He restores my soul

I’ve had a lot of time to think about today’s part of the Psalms since I’ve been in the car for around 16 hours.

He restores my soul…I’ve had a lot of restoring done in these last three weeks. I’m going to be honest for a moment….when I left Sioux Falls, I was having a bit of a crisis of faith. I was angry at myself for being out of a job, angry at the neighborhood for being so needy and taking Daniel away from me and simply put, angry at God for allowing this to happen. In the last three weeks, however, talking to people about what we do in Sioux Falls has made me understand myself a little better as well as restoring the joy of serving and why we started doing what we do in the first place. I realize that is one of my love languages to serve others and when I don’t, I let Satan have a foothold in my life. What area of your life are you needing restored? I pray that God would let you see it in a different light than you have before.

He leads me beside still waters

Well, today is the day I start my journey back to SD. It is a bittersweet leaving because I have thoroughly enjoyed myself with all my family and friends here. Last night was my last night with Janet at Cloud 9 farm. I understand why people come back to her rental properties over and over again when everything she does there promotes a sense of wonder and awe at the beauty that God has blessed her with. Even in the working, which was a change of pace for me because I’ve lived in the city for a long time but feeding the chickens and cows and gathering eggs made me see her life, and life in general, in a different way.  Watching the sun set over the mountains one last time made me realize that this has been a time of revitalization, one of renewal and I thought of Psalms 23 yet again.

He leads me beside still waters…what an amazing concept! For those of you acquainted with being out on the water, it is seldom still, but when it is you are relaxed because you don’t have to worry about tending your boat, you can just sit and enjoy. This is what I believe this is speaking to, we are so busy with life that God wants to have us just come and sit with him, to be with him and enjoy his presence and so we need those times of still waters. Make time for him in the upcoming weeks and enjoy basking in the love of God.

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want

Two days ago, my brother was fixing the headlight of my car when he discovered two things. One, there was an old rats nest underneath the warmest part of the car and two, that the tie rods that connect my steering wheel to the car were bad. My brother has a friend that has an old explorer that he has been getting parts off of and so he is going to check the tie rods today. I’m supposed to be going home tomorrow, we’ll see if that happens between the snow and my car. Pray that I am able to return home or that God shows me the reason I’m supposed to stay here in NC

Psalms 23 speaks to this problem when David is being pursued by Saul when he declares, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. What does this mean for us? It means that God has our best interests in mind and he gives us what we need for the day and that’s not necessarily what we want. In David’s time, and for others who tend sheep, the shepherds are the caregivers and gaurdians of their sheep. The sheep don’t know what they need and they will go out of their way to get the grass that they want even if that puts them in mortal danger and the shepherd goes out of his way to save them. This is what God does for us if we let him.

Attitude matters

This morning in SD it snowed. I don’t know how much, but when I heard that it was snowing (via Facebook) I went and checked the route that I have planned to travel going back to SD from NC and found that two out of the three states had chances of snow showers for sometime this week. Of course, for anyone who knows me, I panicked. I want to go home. I love and miss my family there and while NC has been refreshing, SD is where I’m supposed to be. My friend Janet, who also runs Cloud Nine Farm, told me something that I have finally processed when she said, “you will get home when you are supposed to. Don’t worry now about weather then.”

Attitude matters to us. We don’t like people who complain all the time and are negative people, we like cheerful people but how do we act around others? When we are faced with hard times, the easiest thing to do is complain and Satan loves it. The Bible gives us advice on this very topic in the stories of David when he penned these words,“When hard pressed, I cried to the LORD; he brought me into a spacious place. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Psalm 118:5-6

What can mere mortals do to me? I can think of some pretty heavy stuff, but what David, and ultimately God wants us to know is that nothing is out of God’s hands and that complaining about it isn’t going to help. Relax and rest in the knowledge that God will move in his time and that the trials we are going through build our faith and trust in our heavenly father who knows best. But continue to pray that I will be able to make it home this weekend.

Rest and relaxation serving

The last three weeks has been a lovely time of rest and relaxation in the mountains of North Carolina. Seeing family over Christmas for the first time in a long time has been nice. I have also had the privilege of helping a dear friend who has known me for 22 years of my life with things around the farm. It has been the most wonderful time of serving that I have had in a while. I mean, don’t get me wrong because I enjoy what we do in Pettigrew Heights, but a change of pace has helped me realize the things that are important to me and the people who have made me into the person that I am. Anyone who is interested in getting away from the city or wherever you may reside, I recommend taking a look at www.cloud9relaxation.com.

Going to NC

I realized that I had been in NC over Christmas and hadn’t updated our website…sorry for that

I left South Dakota in freezing temperatures…headed on a 1200+ trip all by myself with no GPS. Everyone said I was crazy and perhaps I am, but this trip was like no other. It was 20 degrees when I left South Dakota and by the time I got to Illinois, it had warmed up 30 degrees. It seems the same is true for our hearts when we say yes to Jesus and leave our old selves behind and warm up with His love.
The trip here was beautiful, although raining hard most of the way. God’s creation bursts forth with beauty even in death. I was reminded again of the season of Christmas and Christ’s birth. He came to a lowly manger as a baby to share in our lives and eventually die a criminal’s death to give us life.
The holiday of Christmas is over, but the season of Christmas should be in our hearts all year long.

Wise Men still seek Him

Have you ever wondered how the Wise Men must have felt as they followed a star in the Eastern sky, how they must have wondered why they were leaving all of their families behind because of a new star. Why did they bring Jesus the gifts that they did? Was it convienence? Or did God give them the wisdom to know who they were going to see?
Christmas is a time with family and friends and gift giving, but let us also remember that it is a season of reflection and thanksgiving to know that God sent his one and only son here to earth, to become like us, to feel like us and to ultimately die for us, just because he loves us so much. Let us be like the Wise Men and seek after his wisdom every day. Have a Merry and Blessed Christmas!

Stockings a plenty

We would like to thank all of you that donated Christmas stocking stuffers…we filled 88 children’s lives with the hope and joy of Jesus’ birth. We have prayed over them, hoping that this simple act of kindness will open the doors to a relationship between parents and their children as well as a relationship between them and God. God bless you and we will continue to take donations of Christmas stuff until the end of the year. Please call 605-400-5584 (Dan) for more information regarding times for drop off. God Bless you all at this joyous time of year.

God’s provision for new ideas

On the morning of our anniversary we were discussing a pipe dream program that we would love to start with new kids in the neighborhood. We want to make our house into the “gaming” house with PSPs, Xbox 360s, computer games, and WII to name a few and we were talking about how we have no money to start up something like that. We went to the dining hall at Swan Lake for lunch not even an hour after we had this discussion and Judi Kroeker,  the office manager, handed us a check for $400 and she said it was a late donation to her church for us. WOW! This is also after we spoke at her church and they gave us a little over $1000 at the beginning of November. Isn’t it amazing how God works? I continue to be blown away by God’s provision and the promises of Jeremiah 29:11 that God knows what he’s doing. A big thank you goes out to Bethany Mennonite Church in Freeman SD for your gifts of love. We comtinue to be blessed by your generosity and bless others because of it.

Surprises

Yesterday was our tenth anniversary, and I got a new laptop. It surprised me because let’s face it…Daniel is cheap. (he would call it thrifty) Now I can actually do my job as a fundraiser for our ministry. We have had a lovely rest because of some really good friends, Jerry and Judi Kroeker, who run Swan Lake Christian Camp near Viborg, SD. We have been heading for burnout mode and they graciously allowed us to come and spend three days to get away from the city. How awesome is God’s provision for our lives?!? In light of Thanksgiving we often forget the little things that can brighten someone else’s day.