My Thoughts Are Elsewhere Today

"God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of His name among the nations. Therefore, let us bring our affections into line with His, and, for the sake of His name, let us renounce the quest for worldly comforts and join His global purpose."

-- John Piper

A Dog's Life

Those two pictures basically sum up the life our of puppy. However when she is not busy sleeping, she does this...

He Sets the Lonely in Families

- 40% of India's population is below the age of 18 years which at 400 million is the world's largest child population.
- Less than half of India's children between the age 6 and 14 go to school.
- A little over one-third of all children who enroll in grade one reach grade eight.
- 95 in every 1000 children born in India, do not see their fifth birthday.
- 70 in every 1000 children born in India, do not see their first birthday.
- 23% of India's children are underweight at birth.
- 58% of India's children below the age of 2 years are not fully vaccinated. And 24% of these children do not receive any form of vaccination.
- More that 50% of India's children are malnourished.


In addition to the deaths of infants and children due to malnourishment and disease, innumerable and unrecorded numbers of girl children are killed within hours of being born while many others are killed in the womb itself. Patriarchal norms, low status of women and preference for male children are the primary reasons that threaten survival of female children in India. The alarming fact is that female infanticide or foetuses has increased over the past few decades. While in 1960 there were 976 girls born for every 1000 boys, in 2001, there are only 927 girls for every 1000 boys.

- 1 out of every 6 girls does not live to see her 15th birthday.
- Of the 12 million girls born in India, 1 million do not see their first birthday.
- Every sixth girl child's death is due to gender discrimination.
- 1 out of 4 girls is sexually abused before the age of 4.
- Female mortality exceeds male mortality in 224 out of 402 districts in India.
- Death rate among girls below the age of 4 years is higher than that of boys. Even if she escapes infanticide or foeticide, a girl child is less likely to receive immunisation, nutrition or medical treatment compared to a male child.
- 53% of girls in the age group of 5 to 9 years are illiterate.

http://america.cry.org/site/know_us/cry_america_and_child_rights/statistics_underprivileged_chi.html

“Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Deliver the weak and needy from the hand of the wicked.” Ps 82:3-4

My heart remains burdened.

Nothing Profound

Pardon me for my lack of posting but there hasn't been much to report. Life has continued on without much news however I do feel the pace beginning to quicken. I have a bridal shower/bachelorette party to go to in a few weeks, next month I am in the wedding of a very dear friend (Ashley, I couldn't be more excited for you and Cliff!!!), the month after that I'm going to another wedding (It's almost here Sarah!) and then the holidays come barreling down. Geez, it is already September. I wonder if I should start my Christmas shopping now? Don't tempt me.

Jon's classes are going well and he is staying busy with his applied ministry work. Along with all of that Jon is also preparing his resume and before we know it we will begin the process of seeking the Lord's will for the next phase of our lives. It's thrilling to say the least. As I look to all of the changes ahead I am trying desperately to stay focused on growing and preparing for what is to come rather than get frustrated over what can easily feel like waiting.

During the past 6 months or so reading has become a new love for me. I have never been one to read much fiction, not that I don't enjoy a good story but mainly because factual accounts can be just as fascinating. So along those lines I have read numerous missionary biographies and felt that I have grown ten fold just by gleaning wisdom from such wonderful men and women of God. Recently I began reading Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper. Each chapter focuses on the life of one women of faith (Sarah Edwards, Lilais Trotter, Esther Ahn Kim, Helen Roseveare). The current chapter I am on tells the story of Gladys Aylward, a missionary to China. Reading about these accounts have been more than encouraging to my faith and in a way I have felt a close kinship with these women (along with the likes of Elisabeth Elliot and Amy Charmichael). Despite the fact that many of them have long since departed this earth I am grateful for their wisdom and oddly enough can say that they have been a kind of mentor to me over the past months. Watching them sit at the feet of their Savior and live lives devoted to him whether by staying at home with their children or leaving all familiarity behind to travel to some far away country their stories point to the greatness of the God they serve. Like I said earlier, I am encouraged.

Coupled with my reading of numerous biographies I have continued reading through the Bible. I can't remember if I mentioned this earlier but I felt conviction a few months ago for never having read through the whole Bible so I found a Bible reading plan and by the grace of God I've been able to stick to it. There have been days I have struggled, seeing the plan more as a box to check off rather than time with God, but overall it has been a wonderful challenge. God is good.

Well I'm sure I could write more but I guess I'll wrap this up on a bit of a tangent. This morning when we were walking Paisley I about lost it when she obliviously walked directly into a tree. It was probably one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. To her credit there was a very intriguing little girl riding around in a pink jeep power wheel. I think Paisley was more than a bit distracted. Jon and I were deep in conversation and didn't even see Paisley heading straight for the tree until it was too late. Thankfully, she is fine.

More to come....hopefully.

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When ours are interrupted, his are not. His plans are proceeding exactly as scheduled, moving us always (including those minutes or hours or years which seem most useless or wasted or unendurable) "toward the goal of true maturity" (Rom 12:2). Elisabeth Elliot

More Rambling Thoughts

I've found a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head lately, not that that is new. I wouldn't consider myself a very outgoing person but I almost always have a lot going on in my head and if you inquired I'm sure I would give you an ear full. For instance the other day after church I completely unloaded all of my pent up thoughts on my husband and I think he was a bit taken aback. Here is a brief snippet of my rambling...

I spent Thursday last week getting my sister Samantha settled at her new school. During our time there we had the chance to sit through a service in Hughes Chapel.



That place has so many memories for me but it also has an awesome sense of history. Numerous revivals have taken place in that very room...there is a sense of reverence and awe just sitting in the chapel. Now I love our church but we currently meet in a school cafeteria/auditorium. Yeah, not quite the solemn setting of Hughes. On Sunday, my heart longed to be reminded of the power and holiness of God. There is something to be said for walking into church with the realization that you are gathering with other believers to worship God, the God who spoke the world into being. Sometimes I believe we come to church more for the social aspect than for a desire to spend time with the Lord. Now I'm not saying that you need a building such as Hughes to experience the presence of God but it certainly can put you in a place of expectation.


I also spent time contemplating some of the words that were sung during church on Sunday.

"Take my body and build it up

May it be broken as an offering of love

For I have nothing

I have nothing without You"

Do we really understand what that means? Are we willing to be broken for the cause of Christ or are those just words? I believe it was A.W. Tozer who is quoted as saying, "Christians don't tell lies, they just go to church and sing them." Ouch. As I was listening to the music I couldn't help but think of the lives of men like Jim Elliott who died to bring the Gospel to those who had never even heard the name of Jesus. How am I even worthy to sing about laying down my life for the cause of Christ? Listening to that particular song being led on Sunday I didn't sing along, I just couldn't.

As I poured out my thoughts to Jon we also talked about a sermon I listened to the other day preached by Leonard Ravenhill. In the sermon he talked about seeing the true nature of a pastor's relationship with the Lord not by his preaching but by his prayers. The way a person talks with the Lord can quickly tell you a lot about their relationship with Him. What does my prayer life say about me?

So yeah, there is not a nice bow to tie up all these rambling thoughts but I figured I would share some of what has been rolling around in my head since Sunday. One more thing, I just finished up the book Five Who Changed the World by Daniel Akin and would highly recommend it. The book is a quick read but super convicting. That's all for now. I'll work on posting with more regularity in the coming weeks, we'll see how that goes.

I'm still here

I feel like such a slacker for not posting anything but I honestly have nothing new going on in my life nor do I have any profound insight to offer thus the reason for my lack of posting. Sorry but I am at a total loss. The week ahead of me is a bit busy but for a very exciting reason. My younger sister Samantha will be in town Tuesday and Wednesday and on Thursday I am taking her down to Wilmore, KY to get all settled into her new school. I couldn't be more thrilled that my sister is heading to my alma mater Asbury College. It's the best EVER!! Okay, well the Vessel Class was the best ever but I'm sure Asbury is still top notch. ;-) No seriously, my time at Asbury was probably one of the biggest opportunities of growth I've had in my Christian walk and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I'm praying that Sam will be encouraged and challenged in much the same way.

Anyways, it will be a lot of fun to show her around and help her get situated. Sorry for the lack of adventure in my own life at this present time but I'm sure things will begin to pick up some momentum in the months to come so if you're interested you may want to stay tuned but for now this is just about all I have to offer.

I'm gonna be an aunt!!!!

I am thrilled to announce that come March 19th I will be Aunt Kristen!! Congratulations Heather and Michael!! We can't wait to meet adorable baby Rolo!! We love you guys!!!! Yes, all of the exclamation marks are necessary.