Secret to Joy

I'm really happy when creating, whether it's a painting, a piece of unique jewelry, a poem, a fabric whatever, or something else.  And you could say it gives me joy.  But that's not the deepest joy. The deepest joy comes from relationships.

First, there is my relationship with Jesus, who took my punishment so I could be declared righteous by His blood.  Then there are those relationships with others, the lateral relationships.  I mean those relationships with children, spouses, parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, in-laws (who eventually begin to seem like parents, siblings, and children), friends, and more.  If you feel down in the dumps, go pursue a relationship.

And oh, don't forget those strangers in the checkout line who become friends for a few minutes. That's all it takes to get an idea for a new project, or to just receive a smile to lift your spirits. Yep, relationships are the stuff of joy.  That's why I look forward to someday seeing loved ones again and nevermore experiencing the agony of parting.  It's because God made me that way. Relationships--created by God.

Mission Trip to Guatemala

Recently, I took a trip to Guatemala--a mission trip, working with a group called Hope 4 Guatemala. Taking off from Houston, I noticed the tops of nice houses in their nice lawns.  Three hours later, we began to drop altitude over the beautiful, mountainous Guatemala. The tops of these houses were rusty tin.  There was cute couple sharing the row with me and he said this was going to be a tight landing because of the terrain.  We came down sharp and I could almost hear the "Urrrrk!" as we came to a quick stop.  It was fun.

Our hosts met us and our numerous bags with an "autobus."  Guatemala City apparently has no public freeways.  Twist. Turn. Turn. Twist. Turn within 3 inches of a corner.  I greatly admire the skill of the bus driver. After about 45 minutes, we came to the compound, a spacious house with dorm-style bedrooms.  The compound is on Lake Amititlán, and it is truly beautiful.

We ministered to a small village near Guatemala City. I will admit that it was an eye-opener.  I don't think of myself as materially rich, not at all.  But to many of these people, my modest dwelling would seem to be a palace.  I didn't have time to feel sad--no time for paralysis.  We needed to be about the Lord's work, performing the tasks that we had been anticipating for months.

While the men were building a small house for a family there, the rest of us taught Bible school, reading Bible accounts in Spanish, managing projects, teaching them about Jesus, and just talking to them in general. Here are a few pictures of what we did.


Over beautiful mountainous terrain...


About to make an exciting landing...


A fruit stand in the village.  Those carrots on the left were as big around as an average sized glass.


I don't want to show too much about the private dwellings, but this picture and the ones below will give you an idea.





Folks gotta eat.  There is nothing quite like meshing with another culture.


Again, folks gotta eat. The picture above and the two below show some of the food donations. Thanks to a lot people in our church (and not in our church), we were able to provide NUTRITION for others!







Yay!  Colorful bags with things people need, physically and spiritually. Thanks to the Gideons, we were able to include a Spanish New Testament with every bag.
At the end of Bible school, we passed out toy bags full of things that had been donated by friends in the USA.

Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.

--James 1:17 Holman Christian Standard Bible

Jenna Janean James, Forever Young

Jenna, the anniversary is imminent. I'm talking about the anniversary of your leaving this earth. Right now, I'm thinking of you as a butterfly, beautiful, elusive, fleeting. It seems that you were never still for very long; how poetic that you would suddenly leave the earth at the age of 15. Sometimes the horror of your abrupt and tragic death attempts to stare me in the face. Then the grace of our merciful God takes over, reminding me that death is defeated, and you behold His presence. The dark sadness here is only temporary. The Glorious Reunion is coming.

The Natural Life and Eternity

This life reminds me of a period at the beginning of a run-on sentence.  .The sentence runs on forever and ever and ever and ever and...

Don't Forget the Lost Quiet Ones

So here I was, praying fervently for the salvation of the rude, disrespectful person that seemed to be a tool of that hideous satan. Do you have people in your life who seem to desperately want you to despise them?  I do.  So I pray for them.  I pray for their salvation, and that they will be all God wants them to be.

But then I saw a mental picture of the quiet person who never gives anyone any trouble, and is always compliant and helpful.  The fact that she is kind and sweet does not make her automatically saved from eternal darkness.  So now, I pray for the quiet ones, the ones whose names may not jump out at me twenty years from now.  Quiet people's names don't always stick with you the way thorns do.  So please, if you are reading this (and I suppose you must be), don't forget the lost quiet ones.

Teeth in Amos 4

Reading the Bible the other day, I was reminded that I need to read carefully. I was reading Amos 4, and came upon 4:6. The verse states,
"'But I gave you also cleanness of teeth in all your cities
And lack of bread in all your places,
Yet you have not returned to Me,' declares the LORD."


When I first read the part about cleanness of teeth, I thought that was a good thing. Hey, clean teeth are great! Clean teeth with nice, fancy breath is even better. What a silly twenty-first century person I am. The teeth are clean because they haven't seen food in no telling how long. Reading the Bible carelessly causes a lot of misunderstanding.