Doors & Windows

So the last month or so, I've been doing a practice to notice what good things I can praise God about from each day, and it's been really great to notice those things, some bigger than others, but each one still worth noticing.

Recently though, my future is looking a little different....weird & hard but also good & exciting.  I know I'm being very broad & not saying a lot, but now is not yet the time to reveal what's going on.  But in the meantime, here's where I find myself...it feels like a few doors have been closed, but when those doors closed, the only place I could turn to was up, looking to the heavens, and here is where I saw all these doors & windows that had been there all along, just waiting to be explored....

It's a bit overwhelming though, knowing that what you have been doing will be changing, and what you will be doing, is yet to be discovered.  I'm thankful that when I look up, I see the beautiful clouds that God created, feel the sun warm on my face, and can know that even through another unknown, that God knows and will be guiding me through all the way.  Just like in the book of Joshua, God told the Israelites to follow behind the Ark of the Covenant so that by it they might know which way to go...this is my prayer, that in the next few weeks and months especially, that the Lord might lead so I can follow.

Psalm 139:4-6 says "Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain."  The Lord knew these new things would change part of my outlook, but because He covers me and knows more than I can ever imagine, He is trustworthy to take care of me while I search for which window or door He'd like me to push open.

No longer bound

It's Easter, and this last week has given me some great things to think on as I remember the reason we celebrate today.  I'd love to hear your thoughts too, so if you read this & want to share how God has spoken to you this week, please share it!

Last night, I was reading a book called "The Great Escape" which are short devotionals, and the first entry had the same name as the book.  It reminded me of someone I had known about and someone I had not. The person I had not heard of earlier was a woman named Mrs. Emma Smith.  She prided herself on being someone who had lived underground in a casket for longer than anyone had before!  She was down there for 100 or so days.....and thinking about this, you'd be astonished! But she had help...there was electricity, heat, a phone, a tube to send down food & water, and the casket was big enough that she could move around in.  None the less, she lived in a casket underground for a very long time, and when she came up out of the "grave" she felt proud that she had done something no one else had.

The second person was Houdini.  A man who mastered skills of unlocking locks of various kinds without using a key!  He was able to lock himself in unimaginable spaces, and get out without ever using a key. He even learned how to live on very little air, so he could stay underwater or in buried places for a long time without dying!

Both of these people were known in their time for incredible feats that no one else could do.  They were able to be confined & "imprisoned" of a sort, and yet amazingly enough they were able to escape!  However, at some point, both of these people would not be able to escape death.  As amazing as these people were to many people, Houdini's life came to an end by a simple blow to the stomach & Emma would eventually be put into a grave that she wouldn't get out of 100 days later.  Neither one of them could escape that fate.  But there was someone who did!

Jesus, after three days in the tomb, conquered death & was able to walk out of the grave.  Walk out. Not be taken out, but he left on his own accord.  The grave could not keep him inside.  And what is more, is that by HIS great authority on heaven and earth, and by HIS divine power, WE can also defy death's grip...for when we are believing in God & find ourselves at the door of death, we shall not be defeated, but rather welcomed into the greatness of His glory in heaven forever & ever!!!!!  Like Psalm 49:15 says, "God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me."

What a powerful promise.  And we can trust that God will remember this because He said "I will never leave you or forsake you." (Joshua 1:5) We are also reminded again of this through Deuteronomy 4:31 which says "The Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not abandon you, destroy you, or forget the promise to your ancestors that He swore He would keep."

What an amazing & powerful God we serve, that His Son would not be held by the grave, but would rise to life. And even more that He would offer that life to us as well as we trust in Him to sustain us throughout our life here on earth & as we pass on to eternal life with Him.  Happy Easter & Praise be to Christ who is no longer bound by death but has freed himself & claims us up with Him. Hallelujah!

Mercies through Disappointments?

(Recently I started reading a book called "Better Than my Dreams: Finding What you Long for Where you Might not Think to Look" by Paula Rinehart. Some of these thoughts stem from the first chapter.)

I've often pondered the ideas of expectations....the ones we have for ourselves & the ones placed upon us by those around us.  Well what about the ideas & expectations we have about God and his plans for us? 

Not often have I heard people speak openly about these expectations that we put on God or assume that He should fulfill for us....expectations that He will prosper us, give us a great life, save us from every pain.  But though we don't say it out loud most days, inside I'm sure many of us have at least a little bit of expectation that those things should come to pass, and when they don't, when things don't work out the way we think they should, we're a little disappointed. Do you agree?

Well here's a thought...."Disappointment is strangely enough, a doorway to the real adventure. It's the point where you start to leave behind most of your notions of how your story should read--and enter your relationship with God as a journey."  But somedays when I get to a point like this, I don’t always think about the “great journey” ahead...sometimes I pout, and mourn over what disappointment or grief I’ve just been handed over.  Sometimes I think like the author of Lamentations does when he wrote in 3:17-20 “...my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is so I say, 'My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.' Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.” 

We probably all get here at one point or another, but “...who among us travels very far in life without running headlong into the gap between what we hoped for and what came to pass?” We are not alone, there are many others who’ve had unfulfilled expectations. Have you come to that gap? I have. Multiple times. I thought certain things should have happened by now, or people who were in my life would have been doing something different, or that I would have been something different, but it just isn't so.  When these things don't work out the way we want them to, pain inevitably follows....or at least in many cases.  

But. (what a great word.) BUT we can continue reading in Lamentations 3:21-24, which reminds us of something greater & even more sure than the fact that not all our hopes will come to pass....the fact lies in this statement: “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.'"

Our hope can be found in the Lord. Why it is only there that we can find peace, and confidence when our expectations of God & the life He has for us doesn’t seem to make sense.  When we are disappointed, just remember that God didn’t promise us a perfect ride here on earth. This is the part that will be hard, that we have to endure, journey through & trust Him for his provision.  We live in a broken world & cannot expect that everything will go according to our plan.  It won’t. It’s not how life works.  

Yet like Lamentations says, God will not disappoint. He is faithful to be with us through these hardships. He holds the bigger picture that we cannot yet see. He will be faithful to us and renew us every morning with his love. He will sustain us and give us hope in our journey, and adventure where we may find something we didn’t think we would find. 

In the Furnace

A few days ago, I was driving home through the dark winding roads of the country, and some song came on about us being in the dark, and needing only Christ to comfort us.  I didn't have anything to write down the name of the song, so I'm sorry that I can't tell you about that more, but....another thought came through my mind as I listened.

The story of Shadrach, Meeshack & Abednego came to mind.  Three Godly men, probably late teens, trying to live & work amidst the palace, in one of the most powerful kingdoms yet to date.  It wasn't a Godly place, and not an easy life for them, captured and put into servitude.  Their faith in God was tested multiple times, and they remained true to their God.

What struck me though, was specifically the story about the fiery furnace.  The king had made a statue, and ordered everyone to bow down to worship it when the music was proclaimed. Out of all the people in the palace yard & I suspect most of the kingdom (if not all) there were only three that did not bend their knees to the idol.  Yes, the three young men, stubborn in faith, refused to bow down.
When summoned to the king, he gave them one more chance which they refused, and boldly proclaimed that God would be with them and even if he DIDN'T save them, that they still would only worship the One true God.

Astonished & enraged, the king ordered the fire seven times hotter, and had them thrown into the furnace to extinguish this disobedience towards him.  What came next was more shocking than their disobedience...the king looked towards the fire (surely in his pride to see his power smite them) and to his wonder, he saw four men in the fire, rather than the three that were ordered to die, and they were walking around none the less, not dying.  He said that the fourth man looked like a "son of the gods".  Apparently he was a curious fellow and wanted to see how these men didn't die (and probably trying to figure out who the fourth man was).  They came out of the fire untouched. Their hair, skin, everything was just as it was before they had entered, and the miracle commanded awe from the king and everyone around.

What I thought about here, was that the three had to enter the fire, before it was clear to those outside that God was with them.  Their attitudes of boldness were clear that their trust was in God, but those who didn't know God weren't able to fully see it until they were thrown into the fire. Then and only then did the fourth "man" appear.  I wonder about this, as we who trust in God seem to be thrown into fires of our own, occasionally and sometimes daily.  We have faith, and know that we don't need another trial to understands God's strength again, but what if those trials we suffer are not for us but for those around us? What if we are thrown into the fire to show God's strength and power to the doubtful eyes that look after us?

There's no doubt that God's power was with the three men before the fire, but it was only during that He was clearly seen.  Hm. Dwell on this with me today, as we wonder about the fires we are living and surviving in. Where is the God we trust in?  How is he using this fire to show others that He is real?  How can we be open to the flames that seem to engulf us but trust that they will not consume us?

Day 1.5

Well, we made it.  And we're very tired, about to sleep the 2nd night.  Yesterday, as usual, I had my "mishaps" at the airport.....aka....our plane was late, then my luggage was left in Amsterdam, then because of all that, our car guy wasn't there to pick us up because he left!!! Then we he did come back, we got a parking ticket because we left the car while we waited to get our luggage!  Oh my. Yes, so I've committed my first crime in Europe and I wasn't even there for 24 hours! Oi.

The home we're staying in is beautiful!  It currently houses 4-5 girls (having trouble remembering) from the orphanage, but most are my age or older...funny.  The two missionaries & their daughter live here as well, and share the upstairs with their Romanian parents.  It's wonderful to be part of this family for a few days!  We celebrated their little daughter's first birthday today, and do you know what the grandpa gave her for a present?  A swingset.....made by hand!!!  He was chopping wood when we pulled in last night. It's beautiful.

We also got to walk into town to run some errands, and saw what the girls' do for work...which is make greeting cards to sell!  They're beautiful cards! (as you can see, I'm short on vocabulary....all i can say is that things are beautiful.)

Anyway, I made a few new friends today, and had fun hearing about all the girls & missionaries do here.  SO cool.  Okay, i need to sleep.  Goodnight!!

As I head out

I'm remembering a verse given to me a few weeks ago, thinking about how God has drawn me towards orphaned, abandoned, rejected & displaced...here is a great verse from Isaiah 54:2-3, which says, "Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities."


As a family in Christ, let's open our tents, stretch the curtains wide, welcoming in all those who have no family, no inheritance, no future or hope of one.  Let's together see how we can become brothers and sisters to these beautiful children,....through our heavenly Father!


.....pray for our health, travel safety, wisdom & common sense! Argh. AND....pray that our knowledge of the foreign language will come back readily to our minds!  Thanks! --Tyler & Alissa

Prayer journaling 2/4

I haven't been feeling great this week, and am all out of great writing....temporarily at least.  But here are some verses I'm praying through this week.  Feel free to comment your thoughts on these or other verses that you've been praying through also! :)


Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.


Psalm 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. 
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!