Martinique

Today I am lifting the nation of Martinique up in prayer. Read more about this country's prayer needs on Operation World.

Its a Friday night, and some much needed time with my good looking husband is awaiting me, so I am being short and sweet with this post.

Take the time to read about Martinique, and then pray for the unreached.

I'll leave you with a quote from Amy Charmichael... a Godly woman of faith and missionary...

"You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving."


Oh yeah, and two things among the many I'm thankful for today:

• watermelon
• Papaw

Day Two

Today, I am lifting up the country of Mali in prayer. This country is 60% unreached. Only 20% of children go on to a secondary education. This is one of the poorest nations in the world. Find out more about Mali and it's specific prayer needs here.

Yesterday, I shared part of my study of the Word. Today, I am still working through that, so I won't share that part.

Today I am very thankful for my awesome husband who enjoys studying with me.

I am a very lucky girl.

I think if every assignment I have for these Liberty classes is like this, I will love it, and never want to stop.

I love being able to read the Word, study the Word, and then discuss the Word with Josh. 

I love asking him questions. 

I love debating the answers with him.

I love knowing him better through times like this.

I love sitting in the floor, Bibles, commentaries, books, computer, us.... All spread out everywhere, spending time together, talking about things that matter.

God really provided me with best possible companion.

In case you were wondering, our topic of study centered around Luke 24:13-35.This is where Jesus appears to the two men on the road to Emmaus.

If anyone wants to answer this question, feel free...

Why did God sovereignly keep the two men from recognizing Jesus?

Apparently, I may be one of the only people in my class who believes God kept them from knowing, and not some other factor.

They should have read their commentaries ;-D

Anyway, I'll leave everyone with a song I have enjoyed very much today...

You may think its not your thing in the beginning, but the lyrics are pretty encouraging so give it a shot. In fact, do yourself a favor, and give Passion's whole 2011 cd a shot.

http://www.operationworld.org/country/malt/owtext.html

Day One

Today I am praying for Maldives.

Sadly, only around .17 of Maldives' population claim Christianity! The other 99% are Muslim. 50% of the population is unreached. 

There is so much to learn about this country. You can find  all that information along with more specific prayer needs here. Pray for your brothers and sisters there, and more importantly for the advancement of the Gospel into unreached people groups. 

Today, my reading plan takes me to the book of Job. You know the story. God tells Satan there is no man on earth like Job. God basically dared the enemy to try and turn Job against Him . The first five chapters are an emotional roller coaster. God allows Satan to take everything from Job except his life. He loses nearly everything in one day. 

That is an extremely basic/brief summary. There is much to be learned in the first five chapters. 

Although I've heard the story many times, a few verses spoke to me today. 

Job's own wife tells him to curse God, and in chapter 2 verse 10 he calls her a fool saying, "...shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?".

I really admire Job. 

In the midst of his suffering, a few friends visit him. In short, Eliphaz says to Job in chapter 5 verses 18-22:

" For he wounds, but he also binds up;

He injures, but his hands also heal.

From six calamaties he will rescue you;

In seven no harm will befall you.
In famine he will ransom you from death, 

and in battle from the stroke of the sword. 

You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,

and need not fear when destruction comes. 

You will laugh at destruction and famine, 

and need not fear the beasts of the earth."

What a wonderful Father we have!!!

"You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth."

There is nothing in the world to fear. No battle too great. He is in control. 

I'm so happy we have the Word of God and its records of men and women of faith. These aren't just stories. It's so hard for me to wrap my brain around that. 

Of all things though, what strikes me the most is as tragedy built upon tragedy, one after the other, Job still worshiped! 

Four different messengers/survivors came to Job in a matter of minutes to tell him the tragedies that had a occurred. Literally while the first one was still speaking the second came, and while the second was still speaking the third, and so on... 

the loss built on loss.. 

First his oxen and donkeys were stolen from his field and his servants put to death.

Then fire fell from the sky and burned up his sheep and servants there. 

Then his camels were stolen and his servants put to death. 

Lastly, the most devastating loss of all...

Job's seven sons and three daughters were crushed in their brother's home while they ate. 

Wow. 

Job loved his children so much, he regularly made individual sacrifices for each one of them just in case one of them had cursed or sinned against God in their heart. 

It's all about his reaction though. He tore his robe, fell on the ground, and worshiped his God. 

I am reminded that our God is sovereign. The sovereignty of God is the only foundation for worship in the midst of tragedy. 

I think David Platt puts it well:

• The sovereignty of God is the only foundation for worship in the midst of tragedy. 
• God’s sovereignty assures us that He is in control.
•  God is with us.
•  God is for us.
• God’s sovereignty reminds us that Satan has been conquered.
•  God’s sovereignty guarantees us that one day suffering will conclude.
•  Ultimately, tragedy on earth can only be understood rightly from the perspective of heaven.

These tragedies remind us of the urgency of our mission.

• Life is fleeting.
• People are perishing.
• Eternity is coming.

We, as believers, as children of God, have a mission. It is urgent. 

My Experiment

Ok..

So I've decided to Blog my "radical experiment" journey. Not only do I think this will help me be more accountable, but it will be a great record of my experience to look back on. 

I'm sure not very many people will read this blog. Ha! But if by chance you are, or in case in the future I experience some sort of severe memory loss... here it will be.

I will explain what I mean when I say "radical experiment". For anyone who knows Josh or me, you know very well our shared love for David Platt podcasts.

Yes, we are very nerdy. We embrace that!

David Platt is the pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. We've followed his podcasts for quite a long time. He's a fantastic teacher of the Word, and I never fail to carry away something invaluable from a message. Last year he released the book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream which was totally awesome by itself. Then he went on to release Radical Together which was even better. Anyway, to the point! In Radical he challenges the reader to a "radical experiment" which consists of five steps:

• To pray for the entire world
• To read through the entire Word
• To commit our lives to multiplying community
• To sacrifice our money for a specific purpose
• To give our time in another context

So, Josh and I have both been working on this for a little while now. Some parts we are doing better than others.

For instance, I struggle with consistently praying for the world which should be so easy thanks to Operation World which will e-mail you everyday with a new country, a video about it's culture, specific prayer needs, stats for unreached peoples, the population, and christians there! Yes! It should be so easy! Operation World is an awesome tool.

Plus, the radical experiment website has plenty of resources for Bible reading plans and so on. It should be so easy, but I get caught up doing my own thing, and forget to pray for other people in different contexts.

 My hope is that by doing this blog about my experiment I will stay consistent, encourage others to do it as well, and consequently grow even closer to my Father in Heaven. I know this is going to enhance my prayer life immensely.

Although I do use a prayer journal already, I will at times blog parts of that as well. The idea of having this record of my daily journey seems pretty beneficial to me.

 So where to begin?

1. Using Operation World, I will pray for the entire world (while becoming aware of and learning about those who are outside my context while consequently developing a deeper love for them).

2. Josh and I will use a Bible reading plan to read through the Word in a year while we grow closer to God together and closer to each other.

3. We have already committed ourselves to service in our church and a small group. We will seek to cultivate a spirit of community among our brothers and sisters while finding more ways to serve others.

4. We will sacrifice our money for a specific purpose. At the moment that specific purpose is little eight year old girl named Peris who is from Kenya. We sponsor her through Compassion International.

5. We will give our time in another context. Right now, we plan to go on a mission trip to Kentucky in September. So excited! (hopefully an international trip is in our near future!)

For a more detailed explanation of what these steps mean and why I'm doing them visit the radical experiment site.


goals, goals, goals... 

Today is an interesting day full of goals. 

First off, today I start my first term at Liberty University. I am so excited about finally having classes where I can study what I love and value the most in this life, my Father, God. I'm nervous too. I feel overwhelmed right now. It was a hard decision to make financially, but I know it is the right decision. God provides our needs. I keep remembering this promise. 

Although I do read my Bible, I'm committing to deeper study of the Word (something that I should already be committed to). For anyone that wants to make this commitment as well, but doesn't know where to start, Matt Chandler (pastor of The Village Church) has a really applicable podcast on how to study the Bible. Its pretty basic. You won't be sorry you listened to this. I promise!

I'm not making any promises to blog every single day because I'm not so great at keeping promises I make to myself. My hope is that I will update this often, but that just may not be the case. Life seems to get in the way a lot. But I am committing to these five steps today. Join me or at least pray for me, friends!

New New New

Ok, so I'm not really the blogging type, but I've discovered like a million crafting, scrapbooking, etc. blogs that I want to follow, so here I am! I really doubt that I'll update this all that often, but who knows. I don't really have much to "blog" about that anyone will be interested in =]... Anyway, if you are by some odd chance reading this then I'll tell you about Peris. I'm so excited because she is my sponsored child through Compassion International, and I just got my first letter from her today!!! It was so sweet! She is seven years old and from Kiwanja, Kenya. She lives in a village with her parents and has a brother and sister. I decided to sponsor through Compassion in June when we took our students to Student Life camp. It was so fun for them. Louie Giglio was the speaker and Khristian Stanfill was the worship leader, so for all of you who know what I'm talking about, need I say more? Anyway, I decided that even though I don't have a steady job anymore (just babysitting here and there), It was something I needed to do. I mean the Bible is very clear about being obedient to God's commands about supporting orphans and widows... I was also beginning David Platt's book Radical (again, need I say more?).. So I went and picked out Peris. I knew Josh would want to help out too, and I knew he would love it if it were someone from Kenya since thats where he lived, so she seemed perfect. I wish my scanner was working so you could see the letter for yourself because its handwritten and so sweet, but I'll share anyway, 

"I greet you my sponsor in Jesus name. I want to thank you for choosing me as a child to sponsor. I am 7 years old. I am in grade two. I school at Kiwanja Primary School. I stay with my parents. I love you my sponsor. God bless you."

There is a spot that is labeled prayer requests, and she wrote: "Remember me to continue with my education to become a nurse."

AHHH!!! so sweet. The back is like a worksheet to tell more things about her since she is only 7.. It says My Favorite Things: Best Game- rope skipping; Best Song- God's Blessings Are Great; Best Food- Chapati; Best School Subject- English; Best Bible Story- Goliath and David; Best Color- Red.......

Ok, how precious is that?!?!? 

I'm so glad I have this opportunity to connect with a child so far away who up until finding Compassion was in extreme poverty and had no hope. Now she is able to not only get an education, but most importantly she is hearing the Gospel and living for Christ. Who knows what kind of impact she will make on her family because of this opportunity. 

Anyway, I'm glad for whoever is reading that I could share this blessing. I'll share a picture as soon as I can. And I want to encourage everyone to check out Compassion!