Well, it all started  at a house church gathering where Travis shared the story of the Sheep and the Goats in Mathew 25:31-46 and a trip to India.  I saw a picture of Mother Teresa on the wall everyday as we worshiped and taught in a Catholic Retreat Center in Northern India.  The nuns in their sari’s served us our meals every day with hardwork and kindness.  I have really never known much about her or thought much about her to tell you the truth.   I’m sure that I don’t agree with all of her theology.  However, I have only found a few quotes of hers that I would disagree with. Nonetheless, I am inspired and in awe of Mother Teresa’s life and service to Jesus by serving the poorest of the poor.

I began by watching a movie about the life of Mother Theresa, did some research, and have been reading books about her from the library.  The most recent that has her personal writings.  I like these two books, “Mother Teresa-Come be my Light” and “The Joy in Loving”.

As you know I am intrigued by Women who live for the Kingdom.  Many are never known or recognized, but others through their sacrificial service become well known…well kind of.  You can at least find books written about them.  Others should have books written about them to document their life of faith and selfless service to Jesus.

Mother Teresa’s desire was to do something beautiful for God.

Here are some things I have learned from her and her life:

*She had a call from God to the poorest of the poor- heard his voice clearly in a special call on a train to Darjeeling.

*This call was tested for several years as she was not granted permission to follow her call to serve the poor outside the church walls.

*She was patient and submissive to the religious leaders till God opened the door for her to begin her work.  Which took great faith and restraint.

* She lived by Faith for God’s provision in all things- and she desired for her ministry to be based on “Whole-hearted, free service to the very poorest”.

*She was in love with Jesus.

* Believed in Prayer

* Her desire was for lost souls to know Christ’s love.

* She encourage people to not neglect their families and to begin a life of Love in the family-the believed women are the heart of the home- to serve and love there.

* She valued life- those with special needs, the dying, the sick, the forgotten ones, the unborn babies.

*She believed that when she served and loved the hurting and the “least of these” she was doing it unto the Lord.

* She believed that we should be filled with joy and a smile because it is the first expression of love that we give to others.

* She lived a life of poverty and became like those she chose to serve.

*  She believed a mission of love can only come from a union with God.

*Her ministry was  to go  tothe people, the lost and hurting.

* To serve free of charge.

* To teach the slum children, the home of the dying, those with leprosy and special needs etc… (  We want to see our nation transformed for Christ, wouldn’t it be amazing if each church building started a school free of charge for the local community and taught Christian principles..Mother Teresa was also saddened that most Christian schools only teach the rich!)

* To obey Jesus quickly and no matter the cost.

*She was willing to suffer for Him.

* She like the chaos of things not being too organized…more grass roots faith driven then structure driven.

*She was called by God to serve him with her life at a young age, and at the age of 18 she left for missionary serve and never saw her family again.

*She was persistent…asked for things  with boldness for Christ.  She never gave up on petitioning for her superiors to let her follow her call, with humility and patience.

Conclusion:

After reading these books- I realize that I need to fall more and more in love with my savior, to be united with him and to spend more time in prayer seeking his face.  I felt conviction that I struggle with truly loving and serving others.  I will start in my home- looking at every trial, or yucky task as an opportunity to do something beautiful for God.  Also, I desire to be light and love to all those that I encounter.  I know I can only do this if Christ’s love is overflowing out of me.  Lord this is my desire.

These are just some of the things I have learned.  Pretty amazing.  Now there are over 450 different Missionaries of Charity that serve like she did all over the world.

I was thinking today about how hospitable many of the refugee families are that I meet.  They invite us into their home, get out a little tray and glasses and serve us the ever famous orange drink “tang” or tea and fruit.  They don’t mind visitors just “dropping by”.  Many times I see them sharing their belongings, watching each other’s children.  The front door to their apartment is always open- many times people don’t knock they just come right in.  They come from close knit communities in the refugee camps where life was more communal.  In fact, many have come to the states with Aunts, Uncles, Grandma and Grandpa etc… I laugh to myself sometimes thinking that they live closer to their biological family than I do.

Hospitality is such a beautiful and rare thing.  Hospitality is more than an open home but also an open heart.  It is being willing to open your home and your life for others to be a part of, so that they can see Christ in you.  It is easy to be friends with or open your home and heart to those that are like you or easy to get along with, but it is much harder to open yourself up to those who are different from you or the poor or disadvantaged.  One of the things that I have found as I have opened up my home to several refugee ladies and their families spending time with them every week, sharing bible stories, eating lunch, cooking together, helping one another, is that we became heart friends.  And as they have come into the kingdom we have become sisters in Christ.

As we invite people to spend time with us, when we are doing the daily things like, cooking, folding laundry, running errands, watching the kids, you are able to talk and bond and share your heart.  I try to make an intentional effort to spend time in God’s word with them, by sharing a story to encourage or challenge them from his word. This takes real intentionality because for me it is easy to make friends but harder to share about spiritual things.  But we must “go there” in our friendships.  They are like sheep without a shepherd, let your compassion and the Holy Spirit lead you to share Jesus with them.

As they learn about Jesus and see Jesus in us it is amazing.  Odalys (a Cuban refugee friend) would say after spending time with me and hearing the bible stories over lunch that she loved our time, she felt peace, and she looked forward to it every week.  It was the only place she felt peace in her life was during that time.  She eventually gave her life to Christ.

My challenge to you is- how many of your relationships are “easy”, meaning old friends that you love and spend lots of time with.  Have you opened up your heart and time to the lost and hurting?  Are you mentoring anyone who is younger in the faith?  Maybe it is a neighborhood kid, a neighbor, a refugee, a lonely person you know?    This should probably be a little bit of a stretch for you.

This kind of hospitality definitely takes sacrifice and discipline to carve out that time for them.

I have personally desired for an older woman in the Lord to open up her heart and home to me for a spiritual mentoring relationship that is also a form of hospitality.  I have this kind of relationship with few women and I cherish those relationships.  My mom, my mother-in-law Ruth, and my husband’s Aunt Rosene have done this for me.  But I long for more of these kinds of relationships.   So women we need to realize that many ladies will not ask us for this kind of relationship, we have to offer it and you will be surprised how they will respond.

This also leads to an interesting topic.  We have to have a simplified life and schedule to be able to practice this kind of hospitality.  It takes time, quantity and quality.    I pray that God will grow us in this way as we desire to live for Him.

Romans 12:12-14 (New International Version)

¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

1 Peter 4:8-10 (New International Version)

⁸Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

Well, it has been since May that I last posted and so much has happened.  The last post was that God doesn’t take shortcuts which is so true, but His way is better- I know.  We are so grateful for all the ways he has been working in our lives, teaching us and providing for us, and leading us.  We sold our home in July and almost all of our possessions.  It was actually quite fun giving some things away and selling others.  God provided a place for us to live temporarily and it is such a blessing.  This has been a great time for our family and the kids are transitioning well.  Next month, I go on a 10 day trip to S. Asia that I look forward to sharing more about when I return.

I don’t know if you are like me, but I love short-cuts, whether it is short-cuts in learning something, household chores, travel, etc…   But, I have noticed that God normally doesn’t like to use short cuts.  For those of you who don’t know Travis and I are praying about some big decisions and it gets frustrating at times that we don’t have the answers or confirmation yet, but we know that God is leading us and will show us the way, in His timing.    I was feeling rather frustrated one day, and went to the Dentist, afterwards I gave into my addiction and hit the Goodwill next door, there I spotted an interesting little book, the title really jumped out at me and has been a great blessing during this time.  The title was, “God isn’t in a hurry”.  So true, many times I am though, much like a donkey wanting to rush ahead.

So just to let you know we are seeking and waiting.  Waiting on God’s timing to open and close doors, on His timing to sell our house, on His timing to work in people’s lives  that we are interceding for.  

In some ways it is exciting, who knows where this long way will take us.  

Okay ladies,  this is a confessional blog post about modesty.  This is not meant to be a legalistic blog or a condemning blog but just my journey and my confession that I have not always walked the walk in regards to modesty.

I am grateful for a husband who desires for me to dress modestly, however I have at times not liked this and thought he wanted me to dress like the “Amish”.  It definately  does come down to a “heart” issue and “humilty”.  Humbling oneself to dress in a way that would not make others stumble.

I think we as Christian women do not dress modestly for several reasons.  One reason would be we are “striving”, maybe we struggle with a low self esteem and we are striving to prove that we still have it. Meaning, we are “attractive” or are desirable.  I know these feelings, after having three kids and about to turn 30.  We desire to be just as attractive as the others around us.  There are so many images of what beauty is bombarding women in the world and even in the church world.

I find it interesting that I don’t struggle with the temptation to dress immodestly or worry about what I am wearing until I am around that “group” of people.  Since I have been out of the mainstream church circles for a while, I notice that it doesn’t concern me as much.  But you know those circles…and I am talking of church circles where everyone is dressed so hip and cool.  Some of the outfits really attracting the eye… when I am around these people I noticed that I start feeling very aware of how I am dressed and how “they” are dressed.  I have even noticed myself- trying to dress to fit in when I am around that “crowd”.  Now something is wrong with this picture.

When I am around “that crowd”  I also struggle with jealousy- my mind is preoccupied with, “I hope Travis is looking at that!”  “Oh my gosh, I can see her thong!”  When women are dressed immodestly, I lose respect for them and immediately think that they are out to cause men to stumble.  Now I know that is not true, but it is a struggle I have and a distrust of women.

I also notice myself when I am around my refugee friends trying to dress down and feeling a bit guilty for caring about what I wear, when they wear the same things over and over.  Or if they have strict cultural modesty guidelines I try to dress appropriately.   My Muslim friends would be appalled in our churches at the way women dress.  Their standard has definitely challenged me and made me think about this issue.

I think another reason we dress immodestly is out of pride.  We want to show off what we have and we want others to know it. It takes humility to wear clothes that don’t flatter as much.

I just wonder if others see what I see and struggle the way I do.  I see Christian women showing off their goods in short shorts and sports bra tops at the Gym.  I see moms going to pick up their kids at  a Christian school in short tennis skirts and tops and I think are they even aware of what they are doing.  It is distracting and even I notice and I am a woman.

I just want to give props to all those ladies out there who dress modestly- I admire you.  Thank you for making it easier for me as I struggle with this.  I also just want to be clear that I am not perfect at this, it is a very fine line when getting dressed-whether you are dressing to attract or to be attractive.

If you know me, you know I love cute clothes-and I buy all my classic style clothes at the Goodwill.  But I want to be known as a woman who is beautiful on the inside-who is not striving for the world’s  stamp of approval.  It only gets worse as we get older wanting to look like the younger crowd.  Our beauty is
Christ in us- I want to be confident and beautiful because of the Love of Jesus working in and through my life.  I am not there yet, I still care.  I still don’t like to leave the house without a little lipstick.  I still am a little self-conscious.  But I am growing….

I would love your thoughts on this topic…..

^{1 Peter 3:3}

Your adornment must not be merely external–braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; ⁴but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

Around Thanksgiving, our simple church was able to take some gift cards to some refugee families to bless them.  In our card we left our phone numbers and said, we would love to be friends and help them in any way.  Over the past couple of years the ministry we are a part of called City on a Hill Connection has been reaching out to the Cuban refugees, playing baseball with them etc..

Well, there were two couples living in the apartment we took the gift cards to…Maite and Odalys are the two women.  They started calling me, and I began visiting them.  We quickly became friends.  At new years, Odalys said, it was her new years resolution to know more about God.  We gave them bibles at their request and began meeting together weekly or more to practice English and to do Chronological Bible Storying.  They are hearing and learning God’s story and plan for redemption.  Some lessons we have watched the Hope Story online.  But more than anything we have fun, laugh, cry, and talk about the Hope we have in Jesus.

Some things  I have learned from these ladies is powerful.  We see these refugees as having so little but as she expressed this week, that the first two years she was here she had everything, people were blessing them with stuff etc.. They got their first credit card and got into debt, buying a tv and couch etc..  She said, “What good are possessions if you don’t have inner peace.”

So profound.  I am blown away by how God is moving in these two ladies lives.  Over the past 3-5 years I have worked with people and noticed that there is so much spiritual apathy.   People will meet with me for a little while then fade away or not commit or not show up.  These ladies are the most dedicated and commited ladies I have seen.  I am so grateful. I know this is the activity of God, you can’t force people into the kingdom or have a desire to know him.  It is from the spirit.

Odalys says, the reason she is so commited is because when she comes to my house and learns about Jesus she feels peace.  It is the only place where she feels like that- so she will drop what ever she is doing and come with me on Mondays.

These two ladies are very close to coming into the kingdom, it’s like I can see the spirit drawing them as they learn about him.  I pray for them because they have many trials in their home life.  I am praying big prayers that Jesus will transform their lives and their entire household like the story of Lydia in the bible.  Please pray with me for this.

My precious new friend Safula is coming on these days as well, we meet for spiritual accountability and prayer before hand and then she joins me in ministering to these ladies.  I look forward to telling you more about this awesome woman of God.

Hi Friends, I am sorry I haven’t been blogging lately, I have tossed around the idea of just quiting for good.  I was encouraged via facebook to share a little about some of my life-changing experiences overseas.

Well, several months after Travis and I got married, we packed up everything and went to Aurora, CO to serve with Kingdom Building Ministries.  It is an amazing ministry that disciples young adults and encourages them in their walk and how God desires to use them as Kingdom laborers.   That summer we were supposed to go to China- but it was the year a US plane was shot down and travel warnings were issued for that country.  So then we were suppoesed to go to Nepal, but a week before our team of 12 or so were about to leave, the king’s son killed the entire family and the country was under 24 hour state of emergency.  So at the last minute we had to find a place to take our team and make travel arrangements and get visas etc…

Well, God was completely in the entire situation.  We ended up going to Siem Reap, Cambodia.  The home of Angkor Wat. We arrived and the missionary was so humble and kind and  I remember our first visit, his eyes filled with tears with gratitude to God for bringing our team.  It was and answer to their prayers.  Our team would be such a blessing to them to help start some new works that summer.  One was teaching English in a Teacher’s college, Teaching English on Floating School houses in the Tonle Sap Lake, and helping out at an Orphanage.

The poverty was unbelievable.  Unlike I had ever experienced.  The floating village was something very hard to describe.  But I experienced something there that was unique.  When we shared the gospel, they would say, “Is this true, this is good, this is good!”  It gave me a new appreciation for the phrase “good news”.  The floating village is on the largest lake in Asia where millions of people live in small boats, harvesting fish under thatched rafts- it is an unbelievable sight and smell. The monks rarely go out that far to these poor people.

Well, after our team taught in the schools and would visit homes/boats on the weekends, they held a gathering on land for the children and their parents.  Some of the parents spoke up at the end and said, “As for some of us, we believe, but if you leave, who will tell us more.”  Wow,  how can you forget something like that.  The reality that millions are dying without hope of Christ in some of the worst conditions in the world.  It reminds me of the verse in Romans 10 that says:

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”^[g]

Anyways, that summer really confirmed that God had placed a special call on our family to go to those who have never heard of Jesus.

Today my Uncle Melvin Watson died, from a year long battle with cancer that ravaged his body.  He fought very hard up until his last breathes.  Jesus has been at work during his suffering and I have been impacted by witnessing his last days.  I have never been this close to the process of death. 

I have been blown away most by the love of my Aunt Dyan as I watched her lay in the bed for hours, stroking his head, lovingly massaging his hands and feet, whispering her last expressions of love as he lay unresponsive in his final hours.  It was the most heartaching yet beautiful scene, the deepest emotions of love and anguish expressed, in sobs, moans, cries etc…  What love…

It was a long journey….  I have been touched by the way Aunt Dyan cared for him day in and day out- over the past year loving him, serving him in all ways.  This is what love is.  I have been moved by the devotion she has for her husband, I know that they went through many trials over the years but Christ’s love triumphed in their marriage.  What beauty is love, even in loss.

I pray that Jesus will fill her and my cousins with His love, that is an even greater expression of love in the midst of loss.  That God would send his only son to suffer and die for our sins. 

One of the most beautiful moments was on Thanksgiving evening when Travis and I my cousins went up to the hospital to visit with Uncle Bud for a little.  I knew it would be my last time to visit with him when he was responsive and alive.  He looked so orange and jaundice from the cancer, but we were able to get him to laugh a little. Before we left we had a short time of prayer.  Jesus was with us as we prayed.  During the prayer I heard my Uncle cry out to Jesus, thanking him for dying on the cross for him- it was the cry of a  broken man about to see his savior.  It was beautiful… it was love. 

The word says, that perfect love cast out fear.  This was a growing time for me to see that yes, death is ugly and painful for all involved.  But Jesus’ perfect love should cast out all fear- as we put our trust in our savior we have hope that we will be with him in heaven- because of his great sacrifice and plan for redemption.

Thank you Jesus this Thanksgiving… Thank you for your love… thank you for your work in Bud’s life.

*Children’s voices singing

*Warm cookies with milk

*Breakfast foods

*Laughing

*Making people laugh

*A listening ear

*Gracious people who extend Grace freely and extravangently

*Smiles

*The funny things my kids say

*To snuggle in the morning with my little ones

*Isaac’s bald head and blue eyes

* Hearing my girls laugh in the bath

*Unexpected blessings

*God’s provision

* Being accepted and loved by Jesus

* His Mercy and patience with me

*Travis’ love for me and our family- in word and deed

* Our extended family- talks with them on the phone and our visits

* Teachable spirits

* Learning new things

* Hearing God stories

And many more….

Have you ever read the bible and been confused about things such as how does the Old Testament fit with the New Testament?  What do Noah and Jonah have to do with Jesus Christ?

Why did Jesus have to die for our sins?

Please watch this movie online… at www.thehopeproject.com

It narrates the Story of God from Creation to Christ with great visual affects and dramatization.  It comes in English, Spanish, and many other languages.  It is well made!  I thoroughly enjoyed it!