Strengthen the weak and feeble.

Isaiah 35:1-4

I was reading this morning in Isaiah again and found myself encouraged once again by the poetic, inspired words that are recorded for our blessing. Isaiah is telling us what the future of Zion is and states,

"The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;

it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,...the glory of Lebanon shall be

given to it,

the excellence of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord. The excellency of our God."

The beauty of these places were considered at the time the most lovey out of all the land. They were the most fruitful and the most beautiful. However, we are told here that they will become even more beautiful and fruitful, showing us God's hand and favor on the nation of Israel. I am looking forward to the day when Israel is blessed in this way. When we will see the Gentile nations that have fought against and slaughtered the innocent, destroyed and humbled as they watch God's hand of blessing.

And for what purpose will God do this? That they may see the glory of the Lord! Yes! It will all be for His glory and excellence that He will exalt the nation of Israel! It is always to bring glory and honor to His name! As you are going about your day, be reminded that all you do should be done unto Him; being reminded that you are to be bringing Him all glory and honor and praise!

After all, doesn't He deserve all we have to give?

After being reminded of how He will increase the fruitfulness of the land, we read how we are to encourage those who are failing or struggling through this Christian walk and difficult times,

"Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who are fearful hearted, be strong and do not fear!

Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God;

He will come and save you."

I was so blessed when I read this. My hearts cry today is just this, to first be strengthened myself in every way by His Spirit and then to go out and share with those who are weak and feeble. I believe many Christians are feeling this way. They need their weak hands strengthened. The way we do this is to hold onto the promises of the Lord. How do we do that? By reading His word and speaking them out!

When you are feeling feeble, just drop down and pray! God loves a broken and humble person! When we recognize that we are feeble and can no longer stand firm, just fall to your knees and God will strengthen you as your spirit communes with His Spirit! We are to be obedient to do this for we are also commanded to stand firm! So Christian, get in the word of God! Speak out the truths of God, and when your knees are feeble, drop down and pray. Stay there until you hear Him say, "Go and be strong in the power of My might!"

"For it is not by might nor by power but by My Spirit" says the Lord! Zech. 4:6

Blessings and love

Resurrection weekend

What a wonderful and full weekend we had! It all began with our friend, Patti, from our sending church in NJ, coming to stay with us. She is working with a Wycliffe team up in Oxford for two weeks, so she made her way over for the weekend to Cambridge to be apart of this momentous occasion in our lives. She arrived tired but blessed early Fri. afternoon.

Below: Patti Rechten
Maddie took the shot below. Its not the best but its what I have =)


She quickly settled in and went to work helping me prepare for the Fri. study. She was so blessed to be here and to be apart of the study as we were to have her. The next day we awoke to snow, hail, sleet and rain. After the four types of weather passed through, the sun broke out and it would start all over again within 15 min. or so. Such a crazy day! Joey and Patti attempted going out in this awful weather in order to watch a Passion play that was put together by several of the different Christian churches in the area. They never made it, but were able to walk a bit in the city center and show Patti a bit of our beautiful city here.

Saturday night was mellow for the most part except for our late night rendezvous to the store. In order to purchase items for our lunch after church on Sunday. =)
Now, in the midst of preparing for Sunday and deciding the direction the Lord wanted me to take with the children, I had been functioning off of little sleep. Jordan decided that this would be a good week to start waking in the middle of the night again and needing me.
So with Patti here there was no way of breaking that until our much welcomed guest was gone. So I was soooo tired and a bit anxious wondering how I was going to teach children's ministry every week.

When I woke up on Sunday morn at 6 am, the ground was covered with snow and I was ready. I felt the Lord's peace and hand of guidance over the entire morning.
There was no concern about the weather. In fact it was lovely. Josiah has been praying for snow for weeks now and it was answered. People arrived shortly after the start time and we were on our way. We had a borrowed worship leader from another Calvary, which saved Joey's voice and multitasking. Such a blessing.
I loved the worship. I loved being apart of it! The kids were there as well and were so well behaved! I am excited about being involved with worship. I am hoping that Jon Mac and I will get to do worship together once he is here.

The worship service! J.P. from CCNorwich led the singing portion.

The kids joined in for worship!

Then Joey brought the Word!

AWESOME!

Julie Saggers (pictured below) was there which was such an answer to prayer. If you are not aware of Julie's situation, she has been struggling with depression for quite some time but the last couple of months it has been severe. She woke up one day last week with a lighter countenance so to see her smiling and engaging with people was wonderful.

Julie and Tiff

When the service was all done, everyone enjoyed a cup of something and I got started on lunch. Patti was amazing! She stepped graciously in and helped me in every way as well as the other women.
While I worked, Jordan received lots of cuddles from everyone. Including the men! I am so grateful to have people in my life here that love my kids. I have missed that more than I can say since being here.

Tracy and Tiff

Patti was picked up around 4:30. Before she left, I asked Patti for some advice for the future functions like this since she is a veteran when it comes to hostessing. She shared some pearls with me that I will work on for the future. Thank you my friend!

This is a new couple to our fellowship:

Michelle, Rob, and daughter in Georgina.

Joey and Martin

All went off without a hitch and the fellowship lasted til 6pm! WOW, was I tired, but overwhelmed by God's goodness. What a great thing to have my house full of God's people and to serve them in this way. It truly felt like a family; a new beginning!!!

Thank you all for praying. We could sense God's people doing business with the Lord on our behalf. We know that the attacks will keep coming. They are in our faces all the time. The enemy has been going after our kids and our marriage which is to be expected. He distracts and keeps us from spending time together even though we are in the same house. He stirs up the kids and they begin bickering and fighting. It just keeps recycling itself. So please pray for us as a family to be protected and aware of what is really going on. The battle is not ours!

We love you all!!

Our fellowship meeting

What an awesome time of fellowship we all had here yesterday!
Joey and I held our first "Bring and Share" here at our house. We included a time of games, food, an update on how everyone can get involved with serving and a time of communion. It appeared that all had a wonderful time and left feeling uplifted and excited about what the Lord has planned for the future of this fellowship of believers.

The Picture above is Heather, our sitter and friend of course!
The Picture on the right is of Ang., Monika, Heather and Maddie.
The pic. on the bottom right in a group shot with Isaac in front.

Joey and I are so honored that the Lord continues to use us to encourage and bring Jesus to this community. We are amazed at how ignorant so many are here about what the word of God says and those who are numb to what society deems as okay.
It grieves my spirit as I know it does the Lords to know that so many are okay sleeping with their boyfriends or living with their "partner". So many Christians are unaware about what the Bible says about this issue and other controversial topics. We know that the Holy Spirit will correct this in time for those who come to hear what the Lord is guiding Joey to teach about. The Spirit is faithful to do the Lord's bidding and He desires that His children to walk in truth.

We love the people that He has placed in our lives for this season. He continues to place people in our lives without us doing any striving work. AMAZING! We are required to seek Him and be diligent to work the plow. He will bring the increase! Please pray for those who come to the Fri. night fellowship:
Monika
Ang.
Heather
Andrew
Sam
Mike
David
Mike and Tracy, Daniel and Joshua
James and Susan, Carin and Isaac
Shelia
Samuel
Mark and Julie, JJ and CJ
Rob and Michelle, Georgina(nina)

The top bunch are Uni. students and will go on Holiday next week. Please pray the Lord keeps them while they are on break and that the Lord draws them to stay in fellowship and refreshes them.

--Pray for our families. For wisdom as they raise their kids and as they pour into them spiritually.
-Pray for Julie's healing from depression and for restored joy and motivation.
-Pray for healing for Shelia and Samuel due to lack of father influence and lack of Godly guidance. Praise the Lord for their hearts for intercessory prayer!
-Pray for David, an American who has become a dear friend of the family and needs direction on where the Lord wants him to be. He needs provision for a place to stay here in England and for his business to take off and be successful.
Last but not least, for Joey and I to remain focused on the Lord, for Maddie, Josiah and Jordan to love the ministry and never feel second to the work God is doing. To fall deeper in love with each other and the Lord!
Love you all!
picture of David, Joey and Sam.

A wonderful quiet moment

I was blessed this morning to have a quiet house all to myself. Joey took the kids to church and I stayed home with a baby sleeping, my Bible, a journal and a heart ready to receive from the Lord.
I am currently studying the book of Isaiah and it is proving to be a wonderful journey.
The poetry in this book is amazing and beautiful to my soul. I feel like I am experiencing his life as he pleads with the people to repent and come back to the Lord:

"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease
to do evil..." Is. 1:16

Then he goes on and says in the Spirit,

"Come, let us reason together."
Says the Lord,
"Though your sins are like scarlet,they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. If you
are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land." Is.1:18-19

First, I am just blown away once again at how much the Lord loves this nation. He calls them to repentance all the time. He reminds them of what they are doing that is grieving His heart... They were worshipping idols, marrying the pagans, participating in disgusting things that perverted their worship to the Lord. But He loves them so just as He loves those who have been grafted in.
So He offers them a pardon, a way of escape to those whom He loves. We just need to choose it. We reap what we sow, but He still offers goodness and freedom when we choose His ways.
To be cleansed from all unrighteousness:

"Say to the righteous that it shall be well with
them for they shall eat the fruit of their doings."Is. 3:10

And you know why? Two things come to mind,

1. Because He loves His kids and wants the best for us.
2. But ultimately He desires to bring glory to Himself in every way.

When He sets us back onto the straight and narrow, people will notice and will rejoice or get saved! We are giving honor to Him when our lives are renewed and put back where they belong, in His loving and powerful hands!

AWESOME!!

I was also blessed by another passage in Isaiah,

"He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, and will whistle to them from the
end of the earth...no one will be weary or stumble among them,
No one will slumber or sleep nor will the belt on their loins be loosed
nor the strap of their sandals be broken."Is.5:26

That word banner reminds me of the song His banner over me is love from the book of Song of Sol.
I was meditating for quite some time on what it means to have His banner over me. The first thing that came to my mind was how an army goes forth under a banner or a flag of colors which represents what they are fighting for. I have never seen a war movie or history book on war that did not show an army without their banner.
There is a powerful presence when you see an army well trained and lined up orderly ready to fight with their colors or banners waving in the wind, (see Joel 2:7-8). They know what they are fighting for or getting behind in a sense. They have purpose and a goal. Both demonstrated this sense of determination and pride in a belief.
The Lord also uses a banner to show His protection over us. He covers us with His banner of love. That gives me a security that nothing else can give me. That is powerful!

I am blessed to know that my belief in the Lord God, is unwavering and worth fighting for.
His banner which offers me protection, a purpose, and a sense of security makes me motivated to share this hope with others.
Some other references to His banner are found in:

Ps. 60:4-.You have given a banner to those who fear You, it will be displayed because of truth! (love that!)
Ps20:5
Song of Sol. 2:4, 6:4
Is. 13:2-Lift up a banner on a high mountain , raise your voice to them wave your hand,
that they may enter the gate of the nobles.
Is 5:26
I wrote out the two I like the best knowing that some of you won't bother to look up the passages. I know I
don't always :)

The last thing that I will leave you with today is from Joel 2:15-16, 18

"Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly;
gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the
children and nursing babies...then the Lord will be zealous for His land, and
pity His people."

God desires a people to be set apart! To pray and seek Him to come together in one accord, fasting and praying. This is really on my heart and I know the heart of my husband, especially being on the verge of a church plant. The call is to consecrate, to gather, and to assemble. To consecrate is to give your whole heart. Rom.12:1 states,

"I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

Proverbs 23:26 is a good ref as well.

And of course when we gather in unity under the banner of Jesus Christ there will be victory or should I say the recognition of the victory we already have! Praise the Lord!
I pray this blessed you today and restores your soul.
SEEK HIM! Pray with us as we move forward in His will.

We will be fasting and praying every Tues. so if you would, please remember us in your prayers and if the Lord puts it on your heart, fast with us as we seek His will concerning Cambridge and the work He wants to do here.

God bless and I love you all.

Our wonderful family having some fun.

Laugh for the week part II: Josiah gets a hair cut.

We had Bible study last night.
My kids were the only children I had to watch, so
I carried on and taught the lesson I had
prepared.
As we read through the story of Jesus and Nicodemus
I notice that Josiah has a bald spot on the top of his head.
I kept thinking that it was just bed head or something,
but noooo it was a bald spot!! But wait...not just one, but two
bald spots and a side burn cut off as well!!

I had to hold back the giggle and mental image
of my mom scolding my brother for playing "barber"
with my head of hair as I stared down Maddie in
disbelief that she would do something so irresponsible.

This is the dialouge...
"Josiah, what happened to your hair?"

Josiah responds,
"Maddie took your razor thing and cut it.
"I told her not to but she didn't whisten(listen)"

I ask, (with a slight smirk on my face),
"Oh, so you just sat there and let her cut into your hair, almost
cutting you, after you told her not too?"
"It sounds like you wanted her too."

"Weeelll, I told her not too."

So I turn my gaze upon Maddie,
She is standing sheepishly with her head lowered.
Of course my heart was a bowl of mush, but I still
had to let her know that she is not a hairdresser and
should never do that again.
So I say,
"What were you thinking? You know better!
Now he has funny looking hair."

"I know. I'm sorry. But he cut mine too! Only a little."

You must promise to never do that again okay?

"Okay mommy. Please don't be mad at me. I'm sorry."

Of course I forgave her and then proceeded to tell her about my barber
experience with uncle Chaddy. He took scissors to my bangs and cut
them into a mountain range! And then took off a huge chunk of my long
locks! Needless to say, my mom flipped out on him. She wasn't as gracious
due to the long hair thing and it being the front of my hair and all. I would've
been a bit more miffed had she done the front of his hair.
So we will wait for it to grow back and thank the Lord that she didn't cut his
scalp because she came awfully close!!!
Gotta laugh!!

Just getting some water, mom!

"Okay where are you Josiah?"

I ask for the 3rd time.

"Didn't I ask you to come here?"

As I shove baby food into the yelling little person in front
of me.

"Coming mom. I'm just getting some water!"

Then I hear the sound that every mom cringes at.

"Splash, crash, glugg glugg glugg!"
"What was that?"

I calmly exclaim as I get up.
Josiah's eyes were about the size of golf balls;

"OH it was just an accident mom!"
"I didn't mean to do it."

Okay breathe...
I slowly walk into the kitchen and there on the floor
is a large bottle of sunflower oil nicely spread accross
the floor. Gushing torrents of slick oil for me to clean up
before we have people over. Have you ever tried to clean up oil?
It is next to impossible. After the sopping of towels,
you mop. After you mop, you get on your hands and
knees to find any left over residue. After the hands on experience,
you take another go at it with the mop.
Needless to say, 2 days later, we are just now walking on the kitchen floor
without slipping all over the place.
I have to say it has been funny watching Jordan(the baby)
crawl accross the slippery floor.
His legs kept sliding out from under him.

So of course I forgave him, until he took a marker and decided
the bathroom door downstairs needed a little red marker on it
to livin up the color. And then Maddie knocked over her cup in
the living room the next day and then Joey knocked the tea pot spilling tea
all over the counter...I know it will never end, because I go with
me everywhere and I make disasters all the time.
So thank God for forgiveness, laughter and lots of Bounty paper towels. :)