New Year = ?

Happy belated New Year!

Don't you hate when you have a whole thing planned about what you're going to write, and then you go off to work or shopping, and you come back and can't remember it?

Me, too.

So, what have I been up to lately? Well, the production of The Twelve Voice of Christmas that we did at my church went really well. I've been studying more about Mary since that night, and I have to say, she's an inspiring lady. I'm thinking of starting a(nother) book. That would make seven in the works. I really need to finish one someday.

Christmas was pretty good when you don't think about the kidney stone I had, the lack of family I visited, and the hours I worked. BUT, to counteract that, I was on vicodin for a few days, I saw my family after Christmas, and I get paid by the hour. So I guess everything worked out in the end.

In case you haven't remembered, 2010 is a census year, and I applied a couple of weeks ago to be an enumerator. As it turns out, I may get an even better job, so be praying that it works out. Hallmark is being very supportive about giving me time off to train. The census job is a short one, but I could really use the extra money.

In other news, my birthday is on Saturday. I have received many lovely birthday cards from people, and I think it's going to be a good day. If only I could stop feeling so old...

My parents are currently in Honduras winding down General Conference for the UB Church. I may be working on a project related to that when they get back, about which I'm very excited.

If it sounds like I'm pretty busy now, I am, which is good, because I hate sitting around the house with nothing to do. That's probably why this blog never gets updated. I'm never in one place long enough. But this is my break between work and teaching the kiddies at church tonight, so I'm making the most of it.

I hope you all received your New Year's card and update from me. If you didn't, let me know so I can get you on my list.

Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.

Luke 1

²⁶In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

³⁴"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

³⁵The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^{c]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[c]} the Son of God. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷For nothing is impossible with God."

³⁸"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

I've been thinking a lot about Mary lately. The Bible doesn't give a lot of commentary on what was going through her mind, but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say she was more than a little freaked out. I'm playing Mary in our church's Christmas production called The Twelve Voices of Christmas. Mary is the voice of wonder, and as I read more about her, I have to say I agree with the assessment. Having never been pregnant, I can't understand all of it, but what I do get makes me admire her all the more. I like that she didn't protest, just wondered at the mechanics of it and then said "Okay, God, I trust that you know what you're doing."

Kinda puts things in perspective...

I've been on an internet fast.

Before you praise/chastise me, know this: it wasn't entirely by choice. The internet at the house was down, and I decided to see if it was possible to live without the world wide web. Surprisingly, it is, but I'm not going to tell you it was easy. I can't tell you how many times I went to Google something only to remember I couldn't.

Quite a bit has happened over the last month. As a result of a meeting with Global Ministries staff and two fellow missionaries in early November, I have created an Advocacy/Support/Friend group comprised of six people, each of whom has played a role along the journey to this point. They are all good at giving me their opinions and advice and ideas, and though we haven't really decided what this will mean in the long run, they are all incredibly supportive.

I spoke at two different churches this month. On November 8, I was at Victory Chapel in Liberty Center, OH and on November 15, I was at Stryker UB in Stryker, OH. It was nice to be back in my home state, and especially lovely to speak with several people I've known since I was much younger.

I am pleased to report that as a result of some very generous donations, I have reached 50% of my needed support. In July 2010, I will be able to attend CROSS-Training at OMS - three weeks of field prep and seminars. I'm praying that I will be ready to move into the compound at Greenwood soon after, and begin traveling.

I am excited to see what the next year brings. I pray that when the time comes, I am ready.

Shalom.

I Timothy 1

¹²I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. ¹³Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. ¹⁴The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. ¹⁷Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Come Quickly, Lord

Revelation 21

The New Jerusalem

¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new! Then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.

⁶ He said to me: It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.

⁷ He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

1Now of the things of which we have spoken, this is the sum: We have such a High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
2a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man.
3For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore it is of necessity that this Man have something also to offer.
4For if He were on earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests who offer gifts according to the law,
5and who serve unto the copy and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished by God when he was about to make the tabernacle. For,"See," saith He, "that thou make all things according to the pattern shown to thee on the mount."
6But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
7For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8For finding fault with them, He saith, "Behold, the days come," saith the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah--
9not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people.
11And they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, `Know the Lord,' for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.
12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."
13In that He saith "a new covenant," He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8, 21st Century King James Version)

17-18God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love. (1 John 4:18, The Message)