What's Different - The Widow Maker

I'd like to introduce you to what locals call The Widow Maker. My husband refers to it as a Self Electrocution Kit.


We don't have a hot water heater so any water we want to warm has to be heated on demand with one of these fancy contraptions. It's a scary thought to have wires in your shower, believe me! And because we have a high mineral content in our water, I was getting shocked every time I tried to adjust the temperature of the water! Yikes!

Then some experienced missionary told us you can just put some hose on the shower handles and then you won't get shocked. Much better!


Thanks for reading the first installment of What's Different! Come back next Wednesday for more!

I Wish I Could Do More

I got a letter from a dear friend the other day. She's going through an unspeakable trial. Heart breaking, gut wrenching, wake-you-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-thinking-about-it kind of a trial.

As I finished reading her letter, I found myself thinking, "I wish I wasn't so far away! I would love to do more than just pray"! You know, take a meal, watch her kids, be there to listen.

But in about one millisecond, the Spirit pressed in on me. It was quite uncomfortable actually.

Ouch. But He was right. It's so much easier for me to bake some cookies, or babysit, than it is to do the work of prayer. Once again, I showed that my knee jerk response is to try to DO something in my own strength.

Prayer wasn't my preferred response because prayer is an act of surrender, of utter dependance. It's proclaiming to God, "This is beyond me, but You are capable!" And I wasn't feeling desperate in that moment, I wanted to DO something to help.

But now, I do feel desperate. Desperate for the deep down soul belief that I NEED to pray and desperate for a behavior that manifests my belief.

"You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed." John Bunyan

How have you grown in your appreciation for and need of prayer? At times like these, I'm so thankful that though I often fail to pray, the Spirit intercedes for me!

Looking Unto Jesus Risen

"Looking Unto Jesus Risen,

to find in Him the righteousness which alone makes us righteous,

and permits us,

all unworthy as we are,

to draw near with boldness,

in His name,

to Him who is His Father and our Father,

His God and our God."

Looking Unto Jesus translated from the French of Theodore Monrod by Helen Willis

Photo: fbcssiyouth

I Love that Tree

A few weeks ago, while driving into town, I almost hit the ditch. Only it wasn't a cattle truck that threatened to run me off the road. It was a mere thought.

"I love that tree!"

Unbidden, it had entered my mind. And just as quickly as I caught my breath, it sank to my heart.

It was different than the, "how lovely!" of a tourist who passes through. But really, why should the sight of the algarroba dotting the countryside knock the wind out of me so?

Because with that simple thought came the overwhelming realization that I was beginning to feel at home. That there was a rightness in my being here. My heart was lifted in praise to the God who is merciful. The One who knows my weakness, and yet chooses to bless me.

I've since decided the algarroba is my tree, my special reminder that I belong here.

What about you? Have you ever been surprised by the overwhelming sense that you belong right where God has you? I'd love to hear about it!

While we're on the topic of trees, click here for a super interesting post about the Bottle Tree of Paraguay!

Looking Unto Jesus Crucified

"Looking unto Jesus crucified, to find in His shed blood

our randsom,

our pardon,

our peace."

Looking Unto Jesus, translated from the French of Theodore Monod by Helen Willis

Photo: stock.xchng

Looking Unto Jesus

"Looking Unto Jesus in the Scriptures,

to learn there what He is,

what He has done,

what He gives,

what He desires;

to find in His character our pattern,

in His teachings our instruction,

in His precepts our law,

in His promises our support,

in His person and in His work a full satisfaction provided for every need of our souls."

What are you looking unto Jesus for today?

Excerpt from Looking Unto Jesus, translated from the French of Theodore Monrod

Photo: Daniel Iggars

I Declared Thursday "Pajama Day"

It had been a rough week. I was feeling blue and flat. Lacking energy to come up with one more meal. Lacking patience for my precious family. Lacking positivity to be able to respond to the emails awaiting me in my inbox. Lacking interest in decorating projects yet to be completed. Bottom line: all the things that normally make me tick, felt about as desirious to me as eating a piece of cardboard. And that scared me.

So I declared Thursday to be "Pajama Day". A day to sleep in and hang out in my pajamas until noon. A day to forget my laundry, and allay any guilt for feeding my son chocolate bombs for breakfast. A day to read as many decorating blogs as I wanted and watch a girly movie. It sounded really good to me.

And the truth is, it FELT really good to let go of all the work and expectations for one day and just enjoy myself. At least along until about 1:00.

I was taking a long, hot shower, congratulating myself on the wisdom of my Pajama Day Declaration. And then, He spoke.

Everything slowed, my heart dropped, and I was rebuked. I was no different than Adam and Eve who sewed clothes out of leaves, or the children of Israel who built the golden calf. I was looking for my own redemption. Trying to figure things out on my own. Trying to fix it in my own strength.

But just as soon as my disappointment started to rise, He spoke again. This time, with familiar comforting grace.

So then and there, I rested. I truly rested. Pajama Day was redeemed. Not by me, by Him. By the One who interrupts my feable attempts to rescue myself with His voice, with His truth, with His rest.

Have you been dreaming of your own "Pajama Day"? Oh, you might call it something different, but are you longing for an escape from the mess of your life? For something to bring you alive again?

I'm here to encourage you to look deeper, to look behind "Pajama Day" and see what you are really longing for. I bet it's redemptive rest and it's only found in Him.

"I suspected that all the yearnings for I knew not what that I had ever felt - were in truth yearnings for him. For God. I yearned towards Him." Sheldon VanAuken, A Severe Mercy