Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful

becky    General    

And, oh, how I wish we had a fire place today! I love how God uses His creation to remind us of His promises.  Just last week we had some rain come through and a beautiful, full rainbow appeared in the sky.  God originally used a rainbow as the sign of a covenant He made with Noah to never again cover the whole earth with water.  You can read the whole covenant in Genesis 9.  When I saw that rainbow last week I remembered that it wasn’t just something pretty for us to look at in the sky, but a reminder of the covenant God made and kept.  Sometimes I become a doubter and wonder if God is really going to follow through and then He shows me something to remind me He will, it just might not be in my timing or in my way.

Today is a very different day weather-wise.  I’m sitting in our kitchen watching snow fall at a fairly quick pace (certainly quick for Middle Tennessee).  I love snow! It’s so beautiful. I love how when you go outside with lots of snow on the ground that everything is muted.  It feels like it’s just you and the snow.  I also love how everything gets covered up by this lovely, pure blanket of white fluffy stuff.  This storm is supposed to bring us a decent amount of snow (4″-6″–A LOT for this area). I can’t wait to wake up in the morning to see everything covered by snow.

All day I’ve had the chorus to the hymn “Jesus Paid It All” in my head.  Here are the lyrics:

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

And I’ve also been thinking about Psalm 51:7 that says “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” God gives us this wonderful opportunity to be washed completely clean.  Real snow only covers the ground, but Christ cleans our hearts thoroughly when He enters, making us even whiter than the fluffy stuff I see outside my window.

Okay, so I also like snow because it’s fun to play in. I was just thinking it would be fun to go sledding with Samuel if we actually had a sled and had somewhere to use it.  In addition to those two complications with the plan, I probably shouldn’t be heading down any snowy slopes being in the family way and all.  We’ll at least take Samuel out in the grassy area between buildings and let him run around.  Since it started snowing a few hours ago he’s been pointing out the window and asking “please.”  That sure tugs at Mama’s heartstrings! Have a blessed day and enjoy whatever weather God gave you today.

HCJB Global Hands and Haiti

becky    General    

As you well know, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Port-au-Prince, Haiti, last Tuesday.  On Friday, a team from HCJB Global who usually serve in Ecuador arrived in Haiti to help with the victims. The team consisted of orthopedic surgeons, general physicians, a nurse, and a water engineer.  They are working in partnership with Samaritan’s Purse at Baptist Haiti Mission.  Upon arrival there was only one doctor working at the hospital.  Since then we’ve been following updates on HCJB Global’s Twitter account, website, etc.  It’s been incredible to read of all that is happening at the hospital, how God is using those doctors, and watching God provide in extraordinary ways.  The Samaritan’s Purse chaplains who are working alongside the doctors have seen at least 30 people accept Christ as their Savior.

In addition to our medical team, HCJB Global has a partner ministry who we have helped start radio stations with.  HCJB Global actually had an engineer from the US in Haiti setting up a station when the earthquake struck.  Praise God he is now home and safe.  The stations have been able to broadcast, though at least one is broadcasting from a field outside the building as they are nervous the building itself is going to collapse.  They are just intent on broadcasting the good news of the Gospel in this time of desperation in Haiti.

If you are interested in reading more about the work HCJB Global is doing in Haiti or in donating funds to help, click HCJB Global.  To read Twitter updates, click HCJB Global Twitter.  And to view pictures, click HCJB Global Flickr. Hopefully this will help you know at least a few specific things to be praying for Haiti as well.

BIG NEWS!

becky    General    

We are very pleased to announce that we are expecting again! God has blessed our family with another child we expect to arrive in mid to late June. We are so thankful for this new addition and look forward to meeting him or her (we’ll find out which at the birth).  We really covet your prayers as we prepare for this next stage of life.

We are still moving forward with our plans with HCJB Global. We had hoped and prayed it would be within God’s timing and planning to bless our family with another child before we moved, so our support schedule and outgoing expenses were planned for a family of four.