Our Duty.

Don't forget to vote today...
But even more important than voting is PRAYING.

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance."

~ Psalm 33:12 ~

Sundays.

I love Sundays! Out of the seven days of the week, Sunday has got to be my favorite! Having the opportunity to go twice in one day to God's house and fellowship with other believers after you've been skinned alive by the preaching (well, sometimes:D) is such a privilege. Seeing the auditorium packed out with members and visitors ready to hear God's Word preached by the faithful man of God in the pulpit is a wonder. Knowing that you can cheer up someone's day with a cheerful "hey!" and a smile is encouraging. And you know that when a friend is missing from their rightful place, it's your responsibility to practice being a Proverbs 27 "iron" and check out why they were missing.

Yesterday was a great day! In the morning I got to teach 2's & 3's since the regular teacher is on vacation in South Carolina suffering through 70 degree weather while we get to enjoy 40 degree weather. Anyway, during our joint singing time with the 4's & 5's class, I noticed how the kids sang (and in some cases shouted!) "Deep and Wiiiiide! Deep and Wiiiide!" and how they did it with zeal. Have you ever stopped to think that Cavalry's fountain is "deep" and "wide"? So "deep and wide" that my sins can never not be covered! Wow!

Then during the morning service we had some great congregational singing! Sometimes the song leader will joke and say that down here on earth is just choir practice for the real thing in Heaven... it gives me the chills just thinking about that. It gets good sometimes, so Heaven must be perfect all the time!

Both the morning and evening messages were so timely. The youth pastor preached in the morning about the rich fool who told himself he would pull down his old barns and build new barns and that he would eat, drink, and be merry for many years. But there was one thing he hadn't counted on: that very night his soul would be required of him. Bro. Ronnie then said this: "where will you be in 100 years? If you plan half as much for eternity as you plan for this life would there be anything waiting for you in eternity?" Hmm. In 100 years I'm guaranteed to be long gone.

Then in the evening Bro. Reeder preached on "One Needful Thing" from Luke 10:38-42. You know the story. Martha was said to be cumbered about much serving. It struck me that I usually stick "with" in between "about" and "much" but that's not what the Bible says. It says she was cumbered about much serving. She was doing a good thing (serving) but it took much. Much what? It took time. It took effort. It took away from her spending time at the feet of Jesus, where Mary was. Wow. Again, that message hit me right between the eyes as I realized that nothing, nothing, is nearly as important as doing that "one needful thing".

The local newspaper will often run a full-page advertisement that says "Sunday mornings they go to church, but Sunday afternoons they worship here" indicating a football game. Oh no! May it not be said that something else (a game, a family get-together, school, a nap, etc) got me more excited about Sunday than meeting with my precious Saviour.

Would I Rather?

"I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;

I’d rather be His than have riches untold;

I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands;

I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand."

Refrain: "Than to be the king of a vast domain,

Or be held in sin’s dread sway;

I’d rather have Jesus than anything,

This world affords today."

"I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;

I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;

I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame;

I’d rather be true to His holy name."

"He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;

He’s sweeter than honey from out the comb;

He’s all that my hungering spirit needs;

I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead."

It's Not Intentional.

I'm not intentionally letting this blog slip into boredom.... it's happening all on its own!!! Actually the real reason that you're seeing one, maybe two, posts a week is because my home computer called it ka-putz the other week. In other words, it was fried. My parents are in the process of getting a new one, but it's actually been kinda nice not to have a computer for a while. I finished a 400-page novel called "Shiloh's Autumn" within a few days and got to enjoy it too! So maybe it was a good thing that the computer gave us a break!

But in the meantime I do a little post here and there on my work computer, but not while I'm working :o). I'm also getting ready to head to Indiana Friday evening, but I will try to post before then. God has been so good with the preaching during the Bible conference and then my Pastor preached a great message on "How To Know If You're Hearing The Voice Of God" during the Sunday AM message. It's been good folks. But anytime God works, the devil is not far behind and that was true this week too.

So consider this my wave hello to y'all! Enjoy the beatiful fall weather out there and get ready: Sunday's comin!

A Missionary's Farewell.

There seems to be a revolving door on the church's missions house. In actuality, it must be a revolving door on the duplex for both sides have experienced constant movement. For a long time the Wilhite family lived on the one side the Kuenzis on the other side. In October 2001 the Wilhites packed up their 9 (at that time - now it's 11) children and made the move to South Africa as missionaries. In 2002 the assistant pastor and his new wife moved into the side vacated by the Wilhites, but in 2003 the Kuenzis moved to West Virginia. November of 2004 brought the Wilhites home on a year furlough and they moved into the "Kuenzi" side. Before we knew it, November of 2005 came and the Wilhites went back to South Africa to begin their second term. Changes were coming again as the Heinz family made their way from Chile at the end of November 2005. They moved into the side that the Wilhites had moved out of a month before. Now on Monday we are getting ready to say a farewell to the Heinz family as the start back to Chile on a long flight for their second term. The missions house will not stay empty for long though; the Castner family will soon occupy the missions house for 4-5 months. The Hammett family will also be coming home for a 6-week visit with their families for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then in January our assistant pastor and family take off on a several-month trip to Finland.

It seems here of late we are always saying farewell to somebody or another but that's the way it is with missionaries. I only hope "I'll pray for you" will not be said tritely on Monday morning when we say good-bye to the Heinzes, for prayer truly is the best thing for us to give to missionaries.




"From Greenland’s icy mountains, from India’s coral strand;Where Afric’s sunny fountains roll down their golden sand:From many an ancient river, from many a palmy plain,They call us to deliver their land from error’s chain."

"What though the spicy breezes blow soft o’er Ceylon’s isle;Though every prospect pleases, and only man is vile?In vain with lavish kindness the gifts of God are strown; The heathen in his blindness bows down to wood and stone."

"Shall we, whose souls are lighted with wisdom from on high,Shall we to those benighted the lamp of life deny?Salvation! O salvation! The joyful sound proclaim,Till earth’s remotest nation has learned Messiah’s Name."

"Waft, waft, ye winds, His story, and you, ye waters, roll Till, like a sea of glory, it spreads from pole to pole: Till o’er our ransomed nature the Lamb for sinners slain,Redeemer, King, Creator, in bliss returns to reign."

From Greenland's Icy Mountains

I'm Convinced...

The other day the little girl who we call around the church office our "secretary-in-training" :o) was in the office while her mommy directed the handbell choir and her daddy (an assistant to the pastor) continued working on the second-floor offices, a project which seemed to have no end, but is finally almost done! So this little 1 1/2 year comes to us (the main secretary and I) where it is our privilege to babysit for 45 minutes every Wednesday.

Since the place where we buy our copy paper was having a huge, once-a-year sale where they offer everything from free food to t-shirts (and oh yeah, they also have paper on sale too:D), the main secretary took two of the guys with her to "help" get the paper. In reality, they only went along for the free food since the guys at Expedx loaded the paper in the van :o). So when this darling girl's daddy brought her into the office after lunch, I landed the official "baby-sitting" duty.

Now GJ is just starting to talk and sometimes it doesn't sound right what she's saying, and that's no exception to the "frog", a keychain that holds some keys on it and hangs in the cupboard. GJ is absolutely fascinated with it and will stand under the cupboard and point up while she says, well, something other than "frog"!

Usually after the frog, GJ will move on to her next favorite item: a box of rubber bands that are conveniently (for her anyway!) kept on a bottom shelf. She loves to take them out, handfuls at a time, and make a mess on the floor! But she occupies herself for minutes on end with the rubberbands, all the while talking to herself too!

Well this time GJ picked up the box and walked to a corner of the office and sat down by a stack of boxes. I didn't pay too much attention to her since the door to the office was closed and I could see her in my peripheral vision, so I sat at my computer and continued working. Every once in a while I would glance over and see her pick up a few rubberbands and say "ooooh!". About the fourth time I looked over, I noticed the pile in the box was diminishing but I didn't see any on the floor. I was curious, especially since GJ was quiet other than the "oooohs!". Here she had figured out that the handle on the box could be pushed in and that rubber bands could be shoved into the box through the handle! It made sense why she was so excited but also why I didn't see any rubber bands on the floor :).

GJ's third favorite thing to do is take the dozens (ok, slight exaggeration:D) of butterfly magnets the main secretary has all over the filing cabinets and move them all around. Usually this results in butterflies upside down or on the floor or on the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet. But again, she is so entertained by these and will walk around the room babbling to herself and making us laugh too:D.

The thing I'm convinced about is that children do not need buckets and bins and rooms full of toys. Amy (the butterfly collector!) used to say when we first started watching GJ, "I need to bring in some toys for her" but now we know GJ doesn't need toys. Apparently frog keychains, rubber bands and magnets are enough :o).

It's The Little Things.

I am blessed. Often that word is used when something good or exciting happens to/for us or those we know. For example, this week I heard two*big* blessings: a friend finding a future spouse and a little life that is on the way. Those are very exciting, but I also like to see the blessings in unexpected cases.

For me, I experienced some blessings that shouted God's faithfulness and love of the little details. Let me explain..

Thursday night I drove down to Philly and parked my car on the right side of the street. Friday morning I planned to run an errand but I never got around to it. Normally when I leave on an errand and then return, I'll park my car on the left side of the street instead of the right for the simple reason that it is right outside my sister's apartment. Since I didn't go anywhere in the morning, my car stayed on the right side.

Little did I know how important that would be!

It was round 1:45 when I put my nephew down to take a nap. I sat down on the sofa and as I did, I heard the wind rushing through the tree leaves outside. Thinking nothing of the loud "wham", I continued doing what I was doing. But then I wondered what that noise was.

I looked out the window and noticed a tree limb resting on a truck parked out front. I went outside and was horrified by what I saw. Here the wind had blown a tree over by its roots, and what I thought was a tree limb was actually the entire tree resting on the truck. The entire driver's side was smashed in, the windshield was crushed, and the hood was bent at an odd angle. The rest of the truck was *fine*, but that didn't matter because the damage was complete. The brand-new truck (the guy had just bought it recently) was totaled and useless.

I was stunned and shocked over the damage. And then the thought hit me: *I* usually park my car in that spot on a typical Friday!!!!! I looked across the street to where my car was parked and noticed that the tree (which fell from the right side of the road) missed my car by about 5 feet.

WOW.

My car was protected by the same God that gave the car to me in the first place.

After I went back inside, I thought about what would've happened if that would've been my car. And then the second thought hit me: I just realized Thursday that my car insurance wasn't renewed automatically like I thought it was supposed to be. My car insurance works on a 6-month cycle, and since this is the first time I would have to renew it, I didn't know what *normally* happens at the end of 6 months. God is good!

Then as I was driving home last night on dark, country roads, my heart stopped when I saw what I thought was a dear... it turned out to be somebody's mailbox :o). So I continued through the woods on winding, curvy roads while I softly sang to myself. I had just gone around a curve and hit a straight part of the road when the words "I'll have a new life" stopped on my lips as I slammed on my brakes. Right in front of me were two dear, calmly standing in the middle of the road as if they owned it and looking straight at me. My dad has told me that dear usually travel in groups of three so I was searching the fields on both sides of the road for the third dear. The two dear walked away and I nervously approached the part of the road that they had occupied moments before, but I never did see the third dear. God is good!

Then today the teenagers went to a corn maze nearby, so I was asked to help put together the lunch for the teens. We just made hoagies and apple crisp, but it was so much fun because it reminded me of working in the kitchen at Winter Camp and getting up at 6:30 to feed 85 people! The nice thing about working in the camp kitchen is hearing the kids tell stories about other camps they've been to where the food was disgusting, but then hear them say, "But this food is the best!!!" We (the kitchen crew) truly believe if the food isn't good, then that's all the kids will think about instead of the preaching. So we make it our personal goals to give the kids the best food possible.

So anyway, we had fun in the kitchen putting everything together. I love working with Mrs. Lytle, who is the main cook. She's so much fun and so organized!!!!!! After the teens were all gone and the kitchen was returned to it's sparkling condition (well, this was the church kitchen where sometimes we have unexpected visitors, the four-legged kind, so maybe we left it better then it sometimes is;)) we girls (four of us) stood around talking for an hour. Poor Mrs. Lytle only has two boys :D, so she often counts on these *cooking times* to get in her girl talk :o). It wasn't much, but it sure was nice to just chat with others and share funny stories! God is good!

Blessings can sometimes be big and sometimes be small, but the most important thing is no matter the size of them that I reflect the thanks back to the Giver...

~"Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow"~

Gifts

This past Saturday was my dad's 64th birthday, but he sure doesn't look it!!!!! His whole side of the family is extremely young-looking, so it's no surprise to me when people come up to me and guess my age to be around 16 or 17:o). I visited my Grandmother tonight (Dad's Mom) and noticed again that this lady does not look like she's going to be 87 in December! So I know which side of the family to thank for the genes and to put up with the comments now... for if I ever live to 40, I'm going to enjoy being told I look like I'm 28!!!

~My sister Sherri, Dad, and my brother Jack in November 2004~

But anyway, Dad's birthday was this past weekend so we had a family dinner on Sunday with my brothers and some friends. Now if you know me in day to day life, you'll know a couple of things: 1 ~ Dad claims to be a Christian, but it is seriously doubtful. 2 ~ God has taught me so much about being thankful for the situation he has placed me in. 3 ~ His grace is sufficient for all things.

I have wondered in the past why my dad couldn't be like _________'s dad or __________'s dad. I have also wondered if girls who grow up being "Daddy's girl" realize how absolutely wonderful it is to be loved completely and have that love expressed in a million different ways. I have bemoaned the fact that while others were encouraged to follow God's Will no matter what, I had to fight to explain why I made the choice to go to Bible Institute rather than the prestigious, nationally known college(s) that are nearby. Please do not misunderstand me for one minute and think that I've had a terrible life and that I was thrown in front of 18-wheelers:o). Now that I'm older, I have come to appreciate the Dad I have and I am so very thankful that my dear, sweet Mother is a faithful Christian who devotedly loves her God, and has also placed herself under her unsaved husband. (1 Peter 3:1 ~ "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives.")

The topic came up today twice about having various gifts. In the first case, one girl was talking about how she wished she was a natural athlete like the captain of the volleyball team. But I told her, "you might not be a natural athlete, but you are a natural musician. And ______ is a natural athlete, but she is not a gifted piano player." So after telling this girl as gently as possible (you know me! I'm very blunt!) that she was having a royal pity party, I turned back to my work. Then tonight at visitation, the speaker mentioned how each and every one of us Christians are expendable in the work; God doesn't need us and yet He has gifted us with certain abilities to use for His glory.

So as I thought about my Dad, I realized I had a "gift" that most girls are not given. So the question to ask is this: why did God give me my Dad and the situations that came along? Was it so I could have one pity party after another? Was it so I would get puffed up with pride when I thought *I* had conquered that rebellious nature that flares up and bucks what Dad says? Was it so others would pat me on the back and say, "I don't know how you do it"? Was it so I would look longingly at the *greener grass on the other side*?

I daresay that at one time or another, those thoughts and actions have been played out in my life many times. But God's Word is so gentle, yet precise. It's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart and is sharper than any two-edged sword! (Hebrews 4:12 ~ " For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."). God meant only for good what I saw as destroying my life.

I've been blessed to have a God in Heaven care so much about me that He wants to see me come through the fire, refined seven times and purified as gold. I would not ever get refined if I was placed far away from the fire. And although there were times that I thought the fire had gotten too hot, God had the temperature under control the whole time. He kept the heat on long enough to burn away the dross and impurities.

As far as I can tell today, my dad is still unsaved. But my walk with God is stronger as a result of my Dad. When I have been driven to the quietness of my room in tears, God's Word has been a tender, healing balm. When I have reacted in anger and spoken harsh words, God's Word and His Spirit have brought conviction to my heart that has often, but not often enough, caused me to go seeking forgiveness. And when my dad has praised me for something good I've done, I have walked away rejoicing that God has answered my girlish prayer to be a "Daddy's girl" ~ even if it is just for a moment.

I am still learning to be conformed to His Image... and my Dad is being used by God for that very purpose! As I finish this post, I have one favor to ask of you: please pray for my Dad, that he would be saved. If God brings him to mind in the future, pray for his salvation. All the hurts and pain of my past will be nothing compared to my Dad not getting saved.

Hurts are but for a moment; eternity in Hell is forever.

Baby Steps.

My sister called me yesterday with detailed instructions for my babysitting stint today. One of the things I was supposed to do was get Andrew in a nice little outfit, shoes and all, for his Grandma's birthday (my b-i-l's mom) today. So this morning, at 6:30 (by the way, this kid's an alarm clock!), I dressed Andrew in his outfit for the day and decided to stick his shoes on. As he lay on the table, he looked trustingly up at me as I fiddled with the tiny shoe.

I bet if he knew what I was doing, he would not have been so quiet!

Less than a minute after I put the shoes on (which were absolutely darling with the outfit), Andrew decided he didn't want them on. So he pulled them off and I gave in, since this was the first time in his 11-month life that I had ever seen shoes for him.

Later in the morning, I had to put them back on since we were going to go outside. I knew how easily he kicks his socks off, so I thought to keep his feet warm and his socks on by putting back on the shoes. This time I succeeded and I double-knotted them so he couldn't pull them off again! To quote Anne of Green Gables, "That's the one good thing about me; I never make the same mistake twice!"

Andrew is starting to walk with help, so I stood him on the floor while I held his hands. We stood in the hallway for about 10 seconds as I waited for him to begin walking. But the shoes posed an obstacle for him and he was unsure of what to do. Finally he lifted his left foot up (with the heavy shoe too!) and moved it forward just a tiny bit. But it was a step! Eventually his right foot was brought forward too, and he took a grand total of 3 steps in those awkward shoes before he stopped.

As I watched my nephew try to walk, I couldn't help but think about the fact that my Christian walk is very similar to what he was doing. I can be zipping along, comfortable in what I'm doing when an obstacle is placed before me, just like Andrew was used to walking in his socks and now was confronted with a new scenario of shoes.

But I need to make sure that I'm doing something... that I'm taking those *baby steps*. I think about what Paul wrote about running the race, and how it's more important to run the race than it is the be the first one done with the race.

Last night at an English Bible study for Chinese, one girl told me she had never heard the story of Cain and Abel before. At first I felt rather ashamed for taking the Bible for granted, but then as I thought about it today, I realized I have an opportunity to share, in baby steps, all the wonderful and not-so-wonderful stories of the Bible that point to one story: HIS STORY (history)!

My steps may falter and I might even stumble at times, but I know that baby steps are better than no steps at all!

"Direction, Not Perfection"

What A Great Idea!

I must admit I laughed out loud when I read this, but after the laughter died down at someone memorizing their Latin verbs in this way, I thought she was really onto something. Are you curious yet? Go on over and check it out:o)