Great Ministries

Here are two fantastic ministries that I've learned much more about in recent days:

Gospel For Asia

International Justice Mission

At Village Bible Church, we are in the process of planning for two big events in the coming months. One is the Program Formerly Known As 30 Hour Famine. I would give you our new title, but I haven't announced it to the church yet, so you'll have to wait on that. Traditionally, the college/career group creates, coordinates, communicates and essentially runs this event. We try to raise awareness of world poverty, AIDS, disease, death and other concerns to our junior high, high school and college aged young people. We also endeavor to raise money to help provide for those with little or nothing of their own. Last year, in conjunction with World Vision, we raised more than $6,000! I'm really looking forward to the event this year. Lord willing, it will all go down March 12 & 13.

The other big event is a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico. We are going with Caravan Ministries, a ministry that mainly builds houses for the poorest of the poor in one of the poorest sections of Mexico's fastest growing city. This trip will be a different trip than our youth have ever done, so I'm praying that God would prosper the work we will do in Tijuana and broaden the scope of our vision for global missions.

Down from the Mountain

Amy and I spent this past weekend with our church college/career group at a cabin in Big Bear Lake. Most of us went up Friday afternoon and the majority of the group came back yesterday afternoon. Amy and I came back Sunday evening.

It was a good time of fellowship, devotion, movie-watching, game-playing, laughter, some sleep, good walks in the cold and snow, lots of food and getting to know people.

God was gracious in allowing all our vehicles to get down safely and He gave us some good discussion times as well as a great opportunity to attend First Baptist Church of Big Bear. We heard an excellent sermon on the breastplate of righteousness, sung God's praises with his people and even saw one of Amy's college friends!

I love my job!

2009 Reading

For those interested, here's my reading list from 2009. I just missed 50 books for the third year in a row. When at first you don't succeed . . . up the ante! My goal for 2010 is 60 books. Excuse me, but I have some reading to do.

1. Atheism Remix by Albert Mohler

2. Darth Bane: Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn

3. A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards

4. Desire and Deceit by Albert Mohler

5. Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn

6. Christian Psychology’s War on God’s Word by Jim Owen

7. A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke

8. A Skeleton in God’s Closet by Paul Maier

9. Research Strategies by William B. Badke

10. Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond ed. By Darrell Bock

11. Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders

12. Unfinished Business by Greg Odgen

13. Spectacular Sins by John Piper

14 The Church in God’s Program by Robert Saucy

15. The Brethren by John Grisham

16. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

17. Christian Beliefs by Wayne Grudem

18. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

19. What is a Healthy Church? by Mark Dever

20. A Tale of Two Sons by John MacArthur

21. Safe in the Arms of God by John MacArthur

22. 1812: The War that Forged a Nation by Walter R. Borneman

23. How to Thrive in Associate Staff Ministry by Kevin Lawson

24. Moving On Moving Forward by Michael Anthony and Mick Boersma

25. Finally Alive by John Piper

26. The Street Lawyer by John Grisham

27. The Transforming Community by Mark Lauterbach

28. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

29. Chosen by God by R.C. Sproul

30. Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin

31. Believer’s Baptism ed. by Thomas R. Schreiner and Shawn D. Wright

32. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson

33. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

34. The Shack by William P. Young

35. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

36. Get Outta My Face! by Rick Horne

37. The Truth War by John MacArthur

38. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain

39. Show Them No Mercy ed. by Stanley N. Gundry

40. Crazy Love by Francis Chan

41. Knowing God by J.I. Packer

42. Desiring God by John Piper

43. Moral Choices by Scott Rae

44. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

45. What is a Healthy Church Member? by Thabiti Anyabwile

46. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

47. The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World by John Piper and Justin Taylor

Non-Fiction - 34

Fiction - 13

Post MORE??

After Happy's inspiring posts, I thought maybe I should make a resolution to post more on our blog... But then I realized that you have to actually post with some regularity before the resolution to "post more" would apply.

There is a real reason why posting doesn't happen much from my end. The main reason is based on the fact that life for me is just about exactly the same from week to week. I suppose I could share stories about the crazy lady I work with who constantly paces around my cubicle, causing my entire desk to shake and my computer to rock in such a way that I frequently think it's an earthquake... but who really wants to hear about that?

Today was bagel Friday (like every Friday) and (like every Friday) I toasted a sesame seed bagel and put margarine on it. Normally by this time on Fridays I am sitting at the front desk answering phones from 12:30-5PM. It's really exciting. Today my routine was changed by the mail arriving late, causing the "normal" receptionist to stay a little later in order to sort. I am currently waiting for her to call me so I can go down to my duty.

After work today I'm driving up to meet my mother-in-law for the rest of the drive up to Santa Maria because Mike (Happy's cousin) is getting married tomorrow! Okay, that's more exciting than my work schedule. The best part is my mother-in-law is joining me on the ride so it won't be 3-4 hours of me driving alone in traffic. She's pretty great :-) (I promise I'm not trying to suck up, I really think she's great). Perhaps when we return there will be pictures from the wedding...

Okay, I'm sure I'll be called any minute to leave my post (HA, in two ways) so I'll end here with that excellent pun. Happy weekend!

Resolutions

Tonight at Reality Check, we talked about the dangers and benefits of making resolutions. We also discussed how to make a wise resolution. Here's five of mine in abbreviated form.

1. Get down to 165 pounds.
2. Blog twice a week.
3. Read sixty books.
4. Read Proverbs every day.
5. Study through Psalms with Spurgeon.
6. Pray with and for Amy more.

New Goals For A New Year

What's this, a blog siting? An update? Say it ain't so!

Yes, folks, it's a new year and time for a new commitment to this blog. Amy and I felt like the last four months of 2009 went so fast, partially because they were so full. That's part of the reason that blog updates just haven't happened. However, I'm determined to be a much better blogger in 2010. I know that I've said that before, but this year I want this blog to be a place where I discipline myself by forcing myself to write out thoughts, link to important/significant/funny websites, keep family and friends updated on life, and post pictures.

So for today, go here to view six new photo albums from the fall and winter of 2009. There's lots of great church/family/friends/vacation pictures.

Before I sign off I wanted to say that this year my goal is to post at least twice a week on this blog, so be sure to check back MUCH more frequently than normal.

First Pictures

"For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." Psalm 139:13-16

We had our first "real" appointment today with the midwife. As you can see, an ultrasound was part of it, which included seeing and hearing our baby's heartbeat. I must admit I was sort of shocked to see an actual little baby on the screen... Our baby... This whole pregnancy thing is REAL. I think one of the first things I said out loud to Happy was "There's really a baby in there!" The midwife poked around a little and we saw the baby's arms flail a bit and a tiny leg kick out. I went back to work and showed EVERYONE pictures of our baby. Yes, I'm excited :-) I'm a bit scared, but mostly excited. When we heard the heart beating it was strong and consistent; I was praising the Lord for good reports of health and lots of just-as-it-should-be from the midwife. I know it's still early, but I'm amazed at how quickly God works to make a tiny little baby! Children really are a blessing from the Lord!

The little things...

First off, I realized that we never posted on our blog that I'm pregnant :-) Really. I am. This isn't a joke. I know it's not a joke because I threw up, ironically mainly in the morning, once each day since Tuesday. Today has been a bit of a fluke since I haven't spent any time with my head in the bowl, but I'm definitely not complaining.

Secondly, and the real reason for this post, was to share my joy in the little things that the Lord provides. This morning my Aunt Laura called me after we've played a long game of phone tag (perhaps two weeks now). It's been a blessing to keep in better contact with her since our visit to the East coast in June. Part of our conversation was talking about finances with a baby on the way. I shared that I am mostly excited and confident that the Lord will provide, but I have my what-if days. She encouraged me with what she tells her two daughters, "Somehow it always works out." I'm thankful to serve a God who does always work it out, whether through trials and difficulty or through orchestrating events in a surprisingly pleasant way. He knows just what He's doing and it is exactly what is best.

After such a lovely conversation on my ride to work I realized that I still was feeling good (as in, not queasy) and thanked the Lord for that and my aunt's call. Since then, the day has been fairly uneventful as I've had an abundance of energy (which is abnormal) and been able to get much done. The next little thing came when I was supposed to be taking my lunch but working through it because food didn't sound pleasant. At about 12:20 someone came in with Chinese food and it smelled SO good. Unfortunately, I needed to be at the front desk answering phones at 12:30 and didn't have time to go get food. Chagrinned, I came downstairs to relieve Kelly from her phone duties thinking maybe I might convince her to stay a few minutes longer so I could run and get food. Here's how the exchange went:

Amy (carrying a bunch of papers and work to do at the front desk): Are you ready, Kelly?
Kelly: Oh! I'm so sorry! It smells a lot like Chinese food! I don't want to make you sick!
Amy: No worries, I've REALLY been craving it since Alicia brought it upstairs.
Kelly: Really?? Do you want some of mine? They gave me WAY too much!
Amy: YES!!! I would LOVE some!!! You just made my day!
Kelly: Okay, just take this (handing me her to-go box FULL of chow mein) to the kitchen and get a plate and take what you want. Thanks! I thought I was going to have to throw a bunch away!
Amy: Kelly, you are my best friend right now. Seriously. I'm so excited for this chow mein.

I know, I'm a huge dork. But I walked away thinking I have nothing to fear because my God will take care of me... Even when I don't think it's "important" enough to ask. Yeah, it's been a good day all because of the little things...

Knowing God

I'm finally reading a book I've always wanted to read. That book is J.I. Packer's Knowing God. I'm reading for my Theology I class and it has already proven in the first several pages why it is a modern classic. Today, I found this warning especially helpful:

If we pursue theological knowledge for its own sake, it is bound to go bad on us. It will make us proud and conceited. The very greatness of the subject matter will intoxicate us, and we shall come to think of our interest in it and grasp of it; and we shall look down on those whose theological ideas seem to us crude and inadequate and dismiss them as very poor specimens.

May we all take heed.

A Day With Mark

On Friday, September 11, I spent the latter half of my day with our Senior Pastor's son Mark. Mark's mom - Susie - was with the women of our church (including Amy) at the women's retreat, and Pastor Ron was attending to the needs of a grieving family that had just lost a husband, father, grandfather, et al. So I volunteered to hang out with Mark and we had a great day going to Corona Del Mar and playing at the beach, and then heading back to Garden Grove to play on a playground. Check out the pictures here.