Jonny always makes fun of me because I'm so quick to dial 9-1-1...
I remembered one of the times I made the 9-1-1 call when I saw a familiar face the other day at Albertson's. He didn't recognize me, but I recognized him. There's no mistake about that. His face is tattooed in my memory. You see, my first few encounters with this man were under very bizarre circumstances.
Back before we had any babies, actually, I was pregnant with Eli, but when it was just Jonny & I living in our one bedroom apartment on 27th St. in Corvallis, we quickly got used to seeing the neighborhood homeless men roaming about. There were a few specific men we would always see around our neighborhood. Out of our kitchen window, we had a lovely view of Chintimini Apt's dumpster, which was frequently visited by the neighborhood homeless community. We became accustomed to the sound of bottles & cans rattling at various hours of the day or night as homeless men rummaged through the dumpster looking for cans & bottles. Although I was always very cautious to keep my distance from , I always had compassion for these men. I always wondered what happened in their life that brought them to this point.
One night during winter term of 06', our last term of college, I heard a deep hum-like sound coming from the hallway of our apartment building. The sound was continuous, coming every few seconds. I got out of bed & stood up against our door with my ear pressed against it, trying to figure out where this sound was coming from & what it was. I couldn't figure out if it was some kind of machine or an animal or someone moaning or someone/something dying out there.... Then it stopped. Okay, whatever, it was early in the wee morning hours & I was nauseous & wanted to go back to sleep.
Later, when I started my day & headed out the door to class, I went out in the hallway, turned the corner to go down the stairway & right in front of me, at the top of the stairs was a homeless guy sleeping, snoring very loud. Startled by my presence, his eyes popped open & looked up at me. Scared out of my wits, I gasped, "Oh my gosh!", covered my mouth, spun around & quickly ran down the other stair way & out the door to class. It wasn't the sight of the man that scared me so much (I was used to seeing homeless guys) as the surprise of seeing a strange man laying there, five feet from my front door. He looked just like a regular guy, just dirty, smelly, & wearing grimy clothes.
Naturally, I called my mom to tell her. I should have thought about that first. It's not exactly something a mom wants to hear- a strange man sleeping right outside your daughter's apartment. Jonny wasn't too happy about it either. As the days past, we gathered some information about this guy. He was definitely a homeless guy that had been around the area for awhile. Jonny recognized him from the previous year. Jonny witnessed the man shop-lifting. Now, it seems, he had made our hallway his home for the cold winter nights. He'd come in very, very late, once the whole building seemed quiet. Then, most mornings, he'd leave before 8am. We felt bad for the guy, because it was winter & it was cold & wet outside. However, Jonny didn't feel comfortable leaving for work each morning knowing he was out in the hallway, & I was home, alone. Although there was a level of compassion for the guy, there was a greater level of fear. I didn't know who he was & what he was capable of doing. I didn't feel safe & was afraid to come out of our apartment, alone. It was time to say something.
One morning as Jonny was headed out the door to class, he said to me, "The dude's out there again. I'm going to tell him he can't sleep here anymore." Of course I jumped up, "What?! Jonny! What are you going to say?! What if he gets mad at you?" Jonny reassured me, everything would be fine & that I should calm down. Then he left.
Once again, I pressed my ear up against our very thin apartment wall. I could hear Jonny say, "Hey, dude. You can't sleep here anymore." Then the guy, half-alseep, I'm sure, murmured something... Jonny said something back.... then I heard Jonny's hasty foot steps jet down the stairs. Next, I heard the guy shout, "HEY! Get back here!" followed by some shuffling, then footsteps stomping, then running down the stairs & the apartment door slam shut. Freaked out & terrified for my husbands life, (hey, this guy sounded like he had some temper issues & I didn't know if this guy has a knife or something) I did what any loving wife would do- I grabbed the phone, dialed 9-1-1 & darted out the door after the psycho chasing my husband.
I ran down the front staircase & out the side of our apartment building, so I could poke my head around the front corner of our building to see what was up. Jonny & the homeless guy were facing each other. The homeless guy was visibly angry, waving his arms in the air & yelling at Jonny. Jonny just kept nodding his head, listening to the guy, trying to keep things calm. The 9-1-1 operator on the phone asked me to state my emergency. "This homeless guy is going crazy on my husband. He chased him down & is now screaming at him. Can you send someone to come help!?"
By the time the police came, Jonny had resolved the problem & the homeless guy was gone. After describing the guy to the officers, they knew exactly who we were talking about. Apparently, this guy had a very short fuse & had been in several other altercations. One of the officers said he'd been kicked out of many apartment buildings in town. They left with telling us to give them a call the next time he made an appearance for a sleepover. Okay, fine.
A few days later Jonny & I were settling in for a thrilling evening of watching Jack Bauer on 24. It had been a rough day of nausea for me, as little fetus Eli was making his presence known. After throwing up 12 times in the span of a few hours, our on-call doctor suggested we go to the ER in case I was dehydrated. Six liters of fluids & four long hours later we made our way back up the stairs to our apartment. It was about 2am & you guessed it, we heard our friendly neighbor snoring in the hallway. Exhausted, Jonny ignored him & crawled back into bed. Of course I was adamant about calling the police. Jonny muttered through his yawns, "Fine. Do whatever you want. I'm going to bed." About 30 minutes later we heard loud voices in the hallway, some shuffling, & then the building door crash shut. Next, there was knocking at our door. It was the police. Yada, yada, yada.... We never saw the guy again....
In Corvallis, that is. About a year & a half later, after Jonny got his Master's degree & we were moving to Albany, we saw the guy walking down the street in front of Freddies. Oh, no!
We only saw him around town a few more times in the next year. Then, about a year ago we saw the guy in Albertsons all cleaned up & buying food with his own money. (I noticed his I.D. & several other cards in his wallet.) Then, maybe nine months ago Jonny saw the guy outside of Albertson's at a booth with some church outreach program for the homeless. Jonny said his whole countenance had changed. His outward appearance not only looked less dirty, but his face & demeanor reflected a deeper cleaning. A cleaning that shined brightly. A cleaning that Jonny could only recognize as that which comes from the blood of Jesus.
Could it be!? A changed life? Is that not what our God does? Is he not big enough to love the unlovable & forgive the wicked? Hmm... I believe we all fall into the category of 'unlovable & wicked'. Without the blood of Christ, we are all poor & lowly & tattered. I think my first 'gut instinct' should have been to make a 9-1-1 call to the One who can really make a difference. The One who saved this man & the One who saved me. Although I may not be as filthy from the outward appearance as this man was, I am on the inside. I am just as much in need of the Lord to clean my heart & wash away my sin. I'm so thankful He has!
"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed" -Jesus... Luke 4:18
"Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” -Luke 7:22-23
Thank you, Lord for allowing us to be a distant witness in this man's changed life. You and you alone are glorified! Thank you for showing me what I really am inside; apart from you, I am a filthy sinner.
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." -Isa. 61:10
Saturday, February 28, 2009
"Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged..." - Prov. 17:6
Most Saturday mornings we enjoy a big pancake, waffle, or french toast breakfast at home. This morning, however, we decided to go out for breakfast. The house is a wreck (I've been a little lazy lately!) & we didn't feel like navigating around our messy kitchen & creating a bigger mess to make our big breakfast. Yah, great excuse to eat out, right!? Well, its been a rough week, too, so that was our other excuse.
We went out to eat at Rogers. We've been to this place a couple times before-- just with Eli, before Noah was born. The first time we walked in we immediately felt out of place. It seemed as if you had to have gray hair & glasses to eat there. :) No, just kidding.... But really, I don't think there were any customers under the age of 55, & here we come... a couple of 24-year-olds with our baby. You can imagine the response we got, or should I say, the response Eli got. For those of you who know Eli, you know he is not a shy boy. He will give strangers in the grocery store hugs. S0 naturally, he loved all the smiles & waves of the older folks in the restaurant.
The story has been the same every time we've gone in to this breakfast house. This morning when we walked in, immediately all the gray heads turned our direction-- seeing not one but TWO adorable little munchkins. We knew there would be eyes on us through our whole meal. Praise the Lord, Eli was a good little boy & we didn't have to correct any monster behaviors. There was this one couple a few tables away that showed a particular interest in our boys. They continued to smile & wave at Eli & Noah. When they got up to leave Eli waved & shouted across the tables between us, "Bye Bye! Bye Bye!" I shot them a smile & wave & continued on with my meal. A few minutes later, the waitress came to our table to announce that the couple paid for our breakfast! How sweet is that! We didn't even get to say thank you.
Anyway, all that to say, lately I've just been noticing how people on-in-their age love little babies/kids. You can see it in their faces. Even the grumpiest looking older men delight in our little Noah-slobber face grinning through his two teeth.
We went out to eat at Rogers. We've been to this place a couple times before-- just with Eli, before Noah was born. The first time we walked in we immediately felt out of place. It seemed as if you had to have gray hair & glasses to eat there. :) No, just kidding.... But really, I don't think there were any customers under the age of 55, & here we come... a couple of 24-year-olds with our baby. You can imagine the response we got, or should I say, the response Eli got. For those of you who know Eli, you know he is not a shy boy. He will give strangers in the grocery store hugs. S0 naturally, he loved all the smiles & waves of the older folks in the restaurant.
The story has been the same every time we've gone in to this breakfast house. This morning when we walked in, immediately all the gray heads turned our direction-- seeing not one but TWO adorable little munchkins. We knew there would be eyes on us through our whole meal. Praise the Lord, Eli was a good little boy & we didn't have to correct any monster behaviors. There was this one couple a few tables away that showed a particular interest in our boys. They continued to smile & wave at Eli & Noah. When they got up to leave Eli waved & shouted across the tables between us, "Bye Bye! Bye Bye!" I shot them a smile & wave & continued on with my meal. A few minutes later, the waitress came to our table to announce that the couple paid for our breakfast! How sweet is that! We didn't even get to say thank you.
Anyway, all that to say, lately I've just been noticing how people on-in-their age love little babies/kids. You can see it in their faces. Even the grumpiest looking older men delight in our little Noah-slobber face grinning through his two teeth.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Praise the Lord!
Good news! My grandma's surgery went fine & the tumor biopsy came back benign!
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On another note... I have to share this hysterical Eli quote:
"Mommy! Mommy! I have to go poops! Hurry, Mama! Poops are comin' out of my butt!" :)
Lovely, just lovely, son. At least it was at home, spoken to his mother & not in his classroom at church in front of all his little peers. Jonny & I have had discussions :) about whether 'butt' is an appropriate word for a 2yr old. hmmmm... Jonny, do you think we can reconsider this?
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On another note... I have to share this hysterical Eli quote:
"Mommy! Mommy! I have to go poops! Hurry, Mama! Poops are comin' out of my butt!" :)
Lovely, just lovely, son. At least it was at home, spoken to his mother & not in his classroom at church in front of all his little peers. Jonny & I have had discussions :) about whether 'butt' is an appropriate word for a 2yr old. hmmmm... Jonny, do you think we can reconsider this?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Something to add to your prayer bucket...
My grandma is having surgery tomorrow. She has a tumor in her thyroid. Biopsies taken in the doctor's office were inconclusive due to the amount of blood in the tumor. At 8am tomorrow morning, her doctor will begin surgery to remove the tumor & do a biopsy. He told her that 90% of the time, these tumors are benign. That's obviously what we are praying for. As it comes to mind, please join us in praying for my grandma's surgery & biopsy results.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
What I'm learning
Two years ago my New Year's Resolution was to read through the Old Testament, so I started listening to Rob's old mid-week studies as I read. I'm reading the OT again this year, & during the week of the fast I started going through Rob's old Sunday morning studies. I am LOVING it! I am learning so much & falling more & more in love with God's Word. I love how the OT always points to Jesus. Many of the OT books seem so dry & hard to study through, but when I studied through them with Rob & Jon Courson's old online teachings, I got so much out of them. I decided that I don't what to keep all that I am learning to myself. I want to share it with all of you!
So here's the first thing I want to share... This is so cool! Look how the meaning of the names in the genealogy of Adam (Gen. Ch. 5) point to Christ....
Adam- man
Seth- appointed
Enosh- subject to death
Kenan- sorrowful
Mahalalel- blessed God
Jared- shall come down
Enoch- dedicated
Methuselah- dying he shall send
Lamech-despairing
Noah- rest, comfort
So when you put it all together it reads, Man appointed, subject to death, sorrowful, the blessed God shall come down, dedicated, dying he shall send the despairing rest & comfort. Isn't that awesome?! I love how the OT has Jesus all over it. "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. " John 5:39
So here's the first thing I want to share... This is so cool! Look how the meaning of the names in the genealogy of Adam (Gen. Ch. 5) point to Christ....
Adam- man
Seth- appointed
Enosh- subject to death
Kenan- sorrowful
Mahalalel- blessed God
Jared- shall come down
Enoch- dedicated
Methuselah- dying he shall send
Lamech-despairing
Noah- rest, comfort
So when you put it all together it reads, Man appointed, subject to death, sorrowful, the blessed God shall come down, dedicated, dying he shall send the despairing rest & comfort. Isn't that awesome?! I love how the OT has Jesus all over it. "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. " John 5:39
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
A few things
Oh, I have so much to say & never enough time to make as many posts as I want. My mind is just stirring with so many things. There are lots of exciting things going on... Okay, one post at a time! And yes, I confess, I'm one of those wives who bombards her husband with constant conversation the minute he comes home. I know, I know... that's not good- but I just get so excited to talk to an adult! I think that's why my mom calls me every morning, because she knows I need some adult conversation. :) Thanks, Mom.
Okay, so first off I wanted to share one of the things that came to mind during the fast. I was thinking about the times when I get so irritated with Eli . The times when I have to repeat myself over & over. I was feeling convicted over my heart that is sometimes quick to get angry & be impatient with my toddler learning the ropes of appropriate behavior. I still expect him to obey, but what kept coming to mind was how patient & long suffering the Lord is with me. I mess up over & over & over. I am absolutely no better than Eli. In fact, I would say I'm worse off than Eli. I have more life experience than him & know what's expected of me & I still disobey & make bad choices. There is still sin in my heart & my motives are not pure. I am a working progress. It pleases God when I obey His Word, but when I fail He is so gracious, loving & forgiving. When there are consequences to my mistakes, He is still there with me to teach me & bring restoration. Anyway, I just felt the Lord nudging at my heart to be more like He is with me when I am disciplining Eli...
Last, I would like to leave you with some words spoken from my Eli throughout the last week... (Eli's words are in blue.)
Jonny calls me Mama Girl sometimes, so Eli has picked up on it & sometimes calls me "Mama Grol." "You a grol, Mama? Eli a boy?" SO CUTE!
Okay, so first off I wanted to share one of the things that came to mind during the fast. I was thinking about the times when I get so irritated with Eli . The times when I have to repeat myself over & over. I was feeling convicted over my heart that is sometimes quick to get angry & be impatient with my toddler learning the ropes of appropriate behavior. I still expect him to obey, but what kept coming to mind was how patient & long suffering the Lord is with me. I mess up over & over & over. I am absolutely no better than Eli. In fact, I would say I'm worse off than Eli. I have more life experience than him & know what's expected of me & I still disobey & make bad choices. There is still sin in my heart & my motives are not pure. I am a working progress. It pleases God when I obey His Word, but when I fail He is so gracious, loving & forgiving. When there are consequences to my mistakes, He is still there with me to teach me & bring restoration. Anyway, I just felt the Lord nudging at my heart to be more like He is with me when I am disciplining Eli...
Last, I would like to leave you with some words spoken from my Eli throughout the last week... (Eli's words are in blue.)
"Eli would you like some orange juice?" "No. Not today."
Eli may I have a kiss?" "Not yet."
I was pretend crying & this is how Eli responded: "It's okay, Mama. It's okay. You want Eli? Com' ear, come' ear." He wrapped his arms around me. "Don't cry, Mama." ..... rubbing my back... "I'm gonna play bask-a-ball now." I got upset like he does, "No! I want Eli!" "It's okay, Mama. Play with Dada."
Riding in the car, "Hey Guys! Guys, I'm talkin' to you!"
"I want some chocolate." "No. We no buy choc-o-lates."
Eli, do you know where Jesus lives? "Cal-forn-ya!"Jonny calls me Mama Girl sometimes, so Eli has picked up on it & sometimes calls me "Mama Grol." "You a grol, Mama? Eli a boy?" SO CUTE!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Happy Valentine's Day!
I love Valentine's Day. It just makes me smile...
I don't have anything real significant to say. We're just hanging out today. My sister, Becky, is here. She flew in Thursday, so we've been having a good time with her. She & Eli are on a run right now. Jonny went to the store to buy sausage for our Valentine breakfast, but he's been gone an unusually long time for running out to buy some sausage. I wonder what he could be doing... he he he :) We gave the boys their Valentine baskets this morning & talked about everyone who loves them. :) I think we'll read something about Jesus loving us a little later... I don't know which scripture to use... I guess there are a lot explaining how much He loves us. Isn't that great! I'm so thankful for His love, aren't you!?
Here's a pic of us giving Jonny is Valentine cake we baked for him yesterday.
I don't have anything real significant to say. We're just hanging out today. My sister, Becky, is here. She flew in Thursday, so we've been having a good time with her. She & Eli are on a run right now. Jonny went to the store to buy sausage for our Valentine breakfast, but he's been gone an unusually long time for running out to buy some sausage. I wonder what he could be doing... he he he :) We gave the boys their Valentine baskets this morning & talked about everyone who loves them. :) I think we'll read something about Jesus loving us a little later... I don't know which scripture to use... I guess there are a lot explaining how much He loves us. Isn't that great! I'm so thankful for His love, aren't you!?
Here's a pic of us giving Jonny is Valentine cake we baked for him yesterday.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
I'm so proud of you, Eli
Eli is making strides the first month and a half of 2009! So far he's accomplished three of his New Year Resolutions. (Okay, really my resolutions for him!)
As soon as we got back from Klamath, after Christmas, I wanted to start working on potty training. I actually didn't start until the second weekend of January, but it has been so great! Eli is potty trained! Praise the Lord! It has been such an easy task. I was expecting something totally different. The first two weeks I would set the oven timer for every 30 -45 minutes & when it went off Eli knew it was time to try to go pee-pee on the potty. And since he did his BM at the same time every day, I knew when to put him on the pot for that. (We have had NO BM accidents!) For church activities I'd either stay in his classroom or pull him out of his classroom in the middle of service for potty breaks. These last two weeks I've been leaving it up to him to let me know when he has to use the potty. He is even telling his teachers when he has to go! Accidents are far & few between & the only time he wears a diaper is at night! Isn't that great! Is he getting this really quick or am I just crazy?
Second, Eli is so great at learning his shapes. He can identify by name a square, circle, triangle, heart, star, oval, & rectangle. He is very close to also consistently identifying a diamond, pentagon & hexagon. He also knows some letters. When asked how to spell Eli, he will say, E-L-I. He knows the letters letters E (for Eli), D (for Dada), M (for Mama), N (for Noah), O (for Oelkers) R (for RORO), and he's really close to consistently getting A, B, C, L, & I right. Also, just yesterday, he counted to 16! Funny though, he is horrible at his colors! Sometimes he gets them other times he's way off. It's so inconsistent. How do you know if your kid is color blind?
Lastly, we FINALLY got rid of the bink! He's had it for naps & bed time for a long time. On Friday he put it down in his stream of urine (GROSS!!!! I KNOW!) right before bed, so we took it away to clean it & decided that would be a good time to say good-bye for good. The first night was hard for Eli, but since then he's done really well. His naps have been shorter, but hey, it's only been four days. :)
I have a lot of compassion for two-year-olds. There is a lot going on physically, mentally & emotionally. There are so many changes. Eli is handling it like a little man. My little underwear-wearing man who sleeps in a toddler bed without a bink & knows a handful of shapes & letters & is increasingly speaking in fluent sentences! :) My little baby, my first born baby, is growing into a little boy. (Well, we tell him he's a big boy.) It's bitter- sweet to watch. I love you, Eli, more than you'll ever know & I'm so proud of you.
Here's some recent video of my little man. (I know the last one is sideways, but I don't think I can change it. It's pretty funny.)
As soon as we got back from Klamath, after Christmas, I wanted to start working on potty training. I actually didn't start until the second weekend of January, but it has been so great! Eli is potty trained! Praise the Lord! It has been such an easy task. I was expecting something totally different. The first two weeks I would set the oven timer for every 30 -45 minutes & when it went off Eli knew it was time to try to go pee-pee on the potty. And since he did his BM at the same time every day, I knew when to put him on the pot for that. (We have had NO BM accidents!) For church activities I'd either stay in his classroom or pull him out of his classroom in the middle of service for potty breaks. These last two weeks I've been leaving it up to him to let me know when he has to use the potty. He is even telling his teachers when he has to go! Accidents are far & few between & the only time he wears a diaper is at night! Isn't that great! Is he getting this really quick or am I just crazy?
Second, Eli is so great at learning his shapes. He can identify by name a square, circle, triangle, heart, star, oval, & rectangle. He is very close to also consistently identifying a diamond, pentagon & hexagon. He also knows some letters. When asked how to spell Eli, he will say, E-L-I. He knows the letters letters E (for Eli), D (for Dada), M (for Mama), N (for Noah), O (for Oelkers) R (for RORO), and he's really close to consistently getting A, B, C, L, & I right. Also, just yesterday, he counted to 16! Funny though, he is horrible at his colors! Sometimes he gets them other times he's way off. It's so inconsistent. How do you know if your kid is color blind?
Lastly, we FINALLY got rid of the bink! He's had it for naps & bed time for a long time. On Friday he put it down in his stream of urine (GROSS!!!! I KNOW!) right before bed, so we took it away to clean it & decided that would be a good time to say good-bye for good. The first night was hard for Eli, but since then he's done really well. His naps have been shorter, but hey, it's only been four days. :)
I have a lot of compassion for two-year-olds. There is a lot going on physically, mentally & emotionally. There are so many changes. Eli is handling it like a little man. My little underwear-wearing man who sleeps in a toddler bed without a bink & knows a handful of shapes & letters & is increasingly speaking in fluent sentences! :) My little baby, my first born baby, is growing into a little boy. (Well, we tell him he's a big boy.) It's bitter- sweet to watch. I love you, Eli, more than you'll ever know & I'm so proud of you.
Here's some recent video of my little man. (I know the last one is sideways, but I don't think I can change it. It's pretty funny.)
And... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMY!!! AND HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO OUR LITTLE NEPHEW ETHAN!
Monday, February 9, 2009
more...
This is what one of our pastors emailed out:
I think everyone who participated in the week of prayer and fasting know our church will never be the same. Especially in light of the way God moved and spoke at the Saturday Night prayer meeting which capped off the extraordinary week. No less than 250 people gathered in our sanctuary with a sense of unity and fear of the Lord that made this largest prayer meeting in our churches history (to date) delightful and transforming.
In a variety of ways God made it clear that he intends to bring great blessing to our church for the purpose of glorifying himself and blessing our entire community in ways which are greater than we currently imagine.
Biblical prayer and fasting includes the aspect of seeking God for wisdom and guidance. Two key things have have been made clear this week. First is that we are to keep praying and fasting as he leads. The chapel is going to be open every morning Monday-Friday for "The Morning Offering". Second, clear word of God to us is that we open our hearts as a church to the hurting and needy people around us. God desires to pour his Spirit out on us, but not only for our blessing, but that we would reach out to and welcome into our fellowship those he is desiring to help and heal from the community around us.
I think everyone who participated in the week of prayer and fasting know our church will never be the same. Especially in light of the way God moved and spoke at the Saturday Night prayer meeting which capped off the extraordinary week. No less than 250 people gathered in our sanctuary with a sense of unity and fear of the Lord that made this largest prayer meeting in our churches history (to date) delightful and transforming.
In a variety of ways God made it clear that he intends to bring great blessing to our church for the purpose of glorifying himself and blessing our entire community in ways which are greater than we currently imagine.
Biblical prayer and fasting includes the aspect of seeking God for wisdom and guidance. Two key things have have been made clear this week. First is that we are to keep praying and fasting as he leads. The chapel is going to be open every morning Monday-Friday for "The Morning Offering". Second, clear word of God to us is that we open our hearts as a church to the hurting and needy people around us. God desires to pour his Spirit out on us, but not only for our blessing, but that we would reach out to and welcome into our fellowship those he is desiring to help and heal from the community around us.
God's strength went forth in our weakness
Wow! What an incredibly hard but good week we had last week. I don't even know what to say or how I would begin. There's no way I could describe the awesome work God has done in our church family. There are so many testimonies of God's mighty hand working & weeding through people's hearts this past week. It was a week of gently breaking, confessing, beautiful surrendering, purifying, equipping, & divine revelation. A new ministry in our body was even birthed through several different awesome happenings, and a morning time of prayer (Morning Offerings is what they will be calling it.) Mon-Fri. 6am-7am was established.
Even though the week was hard, it brought forth good fruit. I wrote down a few yucky things I want my heart cleaned & purified from. And for us, the discipline alone was so good- and needed! It was good to have a multiple set times for reading, praying, listening to teachings on our iPod, etc. We've decided to make a few changes in our life- regarding discipline, personal changes & changes in our family.
Every Saturday night there is about 30-50 people who show up for our church prayer meeting. If 100 people show up, its considered a 'big crowd'. This last last Saturday Rob estimated that 1/4 of our church body was present (about 250 people). Rob thought it was the most powerful prayer meeting that's taken place in the fourteen years our church has been alive. There was prophesy, visions, words of knowledge, & worship like I've never witnessed. (And I was only there for 3/4 of it... I was called down to children's ministry because of a crying baby. Poor Noah. It was way past his bed time, and in an attempt to nurse him, rock him, gently lay him down in a crib, & quietly shut the nursery door, I managed to lock Noah in the empty nursery! I had to go search for Sean (the Children's Ministry Pastor) in the crowded prayer meeting- to get the key- to unlock the door- so I could get to my crying baby! .... okay, that was a long side note...)
This was week was such a sweet time of knitting our hearts together as a family. I just LOVE our church. Our church is made up of some of extraordinary people. People that were pretty ordinary, but God has made EXTRAORDINARY. I just love these people! It was said this week that "God is laying a spiritual heritage for the future of this church." I think we'll be seeing some great fruit come out of this.
Okay that's all. I wasn't even going to post anything about this week because I didn't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable with all the 'spiritual' talk or because I didn't want to come off as an 'overly charismatic crazy'. But I couldn't not write anything. This is our family journal so-to-say. We love to look back & remember what was going on in our life. We definitely want to look back & remember this week. On another note... food has never tasted better & I have 50+ emails to sort through!
Well, one more thing...
I wanted to post just a couple testimonies of this week. Feel free to read if you want to get a glimpse into what last week was like.
1.)Tuesday night at the prayer meeting I was blessed to see God’s Spirit breaking through the hearts of men. Men began to cry out confessing sin, and giving complete control over to God. I was so blessed to hear the prayers that were being offered up. Men that might not normally pray were crying out for more of God and more His strength to be the men that He desires. To be men whose lives are centered on Christ, providing them the strength to lead their families, and to be Christ-like examples to other young men. It was a work of God! As men prayed you could just see the victory being won…. men were becoming more bold, and wanting more. Desiring to go deeper, higher, and farther than before. We all began to applaud those that would cry out, because we were so moved! How powerful it has been to see His body crying out with one voice for more of Him! As people left you could see their entire countenance had changed. They had spent time being ministered to by God! The joy of the Lord is our strength!
My prayer leaving was that we wouldn’t forget these nights. That we would share with people, the work that God is doing. That this would be foundational for men and women in this body….as the deceiver will try and make us forget the great victory that the LORD has done. Remember these times!!! He is so faithful to meet those that cry out to Him! PRAISE GOD!
2.)Each time I go to a prayer mtg. this week, I sense the Lord has a big grin on His face as to what HE is seeing from above. Each time the prayer chapel door opens and another saint enters and takes a seat, HE is seeing a net growing larger and larger as it is pressing against the walls and spilling out of the door. Old faces and new faces are uniting and forming each unique link that will strengthen this body like never before. (not a coincidence that we are even seated in a "web-like" formation) For every link that is not attaching him/herself to this net this week, there are 2-3 others making the effort, blessing the Lord and being equally blessed in return by HIM! I have been a part of CCC for 11years and can honestly say that this is the mightiest that I have seen the Lord and His Spirit move upon our/His body. The momentum is building tremendously (especially w/the men as Chad stated) and one should not miss being part of this as we approach the second half of this week!
This was only two of the coutless emails sent in to the prayer chain...
Even though the week was hard, it brought forth good fruit. I wrote down a few yucky things I want my heart cleaned & purified from. And for us, the discipline alone was so good- and needed! It was good to have a multiple set times for reading, praying, listening to teachings on our iPod, etc. We've decided to make a few changes in our life- regarding discipline, personal changes & changes in our family.
Every Saturday night there is about 30-50 people who show up for our church prayer meeting. If 100 people show up, its considered a 'big crowd'. This last last Saturday Rob estimated that 1/4 of our church body was present (about 250 people). Rob thought it was the most powerful prayer meeting that's taken place in the fourteen years our church has been alive. There was prophesy, visions, words of knowledge, & worship like I've never witnessed. (And I was only there for 3/4 of it... I was called down to children's ministry because of a crying baby. Poor Noah. It was way past his bed time, and in an attempt to nurse him, rock him, gently lay him down in a crib, & quietly shut the nursery door, I managed to lock Noah in the empty nursery! I had to go search for Sean (the Children's Ministry Pastor) in the crowded prayer meeting- to get the key- to unlock the door- so I could get to my crying baby! .... okay, that was a long side note...)
This was week was such a sweet time of knitting our hearts together as a family. I just LOVE our church. Our church is made up of some of extraordinary people. People that were pretty ordinary, but God has made EXTRAORDINARY. I just love these people! It was said this week that "God is laying a spiritual heritage for the future of this church." I think we'll be seeing some great fruit come out of this.
Okay that's all. I wasn't even going to post anything about this week because I didn't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable with all the 'spiritual' talk or because I didn't want to come off as an 'overly charismatic crazy'. But I couldn't not write anything. This is our family journal so-to-say. We love to look back & remember what was going on in our life. We definitely want to look back & remember this week. On another note... food has never tasted better & I have 50+ emails to sort through!
Well, one more thing...
I wanted to post just a couple testimonies of this week. Feel free to read if you want to get a glimpse into what last week was like.
1.)Tuesday night at the prayer meeting I was blessed to see God’s Spirit breaking through the hearts of men. Men began to cry out confessing sin, and giving complete control over to God. I was so blessed to hear the prayers that were being offered up. Men that might not normally pray were crying out for more of God and more His strength to be the men that He desires. To be men whose lives are centered on Christ, providing them the strength to lead their families, and to be Christ-like examples to other young men. It was a work of God! As men prayed you could just see the victory being won…. men were becoming more bold, and wanting more. Desiring to go deeper, higher, and farther than before. We all began to applaud those that would cry out, because we were so moved! How powerful it has been to see His body crying out with one voice for more of Him! As people left you could see their entire countenance had changed. They had spent time being ministered to by God! The joy of the Lord is our strength!
My prayer leaving was that we wouldn’t forget these nights. That we would share with people, the work that God is doing. That this would be foundational for men and women in this body….as the deceiver will try and make us forget the great victory that the LORD has done. Remember these times!!! He is so faithful to meet those that cry out to Him! PRAISE GOD!
2.)Each time I go to a prayer mtg. this week, I sense the Lord has a big grin on His face as to what HE is seeing from above. Each time the prayer chapel door opens and another saint enters and takes a seat, HE is seeing a net growing larger and larger as it is pressing against the walls and spilling out of the door. Old faces and new faces are uniting and forming each unique link that will strengthen this body like never before. (not a coincidence that we are even seated in a "web-like" formation) For every link that is not attaching him/herself to this net this week, there are 2-3 others making the effort, blessing the Lord and being equally blessed in return by HIM! I have been a part of CCC for 11years and can honestly say that this is the mightiest that I have seen the Lord and His Spirit move upon our/His body. The momentum is building tremendously (especially w/the men as Chad stated) and one should not miss being part of this as we approach the second half of this week!
This was only two of the coutless emails sent in to the prayer chain...
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