Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Our Foundation

Where is our foundation? Is it in our country, our state, our city, our churches or our homes? Or is it in the Lord?

We were having a devotional this morning and we were talking about having a foundation in the Lord. Carmen jokingly said, “ I have a strong foundation, our house.”
As I started to correct her …the next words that came out of my mouth shocked and convicted me.
I started to explain how our foundation should be from God. I told her about how I had moved 32 times before I was 23 years old. How this caused me to not have what the world sees as a secure foundation.  I told her that even though we moved all the time I always had Jesus with me. He was my friend. And, I always seemed to make new friends wherever I went. I explained to her that it didn’t mean it wasn’t hard for me and I didn’t struggle but my foundation rested more on Jesus.
I told her how I had always wanted what my other friends had i.e., getting to stay in one place, grow up with people you had known all your life, etc. And, how finally at 20 God had given me that in Bellingham.  I told her how I was able to finally put down roots. But, that it makes it harder to leave too.

That was when it hit me!! As I was trying to explain to my daughter how not having a strong foundation in the Lord makes us vulnerable to the world; I realized what had been happening to me.
In the last 20 years our family, friends, church, and even Bellingham have become my foundation. I realized that the reason I have been struggling so hard emotionally on the mission field is that my focus has been on the wrong foundation.
Ouch that stings just a little bit!
I was talking to Carmen saying, the reason her and I have been having a hard time with things is because we keeping looking to get to the time we can get back to our “foundation”….not good! This is really hard for me to write and I am ashamed to admit it. 
But, as 1 John 1:9 says: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

God spoke to me so clearly this morning… He is my foundation!!! I love Him with all my heart and need to turn back to Him as my strong foundation and my everything.
No matter where we go in the world, we will always have family and friends. We are not leaving anything behind or losing anything. Instead we are gaining so much and growing the family of God!


Psalms 62:2 “Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Snapshots of Peru

Just a little video I put together with some pictures and short videos of our trip home and activities since arriving home....Enjoy!!


Thursday, July 2, 2015

And we're back...

We are back in Nauta and in full swing. It was an uneventful trip home ending in a tearful and joyful reuniting with our fearless leader. It just felt good to be home and in Joel's arms again. After a night in Iquitos we headed home to Nauta.

Carmen was greeted with quite the fanfare by the neighbor kids. I don't know if I could find something more heartwarming than hearing the kids running out yelling " Carmencita!!!" It was so lovely to come home and be greeted by neighbors with hugs and smiles. I love the relationships we have been able to build. After checking out what the neighbors have been up to, I made a quick pasta dinner, and we headed off to church. Some of you may remember me talking early on about visiting Pastor Juan's church in the small dirt house. It never ceases to humble and amaze me the level of love, compassion, and joy they have here amongst such a hard existence. I didn't realize until that moment how ready I was to return here and serve. Plus, I got to see Crystal, our missionary friend. and hug her...that was a big bonus too.

As morning approached I was up earlier than I had been in 12 weeks...5am! But, here in the jungle we go to bed pretty early which causes us to rise pretty early too. ( Wish that would hold true for me in the states) I needed to shop so, after about an hour (making coffee the old fashioned way takes a while) we headed down to the market. Boy, did I miss this.....the noise, the people, the food, and yes, even some of the smells.....all of it. I really do enjoy the market. Loaded down with supplies we headed home.
This is where the day got busy....Joel had done a pretty good job of keeping the house up but, it was definitely a bachelor pad! You could tell that three guys had lived here and been doing construction. I had a full day of trying to just get the kitchen back in working order! Haha  Plus, we were all having to relearn working together...after Joel only needing to worry about himself and us only needing to worry about ourselves.....well....it takes a few days to remember how to coexsist.

And, the house looks amazing!!  Carmen has her own room! Joel, Miguel, and Manuel did an absolutely amazing job on the house. The upstairs is so beautiful, we have tile on the bathroom floor, and Joel varnished the outside of the house too.The wood is so pretty and shiny!
We were able to visit another missionary friend Sarah yesterday.....I sure have missed our friends here. With all the coming and going my foot is aching quite a bit so today I am having to just keep it up and iced a lot. I don't like being down but, I guess at least I have time to sit and catch everyone up on life here in the jungle.

Please be praying for the months ahead as Junglemaster is moving forward and continuing to serve the people here in the jungle. We are needing clear guidance form Our Father and wisdom to hear and discern His guidance.

One last thing.... the first morning after we returned to Nauta; I woke to several (like a lot!) bug bites on my tushie (from sitting on the toilet)...welcome home, I guess?! ;P


MY CUP RUNNETH OVER