Sunday, May 24, 2009

Praise the Lord!

I have a very good explanation for my total lack of posting this week...my family and I have had the opportunity of working with dear friends from church to organize our annual Missions Garage Sale. The proceeds were to go toward a missions trip to Poland, as well as our trip to Mexico. You should have seen all of the things the congregation donated to the sale! Our gym (which is larger than a full-sized basketball court) was jam-packed!!! We were all just praying that lots of people would come and that we would sell a lot of the items. God answered our prayers in amazing ways. People were at the door twenty-five minutes before the sale started, and at some points we had over sixty customers at once! The proceeds hit a record high, and a local charitable organization offered to take all of the leftover items when the sale was over! God is so good to us!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Next Question

Hello all! Okay, I've been working on another Spanish verse...let's see who can guess the reference first! The verse is "pues todos han pecado y estan privados de la gloria de Dios." Any guesses or corrections (minus the missing accent marks)? Also, please scroll down and read the post on prayer, if you have the time. I put up another post before anyone had a chance to answer that one, but I would love to hear your answers!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Second Chances

Our great grandmother, Harriet Elmblad, whom most everyone affectionately called "Great Nanny," was a published poet. I love to read through the sweet words she penned, knowing that many were written for, and about, my loved ones. As I read through her book entitled "In Pictures of Silver" (see Proverbs 25:11), the following poem caught my eye and I wanted to share it with you today. May you be blessed by it as I have been!
Starting Anew
"Today's the first day of the rest of your life" has an impact on plans for TODAY.
No matter what happened before--it is gone--the past is a short prayer away.
We have a new start--a beginning again that's not based on anything past.
We've a chance to commence a new, fantastic life, with the promise of peace that can last.
Thank You, Lord for second chances, for grace and healing, and for new beginnings. Thanks for casting our sins as far from us as the east is from the west, and for giving us courage and strength to start over.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Spring

The picture above was taken by our dear friend Melanie last summer, but it reminded me of the weather today, and it is so beautiful that I wanted to share it with you. Now that it's almost summer, spring seems to be just making its appearance here in MN! If you love unpredictable weather, this is definitely the place to be! Where else does it hit 70 degrees one day and drop to 27 degrees within fourteen hours? Despite the chilly start this morning, though, the evening was beautiful! I (Amy) was blessed to be able to enjoy it with my some of my best friends: Mrs. T. and her daughters, Katelyn and Eliza. After a brief practice session for an upcoming wedding at which we will be singing and playing our instruments, we partook of some fabulous fajitas, chips and salsa, and fruit. Very yummy! After dinner, we headed outside for a brisk walk around their lovely neighborhood. It was so refreshing, and it felt so good to exercise and chat! Then we watched a very sweet chick flick which was thoroughly enjoyed by all, ate some amazing caramel sundaes and talked and talked. I am so incredibly blessed to have such sweet and fun friends! Thank You Lord!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Prayer

I'm writing this post because I want to hear about your "prayer strategies." Sometimes I have a hard time concentrating long enough to pray even the shortest of prayers. I want to spend prayer time with the Lord, praising Him and sharing my burdens. I want to be a prayer warrior for others. I do spend time in prayer every day, but I just don't feel like I'm giving God the undivided attention and devotion of which He is so worthy. I have found that it helps to write down my prayers in a journal at night before I go to bed, but I don't often have the time or energy at the end of the day to do this, plus I want to learn how to "pray without ceasing," which would imply the ability to pray at any time of the day. So, please share! What time of day works best as prayer time for you? Is there a certain place you go to pray? Do you pray with your eyes open or closed? Do you pray out loud or silently? Do you write out your prayers (or answers to prayer) in a journal? Do you prefer to pray alone or with other people? Do your prayers tend to follow a certain structure (I've heard some people recommend beginning with thanksgiving, then presenting requests, and so on)? If you would like to share anything else about your prayer life, please do so! I would love to hear it!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Accepting Chivalry With Grace

If any of you young ladies have not yet read Brett Harris's articles "The Big Misunderstanding" and "When Chivalry is Inconvenient" from the Rebelution blog, I highly recommend them! In fact, read the whole chivalry series if you have time! I was very convicted by these articles. I am so guilty of denying guys opportunities to be chivalrous by saying things like, "That's okay. I can handle it!" or "You don't have to help me. I can do it myself." These articles are such a good reminder that chivalry has nothing to do with our abilities. By allowing guys to open doors, carry luggage, etc., we offer them the opportunity to lay down their lives in service to God and others. So let's thank the young men in our lives who look for ways to serve us, and let them know how much we appreciate their thoughtfulness. Just remember that, as ladies, we should be looking for ways to serve others, too! One of my friends and I are doing an email study on Romans 12 right now, and the first verse of that chapter stuck out to me on this topic. It says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship." Let's be thinking of ways to sacrifice our time and energy in ways that please God and bless the people around us!

Learning Spanish!

Hola, mi amigos y mi familia! (I think that could be roughly translated to "Hello, my friends and family!" Correct me if I'm wrong. ;-) I know the length of time between blog posts has been getting ridiculous, but I'm hoping that since my (Amy's) school has now dismissed for the summer, I will have a chance to post more often. Anyway, let me tell you what I've been up to! As some of you already know, I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to Mexico this June with a team from my church. We will be working with Youth With A Mission in serving the people of Ensenada. I am so excited! As a team, we will be doing some or all of the following: working at a local orphanage, putting on a Vacation Bible School for the local children, doing light construction and maintenance work, and ministering through street evangelism/dramas. One thing I am praying about is the language barrier. I took one year of Spanish in high school, but my Spanish skills leave much to be desired. My wonderful youth pastor recently gave me a Spanish/English New Testament (along with Psalms and Proverbs), and I decided to try memorizing a few verses before we leave. So, the first one I tackled was, "Porque tanto amo Dios al mundo, que dio a su Hijo unigenito, para que todo el que cree en el no se pierda, sino que tenga vida eterna." Any guesses as to the reference? (Keep in mind I don't know how to actually type in the Spanish punctuation, so I'm missing a few accent marks here!) I am so enjoying reading and memorizing the Bible in another language and trying to figure out the translation back to English! If you think of it, please join me in prayer for this trip. Ask the Lord to make us teachable, and willing and able to serve. Ask that He will fill us with His Spirit, so that our work may be fruitful for His kingdom. Pray for safety and health for all, especially with current concerns about swine flu and Mexican drug cartels. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers! God bless you all!