Be Still

Exodus 14:14-"The Lord will fight for you; you only need to be still."
How many times do we try to fight our own battles? We conjur up all our knowledge, choose what we think is best, and then charge it towards the enemy. Sometimes it works but we don't like the result-we hurt someone, lose a friend. But did you ever think of letting the Lord fight for you.
You may say, "Oh, no thanks, God, I've got it." But what would have happened if the Israelites, there at Pi Hahiroth, with the whole of the Red Sea stretched in front of them and the Egyptians behind them, had decided to do what they thought was best? They would have gone back to Egypt, back to their slavery, to their discontent and hard lives. Where would King David be then? Or Solomon? Or Joshua? Or Elijah? Or Ruth? Or Deborah? Or Josiah? Or Job? Or Isaiah? Or Esther? They would all be back in Egypt, hands covered in mud and straw, crying "Deliver us, Oh Lord!"
Maybe, when God's anger with his people had subsided, he would have raised up another to lead them to the Promised Land. But by then, how many great generations would have been missed? Would their be the King after God's own heart? Or his wise son who counseled the world? Or the Queen who dared to defy the protocol to save her people? Who can say but God?
So when tough times come your way and you find yourself gearing up for the fight, put down your sword, take off your helmet, and bow down and be still before the Lord. And He will give you a victory that will stagger you imagination.

Karissa is Improving

This past weekend, Karissa was playing Uno and put down the right card 90% of the time. Please continue to pray for her recovery!

Thank God For Your Bible

There's one on your coffee table, one or two in your bedroom, one in the office, two or three on your bookshelf, and several more in the other bedrooms around your house, most likely several different translations, all to your family's tastes. But in persecuted countries, Christians pray daily for long hours to receive a Bible, and sometimes, they never do. Ministries like Bibles Unbound are working to send Bible to these countries but it isn't always easy and the houses are often raided and their precious books taken away and burned. Thank God for your Bible(s) and for the fact that you can go out to just about any place that sells books and pick up a new one if you need too.

This story is from Voice of the Martyrs and gives a story of a woman and her Bible in persecuted China.

China: Mrs. Lu Ying

     "Take her furniture, and search the house for Bibles!" said the commanding guard.

     Tears filled Mrs. Lu Ying's eyes as she watched four Communist guards ransack her home.

     "I found it!" yelled the guard. But just as the guard held out the Bible to give it to his commanding officer, Mrs. Lu Ying bravely grabbed it back from him. 

     "This book contains all I need to know about my dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and I do not want to part with it," she said passionately while holding the Bible close to her chest.

     "Take her outside," yelled the commander. "We'll see how long she wants to hold onto her book about Jesus."

     The four Communist guards took Mrs. Ling into the street, mocked her, spat on her, and beat her until she could no longer stand. "Do you still believe in your myths?" laughed the guards.

     Through a swollen, bleeding mouth, still holding her Bible, Lu Ying repeated her statement of faith.

     The guards grabbed an iron bar and smashed the bones in her hands causing her now crippled hands to lose their grip. The Bible fell into the street and was confiscated.

     Nearly twenty years later, a mission courier delivered Mrs. Ling a Bible. Her eyes filled with tears. She clutched it with her deformed hands and whispered, "This time I'm not letting go."

Final Notes on The Warm Hugs Project

The Warm Hugs Project has a failure status for this year due to lack of interest, not enough pre-planning, and not enough advertising. Not a single blanket was collected. And while I hate to have to report on a failure, especially a failure of this magnitude, I still want to praise God for putting me through this experience. It showed me a lot of weaknesses that I have in some areas that I need to improve and I can definately grow from this. But, please keep watch and plan for The Warm Hugs Project 2012!

Thank God For Dirty Dishes



This 2-year-old girl, Nichole, is an orphan at El Hogar De Ninos in
Santa Barbara, Honduras. She was so malnourished when she
came to the Hogar that all her teeth had fallen out.
Photo by Brianna Hoffecker



A preacher I knew as a little girl had a saying-"Thank God for dirty dishes." And, as a little girl, I hated washing the dishes. There was 11 of us in one house, and the dishes were constantly in abundance. Now, there are 9 people in the house and the dishes are just as many. But we should thank God for our dirty dishes. It means we had something to eat three times today-something 925 million people in 2010 didn't have. While world hunger may not be something we come into contact with every day, it's very much a problem throughout the world. Poverty causes many to go without. Fifteen million children die every year from hunger. A little closer to home, in the U.S., one out of eight children under the age of twelve go to bed hungry every night. Every 3.6 seconds, one person dies of hunger. This statistics aren't to guilt trip you into thinking you eat too much or anything like that, but simply to show you how God has blessed you. You get three square meals a day and sometimes you go out to dinner for a more expensive meal. The very fact that you can afford this is a sign of God's blessings upon your life.



So thank God for the dirty dishes you have to wash today, tomorrow, and the rest of your life, whether it be one or two or a few hundred. And thank Him for the food that was on those dishes.

Thank God For Dirty Dishes
Author Unknown

Thank God for dirty dishes;
They have a tale to tell.

While others may go hungry,

We're eating very well.

With home, health, and happiness,

I shouldn't want to fuss;

By the stack of evidence,

God's been very good to us.

To find out how you can help reduce world hunger, visit Food For The Hungry at http://www.fh.org/. 







Inspiration from Isaiah

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the LORD, your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

your Savior."

          Isaiah 43:1-3 

  Photography by Emma Pearson and David Dill.

St. Valentine: The Man Behind the Chocolates

February 14 has become a day of love around the world. We hand out little cards, chocolates, various candies, and hope to receive some roses from that oh-so-special someone. But St. Valentine's Day started with a courageous act by a Christian martyer. (Didn't see that one coming, did ya?)

In the third century, A.D., there was a priest named Valentine who served in Rome. At this time, Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than married men and so outlawed marriage for all young men. Valentine, instead of following the unjust decree, married young lovers in secret. When he was discovered, he was thrown into jail. It is said that then was when the first "Valentine" was sent by Valentine himself. Lengend has it that he fell in love with a young woman (possibly the jailer's daughter) who visited him during his imprisonment. Just before his death, he wrote her a letter which he signed, "From your Valentine."

Although these stories may or may not be true, St. Valentine paints a picture of a heroic, courageous, sympathetic and (a collective sigh from the ladies) romantic man. And he, this martyer of the faith, is the reason you'll get those chocolates.

Happy Valentines Day!