on the road again....

Hard to believe summer is over and September is here. August was a good and fruitful month...completed my WMF staff application, completed my spiritual direction work for The Journey, finished reading a few books (Submerge, Irresistible Revolution, Announcing the Reign of God), started a process of Ignition Spiritual Exercises, finished clearing out my uncle's storage unit, made some money on ebay, and shared some good times with family and friends throughout the month.

Tomorrow (September 1) I leave for a week in Romania. Looking forward to the time with the WMF community there. Lots to learn and glean from them in how they share life together! From Romania it is straight to Toronto to visit my sister, bro-in-law, nieces, and nephew! I'll return back home on September 24 to start the next phase of life at home, as I prepare for Argentina by February 1.

I'll try and blog from Romania when I can. Otherwise, watch for the highlight reel from Toronto.

I'll close with The Message paraphrase of familiar Psalm 23. These couple verses have encouraged me recently, as I consider God's extravagant goodness....

“True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction…Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life" ~Psalm 23:3, 6

evangelist of hope...

I just finished the book Announcing the Reign of God by Mortimer Arias. The book was a refreshing look at evangelism and what it means to proclaim the kingdom of God. I have been reflecting a lot on hope these past couple of years. In places of suffering and poverty hope in Jesus and the kingdom of God is the good news we can proclaim! While the book was full of some great stuff that challenged my thinking and paradigms, the stuff on HOPE especially stood out. Here's just a taste....

“Indeed, Jesus lived by hope and died by hope. He taught hope, and he proclaimed hope. He celebrated hope, and he called his followers to become people of hope.”

"How, then, can we announce the kingdom of God as hope? By hoping. By living and sharing hope. By working with hope. By dying with hope! To be an evangelist is to be a sign of hope, a servant of hope, a minister of hope.”

This is my hope and prayer!

praise awaits you...

Just in case anyone is still out there checking out my blog after a summer of being MIA, here is finally something new!

I was resting in Psalm 8 this morning. The praise starts out, "Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" I paused and meditated for awhile on verse 3...."When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers." I recognized that too often I neglect to "consider" God's majestic creation and His fingers at work all around me. Worship involves taking pause to consider and be attentive to who God is and His extravagant goodness all around us! I need to do more of that!

I then pulled out my ipod and listened to a new favorite song, "Praise Awaits You" by Enter the Worship Circle on the "Second Circle" CD....the lyrics are a great response to Psalm 8!

PRAISE AWAITS YOU (Ben Kennedy & Ben Pasley)

YOU HAVE CARVED ME FROM THE GROUND I WALK UPON
AND THE QUESTION FILLS A THOUSAND ACHING SONGS
BUT I KNOW NOW THAT YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE
WHO WILL ANSWER

PRAISE AWAITS YOU
LOVE AWAITS YOU
I AWAIT YOU...HERE

YOU HAVE BREATHED THE WIND THAT FILLS AND MOVES THE TREES
YOU HAVE POURED THE WATER OUT INTO THE STREAMS
YOUR HAVE FORMED THE MIGHTY MOUNTAINS BY YOUR STRENGTH
AND THEY ALL SAY

YOU HAVE STILLED THE ROARING ANGER OF THE SEAS
AND YOU WILL TURN THE NATIONS TURMOIL INTO PEACE
AND YOU WELCOME EVERY BROKEN ONE WHO PRAYS
AND YOU LOVE THEM

earthquake in peru

Please pray for the Word Made Flesh community in Lima, Peru. They are all okay. But, they ask for prayer for all those impacted by the earthquake. Many of their friends live in more impacted areas where structures and homes are not as stable. Monica in Lima has a blog and posted an update here.... www.mghali.blogspot.com.