Dana’s Avenue

The Final Four games begin soon (writing this Saturday night) and I still have 3 of my 4 teams in tact (on my bracket).  I’m also still leading our tourney group.  Beginner’s Luck for sure!!  I’ve got Florida and Georgetown going to the championship game with Florida winning the whole thing.

Let’s go Gators…clap, clap…clap, clap, clap…

Jonathan and I are going to Florida to see one of our partners and to relax a few days.  How nice.  Traveling.  Relaxing.  Bird watching.  Visiting.  We were talking a little about the trip today and Jonathan, oh so casually, told me to remember to pack a swimsuit.

WHAT!?! 

A swimsuit!?!

You can’t just spring swimsuit season on a woman!  It has just gotten warm around here.  Trees are turning green.  Flowers are blooming.  Birds are nesting.  Spring has just begun.  I haven’t thought for a second about putting on a swimsuit.  Gosh.  I just stopped wearing sweaters!

But what can I do?  And what would I have done if I had thought of this sooner?  Probably nothing.  I’m not going to join a gym or buy a tanning package.  I guess I’m going to have to suck it up and just accept that I look the way I look and that’s that.

You know the craziest articles I’ve ever seen…  “Find a swimsuit that fits your body type.”  They usually go on to tell you what cut is best if you have big thighs (among other perceived weaknesses).  I’m thinking are my thighs still showing?  If so it’s not a good style for that body type.  More than finding the perfect swimsuit (as if that were possible) is being comfortable in the skin I’m in. 

I had a novel thought today.  Did you know that our bodies are to live in and to use and they help us to function and get things done and move through life?  Huh.  So they’re not just to be seen in.  Well, who knew…

Yesterday morning I was getting ready for the day and noticed that I have almost no make-up left.  I thought, “I’m going to have to order myself some Mary Kay.”  I set the thought aside and kept going with my day.  This morning one of our partners emailed me saying she wanted to supply me with Mary Kay make-up free of charge.  Now is that crazy or what!? 

This makes me realize a couple of things.

First, God actually cares about ALL of my needs even when it’s not crucial.  He shows Himself faithful, loving, and very involved in my life. 

Secondly, He uses His people in some amazing ways.  I mean, she’s selling make-up.  If I were her I’d discount that activity in my mind a bit since it’s not a ministry, a church program, or evangelistic.  It may not even be something she does full-time.  I don’t know.  But God used her skill in selling Mary Kay to bless and encourage someone else - me.  And I’d bet He has used her in many other ways too, sometimes without her even being aware of it.

God can’t be put into a box.  We can be used by Him and blessed by Him in more ways than we can imagine.  He is simply amazing.

I read a life transforming verse this morning:

Colossians 3:15a, “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”

The definition according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary:

Rule - to exert control, direction, or influence on; to be preeminent in, dominate; to be first in prominence, predominate

So this peace isn’t dictated or defined by the world, my friends, my family, or even myself.  This is the peace of Christ and it is to rule.  It is to exert control, direction or influence on.  It is to be preeminent in.  It is to dominate.  It is to be first in prominence.  It is to be predominate.  So anything else that tries to rise up in my heart - fear, anger, rebellion, unforgiveness, anxiety, bitterness… peace is to reign.  The peace of Christ is to reign. 

This peace does not come from me and for that I am thankful because I realize it isn’t one of my natural resources.  But I do have a part.  The verse also says I am to let His peace rule my heart.  I have to allow it in and give it a place over anything else I’m feeling.  That surrender is sometimes the hardest part. 

There are times that I want to be angry and I want to win.  There are times that I am so gripped with fear it’s all I’m focused on.  There are times that I am convinced that worrying over a matter will solve it and letting go of my seeming control is unthinkable.  But no matter what emotion rears its head, the perfect Word of God tells me I can let the peace of Christ rule in my heart.  What a life giving, freeing verse to apply. 

Lord, give me the ability to let go, to surrender, to grasp that which is better.  Peace of Christ, rule in my heart…

I just read a really interesting blog post about “TV watching”; here’s the link:  http://bustinoutbaby.blogspot.com/2007/03/this-is-how-much-i-hate-tv.html.  She makes some really good points about how fruitless it is and now I’m motivated not to spend so much time checked out in front of it.  I love to read anyway so that’s a great alternative for me.  She’s gone without TV for 8 years and has never missed it.  I really wonder how much we’d really miss if we just turned it off for a while.  I bet we’d keep right on without missing a beat.  In fact we may even gain some things… like… enjoying the outdoors, trying new recipes, reading new books, studying more of the Bible, spending quality time with our spouse and kids (aka dogs), relaxing in new ways, and learning new skills…  If you google “TV brain” you’ll find some amazing things about how mind numbing TV is - pretty scary.

I don’t watch a whole lot of TV…  American Idol (which I can truly do without - especially this season), a rare viewing of Take Home Chef, the occasional old sitcom (where I end up cringing at some of the things I hear)…  If Jonathan were to get on this bandwagon - no more Prison Break/24 - what a treat not to hear that going on Monday nights.  Oh - and the absence of all the ads would be a HUGE benefit of turning off the tube. 

The only other things I watch are racing, basketball, and football…  That’s not too much to keep is it???  :)  Okay, I’ll give up basketball after March Madness and I’ll give up football now.  Racing though will have to remain.  For now. 

Well, we’ve been in the missions house since Saturday night.  It’s been great!  We spent most of today moving our stuff out of the RV.  It’s not finished and now we have piles scattered throughout.  The great thing though is that the house is so big I don’t notice the clutter much.  I can’t wait to get totally settled in but really it’s no big deal and right now we’re WAY more comfortable.  The only down side to the move is that the bed is a full-size.  It’s funny because we went from a king in the house to a queen in the RV to a full in this house.  Maybe God is preparing us for something…  The good thing about the new bed situation is that my bigger dog, Teddy, can now sleep under the bed which makes him happy and gives us more room for ourselves.  So it’s all good.  No.  It’s all great.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  ~James 1:17

…and we are so grateful!

To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth.  This is generally said with a sign of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation.

~Oswald Chambers

But not for long…

Only a few times since moving into the RV park have we had anyone parked right next to us and each time the person didn’t stay long.  It’s been nice.  But now the park is filling up and for the first time in a long time we have a neighbor.  They’re basically behind us though so it’s not all bad. 

That’s the side that has the birdhouse with the chickadees nesting in it.  We introduced the people to that idea tonight because they’ll be the new ‘parents’ now that we’re moving.

Speaking of moving, we’re doing that now.  I’m still not sure how we’re going to accomplish it and what the details of the move are but we’re excited that it’s actually happening!!!

Ahhh… room to spread out, places to relax, a chance for privacy, and room to move around…

So the next time you hear from us we should be in the house!  Yay!

We shouldn’t just focus on God’s love.  Have you ever heard that?  I’ve heard that a lot. 

Gosh, if someone’s only focused on God loving them they won’t see that God is also wrathful, He’s our judge, and then they’ll disregard His rules. 

Really?

The thing for me is that His rules are much easier to understand than His love is.

God gave us rule after rule after rule.  Okay.  Give them to me.  I’ll follow them.  I’ll fail.  I’ll either try again or give up altogether.

God loves you.  That’s right.  The Creator of the Universe.  The One you turn from to worthless earthly things.  As it says within Hosea 7:13, “I long to redeem them.”  He longs to redeem us.  And He did redeem us.  His wrath was poured out on Jesus so we stand before God justified, free, loved, redeemed, His child. 

I really believe if I more fully understood God’s love, and His grace, I would follow His rules more, not less.  I would serve Him wholeheartedly, not out of duty.  I would cast off the guilt for my shortcoming and rejoice in the huge gap He fills for me.

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”  ~Hosea 7:6

The amount of information received from personnel in Tanzania so far is beyond overwhelming.  For a few different reasons. 

First, it comes piecemeal - a little one day, a little a few weeks later…  Secondly, some goes to Jonathan only and other stuff comes to both of us.  Another issue is that much of it is in paragraph form so you sort of have to search to find the item that needs to be done.  Lastly, there are so many different subjects addressed it’s hard to keep it all straight.  I’ve had quite the time trying to stay on top of all this.  Sometimes within a document it’ll say “more on this later” and it makes me wonder, has ‘later’ arrived and I’ve just missed it or is this something I’m waiting on?  Because I thrive on organization my mind is screaming at me over this stuff.

So here’s what I did…

I sorted my email by sender and printed everything I’ve received from personnel.  Then I went through all my emails from Jonathan to print the ones he forwarded me from personnel.  Then I asked him if there were any others he hadn’t yet forwarded me.  At the end of all that, I had a big stack of papers.  Ah.  A definite body of information.  I would know exactly when I reached the end of it and would know I went through it ALL thoroughly.  Sometimes life’s about the little things.

Then I took my papers, computer, and highlighter and set to work.  I created a spreadsheet with a different tab for each subject.  As I entered the information from paragraph form to list form I highlighted what I had transferred.  When I got to the end I had a big stack of highlighted papers.  What a relief.  In front of me then stood a list of things that need to be done before we get to Tanzania.  So, I created a brand new, blank tab and put a section for each month between now and our departure.  Under each month I listed the tasks (from the adjacent tabs) that needed to be done.  Now all I have to really think about is my March list - and I can be fairly sure I have everything in order.

But here’s the best part…

Hoping I wouldn’t offend anyone, I emailed personnel in Tanzania and offered to send them my spreadsheet when I’m done with it (after they’ve sent all the information they plan to).  They were EXCITED about it!  Yay!  I love being useful and helpful.  Now I really want to get it done and maybe even improve it. 

The only problem is that I skipped anything that wasn’t relevant to our particular situation.  Drats.  I’ll have to search through those emails again and make the spreadsheet complete.  Nothing like being thorough…