Watch the Walk

Hard to believe that it's August already! Around home, August has historically been a very busy month. This one will be no exception to that pattern. With my sister and brother-in-law expecting #1 any time now, the family is all making plans to be in California to meet the new addition. Besides that, brother #1 is moving to Michigan for grad school and brother #2 is returning to college in Alberta. Then, of course, there's me. I'm finishing up one job next week, getting things situated for taking a break from another job, making phone calls and finding places to speak, making a movie to share at places I can't speak in person, working on my outbound checklist, getting vaccinations... and the list goes on. Oh, and support raising. Support raising. I've got two months until my financial deadline. Two months to see G'od work in raising funds. Oh I'm doing my part. But it's going to require more than that. Some words today caught my attention. Charles Bridge...

I just got word this week of my official departure date: October 29th for Altlink headquarters to check out. October 31st I leave for Africa November 1st, Lo'rd willing, I'll be there. This means I have 2.5 months left for support raising and 3.5 months left on this continent. Yay!

Hypocrisy kills. Have you really considered that before? I think, perhaps, this is due to the deceitful nature of hypocrisy. It proudly proclaims that the desired outcome has occurred. Whether effectual in deceit or not, the mask of hypocrisy shields the hypocrite from handling reality.  It’s kind of like planting an artificial flower over the top of a real seeds. Everyone sees the flower and thinks it’s real. Then it starts to fade in the sun and they realize it’s fake. But in the meantime they haven’t been caring for the seeds in the soil. The fake flower required so little care… it hardly seemed to matter whether you watered it or not. But without the life-giving water, the real flower seeds shrivel and die. Hypocrisy kills. It kills relationships when it claims perfection and then acts out of imperfection. It kills personal growth because the work of maintaining and improving oneself seems superfluous when one can skate by on appearances. It kills honesty, integrity, and a tru...

  It's another week, and this one started out with sunshine. Sun? Yes, the amazing, rarely-seen-in-April-for-long-periods-of-time sun. Sometimes when I'm looking out the window at yet another rainy day I start thinking of Africa. Will it be sunny all the time? (well, I know there's the rainy season and the dry season) How intense will the rainy season be? Will it rain non-stop, or only once a day? Will I like warm rain, or will it be strange to my Pacific Northwest self? Will I be homesick when there's no rain? Will the streets flood? Will my clothes mold from being damp all the time?   Of course, most of these question remain yet to be answered. Other questions come to mind too, regarding food, temperature, how easily I'll learn the language, what sort of friends I'll make, how I'll stay in touch with family and friends, and more.    But the Go'd I serve is faithful. He knows my needs. He knows my desires. He knows how far my faith can hold. And He des...

First off, I've started support raising and such. If you've got a suggestion for a place I should visit or people to talk to, comment below. If you'd like to get my newsletter, click on the link to your right --> Second, life is going well. I'm starting up a new quarter of teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) Tuesday. I expect it to be fun, as well as challenging. Third, I thought I'd post some links to things I've been reading lately along with a few comments. For your enjoyment, here we go: From Relevant Magazine: Why We Need More Women in Ministry: This isn't your stereotypical "go women, conquer the world" sort of article.  Rather, it addresses the fact that women aren't feeling as valued in the church as they feel in their career or other areas of life. When we consider areas of ministry in the church we would be wise to encourage women to use their specific talents instead of automatically putting them on the decorating committe...