Sharing Life

The Prayer of Faith

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

(James 5:13-20 ESV)

I've started getting together with some friends at a coffee shop to just get to know one another and learn how we can live life caring for one another's needs. One of the areas I think the American church is lacking in the most is real community. I'm currently reading a book called Radical Together by David Platt and with every page I find myself nodding my head in agreement. One of my favorite quotes from his book is this:

"Is your church and mine willing to put on the table every program we've created, every position we've established, every innovation we've adopted, every building we've constructed, every idea we've formulated, every team we've established, and every activity we have organized? Are we willing to ask God if there is a better way to use the time, energy, and money he has given us for his glory in the world?"

I want to ask myself these questions and apply them to my personal life as well as how I live in community with those around me. There are so many wonderful and great things we can be doing with our time, but ARE THEY THE BEST THINGS? God certainly doesn't want us to act out of guilt and pride when we serve others. If we are, we will only end of failing at our practices and feeling miserable in the meantime. He gives us the grace and power to do His will and won't ask us to perform tasks that He isn't able to accomplish for us. I'm praying for the Holy Spirit to move in a mighty way in my families lives, my churches life, and in my community. I know we are able to do amazing things when God is the one driving us.

Photo Book

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God's Timing Is Perfect

It's hard to believe that my last post was written before we discovered that our household goods had caught on fire and that our lives would be turned completely upside down. God continues to remind our family that He is and always will be enough. He has allowed us to experience so many difficult things only to bring us to a better understanding of who He is and how our lives are more fulfilling when He is guiding us.

I can't believe that God has led us to an amazing home, wonderful church family, old friends, and great new friends. I certainly don't base my happiness on these things, but it is incredible to be in fellowship with other believers and to live in community no matter where we are in the world.

One of the biggest questions is, "How long will you be here?" Only God knows the answer to that. Our orders say three years, but God has shown us over and over that we aren't to base our plans on what man has given us, but to trust and obey and patiently wait upon Him.

So, for now we are looking forward with excitement to see what He has in store for us while we are in Chesapeake, VA!

True Peace Amidst The Storm

Massive changes in our lives over the past couple months have drawn our entire family closer to each other and to God. Amidst the storms God has revealed His grace, mercy, and amazing peace in our lives. Just when you think you have had crazy times and it couldn't get any crazier, life continues to unfold in ways never thought imaginable.

Many of you know we were headed to Bahrain this Summer for two years and thrilled to be reuniting with old friends and enjoying our old hangouts. Just weeks before our packers were to arrive and ship all our household goods we were thrown for a loop with short notice order changes and told we were headed to, of all places, Virginia. With deep breaths and lots of prayer we made adjustments and began shifting life completely.

All of Mike's Arabic training seems wasted...... BUT God will use it.
All of our tribal knowledge on the Middle East seems wasted..... BUT God will use it.
All of our plans seem wasted..... BUT our plans are NOT God's plans and he will use our hearts desires to glorify Him.

Some how in the chaos of all the struggles God has given us amazing peace and shown us that He will provide and care for us and that He has a better plan for us. Not just because He loves us, but because He is teaching us to continue to trust Him in every area of our lives.

I'm sad to be leaving Monterey and all the amazing relationships we have had here. It totally amazes me each time I think about how quickly He placed us in each activity and relationship and how deep and meaningful all of those people and activities became to us. We will truly miss Monterey and our friends here.