Monday, June 8, 2015

Corners

I've never liked corners. I hate the corners of pillow cases when I am trying to fold them. I have the round, elusive corners of fitted sheets. I am not a fan of being scared -- think walking around a corner and being scared. Or extremely loud cracks of thunder. I might be the only person on the planet that doesn't want a corner piece of cake.

Nope.

And I definitely do not like the dusty, crusty corners in our house that need to be cleaned as we pack to move in a couple weeks. I am aware that we live in mild filth. For me, cleanliness of NOT next to godliness. Matching socks, twice weekly baths, and buffalo wings are next to godliness. Seriously, though, not the wings. If godliness is prayer and studying the Scriptures and trying to be like Christ, then being with my family and sleeping are as close to godliness as it get for me right now.

I was challenged on Wednesday evening in a lesson on prayer that even those of us with young kids (read: people for whom personal time is a rare, nebulous, highly prized thing) need to carve out time for prayer. In this particular class we read many passages where Jesus prayed with or for or on behalf of people. If Christ can make a prayer his final, dying words, perhaps I can find some time while I am LIVING to be more consistent in prayer.

Just for the record, I do pray. Often. For my sanity. And lots of other things, too! It's just that I don't have a specific time set aside where I enter prepared to focus and listen and speak. I pray on the fly for things that are urgent or for the random thoughts that pop into my head. We pray while we are doing support raising work. We pray with the kids when they are upset or anxious. I pray at small group or with someone having a hard time. I pray for those grieving.

So, I believe I was writing about cleaning and corners which somehow led to godliness and prayer. Makes perfect sense.

The thing about corners is that they can be dark, sharp, hidden and easy to avoid. Like the parts of our spiritual life we'd rather ignore.

My prayer life is a dusty corner I'd rather not deal with right now. I have a kid who wakes us between 6:00-6:30 in the morning. Right when I am entering REM sleep. EVERY. DAY.

Early morning doesn't seem like an option. But maybe it is.

Then the day begins. And both of my kids like to interact with us all day long. Weird. Wonderful. But I haven't figured out how to create/maintain/enforce solitude.

Our move is a transition ripe with possibility, though. New habits. New routines. New, new, new. I have some ideas for creating a space for solitude in my day. The challenge is doing that now, before we move. For the next two weeks I will venture into this dusty corner and see what the Lord will do. I make no promises. I'll keep doing my crazy-mom-life praying but I am seeking each day to pray on purpose. 

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Preparations continue!



This update is long overdue! Things are moving so fast and we barely have time to sit and write about it! We continue to feel peace in the midst of chaos and an increased focus on our life in missions. Our emotions are like pinball machines! One minute we are thinking about how to arrange the furniture in our new house and the next we are mourning our favorite people, places, and things here in Harrisburg. Our hope is secure in Christ, though, despite all the changes in this life! 

The kids finished school at the end of May! They both loved school this year! Here are some last day of school photos...





 
 





















::God provided a place to live in Ohio::
We are renting a renovated farmhouse that is just perfect for us and more than we could have imagined from a rental house. We’ll be living out in the country with lots of green space and places to roam. 

::Move date::
June 20 is our pack-and-move day! It is fast approaching and packing is in full swing. We welcome volunteers to help load the moving truck. We are pretty organized with packing and staging our stuff so loading usually goes quickly. We’ve done this a few times in the past 12 years so we are getting pretty good!
Help load the moving truck :: Saturday, June 20 @ 8:15am

OC Baptist Church (MD)
:Support raising blitz::
We are amazed at how God is providing the support we need to begin serving at MMS. In recent weeks we've been to Ocean City Baptist Church (MD), Heidelberg UCC (near Philly), Pleasant Gap UMC, and we are headed to Kutztown BFC this Sunday. 

Ocean City Baptist Church and Pleasant Gap UMC are the churces we grew up attending. It was great to return to those places and share where the Lord is leading in our lives. Sort of like coming full circle. There were many familiar faces but also lots of new folks which reminds us that those are vibrant faith communities where people are hearing and responding to the gospel.

Unofficially, we need about $900 in monthly support to meet our goal. I say “unofficially” because just this weekend we visited friends and a church where several folks have committed to monthly support. We are also waiting for a few other folks to formalize their support by contacting MMS. 

GBFC yard sale!
We are making a lot of progress with our OUT-GOING expenses, too! So far, over $10,000 has been contributed or raised! We’ve received many donations from individuals towards these expenses, our church is contributing May and June’s benevolence offering, and we just had a yard sale at our church that raised over $700! Praise the Lord!


::Commissioning Service::
On Sunday May 31 our church, Grace Bible Fellowship Church, and our denomination, the Bible Fellowship Church, commissioned us as full-service missionaries. We were overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude to have such support and encouragement from our home church. We were also surprised by several out of towns friends! Many thanks to Rev. Josh Miller and Duane Moyer, president of the BFC Board of Missions, for leading the service. Many from our congregation contributed to the service and provided a wonderful reception afterwards. Thanks to all!!!





Hey! Harrisburg friends – We will happily take newspaper or boxes (in good condition) off your hands. Let us know and we’ll arrange to get them from you!