A Day to be Thankful

This year I am going to be celebrating Thanksgiving in another country, one I've never been to before. I am going to Prague, Czech Republic to spend a few days with some new friends that I met at the conference in New York this past summer. They are working at the MK school there. Thanks to airline miles and the hospitality of these dear friends, I can travel with minimal cost. Now there's something to be thankful for!

I hope your hearts are full of thanks to our Great God for all that He has done. Here are a few verses to get you in the spirit. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Psalm 69:30 -I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 95:2 -Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Psalm 100:4 -Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
Jeremiah 30:19 -From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honor, and they will not be disdained.
2 Corinthians 9:11 -You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
Philippians 4:6 -Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
2 Corinthians 4:15 - All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

International Baptism

I have been attending an English-speaking church lately. It's in Madrid and it's congregation is representative of over 29 nations (or is it 39?). Last Sunday they had a baptism service. Four people were baptized - one Nigerian, one Asian-American and two Koreans. Attending that church is a little taste of what I believe heaven will be like.

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. (Rev. 7:9)

What a glorious day that will be!

Things I miss...

People are always asking me about the things I miss. Of course, at the top of my list are my children. At times of extreme homesickness (like now) I miss them even more. But there are other things I miss as well...

my home church...

my favorite restaurants (this is only one of them)...

walking into my favorite bookstore (where all the books are in English!)...

Colorado Aspens in the fall...

good Mexican food...

and friends who have known me for years and years and share a long history with me. There's nothing that can take the place of that.

Field Retreat

Our field retreat was two weekends ago. It was held this year in Malaga, a town on the southern coast of Spain, where two of our "units" are serving. We had a great time together and spent quite a bit of time sightseeing. We toured the office of our teammates and the community center where they reach out to non-believers through language classes, computer classes and cooking classes. We visited the beach twice, climbed around in the rocky hills nearby, strolled through downtown Malaga and explored a cave very near the beach. Here are a few photos -

The monastery where we stayed.

The cathedral in Malaga.

The rocky hills of Torcal

The cave of Nerja

Sunset at Nerja

Crazy Love

I've been reading through this book and thought I would share some of my favorite quotes with you...

"R.C. Sproul writes, 'Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God'."

"In our world, where hundreds of things distract us from God, we have to intentionally and consistently remind ourselves of Him."

"When I am consumed by my problems--stressed out about my life, my family, and my job--I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a 'right' to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities."

"Basically, these two behaviors [worry and stress] communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that we've been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won't be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God's strength, our problems are small, indeed. Why are we so quick to forget God? Who do we think we are?"

"So many of us think and live like the movie of life is all about us."

"The point of your life is to point to Him. Whatever you are doing, God wants to be glorified, because this whole thing is His. It is His movie, His world, His gift."

"The irony is that while God doesn't need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don't really want Him most of the time. He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him--and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by."

"So there is an incalculable, faultless, eternal god who loves the frail beings He made with a crazy kind of love. Even though we could die at any moment and generally think our puny lives are pretty sweet compared to loving Him, He persists in loving us with unending, outrageous love."

I could probably also include most of the chapter about Lukewarm People. Boy, was that convicting.

I'm only up to chapter five (I confess that I read way too much fiction compared to non-fiction. I'm trying to do better.) I've set myself a goal to finish the book before Thanksgiving. Feel free to hold me accountable and pray that God truly speaks to my heart through Chan's words.