She Went To Her Father's Arms

Update on my friend: She had her appointment today and learned that her precious little Isabelle went to be with the Lord....she rests in perfect peace in His loving arms. Please pray for her family who is grieving their loss and looking forward to meeting her in glory.

I Miss You Already, My Love

His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. -Song of Solomon 5:16

Updated....we just got back from dropping him off...please pray for travel mercies

Lifting Up A Friend In Need

UPDATE: My friend is still experiencing a "threatened" miscarriage, but they saw a heartbeat on the U/S!! She is only 6 weeks along...PLEASE continue to pray!! And THANK YOU SO MUCH for your prayers! She goes back to the Dr on Thursday (your Wed)-I will update as I find out more.


A friend of mine is waiting to find out whether or not she is miscarrying...please pray for her, as you can imagine, she and her husband are heartbroken...as are we. Let our prayers be as beautiful incense...a sweet smelling savour- as we lift up our friends and loved ones before Him. My heart is so heavy for them.


update on my husband's situation:...thank you so much for your prayers, the first wave of Marines (on the regular deployment) from his shop left...and he wasn't on it...he will leave-soon, but I will take every day I can get :)

My Poor Husband...

edited to say: just pray for him concerning work :) thank you

He Said Go...

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.


...so they WENT.



The top picture is of my missionary friend, Mrs Jan Fischer. We work together in my 3&4 year old class. She has been such a blessing to me. She and Bro Paul, her husband, took my husband and I out to dinner-we wanted to take them!! We had such a wonderful time. They are missionaries to the Japanese in our church. They even hold their own services.

The bottom picture is me with my dear missionary friend Alice...she started speaking Japanese at age 12! In this picture we are at a Starbucks...which is very popular here :) We weathered typhoon like conditions outside and we had quite the amphibious adventure in trying to get there-to have some time of fellowship. I have had the blessing of walking the streets and door knocking with her and have learned so much about witnessing to the Japanese from her. She also teaches Kindergarten at the Maranatha Baptist Acadamy which reaches out to the Japanese! Many Japanese will allow their children to attend just so they can learn English-what a door to be able to take the Gospel to whole families. Alice is just an amazing young woman with such a heart for God.

Well, we have had the incredible blessing these past two and a half years of attending and serving in Maranatha Baptist Church Pastored by Steve Nutt, here in Okinawa Japan. They are missionaries to the military here on Okinawa and to the Japanese. The experience has just been *amazing* ( I wish I had a better word!)...

Before we moved here, we were in the Southern Cali desert attending Calvary Baptist Church in Yucca Valley. I can't describe the work the Lord did in our lives there...I am just in awe of how our Father works. While I was there, I had the blessed opportunity to be a part of the Ladies Missionary Fellowship-they involved me in a way that I never thought possible and I was tremendously humbled by these dear dear ladies allowing me to "grow" in that ministry. One of the churches Calvary supports is Maranatha Baptist and so all along, I had been praying and giving towards a missionary that would eventually become MY Pastor! How amazing is THAT? We have many missionaries that work and dedicate their lives to the ministry of this church, and to see how the Lord allowed even my prayers to be involved in the ministry of this church before ever dreaming of attending it...I mean, JAPAN, of all places, just leaves me, again, IN AWE, of my Lord. He is so very real to me...the depths, the heights...I can't wrap my brain around it :)

Anyway, as we wind down to only having a few months left here at this wonderful church, I look back on the time spent here serving the Lord, and all I can say is, we have been SO blessed to have worked along side these missionaries. We have had the blessing of...walking the streets with them...seeing revivals, souls saved, teaching, praying, loving...it has been amazing and the experience of a lifetime. To have the opportunity, myself, to witness and see souls saved here in Japan is an undeserved blessing that I hold very dear to my heart..God is so GOOD ALL THE TIME...all the time. I don't share a whole lot on here about the work that is the Lords..because..I never want to be puffed up about something that is the LORDS' and His doing...but I do want to tell you that God's work is BIGGER than I ever imagined. He uses the tiniest, most unlikely of people to do His most important work-and oh how I love Him and His mysterious ways.

FOR SALE!

;) Condition: They have seen better days

Price: You name it

Hey, nothing's wrong with them that a little BLEACH can't take care of right? riiiiiigggghhht... Missy...you are right, I'd have better luck with Ebay

If you have no clue what I'm talking about, see the post "You Don't Wanna Know" below- and no, these are not them. Pam..I did "dig" the first one out ewwwww I know..I gave up after that.

Game Night Taboo!

I love game nights with
friends from church...we played Taboo while the kids played upstairs at my friend Teresa's house. Pam, I miss going to Bambohe's ;(...
Yeah, the guys won...oh well, next time, they are going DOWN;)
I would love to know what I said that caused this look on Brian's face Hahaha...

You REALLY Don't Wanna Know...

..but I thought I'd share this recent bit of reality.

Ayden ATE my pearl earrings...yes they are real. Guess how I found out? One is still MIA, or should I say MIP...see, I told you didn't wanna know *sigh*...

'Nother Four Signed Away ;)

Well, I must start by Praising the Lord for His bountiful...overflowing measure. Brian did not have to leave with the advanced party so he is here with us for another week!! God is so good :)
Even if he did leave...God is so good.

Well, as you can see, Brian has sworn in to another 4 years of service. I will support whatever he decides :)

The girls...looking on, with the rest of the Marines, as they read a letter of appreciation to me...the loving supporting wife ;)

And it was over...just like that.

In The Toil Of The Way

"...to dwell for ever with Him we love, in the midst of His people, in the presence of God. Christian, meditate much on heaven, it will help thee to press on, and to forget the toil of the way. This vale of tears is but the pathway to the better country: this world of woe is but the stepping-stone to a world of bliss."-Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions (I added the emphasis)

(edited to add) I write this and must honestly share that recently, as I have "looked" at my salvation and understand better the fullness of it...I have been shaken to the core. The more I see...the more I must embrace and enjoy the fullness of this precious gift, not doubt that it is mine. The wondrous truth of it all is more than I can bear and for some agonizing moments I questioned "could this really be mine-could I have really understood-believed this wondrous truth!". But I did, as a child I trusted what He revealed to me...that I was a sinner and needed a Savior, the revelation in the years to come of understanding how great a cost it was does not in any way change the fact that the Lord gave me a gift that I with child like faith accepted. My children today accept the gifts I give without *fully* understanding the *cost* or the *worth* nor are they able to fully appreciate them until they better understand the *cost* and *worth* of what they received. When they come to a realization of what a sacrifice really is or how much worth the gift really has...does it change the fact that the gift had already been recieved? No. There are much better illustrations but this will suffice, I hope, to convey my recent experience.

I have grown and matured and, I take out my gift of salvation from time to time and "look" at it, admire it, notice more and more the beauty of it...the cost, the complexity, the love...and it is agonizing to realize how much I take it for granted. In tears I have knelt before the Lord and held out the Gift He has given me and was/am silenced by the blinding Glory of it all -dizzy from the reality that I will never fully grasp the understanding of His Grace and Mercy shown to me by His Sacrifice, while bound to this flesh. It is in those moments that I promise to cherish my gift that much more...this beautiful gift that can never be taken from me. Oh, there are some agonizing moments in our growth, but the fellowship of His suffering...the realization of who we are in Him and why, brings us ever closer to Him and the embracing of the fullness of our salvation which is only through Christ.

But for some, the reality is that it is not theirs. They may believe, but they never received the gift. Maybe they didn't understand they were sinners...lost. Oh, that they would have that child-like faith...that gift of faith which is necessary to believe...

The beautiful reminder above, that this veil of tears is temporary, only pertains to those of us who are truly HIS...sinners saved by Grace-those of us who have BELIEVED in our hearts that our sin debt was settled on the cross of Calvary by our Lord Jesus Christ (God become flesh), who conquered death when He arose physically from the dead. We, who have called on HIM to save us personally, not only will have an eternity of bliss with Him when we shed this old flesh, but we have the GIFT of sweet fellowship with Him today and everyday. We have the gift of knowing our prayers are heard and answered according to His perfect will...this is OURS. We have the gift of His WORD to teach us and help us in the way. While the world crumbles around us, when the path seems dark and endless...He is there waiting for us to reach out and hold His ever outstretched hand...it is always there, because we are HIS.

Are you HIS dear reader? Do you have that moment forever ingrained in your mind in which you, realizing you were LOST as a sinner, called on the Lord Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior? I am pleading with you, your works, your baptism, a reliance on anything else other than Believing and receiving the FREE gift of Christs shed blood as payment for your sin- is a DISBELIEF in HIM as the ONE sacrifice for all sin. A reliance on any works or "goodness" of our own is saying that Christ's death was in vain! If you have not trusted in Christ alone...taken a moment to confess your trust is only in Him and accept Him as your Lord and Savior, please, seek the ONE who has sought after you..THE ONE who has brought you to the CROSS that you could be "born again", go see-look at the cross-the account is recorded in His Word. You must, with your entire being BELIEVE- that you owe a debt but He has paid it ALL. Only one payment under heaven is accepted...that's Christs' shed perfect blood...alone-you can't add to it or take away. It is not enough to believe and agree that these things are true...you must in FAITH pray/talk to HIM, to receive His gift. Don't worry about the words...it's not about that...HE knows and hears yo ur heart the moment it cries out to Him. He knows what your heart longs for before you can even form a word. If you are struggling with belief, ask the Lord to help your unbelief, read the book of Romans-allow the Holy Spirit to work in your heart as you read His Word...it was written for YOU that you might come to the knowledge of His saving GRACE (unmerited favor).

The Bible says none are good...none doeth good...if you are relying on your works or anything/anyone other than Christ's blood to settle the debt of your sin...PLEASE READ THIS -get it settled today!

Happy Tuesday :)

Because Brian will hopefully get a little bit of today off from work! So, we are counting down the days until the "window" of his departure. I spent a good bit of yesterday just wasting my time pouting, I guess about the fact that they scheduled him for duty (24 hours) after having to work Sat...to get it (the duty) in before he left....though the rest of the service had yesterday off. So yeah, my attitude stunk and I am paying for it today as my house needs some REAL TLC ...as do my kids after my neglect yesterday. I don't know how the Lord puts up with me sometimes. Even yesterday, I resisted His loving Spirit coaxing me to stick to my routine...I'd get up, get started and then just putter out. I must say too, that this is very unusual for me-to not go insane in a cluttered mess of a house-today, it's driving me insane.

Have you ever had a day where you just physically did not feel like doing a thing? And, I'm not talking about due to sickness, or a new baby..you know, reasonable causes, I'm talking about giving in to well, I guess a sinful attitude of pouting? Ouch, kinda hurts when I put it that way. Well, anyway, it was awful, and I feel so guilty about the precious day I wasted. I will *never* do that again. But today is a happy Tuesday, I am shaking off the dust of yesterday and moving on...:) God is so good to me, even when I am rotten :(

Would You Please Take A Minute

and just pray. I am up....it's 1am (well, a minute before) and I just feel such a burden to pray. On my mind is my Aunt Pam...she has cancer, she has been fighting it for a while. It is not that I have heard any news or anything...just an intense burden to pray for her and to urge you as well. I'm also lifting up others who are suffering with cancer this very moment...would you please, just take a minute, or two, please and pray for those that the Lord brings to mind right now-those deployed, our President, family, friends, missionaries? Thank you so much.

Sushi

Brian and I like sushi, but a couple of these looked...a little disgusting, so I thought I'd capture a reaction ;)

Nobody NOSE...Hair

What an attractive title...hahaha it will come together in the end;)

There are some things we can change and some things we can't...or in my case, shouldn't. We should just strive to look our best and take care of what the Lord has given us. :)Just to show you how goofy I really am/can be...not that you didn't already know, or didn't at least have an inkling, I give you the following embarrassing, but funny reality that is mine, and it will, hopefully, give you a glimpse of *me* and some of my insecurities.

I will start by saying, (to those who don't know) that I have NEVER liked my nose, not that I was teased HORRIBLY about it, but I just knew that when people described me in *compliments* as "striking"...I would smile and just know that...oh yeah, that's a classic "prominent nose" compliment. I mean what else could be *striking* except when I turn around and BAM!! there's a NOSE with some features around it...no, okay, it's not that bad, but it is fun to be able to tease myself about it. I will also shamefully admit that I've "shopped" around a bit, haha, there's a new one. Have you ever gone nose shopping? I can spot a good nose surgery from a mile away! Well, not that I obsessed about it (still in denial),but really, the Lord just impressed upon me the absolute vanity of it (surgery) even warranting a thought, so I comforted myself with the fact that at least I HAD a nose. So now, I just use the little camera doohicky thing on my laptop and angle.my.head.. just.right. so ...my nose is not accentuated any more than...uh....it usually is? Hahaha, anyway...I always say it keeps me humble...

HERE is the "Hair" part. My HAIR is a different story. I can DO something about that..to keep it looking its best. I was a pretty light blonde, til I started having kids, so yes, I shamelessly dye my hair to keep it looking, to be redundant, its best. I prefer it long, but my face is long and I had been advised to CUT it...so I did, but don't worry, I'll get over that notion and grow it out again.

ANYWAY, I have adjusted to having shorter hair and I recently asked to get my hair thinned as it was VERY thick. My stylist, bless her heart, took a full hour on my hair-without washing or blowdrying-just CUTTING and cutting and c.u.t.t.i.n.g....cutting....until my hair was utterly thin. She styled it well and I told her how I have to straighten my hair because otherwise it looks like a big poof ball. She assured me it would be easy to maintain...Does THIS


look EASY to manage/maintain??? There was no trying to exaggerate here, this is really what my hair looks like when I am finished blow drying it. I am sure Brian is eternally grateful that I don't just *leave* it like this for even a minute. NO, I get RIGHT to work on the 'fro ball. With some straightening gel and a straightening iron...it took me about 25min to get my hair into working order.
...so then, today, after dealing with the hair ball situation, I sat and snapped with my trusty laptop picture thingy, oh, about 10 pics to get the right ANGLE, (as mentioned before *ahem* about said nose), for my profile pic up there to the right and, there you have it, a real live profile of a silly mom who just wants to look her best if not, dare I say *striking* hahaha :).

I'm not sure why I posted this...and I don't really have a moral to this story except that we all have things that the evil one wants us to be discontent with and be insecure about...we all have them. We must decide to take what we have and, instead of neglecting it all together, do our best with it -to His honor and glory. The rest, the physical things we can't or shouldn't change or maybe are in the process of changing such as weight, well, I've had to learn to laugh about some of those things (some must be patient) and appreciate that it contributes to a vessel made for HIS honor and glory, not mine. So, if you ever wonder if some of your would-be-if-not-already hang ups are normal...they are, and if they are not-according to some Ms looks perfect (who does she think she is being perfect anyway huh?), well, we can be not-normal together always striving to be our best for the Lord. Blessings!! ;)