We are so excited to announce that we are officially members of Interact Ministries. We have been working with Interact for a few months now, and have been in the application process, but as of this past Monday afternoon we are officially appointees with Interact Ministries.
That means that we are missionaries in the process of raising monthly support so that we can hopefully go into ministry full time once we are fully funded.
We are not up on the website as of today, but should be soon. You can find out more about Interact Ministries here.
We are looking for others to partner with us in Ministry. Our ministry focus will be here in Palmer Alaska, ministering to individuals and groups who use our Lazy Mountain campus. We will also be working with the LEaD Alaska program, mentoring students who participate in the program.
We are so excited about the opportunities that God is placing before us. We would like to ask that you consider joining with us in this journey. We are just starting out on this portion of our journey, and are looking for partners who would like to come along side us in ministry and give their support both financially and through prayer.
If God is moving in your heart and you would like to become one of our monthly financial partners, you can contribute through Interacts site, or by mail.
Thank you for your love and support!!
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Saturday, June 14, 2014
What does the Bible say to you???
We were recently in an interview and were asked, "What is the main theme that jumps out at you from the Bible?".
This was a great question, how do you sum up the Bible? What is the main theme? To me, the main theme of the Bible is love. God has really been speaking to my heart lately about this. The entire book begins with Love. God created the earth and everything in it, and it was good. He did not just half heartedly create the universe and mankind. He took great care when He created all of the intricate details that make up our world, and our very being.
Even today, God does not just poof us into existence. He crafts every detail of our being with His mighty, skillful, and loving hand. He knows every detail of who we are, and He still loves us anyway. Before the fall, Gods creation was perfect, and there was no reason not to love it. However, since the fall, things have gone terribly downhill, but He STILL loves us. He loved us so much to sacrifice His only son, the Holy Lamb of God. Jesus willingly came in our place and took our punishment. Did He do that because He "liked" us a lot? No, He did it because He loves us!!
When we look at all of the Love that God has for us, and has had for us since the beginning, how can we do anything but Love like He did, and does. We should love when it's not "convenient", when it is hard, and even when it hurts. We are called to love others. We are called to be bearers of good news, and carriers of Light. We are called to share the Love of Christ with others.
Love, Love, Love. God Loves us so much and he cares about all that we go through. He cares about the small things, just as he cares about the big things. We are His creation, created by His love, saved by the very blood of His son. God is Love and we are to live according to His Word. His Word tells us to Love.
What about you? How do you summarize the Bible?
This was a great question, how do you sum up the Bible? What is the main theme? To me, the main theme of the Bible is love. God has really been speaking to my heart lately about this. The entire book begins with Love. God created the earth and everything in it, and it was good. He did not just half heartedly create the universe and mankind. He took great care when He created all of the intricate details that make up our world, and our very being.
Even today, God does not just poof us into existence. He crafts every detail of our being with His mighty, skillful, and loving hand. He knows every detail of who we are, and He still loves us anyway. Before the fall, Gods creation was perfect, and there was no reason not to love it. However, since the fall, things have gone terribly downhill, but He STILL loves us. He loved us so much to sacrifice His only son, the Holy Lamb of God. Jesus willingly came in our place and took our punishment. Did He do that because He "liked" us a lot? No, He did it because He loves us!!
When we look at all of the Love that God has for us, and has had for us since the beginning, how can we do anything but Love like He did, and does. We should love when it's not "convenient", when it is hard, and even when it hurts. We are called to love others. We are called to be bearers of good news, and carriers of Light. We are called to share the Love of Christ with others.
Love, Love, Love. God Loves us so much and he cares about all that we go through. He cares about the small things, just as he cares about the big things. We are His creation, created by His love, saved by the very blood of His son. God is Love and we are to live according to His Word. His Word tells us to Love.
What about you? How do you summarize the Bible?
Friday, June 6, 2014
My chains are gone, I've been set free......
I love that song, and especially the chorus. Those chains can be different things to different people. For me it has been silence. I know that sounds akward, but for the past three years or so, I have worn the chains of silence.
For me this was a big deal. You see, I have been active in worship in the churches that I have attended since I was 4 years old. I can remember someone else holding the michrophone for me to sing into when I was super young. It has always been a big part of my life, until around three and a half years ago. It was at that time that I was silenced by God. It was so hard struggling through that and not knowing why it was happening. It was a real battle for me. I loved worship, and always had, but suddenly it was gone. I was no longer able to lead others in worship, and I just felt lost. It felt like a part of me was gone, and I was so confused.
Looking back now, I can see that even way back then, God was preparing us for the ministry that we are now in. I still don't know the exact reason, but I feel like that if I had stayed in the role that I was in at the time, we never would have moved to our sending church, and we never would have made it to the mission field in Alaska. I am sure I would have felt so obligated to stay where we were actually involved in worship ministry, that I may have missed the bigger picture that God was drawing for us.
I think that it is in our times of silence that we grow the most. I know during the past three and a half years, I have searched for Gods will, actively pursuing His will for our lives. It has not been easy, and there was a lot of time spent waiting. It was during this time that I was able to grow closer to God in my prayer life, and really really depend on Him. He has developed new passions in me that would not have come without the silence. He has shown me things that I never would have been able to see, without the silence. He has taught me how to "be still, and know that He is God".
Because of all of these things, I am thankful for the silence that I went through. Just recently God has been impressing upon my heart the desire to become involved in worship ministry again. At first I was hesitant, I wanted to be sure that the desires of my heart were also the desires of God. After much prompting from the Lord, I took the appropriate steps to audition and become involved in worship here in Alaska. It felt great, but I realized one more thing while I was up there on the stage, that in my time of silence, God was teaching me how to truly worship Him. Not just how to put on a show, but how to truly worship Him with all of my heart, holding nothing back. He taught me about living a life style of worship, not just waiting until Sunday morning, but striving to have a constant connection with Him.
It feels so good to be back where I know God has always planned for me to be, and it is so awesome to have that desire burning in my heart and soul once again. The desire to lead Gods people in preparing their hearts to be in the presence of the Holy Spirit and to be receptive of what he has for them.
For me this was a big deal. You see, I have been active in worship in the churches that I have attended since I was 4 years old. I can remember someone else holding the michrophone for me to sing into when I was super young. It has always been a big part of my life, until around three and a half years ago. It was at that time that I was silenced by God. It was so hard struggling through that and not knowing why it was happening. It was a real battle for me. I loved worship, and always had, but suddenly it was gone. I was no longer able to lead others in worship, and I just felt lost. It felt like a part of me was gone, and I was so confused.
Looking back now, I can see that even way back then, God was preparing us for the ministry that we are now in. I still don't know the exact reason, but I feel like that if I had stayed in the role that I was in at the time, we never would have moved to our sending church, and we never would have made it to the mission field in Alaska. I am sure I would have felt so obligated to stay where we were actually involved in worship ministry, that I may have missed the bigger picture that God was drawing for us.
I think that it is in our times of silence that we grow the most. I know during the past three and a half years, I have searched for Gods will, actively pursuing His will for our lives. It has not been easy, and there was a lot of time spent waiting. It was during this time that I was able to grow closer to God in my prayer life, and really really depend on Him. He has developed new passions in me that would not have come without the silence. He has shown me things that I never would have been able to see, without the silence. He has taught me how to "be still, and know that He is God".
Because of all of these things, I am thankful for the silence that I went through. Just recently God has been impressing upon my heart the desire to become involved in worship ministry again. At first I was hesitant, I wanted to be sure that the desires of my heart were also the desires of God. After much prompting from the Lord, I took the appropriate steps to audition and become involved in worship here in Alaska. It felt great, but I realized one more thing while I was up there on the stage, that in my time of silence, God was teaching me how to truly worship Him. Not just how to put on a show, but how to truly worship Him with all of my heart, holding nothing back. He taught me about living a life style of worship, not just waiting until Sunday morning, but striving to have a constant connection with Him.
It feels so good to be back where I know God has always planned for me to be, and it is so awesome to have that desire burning in my heart and soul once again. The desire to lead Gods people in preparing their hearts to be in the presence of the Holy Spirit and to be receptive of what he has for them.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
With your "Whole Heart"!!
Over the past two weeks or so, God has really been speaking to my heart during my devotional time in the mornings. I have been reading Psalms. I find Psalms to be so comforting and encouraging when I am going through difficult times. Lately I have been immersing myself in them!! I love to just soak in His Word!! While reading through the Psalms God has been directing me to a certain phrase. It is almost like it is in Bold Red Letters, but it really isn't.
The phrase is, "With my Whole Heart". I have found it in Psalm 119:69, and Psalm 119:34. It is in other places as well. God has really been speaking to me about this term. In Jeremiah 29:11-13, God says that we will find Him when we search with "all of our heart".
God wants all of our hearts. He doesn't just want the good parts, or the parts that we want to share with Him, He wants the whole thing. Just looking at this phrase you might be thinking, "Duh, I already do that", but do you? As I thought about the phrase and what it means, it really made me examine my life. Of course I love God with all of my heart, but do I give all of my heart to Him at all times. Do I worship Him with all of my heart, or do I hold back that part that hurts?
I will be completely honest here, I like most of you, know what it is to hurt. I know how it feels for your heart to hurt so bad that you don't even know how you are going to take the next breath, let alone give praise. I know how it feels to feel forgotten and betrayed by those who you thought were your friends. I know how it feels to have your entire life turned upside down in mere moments, and I know how it feels to loose something that is so very precious to you, but PRAISE GOD I know the one who can heal those hurts!!
I know that for me, it feels natural to turn away, to protect that part that hurts to bad to even acknowledge sometimes. However, as God has been showing me over the past few weeks, that is not what he wants us to do. We can not praise Him, or even give Him our whole heart, if we are protecting a part of it. in order to give Him our whole heart, we have to be totally transparent with Him. He already knows what we are going through, but we have to be willing to let Him in.
It makes me think of my children when we are getting ready for church on Sundays. I want them to wear their "good clothes", you know the pants that do not have holes, and that are not two inches too short. I am pretty sure I am not alone here, right?? Why am I, or are we, so concerned with how our children look when we go to church? Could it be that we are worried about what others might think or say about us?
Well, guess what, God wants our imperfections. He wants our dirty secrets and torn hearts. He wants all of us, he doesn't want just our "Sunday Best", he wants our "real life" hearts. He wants us to turn to Him when we are hurting, when we are grieving, when we feel lost, and when we feel empty. He wants us to open our hearts and praise Him with our whole hearts, He wants us to give all that we have and all that we are going through to Him. He wants our praise even when we don't have the strength to speak. When there are no words, He deserves our praise. When there are only tears left, He deserves our praise.
What does praise look like when you are speechless? It can be as simple as an open heart and lifted hands. What do you praise Him for when you are devastated? Praise Him for His love. Praise Him for His sacrifice. Praise Him for getting you through the last five minutes. Just praise Him, when you open your heart to God, He will speak to you.
It is so comforting to read Jeremiah 29:12-13, "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all of your heart." (NKJV).
Sunday, May 11, 2014
A hug from God...
This morning in Church during worship, God just poured out His Love on me. It felt as if He wrapped His arms around me, and gave me a Great Big hug!! It was so real, and I could feel the presence of the Lord right there with me. Psalm 56:8 immediately popped into my head, and I know it was God who put it there. It says, "You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?". (NKJV). I am so glad that God cares about every single tear that we cry.
When we encounter struggles, as we often will, I am so glad that God is there to "love on us". He cares enough to know my heart, to know when I am hurting, and to let me feel His love.
Choosing to worship God in all things, even in the middle of a storm, just brings us that much closer to Him. I may not understand why things happen, but I know that God loves me, and no matter how crazy this life gets He will be there waiting with a great big hug at the exact moment that I need it the most.
photo source
Thursday, January 2, 2014
A Look Back...
As we take a look back at the year of 2013, it is still mind boggling. God has done so many things in our lives, and blessed us in countless ways. When we as a family decided to turn everything over to God, and serve Him in any way that he wanted to use us, it seems that we went into warp speed. I think that God wants us to be willing to serve, without mixing our own desires in. Sometimes it is easy to say that we will serve, if we can do this or that, there is usually one or two specific things that we want to do. However, I feel that God wants us to serve without expectation. Being willing to serve without expecting to get anything in return, is truly one of the biggest blessings that you can receive, in my opinion.
At the beginning of 2013 we spent much time in prayer about where God was taking us, and how he wanted to get us there. We knew that he was calling us to Alaska, but the specifics had not been reveled to us yet. We prayed, and asked friends and loved ones to pray for us as well. We had already filled out applications to colleges in Alaska, but were not sure which one to go with, we had no idea how we would get to Alaska, and how we would be able to make it once we did arrive. There were so many questions, and chances for doubt and fear to set in, but through much prayer we knew that this is where God wanted us, and He would get us here and work out all of the details.
God did just that!! He took care of all of the little things, that to us at the time seemed like huge road blocks. He provided the encouragement that we needed from fellow believers, our Awesome church family, and some family members. He provided the van that we needed to get here, and He provided the finances that we needed as well. Once we arrived in Alaska, God continued to provide. He placed us in our house for a reason, we are surrounded by wonderful people, who have been a tremendous help to us in our time of transition. We stay on a property that is owned by the mission organization that we are hoping to work with very soon.
It is so neat to look back on the past year and realize that what seemed like chaos to us at the time was actually a carefully orchestrated plan that God had created for our family. As we look back, some of the things that seemed to take an eternity this past year, now look like that went by so quickly. God is truly in control.
We have had our share of obstacles to overcome and heartache this past year. We have experienced more loss than I would like to think about, and have endured many attacks by the enemy. It seems that Satan tried so hard to stop us from getting here, and do you want to know why? I truly believe that God has big things planned for us here, and Satan knows that as well, so he has done many things to stop our progress. However, as we all know, he has nothing on God. God is bigger than anything Satan can throw our way.
Our hearts are filled with so much love for all of our church family, friends, and supporters. We have been truly blessed by your continuing prayers and support for our family, and the journey God has set us on. So many times I rest in the fact that He, Jehovah, is mighty to save, and that no weapon formed against Him or us as believers, will stand!! Abba Father has been here to comfort us in every trial. We may be far from our family and friends back home, but God has been with us the entire way, and He is not going anywhere!!
We are so excited about what this year may bring. Just like last year, we don't have all of the specifics, but we are ready to serve, and excited to do so. Please continue to keep our family in your prayers.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Refining!!
Since arriving in Alaska, we have been able to experience some super fun things. We have seen many many moose, some in our front and back yard!!
We have seen some beautiful dogs, sled dogs.
We have also seen some reindeer!! The kids really got a kick out of these!!
We have met some awesome people, who have really ministered to our lives in ways that they probably are not even aware of!!
God is so great even in the hard times. This morning in my quiet time I was reading in Isaiah, the verse that really spoke to me was Isaiah 48:10, "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." My bible is a study bible, and in the explanation of this verse it says: "For without the testing, we would never know what we are capable of doing, nor would we grow. And without the refining, we will not become more pure and more like Christ."
Wow, this spoke to my heart, in a time that I really needed to hear something. Reading this verse helps me to remember that no matter what we face, we are not alone, and our experiences are not in vain. God has a purpose for all that we go through, even though in the middle of a trial it may be hard to see, or even think about a purpose, God has one. He can also use any trial that we are going through, or find ourselves in, for His glory.
We are not forgotten and we have not been left alone to find our own way. God is here and has been the entire time, even if we have chosen not to see Him, and He will always be here!!
I am so grateful this morning that God reminds us of His awesome glory and presence in our lives!!
We have seen some beautiful dogs, sled dogs.
We have met some awesome people, who have really ministered to our lives in ways that they probably are not even aware of!!
God is so great even in the hard times. This morning in my quiet time I was reading in Isaiah, the verse that really spoke to me was Isaiah 48:10, "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." My bible is a study bible, and in the explanation of this verse it says: "For without the testing, we would never know what we are capable of doing, nor would we grow. And without the refining, we will not become more pure and more like Christ."
Wow, this spoke to my heart, in a time that I really needed to hear something. Reading this verse helps me to remember that no matter what we face, we are not alone, and our experiences are not in vain. God has a purpose for all that we go through, even though in the middle of a trial it may be hard to see, or even think about a purpose, God has one. He can also use any trial that we are going through, or find ourselves in, for His glory.
We are not forgotten and we have not been left alone to find our own way. God is here and has been the entire time, even if we have chosen not to see Him, and He will always be here!!
I am so grateful this morning that God reminds us of His awesome glory and presence in our lives!!
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