Trekking with Me

"As they pass through the valley...they make it a place of springs..." This past week has been a valley week for my family and I. As some of you know who are close friends, our little Oliver Isaiah never breathed into this world, but breathed in the breath of Heaven - seeing Jesus before any of us got to meet him here on this earth. To say the least, it has been a shock. A little baby....gone. Many thoughts, many emotions, many tears....and yes, questions; yet the evidence of God's grace in the midst of the trial is undeniable. The loving arms of the Body of Christ, of family members - helped bring comfort as they wepted with us in the sorrow. In times like these, questions do rise, comments are said that make you think and ponder....one of those comments that kept coming out was "this will help you as you minister to others..." I tried to process this comment...I know that God uses the things in our lifes to enable us to be able to touch others...b...

As at the end of each year i reflect on the overall "theme" of what God illuminated to my heart, i also look to see what "Shouts" at me in the beginning of the year! A few weeks ago, as our worship team was practicing a new song, the phrase "the year of jubilee" seemed to jump off the page to me. That phrase settled in my brain the next few days with the tune of the song and i began to proclaim, "This is MY year of Jubilee!" Today the message the pastor spoke on was the Year of Jubilee! My ears perked up, what was God going to show me today? My brain began to tick away on the deeper meaning of "Jubilee" as i listened to the message...and a realization popped up! THIS IS MY YEAR OF Jubilee....literally! Every seven years the nation of Israel were to allow the land to rest, to return what they had borrowed, to restore land that belonged to you, to release servants - it was a Year full of restitution! Returning, restoring, releasi...

1. The last compliment I got was from __a student___; he/she said "You look cool today!" (We all like to think we look cool, Huh!?) 2. I'm reading __Living Every Single Moment, by Angela Payne (2nd time through)_. 3. I woke up today and thought ___It is FRIDAY, i get to sleep in tomorrow....! 4. Why do Friday's give you a boost so that at the end of the work day, you feel full of energy when every other day of the week, you feel like taking a long nap after work? 5. The last thing I ate was _delicious beef vegetable soup, salad and granola bar - thanks to Mary-Ann who sweetly brought me hot soup for a cold day! 6. January... __is great because it is a New Beginning___. 7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __going to my Aunts and doing laundry_, tomorrow my plans include ___sleeping in, a cup of tea and a long morning with the Lord and AP__ and Sunday, I want to __go to church, teach Sunday school, sing with the worship team and see my ki...

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;you have made my lot secure.6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;surely I have a delightful inheritance.7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;even at night my heart instructs me.8 I have set the LORD always before me.Because he is at my right hand,I will not be shaken.9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;my body also will rest secure,Psalm 16:5-9 This new year i decided to read a Psalm everyday along with my other devotional readings. This morning, being the 16th of January, this was the passage i read. I must testify! God is bringing healing and wholeness to me! Over the past few years, i have gone through a season of feeling very distant from my Lord. The cozy, warm places i have always enjoyed with the Lord felt cold, dark and misdirected. Doubt and confusion rose up in my soul. Instead of breaking through, i felt myself getting hard and skeptical - how i hated this but even though i have pray...

Okay …I know, I am a little late! (Better late than never?) J I wanted to send out a newsy letter to fill you in on what has been happening in my journey. Baby Kitty and I are doing pretty well – she is getting more plumb (my roommate calls her “Fat Kitty” – this hurts her pride but she looks awfully pretty being plumb I tell her!) She continues to improve on her baseball skills – she likes to play paper ball in the evenings. She sits and stares at me until I crumble up wads of paper and flick them across the room. She dives and bats them as if she were playing in the World Series! I have to get a camera some day to capture the action…maybe the recent World Series motivated her?? I have noticed she actually watches tv sometimes…maybe she was watching this past fall while the Rockies got beat up by the Sox? She also likes to practice her hockey skills….i lose more earrings on account of her using my dresser as her hockey field and my earrings as pucks! (I penalize her when she decides...

Italy was an adventure! Genova is breathtaking...a challenging community clinging to the cliffs of mountains on the edge of the meditteranean sea....we spenta week there - about three days it was sun shiney and one beautiful day we walked along the edge of the world taking in the sights of rugged cliffs and the incredibly beautiful water...it was the coolest color! Deep green blues...clear as crystal....GORGEOUS! If you give me your address i will send you one of the post cards i picked up. We spent a week in Genova meeting the team working there - they are just getting settled in and each family/single took us for a day or two and showed us around the city. the public transportation in Europe is wonderful and after getting use to the technique i so enjoyed it....and it is so feasible being like $2 a day to get on and off trains, busses and subways...the history of the cathedrals and piazza's(sp?), the cobblestone streets, the archectiture and way of life there is cool. I enjoye...