A Crippled Duck Named Hope

This afternoon I took a walk with a young cousin and 2 of our young friends. We walked to the small lake near my house to feed the duck and fish. There were 7 mallards, 3 drakes (males) and 4 hens (females). One of the hens had a crippled left foot. It looked like her leg was at least partly okay, but her foot looked as if it had been broken or she was born crippled. In any case, if we saw her from the right side, we didn't notice anything different about her. But, when viewed from the back or right, we could see her left leg half dragging, half pulled up beside her. She used it a bit to swim, but she could not walk on it. She swam fine and used her right leg as if she were using both legs. The other mallards didn't pick on her, either. (If they would have, I probably would have been in that water chasing them away.)

As the boys and I watched her, I decided to name her Hope. The boys asked me why. I said, "Even though she's crippled and can't use her left leg, she still swims and walks fine. She's strong. Just because she's crippled doesn't mean she can't do stuff. She can give people hope because she reminds us that even though we may be sick, hurt, crippled, or whatever, we can still live. We can still do things."

Hope is living the life God has made her to live; it doesn't matter that she has a bum leg.We can still live the life God has made and called us to live, even if we're hurt, crippled, sick, stressed, feel unworthy, different, feel inadequate, or whatever. God provides what we need for what He wants us to do (Philippians 4:19). God provides for Hope, so why wouldn't He provide for us (Matthew 6:25-34)?

I don't know if we'll see Hope again, but I will be looking for her. If she's not a resident of our lake, I know God will still take care of her wherever she is, and I pray God will use her to give hope to many others. If she is a resident of our lake, I'm looking forward to seeing her many times.

Missions Trip: Mexico (part 2)

When I found out our youth group is going to Mexico next summer on a missions trip, I was already excited. As I've said before, I plan on going unless God tells me otherwise. Which would be okay, too. Over the past month I've become even more excited. You see, I've known Christ for about 24 years. Next year, around this time, I will have known Christ for about 25 years. It will be our 25th anniversary! I will have been married to Christ for about 25 years! That's so amazing! so, what does this have to do with Mexico? Well, my pastor and his wife celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary this past summer by going on a cruise to Alaska. For my 25th anniversary knowing Christ, we may be going to Mexico! A missions trip to Mexico...what an amazing way to celebrate knowing Christ for 25 years. I'm crazy excited about it. 

On to another aspect of the trip. In Powerhouse (our youth group), we've decided to give all of our offering, collected from now until July, to the missionaries with whom we'll working, They'll be able to use the money for the orphanage or whatever they need. It's our gift to them. Our youth pastors are encouraging us to bring our change to put in the offering. Now, this money isn't to help those of us going on the trip. This is separate from us saving up for the trip itself. This money is an additional gift to the missionaries and the people in Mexico. I think this is a good idea. It helps us all to place others first, and to trust God to provide for our needs (which He promised to do in Philippians 4:19 and other places in the Bible). And it's a good reminder to give.

Prayer requests:

• For our youth and leaders to be open to going on the trip, and for us to listen and obey the Holy Spirit regarding this.
• That our team will begin to prepare (spiritually, mentally, in terms of learning a bit of Spanish, monetarily) and not wait until the last minute.
• That our team will trust God for everything (funding, details, etc.), continue trusting Him, and learn to trust Him even more.
• That we'll begin/continue praying for every aspect of the missions trip.

Christmas music already?!

There's a radio station on our area that has already begun playing continuous Christmas music. Yes, it is still October, and this is not a joke. The radio station chose to do this on purpose. And, as some of you may imagine, there are mixed feelings about this. For the most part, up until the past year or so, I wouldn't have been a big fan of continuous Christmas music before Thanksgiving. (A few Christmas songs here and there, okay.) But now? Bring it on! I'm actually a bit excited about it. After all, December 25th is simply one day out of the year when I think about Christ's birth, death, and resurrection. It's simply one day when I think about just how much Christ loves me. But, December 25th is not the only day I think about that. I think about all that almost every day. So, what would the big deal be if I, or anyone else, listened to lots of Christmas music all throughout the year in part of celebrating Christ and remembering what He's done for us? Okay, so some of the Christmas music isn't about Christ--it's more about the commercial aspect of the "season" and Santa Claus and such. I realize this. Yet, there are so many Christmas songs that are about Christ.

I'll be listening to that radio station a bit...I already have. I'm ready to celebrate Christ, and I wouldn't mind putting up the Christmas decorations! (Mom won't let me do that, though...so, I wait until the day after Thanksgiving.)

Love overcomes any language barrier

In Bible study we are reading a short book called The Greatest Thing in the WORLD: Walking in Love by Henry Drummond. As we were going through some of it this evening, this portion from page 14 stuck out to me:

 Then Paul contrasts it [love] with sacrifice and martyrdom: "If I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing." Missionaries can take nothing greater to the heathen world than the impress and reflection of the Love of God upon their own character. That is the universal language. It will take them years to speak in Chinese, or in the dialects of India. From the day they land, that language of Love, understood by all, will be pouring forth its unconscious eloquence.

This reminds me of when I was in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in June of 2007. I was with our youth group on a missions trip and during one of the VBS outreaches I tried to communicate with a young girl. She was probably not older than 7, and asked her almost every question I could think of in Spanish, but she didn't seem to understand me. I'm not fluent in Spanish, but I know a decent amount. However, although we tried for at least 10-15 minutes, we could not seem to understand each other. The last thing that came to my mind were the words "un abrazo". So, I asked the girl, "Un abrazo?" She smiled and opened her arms. She understood. I asked her, "A hug?" and she understood.

Our God is so cool. The love of our King through us is amazing; it crosses barriers that cannot otherwise be crossed.

(And just to remind y'all: we're all missionaries--even in our own homes, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces.)

I thought I knew...

...what I was going to post. I thought about it a bit over the weekend, but didn't get the opportunity to post it. Now, when I have that opportunity, the words for what I was going to post are not there. Ah, well. I thought I should still post something.

This evening has been one of those evenings where I have the option of doing more than a few things, but nothing appears rather appealing. I probably will hang up some clothes, since that should get done rather soon. And I'm going to read a book a 2nd grade friend is letting me borrow. (Yay! I'll get to finish an entire book in one evening! Thank You, Jesus!) Other than that, nothing much--well, other than watching snippets of tonight's Top Gear, reading a bit of the Word, and going to sleep.

Some not so random thoughts:

• It's a nice feeling when clothes (including shoes/boots) fit correctly. I really enjoy good-fitting jeans and boots.
• I enjoy wearing my cargo pants--even when both pairs of mine are a bit big.
• I would like some of my clothes to never wear out, like the children of Israel's clothes when they were wandering in the wilderness for forty years.
• I enjoy raking leaves and am looking forward to shoveling snow.
• I love my Husband of about 24 years--Jesus Christ.
• I'm thankful for more than I could list here.

Thanks, Schindler...

I had been thinking about switching my blog to here instead of Xanga for a while, and my friend Schindler switched his, and, in a way, nudged me to switch mine. I have more friends I can follow on here, and it's easier to do so (even if they're on a different blog site).  I'm not sure what to do with my old blog site...I want the blogs...maybe I'll just leave them?

And, as Schindler did, I'll explain my blog site title. [This will probably be the only time I copy his blog posts...I think.]  No sissy boots comes from Ephesians chapter 6 where it talks about the armor of God. When it talks about our feet being shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, I see that footwear as something heavy-duty--made for work and combat. The gospel of peace is Christ, and that's not sissy stuff. So, if I'm wearing my King's armor, I'm not wearing sissy boots. I don't wear sissy boots. (Also literally...I don't wear sissy boots.)

Well, I guess this has been my transitioning blog. There'll be better posts later.