried to kill myself two times in a row and each attempt failed and I got saved the following day. After I told him this he told me he wanted to know Jesus like that and I got to pray with him and he accepted JESUS AS HIS SAVIOR!!! Thank You Jesus We PRAISE YOU LORD!!!!

Disturb us Lord

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

My Mother in Law passed this poem along to me by Sir Francis Drake. It is such a great reminder of how I tend to be be too easily satisfied, filing my hunger with the things of this world. For me, this temptation seems even greater in America. Today marks the forty days leading up to Easter. While I haven't been part of a church that observes lent in many years, God is stirring my heart to dedicate this time to him. My prayer is for God to 'push back the horizons of our hopes' to more fully understand the power of the Resurrection.

4 Generations

One thing that made our time in Arroyo Grande so special was getting to spend time with my Dad's Dad, "Papa". I love Papa's sense of humor, quick wit, tenacious joy and love for Jesus. I am so thankful for our time together and it was truly special to have four generations under one roof.

Papa and my Dad are in the middle and my brother Ryan is on the right with baby Grayson.

Then the amazing Terilee just "snapped" a couple shots of my kids and the results I think were just beautiful. Happy Valentine's Day!!

We've Got Wheels!

This has been my key chain for the last six months. No house key, no car key, no work key, not even a mailbox key. The three keys dangling from my key chain belong to our suitcases. It has been a freeing yet vulnerable, inconvenient yet simplistic reality to be homeless and carless.

Back in November when we were in Nampula we began asking the Lord to give us an RV. This had been our dream all along, to take a massive cross country road trip in an motorhome (I know we sound like hippies). Jason had done the research to pinpoint the exact Toyota RV that would be perfect for our family. At first he didn't want to pray to ask for one because he already 'knew' what was best. But God answered our prayer within three days while skyping with my second cousin's parents, who not only have a great RV, but took joy in us borrowing it. Wow, that has to be from God. Doesn't this look fun?

Since arriving in America, we realized we need a car for errands and visiting family and friends in California. Dare we ask God for a car, after already asking him for an RV? But we know our Father's heart is big so we did. God told Jason in Mozambique specifically not to buy anything until after January. A few days ago my Dad shared with his church that we were looking to buy a used car. Four hours later an amazing lady from the church (actually the lady that wrote this book, which I love) offered us her Toyota Camry to borrow. That was January 31st! This is obviously much more ideal that buying a car and trying to resell it. It has great gas milage, is really reliable and spacious. We picked it up yesterday and every time I look at it I smile thinking of God's faithfulness.
We have a loving and generous Papa! He loves to provide for our needs. I love this version of Matthew 7 from the Message
"Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?"
Go ahead, ask God for what you need today. If you have any God stories of provision, please leave a comment, we'd love to hear.