encouragement for today

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength

A very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear,

Even though the earth be removed,

and though the mountains be carried

into the midst of the sea;...

The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Be still and know that I am God;...

There is no want for those who fear the Lord.

Be blessed today and rest in Him.

He is surrounding you with His angels and

has a close eye on all your

comings and goings.

Just be STILL!

Don't ever forget!!!

" Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs." Is. 61:7

This passage is to the Jews, but we can possess this promise as well. Thank you Lord for your blessings on our life. Even though we may experience hardship and pain, you will give us a double portion as we pursue your truths. May we remember that we can have everlasting joy when we set our sights on you!

Be blessed today and know that the Lord of heaven and earth sees you as His glorious bride. He can't wait to spend time with you!


God bless!

Our whirlwind trip to Paris, France.

We spent 12 hours in France on June 3-4! It was a crazy, yet fun trip. I am blessed beyond measure and can say that I am more in love with my husband today than I was yesterday! This trip allowed us to enjoy some much needed uninterupted time away. We praise the Lord for providing for such a special get-away. These pictures include most of our trip. We took a boat tour along the river Seine which allowed us to see the highlights of Paris, including the Eiffel tower all lit up! We toured the Louvre and Notre Dame. In between we enjoyed the sights, the people, the shopping and the food. The best dessert was a Magnum bar with 2 layers of caramel and dipped in dark chocolate! I was in hog heaven!! Over all it was wonderful and fun. I would do it again if we ever had the chance!

Jordan update...

Jordan is turning one on May 20th. I have been looking forward to this 3rd baby turning one and the wonderful milestone that it represents in the life of our family of five. He is walking and jabbering on about life around him all the time. His little language includes alot of tongue rolling and gurgling sounds. Maddie will carry on conversations with him in the car which is so cute.

He eats through life and doesn't seem to gain the weight you would think he would from the amount he packs into his little body in one sitting. He eats everything! I mean it. He's entertaining to watch. Just don't run out of food unless you mean to pick him up. He will scream at you like a screeching hyena. It definitely gets your attention!

He is very content as long as his basic needs are met, and he always has a smile or a wave to offer anyone in his view. Like any good sibling, he laughs at his crazy sister and brother and wants to chase them around the house when they are crawling around like animals.

At the moment, he enjoys being outside whenever he can and enjoys taking rides in the car. Whenever I open the car to get something and he happens to be in my arms he lunges to get in. So strange. At times when we are at the park or in the front I put out the small soccer ball and I carry him around so he can kick it. He giggles the whole time! So great!

He wants me the most at this time of life. He finds me anywhere and enjoys just hangin out in my arms. He is content being with daddy, but if he has the choice, he's with me. I love it and know it will change before I know it. He holds my ear when he's snuggling me. Its a comfort thing for him. Some kids suck their thumb, some have a blankie; Jordan has "an ear". He holds his own as well. And when he's really tired he'll press his head against my cheek and listen to me sing to him in low tones. So sweet and special. He is very sweet and very good.

I am down to one feeding a day...well at night. I love it. It still makes me stop and realize how time is flying by and just how tired I am as I rest with him.

Jordan fits very well with our family. It has not been much of a transition because he's been so easy. He is a jolly fellow full of life and I love him to pieces.

We are blessed and thank the Lord for our kids every day. They are amazing and never cease to amaze us with their questions and inquiries about the world and the One who made it.

God give us the grace and wisdom of how to answer them.

Love you all.

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.