Just News

A lot of my blog posts are devotional in nature. Not today. Well, at least, not this one. I may post something later about why circumstances should not be, and I believe were never INTENDED to be, a sole indicator of God's will, but for now, I just want to share about our lives.
This last month has been an unforgettable one. We have had a lot of new people partner with us in our ministry to Echo Ranch. It has been awesome to see God work in the hearts of people on our behalf. The generosity and kindness of so many people has been mind-blowing.  In addition, the boys have been amazing me with new talents every single day. Just yesterday, Josiah said "Nana yummy!", as I was getting him a banana! This was his first sentence! Xander said "Carla", the name of our lovely host who is like an Auntie to them. Their newest talent (which I am NOT at all happy with) is balancing on the arm of the futon when Mom is not looking. They also seem to like to try and give each other piggy back rides, with the end result of knocking each other down. They have been working on steps lately, as they were recently around a number of slightly older kids, and wanted to be where they were. As you may know, we were in Neligh, NE this past weekend. We were encouraged and touched by the hospitality of the small church and its members. We had a great time and met wonderful people. What a blessing!
Many people are wondering if we reached our goal of 50% of our support. Honestly, I don't yet know. We have new partners who haven't given us an amount yet, and until we are able to figure them in, we won't know where we stand. According to our records, we are just a touch under our needed amount, but we are confident that God will supply. Please pray for us!!

Can You Smell?

Well, we are working on our third cold in almost as many months. When I say we, I mean the WHOLE family. This is the worst one I have had in years. I literally cannot smell or taste a thing. I cannot remember ever not being able to smell or taste at least a little bit. I've tried cayenne pepper, salsa, Chinese food, horseradish, nothing is coming through except the sensation on my tongue. I tried Vicks under my nose and on my neck. I can FEEL the coolness but not smell a thing. So weird. So irritating. I hate it when my body isn't functioning like it should. It reminded me though, of the verse that talks about how we are the Body of Christ. When we aren't doing what we were designed to do, when we are not in the role God gave us, the Body doesn't function like it should. How irritating must THAT be to Jesus? He gives us a perfect place to serve, to suit our gifting and temperaments and we whine and complain that we aren't something else and sit on our butts, not using what He has given us, and the rest of the Body suffers because of it. The Body TRIES to compensate for what is missing, but it's really hard for an ear to take the place of an eye, or a hand, or a foot. God designed us certain ways for a reason. Some of us are introverts, some extroverts,some idealists and some realists, some go by their guts and some plan for months. God places us in the Body, to fulfill the plans He has for us, not  necessarily to fulfill the plans we have for ourselves. How do we discover what our role in the Body is? By serving. We can take spiritual gift inventories and do studies on our "S.H.A.P.E" but until we serve, we will not be able to see if we fit. Or if we just manipulated the results to make us what we would LIKE to be. If you are not involved in your local Body (a.k.a. church) , GET INVOLVED. The Body will not function correctly without you. Let's not be the servant that buries the talent he is given, may we be the servant that invests it wisely.