5 more days

I only have 5 more useful days before we leave for furlough. The house is in a state of flux, my cooking has been limited to what's left in the cupboard. My printers are not working. My vonage phone service is spotty at best. And its COLD!

Still, I am thrilled to be going back. We will be staying in a lovely missions house in Bellflower, CA. for a month before we hit the road in our motorhome.

The church people are sad, and afraid that we might just stay in the US. That's not going to happen unless God moves in a miraculous way. We've had all sorts of tragedies and people problems, many of which were taken care of last night at Lord's Supper.

Just got a call from the dentist and they worked me in for tomorrow at 11 am. Great.

I'll probably have my internet shut down tomorrow as well. So, if this is my last day to blog from home, just know that I'll be back!

Exercise????

So often lately I've read about good Christian women and exercize. Everyone from Candy to Julie Fink to Beth Moore.
So, where does one find good, godly exercize videos? If I put on any old exercize video, my neighbors would think I was having a party!
Any ideas?

Ten more days

We have ten more days before we leave Lanco for furlough. It has been determined by the Powers that be that these will be excruciatingly busy days. This morning around 2 a.m., Sister Miriam's mother passed away. We were on alert since last night. Her son came and got Neil at 2:40, Neil stayed until 5, then came home and got a little rest before going to Mafil. This afternoon after kid's club, he and the guys set up the portable baptistry. It took about 2 hours. Then he came home, had a cup of coffee and we headed over to Miriam's house for the "velorio" which is where everybody sits around the casket. After a few minutes of that, we were ushered into the kitchen. I was there for about an hour, Neil is still there, talking and drinking "mate". Sister Miriam is sad, but no longer hysterical. (I cannot handle "hysterical") This is the third "velorio" I've been to in the past 3 weeks.
I won't be able to attend the funeral on Monday because I have a last-minute dentist appointment (oh joy)

Bro. Jose and has family will arrive next Saturday a.m., so I only have 6 more days of "normal" family life. I will be sooooo glad to get on that plane!

We had 32 kids at club today, which is really great considering the cold and the rain. Actually, I can't believe so many moms let their kids come, knowing full well that they'll get soaked.

Tomorrow night we'll have a baptism, then Tuesday night we'll have the Lord's Supper. As you know, we take the Lord's Supper very seriously around here. Its a big deal to us!


I don't know how much blogging I can do before we must turn off the internet. I already miss it!
Please pray that the Lord will get us through these next few days victoriously and that Neil might not drop dead from exhaustion.

Have a great Lord's Day!

Reading good books

My friend Sarah wrote a very interesting post yesterday. I had also been thinking about books and blogs, both of which I love. But one of the dangers about reading about God (outside of the Bible) is that it does seem like vicarious living, a sort of vicarious Christianity. I remember reading something Max Lucado wrote. He said something about people who live their spirituality through someone else, always hearing about how God is working through someone else, either an author or a pastor. Lucado likened it to always being around and living off someone else's romances, never having a romance yourself. When it comes down to it, its got to be personal! I know it may seem selfish, but I want to hear from God myself. (I am not talking about a new revelation) I want to open the Word and know that God is speaking to ME. So often, we get second-hand spirituality from someone else and that is just not enough.

That being said, I still love books. And I believe that not all books are for every season of your life. My mom admitted to having "My Utmost For His Highest" for years and never read it. Now she reads it daily, and gives it as gifts to everyone she knows. There are books on my shelves that I did not enjoy greatly, but who knows? Maybe in another time, another set of circumstances, I will be ready to read them and get the full benefit.