Raise the bar!

We may as well face it: the whole level of spirituality among us is low.  We have measured ourselves by ourselves until the incentive to seek higher plateaus in the things of the Spirit is all but gone... [We] have imitated the world, sought popular favor, manufactured delights to substitute for the joy of the Lord and produced a cheap and synthetic power to substitute for the power of the Holy Ghost. -A.W. Tozer

One day, our children won't fight to see whose taller or who's gaining on the other.  They won't stand up straighter when someone tall walks into the room.   They may even stop standing on tip-toes as they walk up to me, each of them wondering if they are taller than Miss Jessica or Miss Kristen or Miss Holly yet. 

I hope that we can however challenge them to always stand on their spiritual tippy-toes.   We adults are pretty easily drawn into comparing our figure, our car, our income bracket- but rarely are we so delighted by the joy of the Lord that we allow His joy to trump any such comparisons.  It's our hope to challenge one another within our home to raise the bar.  To really revel in the joy of the Lord and rest in the power of the Holy Spirit.  To allow the Holy Spirit to have such a large role in each of our lives that if one of us begins to 'slouch' and depend on our own strength or struggle with doubt- we quickly stand tall in the Holy Spirit, showing evidence of the Spirit's work in us and basque in life dependent upon His power.

Unity is necessary to the outpouring of the Spirit of God. If you have 120 volts of electricity coming into your house but you have broken wiring, you may turn on the switch, but nothing works - no lights come on, the stove doesn't warm, the radio doesn't turn on. Why? Because you have broken wiring. The power is ready to do its work..., but where there is broken wiring, there is no power. Unity is necessary among the children of God if we are going to know the flow of power...to see God do His wonders.

A. W. Tozer

James 1:17

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (NIV)

Aaron is home from Florida, and we are enjoying hearing the lessons and experiences that he learned while at his class.  I wanted to share one with you...

Lesson: Personal space, personal property and respect of such things vary according to cultural norms.
**This lesson was shared in love by missionaries who were honestly relating their own experiences- with no criticism or judgement- we are thankful for any insight or input that we receive, so that we know how to better mentally prepare and pray for God's help with necessary adjustments.

Obviously, you don't enter another culture and expect no change!  We had cultural adjustments going from San Diego to Montana, and we certainly have had a lot of adjustments leaving Montana and coming to Atlanta!! (Part of why we moved to Atlanta was to force these adjustments to occur while still in a context that speaks english and has ample supply of Mtn. Dew!)

The lesson that Aaron learned at his class was important~ even though it was only verbally related to him- but it was one of the first things that he told us about when he got home.  It was a blessing, however because the kids and I had dealt with this lesson a few months ago  when someone in our neighborhood helped themselves to the jacuzzi on our back porch while weren't home.
Through that experience, the kids and I had to work through our feelings of being invaded, and we learned about cultural norms and personal property.  It affected me to have a stranger on my back patio, using my stuff.
I pouted and cried some (no shock there- I cry a lot) but what I realized was that God taught me a valuable lesson through that experience.  Apparently we needed our boundaries pushed a little bit! We thought that we were holding onto our things with an open hand, but we needed our hands opened up a bit more!  Aaron learned this lesson from people who have overseas experience with this cultural 'shift' and the kids and I learned it at home in our neighborhood!

I am so glad to see how God is using each day here to teach us important concepts that serve us as we serve Him!  He continues to train us, and He is providing opportunities for growth and stretching. 
Attending training courses, reading a miriad of books, serving in a small church setting, depending on the Lord more fully, doing a lot of seeking Him IS GOOD.  but... only God will make us ready, and the trick is knowing that we cannot be completely ready for all that is ahead of us!  We don't want to pretend that we can...instead we want to be full of faith and have our eyes fixed on God so that we can live lives that point to Jesus and His good gifts over and over again. 

Another Arrow in our Quiver

Aaron is at a training course this week.  He's taking classes from 8:00 till noon, then they break for lunch, have classes until dinner, then some more class time until 9:00ish.  The sessions are teaching on differing elements of agriculture, water, power, soil quality, irrigation, and he also has time to access their library full of books covering many topics that are appropriate for food production and nutritional improvements in Tropical climates.  He's bunking with another guy, Tim, who has been a great source of encouragement and support.  Tim is a full-time missionary and has been willing to challenge, question and provide a lot of helpful input for the benefit of our family at this stage of our preparation.  Praise the Lord for Tim's openness and ability to challenge us in the ways that we need it!
A few months ago a good friend who has spent time with people all over the world shared with us the most commonly expressed sentiment from his interaction with missionaries on the field.  Be prepared for the isolation and loneliness that is to come once you are mobilized.  We've been in Georgia for 6 months, and have yet to make 'friends' with other families here.  We have prayed for fellowship opportunities for the kids, and been waiting for God to answer our prayer.  So far, His answer has been to not provide friendship through same-age kids for our three.  We have met several families, and people have generously connected us to other families, but when the actual day comes to get together- something always goes wrong!  We are trusting that there is a purpose to this pseudo-isolation, and we are so glad to have lots of wonderful cousins in the area, but for the kids, no same-age or same-gender kids leaves us to really look forward to letters and phone calls from home! The funny part is that Aaron, who doesn't have an intense need for time with people, is getting a lot of fellowship, encouragement and interaction!  Trusting that each day is in preparation for the next, the kids and I are hangin' in there and trying to be thankful that we have one another, without being too jealous of Aaron!
Our express purpose for moving to Georgia was to become ready to be mobilized, and brought out of our comfort zone in preparation for overseas ministry.  We trust that the Lord is filling our 'quiver' with the arrows that we will need when we enter the field, to be used for His glory.