Frankie

So, as some of you may know I was supposed to decide by March 1 if I wanted to return to the States or if I want to stay another year in Nicaragua. As far as a list of pros and cons go, they are pretty balanced on both sides...but I want to introduce you to the thing that tips the scale. Frankie is 3 and just the light of my life...I didn't know I was capable of loving another human being as much as I love him! He's a bit cranky at times, but most of the time a typical 3 year old little man. He loves to read, snuggle, play outside, swim, and EAT!!! We've had a few slumber parties at my house this year, and I'm not sure who loves it more. He gets really spoiled and I gets LOADS of hugs and kisses. We were snuggling up one morning, and I wish I had a rewind button because I swear he said "Mama, I love you" as he was pinching my nose to get me to wake up. Needless to say, it worked as I had tears rolling down my face.

I could say so much more, but I just wanted to "introduce" you all to him. We LOVE visitors and would love to have you come visit us!

The Good and Beautiful God

I just finished a great book and want to share some of the encouraging things that I've just read. IF you're looking for a simple book revealing the wonderful truths about our God, I encourage you to pick this one up.

The main point of this book is to encourage you to fall in love with the God that Jesus knows...a revelation from the Son's perspective. The New Testament reveals God as Jesus experienced Him in His earthly life.

1. God is good

Jesus tells us in Matthew 19:17 that "There is only one who is good." God LOVES us and will give us good that is not dependant upon our behavior. Just as sunshine and rain are given equally to saints and sinners with no distinction, so God gives blessings to all without regard to behavior. The author also explained how Jesus beleives in this goodness even when our circumstances are too grim to believe. He (Jesus) believes for me. He beleives even when I cannot. He prays even when I cannot. I participate in HIS (Jesus') faith. God's goodness is vast and consuming, we must only accept it.

2. God is trustworthy

The God Jesus reveals would never do anything to harm us. He has no malice or evil intentions. He is completely good. And that fact that God is all-knowing and all-powerful makes his goodness even better. Jesus became human so he could know all of our trials and temptations as a human, and even in all those times he put all his trust in the Father, we must simply do the same. God is present. God is pure. God is powerful. God provides. Our Father pardons. God longs to protect us. When Jesus was in the garden, pleaing with his Father to "take the cup" we share in that prayer. A cup is anything in our lives that we are given that makes us want to question God's goodness. The thing to remember is that He is out for our good, no matter what situation he puts in our path.

3.God is generous

Jesus reveals a God who does not demand, but who gives. His resources are never exhausted and God is moved with compassion because he sees our needs. God wants you to know and love Him. God hates sin because it hurts his children, and he is CRAZY about us! He doesn't always give us what we WANT, but He does always give us what we NEED.

4. God is love

God looks are us with compassion, even when we have done the very worst to God we could possible do. God, it appears, is very fond of sinners. Not their sin. He loves us with grace, and the problem is that we don't like grace. It seems unfair, because God is gracious to all. It smacks against our performance-based-acceptance narrative. The point is that only one thing seperates us from God, and it is not our sin. It is our self-righteousness. Our self-righteouness does not turn God from us, but us from God.

5. God is holy

God is holy and just. The wrath of God is not a crazed rage but rather a consistent opposition to sin and evil. God's wrath is mindful, objective, rational response; it is an act of love. Wrath is not a permanent attribute of God. Love and holiness are part of his essential nature, wrath is contingent upon human sin. Wrath is God's holy act towards sin. Wrath is what humans experience when they reject God, it is a part of our free choice. I want a God that hates anything that hurts me. God cares deeply about sin because it destroys his precious children; God longs for holiness in us because it is the way to wholeness. God's first and last word is always grace.

6. God is self-scarificing

Maybe vulnerability is true strength. Maybe sacrificing yourself for the good of another is not a sign of weakness but is the greatest power the world ever knows. The glory of God himself lies in self-giving. The cross is God's way of doing all he could do for us, yet we still doubt His love for us. Our weakness prevents us from being able to forgive. Our fear keeps up from surrender and sacrifice. Jesus did not have to die, Jesus chose to die.

7. God transforms

God not only wants us to be reconciled, he wants to transform us. He not only took away the guilt of of sin, but also the power of sin. Those who are Christ-followers not only recieve the merit of his work on the cross but actually participate , by faiht, in the crucifixion. God is no longer dealing with you on the basis of sin. You are forgiven forever. You are also a completely new creation. You are one in whom Christ dwells. Your glory is not in what you do, but in who you are.

Transformation takes time, we are not changed over night. But the promises of God that Jesus revealed happen in us when we decide to want to get to know the Good and Beautiful God.

Miracles

How do you define a miracle? Some of us see it as a huge event in our lives, others of us take in every moment as a miracle. I'm not going to tell you what is or what is not a miracle, but I want to share my miracle from my trip to Honduras.

When Sandy asked us if we were willing to go to a local home and pray, I thought "Well, how hard can this be?" So, we loaded the bus and were on our way.
Veronica, the mother of the family has recently had surgery to remove both of her legs due to serious health complications. On February 11, a Hondruas doctor told her she had 5-6 hours to live. We went to the house on the 12th of February. I was not prepared for what I saw. We walked in to her tiny bedroom full of people and prayed for her, I couldn't handle it. I had to walk out of the room, found my mom and cried on her shoulder like a child. She looked and smelled of death...her soft pink lips coated in dried blood as I watched her struggle for every breath she tried to take. Her husband Sammy looked of sadness and defeat, her two boys Kevin and Daniel were no where to be found. I found myself questioning God's plan in all of this...how can this be good for anyone?

So, we finished praying with her and I walked out of the house NEVER wanting to go back. I was in complete shock and just wanted to be as far away from there as I could. I was standing outside when a translator came to me and said "You're a psychologist, they want you to talk to the boys." Really God?? 10 and 12, their mother will be dead by morning, and you want ME to talk to THEM? Reluctantly, I went back in the house, sat on the couch with the boys and a translator and asked them if they had any questions, told them that their hope in this trial can only be found in Christ and prayed with them. For the second time, I walked out of the house and never wanted to return. Little did I know, I would return every night that week just to show my face to the boys, ask them if they had questions, encourage them to spend as much time with their mother as they were comfortable with doing, and assisting the doctors in some medical care.

So, what's the miracle in all this? Veronica died this afternoon at 3:00, far surpassing her 5-6 hour life expectancy that February day. She accepted Christ in to her heart a few days before we were introduced to her...that is the miracle! Her family saw the love of Christ through our team praying with them, assisting them with medical care, sitting down with the boys and caring about them as well, encouraging Sammy, admiring him for sticking by her side through all of this (very uncommen, especially in this culture). Veronica~thank you for allowing us in to your home, showing us your fighting will, letting us love your boys and support your husband. I thank God for you and your testimony to me...it was not about what I gave to you, but what you have given me. I will remember you and your family for the rest of my life. Rest in peace sweet angel, enjoy the lavishing of the love of your Father over you. Please pray with me for Sammy, Kevin, Daniel and the rest of the family as they mourn the loss of their sweet mother and wife.