Saturday, September 7, 2013

Mat.10:28 And fear not them which kill the body...

August is past, and September is upon us once again. Soon the 15th will be here, and we will not be practicing any more marches, twirling of batons, pom pom waving, carrying flags, etc.  Surely academia falters during this time. This next week, there will be no lessons at all, just practice, practice, and more practice!

I had forgotten how little boys act when they see a puddle of water, or a limb within arms length! Not to mention a pile of cow or horse manure that just has to have rocks thrown into it.  The scripture of long suffering and patience has been my constant companion these past couple of weeks. Walking behind a group of 30 some boys ranging from the 1st to 9th grades can be a testing to say the least.  And there are always two or three that just has to do what they have been told not to do-are you really seeing me and watching what I'm doing when you said not to do that?  And then some things I learned in my classes about behavior came back to me. Negative attention is better than no attention at all.  I thought  Lord you must surely be kidding me. Not! I need to see these boys the same way he sees them. That's my prayer!  And I do feel for the little guys.  Two hours plus is a long time for them. It's hot and at times very boring, even for us adults. 

I  have been reading the A.D. Chronicles by Bodie and Brock Thoene that I borrowed from Becky.  They are great stories, and they make Jesus come alive as I've never experienced before.  They also cause you to think about your own relationship with him.  Do you really believe he will do what he says in his word, especially since he is the Word? And if you do, do you realize that you will be different from most people that attend church with you?  These are questions that I ask myself.  It's not enough to believe that he is God, even the devils believe that, and they tremble at his word. And they tremble because they know it's truth. God is not a man that he should lie.  Do we tremble at his word?  Is he the only thing that we fear?  I remember when my youngest daughter was really mad at me for something when she was probably a teenager.  I don't even know now what it was.  But anyway she told me that she had told a friend and her friend said she needed to "tell on me."  Penny told her that there was no one to tell because the only person I was afraid of was God! I was shocked! I remember saying,"Penny"! She said, "Well, it's true."  I don't have the kind of fear that makes me afraid to go to God.  In fact, it's just the opposite. I'm afraid not to go to him! He's the only one that can deliver me from myself and sin. He's the one that whispers to me and shows me things that need to be changed in my life. Things he knows-things I don't see, that perhaps others do. Things that only he can change by his Spirit that lives in me. Things I want changed but that's impossible to do by my own self.  God has forgiven me and delivered me from so much in my life.  When I first asked him to come into my life, it was because I didn't want to go to hell. I didn't LOVE him, because I really didn't KNOW him.  I believed he was who he is, but I didn't know him.  I became religious.  But he LOVED me.  He KNEW me! And through all the sin and mistakes, He never left me. And He gave me the desire to KNOW him, and slowly but surely I have come to know my Savior. Totally and completely? No, but through each trial and difficulty, and when he gives me understanding of something that I read in his word, I learn and know him more. He has given me a peace that is beyond description. I know he will NEVER leave nor forsake me. Where I am, He is, because his Holy Spirit is in me.  

We live in a dangerous world, and it is not going to get better until Jesus returns. I know that's true because it's what Paul told Timothy, and when Jesus was telling the disciples about the end times, he told them not to let their hearts be troubled because all these things had to happen.  A couple of weeks ago on a Sunday morning, I saw Will looking in my bedroom window again. So unlike him, with his nose pressed against the window and hands cupped around his face. I went to the door and said loud enough for him to hear, "Wil, what do you need?" I went outside to see him. Well, he was trying to see me, because someone had broken into my house the night before! The bedroom that was broken into used to open into my hallway, but while I was in Costa Rica, Mario had it closed off and open to the outside.  So whoever it was did not get into where I live. Praise God for his goodness because I didn't hear a thing. Becky said I can sleep through earthquakes, someone breaking into my house, etc. Well, what I can I say?  God protects and gives to his beloved sleep!  Whoever it was had cut the bottom portion of the screen and had crawled through the window without breaking it. And they had to be really small, because that window is not very big. So they took a small lamp, one sheet, a fan, and Will's radio that he always leaves outside and listens to when he is working here. Poor will! He was so scared for me. He told Mario he was so happy when he saw me. Bless his heart. So they proceeded to put the bars on the window that afternoon, the only one that didn't have them. So now all the rooms have bars over them. And Brownie, the daughter of Lobo, now sleeps at my door. They had her at the office in Tegucigalpa, but now she lives here. She's a German Shepherd and gorgeous.  She's so funny.  She hears the kids telling me good-bye when I get off the van, and she meets me at the gate with dog love talk!!  And I get kisses when I come through the gate.  Amazing, because I was never a dog lover. I guess God used Lobo to change that.  Thank you Lord.

So now, Penny and Steve will be here this Wednesday. I'm so excited. It's a great blessing to me when my kids come here. This will be the second one that has come to see mama!! And she will be here for my birthday.  Ye ha!!  Speaking of birthdays, my brother's is tomorrow.  I need to call him.

A couple of weeks ago we had a spiritual retreat here with just eleven of us including our area directors.  It was a wonderful time to spend with just the Lord. It was also good to get to know the missionary family that I didn't know very well, and to be able to visit with Pastor Bill and his wife who are now in the states most of the time. And our area directors, Jay andNancy. What a blessing they are to us.  thank you so much for a much needed time in God's presence with brothers and sisters in the Lord.