May- Twenty- Sixteen
I want to cultivate a deep
sense of gratitude, our groundedness, of enough, even while I’m longing for
something more. The longing and the gratitude, both. I’m practicing believing
that God knows more than I know, that he sees what I can’t, that he’s weaving a
future I can’t even imagine from where I sit this morning.
-Shauna Niequist Bread and
Wine
My kids don’t need a
SuperMama. They need to see a Mama who needs a Super God.
–Ann Voskamp
“It’s rebellious, in a way,
to choose joy, to choose to dance, to choose to love your life. It’s much
easier and much more common to be miserable. But I choose to do what I
can do to create hope, to celebrate life, and the act of celebrating connects
me back to that life I love." -Shauna Niequist Cold Tangerines
This is what marriage really means: helping one another to reach the
full status of being persons, responsible and autonomous beings who do not run
away from life. ~ Paul Tournier (1898-1986)
A Prayer at Mid-Day by Richard Foster
The day has been breathless, Lord. I stop now for a few moments and I
wonder: Is the signature of the holy over the rush of the day? Or have I bolted
ahead, anxiously trying to solve problems that do not belong to me?
Holy Spirit of God, please show me:
How to work relaxed, how to make each task an offering of faith, how to
view interruptions as doors of service, how to see each person as my teacher in
things eternal. In the name of him who always worked unhurried. Amen.
How do we keep our inner fire alive? Two things, at minimum, are
needed. An ability to appreciate the positives in our life, and a commitment to
action. Every day, it’s important to ask and answer these questions: ‘What’s
good in my life?’ and ‘What needs to be done to make it better?’
-Nathaniel
Brandon
A good run: “The day would soon
be picking up speed. But my pace was already determined, my peace solid on the
inside.” –Kristin Armstrong Mile Markers
–Martin Luther
Except for paying attention,
what else is continual prayer?
-Samuel Green
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Some of you may not know that we are leaving on a trip to go to Kenya today....
(We hop on a plane in an hour or so!)
(We flew from Seattle to NYC on Friday to come meet the team we are going with, and then we get on a plane to Nairobi this afternoon.)
Below is a letter I put together last month to share about our trip and to gather folks to pray for us this summer. We'd love for you to join us in prayer!
(We hop on a plane in an hour or so!)
(We flew from Seattle to NYC on Friday to come meet the team we are going with, and then we get on a plane to Nairobi this afternoon.)
Below is a letter I put together last month to share about our trip and to gather folks to pray for us this summer. We'd love for you to join us in prayer!
------------------------------
Spring has sprung here in Seattle, and we hope that you are enjoying more color and light that the season brings too! The year seems to be flying by and before we know it, summer will be upon us as well. We are reaching out to let you know about an adventure just around the corner for our family.
We have an opportunity to serve on the InterVarsity staff team on the Global Project to Kenya this summer from May 27- July 16. Twenty-two years ago, I got to go on this same trip, and it was an experience that shaped my life more than just about anything else. I was able to return to Kenya in 2000 with Jason, in 2008 with Anna and my mom, and alone in 2012, but this will be the first time our whole family will be able to go together.
We will join Brian and Debbie Lee who have co-led the Kenya Global Project for the previous 18 years. Brian has been on staff with InterVarsity for 31 years at the University of Montana, and Debbie is a Registered Nurse and will be helping to lead the medical team. After a week of orientation, college students on our trip will travel to 3-week ministry assignments to live with Kenyan families. Ministry during these 3 weeks may include working alongside village or urban churches, teaching in schools, and/or serving in orphanages.
During this time, our family will have the chance to go to Lodwar, Kenya which is the same village I was assigned to 22 years ago when I was a college student and where I helped to establish the ministry of Children of the Kingdom. I have served as the coordinator since this child sponsorship program began, and I cannot wait to go this summer to introduce our family to many of the children and families who have been impacted by the program. We will be hosting the Children of the Kingdom summer banquet, inviting students to soccer clinics, distributing Days For Girls kits to girls in our program, visiting schools and much more. (Jason will return home in the middle of our time in Lodwar and then I will remain there with the IV team until July 16th with Anna and Taylor.) The final three weeks of our trip will include team service in slums of Nairobi, prison ministry, and other ministry exposure followed by debriefing and re-entry training.
It is our prayer that God will equip us to “share the gospel and our very lives” (1 Thessalonians 2:8). We urge you to pray for the program by asking the Lord to reveal His love through our family and asking Him open our eyes and ears to what He has prepared for us in this time.
With love and gratitude,
Emily, Jason, Anna and Taylor
Thank you for considering sending us through prayer!
“There is a tremendous need for senders. And the need goes far beyond the traditional token involvement of showing up for a farewell party or writing out a check to missions. A cross-cultural worker needs the support of a team of people while he is preparing to go, while he is on the field and when he returns home….Today no cross-cultural worker should leave home without a strong, integrated, educated, knowledgeable, excited-as-he-is active team of people who have committed themselves to the work of serving as senders”
From Serving as Senders by Neal Pirlo
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