Vacation

We just returned from a week-long vacation in Warm Springs/Pine Mountain, Georgia. I will be writing more about our vacation in the days to come. However, I wanted to let everybody know that we had a restful vacation in the mountains and had the opportunity to visit some places and people that have been very important in our lives.
It
The photo here was taken from one of FDR's favorite picnic spots, Dowdel's Knob.

More on our vacation later this week.

Blessings,
Marc

The Up Side of Garage Sales

Ok, I admit it. I was feeling pretty grumpy last night when I wrote my last entry. However, as is usually the case, God provided an opportunity for us to see the good in what we are having to do.

After supper last night we got a visit from Billy and Ada Wisanen, dear sweet friends of ours from church, who wanted to look through some of the furniture that we had for sale. One of the things that we have been forced to sell is a table that belonged to my Nana and that I have had in my house since college. I didn't really want to let this table go, and had hoped that it could saty in my family, but that was not possible. However, God sent Billy and Ada at just the right time. They were looking for a table and I was able to send Nana's table, along with some books that I bought as a present for Kellye, home with them. It was nice for us to find a home for these items. However, my attitude toward garage sales changed when Billy told me, "every time I sit in the room and look at these things I will think about and pray for you guys."

Wow! What a blessing it is to be able to share the treasured things of your life with other people and know that these items will not just bring pleasure to others, but they will be a reminder to others of our lives and our work. To be honest, most days we do not consider missionary service to be a sacrifice. We have "counted the cost" and God has placed in us a burning desire to serve Him overseas. And, part of that is whittling our life down to 14 suitcases. How nice it is to be able to share our lives with the people here and know that as we go and serve that we will be remembered and prayed for.

The ironic note: we are finally getting the rain we need (it has been raining for 12 hours now) and our sale for today has been washed out.

Blessings,
Marc

Garage Sale Purgatory

Is there anything worse than watching strangers paw through your things and offering you a quarter for something you saved for months in order to buy? Welcome to Garage Sale Purgatory!!!!!

Blech!

After what feels like years in preperation, the house is on the market. Rotten wood has been replaced. Walls have been painted. New carpet has been laid and now our worldly posessions are being sold for a fraction of their monitary and sentimental value. Ain't the life of a missionary grand?

But seriously. In a few months I will be writing about the cold days, eating borsht, and walking two miles in the snow (uphill both ways) to get to the metro station. Ain't the life of a missionary grand?

No, but really now. We are getting excited about all that God has planned for us. And, we know that He has a special someone picked out to buy the house...someone who will love it like we have and we hope it will be a blessing to them.

Tuesday was a fun day, we drove to Orlando to spend the day at Wet 'n Wild with the kiddos. After a day of fun in the sun we drove over to the Disney resorts to spend the evening with Robert and Elaine Rierson and their two boys. They are IMB Missionaries who will serve in Hungary and go throug their orientation with us in August. And, even though they root for the totally wrong team, they are from the great state of Oklahoma, so we like them even better. (Boomer Sooner!)

June is going to be another busy month for us. In addition to selling the house and the huge list of IMB things we need to get taken care of, we are taking an eight day vacation to Warm Springs and Pine Mountain, GA. That is a very special place for us because in addition to being a place where we can physically relax, it is a place of spiritual renewal as well. We hope to visit the church in Warm Springs where I served as the Youth Minister for a year early in our marriage and to see some of the dear people who supported us during that time.

Well, the list of things that I have to do today is not getting any shorter the longer I sit here and write, so I will be off.

Blessings to all,
Marc

Day of Prayer and Fasting

Every year the IMB selects a day of prayer and fasting where Southern Baptists from around the world are encouraged to pray for a particular people group. Today is that day. Please join our family, our missionary brothers and sisters, and Southern Baptists worldwide as we pray for the Udmurt people of Russia.

You can find out more about the Udmurt people and how to pray for them at www.hope4udmurt.org

This week I have felt like Lot's wife...

"Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." Luke 17:32-33

Wow! What a warning. I have felt a lot like Lot's wife this week. I must admit that I have spent most of my week looking back instead of looking forward.

This week Kellye finished 17 years of a successful teaching career. John-John and Hannah both had their last day of school in Clay County. And I spent the week working professionally with the first television production student I taught in Clay County-- a relationship of 10 years. Looking back was easy. It was fun. A lot of times it made me smile. But looking back was hard because it diverted my attention from what my real focus should be...looking forward.

As I looked back this week I had many thoughts. But some of those worst thoughts were of how hard it is to let go of a life that has been comfortable. Not always easy, mind you. But comfortable. This week my professional career continued to exceed some of my wildest expectations. For the first time since I started Lighthouse Video, I am getting the kinds of jobs in corporate video that I have always wanted. I am getting to travel the country, see different cities, work with fun and interesting people, stretch myself creatively, and I have had a blast doing it. But while doing it, my focus has been more on what I am leaving behind than what God has for me in the future.

I think many times I (and I think I can say 'we') sell Satan short. It is easy to blame him when the rocky parts of our lives come along. The quick answer is always to say that Satan caused hardship to happen, or that bad things happen to good people because Satan is involved. However, we have to be careful not to limit his arsenal. Eve didn't take the forbidden fruit because it looked like something that was going to be bad for her. She was tempted in the first place because the serpent made it appear that the fruit was something that was going to make her life better. Lot's wife was no different. She looked back because she longed for the people, places and things that she was leaving behind. She didn't want to leave the life that she knew. Life there was easy, comfortable and fun. What was in front of her was filled with the unknown. Where will they live? What will they eat? Will they speak the language? Gosh. All those feelings sound all too familiar.

Looking back can be good sometimes. It is good to remember where we have come from so we can appreciate what God has done for us. However, it is important that we be reminded of the lessons that God has provided us through Lot's wife. We must keep our eyes looking forward. We must concentrate on the good that lies before us rather than the people, places and things that we are leaving.

Here's the thing. If I spend the next 71 days concentrating solely on what is behind me then I too will be stopped dead in my tracks, never moving forward or back and never finding out what great and wonderful things that God has planned for me. (That was more of a reminder for myself than it was for anyone else reading this.)

I know that Jesus said that we should be "salt and light", but I seriously doubt that is what he had in mind. :-)

Please pray for our family in the weeks and months ahead that we be able to concentrate on the road that God has before us rather than the life that we are leaving behind. Also, please pray for our other friends who are experiencing similar feelings as they prepare their families for the mission field as well. You will see these names many times in blogs to come, but pray specifically for:
~ Robert & Elaine
~ Matt & Tara
~ Bryan & Gina
~ Ryan & Emily
~ Stephen

Many blessings,
Marc