Valentines and The Newsletter

For Valentines Day I posted on the Radical Feet Facebook Page the following with this picture:


Last week this little girl and another girl who sits next to her had this conversation== 
-Other Girl: This is my momma (said while hugging my arm).
-This little girl (pictured above): No this is mine, you already have a momma... 


*When you think about love today, think about those who have no one loving them, and then let your heart break for them, and pray, especially for these little ones we work with each week! Love never fails!


And now for the promised Newsletter Article--- ------------------ ------------ ------------------ -------

NEWSLETTER ARTICLE:

For those of you who do not receive the Hands on Missions Newsletter (which if you do not, you should,pretty sure anyone who makes a donation gets added to the list:)


But none the less, I thought I would post here, just in case you missed it:)

It reads:

An excerpt from Elisabeth Elliot’s book, Keep A Quiet Heart, says, “God came down and lived in this same world as a man. He showed us how to live in this world, subject to its vicissitudes and necessities, that we might be changed- not into an angel or a story book princess, not wafted into another world, but changed into saints in this world. The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.”

As I am now a year older writing this, thanks to my birthday this past week (Feb.1), I have been doing a lot of thinking about life. No matter how old we are, we are worriers. And how true it is, that when we face hard times, we wonder why God would put in this set of circumstances.  We pray that God would change the hard times and make them go away for good, so that we can live lives that are untainted with hardships or discomfort. When I face hard times, I have trouble seeing it as something God has ordained for my life. I question it, and even doubt that God could be a part of something that brought pain and suffering. Why would God allow me to go through the struggles of trying to live legally and long term in Ukraine, allowing the financial burdens to pay for my visa, and registration.  But in reading this book by Elisabeth Elliot, who has really gone through painful events in her life, and by reading the Word of God, both made the point that when we doubt, even in the trials of life, we doubt the almightiness of God.

At the Church I attend here in Lviv, the Pastor preached a sermon on how we need to have our priorities set straight in order to live out what God has called us too. God has to be our first priority. We are to seek first the kingdom- set our mind on things above- pursue righteousness and seek justice- give to the poor, widowed and orphaned- all of this putting God above all else in our lives. Nothing should come before God. Not our pursuit of a career or income, not our families, or friends and for me, not even my ministry, should come between me and my time with God.  We should seek God with a, radical heart’s desire, to live our lives, right now in this time, fully for God. Letting nothing hinder us from running the race set before us with endurance.

God will supply all our needs. I’ll never forget this first time I really saw God literally supply all my needs. I was young, and my dad had an incident on the job, where he lost use of his arm. For a whole year, we relied solely on my mom’s incomes as a preschool teacher. It was not nearly enough to cover our basic needs, but a few dollars to much for government assistance. One week, there was just no money, and the power bill needed to be paid. With faith, I saw my parents turn it over to God, knowing that He would provide a way. That day, a check came in the mail, for the exact amount needed to cover the cost. During those hard few years, I saw God, supply all my needs and my family’s.

And so the lesson on my heart this week is to truly let God be Lord over my life. Whatever challenges, hard times, good times and so on, that we are facing, in essence our lives, God has a plan. And if we live our lives in a way that does not reflect our trust in God’s provision, what are our lives saying? If we believe in God, then we need to strive to let our lives reflect his goodness and love. If Jesus can know the will of His father, and still sit with the men who would betray Him, even washing their feet, then how much easier should it be for me, to trust that I’ll have ministry cost covered, that food will be on the table, that government issues will be resolved, that everything will be alright, because God is merciful, omnipotent, omnipresent, and he has got the whole world in His hands.  That is awesome.

So be encouraged today. That whatever you are going through, God is near. Seek first His kingdom and righteousness and trust that the God who is big and mighty enough to create the world, and forgive us our sins, is big enough to take care of our needs. 

Lord give me a quiet heart, that does not ask to understand, but confident steps forward in, the darkness guided by Thy hand. - Elisabeth Elliot's prayer and mine too today!

If you would like more information on how you can be a part of the ministry here in Ukraine, or would like to read more updates on the struggles, and triumphs going on here,  visit my website and blog! Also you can like the Radical Feet’s Facebook Page for daily updates.

         

And I wanted to say a special thank you, to all of you who helped make my birthday special, who have supported monthly, who pray for me daily, and who network on my behalf! You are a blessing, and part of God’s provisions in my life! Thank you! 










And as always, thank you for reading this blog! Blessings!