Encounters with God

It is an amazing thought that we can encounter the living God.  We can communicate with, be empowered by, be loved by, and love the One who created all we see.  I love to read the old testament stories of how God interacted with people like Abraham, Moses and Joshua.  Sometimes we can separate what we see in the Bible from reality and think that God no longer speaks and acts as we find in Scripture.  But that is not the case...

God longs to communicate with his people and show them his presence, power and glory.  God is often communicating to us and sometimes we just miss it.  It is not always in a church service or in times of prayer that God communicates with us.  Sometimes in the small, seemingly unimportant things he shows us his glory.

God desires that we see, experience and share these encounters.  One reason God allows us to experience this is so He will receive more Glory and more people will come to know who He is.

So be looking and expecting to see God at work.  Expect to encounter God! It may not be in the way you think but God is moving and working.  Sometimes it is  in the still small voice as was the case for Elijah in the passage below:

"The Lord said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." I Kings 19:11-12

In this "God Encounter" we see many things happening, the powerful wind, the earthquake, the fire but God was not there.  Instead he was in the whisper.  It is sometimes, many times that God speaks to us in the whispers.  Maybe it is through your kids, or a conversation or something you see that God speaks.  Take the time to listen.  If you are like me you may find yourself asking and talking to God but to just sit and listen in his presence is a difficult discipline.  But many times when we take to the time to do this God speaks and we encounter God and we are changed!

Jennifer's Birthday, 18th Anniversary and other random stuff...

It has been way to long since I have updated this blog.  I thought I would take a minute to update on a few things as well as share some pictures.  First check out this sunrise that I got to experience a few weeks ago.  It was a great reminder for me of the beauty of this country and the goodness and mercy of God in my life!

Luke continues to teach me and challenge me with his life.  This was snapped when he got so excited about something so simple (I don't even remember what it was) I need to approach life with the same excitement and joy as Luke!

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I got to visit this young lady last week.  Her name is Nancy and she graduated from the Art School about 2 years ago.  It was great to see her.  She is still studying and fighting for a better life.  She is becoming a beautiful young lady and I am excited for her future and praying she pursues Jesus with her life!

The pic above is of a house that one of our feeding center kids live in.  We are planning to help improve their living situation in the coming month with a team that will be visiting soon.  Praying through this we will have the opportunity to speak into their lives more!

Jennifer celebrated another year of life last month.  It is never enough for one birthday celebration her in Guatemala ;-) So we celebrated with her by herself and with our staff and with friends. Below is her birthday lunch at Applebees. 

 Luke didn't make it into this photo. ;-)

This lady continues to amaze me and stun me with her beauty! I can't believe we have been married for over 18 years!  I am grateful for our marriage, friendship and love.  God has been so gracious to me and our family!  May we continue to pursue Jesus together and follow his lead!

We found a used basketball hoop! It has been fun to be able to play with the kids.  Some of them are enjoying it although not all of them enjoy sports as I do so I have to find other ways to connect with them.

We continue to pray for water for our well.  I have enjoyed meeting with these 2 men every morning at 6am to call on God!  They have encouraged my faith!

Thanks for your continued prayers and support as we strive to serve Jesus here in Guatemala!