Thanksgiving 2006

Seven people didn't show to our team Thanksgiving Dinner. So, we had only 41 people on Friday! I'll try to attach a photo later. The two huge turkeys were more than enough, and we are still enjoying leftovers. I also had almost two whole leftover pumpkin pies! Thanks to Reynold's Turkey Roasting Bags, the job was a breeze. We had wonderful conversations with many of our Tico friends. The day was a huge success! Several stayed after just to talk about how precious the day was for them and how grateful they were to celebrate the day with us. :)

Emotional Limitations

In yesterday's blog I spoke of being weary. In that weariness, I have chosen to pour out my heart to Him.

Today, my reading from A Journey to Praying Victoriously dove-tailed with yesterday's thoughts on weariness. Bill Thrasher comments, "In Jesus' humanity, He had emotional limitations."

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed." Mark 1:35

Evidently, the term used here for "prayed" does not refer primarily to intercession, but to the outpouring of His own soul to the Father for renewal and refreshment. It's refreshing to know that Jesus Himself had to pour out His thoughts and emotions to the Father!

Weary!

Lately I have felt weary. Between the intensity of investing our lives in the Formation missionaries, having surgery, other health issues, insomnia, and Woody’s travels, I have simply felt needy and weary.

Yesterday I had a very full day after very little sleep. I started out my day just after 4AM, enjoying a long time with my Lord. Even though I felt my heart would burst with emotions and thoughts, I decided to not give in to the temptation to look for a friend to pour out my heart, but to depend totally on Him. Throughout the day I cried out to Him. As I did market shopping for next week’s Formation meals, my eyelids were heavy, but I cried out to Him. As I struggled through reimbursement requests and budget calculations with a splitting headache, I cried out to Him. As I made phone calls and juggled menus for next week’s Thanksgiving Bash, I cried out to Him.

It was wonderful to spend my day leaning SO hard on Him. It made me think of our Great Dane, Celeste. She is such a people-dog! She will stand next to me and affectionately lean into me – with all 115 pounds of bone and muscle! That’s how I want to lean into God.

Yesterday evening, after a “leaning day,” my friend and team mate, Michelle, showed up at my door to talk to me. Oh, what a blessing as we had a heart-to-heart share time! I felt like God honored my choice to depend only on Him, rewarding me with a flesh-and-blood friend to encourage me.

The morning dawned bright and clear after a night of tropical rainstorms. My Celestial prayer walk this morning definitely had a Spirit-led theme. Let me share with you two passages– one from my prayer book and one from my Scripture memorization review.

Phrases from Is. 40:28-31 “He does not become weary;” He gives strength to the weary; though youths grow weary; they will walk and not become weary.”

Isaiah 50:4 “The Sovereign Lord [gives the word] that sustains the weary.”

Photos of Woody in Spain

Woody at La Alhambra

Flyweight Wrestling

This morning I had a round of tag-team flyweight wrestling. I actually looked up the old wrestling terms to see what weight category Celeste fits into! The frog and I combined probably outweighed Celeste, but the frog really didn’t throw his weight into the match. Let me explain. This morning on my Celestial walk, Celeste spotted a frog on the road and lunged for it. I sensed we were in for big trouble, and I didn’t want to let her loose to get in trouble alone. Within a second, I realized it was a frog she was after. The frogs we have on campus are deadly for dogs. (We think that’s how Chester died.) So, I literally wrestled Celeste to the ground with a move I learned from “The Crusher.” I held her in a choke grip around the neck. It took us a few minutes – all three of us on the ground before the match was called.

The frog and I won!

Actually, Celeste won, whether she realizes it or not. The frog may be featherweight, but his poison would have knocked out a Super-Heavyweight!