In the Comfortable Times Don't Forget God!

Okay - So I confess this might be the longest time I have gone between blog post!  Now that I have been filled with Salad and Soup from Panera, checked my facebook, read a few other blogs, and let myself become distracted I am now finally sitting down to write this blog.

It is Sunday today.  I woke up and read a bit in a book I have been reading forever now called "Lead Like Jesus" by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges.  I may have mentioned this book in some of my other blog post.  I have been reading this book for forever.  I am not sure why, but it seems books keep taking me longer and longer to read.  Despite the time it is taking me to get through this book it is a good read.  Lots of good information for leading people.  What it really boils down to though is being confident in Christ and who you are in Christ.  Which is good for total life living!  I just finished the chapter on some healthy habits of good leaders.  They are as follows: Solitude, Prayer, Study and Application of Scripture, Accepting and Responding to God's Unconditional Love, and Involvement in Supportive Relationships.

 In summary each one of these habits roots you in God. If your confidence and trust is in God you can't be shaken by too much praise or too much critiscm.  You will not be afraid to examine your leadership and admit your weaknesses.  Solitude, Prayer and Study of the Scripture allow God to refresh you, speak into your life, and prepare you for life circumstances.  Accepting and Responding to God's Unconditional Love allows you to be confident in Christ and treat others around you with that love and confidence, and Involvement in Supportive Relationships means you have people in your life who are not just "Yes" men.  They will shoot straight with you, let you know how people are feeling, hold you accountable and so on. I liked this quote in regards to the last habit "I learned in the Navy if you don't hear about any problems, watch out, because you are about to go over the side.  You have mutiny on your hands, because the people around you have cut you off from the truth" (pg. 181 Ken Blanchard's Father).  I think these are habits that we all can continue to add into our lifes.

To drive the point home - In church today they discussed the failings of David.  The thing I took from it was that in the good times David let his relationship with God go lax.  Instead of fighting with his men he was napping and strolling the palace walls, he let himself lust over Bathesheba and then commit adultery with Bathesheba. In his attempt to rationalize the issue he ended up murdering her husband.  In the end David repented thanks to the prophet Nathan.  If David had never gone lax in his relationship with God maybe history would have looked different.  In all times good and bad we need to be spending time with God through solitude, prayer and the word.  We need to apply what we are learning in these times, let God touch us, change us and heal us.

Be Blessed by God today!

I have been editing some of my pictures from Europe, so you may have seen some of this pictures before, but these are with a new twist.  These are all from Moldova and I will conquer Armenia and Georgia soon.

Keep a Grip on Hope!

It is me again! I am sitting here relaxing on a lovely Labor Day weekend. I've been eating oatmeal, drinking coffee and just enjoying silence. It has been quite pleasant. On Tuesday at the weekly International Departments prayer meeting I shared Lamentations 3: 19 - 36 (The Message). I thought I would also share it on my blog.

19-21I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there's one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

22-24God's loyal love couldn't have run out,
his merciful love couldn't have dried up.
They're created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He's all I've got left.

25-27God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
It's a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God.
It's a good thing when you're young
to stick it out through the hard times.

28-30When life is heavy and hard to take,
go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions:
Wait for hope to appear.
Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face.
The "worst" is never the worst.

31-33Why? Because the Master won't ever
walk out and fail to return.
If he works severely, he also works tenderly.
His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.
He takes no pleasure in making life hard,
in throwing roadblocks in the way:

34-36Stomping down hard
on luckless prisoners,
Refusing justice to victims
in the court of High God,
Tampering with evidence—
the Master does not approve of such things.


-Lamentations 3:19-36


Update on Life at Convoy:

I have been asked to work on the Short-Term Teams Program at Convoy of Hope. So, I have been working on this and will continue to work on this program. I have been having meetings, setting up meetings and creating proposals. I appreciate all your prayers and support as I go ahead in this endeavor. I am planning on heading down to El Salvador both in September and October. Then in Novemeber I will be heading to Fresno, CA to attend a Convoy of Hope Outreach. I have never been to one, so I would like to see this part of Convoy.

I have posted some pictures below of the Artwalk. The Artwalk is an event in downtown Springfield. They have it once a month. During this month's Artwalk, the Randy Bacon Studio (a local photographer) featured Convoy of Hope. We had one of our trailers out front and the tralier was turned into a gallery of photos and stories. Inside the studio there were various tables on Convoy of Hope's various programs. I helped work the Nutrition of Hope/Haiti table. I had nothing to compare it to, but it seemed like there was a lot of foot traffic aka successful =).

* For those that are interested - Convoy of Hope is working on creating School Kits for the children in our partner schools in Haiti. If you would like to donate school supplies or would like to make a kit send me an email. I will send you the information for the school kits and/or contact information for Aimee Rose who is working on the School Kit Program.

Enjoy the pictures and Have a Wonderful Day!


Me at the Nutrition of Hope/ Haiti Table.


Mud Cookies (Pies) - These are made and sold in Haiti. They are made of dirt, oil and flour. Apparently the pregant women in Haiti crave them because of the lack of iron in their body.


The table and my friend Aimee Rose. Aimee and her husand Kevin are the Country Coordinators for Haiti.


Here is another view of the table and Aimee again.