Spinning Plates

I have often visualized myself in life as the plate spinner. And there are weeks when it really gets to me....I vigorously spin the "homeschool plate" and the "housekeeping plate" is on the other side wobbling precariously, so I run to spin it and the "caring for (insert name of kiddo)" wobbles ... and so on...you get the picture. And you understand I'm sure. It's nerve wracking. Add to it that you feel (whether accurate or not) the expectations of others around you who only seem to see the plates that are wobbling, not the ones you've just spun, and it can become a situation riddling with people-pleasing fear and paralyzing anxiety.

So the other day this conversation ensued:
Me: "Jesus, I'm exhausted and weary! Please be my plate spinner - I am worn out!"

Him: "What if I have no intentions of spinning your plates? What if I have something completely different in mind? What if I want to take your plates down completely, set them on a great big banquet table and serve a filling, nourishing banquet to those around you - using each one of your plates?"

Me: "How is that even possible - I have absolutely no food to give, nothing to provide!"

Him: "I'm the Bread of Life. I am the Living Water. I am abundant life."

Enough said! :) I'm still not quite sure what all of that is supposed to look like, and I'm still not quite sure how NOT to spin my plates, how to rest and let Him take them down without breaking them, how to let Him prepare the banquet....but I can tell you, the idea of not being a plate spinner anymore sure fills me with a tremendous amount of hope!

The Ministry Plate

With the students being back from Moab, our regular schedule is under way.  That means all day Monday and Wednesday afternoons are spent at Timberline (I bring a huge basket of homework with me for Jenna) for Family Group Breakfast, All-Community Worship, and Covenant Group. The students have already heard some great teachers (both from Timberline as well as guest speakers). Our prayer is that God's Word would take deep root in their hearts!

The Home Plate
- Tuesdays are our weekdays at home and Thursdays for us are filled with Classical Conversations, both the morning program (Memory Work, science and art/music projects etc.), and the afternoon Grammar and Writing program that I'm tutoring. Jenna loves CC - it's the highlight of her homeschool day. (on the picture above - the kids' favorite thing to do after school is to play together out in the yard, and they include their baby sister for which Mom is very thankful as that enables me to cook dinner in peace and quiet- and we're also glad that the snow has held off so far!)

- we now officially have a toddler....she's been able to walk for quite some time but didn't care to do

so for a long time! :) (here are the girls studying their geography together! :)

- Thursday evenings are Celebrate Recovery nights right now and the training is well under way - there are already 20 people attending this leadership training and the hope is to open CR to the community in January.

- Reid has also felt impressed by the Lord to provide a Thanksgiving meal to needy families in the community and is in the midst of putting that together. The local community center is offering it's facility for free and he's working with some local food banks and rescue missions to see if the food can be provided also.

- Renovation on the living-room is well under way and the anticipation of what everything will look like when it's finished is worth living in a construction zone in the mean time.

- We praise the Lord that Ian's 2nd visa came in.  He is still in need of raising some support and we trust the Lord will confirm and provide the rest. His departure date is scheduled for November 11th and he's been working diligently to get ahead in his school work. You may have heard that a hurricane hit the orphanage - so their visit could look very differently from what they originally anticipated.

Well that's the news here! We'd love to hear from you and how the Lord has taught you to put your spinning plates down!

Hearts set on pilgrimage...or marathons! :)

It was a challenging day yesterday, but was winding down with an emotional teen and a tired and hungry 15 month old who has 4 molars coming in all at once. When Reid walked in the door I handed him the spatula and asked him to finish the beans and rice so I could just walk outside for a few minutes. He smiled understandingly! I was disappointed when I realized the sun had already set - sunsets these days have been breathtaking - but as I came around the corner I saw a huge, full, white moon rising over the continental divide, leaving a long glimmering reflection in the lake in front of me....and I took my first deep breath for the day I think! :)

I stood there a little bit, soaked in the view, talked with Jesus for a while about it all and headed back to the house. I thought wistfully how I wished I could live in peace and quiet like that all the time....and the Lord reminded me that was not His desire for me! :) The walk with Him was a drink of cold water in the midst of a marathon.  It doesn't enable me to run as though the marathon were a mere walk in the park, but it does enable me to keep running the marathon with Him. (Psalm 84:5 says it this way: - Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage).

Today's challenge from His Word came to me from Deut 13:3 - "for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." It's not one of those verses you want to post on Facebook to "encourage" everyone! :) Funny how we avoid those verses/passages....But the words that FB Meyer wrote in commentary encouraged me nonetheless - I'll post them at the bottom of this blog post.

At Timberline: All is quiet this week as the students and many of the staff have left for the annual trip

to Moab, UT.  It's kind of the trip that defines Bibleschool, in the sense that afterwards, we as a staff tend to have a good idea of what the year ahead will look like, which students are struggling perhaps more than others etc.

Please pray for the staff - many have yet to recover from the busy summer schedule and have jumped head long into Bibleschool in need of rest and encouragement from Jesus! Next week we will jump head-long into our regular weekly schedule of all-community worship, family group breakfast etc. (here are some pictures from our staff retreat this summer - our "normal" pose and our "crazy" pose. I always smile when I see our staff pictures - they are such dear and precious friends!)

At Home: Renovations on our living room and kitchen start tomorrow or Friday. Please pray that our landlord will still like our family when he is done! :) He has been very patient with some of the requests for changes we've asked for, in spite of His well thought-out plans etc.

We're still asking the Lord to provide about $1000 for Ian's upcoming trip in November.  We've already talked with the teachers and feel like we have some good plans in place to help him make the most out of his trip while also completing his schoolwork while he is traveling. My parents also still need to raise support for this trip.

Celebrate Recovery is well under way with the 4th meeting at Granby Assemblies of God Church and we're so thankful for the many people who have joined the leadership team and are going through the 12-Step process in preparation for launching the ministry in January. Reid is enjoying it tremendously (and also loving his weekly trips to the Denver Rescue Mission with the students from Timberline!). We've asked the Lord to use it in the way that most glorifies and honors Him and hope that it will be an encouragement and powerful outreach tool to many who are hurting and struggling in our community - those who know Jesus well and those who still need to know Him.

That's the latest here!

Here are a few thoughts from FB Meyer on Deut 13:3

How much of this happens to us for this reason! (Testing). God proves us - not that He may learn aught of us which He did not know before, but that He may reveal us to ourselves. We need to know ourselves, that we may be prompted to know and use His infinite resources and that we may be led to avail ourselves of His grace.

Let's avail ourselves of His boundless grace!!!

Love to all!
J

The right size?

Four kids.  That was always the perfect sized family to me.  After all that was how I grew up. A good even number. Four is what I had always hoped for. We were happy and content with three children and, after some loss, we were VERY surprised when Lillian made her appearance in 2013. 

And four was enough - any bigger than that was too big for our family....so I thought.  But in the back of my mind was always that nagging question "Will Lillian struggle being so much younger than her siblings? Will it be hard for her that Reid and I are older parents, not having any siblings her age to share that struggle?"  Still the thought of having more was daunting....and then the Lord surprised us by answering that question Himself.  So here we are....just got home from an ultrasound and heard the heartbeat loud and clear. April 13th is the due date (on a side note, that's a big snow month for us normally and we're a good 2 hours away from the hospital now that we've moved out to Grand Lake).

It seems that for our family, God thinks five kids is the perfect size. And we're ok with that! :)

Ian's Trip

In today's blog I'm going to post Ian's recent letter about his vision trip to India. If you have any questions, leave a comment below or send us an email or Facebook message and we'll get back with you.  Thanks so much for taking some time to learn about this opportunity that Ian has. We're excited for him and trust the Lord will provide if this is what He has for Ian!

 

Dear Family and Friends,

    This is Ian and I wanted to let you know that I have a big opportunity to go on a vision trip to India. Why is that so important? Here is an explanation of what I  am going to do there:

Well, for one thing, my parents brought our whole family into a missions ministry just about four years ago when we came out here to Colorado and joined the staff of Timberline. Timberline is a Bible school and outreach center that belongs to a network called Torchbearers International. And Torchbearers also has a center in the north of India that is also about evangelizing, discipling, and teaching people (of all ages), including, in this case, new converts from Hinduism -www.htbindia.org (for those of you at Winter Park Christian Church, the director of this center, Satish John, will be speaking at all three services next weekend! You won't want to miss it!).

My grandparents also worked with Torchbearers in Germany in the past, but the past several years, my grandfather has been the U.S. Director for another mission agency. ReachAcross, as it’s called, aims to bring the Gospel to unreached Muslims, and so last year my grandparents visited a mission* group in South India (Mercy Mission) in order to get to know some Muslim-background believers in Christ. Now they’ve been asked to go back and teach the Bible in both the North (Torchbearers) and the South (Mercy Mission). And there are other kinds of things that Indian believers are doing in both of these places. (www.mercymissionvzm.in/welcome.htm). Here is a video about Mercy Missions - even the first 4 min give you a good idea of the work they are doing.

I have the opportunity to travel with my grandparents and see what missions looks like in both of these places. There is an orphanage with kids my age at Mercy Mission where I can help, too. I might be able to speak in some of their English classes.  In fact my grandparents tell me that one never knows what they will end up asking me to do!  Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be challenging and stretching!   My grandparents tell me that most missionaries were challenged about their commitment to serve Jesus long before they finished high school, so I want to give God a chance to speak to me about that, too!   

I need to raise around $4,500 to cover plane tickets, train tickets, accommodations etc.  (update on 10/29/2014 - Ian still has about $350 left to raise at this time before he leaves on November 11th. Additionally, a typhoon hit the area where the orphanage is and has caused tremendous devastation. Any additional support given to help with relief work at Mercy Missions would be a tremendous blessing to this wonderful ministry!). If you feel led to support this trip, you can send gifts to Reach Across, PO Box 2047 Lexington S.C 29071-2047. You can include a separate note that the gift is for this upcoming trip.

I also am in great need of prayer support.  I need at least 20 regular prayer people who will pray for me and my parents as I will be gone for a while and they will be sad. Please pray that God will provide the funds and the visas and make it clear if He wants me to go on this trip . Please pray that I would have a safe trip and that I would learn a lot.  

Sincerly,

Ian

Relentless

Life at Timberline

Life here is in full swing. It's funny to write life at Timberline - because as I type this I'm 35 min away. But there are two loaves of banana cocoa bread baking in the oven in anticipation of Steph, Olivia, JP, and Dene arriving shortly for our first official covenant time together.  What a blessing that Steph offered to drive out here today (she didn't even know how much that would be an encouragement to me!).

On Monday the students had their mountain biking OESF (outdoor education and spiritual formation), and then got woken up at 2:00am for the surprise hike up Mt. Ida in the Rocky Mountain National Park.....one day I'd like to go with them.  But so far it hasn't been the season to do so.

We're looking forward to getting to know this group of students!

On a personal note:

Today's word ... Relentless. Today God has been relentless - yes, in His love....but also in His discipline and admonishment.  I'll be honest....it's not so much fun! :)

When is the last time you and I truly received, with gratitude, the discipline the Lord gives? The funny thing is...when we receive it - it gives life. His admonishment to me came today from Deuteronomy 3 - "Do not speak to me of this matter again, " and  2. Cor 12:9 --My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness..... "

and FB Meyer's devotional from Our Daily Homily on Deut 3:

"But have you not realized at times that God has said about some earthly boon you were craving?-'' Child, do not ask Me more, leave it with Me. I know what you want, and what is best for you. Seek first My kingdom, and all these things, literally or in their equivalent, shall be added." It is well when we have been praying eagerly, to allow God's winnowing-fan to pass over our petitions, to winnow away all that is not in His mind to give; so that only those desires may remain which His Spirit has indicted, and which He is therefore pledged to bestow. If He does not give the exact thing you ask, He will give the Pisgah view and more grace. He will say to you, as to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

Start of the Bibleschool Year

There are a bunch of excited and nervous students running around Fraser and Timberline as I type this. The kids and I will be heading over to TL after school and then the parents will be asked to be off campus as we have our first supper together with family introductions etc. and then first student/staff gathering this evening.  This week and next week is filled with activities as the students learn to adjust to Timberline, it's schedule and it's culture.  And of course, as a group, they will form their own culture as well.

As a staff we met yesterday and prayed for the school year, for all the activities and trips and outreaches, for staff and student relationships and most of all - that every student that comes would grow in their personal relationship with Jesus!

At Home:
We're adjusting to a new normal and with that come stressors that we have to work through. We're thankful to finally only be in one place - but it is still filled with boxes that we have not had time to unpack.  There are two items in particular that we are missing (one of our kids school binders and a bank card that came in the mail) that I've had to battle over not worrying about! In the mean time there are also a bunch of additional errands to run and trying to fit in Jenna's homeschool day in the midst of it all while coordinating Lillian's nap time with meetings and errands and school pick up times has sent me over the edge more often than I'd care to admit.  But I hope that we can figure out this new routine before too long and am thankful for the quiet hours that the Lord provides. (As I type this Jenna is quietly playing a little game with Lillian - so precious watching the two of them laugh and enjoy each other!). Since the older two are in school I don't have any fresh pictures of them as these were taken yesterday during our homeschool hours.

Alrighty - off to the next thing! :)

Conversations with Jesus

The conversation went something like this....

Me (to myself, worrying at night in the dark): "I really don't know how best to spend my time these next few days....do I drive to TL and clean the house, do I stay here and focus on unpacking, homeschooling, preparing CC etc. etc." and worry, worry, worry...more and more anxious thoughts crashing over me.

In the middle of all this, clear words enter my mind: "Why don't you ask Me what you should do tomorrow? And the next day. And the day after that. Don't you think I know best what I want to accomplish through you?"

And all of a sudden everything shifts into perspective and all the anxiety and all my worries completely dissipate. "Lord, what do you want me to do tomorrow?"

And with a few simple sentences back and forth, He clarified what the next few days needed to look like, ..... and that was it.

He is real, He is in communication with us, He knows our concerns, worries and anxieties - and He also has the answers. Why not just take it to Him in prayer?

Timberline:
These last few days have been crazy - we're so thankful for the many friends who stepped in and have helped pack and move heavy furniture or cooked a meal or prepared lunch! What a blessing you all have been! We CANNOT say Thank-You enough! 

One of the reasons we wanted to get moved this past weekend (finishing up this week with cleaning etc.) is because Bibleschool starts next Wednesday! And those first few weeks are crazy! Pray for the students as they prepare to leave their homes and all that's familiar - and also for parents as many of them say good-bye for the first time to their young adults. We're looking forward to building the relationships the Lord gives this year and we want to ask Him "Lord what do you want this day to look like? What do you want to accomplish today through me? That's what I want to be busy about today!"