Post for Jacob

This post is for my brother, Jacob, who faithfully checks our blog...or so he says...and then gives me grief about not blogging as much as we should!  :)

Just in case you check today Jakie...this one is for you!  Have a wonderful day!  I miss you a ton!  Study hard!

Oh, and this is a picture of a pineapple in our garden.  I'm pretty proud of it because my pictures usually NEVER turn out very well, but I like this one.

and the VICTORY goes to....

...the TORTILLA!

I've always been taught to be a good sport.  I would never want to be called a sore-loser.  This is why I must admit my defeat to my worthy adversary...the tortilla.
After many battles, private lessons, many calls to the Judy-Bennett-Tortilla Hotline, and several different recipe attempts, it is clear that the tortilla came out on top!  Yes, it hurts to admit defeat to this "holder of taco-y goodness,"  but I must admit my weaknesses, wave the white flag, and move on with my life.

Well done, tortilla!  You put up a great fight!  Perhaps, someday I'll request a re-match...but today is not that day!  

Set Me Free!

About a year ago, Jordan and I had the honor of being invited to a bush church that was the home church of one of friend of ours who works in maintenance.  Jordan was asked to preach and decided to go with a sermon about Zacchaeus.  I feel ashamed now, but at the time I thought that it was a silly childish sermon topic...more like a story you would tell in Sunday School, not as a sermon.  The theme of the message was about how Zacchaeus was a tax collector, a sinner, and generally viewed as a very bad person by most people, and yet Jesus was willing to go to his house and offer him salvation.  At the end of the story, Luke 19: 10 says "For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost." 

After the message, the pastor offered a time for people to come to the front and share.  Several people stood up and talked about how they felt God convicting them to go out and share with those people they may have avoided before, the "Zacchaeuses" of their village.  

THEN a much older lady stood up and walked to the front.  She spoke in her tribal language so the lady next to me had to translate...and immediately what she was saying caught my attention.  Apparently, this lady had been involved in "witchcraft" in her village for many many years.  Her specialty was performing abortions for girls in the village.  

In the last few years, she realized how wrong the things she had been involved in really were.  She had spent so many years in bondage and darkness and now all she wanted was to be set free!!  When we got there that Sunday, she had been going to church for a few months, searching for the answer.  She heard about Jesus, how much He loved her, and the forgiveness that He offered her BUT she also assumed that the things she had done and the places she had been were just too horrible.  Jesus could never love someone as wretched as her...UNTIL the day the Lord gave Jordan His message about Zacchaeus to share with this little bush church.  Somehow, while Jordan was sharing about Jesus coming to SEEK and SAVE the LOST, God wrapped His arms around this lady and convinced her that His SON had come to die for HER sins!  That He alone was enough to set her free!  On that day, she gave her life to the Lord!

and THAT is why we're here!  Because of God's amazing saving grace!  

"Do you want to be free?

Lift your chains,

I hold the key!

All power in Heaven and Earth belong to Me!"

-Casting Crowns

Recently, we went back to this church and were blessed to see this lady again and to witness the joy that shines from her now! 

Worship at Warakar Church

We recently had the privilege of taking some volunteers to a local church about 30 mins away.  It was the home church of a young lady, Flora (pictured at the bottom with Rachel), that we both work with in maintenance.
We had a great time worshiping with this congregation.  One of my favorite parts was sitting behind a whole row of little boys who were clapping and worshiping their little hearts out.

This particular Sunday was "Missions Sunday," so we had a special message about some missionaries in a  "creative access country."  The pastor's wife had a wonderful presentation that included maps, pictures, and prayer points all pinned to an old table cloth that was hung from a wire.  Honestly, it made me feel ashamed of all the times this summer we got in such a panic if our power point wasn't working or the sound system had a few glitches.  Apparently, God can use an old table cloth and some crumpled papers to get His message across just as effectively.

Movie Night at the Thompsons!

We recently had a movie night...hosted by Stephen and Amy Hollenberg...at our house!  It was a great time of food and fellowship!  We watched Soul Surfer and ate homemade pizza!