Yes, consistency is an important quality, and here I am, blogging every 2 months! Never thought it would be so easy to let time slip by without an awareness of what all is slipping. This seems to apply in other areas too, not just in trying to put updates on the blog...discipline in exercise - let that slip since before Christmas; memorizing scripture - let that slip even longer...I think you get the picture. So what has been happening that is pushing important things out of mind?
It is actually hard to put a finger on any one thing. There seems to be a general business that I have become caught up in, and here I am trying to decide what is blognewsworthy.
Sports Ministry Initiative is an updated prayer request, and this has been the topic of a few conversations lately. God has brought a couple to partner with us, reaching out to our community through sports. There are so many ideas and possibilities that it has become a flurry of notions piled so high we can't seem to see any light. But that is what we are praying for, illumination, God's divine guidance, providence, opened doors, connections from divine appointments...light!
Please pray with and for us as we seek the Lord's face, to walk with Him in this venture.
At this time, I have started to coach a soccer team for ages 9-10. It has been a challenge in many ways, but with Christ, I am up for the challenge. The 25 boys are fun, energetic, rambunctious and varied in skill and experience. This is a large group to run through drills and settle down for some good talks. But it has been a growing experience, and we are learning to respect each other more and more. God has given me a love for these youngsters who love life, and need Jesus.
Keyana has started training with us and Josiah's team as well; she is taking a break from swimming during the cold season. If you live in Mexico, you need to understand the "beautiful game" some what so you can connect with the passion of the people.
We are hoping to develop a consistent visiting plan for 2 orphanages that we have served. They are very open to our support, and are interested in regular sports and games events with our youth group. This is a great opportunity to support ministry of wonderful Mexican folks who are loving the children who need the family of God to be their family.
I am also starting to teach another day at the school attended by our children. They lost a teacher and haven't found a replacement for the 2 hours of PE. I trust that I will be able to share double Jesus love with double the time at the school. I may try to start a basketball team at the school, but don't want to stretch myself too thin.
Again, we appreciate the prayers of the saints who are behind us in all that God is doing in, through and around us everyday here in Mexico.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Monday, December 8, 2014
Like The Criminal On The Cross
It's not often that I take time to put my thoughts on paper. But this morning when I was having my devotions I was convicted very clearly and as thoughts started coming to my mind, I started putting them on paper. Below is what resulted. I share it in hopes that it can encourage those who read it.
Luke 23:32-43New International Version (NIV)
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[a] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews. 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[b]” 43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
"One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah?
Save yourself and us!”
As I was reading my devotional this morning I was convicted that I’m often like the criminal on the cross, demanding that God do things my way, like I know what’s best. And yet God, who knows all and sees all and is in control of all, works to do things greater and mightier and better then I could ever imagine. As I reflected further, I asked myself, “What if He had listened to the criminal on the cross and saved the criminal and himself from their crucifixions?” Granted, the lives of the criminal and Jesus, would have been physically saved but the criminal and the whole world with him, every person, including you and I, would have been eternally condemned.
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Surely God knows what’s best. He sees the big picture and I don’t. Like the criminal who was consumed with his own struggle and pain, I too become consumed with my situations, my trials, my pain, my sorrow, my problems to the point that I shout at God, demanding Him to save me now and take me down off my cross and out of my difficulties. And yet I forget that Jesus is right there beside me, carrying my burdens and pains and worries and sin, all the while pleading with me to realize that His ultimate plan will bring me far greater benefits, far greater results, far greater hope and far greater good then I could ever imagine or expect to receive if He immediately swept me up and out of my troubles.
"For I know the plans I have for you….”
"“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
How short sighted I am, how consumed I become with me and my problems, how arrogant of me to think that I know what needs to be done better then God himself. Jesus isn’t swayed by my complaining or my demands. He sees His plan through to the end, no matter how many insults or abuse I hurl His way because He knows that His way is the only way, He knows that His way brings salvation, He knows that His way brings hope and life and freedom. He knows that his way is good and right and best. He calls me to relinquish control, to accept the fact that I’m incredibly shortsighted and to trust the truth that even when I can’t, He sees the big picture, He’s in control, He’s working for my good and His ways are higher than my ways and his thoughts are higher than my thoughts. He knows the plans He has for me because He’s a big picture God.
~ Karlene
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Walking in the Spirit in the Wake of the Storm
Odile, a level 3 hurricane, passed through Baja California Sur 3 weeks ago. With winds up to 200+km/h, it buffeted everything, knocked down signs and power poles, and leveled some houses. It was much worse in Los Cabos where they didn't have any land to take the brunt of the winds. Thankfully, not a lot of rain fell, but the winds did most of the damage. I have heard that 6 people died (ABC news says it was 5) because of the storm, 3 in their boats here in La Paz. We have a thriving boat community, mostly made up of people living the dream of retirement and freedom.
For us, it was the first time we had experienced winds of that magnitude. The first rain and winds started at 7 pm, but the winds woke us at 11 pm, howling with a ferocity unlike anything I had heard before. Our children scurried into our room for reassurance that they would be OK. Amazingly the electricity stayed on until about midnight. The windows were rattling so hard, I was starting to doubt they could hold up to the pressure. Noises from the roof had me imagining what could be rolling around up there. We sat on the bed, I told them to be calm, our house had been here for 30+ years and seemed to be strong. We prayed, we sang songs of praise, and we read from the Bible. All of a sudden a loud bang sounded, and we went to look out the back upstairs windows. Imagine our surprise to see a 5000 gallon plastic water tank lying on the cement in our back yard. It didn't come from our yard but from the store roof that is attached to our storage shed.
We played some card games, then we put headphones on the kids with music playing, and they managed to go back to sleep in their rooms.
Karlene noticed water coming in from the window, and I checked downstairs. The wind was blowing the rain around the seals in the windows and under the door. For the next 5 hours, Karlene and I mopped using our towels. Our backs complained, but we were glad we were safe inside, and imagined what it must be like in some of the houses we have seen others live in. At 5, it had slowed down a bit, and we both went to sleep. At 8, I was up, and went to survey the damage. Our Madagascar palm was broken off at the 8 foot mark, about 4 feet broken off. The date palm in the back was uprooted and leaning over. I uprighted it with some wire and hope it grows again.
Then I went outside our fence to see what had happened elsewhere. I could see trees toppled, branches broken off, wires knocked down and neighbours wandering around as I was, checking to see what had happened.
I got some gloves and went to see if I could help anyone else. Our house had nothing serious that needed immediate attention. I helped drag branches from one tree away from the driveway so a car could be used at one house. At another, I helped move pieces of a garage door that were bent up and was being taken apart. I climbed another roof to help a lady assess damage to her roof. But overall, in our neighbourhood, the biggest problem was trees and branches lying everywhere. A few chainsaws were buzzing, and some were using axes or machetes to chop the trees.
As dusk came, I decided to go for a drive to see what it looked like down the road. Keyana and Josiah joined me. Huge signs lay in twisted bars of metal, large deparment stores had parts of their walls blown away, the streets were littered with wreckage that we dodged, and street lights were turned in the wrong direction, or knocked down. Every intersection was a 4 way stop. When we got to Soriana, I was going to turn around, but noticed a small pickup with the hood up in the exit. A man, his wife and 3 kids were stranded. I thought I would be useless with my lack of mechanical knowledge, but then the thought popped in that I could at least give some light. So I turned around and shone my headlights on the truck. After a few minutes, his wife was in the truck trying to start it. It wouldn't fire. I asked what I could do for them. He mentioned a ride to a small hotel would be good. As they got their things together, I had the thought that we had a spare bedroom that they could squeeze into, as well as a couch that folds down. I asked the kids what they thought: one said we should invite them, the other was afraid as we had no idea who they were. These were the same thoughts I had going through my mind. I decided with a little prayer to make the offer, and see what they said. The husband looked surprised but accepted the offer immediately.
As we drove them back to our house, I chatted with Riggo and found out they were on there way home to Los Cabos from a vacation to the north. They had passed through the hurricane in their vehicle to get here. I found out later they had actually slept (if that was possible) in the small one bench toyota pickup as the hurricane passed over them. That with children 1, 3 and 6 years old. The winds had been strong enough to tip semi trucks over!
We didn't have much food to offer that night, so once I dropped off the family, Riggo and I went out to buy some hotdogs from a stand we noticed had opened. The line was long, so after 50 minutes, we headed back with some hot food. They had a cooler with shrimp they wanted to save, so I noticed there were lights on in parts of the city, so we headed out to look for ice. We were lucky to find an ice plant that had a long line...another hour later, we had ice.
We cooked most of the shrimp, placed some huge blocks of ice in the fridges, and iced the rest of the shrimp. Josiah and Keyana were great with the kids and played games with them. At midnight, we said good night.
We slept in a bit, then Riggo and I went to see if his pickup would start. I said a prayer before he tried to start it, and it started on the first try. We went back to our place and found out we didn't have tortillas. That was important to Riggo, so we went out to find some. After 30 minutes we found some in a store that were left over from Saturday. His wife made shrimp for breakfast, it was excellent!
The kids wanted to play Settlers, so we played for an hour. They packed up and started to say good-byes. It was then that we found out that Riggo's wife had not thought it wise to accept the invitation to stay at a stranger's house, but now they wanted to know why we would do such a kind thing for them. I laughed a little, and said it was God's love that we wanted to share, and the Bible tells us that you never know when you might host angels without knowing it - Heb. 13:2. Riggo had a strange look on his face, then replied, you were the angels to us!
What a blessing it is to be able to bless others. When they drove away, we felt we had made some new friends, and our hearts were full.
Since then, we have been able to be a part of what our church body is doing to reach out to those in need, through cooking food for the hungry, rebuilding houses for those that had them knocked down, or putting roofs back on, and bringing water to areas that didn't have drinking water. We have felt that it was very little we could do, but glad to be able to do something for someone.
We pray that God would use these relationships and needs to draw these people to himself, and that their hearts would be open to Him. Pray with us in this...Jn. 6:44
For us, it was the first time we had experienced winds of that magnitude. The first rain and winds started at 7 pm, but the winds woke us at 11 pm, howling with a ferocity unlike anything I had heard before. Our children scurried into our room for reassurance that they would be OK. Amazingly the electricity stayed on until about midnight. The windows were rattling so hard, I was starting to doubt they could hold up to the pressure. Noises from the roof had me imagining what could be rolling around up there. We sat on the bed, I told them to be calm, our house had been here for 30+ years and seemed to be strong. We prayed, we sang songs of praise, and we read from the Bible. All of a sudden a loud bang sounded, and we went to look out the back upstairs windows. Imagine our surprise to see a 5000 gallon plastic water tank lying on the cement in our back yard. It didn't come from our yard but from the store roof that is attached to our storage shed.
We played some card games, then we put headphones on the kids with music playing, and they managed to go back to sleep in their rooms.
Karlene noticed water coming in from the window, and I checked downstairs. The wind was blowing the rain around the seals in the windows and under the door. For the next 5 hours, Karlene and I mopped using our towels. Our backs complained, but we were glad we were safe inside, and imagined what it must be like in some of the houses we have seen others live in. At 5, it had slowed down a bit, and we both went to sleep. At 8, I was up, and went to survey the damage. Our Madagascar palm was broken off at the 8 foot mark, about 4 feet broken off. The date palm in the back was uprooted and leaning over. I uprighted it with some wire and hope it grows again.
Then I went outside our fence to see what had happened elsewhere. I could see trees toppled, branches broken off, wires knocked down and neighbours wandering around as I was, checking to see what had happened.
I got some gloves and went to see if I could help anyone else. Our house had nothing serious that needed immediate attention. I helped drag branches from one tree away from the driveway so a car could be used at one house. At another, I helped move pieces of a garage door that were bent up and was being taken apart. I climbed another roof to help a lady assess damage to her roof. But overall, in our neighbourhood, the biggest problem was trees and branches lying everywhere. A few chainsaws were buzzing, and some were using axes or machetes to chop the trees.
As dusk came, I decided to go for a drive to see what it looked like down the road. Keyana and Josiah joined me. Huge signs lay in twisted bars of metal, large deparment stores had parts of their walls blown away, the streets were littered with wreckage that we dodged, and street lights were turned in the wrong direction, or knocked down. Every intersection was a 4 way stop. When we got to Soriana, I was going to turn around, but noticed a small pickup with the hood up in the exit. A man, his wife and 3 kids were stranded. I thought I would be useless with my lack of mechanical knowledge, but then the thought popped in that I could at least give some light. So I turned around and shone my headlights on the truck. After a few minutes, his wife was in the truck trying to start it. It wouldn't fire. I asked what I could do for them. He mentioned a ride to a small hotel would be good. As they got their things together, I had the thought that we had a spare bedroom that they could squeeze into, as well as a couch that folds down. I asked the kids what they thought: one said we should invite them, the other was afraid as we had no idea who they were. These were the same thoughts I had going through my mind. I decided with a little prayer to make the offer, and see what they said. The husband looked surprised but accepted the offer immediately.
As we drove them back to our house, I chatted with Riggo and found out they were on there way home to Los Cabos from a vacation to the north. They had passed through the hurricane in their vehicle to get here. I found out later they had actually slept (if that was possible) in the small one bench toyota pickup as the hurricane passed over them. That with children 1, 3 and 6 years old. The winds had been strong enough to tip semi trucks over!
We didn't have much food to offer that night, so once I dropped off the family, Riggo and I went out to buy some hotdogs from a stand we noticed had opened. The line was long, so after 50 minutes, we headed back with some hot food. They had a cooler with shrimp they wanted to save, so I noticed there were lights on in parts of the city, so we headed out to look for ice. We were lucky to find an ice plant that had a long line...another hour later, we had ice.
We cooked most of the shrimp, placed some huge blocks of ice in the fridges, and iced the rest of the shrimp. Josiah and Keyana were great with the kids and played games with them. At midnight, we said good night.
We slept in a bit, then Riggo and I went to see if his pickup would start. I said a prayer before he tried to start it, and it started on the first try. We went back to our place and found out we didn't have tortillas. That was important to Riggo, so we went out to find some. After 30 minutes we found some in a store that were left over from Saturday. His wife made shrimp for breakfast, it was excellent!
The kids wanted to play Settlers, so we played for an hour. They packed up and started to say good-byes. It was then that we found out that Riggo's wife had not thought it wise to accept the invitation to stay at a stranger's house, but now they wanted to know why we would do such a kind thing for them. I laughed a little, and said it was God's love that we wanted to share, and the Bible tells us that you never know when you might host angels without knowing it - Heb. 13:2. Riggo had a strange look on his face, then replied, you were the angels to us!
What a blessing it is to be able to bless others. When they drove away, we felt we had made some new friends, and our hearts were full.
Since then, we have been able to be a part of what our church body is doing to reach out to those in need, through cooking food for the hungry, rebuilding houses for those that had them knocked down, or putting roofs back on, and bringing water to areas that didn't have drinking water. We have felt that it was very little we could do, but glad to be able to do something for someone.
We pray that God would use these relationships and needs to draw these people to himself, and that their hearts would be open to Him. Pray with us in this...Jn. 6:44
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