BFS #128 -- Does She or Doesn’t She (Clairol Shampoo)

Memory Verse: Genesis 2: 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bonesand flesh of my flesh;she shall be called Woman,because she was taken out of Man.”

Introduction: Does She or Doesn’t She (Clairol Shampoo) The world sees Christianity as a male dominant religion. It’s seen as a religion dominated by men, for men. But we know that God loves women - God created woman, and has used women to bring about His plan for the world.

Assignment: Tell the world about your favourite woman in the Bible. Who is she? How did the world judge her? How does God see her? How did God use her? How has this woman affected your life? How does she inspire you to walk out your relationship with God?

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Hmmmm. My favorite woman in the Bible...that's a tough one. I have many favorites -- Hannah encourages me to keep a gentle spirit and to pray more fervently. Ruth reminds me that God has plans for my future, even when my "Plan A" doesn't work out the way I thought it would. I really like Jael (she's the one who killed Sisera with a tent peg) and Deborah -- tough chicks, for sure.

But my favorite (at least today) would have to be Abigail. You can read her story in 1 Samuel chapter 25, but let me give you a little background. Keep in mind that this is purely hypothetical, because we know nothing about her prior to her marriage to Nabal. The Bible says that she was "a woman of a beautiful countenance and good understanding". We can assume that she was from a good family, since she married into the family of Caleb (high society). Girls in those days married young and generally had no say in whom they married. So let's picture Abigail as a beautiful young lady of about 16 whose father arranged a marriage with a prominent (and rich) older man named Nabal. Whether or not she was happy about the match, she had no choice and found herself the mistress of a large household, and the wife of a fool.

Abigail to me is the picture of a woman who made lemonade out of the lemons of life. Rather than bemoaning her fate, she rolled up her sleeves and set her mind to the task at hand. Although scripture doesn't say this, I don't believe that she was in the habit of belittling her husband. She saw him as he was and made no excuse for him; she called him a "worthless fellow", but then the Bible clearly says that he was "churlish and evil in his doings".

Read Chapter 25 -- it's a great story!

Abigail was faithful to the committment she had made -- the vow she had made before God and the obligation she had to her parents -- and God honored her faithfulness.

So why is Abigail one of my favorites? Well, I'm a sucker for a happy ending. Hers is a bit of a Cinderella story -- rescued from a life of drudgery by a handsome prince (even if the whole "happily ever after" thing didn't really happen). More than that, though, is the hope I see for women whose husbands are stinkers...and there are a few of those where we live. Seeing how God dealt with Nabal reminds me that God sees all things and as His word says, "Vengeance is mine says the Lord. I will repay!"

Does God still allow us to go through hard times and suffer through difficult people? Obviously so! In James we read that, "The testing of our faith works patience."(James 1:3) It's just refreshing to be reminded that we don't need to stress over people who wrong us. God sees, and God knows, and we can have faith that He will take care of everything in due time.

Romans 8:38 And we know that God works all things together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.

Have a blessed week!!!

Winter Furlough Epic -- Part 7!

Hey! David and Andrew -- I'll bet you thought I forgot to post about you guys! Not a chance!!!!

These guys were in our youth group ever-so-long ago. They were two of the first three missionaries who came down to visit us here almost 3 years ago. David, Andrew and Tyler were sand-shoveling, brick-hauling machines. (Just so you know, we've never worked any team as hard as we worked you guys...especially in July!!!) Should I show pictures? Nah. Well...maybe just one or two.

Here are the 3 amigos putting together a small building in Alomito for the second time. The first time they put it together as a "temporary shed". That night the village was hit by a small tropical storm, and the building was flattened. The second time they put the building up, they made it a little sturdier. Temporary is fine, but 24 hours is a little too temporary -- even around here! It's still standing, and now it's being used as our friend Miguel's house.

That was almost three years ago. My, how time flies! Look at how little Andrew and Evie were!!! Tyler is now married and has a beautiful daughter. David and Andrew are both getting married this summer and are planning on honeymooning down here...right??? ;^)

Well, that was an interesting jaunt down memory lane. We did get to spend a little time visiting -- although not nearly enough -- and then we turned left on I5 and headed south again.

In route to California, we stopped in Roseburg just long enough for Sarah to take her drivers' test. She passed with flying colors. Neither Doug nor I could remember how many questions you were allowed to miss and still pass. It has, afterall, been a few years! We had told Sarah that she was allowed to miss a couple, so she said that when she missed a second question, she began to worry a bit. Apparently, she asked the guy later and he told her she could miss up to 7 (or something like that). Well, no matter! She has her learner's permit now!!!

We were now homeward bound. Driving north a couple of weeks earlier, I took this great photo of Mt. Shasta.

Driving south...we didn't see much mountain. In fact, there were some strectches of highway where we didn't see much of anything! We were one of the last cars to get over the Siskiyus before they closed the pass. Thank you, Lord! We met up with some folks traveling from Seattle a couple of days later who had been stuck in Yreka. They said it took them 9 hours to drive from Yreka to Sacramento once the pass was opened (that's normally about a 5 hour trip).

We arrived in Chico in time to visit CC Chico Saturday night -- which everyone was very happy about. Doug and the Jr. High youth leader took some time that afternoon to load up an old air hockey and pool table that they were donating to our ministry. Wa-HOO! [Side note: I don't know how much that air-hockey table was used in the youth room, but I think it's possible that it's being used more here! The kids from Boca love to come over and play air-hockey! It's trans-lingual!!!]

We shared at Chico Family Church on Sunday morning. We let the kids share from their hearts (which can be a scary thing -- you never know what kids are going to say!), showed some pictures of our ministry here and gave a bag of giant marshmallows to the kids in children's church. If you've never had a giant marshmallow, you're missing out. You'll just have to come down here and try one! I've never seen them in the States!

Then it was on to Sacramento to return our house on wheels. That RV was SUCH a blessing!!! We still miss it!

After the near-miss we had over the pass in Oregon, we thought it best to check the road reports to make sure the Grapevine was open. Everything looked good, so away we went!!!

Storm clouds were rolling in, though. As we neared Bakersfield we saw this:

The sign says, "I 5 closed 123 miles ahead due to snow. Use alternate route." Well, at least they gave advance warning!!! So we detoured through Kramer Junction. Kramer Junction has exactly one stoplight. This is the line waiting to turn right.

We thought our wait was bad, but it was nothing compared to the trucks waiting to turn left!
This leg of the trip wasn't as comfy as the first leg. We were a bit spoiled by the RV and being able to spread out, but we got cozy and made the best of it!

But we finally made it back to Grandma's house, fixed another little "fixit thing" that was giving her trouble, and then we piled back into the van for our last leg in the States -- bound for Tucson.

Well, our furlough epic is nearly finished, and we haven't had any serious "issues" -- aside from a couple of hours of pretty tense driving over a snowy pass and a significant detour around LA, which worked out fine, since we were heading to Riverside anyway. When you travel as many hours and as many miles with as much weight as we usually do, you just know that once in a while "things happen".

Thank you, Lord, for the angel driving the Harley who flagged us down just outside of Indio, California, to tell us that we had smoke coming off our trailer tire.
It was bad, but it would have been really bad if we hadn't stopped when we did.

Doug and Andrew strolled over to admire the various dune buggies until the wheel shop opened. During the course of the next 6 hours, Doug rebuilt the wheel bearings and got us back on the road. It wasn't a really easy fix and the man at the bearing store actually said, "Well, that's what you get when you use any old thing to make a trailer. Better to just use things for what they're intended." Well, I could argue that. That little-red-trailer-that-used-to-be-an-almond-sprayer has traveled many long, heavy miles over the past 20 years. I think it was entitled to new bearings once in its life!

So we did eventually make it to Tucson -- really late at night. We made pbj's and collapsed. Not until morning did we realize what a beautiful place we had landed in!

Only one more furlough post to go!!! Then we'll be caught up and you won't have to see anymore traveling photos...for 6 months!!!

Blogger Friend School #127 -- One truth...God!

This week we have a guest assignment from Libby at Deep in the Mountains

If anyone else is interested in doing an assignment please email Nancy at nking@hughes.net or Sombra at sombra.wilson@yourlink.ca. We’d be happy to have your assignment ideas to post. Also be sure to come back during the week for a Special Announcement from the BFS staff!

Memory verse:

"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:32

Introduction:
This is a spin-off of last week as we went searching for what “Hear” means. This is a hunt for the Truth about who we are as believers, how God views us and how we can rest in that Truth.

As before, use any Bible or Bible study tools to help you in your search. Sometimes it can be intimidating to do these kinds of studies. I was a little nervous about the last two assignments. But these assignments can be a way to learn how to do this kind of Bible study. Don’t feel you have to know it all in order to do this. We aren’t Bible professors here, but we are all in need of learning and understanding God’s message to us. God, our Abba, our Daddy, wrote this Book, the Bible, to us! Let’s see what He wants to share with us about all the wealth that is ours as His children.

Assignment: Dig around in the Word and share what you find about any or all of the following:

Who is Jesus Christ? (Yes, the obvious, but dig around, what are some of His names?) What has God given us in Christ, what benefits are ours right now? Because of Christ’s work on the cross on our behalf, what can we count on from Him in our daily lives?

If you need some ideas of where to get started check out these chapters in the New Testament and see where they take you:
John 15, Romans chapters 6, 7 and 8, Galatians chapters 2 and 5, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Corinthians and 1 Peter are also great.

I can’t wait to see what everyone finds! Happy Digging!

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Doug said something during our family devotion time the other day which really struck me. I thought it neat that it went right along with this assignment...but then, I really shouldn't be so surprised. There are, afterall, no coincidences!

One spring day, you are walking along, not paying too much attention, just strolling down the middle of the boulevard. Suddenly, a dump truck rounds the corner and comes barrelling down on you. You are paralyzed and can't even react! Without warning, you are abruptly shoved out of the road and into the ditch. You're safe, but the guy who saved you -- let's call him Dave -- he was killed.

You go to Dave's memorial service where everyone around you is talking about Dave and what a great guy he was. A gentleman walks up to you and asks, "Did you know Dave?" How do you respond?

Would you say, "Oh, well, I didn't really know him, but he seemed like a nice guy"? More than likely your response would be more along the lines of, "Let me tell you! He saved my life! I was being dumb, and even though I knew better than to walk in the street, I did it anyway. Dave didn't even know me, but he gave his life for me. He saved me!"

When our kids began going to AWANA -- way back "when" -- the first verse they learned as Cubbies (3 and 4 year olds) was

1 John 4:10 "...God loved us and sent His son..."

I can still picture each one of my kids as they proudly quoted that verse (using hand motions, of course). But y'know what? That's not the whole verse. It's a shortened, 3-year-old version. I know why they shortened it. Here's the whole verse:

1 John 4:10 And this is love: not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Most three year olds can't even say "propitiation", let alone comprehend what it means! Many adults stumble over it and only have a vague idea of its definition.

propitiate: to cause to be favorably disposed; appease; conciliate; to pacify, placate, mollify or reconcile

Jesus was sent by God to "be the propitiation for our sins". Jesus stepped in and took the blame, took the fatal impact, of our disobedience. It's more than "God loved us and sent His son", although it really is that simple.

When we begin to realize what Jesus actually did for us, we can better respond to Him. How we respond to Jesus reflects who He is in our lives. It's a personal response and one that each person needs to work out "with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12).

So, that having been said, my question to you is this:

Who is Jesus to you?

Winter Furlough: Extreme North

I don't remember Oregon being so cold. To be totally honest, my feet were cold from about the time we crossed into Tuscon until we returned to Riverside the second time. I think you'd call that "acclimated". I am extremely acclimated to the weather in Mexico!

Our friends, the Powells, who came down here to stay while we traveled north ran around in shorts and t-shirts the whole time they were here. Our family, on the other hand, had already pulled out our winter clothing! I joked about bundling up in my thick wool socks and heavy sweatshirt when the thermometer plummeted to 75 degrees, but it's not far from the truth! The average daily temperature year round is about 85 and in the summer it's closer to 110. An ocean breeze added to a 70 degree day can make the "tropically acclimated" person shiver.

So, we packed up all two of our warm sweaters and headed to Oregon in February. Well, some may debate the wisdom, but it was still fun!

We did get to see some snow (see the Snow Post) and when we got to Aunt Debbie and Uncle Mark's, we saw more!

We girls took a morning out to go to Greater Gresham Baptist Church for the ladies' Bible study. Great time! I had been praying about what to share and really wasn't getting any answers from God, and then Doug suggested letting Sarah share. What a fantastic idea! Can I say that I was more than a little bit proud as I watched this young woman share her heart with the ladies in the study? God is certainly growing her up well!!!

Debbie had had "plans" for lots of fun things for our family to do during our time there...until New Year's Eve when she broke her leg skiing down Mt. Hood. Ouch!

So, we didn't go many places, but we certainly had a great time visiting! Uncle Harold took us to a really neat restaurant. I haven't had Thai food since college, and I don't think I've ever been to a Thai restaurant. I have to give this place two thumbs way up! Typhoon of Portland -- yummy! Here's our crew enjoying the atmosphere...

Just so you know, taking the kids to a "nice" restaurant is something that just doesn't happen often for us. Any of you who have more than 3 kids will understand why! It's a little cost-prohibitive! So when we got to this place, it was pretty exciting for everyone! Thankfully, the food didn't disappoint!

We got together with the cousins, too. These pictures speak for themselves...

We spent one evening at some dear friends' house. Ryan and Candice, who blogs over at Flame in the Darkness, and invited us over for supper and fellowship.

But lest you think that all the kids did was watch movies and play video games, I've gotta share these photos...

Before

After

Didn't they do great? And they hardly complained! ;^)

We celebrated Evie's 10th birthday while we were in Portland. You can click here to see photos of the party.

All too soon, it was time to head home. We had found ourselves beginning to adjust to the cold, wet weather -- although the wind we could do without!

So, we packed up our home on wheels and headed back down to Winston.

Tune in next time when you'll hear Sarah say, "You said I could only miss 2!"