An Easter Surprise

I woke up this morning to an out of the ordinary voice mail message. It was a lady with a sweet southern accent who said she was from A Florists. She said that she had a delivery for me and that I needed to call her back.

I know this might sound weird and awful but my first thought was that someone was playing a mean trick on me. Why else would they want me to call them. If they really had flowers for me they would just deliver them. I thought that maybe it was just a ploy to have me call back someone, since I do have a bad habit of not calling people back. I was tempted to just not call at all so that I would have the last laugh, but I was hopeful. I mean, how cool would that be to get flowers on Easter weekend to be able to display as the family comes over for a big Sunday lunch. Paul suggested I call them back. And to my surprise and delight when they answered the phone it was a legitimate florist! They were in the area and wanted to make sure I was home and if not where they could leave them. When I told them I was home they came over immediately. I think they were at the house 5 minutes after I spoke with them, if not less.

The lady got out of the car with a large, beautiful bouquet of flowers and gave them to me. I was still so amazed that anyone would send me flowers. Who could they be from?

I read the card and began to cry. My brother Tim. The person I would least expect to send me flowers had sent me flowers. And yet, if you know Tim at all, it was so fitting. He told me that he loved me and missed me and wanted to send me a little taste of spring. Paul and I hugged as I cried. Then I quickly placed them outside on our back table and we enjoyed breakfast with the sun shining, the birds singing, and flowers on my table. It was a wonderful way to start the Easter weekend.

A Wonderful Long Weekend At The Beach

Our friends Ben and Denise from church invited us to stay with them at their parents beach house in Beaufort this past weekend. There was a 8K run and 5K walk that weekend at Habersham which we did while we were there.

Paul and I left Thursday morning following Ben and Denise. We stopped for lunch at a BBQ and arrived early evening. The house was near the beach and we enjoyed riding bikes, riding the family golf cart, walking and exploring an old fort used in some war. We had all emptied our fridges and brought everything with us, so we ate well. We also did a lot of relaxing and hanging out around the house. One night as Ben and Denise prepared dinner, Paul played his guitar and I sang praise songs as their little boy Elliott danced around the room. Friday night Tamara and Taylor and their little girl came over. Taylor had been Ben's roommate in college and had remained good friends. Paul and I had never met them before, but had a great time hanging out with them too. Paul and I thought Taylor looked a lot like my brother Tim, it was really weird.

Saturday was the day of the race. Ben and I were antsy all day with anticipation. I just wanted to run it. But it was a twilight run, so it didn't start until 6pm. We got there early and got our numbers on and put our race tags on our shoes, which I had never seen before. The Bow Tree Run doesn't need that I guess because there aren't as many participants. It attaches to your shoe and tracks the time the gun fires, when you actually cross the starting block (with 400 people, you can start pretty far back) and when you finish. It was pretty cool.

It was a perfect day for a run, warm and sunny. Habersham was like a dream. I felt like I was running through Heaven on earth. Picture perfect houses with beautiful porches overlooking lush green yards and the ocean. There were parks and big oak trees with spanish moss hanging from the branches. I have never seen a community so beautiful! It was all flat too, which was amazing, since all my previous races had big hills.

I think the beauty of my surroundings distracted me from the fact that I was in a race because I felt good the entire time. As usual, Paul left me in the dust at the starting block and so I ran alone. Just me and my Ipod. I was loving the run and the seanery. I had never ran more than 3 miles before so my goal was to finish. I took a nice easy pace, just a bit slower than my normal one. When I saw the 4 mile marker I picked up the pace, feeling good and knowing it was almost over. About the 5th mile, to my surprise, I caught up to Paul who was walking! I asked him if he was ok and he said he was but that I should just keep going. Later I found out that he had pushed himself, beating his personl record for the 5k and then had no energy left for the remaining 2 miles. I pushed it to the finish line, sprinting past 5 people on the last leg. I finished in 48:08! I was so proud of myself. My goal was to finish in 50 minutes and I had beaten that goal along with beating my husband!

After the race we stretched and quickly got in the car to go home. Paul and I had to be back at church the next morning and we had a 4 hour car drive ahead of us. We changed into dry clothes in the car and headed on our way. We listened to a book on tape and although we were extremely tired, God kept us safe all the way home.

We had arrived home and were excited to jump into bed about 12:30am. Paul began to pull into the garage when we heard a terrible sound. The sound of metal bending and crashing. It was so loud that the neighbor dogs began to bark. Paul stopped the car. We hadn't even made it into the garage and we looked at each other like "what was that!". Then Paul's eyes got big and said, "oh no...the bikes!".

We have a nice Thulle bike rack that goes on top of the car. We had taken both of our bikes with us, but since Ben and Denise had bikes there, we used theirs and left ours on top of our car. We had completely forgotten about our bikes until now.

We got out of the car to see Paul's bike handle wedged under the siding above our garage. The bike was hanging from the house and still attached to it was our bike rack. Hanging from the bike rack was the metal frame that used to surround both sides of Paul's car. Maybe if I wasn't so tired and it wasn't so close to 1am, I might have found this funny, or I might have even taken a picture, but it was more of an annoyance. I was tired and now I would be going to bed even later. Paul backed the car out of the way and began to pull (I was too short to reach). The bike was really jammed in there but he eventually got it down.

We parked the car in the driveway, put the bike, car parts and bike rack in the garage and decided we would assess the damage the next morning. We were tired and ready to go to take showers and go to bed.

doggie love gets expensive

For the past couple of weeks Ernie has not been himself. The once highly energetic, enthusiastic and expressive dog has become depressed. And for good reason. In his joy and excitement sometime this month he pulled something in his back right leg. The vet examined him a couple of weeks ago and prescribed some pain killers and told us to ice and heat his leg once a day.

The problem with pain killers is just that, it kills the pain. And with Ernie, that was all he needed to feel 100%. He immediately started being his normal endearing crazy self. He began jumping with joy for breakfast and dinner, spinning 360 degrees in the air before landing again just long enough to bounce off the floor and do it again. He also began his usual sprints along the fence with the neighbor dogs. Paul and I tried everything to stop him from being active so he could heal.

Two days ago we decided that Ernie needed to feel the pain so he would calm down and rest his leg. We stopped giving him his pain meds. Ernie felt the pain. He began to walk with three legs instead of four, holding his right hind leg out to the side. It was terrible to see. But he finally began to lay around the house and we were hopeful that he would recover soon.

Today I came home from bible study around Noon and the house was quite. I wasn't greeted by a dog. Very unusual. I walked around the lower part of the house quietly, thinking maybe he was doing something bad and I would catch him in the act. When I didn't see him downstairs, I made my way up the stairs. To my horror, there he was, in my guest room with piles of poop all over. I couldn't help but yell his name. ERNIE!

Ernie knows he is not allowed upstairs and has always obeyed the house rules. He had never gone to the bathroom in the house before and I knew there was something wrong. He looked ashamed and scarred of his impending punishment. I chased him down stairs. To my horror he ran down the stairs with only three legs, making me feel terrible, peeing all the way down. Not only did he pee down the flight of stairs but he kept peeing down the hallway, thru the dinning room, into the kitchen and to the back door, where he was quickly escourted out. He needed no other punishment than that.

After I disinfected my stairs, which I consuled myself by saying they needed to be dusted anyway, and cleaned the guest room carpet and yelled some frustrations out as I vacummed (I feel that vaccuming makes things cleaner. It made me feel better anyway), Ernie went to the vet. Over six hundred dollars later we found that he has further hurt his leg, probably when he was on the pain meds, and has tour his ACL, requiring surgery.

It has been hard to see him in such pain tonight. He is on lots of medications and is kind of loopy. But he knows he is loopy and seems freaked out by the fact that he doesn't feel right and can't walk straight and frustrated that he can't run, which up till now has always been his favorite thing to do. It's amazing to see that a dog can experience such emotion. He wanted to snuggle more than usual tonight, probably because he was so traumatized by all the sudden change in his life. Paul even let him on the couch with him which has always been forbidden before.

Continue to pray that God will provide for us financially so we can give Ernie the care he needs and for all the other housing needs (we need a new roof. but that's another story). Pray also that Ernie would be able to be himself again soon as it's hard to watch him be so miserable.

Jan. & Feb. summary

My 2010 New Years Resolution was to write more often for my blog.... and then life got in the way. I apologize and will try to play catch up for you guys so you know what Paul and I have been doing.

A quick summary:
- I worked most of January on my first big graphic design freelance project. I designed the camp guide for the Y down here. It took a long time, but it turned out great and they were very pleased. Since then I have done smaller projects for them and I have a good working relationship with the marketing director. I've been excited to see how God has provided work for me that I enjoy when I wasn't even looking for it! It is a reminder that He will continue to provide for all of my needs. Not only has this been a huge help financially but it has been an encouragement for me as it keeps me busy and I get to keep my creative skills up to date.

- I have been busy learning to be a better house wife. I am enjoying keeping my house really clean and getting organized (something Paul and I are not the most gifted at). By the time we moved into our house (we lived with Paul's parents for the first 8 months living here) we didn't have any move in time because we had already immersed ourselves into our ministry here. With our busy ministry schedule we never really developed a organizational system and we never really unpacked. So, although we have been here for over a year, I have been busy still unpacking, organizing and finishing house projects. Paul just finished putting up all the quarter round down in our house. He taught himself to do it and it looks so great (I was so impressed)!

I have been busy filling in nail holes, taping and painting. I still have a lot to do because its time consuming and tedious. But it's amazing what a little piece of wood can do to the look of a room. It looks finished! I am also looking to organize our bedroom and make that a nice place to be. This has been the last room to work on because no one sees it but us. But it is driving us nuts now and so it's time! I have been looking for the perfect curtains and curtain rods and hope to get something soon because the street lights are so bright at night and it's hard to get a good night sleep.

- Paul and I are training for a 10k and an 8k at the end of March. So if anyone has any suggestions let us know. This has been motivation for both of us to get in shape. The problem is that I'm hungry more often and then I eat junk food. So that's bad. I have checked out a bunch of books from the library and trying to cook better. This has been fun and educational for me. I am learning all about different kinds of oils and flowers and the health benefits of different kinds of foods. I just bought my first unbleached all purpose flower. I want to get to the point where I plan my meals ahead of time and I can have a veggie with each meal. I am finding that if I don't plan, my meals are unbalanced... they only have meat.

- As always, we've been busy with youth group stuff. We had our 2nd annual Valentine's Girls Night Out. The youth group guys got dressed up, decorated the church fellowship hall and made the girls a fancy dinner. I was encouraged to see that our entire youth group attended and brought lots of friends. We had over 50 kids attend. I also was impressed with myself because I had to buy all the food with a very small budget that I didn't think was possible ($100) but I did it for only $50! We had spiral ham, rolls, salad, rice, potatoes, and cookies for dessert. We also had the college group over to our house for Valentine's day for lunch

- Paul took me to the zoo in Columbia SC for our Valentine's day celebration. It was a sunny and somewhat warm day and we enjoyed just being away and just having it be us. We enjoyed having the sun shine on us as we watched the elephants and other animals as we just talked and hung out.

- We have also been busy with all day game days, Film and Theology nights with the college group, random people stopping by and hanging out, volleyball every Tuesday nights at the local Y and just being available to minister to people whenever God gives us the opportunity.

- Pray that we would continue to have the energy to serve and love those around us and that we would not fall into discouragement which can happen when you give and give and don't see "results" on our time schedule. And praise God for what he is doing. He is doing great things in our youth group and through our Tuesday night volleyball games.

Home for the Holidays

This year is Christmas with my family in PA. Paul and I attended church Sunday morning and after quickly packing the car and eating left over beef stew, we hit the road with our dog Ernie for the 12 hour trip.

When we left SC it was a beautiful sunny blue sky day in the low 50s. It was hard to believe that we would be driving thru snowy terrain, but in just a few hours we were in a winter wonderland. Washington DC had been hit hard and the roads were not well plowed. Three lane roads had only the middle lane cleared and the two side lanes were only half cleared. We saw cars in the most unusual positions due to the snow. It was a constant reminder to us that we needed to drive slow and pray often. We had people praying for us and by God's grace, Paul and I arrived in PA at 2am Monday morning.

Our visit has been very relaxing and fun so far. We had dinner with our old bible study and had a great time catching up with old friends. It was wonderful to hang out with them and in a lot of ways it felt just like old times. We laughed and ate well Monday night. Tuesday we spent the morning with our friends Peter and Rebbecca and their three children and at night we visited our friends Skot and Becca and their dog Elvis. We also skyped with my sister Sarah and her husband Will.

Many conversations have revolved around church this week and it's amazing how no matter if you are in Italy, South Carolina or Pennsylvania, some things are always the same. The church is full of sinful people and every church has it's quarks and things we would like to change about it. But in every circumstance we are called to be godly people. That might look different depending on where we live and therefore we are encouraged to pray for God's wisdom. I have been memorizing and meditating on this verse lately and I think it has been quite fitting with all the 'church' conversations we've been having:

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." (Titus 2:11-14)

I am encouraged to remember that through all the 'church' stuff, the good, the bad and the ugly, the important thing to remember is that God had brought salvation, and that he wants his people to be single minded, focused on glorifying himself by being godly. I might not always be able to change the church, but I can change my attitude towards it. Let me live a godly life.

Granite and "cousin Ernie from the south" have provided hours of entertainment for the whole family. We hope you enjoy the pictures.

Beautiful Feet that Win Races

Recently Sonja ran a 5k. Also recently, I've been trying to get in shape to run a 5k. Its been difficult, and I've been asking myself a lot of questions about why. Running, apart from the blessing of an i-pod is the most boring thing on earth. "Whats the point?", my body always seems to be asking?
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, asking what the "point" of the church is. I feel like there are times when we think our purpose is to simply exist. Simply survive. And sometimes, when things get difficult that may be all we can do.
However, as I've studied the Word lately, its become clear that from the beginning to end of Redemptive History, God has greater purposes for his church than simply to exist. Abraham is told very clearly that not only will he be blessed, but that in being blessed he will be made a blessing. Through Abraham in fact, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. That's quite a big calling and blessing. Blessed in order to be a blessing to others.
A couple months ago, a pastor named Robert Briggs came and preached from Isaiah 49, and in doing so, he shed some light on this issue for me. In this passage, God describes the coming of his future Messiah in terms which seem to fulfill the calling of Abraham:

49:6- "[YHWH] says, 'It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

In this verse (and its context only makes this more explicit) its pretty clear that God's purpose for the coming Messiah is to redeem Israel. However, he repeatedly hints that his purpose is far greater than just the redemption of that nation. God's purpose for his Messiah is to gather in all nations, under the name and work of the Messiah. I don't think anyone would argue that that is Jesus' purpose and work. He has been sent by a God who loves the world, and desires to see the nation brought in to worship him. He's seeking worshipers, through the person and work of Christ. That's probably not much of a surprise to many of us.
What has been surprising to me is how Paul quotes this same passage in Acts 13. In the passage, Paul has proclaimed Jesus as God's Messiah to the Jews in Psidian Antioch. Though some believe the gospel, many reject it, and when they began to contradict Paul & Barnabus' claims regarding Jesus, the two respond by telling the men,

(46) "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. (47) For so the Lord has commanded us saying, 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'"

What Pastor Briggs pointed out was that Paul and Barnabus don't simply see the quoted passage as applying to Jesus- of course he's a light for the Gentiles. Whats amazing is that they see the passage as applying to themselves- because Jesus is a light for the Gentiles, so they are to be a light for the Gentiles. They are a light to the nation and bringers of salvation. It isn't just spreading by happen-chance. They are to be a light and to bring salvation.
Though I could go on and on what it tells us about how to properly interpret Scripture (a whole different big blog post in itself), one thing that keeps striking me over and over is that the church, in that it is Christ's bride, alive by its union with him, is to be a light for the Gentiles. We have a clear purpose. We are to be making disciples of all nations, not simply our own kids (though that is clearly important). This makes us by nature and purpose outwardly focused. For us to respond in obedience to God's purpose in blessing Abraham, and ultimately in sending Christ, we have to feel the glorious weight of Christ' responsibility and calling as our own.
We who make up the church, though we have different gifts, all serve the same purpose, and it is not simply to plan to survive as a church. We are to be a light for the nations. Our neighbors (both nationally and locally) are to be recipients of the Light which is Christ. Jesus doesn't say, "Go try and make disciples if you can." Rather, he says, "Go make disciples." As Yoda famously put it, "Do or do not, there is no try." If this is our purpose, because it is Christ's purpose, then we've got to figure out how to do this by faith. God in his sovereignty planned for this not to happen apart from the worship-fueled work of his redeemed people.
This has also been helpful to me in just thinking through why I'm doing what I'm doing. I've realized I'm really not in this for the money or for the glory (two big temptations with which I struggle). I'm in this because Jesus Christ came for me with a purpose, to save people (me) from themselves to worship God and delight and be satisfied with his glory, and to make this glory visible to the darkness which surrounds us. As I preached about Baptism last week (in light of our church baptizing three people), I was reminded that our union with Christ isn't simply sharing in his death, burial, and resurrection, but also in his Father's mission and purpose for him.

Sonja and I recently spent some time talking about why it is that God didn't just "rapture" us all up as soon as we converted. We believe that Christ came to save, and that it is fully him who saves. However, we also believe that Christ works through means, and that as members of his bride, we have a wonderfully exciting role to play. Though jars of clay, we bear in ourselves inexpressible glory. Is it any wonder that Paul says, "To the weak, I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings." He then goes on, "Do you not know that in a race, all the runners run, but only one receives the prize. So run that you may obtain it" (1 Cor. 9). Paul wants us to run so as to win- not just to finish, not to make the top ten, but to win. How fitting then that Isaiah says, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns'". To win. To achieve victory. That is the point.

There Is Something About A Wedding Dress

My sister Sarah and Will married in July and then moved to Italy for three years. Will is a doctor in the Air Force and needed to come back to Philadelphia to take his last Pediatric Boards. They both flew in to the states last week and so I hitched a ride with my grandparents, who were driving up from Florida, to PA to visit the whole family.

Sunday afternoon I was taking a nap when Sarah walked into my room with a big smile and her wedding dress on. "You should put yours on Sonja" she said excitedly. Right away I was out of bed and joining in the fun. Sadly, the gown must have shrunk since my wedding three years ago because it didn't zipper all the way. But I still got in it! There is something about a wedding dress that just puts a smile on my face. Sarah and I were having so much fun prancing around the house in our gowns. Then I suggested that Sarah try my dress on. Just then mom got out her wedding dress and suggested I try it on. Mom had never taken her wedding dress out and Sarah and I had never seen it accept for in pictures. It was beautiful and it fit! At this point the entire family was in on the fun. Will and Grandpa got their camera's out and we convinced mom to wear Sarah's dress and veil (holding up the dress, that is!). Hope you enjoy the pictures.