Saturday, January 6, 2024
Happy New Year! Can you believe it’s already 2024?! What happened to 2023? For me, it went way too fast.
Although Christmas has come and gone, it’s not too late to reflect on that special time of year. If you are like our family, a lot of presents were exchanged, but do you know what the very first Christmas present was? It wasn’t the worship and praise of the shepherds. It wasn’t even the gifts of the Maji: Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. No. It was love. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God so loved the world that He gave… His love was so great that He was willing to sacrifice His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I was also love that brought Mary and Joseph together and then kept them together in spite of scandal. Love that was motivated purely out of love. “For God so loved the world (that’s you!) that He gave… Think about that for a moment.
Often, we are asked the question, “What do you do?” So, let me share some gifts God have given us in the last few months:
The gift of opportunity:
We recognize the opportunities that come our way are gifts from the hand of God and look to make the most of them. We were grateful we could help out CEF, Inc® by volunteering during their Spiritual Renewal Week for the third year in a row. Tim was in the kitchen helping out, a job he never turns down, especially if it involves doing the salad bar and dishes. I was in Housekeeping, a job I can enjoy for a week, but find very taxing to my back. I greatly appreciate the ladies who do this job day in and day out. By the way, my very first paid job was being the janitor for my dad’s business. Thank you, papa, for the lessons you taught me through that job.
The opportunity to share the story of the original Saint Nicholas with a church family in Union, Missouri and a Christian School in Cleveland, Ohio were special gifts God gave us this year. Through these encounters, we got to visit three families we knew from Hawaii. The first family was the associate pastor and his wife in Union. A fun tidbit here is that both times we visited that church, there were other friends or acquaintances visiting the couple there. What fun! The second family involved one of the staff members at the Christian School. After sharing in the chapel about the first council of Nicea in 325 A.D. (where Nicholas partook as a delegate and in the writing of the Nicean Creed) a teacher asked one of the 1st graders what he thought about the council of Nicea – His big grin enhanced the expression of “cool!” as he ran off. They had been studying this event the week prior and he was excited to hear it come up outside of class. We were able to spend time visiting these dear friends and ministry partners who had invited us up to share at the school. A time full of laughter, old memories and making new ones alike. As “icing on a cake”, we had just enough time to go a bit farther north to visit very dear ministry partners in New Jersey we had not seen in over 10 years. We arrived late Wednesday evening so, spent almost the entire day on Thursday at the kitchen table talking “story” as the Hawaiians say. The time together was much too brief, leaving us wishing we could stay much longer. Unfortunately, we needed to get back to Tennessee.
We were pleased to be gifted the opportunity to participate in a Christmas play this year which took place on two nights. At first, our part was only to sing a duet, but were soon drafted to run the sound board and lighting. Despite a few “hiccups” the first night, our task went well and the second night went smoothly as we ran back and forth between the sound booth and the stage.
We have been grateful for the opportunity for Tim to preach and teach while here in Tennessee, filling in for the new pastor, teaching Sunday School and helping out as music minister when needed. Last week Tim and Henry (one of the Sunday School teachers and avid student of the book of Genesis) started a three-week combined Adult Sunday School Class series on Genesis 6-8. They are team teaching this class, giving folks a chance to ask questions that they have been struggling with regarding this portion of scripture.
Even when we are not in North Central, WA helping out where needed, Tim is still very much involved with many things going on there. Participating remotely in the committee meetings when available brings him much joy along with helping out with projects, also remotely done, and being called upon for computer advice. What a gift these precious people are to us.
The gift of Celebration:
Unexpected was the 80th celebration in November for US sent missionaries. Being a US sent missionary first to Austria and then to Canada, I was among the attendees. Tim, though he hadn’t served overseas, was also allowed to come. This was a real gift. I saw many friends from the past. If you want to know more about that celebration, you can read my blog titled “Unexpected”.
The gift of my new book:
My third book, Pursuing God’s Delicious Unknown, is a compilation of short stories about our journey serving our Lord Jesus Christ. What a precious gift to serve Him. He has taken us places we would never have dreamed. The message of Salvation is throughout the book, plus one chapter is dedicated just to that, titled: A Gift For You. We have given the book to nonbelievers in hopes that not only will seeds be planted, but many will come to Christ.
The gift of being a part of the CMI ministry:
We have been delighted with the opportunity to be a part of the Children’s Ministries Institute® (CMI) at the CEF Headquarters in Warrenton, Missouri for the past 2 years, we were there 4 weeks the first 2 semesters, then this last time they asked us to stay an additional week. The gift, we never would have actually considered possible was when they asked us to come for the full 12 weeks this next semester. Tim teases me that it is because they love the projects and office work I am able to complete for them in the background. Work I enjoy doing very much! Along with increasing his teaching schedule, we are delighted over the opportunity this gives us to invest in the lives of the students and staff. Furthermore, we will be helping out in a GNC again!! We have greatly missed not teaching a club since we have gone mobile. Since we live on campus during this time we are able to spend lots of time with the students after hours and invite folks over to our “home” as we are parked only 100 yards away.
Helping our parents is the greatest gift from the Lord. He has made it possible for us to be in Washington during the summer months, Missouri during the fall and spring months and Tennessee in the winter. Furthermore, we are so grateful to travel to ministry opportunities around the country while taking our “home” with us … maybe this is why we are so fond of turtles?
Blessings, Mari
