Open Wide!!!

Benjamin wouldn't appreciate the title of this blog post as he has heard that command a lot this month as we have had to make several visits to the dentist for a stubborn root canal procedure. As I write this, Cameron and Ben are at the hopefully LAST appointment of this long procedure and problem. On the up side Benjamin is on pain medicine and hopefully this procedure will be completely without the awful screams and broken hearts of a mommy and daddy having to hold him down. Horrible month I tell you! This week I was at the park reading my Bible and watching Micah play. When I looked up I saw two South Koreans approaching me with curious smiles. They lacked the white shirt, black name tags, perfectly combed hair and bikes so I knew they were not mormon missionaries about to pounce. I was however confronted with a new religion that day. Some of you may be familiar with it but I was completely thrown off when they began to tell me that I needed to believe in "Mother God" in order to go to heaven. She is the "bride" in the Bible and anytime the word "she" is found in scripture it is speaking of her. Yes like most cults, they use one verse of the Bible here and there and completely out of context in order to create an absurd religion. We spoke in Bulgarian for about 1 hour and I invited them to continue our discussion over dinner as guests at our home. I pray they will take me up on the invitation as my heart broke over their confusion and commitment to false teaching. I have friends and have spoken to several people of other beliefs and backgrounds and for the most part I can appreciate an argument that can hold a little bit of water but their cup was full of holes and their words fell through those holes quickly. The great thing about having a Biblical conversation, actually an apologetic conversation defending the faith and truth of God's word, helped me improve my knowledge of what needs to be studied. It was a great wake up call for me to know where I stand in my Bulgarian ability to teach the Word of Truth and I found that my sword of truth was like a wet noodle that just was capable of slapping them around a little rather than being able to pierce into the heart of man. I am now sharpening my sword and trying to make it as it should be, an effective tool of truth that will pierce into the heart the saving grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. The Word of the Lord is active and I'm sure that even my wet bulgarian noodle sword can be used for His glory but I want to be a responsible vessel of truth and would appreciate your prayer support as I memorize and read the word in Bulgarian. Another cool moment this week was sharing my testimony with our language helper and child care helper, V. I told V. about my experience with the "Mother God" missionaries and was able to tell her what I believed. V. then stated, "My daughter told me I should read the Bible but I don't even know how or where to start. Maybe we could do that together." I told her that was a great idea because I really needed to learn to read the Bible in Bulgarian better and understand the different words in the scriptures. Please pray for the South Koreans to come for dinner and for V. to read and become overwhelmed with the Love her Savior has for her. "I AM YAHWEH YOUR GOD WHO BROUGHT YOU FROM THE LAND OF EGYPT. OPEN YOUR MOUTH WIDE, AND I WILL FILL IT" Psalm 81:10

The end...

There are a lot of "end"s that have taken place this summer. Some expected and others not anticipated in the least bit. The end: Micah has ended his journey in the national school and will begin homeschooling September 1st. We have always prayed that God would show us exactly when this transition would need to take place and we believe that the time is now. Micah is excited on some days about the idea of homeschooling and on other days he complains about missing the friends he has made. I feel that with this transition Micah will discover that God supplies our needs when He changes our direction. Already we have seen answers to the prayers regarding friends and activities Micah can enjoy while homeschooling. Many of these organized sports and activities will not begin until October 1st so it will take a little bit of patience on Micah's part but we think he'll be pleasantly surprised. Over the summer Micah became a very strong swimmer and one activity we know he will enjoy this fall is joining a weekly swimming lesson to improve the skills that he has developed. The end: Summer is waving his last goodbye in our direction this month. We know September may hold warm days but August is the last hot temperature party to bid the heat farewell. We will welcome cooler temperatures as the heat has been unkind this year. Our fans blow at full blast daily, but an air conditioner and a swimming pool is what one needs on the hot days =) Luckily, swimming has been an option and we have found days to enjoy the river or swimming pool. Benjamin has enjoyed hunting for sea shells and rocks this summer so I know he will be sad with the end of summer as his treasures will be covered in snow in a matter of months. The end: All of our friends who signed up to do short term, 2 year mission commitments, headed back to America this summer. It was completely expected but has been completely strange to think so many of our friends who started this journey with us are back at home and posting pictures of isles of candy at Wal-Mart =) We are so happy to know such wonderful friends who invested so much for the last two years and with their "end" we rejoice that God's Word does not return to Him void and the fruit of their time will produce a glorious reaping for the Kingdom of heaven! The end: The most unexpected end hit us straight in the heart about 4 weeks ago. We have poured our heart, time and investment into a group of Roma that God introduced us to a year and a half ago. We have had the pleasure of walking beside this group and seeing God do amazing things during our time studying the Bible with them. The children who Jennifer had the opportunity to love and study with are precious boys and girls who will always be special to her heart and to the hearts of our boys. The men and women who met with Cameron asked wonderful questions and dug deeper into the Gospel as we saw God transform their hearts. The goal of any group we work with is to stand beside them as they mature into a body of believers who will gather to study the Word on their own and then turn around and reproduce the same model of small groups to unbelievers. About 4 weeks ago the leader of the group whom Cameron was mentoring to become a pastor shared with Cameron a financial need that was not handled correctly. He sought to secretly obtain a large sum of money from Cameron and others who we associate with. After many discussions regarding this sin issue and what our stance would be on it, the leader held anger, bitterness and a foolish spirit towards us, thus forcing a decision to be made to continue our work in the field. Our desire is for the unity of believers to be maintained and we believe that as the leader of this group it would only cause division should we maintain weekly commitments to study the Word together. On August 7th we returned to the field to return the group's tithe money and other belongings for the group. After a group discussion everyone understood that we would not return on a weekly basis but would be available to return if and when questions arose during their weekly Bible reading times. We will also return to attend a baby shower for one of our friends and sweet sister. The group discussion went well and we feel a healthy closure happened today. Tears, prayer and encouragement marked the end of a journey we didn't foresee for ourselves but we rejoice that God wastes nothing. It is His ministry and His alone and He invited us to be a part of a wonderful season with a wonderful group of Roma which we will always cherish. Please pray for this group and for the leader to release his sin to God and to trust in His provisions alone. The saddest part of today was seeing how sin hidden in his heart had caused visible misery on his face. A face that once held the joy of the Lord and seemed young and vibrant was missing that joy today and instead the pain of bearing unforgiven sin in his heart was written on his aching face. Please pray for his freedom in Christ to be yearned for more than his bondage to a secret sin. How can you pray for our "beginnings": Pray that God will be the only voice behind us saying "this is the way, walk in it." May we follow His call alone and not the voice of ourselves or any other. May we be faithful to continue to walk with the Lord and seek His next steps for us. Praise be to the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, the Lord our God!