Hello there Cyberspace,
Yes, Yes, I know it’s been quite some time since I’ve written, but I have a good excuse…at least for the last month or so.
First of all, I’ve been in hospitals for three out of the last 5 weeks. While there I was treated (and continue to be treated) for two different infections and a couple of bad ankles. And now I have casts on both feet, I’m stuck in a wheelchair and I get to go to the hospital every day to receive IV antibiotics.
Several weeks ago, while we were at a school in Syracuse, NY, I fell ill. I thought it was just a stomach bug so I didn’t really think that much of it. I ended up missing Friday of that week, which always bums me out missing part of any week, but fortunately we were staying there for the weekend so I had a few days to recover.
On Saturday, while still deliriously ill, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, I went to adjust my position and slide down a couple inches. As it turns out, I didn’t make sure my right foot was flat on the floor and felt a little snap, that snap might have actually been my foot sliding out from under the leg, on x-rays taken in the hospital, it’s pretty clear that my right foot is no longer in line with my right leg. Anyway, back to the story…this put me on crutches and had me hobbling around for a while. Fortunately, I had a wonderful Coastlands teammate with me that weekend who ended up doing almost every thing for me, as I was deliriously ill and on crutches. A huge thank you goes out to Allycia Veilleux.
After we left Syracuse, we headed to Hudson Valley Christian Academy, and that is where my hospital ordeal begins…Unfortunately, I never actually made it to school that week as I was still sick with what I thought was a stomach bug and my ankle was killing me, I couldn’t get up without being in way more pain than I should have been, and getting dizzy, and it taking so much effort that I was soaked in sweat by the time I got anywhere. On Monday, I noticed my leg had swollen to about 3 times its usual size, that’s when I decided to go to the hospital. Tuesday, after my brother, Adam was able to get back from school (oh, by the way Adam was volunteering with Coastlands that week) I called the ambulance and had them take me to the hospital.
So anyway, I was admitted to Hudson Valley Hospital Center and was there for 10 days. That’s when I found out that I had cellulitis, a strep infection in my leg, neuropathy in my feet and two ankle joints that were broken. For those of you who don’t know, neuropathy is something that diabetics can develop; it’s the condition that can possibly cause them to lose a foot. Here’s the problem…I’m not diabetic. So, I was in that hospital for 10 days until they released me with several different prescriptions, two of which were oral antibiotics.
I left that HVHC with the intention of heading to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. From New York I first headed to my grandmother’s house, she lives about half an hour away from DHMC, and has a wheelchair ramp on her house. I got to grandma’s on Friday night and stayed there until Sunday morning, but Sunday morning it was obvious that the oral antibiotics weren’t cutting it, so back to the hospital I went.
And now you already know where I ended up after DHMC. Still on IV antibiotics and casts on each leg/foot. I’ll be in casts for 3 months, and taking the antibiotics for at least 3 more weeks. If this all doesn’t work then things get a bit more dire, the casts are on for ankle support and to hope that my ankle bones fuse together into some sort of usable ankle joint, but if it all doesn’t work, then amputation does come back on the table.
The best thing I can do is lose weight, the good news on that front is that at last count I had lost somewhere near 75 pounds, maybe a bit more, I’m not sure because I haven’t been weighed since I got the casts on.
Weight loss tip – get really sick, I had only lost 35 pounds before I got sick and went into the hospital.
(Please note, the above statement is totally sarcastic, I do not advocate getting sick to lose weight. While getting to a healthy weight is a good thing, do it in a healthy way.)
I would like to share a couple things with you because I don’t know the good that will come out of this. I know good will and I know that thanks to Romans 8:28…
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Since I’m stuck in the middle of dealing with infections, broken ankles and 21 days worth of hospital bills, I am still looking to find the good that will come out of it. My pastor’s wife sent me a quote from C.S. Lewis I’d like to share with you…
“We are not necessarily doubting that god will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”
I think that does a good job of summing up my feelings right now. Let me also share a verse that I read while I was doing my devotions this morning…
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
II Corinthians 4:16-18
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Fasting, praying and driving
Hi There Cyberspace,
Well, look at me, less than 2 weeks since my last blog entry! I know there are people who blog every day, and I have two theories on that. Either 1- they lead way more interesting lives or 2- they really like to talk about themselves. Obviously, my friends that blog lead way more interesting lives than I do…
Well, I’ve had some awesome and some slightly disheartening stuff happen in the last week and a half. Let’s start with the disheartening…my ankle seems to have taken a turn back for the worse. I don’t know what’s going on, but for those of you that have know me for a few years, you know that I was on crutches for quite some time because of ankle issues. Those issues never went away, but the pain had gone away enough that I could almost normally walk around again. That’s over, now I use my cane almost all the time and I’ve even had to break out the crutches a couple times. I’m sure the problems would go away if I lost weight, but that’s tough with the pain, I can’t really do much for exercising. I swam when I lived in PA, but with all the travelling and being gone for weeks at a time, it doesn’t make fiscal sense to keep a gym membership, and I can’t really go to one gym all the time, because I’m all over New England.
Anyway, I went on Monday to listen to Graham Jones speak (http://www.gjmi.org/) and it was great. I had heard him speak before and I knew he spoke a lot on healing, because a huge part of his ministry is healing. So, I went on Monday, fully expecting to ask for healing, I didn’t. As Graham was talking about healing, he also was talking about being prepared to be healed, and God laid it on my heart that I wasn’t ready yet. Bummer…I really was hoping to leave there healed. What God did tell me to do was take Tuesday to pray and fast about what I need to do to prepare myself for the ministry ahead and the healing on my ankles.
Disclaimer: I know not everyone who reads this blog will believe that God speaks this way to people and all I can say is He does. I’ve felt God move more mightily in the last few months than I have in the entire rest of my life, and my prayer is that through my life and struggles, God will speak to you and bring you to the point where you will be open to hear Him speaking into your life.
So, Tuesday, I took a drive, it was a long drive, about 250 miles, all through New Hampshire. I needed to go somewhere I hadn’t been, I felt God was telling me to go somewhere I hadn’t been, because He is going to take me to a place I’ve never been. My route took north from Manchester to Lincoln, from Lincoln, east across the Kancamagus highway to Conway, south to Rye, then west back to Manchester. Along the way, I stopped in a couple of places and wrote down what I was thinking and praying about. Here’s most of what I wrote…
Sitting at the Hancock Trailhead on the Kancamagus Highway
Lord, I can’t see what’s there, but I know something is. Lord I don’t know what you have for me, but I know it’s better than what I’ve made for myself. Lord, this is my literal and figurative day as I sit somewhere I’ve never been, I look ahead to something I’ve never been.
I do believe, or I want to believe, Lord, help my unbelief!!!
Lord, why should I just expect You to take the first step, why am I reticent to move first and expect you to bless me. Lord, I want to have that quiet confidence that You do give. I want to have that assurance that You will provide me. Lord, let me take the first step (literally and figuratively!) let me renounce all that distracts me from You and focus on You and You alone.
Lord, I do need to be undone in your presence. I’m not, and I don’t let myself. I want, I need to be sold out, wholly dedicated and totally committed to you, not me.
Lord, let me remove the random noise from my life, let me remember this moment when sin calls out to me, when my former life calls out to me, when I am tempted to be drawn back into that life. Lord, that life is not what You want from me, you want only the best for me, let me want the same.
Lord, I love You, let my life be one long love letter to You.
Sitting at the Camp Fireside beach on Daniel Cater Rd
Lord, as I drove down a road I became so familiar with several years ago, I forgot about the ruts. Lord, I’m reminded of the ruts that we all get stuck in. Lord, I’m in a rut that I’ve been in for half my life. I came to a saving faith in You since then, Lord why am I still there?
Lord, I do want healing in my life. I want to be a whole person. I want to fill the gaps in my heart, not with the earthly, fleshly things of this world.
Lord, today is a day of healing, even if it’s not a day of healing for my ankle, lord I want it to be a day of healing for my heart.
Draw me close to You, never let me go. Even if I kick and scream, even if I want to leave, I know I don’t want to.
Sitting near Odiorne Point
Lord, how different a place I’m in now! Now I can see for miles out over the ocean. Some day I’ll be here, some day I’ll be able to loot at my life ahead and see just you, Lord. Even as the ocean farther out looks smooth, I can see the breakers crashing on the shore. Lord, guide me through the rough breakers ahead to the smooth ocean with You.
Lord, I pray that when I get to the end of my life, that I’ll be able to look back and see that I trusted You.
Lord, give me the calm assurance of Your love and when my ankles fail that I allow You to carry me.
As you can see, I kept being brought back to the following passage in Mark 9:14-29
When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
"What are you arguing with them about?" he asked.
A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."
"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."
So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?"
"From childhood," he answered. "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
" 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."
Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil[a] spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."
I need to remove the noise, the things that block my intimacy with God, that means cutting down on TV, cutting down on computer time, and giving myself more quiet time, time alone with God.
Thanks for sticking with me through this long entry. I pray that God will bless you because of it, and I pray you all have a wonderful Christmas and blessed New Year.
Have a great day!
Well, look at me, less than 2 weeks since my last blog entry! I know there are people who blog every day, and I have two theories on that. Either 1- they lead way more interesting lives or 2- they really like to talk about themselves. Obviously, my friends that blog lead way more interesting lives than I do…
Well, I’ve had some awesome and some slightly disheartening stuff happen in the last week and a half. Let’s start with the disheartening…my ankle seems to have taken a turn back for the worse. I don’t know what’s going on, but for those of you that have know me for a few years, you know that I was on crutches for quite some time because of ankle issues. Those issues never went away, but the pain had gone away enough that I could almost normally walk around again. That’s over, now I use my cane almost all the time and I’ve even had to break out the crutches a couple times. I’m sure the problems would go away if I lost weight, but that’s tough with the pain, I can’t really do much for exercising. I swam when I lived in PA, but with all the travelling and being gone for weeks at a time, it doesn’t make fiscal sense to keep a gym membership, and I can’t really go to one gym all the time, because I’m all over New England.
Anyway, I went on Monday to listen to Graham Jones speak (http://www.gjmi.org/) and it was great. I had heard him speak before and I knew he spoke a lot on healing, because a huge part of his ministry is healing. So, I went on Monday, fully expecting to ask for healing, I didn’t. As Graham was talking about healing, he also was talking about being prepared to be healed, and God laid it on my heart that I wasn’t ready yet. Bummer…I really was hoping to leave there healed. What God did tell me to do was take Tuesday to pray and fast about what I need to do to prepare myself for the ministry ahead and the healing on my ankles.
Disclaimer: I know not everyone who reads this blog will believe that God speaks this way to people and all I can say is He does. I’ve felt God move more mightily in the last few months than I have in the entire rest of my life, and my prayer is that through my life and struggles, God will speak to you and bring you to the point where you will be open to hear Him speaking into your life.
So, Tuesday, I took a drive, it was a long drive, about 250 miles, all through New Hampshire. I needed to go somewhere I hadn’t been, I felt God was telling me to go somewhere I hadn’t been, because He is going to take me to a place I’ve never been. My route took north from Manchester to Lincoln, from Lincoln, east across the Kancamagus highway to Conway, south to Rye, then west back to Manchester. Along the way, I stopped in a couple of places and wrote down what I was thinking and praying about. Here’s most of what I wrote…
Sitting at the Hancock Trailhead on the Kancamagus Highway
Lord, I can’t see what’s there, but I know something is. Lord I don’t know what you have for me, but I know it’s better than what I’ve made for myself. Lord, this is my literal and figurative day as I sit somewhere I’ve never been, I look ahead to something I’ve never been.
I do believe, or I want to believe, Lord, help my unbelief!!!
Lord, why should I just expect You to take the first step, why am I reticent to move first and expect you to bless me. Lord, I want to have that quiet confidence that You do give. I want to have that assurance that You will provide me. Lord, let me take the first step (literally and figuratively!) let me renounce all that distracts me from You and focus on You and You alone.
Lord, I do need to be undone in your presence. I’m not, and I don’t let myself. I want, I need to be sold out, wholly dedicated and totally committed to you, not me.
Lord, let me remove the random noise from my life, let me remember this moment when sin calls out to me, when my former life calls out to me, when I am tempted to be drawn back into that life. Lord, that life is not what You want from me, you want only the best for me, let me want the same.
Lord, I love You, let my life be one long love letter to You.
Sitting at the Camp Fireside beach on Daniel Cater Rd
Lord, as I drove down a road I became so familiar with several years ago, I forgot about the ruts. Lord, I’m reminded of the ruts that we all get stuck in. Lord, I’m in a rut that I’ve been in for half my life. I came to a saving faith in You since then, Lord why am I still there?
Lord, I do want healing in my life. I want to be a whole person. I want to fill the gaps in my heart, not with the earthly, fleshly things of this world.
Lord, today is a day of healing, even if it’s not a day of healing for my ankle, lord I want it to be a day of healing for my heart.
Draw me close to You, never let me go. Even if I kick and scream, even if I want to leave, I know I don’t want to.
Sitting near Odiorne Point
Lord, how different a place I’m in now! Now I can see for miles out over the ocean. Some day I’ll be here, some day I’ll be able to loot at my life ahead and see just you, Lord. Even as the ocean farther out looks smooth, I can see the breakers crashing on the shore. Lord, guide me through the rough breakers ahead to the smooth ocean with You.
Lord, I pray that when I get to the end of my life, that I’ll be able to look back and see that I trusted You.
Lord, give me the calm assurance of Your love and when my ankles fail that I allow You to carry me.
As you can see, I kept being brought back to the following passage in Mark 9:14-29
When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
"What are you arguing with them about?" he asked.
A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."
"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."
So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?"
"From childhood," he answered. "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
" 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."
Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil[a] spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."
I need to remove the noise, the things that block my intimacy with God, that means cutting down on TV, cutting down on computer time, and giving myself more quiet time, time alone with God.
Thanks for sticking with me through this long entry. I pray that God will bless you because of it, and I pray you all have a wonderful Christmas and blessed New Year.
Have a great day!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Eagles vs Chickens
Well, as it’s been quite a while (nearly 2 months!!) I figured I’d finally write a blog entry. Since my last entry we’ve been to 4 more schools, one in Connecticut (where my mom was able to come minister with us, Woohoo!) one in New York, one in Maine and we just got back from a school in Beverly, MA. Things have been good, Thanksgiving came and went, I was able to go over to my folks’ house, after I dropped almost 200 bucks to get my car fixed, but now it hopefully won’t scare me like it did when I thought we might be stranded in New York.
God continues to work on my issues of trusting in Him, since my last blog entry, I lost $100 of support a month and then got it back. I continue to be blessed by the support I receive by some folks who I know struggle to pay, but it blesses me so much, and I believe that God will bless my supporters as they give, perhaps sacrificially.
Yesterday, I spoke to the kids and told them a story about an eagle that thought it was a chicken. I love that story, because that reminds me that God created us to be eagles, even though sometimes we feel ok with scratching out life with the chickens. I no longer want to be a chicken; I want to be an eagle, one that Isaiah 40:28-31 speaks of…
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
That’s been a verse I’ve loved for a while.
I’m currently really enjoying the season, there’s snow falling outside, and Christmas music coming out of the speakers, I’m thinking of going to make some hot chocolate…
Have a great day!
God continues to work on my issues of trusting in Him, since my last blog entry, I lost $100 of support a month and then got it back. I continue to be blessed by the support I receive by some folks who I know struggle to pay, but it blesses me so much, and I believe that God will bless my supporters as they give, perhaps sacrificially.
Yesterday, I spoke to the kids and told them a story about an eagle that thought it was a chicken. I love that story, because that reminds me that God created us to be eagles, even though sometimes we feel ok with scratching out life with the chickens. I no longer want to be a chicken; I want to be an eagle, one that Isaiah 40:28-31 speaks of…
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
That’s been a verse I’ve loved for a while.
I’m currently really enjoying the season, there’s snow falling outside, and Christmas music coming out of the speakers, I’m thinking of going to make some hot chocolate…
Have a great day!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Trust hijacked me
Hello there Cyberspace,
Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written a post, but I’ve been on the road. We had 2 schools right in a row, then I went to visit folks in PA and pick up some more stuff.
Honestly, I’m having a little trouble deciding what to write now, I have plenty to write about the schools we were at, but I really feel like God is telling me to write about trust, so here it goes…
I like to think I’ve finally become a well-adjusted member of society, without any of the hang ups that I see other people having, but I’ve recently discovered that I’m not as together as I’d like to believe. My parents divorced when I was a kid and that threw me for a loop for quite some time, even through high school where I tried to run away twice. Since then, I think I’ve gotten better with that affecting me, and I have, but there was one area of my life where I had trouble letting God in and that was trust. I’ve come to realize that I’ve felt betrayed by my father and that’s led to me not really being able to let people into my life and trust them all the way. I’ve learned to fake it well, but I don’t want to be a fake anymore. God has really been breaking down the barriers of trust in me in the last few months. First of all, I have been able to start to trust a few people more, with even my most shameful thoughts and areas of my life.
But more importantly God told me that it was time to put up or shut up, either I trusted Him or I didn’t. I always though I trusted God, but that’s when life made it easy, in the last few months, life has made it harder, but ironically, it’s made it easier to trust God. But God had to do some major reworking of my life; first, he had to get me out of where it was so easy to mouth the words “I trust God” and got me to the point where I had to put substance behind those words. It started when I realized that when God told me to do something that I was afraid to do, and I didn’t do it, I was calling God a liar and telling Him there was something He hadn’t thought of. Since then, I’ve seen how God has been faithful to me, not because I’ve been faithful to Him (that doesn’t change, He’s faithful to us even when we’re not to Him) but I’ve been open to see it.
As I sit here munching on a couple donuts, listening to Kim Walker sing “How He Loves” I’m moved to tears when I read verses like Isaiah 26:4
“Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal”
and Isaiah 12:2
“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”
My prayer for everyone reading this is that God will open up your eyes to see that He is faithful to you. Humans are fallible, we will let someone down at some point, but GOD NEVER WILL.
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, maybe I’ll write about the schools another day.
Have a great day!
Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written a post, but I’ve been on the road. We had 2 schools right in a row, then I went to visit folks in PA and pick up some more stuff.
Honestly, I’m having a little trouble deciding what to write now, I have plenty to write about the schools we were at, but I really feel like God is telling me to write about trust, so here it goes…
I like to think I’ve finally become a well-adjusted member of society, without any of the hang ups that I see other people having, but I’ve recently discovered that I’m not as together as I’d like to believe. My parents divorced when I was a kid and that threw me for a loop for quite some time, even through high school where I tried to run away twice. Since then, I think I’ve gotten better with that affecting me, and I have, but there was one area of my life where I had trouble letting God in and that was trust. I’ve come to realize that I’ve felt betrayed by my father and that’s led to me not really being able to let people into my life and trust them all the way. I’ve learned to fake it well, but I don’t want to be a fake anymore. God has really been breaking down the barriers of trust in me in the last few months. First of all, I have been able to start to trust a few people more, with even my most shameful thoughts and areas of my life.
But more importantly God told me that it was time to put up or shut up, either I trusted Him or I didn’t. I always though I trusted God, but that’s when life made it easy, in the last few months, life has made it harder, but ironically, it’s made it easier to trust God. But God had to do some major reworking of my life; first, he had to get me out of where it was so easy to mouth the words “I trust God” and got me to the point where I had to put substance behind those words. It started when I realized that when God told me to do something that I was afraid to do, and I didn’t do it, I was calling God a liar and telling Him there was something He hadn’t thought of. Since then, I’ve seen how God has been faithful to me, not because I’ve been faithful to Him (that doesn’t change, He’s faithful to us even when we’re not to Him) but I’ve been open to see it.
As I sit here munching on a couple donuts, listening to Kim Walker sing “How He Loves” I’m moved to tears when I read verses like Isaiah 26:4
“Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal”
and Isaiah 12:2
“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”
My prayer for everyone reading this is that God will open up your eyes to see that He is faithful to you. Humans are fallible, we will let someone down at some point, but GOD NEVER WILL.
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, maybe I’ll write about the schools another day.
Have a great day!
Monday, September 21, 2009
First week under my belt.
Hello There Cyberspace,
Well, our first week is under our belt, and what a great week it was! We were at Mount Hope Christian School in Burlington Mass. This school was perfect for me, I love working with Elementary and Pre-schoolers, and this school was preschool through 5th grade.
We ran two chapels each day one for the elementary school (K-5) which Pam led and she worked through a theme titled “Shoes” where we talk about…you guessed it, shoes. With that week, we’ll spell out the word shoes one letter for each day and each letter associates with a different word.
Monday S= Salvation
Tuesday H= Healing
Wednesday O= Obey (Obedience)
Thursday E= Endurance
Friday S= Sanctification
Each day we had a different shoe as an object lesson.
I led the preschool chapel with the assistance of the ever awesome Hudson Taylor Wells. We talked about the parables of Jesus while using blocks, a stuffed turtle, and my Yankees shirt. I had originally thought of using a pair of bulls to talk about the parables of Jesus, but with Hudson coming to help, I didn’t need to have a puppet to talk to, because I had a real person.
Cutest thing I heard last week “God wants us to be snuggly with Him” one day we had talked about slippers and how God wants us to be comfortable and get refreshed in Him.
Most awesome thing I heard last week “Hi! Hi, my name is Rachel.” I say that’s the most awesome because that little preschooler was talking to me and the teachers told me that’s the most she had spoken since she had been there. She was a new student and hadn’t really said much for the week she had been there, but she called out to me from across the playground to tell me her name.
God is an awesome God!
I have all this week off, but starting next week, we have 2 weeks in a row, I’m really looking forward to it. In October I get to go back to 2 schools I’ve already been to, I can’t wait for that to renew those relationships with the staff and the kids.
Last night I went to a worship service at a small house church, the speaker was a missionary from Wales, that is currently stationed in France. He talked about too often we just pray out of our faith, but we need to more often pray out of our authority, or more rather, the authority of Christ in us. We have a great authority when we can use that name, but we only can when we have Christ in our life.
He also talked about ministering out of Christ and not just out of our gift. Ministering out of our gift means that sometimes we go where we’re not called, because we think that’s where our gifting has taken us (just to be clear, I don’t feel that way at all about coming to Coastlands, if I was going to go somewhere comfortable, it wouldn’t have been into the mission field!) and sometimes we get stuck, because we’re using our gift, but we’re so tied to it, that we can’t see when we should change something.
Well, I must be off,
Have a great day!
Well, our first week is under our belt, and what a great week it was! We were at Mount Hope Christian School in Burlington Mass. This school was perfect for me, I love working with Elementary and Pre-schoolers, and this school was preschool through 5th grade.
We ran two chapels each day one for the elementary school (K-5) which Pam led and she worked through a theme titled “Shoes” where we talk about…you guessed it, shoes. With that week, we’ll spell out the word shoes one letter for each day and each letter associates with a different word.
Monday S= Salvation
Tuesday H= Healing
Wednesday O= Obey (Obedience)
Thursday E= Endurance
Friday S= Sanctification
Each day we had a different shoe as an object lesson.
I led the preschool chapel with the assistance of the ever awesome Hudson Taylor Wells. We talked about the parables of Jesus while using blocks, a stuffed turtle, and my Yankees shirt. I had originally thought of using a pair of bulls to talk about the parables of Jesus, but with Hudson coming to help, I didn’t need to have a puppet to talk to, because I had a real person.
Cutest thing I heard last week “God wants us to be snuggly with Him” one day we had talked about slippers and how God wants us to be comfortable and get refreshed in Him.
Most awesome thing I heard last week “Hi! Hi, my name is Rachel.” I say that’s the most awesome because that little preschooler was talking to me and the teachers told me that’s the most she had spoken since she had been there. She was a new student and hadn’t really said much for the week she had been there, but she called out to me from across the playground to tell me her name.
God is an awesome God!
I have all this week off, but starting next week, we have 2 weeks in a row, I’m really looking forward to it. In October I get to go back to 2 schools I’ve already been to, I can’t wait for that to renew those relationships with the staff and the kids.
Last night I went to a worship service at a small house church, the speaker was a missionary from Wales, that is currently stationed in France. He talked about too often we just pray out of our faith, but we need to more often pray out of our authority, or more rather, the authority of Christ in us. We have a great authority when we can use that name, but we only can when we have Christ in our life.
He also talked about ministering out of Christ and not just out of our gift. Ministering out of our gift means that sometimes we go where we’re not called, because we think that’s where our gifting has taken us (just to be clear, I don’t feel that way at all about coming to Coastlands, if I was going to go somewhere comfortable, it wouldn’t have been into the mission field!) and sometimes we get stuck, because we’re using our gift, but we’re so tied to it, that we can’t see when we should change something.
Well, I must be off,
Have a great day!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Parking Adventures and Feeling Convicted
Hi There Cyberspace,
Well, it looks like I’m gonna get blogs done every couple of weeks at least when we haven’t been to schools. I just don’t seem to have it in me to write one every week, I just can’t imagine that people will want to hear what I have to say that often.
Anyway…we start at schools next week!!! I’m very excited! I must admit, I’ve gotten a bit bored these last few weeks, I just haven’t had that much to do.
I did have a bit of excitement yesterday… I had to go to city hall here in Manchester to start the process of getting my car registered in New Hampshire and I had a run in with a meter reader. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure they have a tough job, and I’m sure they get argued with a lot, but that does not give them an excuse to not be observant. Manchester has a new system for parking that has done away with regular meters, and you go to the center of the block of parking spaces to a little kiosk to get a receipt to put on your dashboard to show that you paid to park. Well, as I was finishing up at the kiosk (which wouldn’t take my quarters so I had to pay with my debit card) I noticed the meter reader walk past me, from the direction of my car. I was worried that she might have given me a ticket, but thought she must have realized that the car without a receipt might belong to the big guy standing at the kiosk, no such luck.
I got back to my car and saw a $10 parking ticket tucked under the wiper. Since I wasn’t going to stand for this, as I did exactly what I was supposed to, I found the reader and asked her why I got the ticket. She tried to tell me that I had parked, conducted my business and then, when I realized she was giving me a ticket, I went to the kiosk. After she insisted I left my car (which you have to do unless you park right in front of the kiosk) she then told me she didn’t see me at the kiosk. Now, when I try to hide, I usually do a pretty good job, but when I don’t try, I believe the only way I could make myself more obvious would be to walk around with a neon sign over my head and a marching band behind me. I’m 6’ 4” and a big guy, I wasn’t even wearing camouflage so I don’t know how she missed me. But eventually she did void the ticket, but not before I decided I really, strongly dislike the parking system in downtown Manchester.
To move on, God has recently been impressing on my heart that I need to be the same person in private that I am in public. Now it’s not like when people aren’t around I go out and set things on fire or boo the president, but I always want to be a genuine person and I want to honor God in everything I do, and that doesn’t always happen in my private life. Luke 12:2,3 tells us
“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.”
I know that God is always near and can always see what I think and do, the question is…does that convict or comfort me?
Have a great day!
Well, it looks like I’m gonna get blogs done every couple of weeks at least when we haven’t been to schools. I just don’t seem to have it in me to write one every week, I just can’t imagine that people will want to hear what I have to say that often.
Anyway…we start at schools next week!!! I’m very excited! I must admit, I’ve gotten a bit bored these last few weeks, I just haven’t had that much to do.
I did have a bit of excitement yesterday… I had to go to city hall here in Manchester to start the process of getting my car registered in New Hampshire and I had a run in with a meter reader. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure they have a tough job, and I’m sure they get argued with a lot, but that does not give them an excuse to not be observant. Manchester has a new system for parking that has done away with regular meters, and you go to the center of the block of parking spaces to a little kiosk to get a receipt to put on your dashboard to show that you paid to park. Well, as I was finishing up at the kiosk (which wouldn’t take my quarters so I had to pay with my debit card) I noticed the meter reader walk past me, from the direction of my car. I was worried that she might have given me a ticket, but thought she must have realized that the car without a receipt might belong to the big guy standing at the kiosk, no such luck.
I got back to my car and saw a $10 parking ticket tucked under the wiper. Since I wasn’t going to stand for this, as I did exactly what I was supposed to, I found the reader and asked her why I got the ticket. She tried to tell me that I had parked, conducted my business and then, when I realized she was giving me a ticket, I went to the kiosk. After she insisted I left my car (which you have to do unless you park right in front of the kiosk) she then told me she didn’t see me at the kiosk. Now, when I try to hide, I usually do a pretty good job, but when I don’t try, I believe the only way I could make myself more obvious would be to walk around with a neon sign over my head and a marching band behind me. I’m 6’ 4” and a big guy, I wasn’t even wearing camouflage so I don’t know how she missed me. But eventually she did void the ticket, but not before I decided I really, strongly dislike the parking system in downtown Manchester.
To move on, God has recently been impressing on my heart that I need to be the same person in private that I am in public. Now it’s not like when people aren’t around I go out and set things on fire or boo the president, but I always want to be a genuine person and I want to honor God in everything I do, and that doesn’t always happen in my private life. Luke 12:2,3 tells us
“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.”
I know that God is always near and can always see what I think and do, the question is…does that convict or comfort me?
Have a great day!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Travels and new baby
Hello Cyberspace,
It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve written, but a lot has happened in those 2 weeks. I’ve been busy and couldn’t really write, also it was super hot and I didn’t want my fingers to melt to the keyboard.
So, here’s were things are at…last Monday I moved to Manchester, NH. The move went well, though as I said super hot and very sweaty. Hudson Taylor Wells is super awesome because he moved just about all of my stuff from my car to the upstairs apartment. I carried a little, but he did the most, by far.
Saturday, I made it up to Sentinel for the 60th anniversary get together, that was great! I saw people I haven’t seen in forever, and just enjoyed the day at Sentinel. Sentinel is a great place and I am so happy I have been able to spend so many years there, I hope to be able to go back again.
Tuesday, I drove up to Portland, Maine with Adam to see our new niece, Adrianna. I must say, I think she is the cutest baby ever. Pics are up on Facebook and will probably be up on Flickr soon.
I can’t help but thank God for his provision, I made it safely to Manchester, I made it up to camp, over to Rochester and up to Portland safely, and God brought a beautiful baby into the world. Praise God!
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Have a great day!
It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve written, but a lot has happened in those 2 weeks. I’ve been busy and couldn’t really write, also it was super hot and I didn’t want my fingers to melt to the keyboard.
So, here’s were things are at…last Monday I moved to Manchester, NH. The move went well, though as I said super hot and very sweaty. Hudson Taylor Wells is super awesome because he moved just about all of my stuff from my car to the upstairs apartment. I carried a little, but he did the most, by far.
Saturday, I made it up to Sentinel for the 60th anniversary get together, that was great! I saw people I haven’t seen in forever, and just enjoyed the day at Sentinel. Sentinel is a great place and I am so happy I have been able to spend so many years there, I hope to be able to go back again.
Tuesday, I drove up to Portland, Maine with Adam to see our new niece, Adrianna. I must say, I think she is the cutest baby ever. Pics are up on Facebook and will probably be up on Flickr soon.
I can’t help but thank God for his provision, I made it safely to Manchester, I made it up to camp, over to Rochester and up to Portland safely, and God brought a beautiful baby into the world. Praise God!
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Have a great day!
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