UK -- Training/University

No year is a wasted year in God's kingdom.
We are shepherds -- we need to keep doing our job, using our gifts and honing our skills.
We are soldiers in an army we need to be alert, keeping our weapons ready.
We are athletes in a race we need to be eating right, training and keeping ourselves fit.
We are students under God's direction we need to keep learning, studying and seeking out the truth.
Although we may feel 'in limbo' and it is much easier to lie down, watch tv & hope time passes quickly, we need to keep on with our lives seeing it from a Heavenly perspective -- where time is to be used not spent!

A meaning-full life

My goal in life is...
To live righteously, honestly & Godly in this present world.
Living righteously means that the guidelines and boundaries for my actions come from the morals I know to be true.
Living honestly means that my life lines up. I have integrity and my beliefs are acted upon, not just sitting on the shelf of head knowledge.
Living Godly means that my focus is on God's will & His kingdom.
Living in this present world, means that I am acting & responding to today's culture rather than running from it.
The only thing that I am passionate about in life is God's work. I belive that only 1 life so soon will pass, only what is done for Christ will last.
The only thing that brings any meaning to my life is teaching, & caring for others. Being hospitable and sharing our lives with those around us.
Through the absence of these things...it has been made obvious to us that our calling and gifting is that of pastoring. We realise now with much greater clarity that we are shepherds, and our life doesnt make sense unless we are looking after sheep. That is what is missing...that is the piece of the puzzle that gives our life sense & meaning!
Wow, this is so liberating...we are shepherds...that is our job...when we do this we will have hardship, heartache & hardwork, but it is were we will find true fulfillment...it is what we we made to do.

I'll take the hard road!

Here's a bit about what God is teaching me at the moment...

We really enjoyed our time in Ukraine, and it wasn't until right near the end that I really started to fit in and make some really great friends.  It is amazing there 'first love' for God, and people 10 years younger are teaching me so much.  It is been interesting the journey God is taking me on and cleansing me of my bitterness and frustrations from the last few years. 

As you can imagine leaving the Ukraine was very painful and continues to be, but we are praying about going back next July for maybe a longer term of 1-5 years. 

On our way back to London we spent time firsthand remembering the Holocaust with Auschwitz and also visiting Schindler's Factory & Corrie Ten Boom's house.  I found out how much freedom & other things I take for granted. We also watched the movie "The Hiding Place" and I was very moved by their ability to rejoice always!  They believed enough to live it not just say it. Amazing ladies!  A poem that Corrie quoted really struck me, it was "Everything looks like a confused piece of embroidery work, meaningless and ugly. But that is the underside. Some day we shall see the right side and shall be amazed and thankful." She also said that we should be trusting God anyway, and that often the hardest part of our lives turns out to be the jewel on the front of the picture.  Been thinking a lot about how we try to take the easy road as much as possible, and now I have stumbled across a book by Tommy Tenney called "Trust & Tragedy" and it is amazing how this lines up with what God is teaching me at the moment.  This year in London is going to be hard for us but I'm also excited by what God can teach me. I can see that we often avoid the hard road for the easy one, but in doing so we miss the jewels that are found on the road less traveled.

Another thing God has restored to me since being in Ukraine is a love & care for people.  I was reminded today of one of my Bible College vision statements which was was to be a loving mother or something like that.  I feel as though God has given me a massive loving heart to reach out my arms and gather as many people into them and just love them.  Although it is hard here, it is great to feel the winter in my heart thawing out and & some growth happening again.