June18, 2011

It has been a week since I sent a note to you.  It was a good week at camp, lots of children and counselors to feed.  Good help and with that good fellowship.  Yesterday it was about 5 when I got home.  We had had a lot of rain at camp, it was just plain a soggy spongy mess.  I had a camper, so I took him home to Cando and clean up the church so it is ready when we come back there in two weeks.  Made my usual stops and came home.  it wasn't wet here so the men were in the field so I mowed lawn, it did rain in the evening.

VERSE:
  I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for
man to direct his steps.
   -- Jeremiah 10:23
  

THOUGHT:
  While we may have goals and a sense of mission about our lives,
our lives are not really ours to plan. Every day must be greeted as
a gift from God. Every goal must ultimately be pursued to his
glory. Every true sense of direction is a gift to us from our
Father's Word or his Spirit.

PRAYER:
  Wise and loving Father, lead me by your Holy Spirit. Fill me
with your holy wisdom. Guide me into a more complete understanding
of your will for my life. Please give me the wisdom to live each
day with character and holy grace. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen

June 12, 2011

I haven't had much contact with any of you for about 10 days.  I was at camp til Friday and came home and spent the weekend here.  Now it is time to get ready for church and bck to camp.  we are having a good time, good staff and helpers, it was a small camp but god's presence was real and I believe that lives were touched.  That is why we are there.

A Way to Wholeness


I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

--John 10:10

I remember when Ken and I welcomed twenty-six of his high school students for a
Graduation Day barbeque.  A sunny day... the aroma of burgers sizzling on the grill...
the sounds of kids laughing and throwing Frisbees.  It was a great time to connect
with these young people.

I asked one girl, "So... what does the summer hold for you?"  She responded, "I
want to work on becoming more whole, more fulfilled, more myself."  She thinks it
will all come together when she finds a boyfriend.  She said, "I just know there's
somebody out there who matches the other side of me, someone who is my perfect complement."
 I stifled a giggle, and then replied, "A lot of us are seeking that.  We're looking
for that person or that situation in life which will make us feel complete."  I
then proceeded to gently explain what really does make us complete:  God.

Life isn't going to get completely fixed.  We're never going to experience wholeness
this side of eternity.  Someone once said, "In worshiping God we realize we were
 never created to be whole.  What we were created to enjoy is fellowship with God,
who alone is whole and complete.  Nowhere in the Bible are we told that God wants
to give us wholeness.  What God wants to give us is himself."

This is good news for each of those students who left our barbeque, many of them
 thinking seriously about the insights Ken and I shared.  This is also good news
 for you, if, today, you are struggling with feeling incomplete in your marriage
 or restless with where you live. And it is great news if you are looking for something
beyond romance or riches, aching to be whole and complete.  There is an answer,
and there is a complement that makes us whole. His name is Jesus.

Father, help me to fill those aching, empty places in my soul with more and more
 of you.

  I felt that those were thoughts that we might be able to connect with today.

You can reach me at:  701-658-7548  or 701-674-3211  I don't have a phone in the kitchen, but they will get me.

June 1, 2011

Yesterday was a good day to be at home, we at in the cafe at noon, it was a small crowd,  We took naps in the afternoon, and I just did some small things to get ready for camp.  I like to get things put away before that time.  I don't know if I will have a contact with any of you while I am at camp.

These are thought by a different gal

Sometimes, in various seasons of life, the Lord will give me a scripture which I can place as a banner over my life for a precise time. Perhaps it is one of comfort, encouragement, loving rebuke, or a promise. I hold dear each of these verses and I can look back and remember how the Lord specifically ministered to me in an exceptionally intimate way through His Word.

Galatians 6:9 has been one of those verses. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

I have to admit that in many things in life that would be considered “good,” I have quit. For example, sewing. I love to sew. I can sew a total of three things: aprons, stockings, and pillows. But, if you were to look in my sewing box, you would find several unfinished projects. I tend to stop trying at the first glitch that comes along: thread breakage, cutting wrong size patterns, crooked hemlines, puckered seams, slightly crooked topstitching.

Yes, this analogy has minimal value and significance in the grand scheme of life, but what about those things the Lord is calling us to be faithful in which do matter? Things that are not easy to be diligent in. Things that seem to have no silver lining or happy ending. Maybe it is obedience to God in a certain area of our lives: praying for a loved one, praying for restoration with a loved one, waiting on a spouse or job, or maybe just being diligent while we are waiting for a change in any circumstance.

There are several biblical examples of those who did not give up in doing what God had called them to do and the Lord blessed them for it: Hannah pleaded with the Lord for a son and endured much opposition, yet remained faithful and gave birth to Samuel by the grace of God. Jacob waited for Rachel, in the Book of Genesis, for 14 years so that he could reap the harvest of being married to the woman God had in store for him. The Apostle Paul said, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV).

I can think of others who gave up; they grew weary of doing good and missed out on the harvest that was coming: Sampson was robbed of His incredible strength because he gave in to the obstacle of temptation. The Rich Young Ruler in the Gospels had a desire to do right, but when the stakes were high he gave up and lost heart.

Oftentimes it can be hard to continue to do the right thing when we are being hard pressed or challenged in it. But in God’s timing, we too will reap a harvest if we do not grow weary in doing good!

Father, show us today what you desire for us to do irregardless of how difficult life might seem to us.  In Jesus Name. Amen