Ben's sensa, Nell, sent me this picture. I had to share it with you all!!!!
Exodus 15:3 The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.
Ben's sensa, Nell, sent me this picture. I had to share it with you all!!!!
Exodus 15:3 The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.
Kurt working on programming at home.
Our friend, Ruth, stops by in the morning on non-school days
and helps Jerard eat breakfast! Such a blessing her help is.
James standing by the freezer he was helping me defrost.
Mikayla and friend, Danielle, eating breakfast. Danielle spent
the night. Keep Danielle and her family in your prayers.
Her Mom is in Manila at the moment recovering from colon
cancer surgery.
Hung up clothes drying in the morning sun.
James swinging on a rope swing we have in the house to keep
him busy.
Danielle, James (yes, he loves to change his clothes), and
Mikayla having fun in the kitchen.
Ben and Kirsten were sleeping in while all this activity occurred between the hours of 5:30 - 8 a.m.
I have to laugh.
Kurt and I have been praying to simplify our life and also, hopefully, move into a lower rent house that still fits our family.
Moving would entail ridding ourselves of excess furniture and other things as most likely the house we rent will be smaller than the one we have now. I look forward to that. It is so easy to accumulate stuff, even without meaning to.
A week or so ago, while Kurt and some of the kids were watching a movie at night, the television quit working. It was a used TV when we picked it up from another missionary family over 4 years ago. I smiled and said "GREAT!" when Kurt told me the tv had died!!!!
Good bye, TV!!!!
Two days ago, while microwaving something, the microwave gave a loud pop and went black, no longer to work.
Good bye, microwave. I'm thankful for more counter space!
"Simplicity is the joyful unconcern for possessions we experience as we truly "seek first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness" (Matt 6:33). Persons living in simplicity realize freedom from anxiety by viewing possessions as gifts from God, remembering we are stewards to care for God's
gifts to us and making our goods available to others.
Simplicity is a declaration of war on materialism and it reorients our lives, perspectives, and attitudes.
To simplify means "To make 'simple' or 'simpler': as a : to reduce to basic essentials b : to diminish in scope or complexity" - Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary
Living a simplified life means learning "how to say yes to the things you want in your life and no to the things you don't want in your life - your life becomes simpler."
Anyway, it seems that part of the journey God has me on here in the mission field is to learn to prioritize what is truly important and let go of the non-essentials. This is both in relationships, choices on how to spend my time, and on material possessions.
I'll be blogging more about my journey and our family's journey into a more simplified lifestyle! Stay tuned!!!!!!
If you want to read more about simplifying life, check out these websites. There are many on the internet, here are a few:
http://www.renovare.us/SPIRITUALRENEWAL/PracticingLikeJesus/Simplicity/tabid/2587/Default.aspx
http://zenhabits.net/simple-living-manifesto-72-ideas-to-simplify-your-life/
http://www.becomingminimalist.com/2011/02/08/40-ways-to-give-more-life/
Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit some friends of ours up in Tagum. They run a really neat, multi-faceted ministry. You can read more about their ministry at http://www.neosfcphilippines.blogspot.com/
Our friends, the Boada's. Val went to Taylor University
at the same time Kurt was attending there. "It's a small
world afterall....." to meet up with each other again half
way around the world from their college days!
Val sometimes substitute teaches at Faith. Esther is in
Mikayla's High school class.
NEOS is a Greek word that means young and fresh and new. It was started in 1989. NEOS is a family center. NEOS offers Sunday evening fellowship, home Bible studies, youth fellowship, Bible classes for children, library, basketball, discipleship, training, and Bible curriculum for all ages.
We were greatly impressed with their vision and wholelistic
ministry approach.
The van used for our tour.
Esther, Mikayla, Kirsten and Ben by a garden area that the
high schoolers helped prepare last year on an outreach trip.
Mikayla and Esther standing by a house they helped get
started last year on the high school outreach trip.
It is being built as funds come available for it.
James enjoying running around.
Visiting a park and Catholic Shrine area in Tagum. It is
reported to have the world's largest rosary.
At the Tagum Market. We had some excellent rice desserts
there.
It was an excellent trip.
Goats heading to market