Moving to new blog

Hey guys! Well, if you are still coming here to faithfully check for new blogs, you are a better person than I have been at faithfully updating. I am, however, writing new blogs again, but I have moved to a new Myspace site. If you would like to have the address of my site, please feel free to leave me a comment, and I will get the address to you. Or feel free to email me. I would love for you to continue to keep up with me through my new blog.
Thanks for stopping by and reading, and God bless you!!

The "Everyday"

This post comes out of some things I've been talking about with a friend of mine. We were both discussing how easily the little things of life can pile up and pretty soon make the day a "not so great" one, though if someone asked you why it was a bad day, you couldn't really put your finger on it. The big things in life--the outright attacks that we so easily recognize as tactics of the enemy--are more readily seen and dealt with. It's the little things in life that creep up on us, because we aren't looking for them. The everyday things, like little annoyances or the stresses of daily work, happen to all of us; therefore we look at them and think, "No big deal. That's just life." And it is "just life." But often the "just life" issues are the ones that build up and catch us off guard, despite--or somehow because of--the fact that they are the little, everyday issues. Perhaps this is part of the reason Christ urged his discples to stay alert, to pray, so that they would not be overcome (Mark 14:38). God is slowly teaching me that each day is a battle, and that my mind is the battlefield. When I keep my mind alert, when I keep my soul covered in prayer, the Enemy has a much harder time using those little everyday things to get past my defenses. I don't believe that every difficult or stressful or frustrating situation is directly caused by Satan; he is not all-powerful. But when I have not stayed alert, he will certainly sweep in to use each possible situation to discourage, tempt, and enslave me.

I know what you're thinking; I've been thinking it, too. "This sounds so depressing. Each day is a battle? I can't possibly fight against the 'everyday' every day!" We're right: we can't. But we know the One who can. Our job is not to win the war over our minds; our job is to recognize that there is a war going on, and then to submit that war to Christ. Fighting against daily stresses and discouragements is a lot like David going to fight a 9-foot-tall Goliath. Yet what did David say? "It is the [LORD's] battle, not ours"(1 Samuel 17:46 NLT). And what did Moses tell the Israelites when they were being faced by Pharoah and all his army? "Don't be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch the LORD rescue you. [...] The LORD himself will fight for you. You won't have to lift a finger in your defense!" (Exodus 14:13-14 NLT)

Yes, the everyday things of life get to us, because ife isn't easy; God never promised it would be. But when we realize that every day is a battle, we can run to our Father's arms...and then we can stand back and watch the Lord of Heaven's Armies win the victory we need to live every day in freedom.

And school starts...

Hey everyone! This is just to briefly inform you that I am still alive and have not (again) fallen off the face of the earth. The last couple of weeks have been amazingly relaxing as I just sat around and waited for school to start...ok, just kidding. I actually spent the last couple of weeks with a non-profit organization working on putting together a prayer initiative DVD for the Ethne missions movement. I mainly handled some of the translation issues. It was a lot of fun, but very tiring.

And then this week, school started! It's been good so far, although I'm still trying to unwind from the last couple of weeks, so I'm still pretty tired. But my classes look like they'll be pretty interesting (even if they involve a LOT of work!). I'm taking a lighter load (12 hours) and I'm taking the following classes:
Psychological Counseling
Psychological Research Techniques/Data Analysis
American Literary Realism
Thought and Fiction of C.S. Lewis

Yay for classes! On another note, it's been absolutely wonderful to have my younger sister around on campus. (How did my baby sister become a college girl?) She comes by my room to visit sometimes, and I see her around on campus, both of which have been awesome! She's a super great girl and a wonderful sister, and I love her totally; if you haven't met her, you should!

And now...(drum roll please)...
I am going to do homework.
Have a blessed day.

Coffe Lovers. And TCKs

Here's a random post for you:

While I was visiting some favorite people of mine at "The Farm," we got into a very long discussion about/search for the word for "coffee lover." For example, there is the word enophile for someone who "appreciates and enjoys wine." A bibliophile loves books; a hippophile loves horses. There are words for people who love movies (cinephile), languages (glossophile), the latest styles and trends (neophile), and even random (and disturbing) things like snakes (ophiophile) and corpses (necrophile). With such words running around, one would think there was a word for a person who loves coffee. And yet there isn't. Or at least not that we've found. In fact, in light of such a grevious oversight, we've considered creating our own word. Like caffeophile, coffeephile, or even javaphile. Who knows? Maybe one of these words will catch on, or maybe someone will come up with a better one. Or maybe there is a word already out there but is refusing to be found. Again, who knows?

Finally, on an equally random note, I wanted to post a few fun facts about TCKs (Third Culture Kid). The textbook definition of a TCK is as follows: "A third culture kid is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside their parents' culture. The third culture kid builds relationships to all the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the third culture kid's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of the same background." I posted something similar to this back in February of '05, but I felt it was time for an update. So, for your reading pleasure, here are a few fun statments.

You know you're a TCK (or MK) when:
Where are you from?" has more than one reasonable answer.
You flew before you could walk.
Your life story uses the phrase "Then we moved to..." three (or four, or five...) times.
You don't know whether to write the date as day/month/year, month/day/year, or some variation thereof (I get confused on this all the time!).
You had a passport before your driver's license.
You wince when people mispronounce foreign words.
You get confused because US money isn't color-coded.
You think VISA is a document that's stamped in your passport, not a plastic card you carry in your wallet.
You consider a city 500 miles away "very close."
You watch the world news and recognize your old neighborhood.
You haggle with the checkout clerk for a lower price (done that).
You miss reading the subtitles when you see the latest movie.
You've gotten out of school because of monsoons, bomb threats, and/or popular demonstrations.
You speak with authority on the subject of airline travel.
You can think of the word you want in another language, but the English word escapes you.
You know how to pack. Boy, do you know how to pack (and repack, and pack again...)
The thought of sending your (hypothetical) kids to public school scares you, while the thought of letting them fly alone doesn't at all.
You think that high school reunions are all but impossible.
You sort your friends by continent.

There are a zillion more, I'm sure, but I will go ahead and end my post here. Have a lovely day!

Prayer requests...and a praise

Just wanted to drop in briefly to ask for prayer for two special people who have been on my mind and heart. First, I wanted to ask for prayer for Lance; many of you know him or have heard of him, and so many of you know he had a kidney transplant almost two years ago. After having lived with kidney problems since he was a baby and having been on dialysis for several years, receiving the new kidney was such a blessing for him. Unfortunately, Lance has been in the hospital for a week now, and several days ago a kidney biopsy confirmed that his body has begun rejecting his transplanted kidney. Anti-rejection medicine has begun, but they're not sure if this is enough to reverse the rejection process. If it doesn't work, Lance will go back onto dialysis and the transplant waiting list. Please pray that if it's God's will, He would save Lance's kidney. This is a very difficult time for him and his family, and I know they would appreciate your prayers.

Also, the pastor of our church in Malaysia was just diagnosed with acute leukemia. This has been a very hard blow on our church and has been hard on all of us who know and love our pastor. He has started intense chemotherapy, but no one can be sure what the results will be. Please pray for God's hand of healing on our pastor's life, and that over all God's purposes for our pastor would be fulfilled. Please also pray for peace and comfort over our whole church and specifically for our pastor's wife and two daughters.

As a thank you to God, and as an example that God does do miracles in response to our prayers, I am overjoyed to report that my mom's dad, my 82-year-old grandfather, has just accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. You would have to know my grandfather to know what a huge miracle this is. My mom has prayed for him her whole life, and we've prayed for him for as long as I can remember. Though my granddad ("Papa," we call him) has been close to salvation for a long time, none of us were sure whether he would take that step of faith before it was too late. After my grandmother's stroke last fall, however, we think God really used that to work in Papa's life, and he has finally become a Believer. I can't express what this means to our family, and particularly for my mom who has prayed and cried over her father for decades. This is just proof to me that God never stops working on behalf of His children as we pray, that He never stops drawing people to himself, and that He does do miracles to bring about what we never thought was possible.

May God bless you by proving He is the God who does the impossible. In the joys and heartaches, He is constantly working to bring about His perfect plans. My prayer for you today is that in a constantly changing world, you would trust and be blessed by our unchanging God. May He touch your hearts today in a special way and give you His peace.

Movement

I'm on the road, but not for too much longer. My family and I left Georgia on Monday to drive to South Carolina where we spent the evening with a very dear couple who we've been good friends with for a long time. They had a lovely home, and Lindsay and I sat outside on their front porch watching the stars and talking (while the adults were inside having "grown-up talk" *smile*). While we sat there, Lins and I saw the most amazing shooting star. It wasn't one of those very small ones that you miss if you blink; it actually left a glowing trail across the black blanket of night. It was beautiful.

Yesterday we left and drove to North Carolina to visit another family that have been our dear friends for many, many years. It has been wonderful to see them and to spend some time with them. Sometime today, we will get back in the car and drive back to South Carolina, spend the night, wake up the next morning to drive to Atlanta, and then fly out to Texas. It will be so good to be home. Those of you who have travelled know what I'm talking about: it's so wonderful to stop going places constantly, always living out of suitcases. It's so nice to be in one place that is your place, and to know you'll be there for a while. No more travelling, no more digging through suitcases every day. It's a blessed feeling. I am convinced that one of my favorite things about Heaven will be that I never have to move anywhere again. So that's what I'm looking forward to about being home in Texas and getting our family set up in the house my parents will be living in until they go back overseas in January. Granted, I think we'll only be there a week before going to Dallas to visit with family for about another week...but still.

As tired as I am of travelling, I really can't feel very sorry for myself. It is just too petty to be concerned about living out of suitcases when people all over the world are struggling just to live. I suppose many of you have heard about the earthquake, tsunami, and the second earthquake that hit Java, Indonesia. The 7.7 earthquake that hit just a few days ago created a tsunami that devastated more than 120 miles of the Java coastline. 525 people have been reported dead, with 273 people still missing. 383 people were left injured by the waves that also displaced more than 35,000 people. On top of that, another earthquake (6.2) has just occurred in the same area.

Indonesia is such a special place to me, so of course my heart breaks over the recent developments. But I know that so much else is going on all over the world, such as the horrible Middle East conflict that is raging right now. In the midst of the horrors and griefs facing the people of Indonesia, the Middle East, and countless other countries all over the world, my biggest prayer is that God would be moving. As earthquakes and tsunamis move across countries, I pray that God would move and shake people out of their complacency into His arms. As wars move across nations, I pray that God would move and show those people what it means to have His peace. And as I pray for God to move, I know that He already is moving, moving way before my prayers in ways I could never imagine. Really, in the midst of how God is moving all over the world, my moving between a couple of countries and a few states doesn't seem so important. And yet God is infinitely interested in both. It's humbling to me that as God works all over the world, He is still involved in every detail of my life. And it's humbling that as God works all over the world, He invites me to be involved in what He's doing. He is doing amazing things, and all we have to do is be ready and willing to serve in whatever way He asks us to.

God is moving. Are we ready to go with Him?

Very quick!

I don't have a lot of time, but I just wanted to put up a post so you would know I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. My family and I are back in the States and have been doing a lot of travelling, so I've had sporadic internet access at best. This is just a note to say hi and to promise more posts as soon as I'm settled again!
Thanks for your patience, and God bless!