Friday, January 29, 2010

Pride in our City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugV6gcXGPwk

The city is experiencing some strange and beautiful days...

Your either for us or against us, not lukewarm...

The Saints is a reflection of the rise in this city...

The Saints want to win FOR the city...

We have a defiant beating heart...

It has been a wonderful experience for my family to return to this city at such a time.

There was a kid's Disney movie made about our city. The Saints are going to the Superbowl! We are apart of the rebuilding, whether it be renovating a home or apart of planting new trees in the city.

God is moving in my heart and my families heart to love this city with passion. God is teaching me how to love people with kindness, humility, and patience. (Ephesians) May it be played out in day to day life.

Princess and the Frog. We took the kids to see the movie on Christmas day. We all enjoyed it! It did such a great job of capturing the city. Yes, there was the voodoo guy. There is always a bad guy in Disney movies. It has spurred me to intentionally talk to the boys about the sin that is so prevalent in this city. To talk to them about wrong and right, and about how people choose to turn away from God (parable of the sower) With Gods grace, may my children turn their whole hearts to HIM!

Who Dat say their going to beat them Saints! I heard someone say that last sundays game seems more important then the actual superbowl b/c it is getting there that is awesome. Not being much of a sports fan, I enjoyed watching those that were in my living room watching the game more then I did actually watching the game. A dear friend that was with us that night shed tears when we won. As we laughed at her expense, I did think to myself - I will never be able to grasp what these people experienced. She had lost almost everything.

Rebuilding. I love that we renovated a home in this city. It excites the other home owners around me and it is simply what God had planned. I also love having taken part in planting trees for the city, www.hikeforkatreena.com. It was something the whole family took part in. I love that my husband takes part in giving mission teams projects to do on families houses in the city. There is so much that has been done and still so much to do. May God give others a soft spot for this city and continue to return to change lives and be changed.

(Let me just say, especially b/c of what we are watching take place in Haiti, that Katerina is not the worst thing that has happened in this world. It is the worst thing that has happened to this city, though. And this is where we feel called. I am simply rejoicing in Gods plan and how he is weaving things together. For the city and my family.)

Strange and Beautiful days...

Monday, January 18, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! Wow, its been awhile!

We are not renovating a gutted home anymore, not caring for my dad anymore (triple bypass), no plans to travel for awhile (was gone two weeks in late nov/early dec), and no holiday hustle and bustle anymore. Sooo, life has calm down quite a bit!

HOPE is sort of my word for this year. There is so much that I have HOPE in these days. Ultimately God is in control of all things so in my state of HOPE when I go to God I enjoy just expressing my gratitude for His sovereignty. I am making a conscious effort to proclaim His name for what it is more then crying out to Him with requests. It is not that I am NOT making requests, it is just that I am embracing the fact that he has it all planned out ... perfectly! I know that my trust in Him is being tested, and I want to please Him.
Recently, I was in a church service that was talking about the book of John. The Pastor for some time shared passages from the Old Testament that paralleled what is written in the New Testament. God told us in the Old Testament what would happen in the New Testament!! Well, he does'nt TELL me what will happen in my future necessarily but we can rest in the fact the He knows. Scripture never gets old! You can hear something over and over and then there will be a time when it hits you in a special way.
I have hope in what He is doing in this city, and in the church we will be launching. I have hope in what God is doing in our lives as well as the lives around us that will be apart of our ministry. I have hope in a brother-n-law that will be getting out of jail in November, that he will truly make life changes and live for God. I have hope for a feeling of community around me. I have hope in my kids getting in a good school....

So I may not be smarter then a 5th grader, but I can say that I am as smart as a 2nd grader :) Homeschool has been and is quite a ride. Having experienced both public school and homeschool, I can say that they are both great - I cant believe I just said that! There are certainly pros and cons for both right down the middle. Having gone into this year homeschooling, very confident that it was part of God's plan, there have certainly been days where I look at God and say, 'why?' or 'was this really your plan?' What has kept me going in a positive manner is just saying, 'it is what you make it.' I do not want to look back at this year as a hard year. I want it to be a joyful time, a time to bond with my kids and make fun memories. It has also been a time of really learning to discipline myself with my time and energy. Having said all that, I do feel long term that I need to get my kids in a school in the city (elaborating on that can be for another blog:) The cities school system, pro-katrina, is now rather complicated so we will see how it all works out. It has been harder for me to trust God with my childrens education, working progress:)

Intentional - that is what my life NEEDS to be this year. I want God to pave that though and I need to fight the need to control every detail of the intentions. Being intentional for some is a bigger deal then to others. For me, being intentional takes courage and patience. Courage, because I am being intentional with people I dont know very well. Patient, because I am being intentional with people I dont know very well. LOL! If I want that feel of community around me, I have to be intentional. If I want existing relationships to deepen, I have to be intentional. I'll continue to work on my trust in God that He will pave the way.

Well, this blog covers a major part of my journey. Thanks for reading and would love any feedback. Now off to a field trip with the kids!

future blogs - pride in our city. childs heart. Audience of One.