Pics from Jefferson City.

Betsy, Here are my pictures from Jeff City- hope you enjoy!

Missouri Pics.

A Snowflake of Opportunity...

Mine fell to Earth Monday, July 18. It came in the form of an application to participate in "Interface" with New Tribes Missions that I sent out, unsure of what to expect in return...

Today my answer came- I'm joining a team to attend Interface in New Guinea January 16 thru February 28, 2006. I can't wait- I'm so excited already!!! YAY! My Snowflake is growing...

I have prayed and prayed for God to put me where He wants me. God answered abundantly last year (exactly a year ago this week even) by opening doors, providing for His Child, and sending me to the Far Side of the World.

Thru that encounter, I was just captured by the stories told about missionaries who trusted God so completely, and went to the outskirts of civilization to tell people about Jesus- people who'd never heard His name, didn't know He died for them, and really- didn't even know they were in need of His Salvation. I was also puzzled by other stories about the rituals and practices of these same people- how they can't understand the concepts of "Grace" or "Mercy", because nothing in their culture is free- everything has a price, even little "friendly gestures" requires Payback.

I was utterly confused following my return from that first venture. What was THAT all about?? Why was it I had gone again? But one wise fellow-traveler drove this point home to me: my responsibility is NOT in understanding- or even seeing- the outcomes of my obedience to Christ. My only responsibility is to be obedient.

Some Good Stuff, And Some Evil...

Mmmmmmm... I really like this thing!! Since this whole blog scene is about sharing, I would be doing you, The Reader, a huge disservice if I didn't share some good links with you. Here now, you have a link to my church- lots of good resources there, a link to New Tribes Missions- of great importance to me, a link to the most conservative cable news channel- I'm a Republican, and a link to a very awesome devotional site- now go grow your relationship with God!



(much later...)
I am so freaking tired, and I have to go back to work!! (note post time) To know me is to love me. And those who know me will readily agree that I'm not always the most patient of people... (not with everything though- if you know me and disagree, I challenge you to come see what I do at work, and THEN say I have no patience!) This past week, I both switched my cell phone company to Cingular, and I got a cool new phone in the process. However, because I ported my old phone number, my Sprint service got cut off last Monday night, and I didn't get my new phone and Cingular service until Wednesday evening after work. I was so upset- that's my only phone! When I finally got things all set up with the new phone, I had 6 voicemails, and a few text messages too. So- if you are reading this, and happen to work for either Evil Sprint (as I affectionally call it) or Stupid Cingular (they are quickly losing their good standing with me even after one week), please consider that when a customer is porting a phone number, service with one company should NOT be turned off before service can actually be begun (meaning the new phone is in hand) with the new company!!! I don't know, I'm kind of simple, but that doesn't seem like too much to ask for...

Snow bunnies and the like...

Funny how little Snow Bunnies form (For all my warm climate friends, these are the cold equivalent to dust bunnies)...

One single snowflake drifts its way so peacefully across the sky, and tries to land safely on earth. Any slight breeze or wind gust though, and the snowflake only skids across the already-fallen snow. One snowflake's flawless crystal catches hold of another snowflake, and off they fly together. The next several landing attempts result in added snowflakes as well,until it is too heavy for flight. Now, it drifts and rolls along, gathering snow as it goes, till finally a loosely packed "Snow Bunny" is born. Up north, this is what kids find to start snowballs with. So now, in the hand of some excited snow-crazy kid, our Snow Bunny increases rapidly in size, and the outcome of growth is really unpredictable. If our Snow Bunny/snowball escapes from the kid and rolls downhill, growth could be astronomical! Or, if the kid is like 2 or something, and inexperienced in the fine art of snowball making, then it may not grow much at all...

So it is with our lives as Christians. A possibility, an opportunity comes our way. A desire is placed upon our heart. The Holy Spirit moves us to and fro, and we (as Christians) need to be open to His direction in our lives. We can experience such
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH, and feel so strongly God's presence in our lives-- or we can brush Him off, and reduce His prodding to "just a notion", resulting in a shrinking relationship...

The crazy thing is the free will aspect... What will we each choose to do with our lives? How much of ourselves will we just turn over to God to do with as He desires? This has been on my mind for almost a full year now.

I share this with you now because yesterday, one single snowflake fell...

Greetings!

My cool friend, Joel, just showed me how to do this blog thing. I don't know what I'm doing.

Tutorial One - Uploading Pics

Step One. Make sure you are aiming for your faces, and not Joel's chest. (Equipment needed- TRIPOD!!)

Step Two. Point and click, with maniacal expression on face.

Step Three. If the first picture is not bad enough, take another one.

Alrighty Folks, enough insight for now. Take care!