Thinking of the past in the present......

Sitting here on the front porch while a few of the kids are happily playing, others are sitting because they are miserable and others are asleep in the bed because the chicken pox have hit them really hard. I started to think of the old days before Medicine, before vaccinations, before good hygiene. I know that some are opposed to vaccines....however, I am not. I see right now what one childhood illness has done to our home. It has attacked almost all. While three of our four children have had the chicken pox vaccine and still ended up with a case of the chicken pox it is not anywhere close to what the kids look like that have never had the shot. I can only imagine the depression and desperation in the hearts and eyes of the mothers and fathers of the past as they watched their families die from sicknesses that could have been prevented. I do not know all the cases of chicken pox here right now but I do know that it has hit our home, our church, a local and a private school here. Most of these could have been prevented with a shot. We have kids here with high fevers and soars and blisters inside and outside of their mouthes. It breaks my heart to see them in such pain. One doesn't even want to use the restroom as she has them so bad. Please be in prayer here as we try to attack this epidemic which has crept into our lives.....and also that we can keep others from getting it. You know the devil uses the same tactics all the time to get people down.....this is only a test and we know that God will see us through......the road is tough.....but i remember a sweet Pastors wife Mrs Mae use to sing....."I wouldn't take nothing for my journey now"

What are YOU searching for?

While doing laundry I came across the dreaded basket of missing socks. It seems that we are always searching for the missing sock. However, it seems like more and more lost ones end up in the pile. Now, we have two baskets full of lonely, useless socks. I started to thing about us as people. We are always searching for something. We are searching for missing socks...brown, white, blue, gray, black...and the list goes on and on. At the same time there are a mixture of people searching for something as well. It maybe fame, fortune, happiness, family, a sense of belonging. Our Pastor back home in North Carolina uses this phrase often...."everyone has a void in their life....a God shape void that only HE can fill". It is true...many are searching for something and many know what can make them whole but they never want to admit it and accept it. Many even call out HIS name when trouble comes and when trials are near...however...they never commit to serving HIM. I have only been to one music concert in my life and that was when I was in high school. I went to hear a country artist. Now, if I had paid for my ticket and he would have been lip-singing.....I would have been angry and felt belittled. Here I paid to hear him sing, and he doesn't even want to show his fans how much they have helped to shape his life and career. You know God is like that. He paid the ultimate price for you and me and some of  us come to him with lip service not heart service. You only call on HIM when you really have a problem and for you HE might be your last resort. You don't seek HIS wisdom or HIS love. I was reading this morning in Proverbs 1 verses 27 and 28...the Bible says, When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. (verse 28) Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer, they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

Don't let the Lord be like that missing sock. You keep searching knowing that you will probably not find it but you keep holding onto the old one....just like our sin natured lives...we keep holding on to the old things, the things in the past. We never want to put it in the trash......but I encourage you today.....put your old things in the past....look to the Lord and let HIM fill that hole that needs to be filled. Once you look to HIM and let HIM fill you....you will not need to search anymore.

Take a Moment.........

Yesterday, like every Wednesday(when we can) Mark and I have a date lunch. We go and run errands and eat lunch out together. We decided to head to the mall and have lunch. While we were waiting for our food....we noticed two boys following a lady at the counter at Subway. They followed her and followed her but I don't think she ever gave them anything. However, after she walked off the guy from Subway cut two apples in half and gave each of them a whole apple. I was eating a salad and needed some more dressing. As I approached the counter the lady had told me she forgot to give us our fries that we had ordered.(really we had forgotten that we had ordered an extra set) However, I guess the Lord knew we needed them. I walked the hot fries over to them and they rapidly ate them up. Mark had ordered a nuggets meal and it also came with a drink we didn't need. So, we motioned for the boys to come get it. They sat down at the table next to us and started chatting away. Of coarse they also asked for "pisto" or money. We began to tell them about church and ask them questions as well. The one boy said his mom was dead and he lived with other family. The little one was 10 and the taller boy was 11. This was basically how they spent their days. Walking and begging for change and food. It really is the life for a lot of kids here. We invited them to church and gave them a tract. We left them and walked to the grocery store.....where the one boy ran as fast as he could to say I forgot my paper (tract). I told him it was for him and he smiled and ran back to get his friend. Well, that wasn't the end.....they scoped us out in the grocery store and followed us around each aisle they could find us on. Then they followed us to the truck. Here Mark was talking to them about their life and how he knew this was how they survived. He again invited them to church and gave them 20 lempira ($1) and told them they had to share it....so they agreed they were going to go and buy an ice cream cone. You know we may never see them again.....but hopefully they know that someone took the time to talk to them and share with them and even if they never come.....they were invited to church and given a tract with Gods words on them.

 

Again God Proves that He will Supply Our Needs....

Saturday night we were sorting through a box of clothes that had been given to us. Inside were some items that our girls could wear in about 10 years. Really they were more for a women. So, we decided that a few of them we would put in a bag for Kathya's mom.  She doesn't have a large lavish closet of clothes and in fact only has one pair of shoes. Yes, ladies we are spoiled if we have more than 5 pair. Can you only imagine having one pair and that pair is a pair of flip-flops. She usually wears the same thing to church each week and pretty much works in rags. So, we bagged them up and with pride Sunday morning Kathya walked out of the house to church with them in her hand. We barely made it out the door when a lady from our church brought over a bag with the about the same amount of items in it for the boys. (which was needed because it was pants) I love how God works. You give and HE gives right back to you.....again we are living proof that God provides.

Ready to Harvest

This is the time of year when sugar cane is ready for harvest. As I was driving with Taylor yesterday we saw field after field of sugar cane that looked like fields of snow. The tops were all white and that is when you know it is time to harvest. I then started to think about the verse in the bible that talks about the fields being ready to harvest. Here is John 4:35 "³⁵ Say not ye, ‘There are yet four months and then cometh the harvest’? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest."  Surely that when we lift our eyes here we can see that the sugar cane is ready to be harvested. However, so are the fields of lost souls. There are many who are just waiting for someone to talk to them about becoming a Christian. Maybe they are afraid, maybe they don't feel that they are good enough, maybe someone has planted a seed and they just need to have some reassurance. Are you a reaper? Are you looking for someone who needs harvesting? Are you even prepared to reap? Have you ever lead someone to the Lord? If your answer is no.......why not? Someone decided to be a reaper and help you know the living God. Someone was equipped with their Bible and their testimony of how God changed their life to help you. This year, the fields are all white ready to harvest.....are you going to reap....do you need to be reaped? Friend if you are unsaved today, do not wait another minute. It is easy, you must believe that Jesus is Lord, accept that He died to pay your penalty for sin, and the last is to confess to HIM.  However, if you are saved....decide today that you are going to become a reaper.

You are Being Watched........

 

Have you ever gone to the mall just to people watch? To see how people act, what they do....and even to see what in the world they were thinking when they dressed themselves that morning and walked out of the house? We call that " people watching". I am sure we can all say that we have done it before. However, have you ever stopped to think that people are watching YOU? They are watching your actions and reactions, they are listening to the language you use, and how you dress. Thanks to good ole technology.....people are watching you even closer. I have to admit that I sit in awe sometimes at what my friends Christian and NonChristian post on Facebook. The pages and jokes they like....and even the language that they use.....if you are a Christian people are really watching you. Sometimes the very things we say, we do and post are a direct reflection or the exact opposite reflection of a life centered around Christ. While sometimes we might not even talk about Christ or the Bible people can see if HE is apart of their life. Have you ever gotten angry or annoyed at a clerk at Walmart? Have you ever been " not so nice" to the tell are at the bank because they can't process a transaction fast enough for you? I have to admit I have let my flesh get to me.....just remember that if claim to be a Christian your actions should reflect that. You see that person behind you in line might not be a Christian....that cashier might not want be a Christian....and after they see you and how you behave...they might say....well at least I don't act like that.....so I am already better off than with their religion. Are we human....yes, but we should not respond without thinking ahoy our actions are going to be received. Titus 3:1-8 is a good chapter to read about how we are a living sermon even if we never say a word. Verse 14 says this......and let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. 

Our lives here especially in another country mean that people are always watching us. They expect us not only as Christians but as Americans from the states to be different. To be honest, to have money (lol) to do things the right way....to have a better understanding of how things work and working hard. we are being watched by lots of little children and lots of Honduran people. WE ARE BEING WATCHED........and so are YOU.

 So I challenge you to do good let others see your love for Christ so that everything you may do will bring forth fruit for The Lord.

What are your News Years Resolutions?

 

Well, a new Year is now upon us. We are 6 days into 2014. Many of us have set goals of things we want to do and weight we want to lose. However, while healthy goals are great have you set any spiritual goals? It is very important to maintain a healthy spiritual life as well as a healthy physical life. Here are some of my goals for 2014:

1. Spend more time in learning and studying God's word
2. Pray more for my friends and family and let them know I do so
3. Write cards and notes of encouragement....not just electronic.....and not just to my missionary
     friends and family.
4. Pass out at least one Gospel track and invite them to our church every day for the whole year. If you miss a day....hand out 2 the next.
5. Pick a missionary and do something special for them.
6. Read more about real people.....Missionaries who have been before us. Right now I am reading    Lillian Trasher a missionary to Egypt. (My goal is to read at least 12 in the year).
7. Help a family in need.
8. Make a baked good and give it to someone at church.
9. Invite someone over for dinner.
10. Random act of kindness to someone you don't know along with a tract from your church.

These are the things I wanna do in my life. You can copy my list or make your own. However, I encourage everyone to do at least 3 of these. So, this year...make this year count not only for your health but for the Lord.

OUTBREAK......

Whew....we are blessed beyond measure however the start of 2014 has been a rough one with sickness. The babies have been battling a parasite for 10 days on top of each them cutting 4 teeth. Now, it seems as if we have the chicken pox in the house. It started with Karla, then Elvin, now Sthefany and Daython are showing signs of the catchy virus. Please pray for us to get this through the house quickly. Thankful that they vaccinate in the states.....however, that doesn't help the kids here.