May this be our heart....

I found this post written on John Piper's blog, and it encouraged me and inspired me to be called to a life of obedience.....

Karen Watson wrote her own epitaph. Its message has stirred me up to pray for more radical devotion to Christ. She has not died in vain. She was a Southern Baptist missionary to Iraq and was killed by unknown assailants March 15, 2004. I am mentioning it now simply because I was reading the book Lives Given, Not Taken: 21st Century Southern Baptist Martyrs, by Erich Bridges and Jerry Rankin. In it I ran across the letter that Karen wrote and left behind in an envelope that said "Open in case of death." It said in part:

Dear Pastor Phil and Pastor Roger,
You should only be opening this in the event of death.When God calls there are no regrets. I tried to share my heart with you as much as possible, my heart for the nations. I wasn't called to a place; I was called to Him. To obey was my objective, to suffer was expected, His glory my reward, His glory my reward . . .

The missionary heart:
Cares more than some think is wise
Risks more that some think is safe
Dreams more than some think is practical
Expects more than some think is possible.I was called not to comfort or to success but to obedience. . . .There is no Joy outside of knowing Jesus and serving Him.
I love you two and my church family.
In His care, Salaam, Karen

Can I help you??

On Tuesday, Clark and I had the opportunity to work in the concession stand at the Montgomery Biscuits Baseball game. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but so worth it!! We were doing it to raise money so that urban Young Life kids could go to camp, many of them, hearing about Jesus for the first time!! So, we were doing a fundraising event, working in the concession stands and making 10% of the profits.

I think I said, Can I help you, more times than I can count!! Maybe next time, I will take a picture of us in our baseball caps, behind the cash register, working our hearts out!! But I loved it so much!! We were on our feet for 5 hours, but what better place to be, knowing that the money was going in order for others to hear about Jesus!!!

Please be praying for me, I am really not doing so well with this head of mine. I had a migrane headache on Monday and now another one has started up last night. Please pray that I will know what medicine to take and what doctor to go to! Thanks friends!!

One year ago....

WE GOT ENGAGED!!!!

time flies when you are having fun!

Okay, so I was going to add a picture of us, but I couldn't get it to add to the post!!

Quick Request

This weekend, I am going to see Kasey!!!(for those of you that don't know, she was my teammate in China) I am so excited because I haven't seen her since December. And when you are used to seeing someone everyday for 3 years, 4 months is a long time!!! And then on Friday, we are going to see some very dear friends of ours in South Carolina. It is going to be an amazing weekend. This is one very different than the last, these are people that I am so comfortable around, words aren't necessary. But yet, both weekends have been or will be great!!
The request is, please pray that this cold that I have will not keep me down this weekend. As soon as my sinus infection goes away, here comes the cold!! Not fun at all!! Today, I don't have the most energy, so please pray that Father will give me the energy I need to travel and spend time with friends!!
Thanks friends!!
I love you all!! (And so does Clark!! :)

Changed...

This weekend was J-Day weekend at my college. For those of you who didn't graduate from Judson or have never heard me talk about J-Day, it is kind of like homecoming. There are class reunions and you all come back to catch up and visit with each other. The picture above is some of my friends that I got to visit with during the weekend. After spending time with so many friends and meeting new ones this weekend, I realized just how much I have changed. I used to be such an extrovert, I thrived off of being around people, I got my energy from it. And now, I am such the opposite. After being around so many people, it leaves me feeling drained and I just don't feel like talking to anyone. I realized that this change has come about after living in China for four years. I find it so interesting how I can see such a drastic change within myself. I sometimes am not used to it at all. I have a hard time being around big groups of people making small talk. I would much rather be with my friends who know me and I don't even have to think of anything to say at all. All of that to say, how strange is it that I have the job that I do. Going around the state speaking at churches, meeting new people all the time, and I love it!!!! So, I find myself going through many changes within me, many of which I have yet to figure out!! This being one of them :) Thanks for letting me talk this out with each of you!!! And to my friends who I saw this weekend, I loved spending time with you!!! :)