"I CHOOSE TO PRAISE, NOT TO GRUMBLE"

The "Above Rubies" devotionals are so encouraging and yet convicting, that I really recommend you get them if you can. Even if you can't always read them, subscribe and read when you can. This old hymn was part of a recent devotion and I just had to share it here:

HYMN: FILL THOU MY LIFE

Fill Thou my life, O Lord my God,
In every part with praise,
That my whole being may proclaim
Thy being and Thy ways.

Not for the lip of praise alone,
Nor e'en the praising heart,
I ask, but for a life made up
Of praise in every part:

Praise in the common things of life,
Its goings out and in;
Praise in each duty and each deed,
However small and mean.

Fill every part of me with praise;
Let all my being speak
Of Thee and of Thy love, O Lord,
Poor though I be and weak.

So shall no part of day or night
From sacredness be free,
But all my life, in every step,
Be fellowship with Thee.
-Horatius Bonar

Faith Like Potatoes

A dear friend recommended the movie to me titled "Faith Like Potatoes". It's very good, and amazing because it is based on a true story. I won't spoil the plot but just say if you can rent or buy it, do so! As we sweat and toil clearing land, planting, weeding, watering, etc., I just can't imagine doing all that hard work while also worrying about potential life-threatening wars, racial and class tension, etc. swirling around you and your family. Hope you enjoy!! And go "plant some potatoes" :) (i.e. step out in faith for whatever God has called you to do!).

Asia, oh, Asia!!

For those who have known me a long time, you know I have had a heart for the millions, yes, millions, of lost in Asia. When I was 18 I had the privilege of attending a retreat of an amazing woman of God who had spent more than 40 years as a missionary to Asia during times of war, famine, and revival! On my first job, my best friend was from Vietnam and her grandparents had migrated from China to Vietnam to escape WWII only to be caught up in the Vietnam war. Later two of my dear friends spent a year in an orphanage in East Asia and I was able to "go" with them through prayer. Then my oldest daughter began to beg to learn Chinese, and through God's amazing "coincidences" we found a local Chinese language school that just "happened" to be starting classes for Americans at the time she began High School. That was topped off by our cousins leaving the Philippines after 30 years of service there and going into an East Asian country, allowing our daughter to go visit. Also during the past 10 years my hubby and I have prayed for a minority group in Southeast Asia, considered adoption (but were too old), sponsored a couple of people to go, been on two eloops for the minority group pray-ers, and had a couple in our church travel to Vietnam to work in orphanages and medical clinics. It has amazed me how God has allowed us to be part of HIS work there! And now, very unexpectedly, I too plan to go to Asia in October with my oldest daughter and several friends. We will stay on a University campus and work with students on their English skills. It will be a very short trip, but I know it will be both life-changing and rewarding beyond my imagination. God has been so very good to allow us this opportunity. Please pray for us, for the students that we will meet, for our health and travel safety, for Americans who are there teaching English. And take a few minutes to praise the Lord for technology that can be used for good as well as evil, can help us understand the vast need for the truth of the gospel message to be carried around the world and can tie us together in prayer in ways that weren't possible even a few years ago.

"Odd Combination"

A friend of mine told me recently that she loved me because I was such an "Odd Combination". I knew exactly what she meant and love her precisely because she is not so "odd" :) ! For instance, she loves (and is great at) cooking, baking, teaching all ages of her children, sewing, keeping a very clean and organized house, interior decorating, music, reading, crafts, etc., etc. She is a very classy and "together" stay-at-home homeschooling Mom. Her husband does all the outside work, home maintenance, etc. and they have a great marriage. This split of responsibilities works very well for them. She came over to visit on a day when I had spent the morning driving the tractor on the farm watering trees then came inside and finished homeschooling my children, topping it off with an "extra" reading from Narnia (we usually just save that for the family evening time). I had just finished Anna Karenina myself the day before, and my hubby and I were in the last chapter of "Family Driven Faith". She couldn't understand how I could speed read five books in one week as well as finish "Anna" (Thank you to my 8th grade teacher, Mrs. Ferguson!) and yet be happy driving a tractor :) ! I could never put together a formal dinner party, especially with 5 little ones under foot like she does, either. And yet we love each other and our time together. I love each aspect of my life, as she does hers, and with my hubby of 30 years, what works for us, well, it works well, and her marriage of 12 years works well for them, too! I think of two lighthouses that I have visited. One is on a rocky outcrop, and shines out from cliffs into the depths of the open sea; the other has weathered many hurricanes and shines into a shallow harbor with constantly shifting sands. My friend and I have to remember not to try to imitate each other but to use the talents and heart desires God has given us in the place he has placed us, to make the most of our marriages, our parenting and most of all our willingness to be lights to the dark world around us. And God is good enough to not only provide the light but to let us draw strength from each others' light as well!