Reflection of 2009

The Lord is so gracious. He never fails to amaze me. His patience towards me is unending, and for that I am so grateful. It seems that no matter how often I have learned or heard lessons or truths of the Lord growing up, He still can open my mind to those truths in a new way. I guess that is truth in action, that the Word is living and active. Praise Him for that!! Praise Father that He is not a dead or inactive God, but truly He was, and is, and forever will be.

I had the chance to s hare a testimony at a crusade that my church was holding this week. For the Lord’s glory and hopefully someone’s encouragement, I will also share with you…

As believers, we go through many seasons. There are seasons of peace and contentment, seasons of growing, and seasons of trial. Some seasons seem easier than others, but all seasons are beneficial. The truth is that trials do come, to all of us. And God knows that they will. That is why James says to count it all joy when you face trials of many kinds, because the testing of your faith produces perseverance and perseverance must do its work, making you mature and complete, lacking nothing.

Again, I am so grateful that God’s Word continues to teach me, even lessons that I have learned or been taught about 20 times. This past year, my mind was opened to a deeper understanding of some vital truths:

1. The Lord is my shelter. Sometimes God shelters us completely FROM a storm. Other times He chooses to shelter us THROUGH a storm. “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.” (2 Samuel 22:2). I had a beautiful mental image one day- the Lord’s hands were domed together (almost like the position of your hands when you say the rhyme, “Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people.”- I hope you know what I am talking about)- So the Lord’s hands are domed and inside the dome was me. Whether the Lord chooses to completely shelter me from the storm (whereas I probably never will know that the storm was headed my way) or whether He chooses to shelter me through the storm, I am still totally safe and secure. Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved or shaken.” The Lord is my shelter.

2. The will of God will never lead me where the grace of God cannot keep me. I saw this quote on my prayer partner’s journal and it has stuck with me ever since. God’s grace is sufficient for me. He will never lead me where His grace is not big enough to keep me or help me to handle. “Though my flesh and my heart may fail, God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalms 73:26).

3. If God is for me, who can be against me? The Lord tests and tries my heart to shed light on my weaknesses or shortcomings but NOT for the sake of condemnation (Romans 8:1). He is ALWAYS for me. He makes me aware of my hindrances so that He can set me free. “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6). “The Lord is my Light and my Salvation- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).

4. The Lord will fight for me (Joshua 23:10, Exodus 14:14) and the Light ALWAYS overcomes the darkness.

Therefore, I have the choice of how I will respond, whether in a season of contentment or a season of trial. How I pray that I would hold on to the truths that are hidden deep in my heart. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Praise God for His unfailing love!!

mmm... cookies!!!

Through the eyes of the kids...

Solar Eclipse

I was preparing breakfast last week and I heard my housemates (who are teachers for missionary kids and are currently in school) say, "Wow! That's awesome. Come on, let's go." Curious, I asked what was happening and where they were going. They said, "It's a solar eclipse, that why the day is so weird." We all loaded in their truck to head to one of the family's homes. The dad had set up binaculars with cardboard to cast the shadow.


I felt like a little kid in science class. I have never spent time (or known when) an eclipse was, and definitely have never seen it through a cool set up like this one. After a few embarrassing questions that showed my true ignorance to what was happening, I learned that the crescent shape I was seeing was not just the moon, but the white was the sun and the dark was the moon going over the sun.
I also learned that this was an annular solar eclipse that won't happen again for 115 years in Uganda. And that this was a particularly special eclipse, lasting for almost 2 hours (whereas, most eclipses are finished in about 7 minutes). I didn't get to see the ring of fire (when the moon is directly over the sun and shines a ring), but we did watch as the moon moved to make the crescent shape larger. All in all, it was very cool.

KEEP PRAYING...

Update on Nellie.

I hear that she was sent into the "theater"= operation room around Noon and didn't come out until around 10- 10:30 pm. I just talked with Edward and asked him how things went. He said 50/50. Nellie was feeling some pain, so they gave her meds and she is now sleeping. I asked if things went smoothly and he said that there was an unexpected situation in that there is fluid in her brain, so they have to plan now and have another operation of how to drain that fluid. Edward said that would be sometime next week. So, please keep praying. I know (and have now experienced many times here) that our God is a God of miracles and he can do ANYTHING!!!


On a way different note.... (I hope it is not insensitive to jump to such extremes)

If you have your old 2009 calendar, please DO NOT throw it away!! The girls have been making paper beads from magazines, but calendars do very well for this. So, please save your calendars, collect them from friends, and either send them with a team that you know coming to Uganda sometime or mail them to me. PO box 1650 Mbale, Uganda.
Thanks.

PRAYER...

Many of you remember about a year ago when I asked you to pray for Nellie, our administrator's daughter that had emergency brain surgery due to an infection that got out of control.

AND I hope you remember the MIRACLE that our loving Father did in keeping her alive!!!

Well, she has surgery again THIS WED (the 13th) to have a piece of her skull "put back". She has lived this past year without it due to excessive swelling. So, as we all would be, she and her family are nervous and anxious for this serious surgery.

PLEASE PRAY FOR NELLIE. Pray peace. Pray smooth surgery and wisdom. Pray very quick recovery without any complications. Pray this is the last of her health issues for a very long time. And pray what the Spirit leads you. Thank you for standing with many of us in this!!