It's amazing how beholding God and His Word releases grace into my life to stand whole and complete in Him... and it's definitely an active choice I must make. It seems there is a dying process going on as I release what I know everyday life to be so that He may start a new life for me when I move to Hong Kong. Death is sad, it's experiencing a loss, it is painful, but I am encouraged by these words that I shared with the girls in the Romans Bible study. Thankful for His grace enabling me to walk through this...

Hey Precious girls!
Just want you to know I am thinking about you as you have your finals. You all are my heart and I hope you know how much I treasure each of you. Today I am walking through a "testing" time as well, just in a different way :) What I know today is that He gives us grace -supernatural power- to transform our minds, thus transforming our attitudes and our emotions as we walk through tests. Don't miss Him in your studies. Draw from HIS life today!

The temptation will often be to live from your own strength, but here's what the Word says:
2 Cor 15:56The sting of death is sin,(remember Rom 14-anything not from faith is sin?) and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

2 Cor 6:1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2For he says, "In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

He is working out your salvation through testing! Will you trust His unfailing abundant resources (daughter) or your own? (orphan)

He wants to rescue you THROUGH the week (as opposed to snatching you out of it or removing the obstacle). You are going to find victory walking right through it, empowered by HIs spirit!

He's faithful... I am thanking Him, for this is how we enter His gates (Ps 100:4).

Psalm 100 (The Message)

A Thanksgiving Psalm

Psalm 100 (Amplified Bible)

A Psalm of thanksgiving and for the thank offering.

¹MAKE A joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!

²Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before His presence with singing!

³Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God! It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]! We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.^A)">(A)

⁴Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!

⁵For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.

Jesus, you are everything.

I was encouraged by a friend of mind to think about expectations of what it will be like when I get to Hong Kong. Do I expect people to keep up with me? What will I do if it doesn't happen like I envision? How I will deal with the distance and maintaining the relationships I have now?

All are important questions to think about, but I am encouraged that maybe the technology we have these days frees more people up to go. We studied the history the Church as a staff team and needless to say, we have come a long way. No longer do we have to write letters to make plans and wait for responses a few weeks later. Neither do we have to ride on a boat for 4-6 months to cross the ocean! (Thank you Lord!) The means are readily available and for this I am thankful.

I hope to be more consistent on this blog- knowing that we may not be able to communicate all the time in "real time" but still know each others lives thanks to the technology we have to share life through satellites, wires, and screens.


Here's a fun video of how we have already been using this technology and I hope it will encourage you to keep up with me! This is a team meeting we had a while back where Mary Reading was in Dallas and Maik was in Hong Kong and we still shared and prayed together... (if you want to know more about these team members check out our website.)





All this to say, everyone needs to download skype and become bloggers too... I look forward to journeying with you all in this way. I can't wait to share about His faithfulness in the days to come. I have much to share as my time here is flying by! I cannot belive it's almost time to go!