The Old and the New...

It’s been another year of learning and growing through both joyful and painful times. I’ve been blessed to walk through both with some dear friends, as we’ve seen and had to trust the Lord to provide, guide, hold and carry. And of course, He has. I’ve also read and spent time meditating on Scripture and absorbing various other books. And finally, at the prompting of the Lord, my own self, and others, I’ve revisited my “goals” for the year past and the year to come. I’ll gather my thoughts on these a little better and post soon…

I look forward to a little down time over the next few days to reminisce over the enjoyable Christmas vacation trip, the happiness of friends engaged, newly pregnant, and newly or re- connected.

As we ring in the New Year, I hope you are taking time to do the same. Because the Lord is Emmanuel, He is God with us, In us and For us…He has come, Is here, and Is coming again….to make all things new.

Let the new year be a reminder that someday (soon, I pray), the Lord will return, to the sound of celebrating and ringing, to come and claim His own.

Are you One of His?

Happy New Year, be blessed!
K

The Test of Time

It's interesting how God seems to teach me things by "theme." What I mean by that is, a thought or concept will come up repeatedly in my life until I can put two and two together and actually learn from it. My friend Liz, who happens to be a missionary to Romania and I met on my mission trip this summer, sent me an email with a link to a sermon by Josh Harris (pastor and author). He entitled it "Self-Control in a Wired World" and went on to emphasize the draw and drain on our time that such things as television, email, twitter, facebook, online war-games, and yes, even blogging can be. It was a convicting thought in the face of the growing isolation, depression, and spiritual bankruptcy we are experiencing as a society.

He didn't condemn these things in and of themselves. And neither would I, per se. I understand all too well the longing to disengage my brain after a long day or few days at work. It's totally understandable to just need a break occasionally and to venture off into the world of "other." However, if you do this more often than not, and especially if you are a Christian, eventually you find yourself feeling an emptiness you just can't seem to put your finger on.

As we repeatedly peer into the lives of others (whether real--emails, blogs, Facebook, etc--or make believe--tv, internet games, etc), we are left with a subtle void and find ourselves feel provoked to jealousy, envy, sadness, depression, hopelessness, or pain at seeing the party pictures, travels, relationship stories, 'mountiantop' experiences, possesions, accomplishments or promotions of others.

Why, if we are left feeling these strongly negative emotions towards people we hardly (or don't) keep in touch with...things which scripture encourages us and URGES us (in Galations 5, Colossians 3, 2Timothy 2-3 to name a few places...) to set aside, do we really believe this is "relaxation" or escape, or by any means profitable for eternity?????????????

There are so many ways our time could be better spent.

Lately, the Lord has been reminding me over and over again something I learned a few years ago. It started with a Beth Moore bible study that encouraged us to start praying scripture. Novel? Why, actually, yes! To me, it was. But when you stop and think about it even for a second, it seems so logical...so, well, like...'duh.'

I love what she says in her book, Praying God's Word Day by Day, though. What is the best way to know you are praying God's will for your life, your loved ones, and your situations? How do you fight strongholds and gain self-control over struggles? How do you find joy in the midst of loneliness, sadness, death? By praying the very words of scripture. Praying God's words back to Him! And how do we know what to pray? Well, we have to actually READ and UNDERSTAND God's Words. I love her quote, "Beloved, you will never waste time in God's Word."

I've starting applying this in my prayer life over the course of this year through some very high and very low situations. It is so comforting to KNOW that you are praying according to God's will and purpose, and with confidence (Hebrews 10:19-25)! It's been challenging to spend time actually understanding scripture so as to pray it over areas in my life. It takes time.

Time I sometimes waste in front of my computer.

I want to encourage you to walk away from your computer at the end of a long day. Curl up on the couch or in your bed with the #1 Bestseller of all time, The Holy Bible. I pray that you would see for yourself how your life can be "filled up to all the fullness of God" as you are "strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you being rooted and grounded in love may comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge," because He is able "to do exceedingly abundantly beyond what we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in all the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."!
(Ephesians 3:14-21)

The Next Best Thing...

While I've always joked that I am the gold medalist of one-armed picture-taking, I now think I would also take the gold in having the most unfinished photo albums. I ventured into the wide world of Creative Memories at that tender high school age when the naive and the idealist collide and you feel like you will be 80 years old, looking through years of beautifully crafted pages of happy memories and fun trips.

Wrong.

Until today, I would have turned 80 and the picture record would still be stuck somewhere in 2003. However, as I've learned from years of psychology, you can't go backward, you can only go forward...you eat an elephant one bite at a time...start small...make little goals and mark them off as you go...etc. etc. etc.

Well, I'm not very motivated by all the small talk, it seems. I am, however, powerfully motivated by jealousy. Ha! Thanks to my sweet and very organized friend Ashley, who has beautiful bound photo albums from EVERY TRIP she's been on and also a HUGE hand-prepared scrap book of her first-born son, Nathan's first year, I was moved to get busy!

Ashley told me of a few websites to try such as Snapfish or MyPublisher. I had tried Snapfish in the past but didn't get far at all. I got discouraged and gave up. But MyPublisher is a downloadable program that you can work on at your own pace. One year after the fact, I decided to try my hand at this "online" photo album by memorializing a super fun girls trip to Chicago (to celebrate a birthday, see the city, and go to WICKED!) in October of '08.

So although it only took me a day to complete, this program from MyPublisher was slow, didn't have as many layout options as I was hoping, and was a little tricky to navigate at times. Not only that, but it ended up costing a pretty penny, as they only throw in expensive FedEx shipping options! Urgh.

But, I finished! I made an entire album of a trip in a day! Okay, so now, I have several other trips that need to materialize into albums instead of just a file folder on my computer. And I have the bug...of accomplishment...which is powerful...and so...I sought out another program and decided I'd try my hand at yet another album!

I downloaded Picaboo (Picassa Web Albums version of an online photobook). Clever name, and clever program! This program was quick, had several fun background options, made much more sense, and was good bit cheaper (with coupon codes). I finished my entire Romania Medical Mission trip album in just a few hours, and this album had much more of a journal feel as I had a ton to write about!! They layout options were perfect and the program was so much easier to navigate.

WOW! Two photobooks in two days!!! I'm on a roll....

But wait.

I need to be patient and wait for the finished product before I pour more money into this. Wisdom. I need to be wise! So...I will wait for the books to arrive and see what kind of quality they offer before proceeding with the China trip, the high school girls reunion beach trip, etc etc etc....

Just thought I'd share my fun accomplishments!

Quiet and Complete

So, there has been a theme in the past week that the Lord keeps sending my way as I read the Bible (Colossians), as I lift up my requests in prayer to the Lord, as I talk with my friends and as we encourage each other in our singleness. It is this: Colossians 2:10 and a commentary to follow:

"And you are complete in Christ" - 'It is a wonderful thing to be made whole and full. This means we can stop searching for identity and self-worth in the elemental and base philosophies of the world. Our future is sure in Christ because no longer are we incomplete creatures, helpless in face of an unseen destiny. Jesus Christ is the head over every power and authority, and He is more powerful than sorrow, gloom, fear, insecurity, and the need for approval.' ~Marie Chapian, Women's Devotional Bible, NIV.

We are filled.

We are complete in Him.

There are many instances lately where I do not feel filled. I care about my job and I am very thankful for it. But it does not fill me. I am thankful for my church family, but am not as connected as I have been in the past in others I've been a part of. I have close friends, but I do not have "the friend that sticks closer than a brother" currently. And lastly, often, I do not feel complete, as I am single and I am not currently dating anyone. That last line is code for: I get lonely.

As I meet with my friends to talk, quite a few have the same type of assessment of their own lives. And at times, thankfully different times, we can each get distracted or even discouraged by our longing for...something more. For a change.

But the Lord is teaching me this week, especially, that it's in those times, Scripture speaks loudly to those who are in Christ. We ARE complete. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. We have everything we need for life and godliness. We are deeply loved. We are fully known. He walks beside us, dwells within us, carries us, gives us wisdom, lights our path, lightens our load, shoulders our burdens, gives life to our mortal bodies, and takes our place in death. (I have the scripture references for all of these..if you'd like)

What more could we possibly need?

It is a deep comfort, a great joy and pleasant peace to know Him. And to be known by Him.

I have had some sweet and comforting encouragement by my friends these past two days. I have also been exposed to this verse a few different times this week: Zephaniah 3:17. "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

I love it when God repeats a verse to me through random, seemingly unrelated situations. He knows what I need and He always provides.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds...Encourage one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near..." Heb. 10:23-25

Quieted by His love and faithfulness,
K

Humbled and Amazed...

Hello!!

I got back from Romania Sunday evening and was swept away in the current of the working world before I had time to decompress (let alone unpack!). I've put in close to 60 hours this week which, on top of difficulty sleeping through the night for the first few days, left me little time to process everything I experienced in Iasi (YAhsh). Thankfully, I had the chance to relive each day through journaling on the international flight home!



As we drove each day to our villages where we would hold our medical clinics, we were delighted by the beauty of the surrounding countryside. Rows on end of happy sunflowers and corn fields! There are rolling hills very similar to Birmingham, and the weather was similar all week as well...hot!

I started this trip more out of obedience than desire. I didn't know my teammates, we didn't find a doctor until the last minute...and I was worried about communications issues because they were going to be Romanian. Doing medical screenings is out of my comfort zone as a surgery PA, and on and on... I really just gave up all expectations, and trusted the Lord to do whatever He wanted. I was going to go. And I prayed it would go okay.

HAHAHA. Wow, talk about how stupid I can be! From day one, the Lord made it quite clear that this trip was going to show His glory and put me in my place.



Our team headed to First Baptist Church Iasi on Sunday morning, where we were ushered to the front rows of the sanctuary. They were finishing up bible study so we inturrupted, and couldn't understand a thing. In just a few minutes, a girl my age came from the other side of the church, sat behind me and tapped my shoulder, asking if I would like her to translate the service! We were introduced as a team and invited to sing a song up on stage (I was warned the night before and had brought my guitar. I picked "Here I Am to Worship" because everyone on my team knew it). The youth were in the choir loft behind us because they had just come from traveling on a choir tour, and as I began playing and we started to sing, they immediately joined in behind us ...in Romanian. Someone jumped on the piano and started accompanying as well. All together, in English and Romanian, with a guitar and piano, we sang praise and worship to the Lord...it was quite the moment.

As if that wasn't enough to put me in my place, the girl who sat behind me (her name is Miha) was also introduced as a visitor and got up to give a slideshow presentation of the people she is reaching in E. Asia. As I watched, it was all too familiar. When she sat down, I told her I had a friend working with the same people and mentioned her city that I had visited last summer. Miha's eyes got big and she said, "That is my city, what is her name???" I told her my friends' name and she not only knows her, they are very dear friends! Incredible. She just so 'happened' to be visiting the church on this day (she is Romanian and actually lives two hours away but came back to visit this church because she became a believer there in college), 'happened' to sit behind me, and 'happened' to live in the same city in E. Asia where my good friend lives that I went to visit last summer. Only God....

She was able to come back to our hotel with the Pastor and his family for lunch. We were able to share more of our stories and our mutual friendship. And I now have a new friend!


And this was just the first half of the first day...

K

Ridiculously Short update...But...

Hi~ I'm checking this from Bucharest, Romania!!

We just left Iasi, Romania and I cried for 30 minutes because I became surprisingly close with my 21 yo translator, Laura, and the Pastors wife, Denise. I met Pastor Florin and Denise and their 3 children, David (16), Andrew(11), and Estera (7) and have been amazed at how their WHOLE family serves Jesus Christ and shares the TRUTH of the gospel in such a dark country. I have had some amazing experiences this week and I've never felt so much like family with anyone in such a short amount of time as I have with Laura and Denise. These Christians have so much struggle for Truth in such dark blackness of Orthodox religion. It blankets the country with such a heaviness...and yet the Christian Evangelicals are strong in faith and passionate in missions...it's utterly amazing. I'm speechless.

I will blog more about the specific amazing stories from my trip when I get home. For now, I still can't get my head around this trip...it may take a while.

I get back in the states Sunday night. Please pray for our safe travel...

And we are bringing a young Romanian guy, Raoul (21) back to the states for his first time. He's studying to be a worship pastor and will be spending time at the church of Brookhills and with some friends in SC and CA. Pray for him...he has a lot of adjustments up ahead!!

With Love and Brokenness,
Karen

My heart in my hands

So, I leave in less than three days for another country, where I will be stepping into a completely different culture with a rich, deep and dark history, in an attempt to communicate the love of Jesus Christ through my hands in the form of daily medical clinics in rural towns outside of Iasi. I feel rather unprepared.

As a team, in preparation for the trip, we are going through a personal prayer journal called "ignite3 your prayer life" by Jim and Kaye Johns. They are e3 missionaries that have printed some simple prep materials for the e3 teams. This journal uses the five fingers of our hand to walk through the Lord's prayer, ascribing an WORD to each finger to accompany the principles taught by Jesus in this model prayer from Matthew 6:
"Our Father...(v9)" - our palm, as RELATIONSHIP
"hallowed by Your Name..." - our thumb, as WORSHIP
"Your kingdom come, Your will be done..." - our pointer, as SURRENDER of our lives to Him.
"Give us this day..." our long, as ASK for God to meet our needs.
"Forgive us..." - our ring, as CONFESS our sins daily to Jesus.
"Deliver us from the evil one..." - our small, for PROTECTION.
"for Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen." - returning to the palm in WORSHIP.

At first, I felt it pretty basic. But as I continue to work through the daily devotions on each page, I am being challenged, humbled, and encouraged to truly evaluate my heart.

- page 5 "As we begin, let us recognize that active service for God is not the same thing as spiritual intimacy. Empowered service...is the result of an intimate walk with God, not the cause."
- page 11 "Name some of the ways you want to yield your mind, heart, will, attitude, dreams and goals to God in surrender." Ephesians 4:22-24
- page 16 "Need to forgive: We are to ask God to forgive us as we forgive others."
Does anyone come to mind? Do you have anger, resentment or grudges? Ask For His grace and strength to forgive unconditionally..." Ephesians 4:26-27,32

And finally, pages 28,29, is where I'm camping out:

- "We must all grow in our understanding of the faithfulness of God to find the persistence and boldness to continue in prayer-sometimes for years-without giving up. Jesus said we must not give up (Luke 18:1)
- "God honors obedience (1 John 3:21-22) The apostle John makes it clear that we cannot separate the lifestyle we live from the prayers we pray. This does not mean we have to live perfect lives, but obedient lives - confessing our sins so that our prayers are not hindered. (James 5:16)


I'm thankful for the time to prepare my heart to serve. I'm excited though apprehensive because of the element of the unknown. I'm looking forward to seeing the light of the Truth of the Gospel Message break through the darkness of a post-communist country to bring New Life in Christ to those who had no hope (Ephesians 2:11-13).

Thanks for your prayers!