Aaron and Gwen's journey

poor

2011-10-12T02:00:00.000-07:00

What is poor? Is it a state of being or a state of economic status? It has been stated that if you have food, clothing and shelter you have more than 75% of this world. Let that sink in for a moment...... Food clothing and shelter you have more than 75% of this world... Is poor a mindset or an economic status? What is wealth? can someone without food clothing or shelter have wealth? can someone with 3 houses 3 cars a boat and much food be poor? Look at the following passages of scripture and see what the scriptures say about wealth and poor.
Proverbs 10
As you go about today, ask yourself what am I? Whose am I? Do I follow God with all that I.You will see in the passages above, vs 22, 27, and 29 have LORD that is not by mistake, they could have spelled it Lord, but that would not mean as much and would be a wrong translation of the passage. LORD is not by mistake. When you see LORD that in Hebrew is YHWH. or as would would spell Yahweh. That was the name that God gave to Moses in the burning bush. It is the name that the Israelites and Jews even today will not say, they cannot say it because it is God's personal name and they are not worthy to say his personal name. It literly means I AM. I AM what? I Am provided, sustainer, healer, shepherd, I AM everything you are not. Louie Giglio wrote a book and has a talk. I am not but I know I AM. Lest we think we are wealth or poor think of where that comes from. Think of I AM. Are you poor or are you wealthy may have more to do with whose you are then what you have.

2011-10-11T05:39:00.000-07:00

Colossians 3:5-9
Death, not something that we want to deal with. I don't think anybody looks forward to this. The word even makes us cringe. Wrath, can death and wrath be love? To love someone is to give your all to them. To give up things that you may want to do something they may want to do. Love is an action, death is an action wrath is an action. What is the wrath of God? Could the wrath of God be his love? is it bad to put to death sinful activities? is it bad to not want your friend to be involved in poor choices? To stop a friend from making a poor choice you have to show your wrath. To wrestle a friend to keep them safe is your wrath on them, it is also your love on them. God's love for you may be showed in wrath. Sometimes our love needs to be strong, sometimes it needs to be coddling. How are you experiencing God's love today? If you are feeling wrath maybe you need to put to death the things not of God, if you are experiencing coddling keep putting to death the things of this world to show your love for God.

$50

2011-09-25T02:39:00.000-07:00

So it was a few weeks ago, learning something new each day. Getting ready to leave to go up to Cran Hill to lead devotions and start another week of ministry. Put everything I need in the car, I pop the trunk and have to put one more thing in the trunk. Go around the back of the car and lift teh trunk up, to which I heard the sound of the alarm on the car. to which I heard the sound of the car doors locking. To which I think, my keys are in the car. I was ready to go, I had everything ready. To which I became downcast and mad and frustrated. I just locked my keys in my car in my driveway and I do not have an extra set of keys. I am dutch and frugal and I can get into my car no problem, right? Nope. After trying for 20 minutes to break into my car I succumb to making that call. The call to the wrecker company to come and get my keys. After waiting another 20 minutes for him to come and then just 2 minutes for him to get my keys. I have lost $50. I have lost that money I cannot get back. What else have I lost? Pride. What have I gained? embarrassment, a story to tell and others to tell about me. A lesson, keep your keys in your pocket and you are all set. Was the gain better than the lost? I don't know it was $50. If I loose that again then there is something wrong with me. All this brings me to a passage in scripture where Paul talks about loosing and gaining. Philippians 3:8. To which I read and ask myself, what have I lost for the kingdom of God? What have I intentionally given up and looked at as a loss? A loss sticks with you, to loose a football game you remember it, to loose money you remember it. To gain a lesson, is much greater than the loss. What did Paul loose? he lost his career of killing Christians. he was the most feared terrorist of Christians in his time, he lost that to gain what? prison? death? life forever? He lost to gain for the kingdom. What have I lost for God's sake? In my flesh have I deliberately given something up? I have to ask these questions for me and wonder what have I done? What have you done? what is it that you need to loose for God's sake? to gain so much more. I now look back on that day in August when I lost $50 and thank God for loosing that to gain an image into the gospel, a lesson to keep my keys with me. I think I have gained so much more in that loss. To loose to gain, where am I in all that? That is the question to ponder and think about.

first day

2011-08-29T03:49:00.000-07:00

What goes through your mind on the first day of something new? Will I fit in, will it be what I want, how will I do compared to so many other people? All questions one may ask on the first day of a new job, the first day of school, the first day of anything new can be filled with anxiety or it can be filled with joy. Today I embark on the first day of taking seminary courses. I also have a choice what will I do. For me I have gone to the story of Jesus in the scriptures of when he and the disciples are out on the sea and a storm is coming up and the waves are intense, the seasoned fishermen cannot handle it and Jesus is sleeping! filled with anxiety, no! sleeping when others can not walk on deck because of waves he is sleeping, how can he sleep in that? He is choosing to, just like us each day we have a choice in how we handle circumstances that come our way. We can not choose the circumstances but we can choose the attitude toward the circumstances. How about you what will you choose today?

smell of humilty

2011-08-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

There it was, the smell, the fragrance, the aroma of humility. What does humility smell like? How can you tell if it is something that is humble just by the smell. Yesterday I was confronted with that smell. It was inside a beautiful building walking the paces of some wonderful people. This building is filled with the finest tile floors surrounded by a huge skylight in the middle of a commons area, with a coffee stand and bookstore around the commons. The second floor is filled with offices of very educated people, Phd's Doctors, professors and theologians. A building that is used everyday to educate people in the knowledge of God's truths. Man can get so caught up in the education and being filled with knowledge and forget to use it. Our churches can get so caught up in knowledge and forget to use it. But this is different, in this building the aroma was not Nautica cologne, it wasn't the elegant fragrance that one might think. The aroma and fragrance was that of B.O. it was the aroma of physical poverty, it was that of homelessness in the midst of a seminary building. You see 2 worlds collide when the theologians meet the worldly physical poverty around them. The professors and students here have not forgotten to display their knowledge they provide a meal for over 200 people that the world looks down on. The floor is stained the smell is not the finest. But isn't that the smell of humility, isn't that the smell of Jesus example to wash each other's feet, The smell of living the faith to the least of these. The seminary is teaching the church and leading the way for students to get out of their education and into living their hearts. That is the seminary I have chosen to take part in. I will be taking some classes this year and going full time the following year. A seminary that the higher class in the world's eyes eat with the lower class in the world's eyes and all are equal in the room where daily bread is served. The smell will stick with me and will challenge me to continually be living my education as i start to be trained for God's glory

Fear Not

2011-06-21T04:10:00.000-07:00

How many times do you hear these words from people around you. When you think someone will not make it on their end of the bargain you hear them say don't worry, or fear not or do not be afraid. Does it really make you feel any better? Do the words of someone really ake you feel comfortable? Or is it in the actions of someone that you feel comfortable and can live by what they say? God tells his people int he Bible to fear not. He tells Abraham when he is asked to sacrifice his son on the alter (Genesis 15) he tells Mary (the mother of Jesus) fear not you are single not married and now pregnant, but not just pregnant, pregnant with the savior of the world, don't be afraid though (Luke 1). God tells his people to not be afraid. Who are the people God is telling to not be afraid? Are they average non committal complacent comfortable Christians? We don't know are they people God wants to do more through? Yes we know that for sure, God did a lot through Abraham, through Mary, through Joshua, through Joseph, Through you. Yes you. Have you heard the words do not fear? God says in Isaiah 41 "I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear for I am with you" After looking through scripture and seeing when God has said the words to a person do not fear, he wants to use them, he wants them to say ok, he is looking for his people no matter where they are in life to so ok God i won't fear I will follow. Just as Isaiah in Isaiah 6 said, "here and I send me." have you heard the words from God do not fear? is God desiring to use you? do you want to be used by God? Sometimes it is adjusting what we want to meet what God wants and in that there is fear. If you hold to the fact that God did not reject you, that history is a way to learn from, then look at history of each time God told his people do not fear, Abraham was provided a ram just at the moment he needed it, Mary was taken care of to deliver God's son. Joshua was able to enter the promised land, Each time God followed through and did not let his people go. Will you learn from history or be stuck in you little mind of fearfulness. Being used by God may take overcoming fear through the power of the Holy Spirit within you. Will you let God speak those words to you? Will you answer as many of those before have answered, "Here am I send use me God."

unpreventable/preventable

2011-03-13T17:03:00.000-07:00

184,000, the number of deaths that occurred due to the earthquake and Tsunami in the Indian Ocean December 26, 2004. 92,000-220,000, the number of deaths that is estimated to have occurred due to the earthquake in Haiti January 10,2010. 10,000 the expectation of death toll from the recent earthquake and Tsunami in Japan.
$528 million, the amount raised after the Haiti earthquake of 2010.
$163 million, the amount raised after the Indian Ocean earthquake.
What do all of these disasters have in common? are they preventable or unpreventable? I recently heard one news commentator say that you cannot stop mother earth.

Add all these up and you have between 286,000 and 414,000 people that have died due to natural disasters. Add the money up and you have $691 million.

115,000 per day each and every day in the world, have you heard about these people lately? When was the last time you heard anything about these people that have died. Yes 115,000 PER DAY!!!! that is the number of estimated abortions that happen each and every day in the world! where does that compare to the 286 or 414,000 people?

What is the difference between 286,000 and 115,000? Could it be that one is preventable and one is unpreventable? Could it be that abortions are preventable and natural disasters are unpreventable? yet how much news coverage is there for the unborn babies that are killed before they can experience life? How much money is raised for them each year. A number that is preventable.

What about 400,000 the number of deaths that occur to child in the world due to starvation. Is starvation a preventable or unpreventable disaster?

Why so much money and coverage for unpreventable disaster and not so much help and money for preventable disasters?

What have you done today to help preventable disasters? What have you done today to help those who cannot help themselves. What if the amount of money for unpreventable disasters was given toward preventable disasters?

There will be many more unpreventable disasters, there could be no more unpreventable disasters if we as Americans would not be so selfish and think of 1. not 400,000; not 115,000. I cannot understand those numbers anyway but I can understand 1. think of 1 person other than you.

Trust

2011-03-06T17:33:00.000-08:00

Have you ever thought of the meaning behind the word TRUST? We trust people with certain things and not with other things. We trust how many drivers on the road each an every day with our own lives, lets face it any person in any car could try and hit you, you trust they won't, yet we have trouble trusting a child at times. We trust pilots to fly us around and stay at a certain altitude based on a computer, how many times have you had computer troubles, yet you trust computers to keep a plane in the air. We trust telling people that are close to us our struggles in life, our down days yet we don't trust them with telling our financial struggles or joys for that matter. We trust an invisible God with our eternal destiny. We live each day trusting that, as we accept Jesus as our savior we will be in heaven some day dancing with Jesus, yet we struggle to trust God with our day to day agenda. We struggle to trust God with our finances, our marriages, our children, our day to day activities, we can accept eternal life and not trust our children, as we work so hard to protect them, our checkbook as we work so hard to keep it up and make "x" amount of money, our marriage. When was the last time we prayed together, not for meal or just whatever. But literally stopped and prayed as husband and wife? Trust, an easy word to define and understand maybe a harder word to live. I heard yesterday that if you make more than $32,000 a year you are in the richest 5% of the world. I also heard that if you have food, clothing and shelter everyday you are wealthier than 75% of this world population. Do you trust? why do you trust in? what do you trust in? have you seen God work a miracle in your life because you trusted in him? Trust who?

i

2011-02-20T13:19:00.000-08:00

What has Apple done with the word i? ipod, ipad, imac, itunes, i. They have simply taken what man is created with, a lean and bent towards i. I was in a class at church today and it was said that you never have to teach a baby the word mine. We are all created with the desire for what? For i. So what has apple done with i. they confirmed that you are not alone in thinking the world is about i. or is it? Think for a moment the last time you did something for i. How did you feel, how long did it last. What about the last time you did something for someone, how did you feel, how long did it last? What if apple called it your pod, your tunes? Would you give it to a friend or neighbor? Genesis 1:27, the very beginning of the Bible says man is created in the image of God. Is there an iGod? Did God think of himself? Did he do what was best for him? or did he do what was best for you. is it iGod or your God? Why is there such a rise in pay it forward mentality? When do you feel the most satisfaction in your life? If you can say life is ilife, live it if you fell life is your life live it. There is a reason why man has a bent towards me but feels most satisfied when doing something for someone else, it has to do with Genesis 1:27 being created in the image of the God who did everything for you and nothing for himself. If we say we are Christian what do we do for those around us and not for ourselves? try today and do everything for someone else, what will happen?

Chlorine

2010-12-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

I never knew that Chlorine and sin could be so similar. Until yesterday. Yes you heard that right. Let me explain what happened yesterday then maybe that will help with why they are similar. Here at our base in Guatemala, we use chlorine tablets to help clean our water a little, not enough to be safe to drink. So after being up on our water tower with Gavin checking to see if water was being pumped from our spring. When we came down the container of chlorine, that we use was there. There were a few tablets that were used about a month ago and then put back into the container because it made the water to chlorinated. Yes I even put too much in and ruined some clothes int he laundry. I wasn't even doing laundry and I ruin clothes. Gavin innocently asked, "dad, what does chlorine smell and look like." so being me, I said wait just a minute, I opened the container slowly away from our faces and the plum of chlorine shot out right into our lungs. Coughing started immediately and Gavin was turning blue for a few seconds, Scared is the word and the feeling at the time. Yes, it was a very rough few hours. Coughing, breathing hard and getting through, not a fun way to spend an afternoon, Gwen on the phone to my mom (a nurse) getting advice and what to do. It was after Arselio (our guard) and Hermano Jesus prayed over Gavin using Matthew 7:7. That he started feeling better.

So where do sin and chlorine tie together? Well when sin is not dealt with it will rob life from you, sometimes without you even knowing. Chlorine, when not dealt with properly can zap life from you. I have been learning all about the presence of God, he is present in everything, it is a choice you and I make to see his presence or not. It is a choice to be taught by him or not be taught by him. He is always there revealing himself, do you see him? Even in the midst of adversity I saw HIM, I could see he teaching and leading us all day yesterday. Its your choice to see God or not, it your choice to deal with sin or not.

Thanks

2010-11-24T20:53:00.000-08:00

Sometimes a picture can say so much more than words. Take a few moments to look at the pictures below. and as you see them. Imagine a little boy or little girl walking in from the streets, scared, nervous, where am I going? Who is taking care of me? The emotions that could run through an orphans head. As they see this what will run through their head? Peace, Love Hope, Joy, is our prayer that the kids will see.
Thank you to so many of you who Gave to the LORD, to give peace, love, hope and Joy to a child. I pray that you will be touched today by God's presence in your life and feel his peace, love, hope and Joy as you seek HIM.

NEWWORLDSON CONCERT

2010-10-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

Want to enjoy and Great night of worship and great music to liven your walk with the Lord?

Sunday night November 7 at 7:30pm NewWorldSon will be in concert at Community Reformed Church in Zeeland, they have been very generous to Open Doors Orphanage and are giving the proceeds from the concert to Open Doors.

Community Reformed
iTickets

So where do you fit in? Ask a neighbor, invite a friend, maybe someone who needs a little encouragement. bring them to the concert and let them and you be touched by the power of awesome Christian music. By doing that you are supporting Open Doors.
click on the links below to see and hear a little more of New World Son

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaHLTLmgDmc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17eWXuUTq5s

Love and sacrifice

2010-10-31T19:44:00.001-07:00

What does love look like? A question Dan posed to us in our devotions one night. I ask you what love and sacrifice looks like? I ask because yesterday i was a witness to what love and sacrifice are by 2 different people. Let me tell you what God did yesterday. It was Erin (the 2 year nurse from Hudsonville) birthday yesterday and she wanted to do something special for her birthday but instead of it revolving around her she made it revolve around others. We went out to eat at a restaurant that had a play land for kids. She wanted to take a 16 year old boy from a near by village who suffers from Osteomyelitis, a bone disease that eats at the bone. Marcos and his mother and her 1 1/2 year old daughter came with us to eat. Love to me is a mother and son who only eat half their meal and pack the rest into napkins and stuff in their bag to bring home to other family members. Love is to not eat the whole meal and let others share in a treat. Love is to be so poor that you will not fill yourself without thinking of the rest of the family. Love is sacrifice and not indulge yourself. Love is a mother letting her daughter enjoy an ice cream cone when she could be.
Love is a 22 year old women thinking of others on her birthday above herself. Love is giving up what you do not need.
Love, what have you done to show love today?

2010-10-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

picture updates

2010-10-25T21:20:00.001-07:00

4 weeks

2010-10-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

A brief look at where things were a month ago today and where things are today. God has given us men and women who have given of themselves and served with willing and blessed hearts. Glory be to God for what he is doing through many people. Thank you!

Framing team arrives

2010-10-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

Well after some issues with a van not starting and hassles of getting a van that could transport our whole team we made it to the airport, the team of 22 people have arrived at the base and did not want to sit and do nothing. So below are some pictures of what was accomplished in about 2 hours worth of work. The post are out from the orphanage and we are ready to begin building walls. God is so good.

2010-10-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

The container has arrived!!! Praise the Lord for a timely arrival, you never know when things happen here in Guatemala, but our 40' container filled with mostly donated items is here without theft, or too much damage. The container brought us counter tops, cabinets, interior and exterior doors from Lumbermens Inc. stove from Merchandise Equipment and Supply, plywood, trim wood, treated wood, 2x4's from Standale Lumber, Paint from Repcolite Paints. Copier scanner fax from Noordyk Business, and many other items to make the orphanage a reality.
Tomorrow we pick up 22 more team members to help build the orphanage. we will be taking down some 600 plus posts holding the roof up at present and building the interior walls, as well as doing all the rough in plumbing and electrical to be ready for 14 more team members coming in next Saturday to drywall.

Ephesians 3:20 says, " Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, ACCORDING to his power at work within us." (caps i added)
Please continue to pray that we can be in accordance with his will and power to do more than we can ask or imagine.

Load is too heavy for the Cat, it took 6 Guatemalans and Me to stand on the back as counter weight, Real OSHA approved counterweight
Why wait for the machine, 10 Guatemalans just started pulling skids without us asking to the back of the truck

Earth shakes

2010-10-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

Phil Wickham in his song TRUE LOVE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sonjpHbeDQ, says "the Earth was shaking in the dark all creation felt the fathers broken heart" I can only think of that when I feel the earth shake literally under my feet as it did just an hour ago here in Guatemala. Well, today was the first day feeling an earthquake. In fact a 5.0 earthquake. All creation can feel the fathers heart break for those who do not yet call him Savior. Well I can say that those words now have a different meaning after feeling Gods heart shake the ground and remind us who is in control and who is the one who ordains the earths movements and each individuals soul.

What about you, do you shake when you know someone doesn't know Christ, when someone Will go to bed tonight without food?

The roof is poured

2010-10-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

The Morning began early at 2:45 the concrete mixing crew arrived to start mixing the concrete to pour. All 80 yards of it. yes that is 2:45 in the am. The day went well with only minor problems of running out of water and a belt breaking on one of the 3 mixers. After 6 and 1/2 hours the floor was poured. the pictures show a roof on top of the orphanage that 3 weeks ago was nothing. Glory be to God for sending great men and women to help us get so far. This week we continue the work of the orphanage to keep us on pace to have the framing electrical and plumbing crew arrive on Sunday.

Day before the roof pour

2010-10-10T07:02:00.001-07:00

Well we are progressing very well. It could not be done if we did not have guys and ladies here with servant hearts. doing all that they are doing. Even more than we expected. God is blessing us with great weather. Here are pictures of the structure befre the big pour. Thank you for your prayers and encouragment.

2010-10-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

Today we began to build the roof of the orphanage, again God revealed himself in another big way. The company here in Guatemala that engineered the roof and designed it, first of all gave us an awesome price and really is helping us out. Today the head engineer came out to make sure we knew what we were doing, and yes she is a Believer in Jesus Christ, she leads a small group here in Guatemala city and told us that when we are finished she wants us to let her know so that her church here and her small group can become involved in the orphanage and help us out. Another gift from God and another person that God is using to be obedient to his call. Check out the pictures below of the beams being set and the roof being built

God's provision and timing

2010-10-02T05:43:00.000-07:00

Well construction is continuing in spite of rain everyday, some days all day and night some days just a few hours. But God has revealed himself in this as well. From the floor being poured int he rain and then not raining while we finished the floor, which is now as smooth an nice as ever. to yesterday a series of events that again was perfect timing. The road into the base is not good, very pour and a lot of washouts. Buses can get through, some are getting stuck, some trucks are getting stuck. We have had 3 loads of gravel brought in to help with the road. Yesterday we were to receive our precast beams to build the roof, to unload those we have to rent a caterpillar bobcat. So here is the series of event that have happened. All the trucks were running late, and Esturdio was not feeling well and had to go to the hospital for some testing. So Dan and i went to meet the trucks at the end of the dirt road( the 3 mile rd that takes 35-45 minutes to go) to bring Noami to be with Esturdio. a truck was stuck in the road. Max (Noami's dad) was waiting for us (we did not know he was even coming this way) on the other side of the stuck truck. max brought Dan to meet which ever truck showed up first well it was the Cat truck. Dan was able to level some of the road and the precast truck showed up, they unloaded the truck at the end of the road because the truck was still stuck. when the last beams were unloaded the truck was pulled out and Dan was able to get the cat home. Today we will go and reload the beams and bring them here to the base and be ready for our fab team to start setting beams Monday.
God is good.

Building the form for the main center concrete beam

progress

2010-09-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Pictures of construction progress as of now. The picture on the left si of 35 men that helped us pour the concrete. we started at 4 am on Friday Sept 24 and we were done pouring 2200 sq ft. by 7 am (3 hours with 2 mixers) as one of the Iowa guys said, "that's a lot on Hombres" the other pictures are of the plumbing work that has happened and God's give of moring clouds int he mountains by us (our view every morning) and fianlly the concrete is poured. God has been so good in providing for us and leading us. We have been blessed with good weather and a tropical storm that God moved to hold off rain for us to be able to finish the floor. As you can see we finished the floor under tarps and a homemade roof system to keep it dry while we were pouring concrete. The great part of it is that while the finishing happened we were blessed with dryer air and we actually able to take the tarps down! it wasn't until today that we actually saw the path of Tropical storm Matthew, and it did a 90 degree turn north yesterday to give us reprieve from what it could have been, God is good.
God continues to provide for the orphans of Guatemala and give us wisdom beyond what we can know on our own. God is Good!!

September 18 2010

2010-09-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

So today is September 18. All day i had one thing running through my head, what is Tariku's birth mom dealing with today? As we celebrate Tariku's 1st birthday in Guatemala, his birth mom is in Ethiopia doing what she has always done. Tariku has been given to us by the grace of God and on this his first birthday we celebrate life and health and first steps. Does his birth mom celebrate life that she gave to him and life in her that was strong enough to give him a better home?

We have been in Guatemala for 3 days now and things are well here. We are getting adjusted and trying to figure out life. it dawned on me yesterday that we are not settling in for 3 months or 6 months this is to settle in for years as God leads. We are so blessed to be able to settle in and get a footing on what God has in store for us. I will be meeting with orphanages already tomorrow possibly developing that network and being able to glean from their knowledge. God is so great he has opened so many doors for the orphanage to happen, now I pray that God will open a door in my mind to understand and comprehend Spanish and then be able to speak it well.

Peace

2010-09-14T04:27:00.001-07:00

What is peace? is it the absence of chaos? is it the absence of too much going on around you? I think some people would call peace for them different than what others would. What about as we leave for Guatemala Tomorrow, peace. It is upon us. Sure we have things to do, too much to do in too little time. But we have peace about everything we are doing. I cannot describe the peace that passes all understanding for us right now. Oswald Chambers says that when confussion and comas set in and you are not sure what to do OBEY. Obedience brings peace. The last this and the last that for a long time, but peace surrounds it all and envelops everything about leaving for Guatemala tomorrow. Will i be ready? emotionally, yes, spiritually, yes, packing and household-stuff now. But do you see something in that, the earthly things are never ready but the parts that matter are, that si where peace reigns. Satan is trying to keep us and hold us from God's plan by the earthly matters. We will never be ready if it was about earthy things being in place. But if your emotions are there and your spirit is calling that is all that is needed for God to bring peace and let obedience reign in you. We are trying to let go of the earthly things and let the eternal things reign in us. Peace is the ability to to let God's spirit take over the human nature and the human spirit of doing and worry.

Every day occasions

2010-09-10T04:08:00.000-07:00

Today as I read my Bible I read about Jesus calling his first few disciples. Imagine, the excitement as one gets up and follows. Then another. All because they See the Messiah. They get it they understand. How do they know and the others around them not know? What prepared them to be disciples? What qualified them to be disciples? Obedience in the small is what prepared them and qualified them. I believe it is in their early life that made them ready for now. It wasn't anything of that moment, rather everything of the moments leading up to that. I wonder what will happen with a 5 yer old little boy who goes and buys toys for Open Doors Orphanage? He is starting young and obeying God, or His parents who instill him the ability to give. Obedience is not in the big but in the small things of everyday life. What id God stirring in your life today that he is preparing you for in the future days and weeks. Did the disciples have any clue what getting up and leaving would lead them to? Do you have nay idea what pay it forward Fridays could prepare you for? obedience in the little, are you listening?

Prayer Journal

2010-08-26T05:20:00.000-07:00

Do you prayer journal? I mean do you write down your prayers and look back every so often to be reminded of God's goodness in your life? Well this morning for me is a great morning that i opened my Bible and in my margins were written something about Jan 22 of last year. I went back into my prayer journal and realized that last January I was struggling with being scared to move to Guatemala. Would my kids want to? Would i be able to learn Spanish? would I.... Would I... Would my family...? Well as I went back and read from January 22 of this year, I realized how much peace God has given to me, how much God has answered my prayers. How much my kids want to move, how much Spanish I am picking up, how much peace I have as we are only 20 days from moving.
Do you prayer journal to see God's hand in your life? If not I strongly encourage you to TODAY go out and buy a journal (Dollar stores sell cheap ones) and start to write your prayers and let yourself see God's hand in your life. I am so encouraged this morning as I am able to praise God for his goodness. will you praise him for his goodness to you today.
John 14:15-31
God's peace

Donations

2010-08-25T01:43:00.000-07:00

Well, we are only 3 weeks from moving to Guatemala to start Open Doors Orphanage, maybe that is why i can't sleep at 4:00 in the morning. I don't know, maybe it is because I am so high on God and what he is doing in the life of Open Doors. You see we are in process of gathering construction donations for the orphanage and they will be sent down to Guatemala on a container. Well one of the hardest things about being a missionary is asking for money and asking. As I have made contacts over the last 2 weeks God has been doing some amazing things. Many businesses have graciously given so much. Even in a time when it is difficult to give they have gave. I will have a list of the generous donors once the container ships so you can thank them by shopping and buying from them. It has been overwhelming at times receiving some of the gifts that we have received. God continually amazes me in the ways that he is providing for Open doors. Thank you for all your prayers and support as we get closer to moving to Guatemala.

People

2010-01-21T10:26:00.001-08:00

So some people go thru life working and talking to people all around them. Do you ever realize that God can be speaking right thru you to another person. Some of you may know that Gwen and I are starting an orphanage www.opendoorsorphanage.org This process of starting an orphanage and letting God go before us has brought me face to face withe the reality that God is speaking thru all kinds of people in every place we go. Today as I was checking out at a store and talking with a clerk about life and where God was leading and what he is doing I mentioned the orphanage. Now realize, I wanted to skip right past that and get on with others things I had to get done. I didn't want to mention orphanage because I have come to realize that when that word is brought up more questions follow and you end up talking longer than what you planned. Ever been there? ever been in those spots where you feel as though the "things" on your list are more important than a conversation with a clerk or someone next to you? Well, as I mentioned orphanage the clerk next to the one I was talking with said, don't leave I want to talk with you. Through tears and excitement God spoke through this woman who has a heart for orphans, God has been working in her life to move beyond the house the car the job the American dream of having things to the Christ filled life of living for him no matter where. Another person God has brought into my path to reveal his plan. The conversation lasted for about 15 or 20 minutes and was a real conversation about what God is doing in her life, what God is doing in my life, and what God is doing in the the life of Open Doors Orphanage. the intersection of God's story being told through his people intersecting at a store. Where has God intersected your life with other people to be the fullness of his story?

Send

2009-10-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

SO you may wonder why the video of an orphanage on my blog? Well God has been leading us and prodding us to start an orphanage. The doors are opening wider and wider into that orphanage being in Guatemala. We are continuing to walk down that path for our lives and let God take us where he wants to take us. Right now we made the announcement at church that i will stay on staff through May and after that we will see where and when God is calling us to Guatemala. Paradise Bound is walking with us and opening doors right along with us until a door would come crashing shut.

I just read in John 20:21 that Jesus sends his disciples just as God the father sent Jesus. The question is what is the role of a missionary? IS the role of a missionary to fulfill the needs of the people they come in contact with? is it to use physical needs to teach about Jesus? Do we read in scripture Jesus telling the disciples to leave and go and supply physical needs? In the feeding of the 500 we do. Jesus tells his disciples to go and make disciples, not to go and feed and cloth and use that to make disciples. Could it be that the role of a missionary is to just GO? in going they are making disciples. Have we sometimes put the need in front of the call to go. Have we said there is a need lets fulfill it and make it a call? I believe we all do this at sometimes in our lives. Use a need make disciples.

What if all Christians just went and did what God was putting in front of them. If the believers who God gifted with money gave sacrificially and did so to fulfill God's call on their life? What if the the one gifted in baking just baked and gave the food because it was the call God put on their life? What if the missionary just went because it was the call on their life. What if you paid for groceries for the person in front of you because it was the call God put on you? God is calling all of us to something, are we following the call and not the need only?

To give you a little background on the orphanage, it is a call it has been prayed about and for for the last 4 months every day and once a week by a group of prayer warriors has prayed for the call and to follow the call on our lives. So here we are now Oct 26,2009 saying we will go for you Father we will travel for you and the call you have put on our lives. May the prayer and the journey of this be a way for you to see God's call for your life.

Orphanage video

2009-10-23T09:51:00.001-07:00

Here is a video that was shared at the Paradise Bound dinner to give a little idea of the need and vision beyond a possible orphanage.

Thought

2009-09-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

So i was at a conference yesterday and today. It was a conference for those thinking of going into missions or in missions or just plain have a heart for missions. After listening to many speakers and hearing stories from Haiti, Guatemala and locally. I have a question.
Is the "American Dream" biblical?

What do Christians do?

2009-09-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

So over the last year or so I have been confronted with circumstances that I have had to ask this question. What I mean is when someone says things about you that are false, or what if people hurt you in a physical manner and cause pain on you. What do you do? in the last year i have been apart of situations like this. I have fallen into what he world says and then gone back to scriptures to find out. Guess what it doesn't line up, scriptures are different than the worlds ideas. What have you done lately with the scripture that says take care of widows and orphans? What about loving those who persecute you, do you retaliate or love them with a deeper love. What about giving to those in need? OK so where does the scriptures talk about saving and storing up enough money to retire and not have to work? is there a spot in scriptures that we can point to and say this is why i save and why i store money away to have enough to not have to work. So where do our actions as western world Christians line up with the teachings of Scripture? Are vacations and recreation something of scripture or something of our own desire and not really what scripture teaches?
Just a thought.

Confirming

2009-09-09T05:38:00.000-07:00

So what does it mean to say that something is confirmed? I would say that this past summer has been exactly that, confirming. So where have I been this summer? Guatemala with 27 high schoolkids and 6 leaders. South side of Chicago with 27 middle school kids, and on houseboats with 10 college kids. In addition to that was able to get 2 weeks of vacation with the family. All to say this summer confirmed a lot of things. The Guatemala trip was the right trip for the right kids, Our eyes and ears were attentive and listening to God speaking and moving. All the trips were the right trip. It isn't that God showed up and did great things, he did. God is always showing up and doing great things, are we listening and watching and wanting to see him? That is the question. God is always at work in our lives it is just a matter of if we want to see him and claim it as him working. Our vacation times were great. It wasn't until the last vacation about 2 days into it that we realized why it was so good. Then it dawned on us. We were alone as a family, the first time in 5 years we have taken a vacation with just our family, no body else but us. That was confirming that we did the right thing. Confirming things happen all around us, do we see it, Do you choose to see it?

intertwined

2009-06-11T06:04:00.000-07:00

I am not much of a hair braider. i must say i am becoming better, now that i have a daughter who asks me to comb and do her hair it has become a necessary thing in my life. how fast we can become entangled with things in our lives. I often watch my son playing with jump rope or any sort of string and before he knows it, it is around his legs arms and he can't do what he used to do, or even what he set out to do. I think sometimes we can be like little kids, without knowing it we can get tangled in life and wonder what do we do? Tangled can take on so many forms, it can be losing a job and not knowing where to look and getting bored at home and frustrated, so you finish that project around the house that has been waiting which costs money. Then you jump to another project to fill time and before you know it you ave spent money you don't have because you are not working. You can get tangled with schedules and forgetting what you have planned for a weekend, or open houses right now. Tangled takes on so many forms. We can get tangled with sin in our lives that it just becomes braided into our day. Over time we don't even see it as something wrong. So what happens when you fin yourself tangled? You may have played the human knot tieing game, where you stand in a circle and grab a persons hand across form you which forms a knot, then you work as a team to untie the knot. Same with tangles in life. They will always be there. There will always be tangles as long as there are humans on the earth. Are you tangled?

Seeing believing

2009-05-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

recently i was visiting a friend of mine and she told me about an eagles nest not far from my house. Did i believe her that it was there? Yes, did i want to see it for myself? Yes. How many times has a friend or acquaintance of yours shared something with you that you either believed right away or you didn't believe at all. You have heard the phrase, "seeing is believing" But is that always true in all things in our lives. I like to describe myself as a person who is trying to follow Jesus. Jesus, when he was here on this earth had a saying that said if you have seen me you have seen my father in heaven. Jesus also taught that man and woman had to have faith, he told the sick your faith has made you well. He told the crowds believe and trust. how hard is it to trust and believe in something that you cannot see? I would like to ask the question with Jesus is believing the beginning of seeing? Is he so different from us and our world that the popular phrase is totally backwards? try it out in your life. If you believe Jesus teachings or maybe you don't believe in Jesus teachings. When you come to a point in your life that you trust Jesus to be true does it help you see life and the world in a whole new way, similar to seeing with a new eyeglasses prescription. The blind man that Jesus healed told the people that he didn't know much about Jesus just that once he was blind now he could see. Maybe that is true for us as well. Believe and you will see!!

uncommon

2009-05-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

5 loaves, 2 fish, withered hand, leprosy, blindness, 2 small copper coins, impaired speech. What do all these have in common? they were offered by people when they didn't know what else to offer. When they were at their end with all they had. Their hope was in these things as they offered it to God. or did they offer. maybe each one was asked of from God with a choice do I or don't I. After all what good is 5 loaves and 2 fish with 12,000 people standing around hungry. That can't mean much. Or a withered hand that has not be able to be used for some time. leprosy, a disease that puts you in exile, what could that do except change a mans heart to become a thankful man. Or a blind man who is taken out of darkness into the light to see and testify to once blind now seeing and faith that came in his life. A woman who had nothing yet gave 2 small coins as an example to many watching her. A man with impaired speech and said he could not lead, yet became one of the greatest leaders this world has seen, leading thousands of people out of slavery out of bondage through a desert, Receiving 10 laws that still govern much of our law today. A man who parted water, stood toe to toe with a wicked corrupt leader and said,"Let my people go!" What do they have in common? they were given to God at a time when there was no hope to bring hope to those around. A simple thing looked at as not being special or usable by many peoples standards yet God used them. have you ever stopped to think that maybe you might have 5 loaves and 2 fish, insignificant in your eyes yet plentiful in God's. Or maybe a withered hand that can't be used for normal everyday work but can be used to glorify God, Or a disease that separates you and leaves you on the outside looking in. maybe you are wondering where your next meal is coming from or where your next bill is going to be paid or just ready to give up because you don't have the money. Have you thought about giving your money to God as an investment and trust for him to multiply it. Maybe you have a speech problem that God wants you to give him so that you can't use the words you want but God can share the words he wants through your mouth. Maybe you have an uncommon thing that God is asking for and wants from you. have you thought about giving him your withered hand, giving him your self, have you thought about dong something that the Bible teaches in Luke 9:23, Deny yourself and follow him? try it, give the insignificant to him to be used by someone of significance.

prickers

2009-05-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

So who made prickers? This question was posed to me yesterday by my son. As we were in our yard with round up spraying the prickers. he said, dad did God make prickers? Well, here in lies a very interesting theological question. Are prickers bad? I am not a plant expert, so I cannot answer the question of what purpose they may play in the whole grand scheme of things in creation. But I know for sure that on a beautiful sunny summer day walking in the yard barefoot and stepping on a pricker does not bring pleasure to my foot or mind or day. So where did they come from. I would go to a verse in the Bible that says, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree I commanded you, you must not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of you...it will produce thorns and thistles for you." That comes from Genesis 3:18. I would like to suggest to you that sin is a prick something not quite right, something that causes pain and may be pleasant for a moment but the pleasure soon wears off. So could it be that God just happened to allow the ground to produce thorns and prickers and things that hurt when you step on them to remind us. remind us of sin, remind us of pain that sin afflicts on people. Pain that helps us understand a little bit of what sin caused Jesus to go through. One final thought what kind of crown was Jesus wearing on the cross?
So are prickers a good thing or a bad?

Church

2009-03-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

To some this word makes you cringe, you have been turned off from being in a church or turned off from someone who goes to church that has treated you badly. To some however the word gets them excited and energized. to others it is just another word and you don't care at all about the word or the meaning or the purpose. This past week there was an article published that said the church in America is declining. they are obviously talking about the number of people that attend church and the number of people that are involved and committed to church. When numbers decline there is a reason. The auto industry is declining, there is a reason. The manufacturing industry is declining, there is a reason. Sales at stores are declining, there is a reason. the church is declining, there is a reason. Each person has their own ideas and thoughts as to why things might be declining. Each person has their own ideas about why they don't want to purchase something and is causing sales to decline. Yes each person has their own idea on church and why they do or don't want to be apart of it. So as an employee of a church, just like any employee of any company struggling. WHY? is the question. It begs the question from me, What is the purpose of the church? Where is the church suppose to be? just as industries are going through revamping and beginning to change how things have been done. Is it time for the church to do the same? Is it time for Church to be different than it has always been? I don't know and i am asking myself questions this week. So what is our role as church today?

I am back

2009-02-06T06:20:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a long time since i last put anything up here. For me this has been a good outlet for my thoughts on Spirituality and my just random thoughts as i read and think and all that. So today my thoughts have to do with serving. I read of a dammed up lake that cannot take on more water without flowing over the banks. there are different ways to view a waterway. The quiet peaceful river running through the woods and the rest that it offers as you just can hear the gentle trickle of water flowing. The calm that it brings in life. Walking through the woods you hear just a faint trickle and for some reason you are caught, you want to pursue the trickle and the gentle water, in fact you have to. You cannot keep going without finding the source and when you do you sit, you rest, you drink, and if you are with anybody you talk. Ahhhhh what a sweet feeling you have made it. But where is the water going? it has to flow somewhere, something has to receive it or maybe something has let this out. I live near a dam, the spring time is a great time to go and watch the dam, there are times when the water is flowing so hard you cannot hear the person next to you talk. The water is flowing into the dammed area so fast it has to be let out. The roar and rush of running whitewater just has excitement about it that you want to jump in you want to experience the rush that it can give. Is not serving very similar to the rush of an over flowing dammed up body of water? The excitement that serving brings draws people in, serving cannot happen without being filled up and flowing out with love and mercy for other people.

Peace

2008-12-22T11:05:00.000-08:00

We all want peace, we pray for peace, there are peace organizations; in fact Jesus came to the earth described by Isaiah as the Prince of peace. I have been doing some reading on the birth of Christ and a devotional I read struck me, Matthew 10:34 says," Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Jesus states in John 15 that the world will hate you because of him. So what is the peace that we all talk about and pray for? Christians recognize there is a battle being fought in the heavenly realms. Can there really be peace when both good and evil exist? can peace happen when both God and Satan are fighting in the realms when we are torn to do good but sometimes do evil. Should we pray for peace or should we pray for strength to handle the evil one? Then what did Isaiah mean when he called Jesus the prince of peace? How can that be full filled to let prophecy come true?
It is only 3 days till Christmas and if you are like me I picture that first Christmas as, you guessed it, peaceful. But was it, have you been around a birth? it is not peaceful in the room with nurses and doctors and everybody making sure all things are good and healthy, no imagine that without the help of nurses and doctors, I would not be at peace, have you been on a farm around livestock? it is not my idea of peaceful. yet we look at the birth as quiet and peaceful, maybe just maybe we have pictured it wrong or I have pictured it wrong. When you are together with people over Christmas how is it peaceful? Maybe it isn't peaceful then think of the battle being fought for you in the heavenly realms, maybe that is more real, maybe that is a better picture of Christianity and what the Prince of peace come into. Take heart Isaiah did not lie, Isaiah did not misunderstand God, we have not made a mistake for the last 2000+ years Jesus is the prince of peace for his kingdom. it is the future glory to look forward to of peace for all. Pray for strength as you talk to those who don't know Jesus, those who are not understanding of who Jesus is and wants to be to them. Keep fighting and being a warrior for the kingdom you will see peace maybe not on the earth.

Impossible

2008-12-11T12:30:00.001-08:00

Have you heard the phrase "I can't", if you are like me it happens a lot. My son says it a lot when he is frustrated and is having a difficult time trying to do something. We say it when we are frustrated and maybe it is more out a laziness that the phrase comes. I have found myself driving down the road recently and passing a person walking on a cold snowy day, my words were "I can't pick them up" why, because I was being lazy and didn't want to stop and try. On a mission trip this past summer we were rock climbing and one of the teens was having a very difficult time and kept saying, you guessed it, "I can't", the woman in charge of the group who was helping us rock climb was very frustrated because she knew the teenager could do it, so for every time the teen said, "I can't" the teen had to try 5 more minutes, until they rephrased their situation. The teen actually climbed higher than they thought they could and finally changed they vocabulary from, "I can't" to "I am trying my hardest but I just can't do it." How much do we try are hardest but we just can't do it. I think of situations in my life where I felt like I couldn't and kept trying only to find out I could.
When I look at an impossibility, there is always a possibility, im implies possible. When it is impossible to rid my life of sin God provides the possible through his son Jesus. When it is impossible to pay the bills God has provided angels who have given money when they had no clue what life was like. When it was impossible to... have you said "I can't" or have you said, "God show me yourself." Possible comes when we give it our all, when we pray and seek his face and when we submit our life to HIM. That is when things change from im to possible. What is impossible for you today? have you worked at it? have you sought HIM? have you prayed? have you talked to somebody about it? Philippians 4:13 " I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Christmas time can feel like impossible to get everything done, it may feel impossible to enjoy it. Whatever it is for you, Stop! Look, Listen, have you sought his strength? When things are impossible for us they are not for HIM.

Thanks

2008-11-19T14:12:00.000-08:00

Well Thanksgiving is next week Thursday, yes 8 days from right now. I have been pondering what thanksgiving is all about. I have been thinking of things that i am thankful for, i have thought about what i have. First of all have you thought about what you have? the question i want to pose is this, are you thankful for the thing, or for the giver of the thing you are thankful for. For example when you are given a nice bouquet of flowers by your spouse and you say thank you, what have you said thank you for? the flowers. Or your spouse that they are in your life and they are around to enjoy community with. I think thanksgiving is much the same and for me being a believer in Jesus Christ i often tahnk him for a house, food, clothing, friends etc. but am i thankful for those things or am i thankful for the giver of those? read in the Bible Luke 18:9-14 who was thankful for the giver and who was thankful for the things? I am not saying don't be thankful for things, don't love things, but hold them lightly because just as fast as you have recieved you can be taken from. What are you thankful for and where did each thing you are thankful for come from? Are you just as thankful for the person? have you thanked your employer for starting the business you work at? be thankful for the giver not just the thing.

Greatest commandment

2008-11-10T07:58:00.001-08:00

Luke 10:27 says that the greatest commandment for belivers in Jesus Christ is to Love the Lord your God with all your Heart, soul, mind and strength. Basically Jesus is telling his people he wants all of you, not just soem of oyu not just your strength to do actions, not just your mind to think and reason with people and have all the knowledge, Jesus in essence si saying that he wants all of who we are.
All of who i am, is hard when i may be struggling to find out who i am, first it is importnaty to know who you are then you can know how to give who you are to Christ, I am still working this out, trying to figure out what is teh difference between the heart, the soul, the mind and the strength of us a individuals. There must be a differnece and there must be a rason why Jesus broke down, those aspects of our bodies. There must be a reason why he started with the heart.
The heart is what keeps us alive, it is what makes us tick, it is what lets us do everything we enjoy doing, without it we can do nothing. I guess it all starts with the heart have we given that to him?

PRAISE THE LORD

2008-11-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't usually do this but we have asked for prayers and I feel when God answers, people need to know. We just received word from Shohannahs Hope adoption foundation and we have recieved a grant from them!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD. We are so blessed, thank you for all your prayers and support in our adoption process

What is a servant?

2008-11-02T14:34:00.001-08:00

Luke 17:7-10 is a very interesting passage of scripture and very troubling to me. It talks of having servants and if a servant comes in form the field and is done plowing you would make him make and serve you a meal so you are filled and feeling good, after he has served the meal then and only then can he eat. This is troubling to me, I am not familiar with servants and what servants do. I don't think like this passage, I try to care about what people may be feeling and how i can help them not how they can help me. Then I think of Jesus and what he asks of us. Doesn't Jesus ask us to be servants for him and his kingdom? Does a servant know his masters business? Look at John 15. Does a servant do his duties to be praised and applauded? I think sometimes we get it all screwed up, sometimes we work, or do a task or help somebody out with a thought in our mind that we want o be thanked. It is good to be thanked and it is good to feel rewarded for your work, but is it the motive that makes you do the task or go to work? What about living for Christ, do you do it for a reward? do you do it looking for recognition? A devotional by Chris Tiegreen says it this way," Our attitude of service indicates the degree in which the gospel has penetrated our hearts." WOW that is said in a humbling way to get your attitude right. What are you doing for God today, this week, this month and why are you doing it? If it is to get a thank you or to get a promotion or to be praised what of that gives glory to God? Those are all self focused and not Kingdom focused. I pray that i may have more of a servant attitude in all I do and let his gospel penetrate my heart.

Dossier sent

2008-10-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

So today is an update on our adoption. Our dossier has been sent to Ethiopia. Some of you may read dossier and wonder what that is. I would do the same if i was not adopting and have no clue of the process. The dossier is a huge packet of information about you and why you want to adopt. It is our home study, pictures of our family, our house, letters of reference, government background checks and criminal background checks. A lot of information that is used to help match us up with a child. But really it is actually God matching us up with a child. Some of you have asked, "so now what?" Now we pray for our child, we pray for God to work in us as a family to prepare ourselves for the new phase of our journey. And we wait for God to pick our child. We are also writing grant letters to help with the financial aspect of the adoption, our God is a BIG God and he as confirmed so many times in us that we need to continue in Faith and that is what we are trying to do. We would appreciate your prayers for the child, for our patience and for God to work in us but also our family as we prepare to change the look of our family a little but, even though the outside of our child may be different than us he or she is still made in the image of God. We are all made int he image of God.

Worship

2008-10-17T07:41:00.001-07:00

So I was reading today and I read a statement I didn't agree with at first then I gave it some thought and I still and wondering is it true or not. The statement is, "The greatest pleasure of the Christian life is worship." What do I think about that? and what do you think about that? when I think of pleasure as a Christian I don't always got o worship. Or maybe my idea of worship is wrong. I guess if we want to understand this a little more fully we need to understand what worship is. What is worship? the dictionary describes worship as respect, reverance paid to a divine being. That is how the dictionary describes it.
If worship is not my greatest pleasure than what is? what is your greatest pleasure as a Christian? is that worship? maybe the statement is true I am not sure but something for you and me to chew on and run our minds thru

What are you

2008-10-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

I recently read a devotional that has me thinking about who I am and what I live for. I will give you a little bit of my thoughts on it and hopefully you can ask yourself the same questions.
You have to start by reading John 12:23-26. After reading this passage I was posed with the question. Am I a believer or a follower? at first I thought and of course I am both I follow Jesus and Ibelieve in Jesus, then I got to thinking what does it mean to follow? The disciples were not asked to believe they were asked to follow, Luke's gospel talks about following being an act of taking up my cross and loosing my life for Jesus, have I done that? as I got to thinking more about this believing and following I put myself in a boat I wasn't thinking I was in and a boat that I don't think Jesus really wants me in. His ministry is all about being a follower and trusting HIM. Have I taken my cross? Have I gave up anything for HIM? or am I just a believer? This simple truth and simple question has got me thinking, it has be evaluating who I am and what I am to Jesus. I pray that Jesus will show me who I am and how I can move from that to what he wants me to be. I pray for you as well that God may show you who you are and what he wants you to be. Be who God wants you to be not who you want to be

Papers sent

2008-10-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

Yee Hah, we have finished out dossier paper work for our adoption. If you are not familiar with adoption the dossier paperwork is a huge packet of information with all your personal information that gets reviewed in the country you are adopting from. This is the final piece and now we pray and wait to get a referral, the referral is our child. They say the referral takes anywhere from 12-15 months, once you have the referral you wait 2 months until you travel and pick up your child. So we are realistically thinking that we will have our child that God has picked out for us sometime in the winter of 2010. In the waiting time we are praying that God will pick the right child and he will work out his plan for us and the child we know he has for us. This has been a time we have been waiting for and now it is another hurdle that has been crossed. Praise the Lord.

Adoption

2008-09-04T05:56:00.000-07:00

Some of you have been asking for an update on the adoption. I will do my best to bring you up to speed on what is going on. We are adopting a child from Ethiopia, the child will be 24 months or younger. We will be sending in our dossier paperwork in the next month and a half or so. From that time on we will be waiting and praying for our referral, (our child). This will take 12-15 months, once we have our referral it will take 2-3 months until we travel to go and pick up our child. Realistically we are looking at the winter of 2010 when we will come home with our child. We greatly appreciate all your prayer and words of encouragement as we continue down this path that God is leading us on. It is definitely a new journey and there are things we learn each day and each week about ourselves and about who God is. It has been good for Gwen and I to apply for grants. Some of the questions in there have made us think and ask some tough questions. For example, what do you believe to be the most important thing you can impart to your child? What desires do you have for your children as they grow up? What does the Bible mean to you? Who is Jesus to you? Just to name a few of the questions that we think about and you know in your head but when you have to put it down on paper it becomes a little thought provoking to work out your answer to these questions.

golf

2008-08-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

This is for those of you that enjoy golf. I have the privilege of playing 63 holes of golf in 48 hours this past weekend. You talk about being tired after a day of fun that will get you tired after a weekend. My Friday scores were not what I wanted them to be. They were, well, above my average and did not help my team win any pride in what we have deemed the pride cup golf outing. Golf is a game of focus and a game of keeping yours eyes on the little white thing flying through the air. The better you do that the better the day is. if you play golf or have seen golf played you know that many people start each hole with a drive as far out as they can get it and a swing as hard as they can swing. Sometimes the ball goes where you want and sometimes it does not go where you want. Let me tell you a little bit about what i did to stay focused and bring my round back around. For starters I will tell you on Friday I had a nine holes that added up to 64 strokes. (WOW that is a lot for a guy like me, but then again i got my monies worth and as a dutch man that is good it was not a lot of money per stroke to play that day. ) Saturday i had to get my focus back and I had to stay on track, I did not use my driver and I did use my 5 wood only one time. It was a day of the 5 iron to get my focus back, a day that I decided I would rather be straight and in the fairway playing a little white ball off some nice grass rather than becoming a ball hunter in the woods. So I hit 5 iron after 5 iron after 5 iron to get my way through the course. I made it with great improvement and great confidence being focus on my game and what i needed to do, not what other people were doing around me, because they were hitting drives of 250 yards and some over 300 yards and mine, lets just say I was there in 2. So did the focus pay off? i can say yes it did because that 64 i told you about earlier on Sunday that became a 45. What can focus do for you it can take your eyes and ideas from other people and put them on you and what you need and enjoy and even get a great score. My golf game was not an exciting game or a flamboyant game but it was a game that got the job done. Sometime we get too concerned about how we look to the people around us and forget what we need to do as and individual. I was who i needed to be and stayed focus on my game and it worked. So what about you what are things you do to please others and look good but may not be what you need to do and may not be the best thing for you? Focus on what you need, what you are called to, not what the person next to you does. Be focused be a Hubble!

Hubble telescope

2008-08-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

So what do I and the Hubble telescope have in common? nothing at first but then as i have been going through life and figuring things out as i go i feel i have some things in common or maybe better stated want to have things in common with the Hubble. If you have not seen the Hubble's web site check it out,http://hubblesite.org/ the pictures on there are great and will give you a little glimpse into what is beyond what are eyes can see. Focus, yes, right focus is what this is all about. Amounts are different but I have heard that we have spent as much as 900million dollars on the Hubble telescope. One telescope and only one. Why do we spend so much money? Until this past year I thought it was a waste and a dumb use of the money that I pay in taxes. But maybe it is some of the best use of money we have done with our taxes. The Hubble has given us looks at space that we have never seen before, it has showed us stuff we never dreamed of, imagines that are beyond description and images that are great to look at and see God's creation. So what do I and what do you have in common with the Hubble. We need to become Hubbles of ourselves. You see some of us have a hard time focusing on life, some have a hard time focusing on school some just plain can't focus and have a label of ADD or ADHD. As I have discovered in life in the past three months the more focused our lives our the better we go through life. The more we enjoy life and the more we can get out of life. You know what I am talking about when you have been chasing from place to place and going here and going there and at the end of the day you get home and ask yourself what have I done today? What about life what I have Idone in life? the Hubble has one mission and one thing that it is suppose to do, it does it well. I believe God has created each one of us with a purpose and a mission, sometimes we go through life trying everything and nothing seems right. But when we find that right thing it clicks and you find meaning and purpose. So like the Hubble focus to give scenes to us what is you would focus on one thing on what God has called you to. what God has gifted you in and what if you did that? Let other people do things they are gifted in; and you do the thing you are gifted in how much value could you bring to the people around you? Could you give value like the Hubble gives value? Try it I dare you, iIam beginning to do it, beginning to say no to some things to be more focused to bring value to people around me. Be a Hubble.

Adoption

2008-07-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

So i have been writing about things going on my life and i have failed to mention one of the most exciting things to happen. Gwen and I are in the process of adopting a baby. It has only come through God. We have discussed this for many years, even when we were dating we discussed the possibility of adopting. So now that we are ready we met with a couple different agencies last fall and decided to go with Bethany to adopt a baby. We wanted to adopt a baby from Gr area. Our mind was, why adopt from over seas when there are kids right here that need a home. But to make a very long story short adoption agencies really don't need us, we have 2 kids of our own and we are not a prime family to adopt locally. so we are adopting from Ethiopia. Our projected time to get a baby will be sometime in the winter of 2010. It will come quick.

Where is God?

2008-07-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Some people go crazy asking this question. have you thought about where he is in your life today. Stop and take in what has happened today. Have you seen him? what has been good about today? what has been bad about today? Do you see him? Recently i had the opportunity to talk to a teenage young man who wonders why he doesn't feel God's Presence. He has friends that feel it but he does not. He has a friends whose mom died of cancer and where is God? A few years ago i was at my parents cottage laying on the Beach and looking up with a couple other guys and one of them said you know we see all this around us and people say that God is everywhere where is he right now. So as you look around your day where do you see God. I friend from church said she saw God in the hospital, i have seen God in thunderstorms, on mission trips, i have seen him answer prayers of adoption for Gwen and myself.
What about you?

Cisterns

2008-06-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

Today, I was up early, like always on Thursdays for a men's Bible study that i am apart of. You never know where discussion will lead at 6:30 am. But this morning there was a comment in the notes of our study, it went something like this. The problem with evil and people today is they have abandoned God in their lives. As a man who tries to live with Christ in my life i feel this is an accurate statement.
Some people realize they are missing something some people don't realize it. I was walking through Rockford for the start of summer celebration parade; we had a float in the parade for the WELL. We were handing out water bottles, because our theme for the WELL is all whoa re thirsty come, and a well is the source of water. Anyways as we were walking down the parade route people could see we were passing out water and they were chanting water, water, water. It was an unbelievable experience. The WELL exists to guide all of us the the source of living water so we will thirst no more. Little do some people know that as they were chanting water they were really being honest with themselves and admitting what they are missing in life.
So what does all this have to do with broken cisterns? Look at Jeremiah 2:12-14, it says there that we as God's people have committed 2 sins we have forsaken God the Spring of living water and we have dug our own cisterns.
there are times in my life that i try to avoid God and try to do things on my own, i dig my own ideas and cisterns to put my thoughts in. I do turn from God at times, which in my opinion is wrong, it is sin, anytime we turn from him we sin. Do i recognize the problem in me, do i see the things i do that turn myself from God? I am working on not forsaking Him and not digging my own cisterns but letting him be my one and only cistern that is filled with his living water.
how is your cistern?

Love one another

2008-06-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

If you look in your dictionary for the word love. I am sure not many of you do look in a dictionary for the word love because we now how to spell it and we “know” what it means. Love is a verb. A verb is action. I think of jumping. You cannot say you jump unless you do something. You have to jump to jump. I know that seems so obvious, like why are you saying that. I say this because 4 days ago my wife left for Guatemala on a mission trip. Like I say almost every day I left her with the words, “I Love You” what does that mean. If love is an action then while she is gone what do I do. What is love when your spouse or loved one is away for a period of time. I am beginning to understand a little bit about what love is. This past week has been a difficult week. I have been with my 2 kids and taking a week off of work. Yes I have had the blessing of parents taking them a couple days. There has not been a tougher week in my life than this past week. I was joking with my wife before she left that I was going to just ship the kids off and spend time by myself. I did not do that this whole week but being a man of integrity I am doing that tonight at the present. I dare any of you men who are husbands and who work hard to make money to put food on the table and to provide a house to live in. I dare you take a week off of work and spend time with your kids, pay for your wife to go and be pampered, or if she is like my wife who loves missions send her on a mission trip or whatever it is that will help her re energize. As I have been thinking about those words we use so much, “I Love you” what would happen if you would stop saying I love you and start doing I love you, this is not erotic love you but what is that you can do to make those all important words a true verb.

What would happen in our marriages and in our homes if instead of saying I love you, you start doing it. Tonight as I spent some time by myself I mopped the kitchen, dining room and front entry way. I have done laundry this week and been able to be with my kids. I have been pondering those words since my life left, so men start loving your wives by doing love rather than saying. There is nothing to great or to small for you to do to show that love. Try to be with your kids for a week, if not a week maybe a couple days then you will understand the work that our stay at home wives go through each and every day. Maybe then we as men will understand what our wives do for us.

Stop say love and start doing love.

Miracle

2008-06-04T08:15:00.001-07:00

Have you used the word lately? I was talking to a friend yesterday and he is leaving Monday for Guatemala. I had the opportunity to drive a Hummer H1 and my friend saw me in it and drove up by me to ask what i was doing driving that. I was letting a friend borrow my car and he let me use his. Anyways we were talking about the trip to Guatemala and i asked if he was ready and he said,"ready to see miracles." that is a man who is optimistic. A Man who understands you get what you seek for. If you look for them you will see them. I have been on the trip my friend is going on and he is right he will see miracles happen. So what is a miracle anyway? Webster defines it as, "An effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause. " are they rare? Can you think of a time that something happened with you or someone you know that would fit into this category? The friend that needed my car was going to Ann Arbor to see his nephew who is 3yrs. old and having a hole in his heart repaired. To repair the hole they sow Gore-Tex to the hole and it is healed and covered. This little 3yr. old had to have his sternum broke to due the surgery and he will be up and walking and probably running around in 3-4 days. That is beyond me to comprehend. So this trip to Guatemala that my friend is going on my wife is also going. There are 18 people from our church going, and as my Friend said going to see miracles happen. What about us whoa re living our ordinary life are we going to see miracles happen? I will stick to my thoughts before you see what you seek and you get what you look for and prepare for. If you want to see a miracle i be live you can if you seek it and look for it. Miracle what is it?

Relay for Life

2008-05-20T06:04:00.001-07:00

I had the privilege to be apart of one of the greatest events that i have been apart of in my life. It was the Rockford Relay for life. This past weekend May 16-17 for 24 hours thousands of people come together for 1 thing and one thing only. Raise money for cancer research for the American cancer society. Wrap your arms around corporations, churches, families, and friends spending 24 hours together doing everything from archery, to football throwing to silent auctions to golf to fishing all to raise a few hundred thousand dollars. One thing, one interest, one goal, one day. The power of one. I have been trying to figure this out in my own life. The power of being focused. Relay for life is that power. Relay is that momentum. Sometimes in life we can get so busy doing multiple things and trying to be everything. Maybe your not. I am guilty of that and i and suffering form the effects of not focusing on one thing. What would happen if we all focused on one thing. What can be done in the world around you what can happen in your sphere of influence if you focused on one thing and did one thing with excellence and with drive and ambition. One thing is not lazy as some may think. One thing is not taking the easy way out.
Are you focused on one thing? what does one thing mean to you?

Who do you work for

2008-05-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

As I was going through this past weekend, spending time at a golf outing and enjoying the great outdoors of a golf course then going out with soem friends at a resturant. I can't help but think of all the work that is done a daily basis, the golf outing helped to raise funds for Calvin Christian Schools and each hole was sponsored but a person or a company. Many people work to be able to put a sign up at a golf hole. I wonder at times who do i work for? i think of one of my favorite passages of scripture, Genesis 1:26-28, we are all created in God's image to have relationship with him. As i think of work and what i do i think of this verse. Do I do things as I am dong it in Gods' image. Do i do things to boast of who God is?

May 7

2008-05-07T14:42:00.001-07:00

Focus, it is a word that is used in our language. When we hear focus we always hear something about focus. But what if you just had to focus. Do you find it hard to focus? What si my life focused on? i recently was at a conference at Western Seminary in Holland MI and the leader of the conference, the great Mark Yaconnelli stared the conference doing a little Lectio Divina. a Great ancient art of readinga nd praying and mediataing on the scriptures. He read a passage that has helped me to focus my my work in the Body of Christ with the church i serve. I am presently the YOuth Pastor and Pastor of The WELL a new service we have at Rockford Reformed Church. Take a look at Mark 10-16 What do children focus on? the present day and whta do i need to do to be like a little child and focus my life like one of the little children to enter the kingdom of heaven? Focus is what microscopes do it is what telescopes do it is what binoculars do and each time you use one you always have to re focus it. what are you focused on today and what do you need help to focus on?