Correction: The 4 pastors who were killed were not the ones Kevin trained, but we still need to pray for their families. Included in the email were other details of churches being broken into during worship services and the worshippers were beaten and also many false arrests of pastors. Sorry for the misinformation below. Kevin had just told me about it and I hadn't read the actual email yet.
Kevin received an email from our India contact yesterday with very disturbing and heart wrenching news. Several of the church plant pastors who trained with Kevin and his team in October have been burned to death. Please lift up their families and pray that Satan would be bound from trying to stop the spreading of God's word there. I always knew that there was persecution in other parts of the world, but knowing definite acts and having a connection to those believers has made my dedication to praying for them much more serious. I hope this motivates you not only to be on your knees for them, but also to not take our freedom to worship lightly.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Crazy family
I love my family. I love all the little quirky things that happen that make each day interesting and different. I'm not sure if we've ever had a normal day. I'm not sure if that's even possible with 4 kids, 2 adults and a dog under one roof. Last night I was vacuuming 2 canisters worth of dog hair out of the living room floor. (No I am not a bad housekeeper. This chore is done almost every other day with the same results. My advice: don't have a golden retriever.) Zac was going to be helpful and unplug it for me and toss me the cord. The only problem was I didn't know he was tossing me the cord till it was flying through the air towards my head and I was 15 ft. across the room. Unfortunately, a plug can gain a massive amount of momentum while flying 15 ft. through the air. I instinctively ducked my head, but not quick enough, and was smacked right on top of my skull. Zac finished putting the vacuum away while I sat on the couch with a Hello Kitty ziploc bag full of ice on my head. Not a pleasant experience, but the randomness made me laugh.
We are also quite addicted to Diet DP. This morning we (Alyssa and I) realized that the only 12 pack we had was in the van, so we told Zac we would give him a $1 to go out in the 19degree weather to get it for us. He obliged, but as you can guess since it was below freezing outside, the soda was frozen. Alyssa, being desperate for caffeine (I mentioned we were addicted right?), opens a can and squeezes it like a ketchup bottle into a cup. Zachary decided this would work for him also and follows her example. So here we are, drinking diet dp out of coffee cups so we don't have to touch the sides of the really cold cups. This would be so much easier if we liked coffee.
We are also quite addicted to Diet DP. This morning we (Alyssa and I) realized that the only 12 pack we had was in the van, so we told Zac we would give him a $1 to go out in the 19degree weather to get it for us. He obliged, but as you can guess since it was below freezing outside, the soda was frozen. Alyssa, being desperate for caffeine (I mentioned we were addicted right?), opens a can and squeezes it like a ketchup bottle into a cup. Zachary decided this would work for him also and follows her example. So here we are, drinking diet dp out of coffee cups so we don't have to touch the sides of the really cold cups. This would be so much easier if we liked coffee.
Kevin's on the News!
I must admit I thought I would be the one who ended up on the news first, probably for going ballistic after one of my rants about being the only one who knows how to use a trash can or why I always do the dishes even if I cook. Thankfully, Kevin made it on for a positive reason after organizing a clean up effort with our city to help with the mounds of tree debris still sitting on everyone's curbs from the ice storm. We had several other churches join us and over 300 people from our church volunteered to help.
Here's a link to the news videos page, then click on Church members help out with clean up effort.
http://www.kotv.com/e-clips/news/
Here's a link to the news videos page, then click on Church members help out with clean up effort.
http://www.kotv.com/e-clips/news/
Friday, January 18, 2008
Conversations with Nathan
If you've spent anytime with Nathan, you learn two things about him rather quickly: He doesn't stop talking and he is hilarious. Part of the hilarity comes from what he says, the rest comes from his animated looks and gestures. I'm convinced if we lived in LA, he'd be quite the star. So for your entertainment today, I'll share a few conversations that have happened, all this week.
Nathan and I pray together every night before he goes to sleep. He has the sweetest, most sincere prayers. He prayed that he hoped Pappy was having fun in heaven and that we wouldn't be sad for too long. After he finished, I reminded him that even though we miss Pappy that we would see him again in heaven someday. He said, "That's easy for you to say because you're older. I've got at least 80 years to wait."
After arriving home from a dr. appt., I was questioning who still needed to eat lunch. Alyssa answered that she had eaten a looong time ago to which Nathan replied, "When did you eat? In the 80's?"
Wed. night after watching Idol, he got ready for bed and came back downstairs. I was sitting in the recliner and he told me to "scoochie coozie over so we can pray." He then prayed and thanked God for the Japanese man who sang "We are brothers". (If you missed it, just search You Tube--you'll find it!)The rest of us are laughing so hard at this point that we have tears coming out our eyes. Alyssa had her face buried in a pillow and Katie had to leave the room in an attempt not to be laughing during his prayer. About the time he says "amen", Belle (the dog) comes walking through the living room with a Popsicle stick in her mouth. I make it a habit never to remove anything from the dog's mouth so I try to get a kid to volunteer for the job. Nathan says, "I think we're going to need an atomic suckulator." Now if you figure out what an atomic suckulator is, please let me know.
Nathan and I pray together every night before he goes to sleep. He has the sweetest, most sincere prayers. He prayed that he hoped Pappy was having fun in heaven and that we wouldn't be sad for too long. After he finished, I reminded him that even though we miss Pappy that we would see him again in heaven someday. He said, "That's easy for you to say because you're older. I've got at least 80 years to wait."
After arriving home from a dr. appt., I was questioning who still needed to eat lunch. Alyssa answered that she had eaten a looong time ago to which Nathan replied, "When did you eat? In the 80's?"
Wed. night after watching Idol, he got ready for bed and came back downstairs. I was sitting in the recliner and he told me to "scoochie coozie over so we can pray." He then prayed and thanked God for the Japanese man who sang "We are brothers". (If you missed it, just search You Tube--you'll find it!)The rest of us are laughing so hard at this point that we have tears coming out our eyes. Alyssa had her face buried in a pillow and Katie had to leave the room in an attempt not to be laughing during his prayer. About the time he says "amen", Belle (the dog) comes walking through the living room with a Popsicle stick in her mouth. I make it a habit never to remove anything from the dog's mouth so I try to get a kid to volunteer for the job. Nathan says, "I think we're going to need an atomic suckulator." Now if you figure out what an atomic suckulator is, please let me know.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
An unwanted life lesson
I buried my dad today. It still seems surreal that he is gone. I have a new sympathy for those who have had to bury a parent, although at 36 I think I'm too young for this life experience. When it is your responsibility to take care of the details you almost feel you have to put your grieving on hold. Kevin and I volunteered to take care of the planning of the service which I was happy to do. I wanted a meaningful, evangelistic service not "funeral in a box, choice A" on the funeral home services list. I believe we were successful in doing a service people would remember. Thank you to those who prayed during that hour. I was able to give the eulogy without getting too emotional. I definitely cried, but not uncontrollably and I think most people could at least understand what I was saying. My precious Nathan went through more tissues than I did. He has such a caring heart.
I was feeling a little lost last night at the viewing. I haven't lived here in 19 years or seen any of my distant relatives in at least that long so some of them I didn't even recognize. I almost felt like I didn't have anyone other than Kevin and the kids to hold me up. Then, today God sent me two precious gifts. My best friend from high school came, but she is married to my brother's best friend. The other gift was just for me. A close friend of mine and Kevin's happened to be in a nearby town on business. He found out last night about the funeral and made the choice to come today. He probably doesn't think it was that big of a deal, but because he was there just for us and because he lost his dad exactly a year ago and knew what I was going through, it meant a lot to me that he came.
I just received another gift as I'm sitting here in the hotel room typing this. My friend who lives on the other side of the earth just "happened" to be online right now even though it's 4 am where she lives. Her kids are suffering from jet lag and were up getting a snack so we got to chat for almost an hour. Just what I needed to go with my peanut m&m's and project runway episode to lighten my mood. God is good!
I was feeling a little lost last night at the viewing. I haven't lived here in 19 years or seen any of my distant relatives in at least that long so some of them I didn't even recognize. I almost felt like I didn't have anyone other than Kevin and the kids to hold me up. Then, today God sent me two precious gifts. My best friend from high school came, but she is married to my brother's best friend. The other gift was just for me. A close friend of mine and Kevin's happened to be in a nearby town on business. He found out last night about the funeral and made the choice to come today. He probably doesn't think it was that big of a deal, but because he was there just for us and because he lost his dad exactly a year ago and knew what I was going through, it meant a lot to me that he came.
I just received another gift as I'm sitting here in the hotel room typing this. My friend who lives on the other side of the earth just "happened" to be online right now even though it's 4 am where she lives. Her kids are suffering from jet lag and were up getting a snack so we got to chat for almost an hour. Just what I needed to go with my peanut m&m's and project runway episode to lighten my mood. God is good!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Missions News
*Our new Christian brothers and sisters in India faced major persecution during Christmas. Numerous church plants were burned and totally destroyed. Christians who were attempting to celebrate our Saviour's birth were beaten, including women and children. The Hindus even cut down trees and placed them across the roads into the villages so that the authorities could not come help them. It breaks my heart that these new believers have faced this already. Please be on your knees for them that they will not be discouraged and will persevere. I wonder how we Americans would respond if we were treated that way for our faith.
*A team of 13 just returned from Arizpe, Sonora, Mexico. They conducted a vision and physical therapy clinic. Continue to pray for our pastor there, Roberto, and his family. We will be doing a family mission trip to this church plant in June. We're not sure yet if some or all of us will be going on that trip, but I'm excited about the possibility of our family getting to serve together.
*Kevin has 16 mission trips planned for 2008. Obviously he can't go on all of them or he would never be at home. He is planning a 2 week trip for October again when he will stay 3 to 4 days each in Cambodia, Vietnam and India. There will be mission teams in each of those countries simultaneously, allowing him to see the ministry in each country without having to be gone for an extended length of time. These are areas that our church travels to each year, usually twice a year. There will also be teams going to Venezuela, Columbia and our new church plant in Colorado Springs. The youth will be serving in New Orleans during Spring break and possibly in Guatemala in July. (We are currently without a youth pastor and are not sure how this will affect our youth missions.)
*A team of 13 just returned from Arizpe, Sonora, Mexico. They conducted a vision and physical therapy clinic. Continue to pray for our pastor there, Roberto, and his family. We will be doing a family mission trip to this church plant in June. We're not sure yet if some or all of us will be going on that trip, but I'm excited about the possibility of our family getting to serve together.
*Kevin has 16 mission trips planned for 2008. Obviously he can't go on all of them or he would never be at home. He is planning a 2 week trip for October again when he will stay 3 to 4 days each in Cambodia, Vietnam and India. There will be mission teams in each of those countries simultaneously, allowing him to see the ministry in each country without having to be gone for an extended length of time. These are areas that our church travels to each year, usually twice a year. There will also be teams going to Venezuela, Columbia and our new church plant in Colorado Springs. The youth will be serving in New Orleans during Spring break and possibly in Guatemala in July. (We are currently without a youth pastor and are not sure how this will affect our youth missions.)
Friday, January 4, 2008
Technical Problems Solved!
I finally figured out why I haven't been able to post videos and believe it or not, it wasn't human error. I have confirmed what I have long suspected--my computer is a dinosaur. Since Alyssa recently got a laptop, I've been able to try a few things that I wasn't able to do on my computer and they all work--including putting videos on the blog. Now after all that excitement, the first video to be posted is not exactly earth shattering exciting but Alyssa felt it was important to share with the world.
We decided at the last minute, i.e. New Year's Eve Eve, to have a party. We could only find two other families as pathetic as us with no plans but we had fun anyway, playing wii and eating lots of food. Alyssa and her friend Hannah made their own version of the times square ball out of balloons and dropped it off the stairs at midnight. So here's a video of our small countdown that brought big excitement from the 7 children present.
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books
We decided at the last minute, i.e. New Year's Eve Eve, to have a party. We could only find two other families as pathetic as us with no plans but we had fun anyway, playing wii and eating lots of food. Alyssa and her friend Hannah made their own version of the times square ball out of balloons and dropped it off the stairs at midnight. So here's a video of our small countdown that brought big excitement from the 7 children present.
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books
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