Silent prayers

“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”

Galatians 5:25

Sometimes life just surprises me. Or I should say God. I was missing my girls (who are still in MT with my parents) and feeling kind of down. I have also been physically struggling again from my rheumatoid arthritis. Just a "blah" mood. Then I checked my email. 

God has blessed us with a trip to Colorado to visit the camp Ahnika went to this year. I was beyond shocked! I never dreamed we could be blessed like this. 

Sometimes it is easy to go on day by day and forget the power we have in Christ. I forgot to search Him out in my sadness and pain. I am shown again how He cares for His children. Scripture says He cares for us. It talks about how He even cares for the birds, so shouldn't we be more important and cared for? He knew what I needed before I did - and He heard my silent prayer of help. Thank you Jesus for your abundant blessings and provisions. 

It feels so good to held in His Boundless Grace. 

Teamwork

I have been working in St. Maries, ID for the last couple of years overseeing a environmental clean-up of creosote impacted soils and river sediment. There are many aspects to this project. Today I watched the installation of a sheet pile enclosure (YouTube it, it is exciting stuff!). To install it there is a 200 ton crane 3 barges, a vibrating massive hammer, tug boats and 8-10 workers. These men amaze me! They have to wear hearing protection because of the equipment noise. So because they can't hear each other they use hand signals. They HAVE to work together perfectly in order to be safe and to get the work done. It doesn't matter if they had a fight, or were tired or problems at home - they show up as a team and work together. It is courageous to me the work they do on open water!

It got me thinking how hard life can be to work as a team. I touched on it about family and home. But being on a team outside of the ones you love can be difficult. Some have difficult co-workers, or micromanaging bosses, or employees who don't show up. When one part of that team fails it can be disastrous to the group. 

The same goes for the body of Christ. Now, we live in a broken world. A world with sin, pain, fear, and darkness. But, when we brothers and sisters work together as a team we heal, bring joy and peace and most importantly light to cast out the darkness. When one of our teammates doesn't show up it leaves a gap. Sometimes it can't be helped so the other members have to fill in. Sometimes we lose a member to the fallen world and we have to reorganize. It is hard to be on a team. We don't want to fail or to have others let us down. But with Christs help we can see past these faults. So what if you don't like how someone prays, or how every group has an over and under talker, or that you don't like doing communion every week or not at all. That's not what the church is meant to be! We have to put aside our differences and serve as a team - Christ's team.

Remember brothers and sisters - we were chosen by God to be His children. For scriptures say:

“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 2:9 NLT

Be His priests to the people. Work together for God! Be His team in everything you do. Remember you are lives and you will always be Held by His Boundless Grace. 

Family Time - One Body

Every Sunday we have family night at our house. We started this years ago as our "big" kids were growing up, getting married and moving out. We wanted to still be able to see them and to have our family together as regularly as possible.  Over the years our family has grown - daughter in laws, grandchildren, family friends and other "children". I love Sundays. It is routine for us now. We get our coffee from Sipz, go worship the Lord, I grocery shop from my meal plan, I work in the yard or swim and make dinner. When everyone makes it over they play basketball, football, swim, and water fights. It is a perfect way to start the week. Summer family nights are the best. 

Tonight after dinner Nick, Caleb and Gio continued working on our wall/edging. They worked together to continue to get it done. Over Memorial Day my older boys redid our shed roof. Whenever we need something they are there for us. I love my family. They fill me with such joy. As I listened to the pounding of the tamper this evening it reminded me of Paul's words to the Corinthians about being one body. 

"But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can never say to the feet, "I don't need you."

If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part us honored, all parts are glad. 

1 Corinthians 12:18-21, 26

This is how God wanted family to be. As one body. Our daughters have been staying with Grandma and Grandpa Ru. Although I know they are having fun and well loved, our family here isn't whole. Our body is missing parts. My family isn't complete without all my children and grandchildren here. 

The same is true for the body of believers. When one person is missing or sick or lost, the whole body suffers. I know when my rheumatoid arthritis flares up, it isn't just my joints that are affected, but my strength, my concentration, my mind even! That is why it is so important we help each other in time of need. That we become the hands and feet for those who are struggling. God gives us gifts and we need to use them! If you have the gift of serving make some meals for new moms or families enduring loss or sickness. If you are a giver give to the community your time through crafts, reading to the elderly, or walking dogs at scraps. If you have a gift of prayer pray for your friends and tell them you did! If you have a gift of teaching volunteer at your church or a school. It took me a long time to realize my gifts. Sometimes we just need to ask those who are closest to us what they think our gifts are. Trust in God to show you your path. Know that He created the body we are part of. Trust that you are part of the body of Christ. That you are wanted, loved and needed! If you don't feel that you belong to the body of Christ reach out to me or any othe believe. We are all learning what it means to be followers of Him. 

Always remember you will always be Held by His Boundless Grace. 

Home

Home .... What does that mean to us? Some say it is a building where we sleep and eat, some say it is Spokane or Bozeman or West Yellowstone or Ethiopia, others say my heart but for me it is all those places and more! I grew up in Bozeman and moved to Spokane after graduating from college. I vacationed in West Yellowstone my whole life. I adopted four amazing children from Ethiopia. So yes those are all home to me. Home is truly where my heart is. My heart is spread out over all those places. I long to be in Ethiopia with our friends and my children's families. Two of my kids are still in Montana with my parents. I sit in my house loving the sound of rain and the quiet. These are all home. 

I offer another home - our eternal home. Heaven. God created the heavens and earth. Creatures and plants. He created Adam and Eve. He created a longing in us to want to be near Him. Through His promises we have a glorious home! Not a home filled with evil, hunger, hatred, betrayal, hurt, darkness or sadness. A home filled with joy, light, gentleness, trust, peace and love. This is my true home. I live on earth for as long as my time allows. While I am here I want to enjoy the blessings God has given me. I want to be the woman He created - a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend. He is so gracious to us. Hold tight to His promises and try not to listen to the world. For this world is only temporary and it is not our true home, but heaven is eternal and our one true home. 

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down, we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 

So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lorde. For we live by believing and not seeing. Yes we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord." 2nd Corinthians 5:1-2, 6-9

I CAN Do ALL Things ....

M

For the last week I have been in Montana at our family cabin. It is a place I have always known since I was a child. It is joy, comfort, peace, love, home. Whenever we come her we try to visit Yellowatone National Park. We are only 20 min from the west entrance of the park. This year my brother and his family joined our family here. We started out with a buffalo jam followed by the walk at artist paint pots and then stopped for a picnic lunch. It was awesome to see the scenery hang out with my gorgeous husband, my daughters and my niece. A bit later my brother, his wife and their youngest daughter left for Bozeman and Marlowe my niece stayed with us to go to the boiling river. I hadn't swam in the river since elementary school with Christine Planalp on our way to Cooke City. It was so different! What used to be a secret was know on the Internet. The "commercialized" it pretty well by creating pools and areas to sit and enjoy the hot water temperatures. Part of my problem was being barefooted. I was born with many foot deformities and had to handle many surgeries. So as you can imagine sharp rocks we not my friend. I thought I was so smart going down on my bottom until the flow got very fast. I almost took out a few people. Finaly I was able to find a steady spit and enjoy myself. After awhile i knew it was time to go. As I was moving upstream I kept losing my footing. I was tired, scared and at the end of my strength (physically and mentally). At one point I crab walked along the rock weir chanting in my head "I can do all things in Christ who gives me strength." Phil 4:13. With each time I spoke the words I fell Gods strength. I was so ready to give up!

The same goes for any of us. When else gave I wanted to give in and quit. But then I remember I can do ALL things in Christ. Even being surrounded by non believers and people telling me how I should think and what I believe.  I know the truth is God is the Father and His Son died for the atonement of our sins. We need to turn from our selfish desires and ways and trust God. There is one way, the truth and the light and no one comes to the Father except through Him. 

I pray next time you are in rough waters you will seek truth and trust in the One who sent you. The