Jacque's Journey

2012-01-16T16:45:00.000-08:00

As I am becoming familiar with the terrain in the book of Mark, I become fascinated with various features of the landscape. I’m seeing things I hadn’t recognized, or hadn’t taken time to connect before, because this time I am going back and forth over the same ground repeatedly, looking carefully…and finding gems.

One of the thoughts I’ve had is that the disciples were not “connecting the dots”, so to speak, when it came to who Jesus is. I, of course, have the benefit of looking back to the events written, knowing much more than the twelve disciples knew when these events were taking place. At the beginning of the book of Mark, I already know how it ends.

But the significant issue is that, like the disciples, who grew up hearing and perhaps reading for themselves, the scriptures (and that would be, for them, what we call the Old Testament), I too can be faulted for not “connecting the dots” when it comes to understanding or interpreting, making sense of, the Bible I have, even though I grew up hearing the Word taught. And worse, having understood some things, not living according to what I know is true.

We all take in what we are taught but don’t always “do our own homework”. The Pharisees and other religious of their day had their ideas and traditions about what the scriptures taught. They closed-mindedly held to these in the face of Jesus’ teachings and works, rejecting him and teaching others the same. We can learn what not to do from looking at the Pharisees.

The Bereans (Acts 17:10-12), on the other hand, heard Paul preach the good news about Jesus and then, not just taking his word for it, searched the scriptures to see what was written and made up their own minds, based on what the Word of God said. They came to the conclusion Paul was correct and embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can learn a lot from their example, too. We need to be like the Bereans, taking in new information and going to the scriptures with openness to what the Word really says. Not openness to any and every idea of men, rather, testing everything against the Word of God.

In Mark chapter 4 verses 35-41 and chapter 6 verses 7, and 30-52 we have some accounts of events after which Jesus expressed disappointment with the disciples for their lack of faith. This is always interesting to me. I want to learn what is really going on with the disciples, and try to understand Jesus’ thinking in these situations. Not for intellectual reasons, but so I can benefit from others’ experiences, so I can avoid the same errors for which Jesus had expressed disappointment and sad amazement.

At this point in Mark’s narrative the twelve disciples had heard Jesus preach and teach about the Kingdom of God; had decided to follow him; and had witnessed Jesus heal all manner of sickness, disease, deformities and injuries. They had been chosen by Jesus to join him in his itinerant ministry, and had seen the crowds growing day by day. They had also begun to experience the disfavor and hatred of the Pharisees for Jesus and his followers (Mark 1-4:34).

The first incident, in Mark 4, after the explanation of the parable of the seed and soils, and other parables of the Kingdom, Jesus says to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side (of the Sea of Galilee)” (4:35). So off they go in the boat.

This is the account of Jesus falling asleep in the stern of the boat and “there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up” (4:37). Apparently this storm came up so fast and was so violent that the twelve, 1/3 of whom had spent most of their lives on this very sea, were completely panicked, being convinced the boat was going to sink and they were going to drown. They were scared spitless!

Their reproachful cry to Jesus had nothing of the “save us” plea in it, no hint of asking Jesus to do anything about the situation, or that he even could do anything. “Teacher, don’t you care that we are dying?” (4:38). They thought everyone in the boat, including Jesus, was going to die within minutes.

But Jesus got up, spoke the “hush” word to the wind and everything became “perfectly calm”.

Did the disciples, having just been saved from sure death, shout and praise God? No. Now they were even more afraid; “very much” afraid! Of what or whom were they “very much” afraid? Of Jesus! “Who is this?” they said among themselves. Even the wind and waves obey him. Wind and waves do not obey men, even gifted Teachers of God’s word, even Healers. So who in the world is this guy we are following around?

Jesus’ response to their abject fear of death by drowning was “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” We’ll come back to this statement.

Skipping over to Mark 6 verse 7 Jesus commissions the twelve disciples to go out by two’s, giving them authority to cast out demons and preach the Kingdom of God. Just prior to this the they all had witnessed Jesus cast out a “legion”, which being interpreted is, a whole bunch, of demons from a man; healed a woman of a long-standing illness; and raised a girl from the dead. Peter, James and John, called into the death chamber, were eye-witnesses of this astounding event.

So then, after having fanned out by two’s across the countryside fulfilling their assignment, in Mark 6:30ff, Mark records they all come back and tell Jesus what they have been doing…things just like he’d been doing. Amazing stuff! They’d been walking all over Israel, village to village, duplicating the works of Jesus, preaching repentance and the Kingdom of God, healing the sick and casting out demons.

They are exhilarated…and exhausted. Jesus says they all need a rest so off they go to a secluded place, but of course, the people these things have been happening to see them and beat them to the desert resort. Jesus compassionately teaches and heals and then, when the disciples, who recognized the need of hungry people, deny they can meet the need of feeding these 5000 plus when Jesus tells them to do it, Jesus takes it upon himself to feed, with a small lunch, all 5000 men, and the women and children. He then sends them all away so he can go pray. The disciples he sent on ahead in the boat.

You know what’s coming. In the middle of the night Jesus walked on the water to cross the sea and was about to pass by the struggling men in the boat (the wind was against them) but when they see him and are petrified with fear because they think he is a ghost, he speaks reassuringly to them and climbs into the boat and calms the sea. This was nice of Jesus because these exhausted guys had been having a number of adrenalin pumping experiences lately.

(I really don’t get what Jesus was doing intending to pass them by when they were struggling. But then again, I have often struggled with “life as it is” and Jesus let me struggle. But if and when I call out for help, Jesus always helps. There’s something here….Thoughts for another time.)

Anyway, when Jesus spoke and the wind stopped, once again, they were “utterly astonished”. Why? “They had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves (feeding of the 5000) because their heart was hardened” (6:51, 52). They were not “connecting the dots” about Jesus.

They had been witnessing the miraculous and even been participants in producing miraculous events in their ministries, but they hadn’t really seen what was, even though it was right I front of them. Apparently their concept of Jesus was that he was a man, like them, with powers from God…but they didn’t see Jesus as being God.

They were right if they thought men couldn’t command the seas and winds. They were right if they figured the miracles they witnessed and took part in themselves were evidence of God’s power being given to men. That makes perfect sense. Even their concept of the promised Messiah, the Deliverer spoken of so much in scripture, could fit within this framework.

But something else was going on here and it was stretching them outside that framework they had always been taught and in which they had felt comfortable and safe. They were being blasted with truth through the events of Jesus calming a deadly storm, feeding 5000+ people, walking on water and again calming the wind and waves with a simple word of command; and they were hard-pressed to “connect the dots” to make up the picture so they could recognize who Jesus is.

If I have “connected the dots” of Jesus’ identity and say with my mouth I believe Jesus Christ is Who He claims to be, God the Son, King over all kings and nations of men; I must act out of that belief, mustn’t I? Yes, because faith without acts is dead. Faith in God is evidenced by our actions (James 3:14-26).

When we act based on faith in Jesus, rather than fear and unbelief, then we will hear Jesus say to us, “good job!”, rather than “don’t you have faith yet? Why are you afraid?” I’m sure I prefer to make Jesus smile (and even chuckle at my childish attempts to please him) than hear disappointment and astonishment in his voice because I still…don’t… get it.

And, oh my heart, every time Jesus says, “Take courage; it is I, don’t be afraid”, with the commentary that they hadn’t gained insight because their hearts were hardened, and “Why are you afraid? Don’t you have faith yet?”; I cringe, for how often Jesus has said these very words to me? I who have read the “end” of the book and know so much more than the twelve did at the time they were going through these stretching events. I have less “excuse”, if you will, for not “connecting the dots” of who Jesus is (God in the flesh who commands nature as well as mankind) and not responding to his words with “utter faith” in Jesus rather than “utter astonishment” at what he does.

I do not want to have a “hardened heart”, blind to what is right in front of me! When I, who have witnessed, both in scripture and history and my own life, the mighty acts of God, see an obvious need in front of me and come to Jesus to do something about it, and he says to me, “you feed them”, whoa! I want to say, “Ok,” trusting absolutely that I will be able to accomplish what he tells me to do. And then figure out a way to do it. It may not, no, most likely will not be easy; it will take effort. But I am convinced that Jesus will honor even seemingly foolish attempts at stepping out in faith in him to do what he says! (In fact, I can even attest to some foolish attempts to obey the Lord and he has graciously worked through me/us!)

He will feed the thousands through my hands, if I act in faith at his command. He will calm the storm at my word calling on King Jesus who rules waves and wind, as well as the hearts of men. He will keep me in perfect peace in the midst of unbelievable chaos, when my faith in him is absolute. Fear comes, but Jesus takes it gladly from us when we give it over, and he gives his peace in its place (Phil. 4: 6,7).

It all comes down to daily, simple obedience to God by making Jesus, and God’s Word the priority in our everyday, mundane lives. God is always calling to us; as we draw near him we will hear his voice. Then we have the opportunity to choose to do what is impossible for us, at his command. And not fail. Because we trust not in our puny abilities, but in the Infinite and All powerful God.

I am convinced Jesus, who spoke to the disciples, is speaking today to us to do those works he did, and even greater works. We know the disciples did these greater works after Jesus ascended to the Father. They finally got it, after Jesus gave them his spirit. And we know he gave the spirit not just to the disciples, but to all of us who believe as well. To be our companion and comforter, to be sure, but not just to make us feel safe and good. Rather, to accomplish his works in the world. Our world. In our lifetime.

2012-01-03T13:00:00.000-08:00

I was encouraged and challenged the first day of this new year as I was reminded to be and do my very best for Jesus Christ; to be totally surrendered and obedient to Him, to put self and my desires, even the consideration of others, aside and make my consideration Jesus and His desires, His purposes. To live a life worthy of the One who gave His life for me.

Immediately I recalled Hebrews 12: 1-3 in which God’s people are called to cast aside every sin and whatever holds us back or trips us up, being aware of the presence around us of those who have preceded us who have walked by faith (Hebrews 11), and above all fix our eyes on Jesus.

I like the term “fix” our eyes on Jesus. It is a strong word and to me feels like an anchor which hooks onto something which cannot be moved and therefore holds fast even in forceful waves; fixing, riveting, our eyes on Jesus, never taking our eyes from him as we go through each day. And then the capstone of these verses, “consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (12:3).

Oh my goodness. When we get a glimpse of what the people being addressed in the book of Hebrews were going through, we realize what we face is so small in comparison! They were being persecuted, harassed, oppressed; their possessions were confiscated, they stood up for friends and family whose goods and properties were also taken away…as well as their lives. They stood in mortal danger of having their families ripped apart and being killed themselves.

I know these things are happening today in many places in the world and we must try hard to identify with and pray for our brothers and sisters who are suffering various kinds of persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ. But I cannot say I have suffered such things. I have faced other sufferings but not abject fear for my life or that of my family, or even fear of my property being taken away, have you?

I am reminded of a verse God made real to me when Randy and I left everything to follow God’s call to start a ministry to the poor in West Virginia, which we named Mustard Seeds and Mountains. It was a struggle in many ways and on many levels. As I cried out to God for help and strength, in my Bible reading I came across this: “If you are slack (or faint) in the day of distress, your strength is limited (small)” Proverbs 24:10. What an indictment against my weak-kneed faith! It shouted “Buck up and be a man!” Be strong in the difficult times. God has not changed!

This verse is similar to one which has challenged us since Bible college days: “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace, how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?” Jeremiah 12:5. In other words, if you fail the easy test, when life is not hard, how in the world will you survive when real dangers come?

Whew. We live in the “land of peace”, friends. We have yet to face tribulations. We have much to learn from our family members in Christ in other countries who are facing life and death every day for their faith in Jesus Christ. Will you or I do as well as they in the difficulties of life?

I want to live in Hebrews 12: 1-3, in the company of those who faithfully walked in the fear of the Lord, casting away from myself all that hinders that faithful walk in my life, and fix, rivet my eyes on Jesus, never forgetting what He endured, so that I will not grow weary and give up the fight!

So when I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year…this is what I have in mind for you too! May we all walk worthy of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ.

Jacque

2011-12-27T14:10:00.000-08:00

Thoughts on the Book of Mark

A few months ago I decided to read through the book of Mark and try hard to see with clear vision what was really going on, not read with the dullness of familiarity. Since childhood I’ve heard and read the accounts of Jesus’ life and activities and it is easy to become bored when just skimming over the surface of familiar words.

When I was a child we visited the Silver Springs in Florida, where we rode in one of the famed “glass-bottomed boats”. Through that boat-bottom “window” we could see everything under us in the water; a whole new world of life below us not visible except through this glass pressed into the water’s surface.

This is what I wanted to do, figuratively speaking, as I read the book of Mark. There are words quoted in the gospels which Jesus actually spoke. When you think of it, it is amazing. And I know we should pay close attention to the words Jesus spoke and the things He did. There is much to learn from them.

So as I read I am thinking, listening, looking hard. I do not want to miss what is there because I am skimming the surface. I want to gaze down deeply into the depths of what is really going on, what is really being said. I want to take my time and hear what Jesus is saying to me, his follower.

There are a lot of things I still do not understand in scripture but I stop and go over and over again, as days go by, certain verses and passages, so I can get a better feel for what is at least some of the truth of the passage. This is not a verse by verse commentary, but rather a “rock hound” or “collector’s” commentary on verses that strike me at the moment. It is like when I walk on the beach and I have my eyes downward to discover shells or stones which I fancy and pick up, turning them over to see all sides. I then pocket them and move on, scanning the sand for more treasures. I will attempt to unload my pockets of their scripture treasures in these pages.

Mark 1:40-45

Not every treasure will I unload here, but one of the first I want to look at is this one about the leper who came begging on his knees to Jesus to heal him. We all know lepers were the out casts of society. They were not allowed near others, they had to shout “unclean” when approached by people so they would know not to come near them. I get the impression this leper caught Jesus when there were not the huge crowds around him and was able to get close enough to fall on his knees before him. His pathetic words were “If you are willing, you can make me clean”, which says to me that though the man believed the reports of Jesus’ ability to heal, he wasn’t sure that he himself was considered worthy in Jesus’ eyes to be healed. “If you are willing….” Jesus made it abundantly clear he was willing (Mark records the inner feelings of Jesus that he was “moved with compassion”) and did the unthinkable, he touched the leper and said, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

Wow. There is no one, no matter how cast off by society, whom Jesus does not care for, even to the point of “touching” the untouchable and cleansing him.

But this was not what caught my attention reading this passage. It was what follows. Jesus told the cleansed leper to go present himself to the priests to verify his cleansing and offer the sacrifices ordered in the book of Moses. This would be his legal proof to be allowed back into society and carry on a normal life. And Jesus had sternly warned him not to tell anyone else about Jesus healing him. Simple enough. Of course the man would be ecstatic about the whole event and would want to shout from the roof tops that Jesus had healed him. But Jesus clearly and “sternly” gave him directions to do otherwise.

Apparently the man thought he knew better than Jesus. Or maybe he just had a habit of ignoring wise counsel, not considering consequences of his actions. The consequence of his blabbing to one and all that Jesus had cleansed him, was that Jesus couldn’t even go back to the city. He had to camp out under the stars for a few days, away from populated areas, because of the crowds which clamored for his attention.

Jesus had gone into city and village after village preaching and healing. This was what he came for, he said (v.38) and now he was hindered from doing it because one recipient of his mercy and grace disobeyed his clear commands. This former leper kept others from hearing Jesus preaching about the kingdom of God and experiencing for themselves his healing touch, either for themselves or a loved one.

And it made Jesus’ task more difficult. Instead of a bed under a roof, and a welcoming host, he was forced to camp out doors away from the comforts and conveniences of the city or village.

I wonder if we have unwittingly done this kind of thing to Jesus because of our insistence on doing things “our” way. Sometimes Jesus, by his Spirit, directs our hearts a certain way but we either do not hear or do not want to hear and go in that particular direction. Sometimes others, perhaps well meaning, prod us to go in a direction which is contrary to that of God’s leading and instead of taking the stand we should, though unpopular and perhaps we cannot even explain it other than that we sense God is leading us that way, we cave to the voices of man rather than God.

What negative consequences have I caused because of plain and simple disobedience to God? Not sinful activity as we think of it. But disobedience to the Spirit of God is still missing the high mark of God and causes grief to our Lord. And hinders his work among us.

This is what I thought of as I contemplated this section of scripture. All scripture is given us to learn from. I want to learn from this record of a man who had a tremendous blessing of healing given him as well as strict warnings and instructions from Jesus. Though Jesus' instructions, or at least part of them, seemed contrary to common sense (don’t tell anyone but the priests about your healing), Jesus knew better and suffered the negative effect of the man’s disobedience.

I pray for humility and discernment to hear Jesus’ word to me in every situation so that I can obey and not cause him to suffer because of my disobedience, even if I cannot explain my actions to others.

May we all hear and obey in this brand new year rushing toward us, to the glory of God!

2011-12-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

These have been busy weeks. Randy and I had made the decision to spend Thanksgiving with our family, traveling to Georgia from West Virginia, and we are glad we did. Thanksgiving found us in the Atlanta area with several members of my family including my mother, who was with us for the day on an outing from the Alzheimer’s home she has lived in for about a year and a half. It was a gorgeous day and we took advantage of being outdoors on the deck. Mom loved it too. It was so good to have her with us enjoying her family.

Thursday, December 1, we were able to assist in moving my mom from her place in Atlanta to a new nursing home in TN, where she will be close to my sister. She is settling in and though change is difficult for someone with Alzheimer’s, and she has her moments of anxiety, we see the grace of God at work in her as she is adjusting. She has been cheerful and responsive to the kindness of the caregivers and is even witnessing and speaking words of encouragement in the Lord to the other residents. Through all her frustration with the effects of the Alzheimer’s dementia, she will still tell you, “God is good”. What a joy and example to us!

Saturday, December 3, we were at a meeting of the Board of Directors of Mustard Seeds and Mountains. Mustard Seeds is not run by Randy and Jacque, but rather a dedicated board of directors gives godly, insightful leadership to the ministry. At this special meeting we saw the hand of the Lord directing each board member as we dealt with some very important issues. We had all been seeking the face of the Lord for months and we are excited at the leading of the Lord and grateful for the unity we experienced as we made decisions.

Randy and I often practice seeking the Lord independent of one another about important issues, then coming together to share what is on our hearts and it is always a wonder, an amazing experience, to sense oneness in the direction we both feel God is moving us. It is a similarly extraordinary experience when several diverse individuals, such as the M&M board of directors, each independently seeking the Lord for direction, wisdom and discernment for the ministry, come together in unity of heart and purpose, lending leadership to the ministry, working together for the glory of God. We are humbled and grateful for all these board members; who they are and what they do in carrying out the work of the Lord through Mustard Seeds and Mountains.

The very next day, Sunday, December 4, Randy and I were on a plane to California to spend, for my sake, the winter months away from snow and ice. We are, of course, enjoying being with our sons and daughters in law and our 5 wonderful grandchildren.

But this time is not all vacation! Along with other tasks we are responsible for, we are thankful for the teaching Randy will be doing in the month of January in the church which we attend here in California. God has opened this door of ministry, as well as others, and we are praying He continue to open many more doors of service, giving Randy opportunities to teach the Kingdom of God principles he teaches to teams in WV and writes about in the book Mission as Life: Making the Kingdom of God Your Family’s Passion. Our passion is to teach and lead Christian families into Kingdom of God lifestyles, as the scriptures teach, so that ministry will flow out of thousands of lives to the world around them, and the gospel will be passed by word and deed to the succeeding generations. Pray with us for ever increasing opportunities for this to take place all over the country.

Recently I had asked you to pray for Angie and her family; her mother was dying of lung cancer and Angie was her caregiver. Angie’s mom, DeeDee passed away several weeks ago. She received many words of witness as well as lots of loving care from her family. Continue to hold up Angie and her girls in prayer. Thank you.

I hope in future blogs to share thoughts on passages of scriptures I have been contemplating recently. Perhaps you’ve heard me talk about “camping out” in a particular section of scripture; I’ve been doing that again in a couple of places. The more I read, day after day, the more I “see”. Simply reading, though good, stops short of deep learning. So much to be retrieved if only I’d make the effort to dig a bit. And spend time contemplating the rich truths waiting for me to realize. And put into practice in my life.

May this season we are entering, a time of remembering the birth of Jesus, God the Son, our Savior, be rich with the realities of our need and His supply. But may we not stop there but rather go beyond to the life and lifestyle God purposes for those who follow Jesus: becoming like Him; loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength…and others as our own selves.

May God bless us to be a blessing to others.

Jacque

2011-11-07T12:49:00.000-08:00

Frost on the grass and rooftops. Steam rising from roofs as the sun rises. Warm afternoons on my porch, where I go to warm up since we keep the thermostat low inside the house! Ah, late autumn in West Virginia.

The past two weekends Randy and I traveled by car and plane to two very different areas of the country. The last weekend of October saw us heading north into central Ohio. Literally, the center of Ohio, to Centerburg Christian Church. Farm fields surround small towns and homes reminding me very much of central Michigan where I grew up. I felt quite at home, actually, but it wasn’t just the terrain; it was the people.

What a joy to be hosted in the home of the pastor and his wife and 4 children. We really connected with the kids; they reminded us so much of our own grandchildren in ages and delightfulness! I received a supreme compliment when one of the girls (there are 3 of them, aged 11, 9 and 7 with brother aged 5 years) said to her mom, “Know what, Mom, Miss Jacque reminds me of Grandma”. Wow. To be associated with a person who loves her grandchildren and is loved by them… I was humbled. And that was just staying in the home! We had a good time with the church folk the next day.

Randy was given the whole preaching part of the Sunday service and God abundantly worked in that time, as well as in meeting and talking with the people of 3C church that morning, and later at a pot luck dinner (oh yum!) and special evening singing service. These folk reminded me of so many church people I grew up with as a child and young person. The phrase “salt of the earth” people kept coming to mind; the kind of caring folk you want for your neighbors! We were so privileged to minister to them and thank God for that opportunity.

Then this past weekend we were off again. Just yesterday (Sunday 6th) we got back from visiting another part of the country, very different from Centerburg, OH.

Randy had been asked if he would be a speaker in a Marriage Retreat being put together by Arcola Covenant Community Church, situated outside Newark, NJ (New York City, “the City”, is just across the bridge). He agreed, though we had never done anything like this before! Randy was the main plenary speaker and had 3 sessions. I shared the floor with him in the last 2 sessions. This was really a first for us. We had prayed much that God would speak and pour out His spirit on His people as Randy opened the Word of God. We believe He answered prayer.

God was working mightily in this whole marriage retreat (there were 2 other presenters who held workshops as well) in answer to prayer, not just ours but the church as they prepared for this weekend. These dear couples, ranging from married 4 months to 20+ years, were all so eager to hear what God had for them, were so open to learning and growing! They were a delight to be with. I wish we could have more time with them! They are in a growing, dynamic church; they have a young pastor who really has a heart for the Lord and we rejoice so in that!

In both these very different parts of the country and different cultures; one white, middle-class, rural, mid-America; the other first and second generation Korean-Americans, highly educated and all in professional careers, we felt the love of God pouring through each group and each person. The bonds of blood, the blood of Jesus Christ, bind us tightly together as family. What a privilege and joy has been ours to meet so many brothers and sisters we didn’t know before! We are richer for it.

We thank God for these opportunities to minister to Christ’s body, the church, in different ways. This is really “up our alley”, so to speak! We have a passion for this very thing, and sense God’s gifting by His spirit for it and we are so excited about the doors God is opening to serve His people across the country.

I remember as a young wife and mother, attending a ladies’ Bible study hosted in the home of one of the ladies in our church in Florida, studying a passage of scripture which spoke about the older women teaching the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children and so on, and thinking with desire in my heart, I want to do that! I want to teach the younger women to love the Lord and their families. Then immediately I also realized, I was one of the “younger” women and had much to learn. So I have been trying to faithfully learn and grow over the years, in my walk with Jesus. Now, as an “older” woman, I get to share what I have been learning! Who says there aren’t benefits to getting older?! Even “Senior” discounts can’t hold a candle to serving others!

Thanks for your prayers for us. Continue to pray for Randy and me as we make ourselves available to serve wherever God opens the door. May He be glorified and His church built up.

Jacque

2011-10-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

My first 30 miles of walking have been completed! It took me longer than expected but there are good reasons for that. These first 30 miles I dedicated to the Lord who has been graciously with me every day through the various physical problems I’ve encountered. The She Is Safe (http://sheissafe.org/ ) promotional “Run to Rescue” inspired me to begin my walking regimen again, which had been suspended in the last year due to leg pain, subsequent broken right femur December 1 of last year, surgery to both legs to implant titanium rods, and months of physical therapy which ended in July of this year. At times I wondered if I’d ever get back to “normal”, if the pain would ever go away. Well, “normal” can change; I have a new normal, still have some pain but not to the point of taking medication for it. For these improvements I thank God. For so much I thank God.

My “Run to Rescue” project calls for sponsors and I am thankful for those who let me know they committed to sponsor me. If anyone else wishes to contribute as well, a dollar amount of your choosing for each mile walked can be sent by check to She Is Safe, 11095 Houze Road, Suite 100 • Roswell, GA 30076 • (877) 552-1402. Or you can go to their web site (see link above) and contribute online.

These funds will contribute to the rescue of hundreds, thousands, of girls and women in places in the world where they are routinely oppressed and abused, under-valued and deprived of basic necessities. She Is Safe partners with local ministries in numerous countries all over the world, which bring the light of the Truth, the Good News of Jesus Christ, coupled with physical “rescue” efforts to the lives of these precious girls and women. Thank you for joining me in supporting these efforts.

One of the “good reasons” I took longer to tally up 30 miles (these were added up on my treadmill calculator as I walked) is that last week I attempted something that I had never done before in my life: I drove, me, myself, alone, to Erie, Pennsylvania, to be with my sister who had recently undergone major surgery, and on top of that she and her husband were packing their household to move out of state(which is taking place as I write).

From here to Erie is about 8 hours of driving. I have never been strong enough to attempt something like that. The MG I’ve had since a young teen has always hindered me from such physical stresses. However, since 2009 I have been stronger and, in fact, since November of 2009 I have been off one of the drugs I started taking right after I was diagnosed with MG at age 15. A good “side effect” of chemotherapy for breast cancer? (Some of my doctors thought that would be a fascinating study: the relationship of chemotherapy for cancer to MG treatment. I agreed.)

So, in some trepidation I started out. I did not attempt the whole drive in one day. I broke it up and stayed overnight roughly halfway, same coming home. I experienced no weakness (such as in my eyes) during the whole week.

I was able to lend some small assistance to my sister, herself a cancer survivor, and I am so thankful I could do that. So many people, over the many years of my life have helped me in so many different ways. I am thrilled to be able to give back to others, especially to my own flesh and blood, and be able to get myself there and back on my own!

I share this with you so that you can join me in giving God praise and glory, for it is all of his goodness and mercy. When we experience hard things in life we are tempted to say, “why, God?” or “where are you, God?”. Especially in these times we must fall back on the revealed character of God. The scriptures are full of the revelation of his goodness, patience, kindness and love. We only need eyes to see. Our lives are routinely filled with the effects of God’s goodness daily poured out on us. We only need eyes to see. God hasn’t left us in trials! He is still Emmanuel, God with us, no matter what we must face. He walks with us through all of it. We only need affirm this amazing truth. And give him his due: the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to God.

God is going before us, Randy and me, as we forge ahead with the mission he has given us. New doors of opportunity have been opening and we are walking through them. One of the interesting developments for us is taking part in leading a Marriage Seminar in a church. Randy is putting it all together and will have 3 sessions in which he will speak. But I, too, will have a part with him, sharing in at least one of the sessions. Pray for us as we minister to these couples. You know Randy will lead people into the Word of God, bringing it to bear on their lives and relationships. Pray for an outpouring of God’s spirit, on us, the other presenters, and the couples in attendance.

We are excited about the doors opening for Randy to share and teach about Kingdom of God principles, as outlined in the book, Mission as Life: Making the Kingdom of God Your Family’s Passion. A new blog related to this you will find interesting is “Growing Godly Families”, which is at http://missionaslife.blogspot.com/ .
Pray with us that more doors of opportunity open for Randy to hold seminars in churches around the country teaching on these biblical principles and getting God’s people involved in local outreach, challenging God’s people to a Kingdom lifestyle.

You actually are the keys to opening doors! We are looking for local “sparkplugs”, Advocates of Mission as Life/Mustard Seeds and Mountains, to stir up interest in their local churches and among individuals to read the book Mission as Life, to come on a Mission as Life mission trip to WV, to have Randy come hold a Mission as Life seminar in their church. Pray again for open “ears”, hearing unto obedience, among God’s people as Randy speaks and teaches.

Randy recently declared he was making October a month of thanks and praise to God. We have so much for which to say “thank you” to God. There is so much we take for granted and forget to say thanks for. It is a good exercise in gratitude to think about and verbalize to God our thanks for all these everyday kindnesses he routinely pours out on us. And contrary to the undercurrent of our thinking, God doesn’t have to do all these good, kind things for and to us. We do not deserve them! We deserve what we don’t want to think about and acknowledge, but because of God’s mercy and grace, he doesn’t deal with us according to our sins. This is grace. The grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

And because of the character of God, revealed in scripture and every day of our lives, our only right approach to God is in all humility, and overflowing gratitude, ready to do all he says.

If you enjoy these blogs and want to keep getting them, please become a “follower” of Jacque’s Journey. It is very easy. At the very top of the blog page you will see the word “Follow". Click on this and follow directions. I found it quite easy to do (and I need easy when it comes to technology). Once you have successfully subscribed, whenever I post a new blog you will automatically receive it by email. In future months I will stop sending email notifications that I’ve posted my blog so please take a moment to subscribe. Thanks! (If you have trouble doing this, please let me know.)

Jacque

2011-09-12T05:02:00.000-07:00

It is a blessing to walk. Almost normally. Almost without any pain. Aches and pains have increased as the years have increased; now, added aches and pains and I do not know if they will diminish with the years, or not. But in the overall picture of things, one must be grateful for the good and nod, without grumbling, to the unpleasant. In everything give thanks. There really is much for which to give thanks.

When we inform ourselves of the greater world in which we live, we have to realize at some point that we in this country, at this time in history, are some of the most resourced, healthiest, wealthiest, most educated and most comfortable people on the face of the earth. Given that reality, we followers of Jesus should be humbled and challenged to also realize that what we have been given was not intended for ourselves, but was given in trust for us to steward for our King; to treat as his property to accomplish his purposes.

Just as I might entrust funds to an investor to do with as I direct, not as he chooses, so God has entrusted us with his resources to do with as he directs, not as we decide. These resources include our very lives as well as financial and all other resources which come into our hands. They are “to further the Kingdom, not feather our nest.”

When I look at the world we live in, look outside my referent group, those people who are pretty much like me socially, economically, ethnically, etc., in other words, to look beyond my “comfort zone”, to real people in other parts of the world who look and live different from me, who, for most of them, have known a world neither informed nor influenced by the word of God and have not enjoyed the advantages that world brings…as we have in our country and culture (we take so much for granted), I am confronted with the stark reality that I am one who must respond as a true and faithful steward of God’s resources to serve the needs of God’s world. The world he so loved that Jesus died.

When I was in California, away from my home, in pain day after day from 2 recent surgeries on my bones and feeling very literally “broken”, with weeping and a new depth of commitment, I yielded myself, my broken body, anew as a “living sacrifice”, to the God of my salvation. Is there any other reason to be alive? I have not found it. All my emotional struggles bubbling up through my pain and suffering in the body flowed back down into the center, my renewed center in Jesus Christ, in the God who redeemed me for his purposes, and called me to fulfill those purposes through my broken body.

Peace.

God called me to serve him before I met Randy. He brought us together in Bible college as we both sought to go in the direction of his leading. Our paths converged and we have been serving God together since that time.

Each of us must attend to the most important relationship of our lives, our relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ. Each of us will work out our specific calling in a little different way. But we must all be moving in response to the leading of God’s spirit, encouraging and upholding one another in our pursuits for the kingdom of God. We must keep looking to Jesus and focus where he points us in his world.

As I gained strength in my muscles which had been misused for almost a year, I knew the next step was to get back to walking on my treadmill every day, building up to my former 30 minute routine.

Enter a motivator I couldn’t ignore, Run to Rescue! I’ve already indicated my belief that based on God’s love for the world, and his subsequent all time greatest sacrifice to save it, we his followers are blood-bound to act on God’s passion to reach that world…in whatever ways we can.

I can walk. I can use that God given ability at this point in my life to also do something to reach girls and women who live in a very different world, culturally and spiritually speaking, from the one I live in, bringing them the good news about Jesus Christ in many different tangible ways. And I will never have to venture out my door. Not in body anyway. But hopefully I will join in spirit with those other believers who are the ones “on the ground” extending a physical hand and help to these girls and women.

I have a specific calling and work here in this my home country of the United States of America, but you and I have a responsibility to the world for which Jesus died and in this day and age we have almost unlimited ways of carrying out that responsibility to be the “hands and feet” of Jesus in his world. This is one way of many I have chosen to steward some of my resources; my time and effort, for the Kingdom.

I still need more sponsors to turn my first 30 miles of walking, dedicated to Jesus, into tangible resources to be his “hands and feet”. Would you prayerfully consider sponsoring me to do this by donating a dollar amount per mile for each mile I walk, to SIS once I complete my 30 miles? I’ve worked up to my 30 minutes a day (1 mile) since starting August 11 and have logged about 13 miles so far. I do not intend to quit.

She Is Safe (SIS), the mission organization through which Run to Rescue is offered, has a new web site. Please check it out at www.SheIsSafe.org

Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.
Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision

Jacque

2011-08-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

When most of your body doesn’t work “normally”, is weak and everyday life is simply more difficult because of that weakness, you learn to be thankful for what you can do, and don’t let bother you what you cannot do. I learned these things early in life.

Right around my 13th birthday I began to have difficulty speaking, eating, keeping my eyelids open, raising my arms to do my hair (a very important aspect of a girl’s life) and carry things, like school books, and was generally tired and worn out all the time…not your typical teenage lifestyle. When I had a couple severe episodes of choking, my parents went into high gear to find out what was wrong. It took about 2 years before we had a diagnosis: Myasthenia Gravis. A big name for an auto-immune, neuro-muscular disease which robbed me of the ability to function normally and almost robbed me of my life many times in the next several years. The strongest part of my body seemed to be my legs. I could still walk; my legs worked better than my arms and the rest of my upper body.

It is by God’s grace and mercy, His kindness to hear hundreds of prayers on my behalf, that I am alive today and can tell you that my heart’s desire is to love and serve the living God with all I am and do. I’ve been trying to do that in my stumbling, halting way for over 40 years.

Through MG (myasthenia gravis), breast cancer and most recently, a broken femur and surgery on both femurs to insert titanium rods (ye old Wolverine woman), I am happy to tell you, I’m still kicking and ready to Walk for “Run to Rescue”, a challenge presented by She Is Safe (formerly Sisters In Service)! I want to help little girls and women in places in the world where they would not otherwise have the opportunity to learn of their loving Savior, Jesus Christ, or have a safe and healthy life, like you and I have, were it not for the intentional intervention of lovers of Jesus who often risk their lives to bring Life to them.

You and I can have a part by partnering with She Is Safe as they partner with ministries in many of the hard places of the world. Did you know that the word “fellowship” Paul uses can be translated “partnership”? Fellowship is not coffee and donuts! It is faithing for the Kingdom; putting our faith into practice, risking for Jesus.

What have I risked for Jesus? Not much. I want to, as my legs are now able to carry me in an almost normal fashion, walk for Jesus, walk to Rescue, so His life can be expressed through others who are really risking for Him, to rescue those who are without Him. And I get to “Partner” in a small way and get to participate in the rewards in a tiny way, of those efforts to reach the least, the last, the lost, the left behind.

I need more sponsors who will give to “Run to Rescue” once I complete my 30 mile goal. Little girls and women in dire need physically and spiritually around the world also need more runners, walkers, rope jumpers, mountain climbers…whatever you can and like to do…you can do it for the Kingdom!

Please take a look at the She Is Safe web site at www.sheissafe.org or http://sheissafe.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/run-to-rescue-2/ for info on Run to Rescue.

All Jesus asks is “a life for a life”. This is how we know what love is; Jesus laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers (I John 3:16). Love is a verb.

Jacque

2011-08-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

August 14, 2011

“Despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.” Hebrews 7:5

The reference given for the verse quoted at the top of the page of the devotional was Hebrews 7:5. But the reference did not ring true so I looked it up. I knew that verse was in chapter 12 and I didn’t think it was in chapter 7 as well.

Sure enough, 7:5 is in a discussion about Melchizedek and the priesthood he represents as opposed to the priesthood of Levi. Fascinating stuff; a mystery to us, this Melchizedek. But the writer was not here in chapter 7 talking about the discipline of the Lord; that is for chapter 12.

The book of Hebrews is my favorite book of the Bible (I’ve confessed this before), if I may claim a favorite. I’m not one to choose favorites in anything since it can be prejudicial, or perceived that way. But I love this book, and so an exception. I figured out one time reading through it, why I love it so much. No other book of the Bible, in my opinion, speaks of the superiority of Jesus in such a point by point way, going into the far reaches of history, revealing so much yet making you hunger for more. So much there; so much to ponder and grow on.

So here is the author of Hebrews, as he starts chapter 12, pointing us to Jesus, admonishing us to “fix” our eyes on him as we go through life, especially in the difficult times of our lives. And to hark back to all those he had just enumerated in chapter 11, those who lived by faith in the One they couldn’t see and what He had promised but was not yet accomplished in their lifetimes…but has come to pass in ours: the revelation of Jesus the promised Savior of mankind and his ultimate rule over all, his kingdom come.

I reread the chapter, because I have so much to learn and it is so rich in truths hard to grasp, on the one hand, yet, on the other hand, simple enough to get a grip on, and hang onto (the truth is profound yet, as one has said, “near us”, accessible, “graspable”, yet we can never fully grasp it!). The author speaks of looking to Jesus as we live in a hard world, remembering those who lived by faith before us, giving us examples to follow, and who even now surround us. Then he speaks of not fainting when our heavenly Father treats us like sons by instructing, disciplining us, for a much greater purpose than the discipline we received from our earthly parents. God’s purpose is holiness and the peaceful fruit of righteousness. As I read I thought of Job.

Job was declared a righteous man by God; it wasn’t a made up idea of Job’s. But Job knew God and lived with all his might in the way he understood God wanted and required men to live (Job 27-31), and he knew he was in right standing before God. So when the calamities blasted into his life, he clung to his rightness and his understanding of God. But like us all, Job’s understanding of God and His ways was limited. Job’s world began to shrink, enclosed by walls of pain and accusation.

Pain and suffering are powerful inducements to inward looking, to a focus on only oneself. We see only a tiny part of the whole of reality when we focus on ourselves. We unknowingly close off ourselves to the bigger picture. And life is in reality lived in that bigger picture, of which most of us for most of our lives live in oblivion. We see through a glass darkly, so darkly.

This shrinking of our world leads to accusing the only one we believe can make a difference in our pain: God. We believe God is all powerful, as the scripture teaches us, but we have somehow skewed that to mean He will be all powerful for us whenever we want Him to be, according to our concept of the world, our very small world, enclosed by our problems and pain and suffering. We lose perspective living in that small world. And as with Job, God has to teach us about Himself.

Are we listening?

Job saw only his problems and pain and knowing he had lived right in the world, he couldn’t understand why God didn’t justify him before others, especially his accusing friends. Friends indeed. They all had the same theology, the same understanding of God; who He is and what He does. So when the fingers of accusation pointed at Job, Job pointed his finger at God, accusing Him of injustice.

God had to teach him. I say “had to”; He didn’t have to but He did for God is gracious and compassionate and very, very patient with us. Even though in our small worlds it doesn’t always feel like He is.

God had to teach Job.

Are we listening? He is teaching us through His instruction to Job. That is why He had it all written down! God let Job know Who He really is (Job 38-41).

And Job got it (Job 42). He had nothing to say in response to God. He was humbled before the living God. There was no more self-justification, only humility and repentance.

Are…we…listening. Do we get it?

When God speaks…we must listen, and with keen ears, ears that “hear”, as Jesus said, which meant ears that take in what is said with the determination to do, to obey.

Our response to pain and suffering, to the hard times of life, should be the same as Job’s response to God. Speechlessness and humility. “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.” (Job 40:4).

But God is not finished. “Now gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you and you instruct Me. Will you really annul my judgment?”

“Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?”(Job 40:7).

Are we listening?

“Then Job answered the Lord and said, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask you and you instruct me.’

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.”(Job 42:1-6).

I do not understand the ‘why’ of much of what happens to us. But I am coming to know the 'Who’ and I continue to give myself to His Sovereignty, hard as it is sometimes, at least initially. He is the only One with the right to say what is what, not me. Light comes only from Him, His words. My response, our response should be repentance.

We must always go back to the scripture. God caused His words to be written down for our instruction. If we are not taking these words in, and submitting ourselves to them, is it any wonder we end up as drifting boats on a vast ocean of troubles, crying out to a heaven which seems brass?

The text in the devotional may have been mistakenly attributed to Hebrews chapter 7, verse 5, but the admonition, which is actually in Hebrews 12:5 (a quote from Proverbs 3:11), we do well to listen to, with “ears that hear”, ready to obey: “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” God only instructs, disciplines and chastens sons, that is, His blood bought, born twice children, male and female. He has a purpose in it. Believe it. Humble yourself under His hand.

I only know this because I’ve been walking this pathway, learning these things. I have tested the truth of God’s words. I pray I do not soon forget.

I’ve written this for my dear friends who are yet making their way to that truth. Please keep moving in the direction of His light. “The entrance of Your words gives light.”

I love you.

Jacque

2011-07-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

Summer in West Virginia. Visually refreshing with densely packed trees in full-leaf greenery covering the mountains wherever you look, everything growing like weeds…no wait, those are weeds…pretending this profusion of plant life is actually what I want growing around the borders of my yard…. Ah, the joys of living in a northern rain forest. It is amazing and wonderful.

Teams of volunteers from all over the country, and even Canada, have been our guests a week at a time for the past 6 weeks, doing helpful tasks with and for local families in our neck of the woods (my fingers actually started typing “weeds” instead of “woods”; either way it would be correct!). We have had a good time with teams so far, no injuries and no problems, for which we are very thankful. There are 4 more weeks to go before our summer volunteer ministry ends and our staff takes a breather. We have 3 interns this year (college students who arrive in May and leave in early to mid-August), 2 of which are returnees, and a new guy who wants to come back again! All these things and people are answers to prayer and we, again, are very thankful.

Randy has been teaching the evening sessions with the teams, the topic this year being the fear of God. It has been powerful. We are hearing good feedback from the families whose homes we work on as well as from the teams which work with them. Please pray those who need to come in faith and repentance to Jesus, will; and those who are believers will be strengthened and built up, encouraged to greater commitment to Jesus, because of interactions with others. This is for both those who live here and those who come to serve here. And for those of us on Mustard Seeds staff.

Randy has numerous responsibilities heading up a mission organization. One recently added is weekly 5 minute radio spots to promote the prayer campaign he is trying to start in the county. We pray for a true awaking and stirring up of God’s people here and an outpouring of God’s Spirit to revive his people and redeem the lost. We his people must be ready for the harvest.

I am slowly progressing as my leg strengthens, to walk properly. Building up and retraining muscles takes effort and time but in the last two weeks I have been leaving my cane behind, even for walking outdoors! I still have 4 more days of driving in to Princeton, WV, for physical therapy, concluding the additional 6 weeks of therapy after leaving CA. The pain is slowly lessening for which I truly thank the Lord.

I spent a week in the Atlanta, GA, area to visit my mom where she lives in a home for Alzheimer’s patients. She is unable to do anything for herself anymore. She is still recognizing us but gets frustrated, in her gentle way, in her inability to communicate and do things. I spent several hours each day sitting with her, pushing her wheel chair out to the verandah so she could enjoy the fresh air and outdoor scenery, talking with her and reading a bit of scripture to her. At one point, as she mumbled something I couldn’t understand, I choked up, looked away and told myself, “one day we will have a real conversation again”. I know that won’t be until we are both in heaven, but it will come, one day.

I was also able to spend some time with several friends from the Atlanta area which was really nice. God has given us many wonderful friends from all over in the 40 years we have been serving the Lord and what a blessing they are to us.

One of our staff members is going through a very difficult time now and needs your prayers. Angie is taking care of her mom at home every day; she is in hospice care dying of cancer. Pray for Dee Dee’s comfort and true salvation to be ready to meet the Lord. And for Angie and her young girls as they walk this path with her.

Throughout what I have written you see italicized phrases. These are prayer and praise points and I hope you will join us in prayer and praise for these things. Without the intervention of God in all we do, our efforts are in vain. Thanks for “listening” as I’ve shared my thoughts with you. Thanks more for praying with us for God to work out his perfect, eternal purposes through each of us, to his glory.

Jacque

2011-06-18T06:36:00.000-07:00

Much has happened in the last few weeks. I am now back in West Virginia, having flown home Saturday June 11. I have enjoyed being back in my home, savoring the gorgeous visual splendors of summer in Appalachia. I drink in the sights of trees everywhere, of all varieties, fully leafed out, shimmering and waving in the breezes; trees in my yard casting shadows into the lush lawn, bushes forming enclosing walls on the edges of the yard, arching and reaching and sheltering. The day lilies are continually in bloom this month and though I have missed several earlier blooming trees and shrubs, the wild roses I rooted from cuttings and planted several years ago along a section of back fence are thriving and blooming profusely, casting their long reaching arms along the fence. Along with the sights, the weather has been perfect, in the 70-80 degree range.

Before I left CA, however, after a week of sickness and cancellations of appointments, I had a busy final week making up for lost PT sessions, meeting with friends, and final doctor appointments. The appointment with my oncologist indicated everything is fine on that score, for which we thank God. But in other meetings with doctors I learned there is abnormal bone growth into the soft tissues around the bone at the upper end of the femur (called Myositis Ossificance), that the NSAID drug prescribed for me to treat it, which I had begun to take, was nixed by my cardiologist because it adversely affects heart function, and that my only other option is low dose radiation to reduce this process. And the pain it apparently produces. The pain, from this source or wherever, along with some weakness of muscles is probably the reason I haven’t progressed further in my physical therapy and recovery to normal walking. I need your prayers for God’s intervention for healing of this problem and the ability to get back to normal walking with no leg pain.

On June 10 I was reading Psalm 124 and wrote:

I cry out to the Lord again…another medical/physical issue has arisen and only God can bring a solution, a living, working solution to my problem. Reading through the Psalm I reinterpret it for my situation. I do not have a flesh and blood enemy pursuing me, but I do have an Enemy which works to destroy me. I read the psalmist’s accounts and make my own personal application. If God were not on my side (and I on his) then I would be destroyed by the billows and waves of troubles flowing over me. I read this testament to God’s intervention as my own.

“If it had not been the LORD who (is) on my side when these troubles in my body rise up against me, then they would have swallowed me up alive, the waters would have engulfed me, the stream would have swept over my soul, the raging waters would have swept over my soul.

Bless the LORD, who has not given me over to be torn apart by these troubles and the enemy of my soul.

My soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper. The snare is broken and I have escaped.

My help is in the Name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 124 (my changes)

It is always the word of God which holds me up, holds me together, gives me peace. I humbly thank God for his mercies to me. All his mercies to me. Though I haven’t yet physically “escaped” this trap of the enemy, my hope is definitely in the LORD “who made heaven and earth”. He did that, he can do all things.

My busyness at home is moderated so I do not over do. And oh do I have much to do! One week before flying home to WV my laptop computer crashed and the experts told me the hard drive was “kaput”, nothing was retrievable. So now I am reconstructing everything not backed up (and unfortunately my last backup was weeks prior) from other records and files. Alas, I have learned a hard lesson. The computer I use in the Mustard Seeds’ office here was also on its way out but all data was able to be saved and reinstalled with a new hard drive. We have an enemy but our God is greater. With his help I will get through this without too many lumps.

This past week we hosted our first Mission as Life team and it was a good week. The next nine weeks we will host several hundred more Mission as Life volunteers as they make their way to the beautiful green mountains of southern West Virginia. Pray for these teams, our staff and the families here who will be working with them. May God be glorified in all our hard work.

Jacque

2011-06-03T15:05:00.001-07:00

Perhaps I was being a bit optimistic in my goal setting. When I set up my 4 weeks of outpatient physical therapy sessions, I was asked what goals I wanted to set for myself. My biggest one was to walk normally without the cane by the end of those 4 weeks. Well, this marks the end of 4 weeks, although because I was sick this week and missed my scheduled sessions of PT, 3 sessions are rescheduled for next week, and I am far from walking normally without my cane. I have done some walking without it but it is not straight and normal in any sense of the word. I still must build up strength in muscles which, when I think of it, and Randy also mentioned it, have been used improperly for many months. Back the end of last summer (before we knew the damage to my femurs) I began to have pain in my legs and started walking abnormally; I’ve been walking incorrectly since at least August.

I know I have been making incremental progress. I just had hoped I’d be further along by now. And I’m still having pain in my left leg. So all in all, your prayers for me are very much appreciated.

Though I am going to miss my families out here in California, I am looking forward to being back with Randy in West Virginia. I fly back Saturday, June 11, just in time for the first incoming Mission as Life team, kicking off our summer Volunteer Ministry of Home Repair for the needy, elderly and disabled, as well as VBS programs put on by various of the teams coming throughout the summer. Everyone is in high gear.

Also kicking off our summer, starting this Sunday, is 16 hours of prayer daily by Mustard Seeds and Mountains’ staff (in 4 hour shifts per person). Of course, Mustard Seeds is also instituting a Rend the Heavens Prayer campaign in McDowell County. We are encouraging God’s people in the County to seek His face daily in line with II Chronicles 7:14. We want to see His people strengthened and emboldened to stand against the darkness around us, living in the power of God, and then see God’s spirit poured out to change lives. It will only happen by concerted and fervent prayer. If you’d like to join us in this campaign (and include with McDowell County your own community in your prayers) you can get more information by writing us at Rend the Heavens, P.O. Box 686, Northfork, WV 24868. I have a strong feeling your area could use this too.

Pray for all of us as we seek to work alongside God, whose co-laborers it is our privilege to be. Another prayer request is for my oldest son, Jeremy, who will be leaving this Tuesday, June 7, for a 3 week missionary trek to India with his uncle, Daniel Rickett. Please pray, of course, for their safety and good health, but also that God would accomplish in and through them His plans. Pray also for Monica, his wife, back home with 3 young children during the 3 weeks of daddy’s absence.

One more urgent request is for Bryon Thomas and his family (a young couple raising support to join us on staff at Mustard Seeds). We just learned Bryon’s mother was killed in a head on car collision. Hold this family up before the Lord.

Thank you for your prayers for us as we continue to follow where He leads.

Jacque

2011-05-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

How good is the Word of God! So often in my readings of Scripture my heart almost bursts for the truth of it, the knowing in my heart it is so. Even the hard parts, such as, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word”, and “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your statutes” (Psalm 119:67, 71). I have to bow my spirit before the living God in acknowledgment of that truth. Yes, I know the desperate sickness of my own heart, and only the treatment prescribed by the One we call the Great Physician can bring healing. And sometimes it is not pleasant medicine. So to be honest, I am always brought back to this I know to be true in the depths of my being, “You are good and do good; teach me your statutes” (Psalm 119:68). Then I can lift my eyes, looking about me, and acknowledge wholeheartedly, “The earth is full of your lovingkindness, O LORD; teach me your statutes (Psalm 119:64).

We so often focus on the healing of our bodies that we forget God is also interested in our ever-living souls. He sees what we fail to recognize and works in us to perfect his purposes for us, as we are a part of a greater, overarching scheme: the redemption of a people for his name.

So when he works painful measures in us, literally physically and emotionally painful, and we cry out, “what in the world is going on here? Why are you doing this to me?”, we have to stop ourselves and get perspective, God’s perspective. He sees what we cannot. He knows what we do not. He understands how all of the circumstances of our lives can work together for our eternal benefit (and that is a long time…beyond time). But we cry out against it, for the moment forgetting his goodness and lovingkindness at all times, to all peoples.

Stop! How often have I had to stop myself! And remind myself that I do know and believe with all my heart “God is good”, his word is true. It has been proven time and time again in my own life, not to mention all through history and is evident around me in the world I live in. It is in the midst of pain and struggle that we must affirm, sometimes to our own selves primarily, and then to others in the saying of it, that God, the Infinite, all-knowing God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, knows best and he is good. His word is true; he is faithful and is faithfully working all things out for his great and grand purposes, even through my pain and suffering.

It is ok if I don’t understand it. God, who does know, understands. All his ways are right.

“The proof of the pudding is in the eating”. The proof of our faith and trust in the word of God is in the doing of it…putting it into practice in our lives, even when it is hard. The proof of our faith in the true and living God, the sovereign God, is humbly acknowledging his goodness and righteousness, his sovereignty, at all times, the good times of our lives and “bad” times, and living faithful to his word, his truth.

Then we can come to the point of saying, “You have dealt well with your servant, O LORD, according to your word” (Psalm 119:65).

This is how I have been step by step getting through another difficult time in my life. “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your word has revived (or preserved) me” (Psalm 119:50). Going back, and back again, and back yet again, and again to the word of God, to the God of his word! Casting myself on the mercies of God, which never fail.

Light is dawning! Re-focusing on what I need to focus on, first his kingdom and his righteousness, trusting to him my physical and emotional needs, which he has promised to meet when I put them in the proper order, that is, second to his concerns, has given me again a corrected perspective. The waves of chaos of soul have settled. Smoother sailing.

Randy and I are embarked on new adventures once again as we serve God, fulfilling our calling from him. We are excited for what God is doing and will do. We want to see him proven great and mighty! For that is what he is.

I have purchased my airline ticket and will be winging my way back east after 4 ½ months in California, on Saturday, June 11, just before our first summer team arrives in West Virginia on June 12. It is a busy time for us all on Mustard Seeds’ staff, expanded by 3 summer interns, for whom we thank God.

Pray for our vital summer Mission as Life season as hundreds of volunteers, many of them families, will come from all over the country week by week into McDowell County, West Virginia, to work alongside local families and our staff. Pray for the volunteers, pray for the local families, pray for our staff as we strive to serve them all in the spirit of Jesus.

Pray for Randy as he has many responsibilities as the head of Mustard Seeds and Mountains, and new ones added to the old ones as we forge ahead, walking where the Spirit of God leads us into ever-widening areas of service. Hold him up in prayer, for you lighten his load as you do!

It is all for the Kingdom of God and the glory of his name!

Jacque

2011-05-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

Distressing news from my own neighborhood. Prayer requests indeed. Neighbors whose lives are marked with pocks of sin-disease, festering, grotesque from long stewing in sinful wretchedness. When the Truth is rejected… oh if only we could impress the deathfulness of sin on those who dabble in it! There is only one outcome for the life and lifestyle of rebellion against God: Death! It reeks while living. It chokes. It gags all those around it.

And those of my neighbors who consider themselves better than the worst elements around them, yet themselves living in rebellion and rejection of the only Truth which can give them life too, live in self-made and self-perpetuating isolation from their neighbors. Living their death-lives as Isles of Pathos: Islands of Suffering and Tragedy.

This came to me as I considered the awful news about one of my neighbors. My community, the cluster of homes I have lived in for the past 16 years, has always been a mission field, a prayer concern. We have brought in evangelists in the form of Bible club teachers, year after year. We have seen God use godly neighbors, my co-laborers in ministry, in one case week after week teaching the Word of God to children, for several years; in another mentoring boys; in yet another continuing that discipling work in the lives of girls in the neighborhood, mentoring, modeling and teaching the truths of God to them for several years. We have agonized as we have seen the demise of those very works, the destructive lifestyles embraced by one or more of the children, in spite of the good things poured into their lives over spans of years.

Among my neighbors there are a few Followers of Jesus but many more who don’t know him, even after true and faithful witness and lifestyle evidence as they have interacted with and watched the godly lives of those of us who do follow Jesus.

Sin always spirals downward, generation after generation. You can see the deepening of sin’s awful effects, right before your eyes, as children learn from their parents how to live, or in these cases, how not to live in the world. We feel helpless. Is it any wonder that we pray for an outpouring of God’s Spirit?

But first, the people of God must be the ones to come into “judgment” before God. Judgment must always begin at the house of God, the family of God, the blood-bought children of God, who call ourselves by his name. We are the ones who must humble ourselves before him, turning away from and repenting of sin in our own lives, and instead living according to the clear teachings of the Word of God. Then, and only then, will God hear and answer prayer! Then he can and will, based on historic and biblical evidence, pour out his Spirit in conviction and power to save the lost, the spiritually dead, the death-living neighbors in our neighborhoods.

Then and only then can our neighborhood Isles of Pathos be bridged and become Archipelagos of Peace.

Pray for my neighborhood! Pray for your neighborhood! We are the Light in our neighbors’ darkness. We are the Salt which holds back the decay of sin-death. We must beseech the Lord of the Harvest for ways we can be the Laborers he needs in his fields!

Not only is there an eternity awaiting, there is the living today. Will my friend’s children, or any of my neighbors’ children, be harmed in any way by the death-living of their and my other neighbors whose lives reek of sin-death? God lead us in praying. God enter into our Pathos. God make us Bridge builders of Peace, through the Gospel of Peace, by the power of the Prince of Peace. May those of us in our neighborhoods who call ourselves by the Name of God, join together for the highest purpose, the purposes of God.

May all that needs to be broken down in our lives, be so. May all that needs to be built up in our lives, as the blood-bought people of God, be built up. May the world around us, at our doorsteps, see Jesus in us. May the Spirit of the living and only God pour out through our daily lives.

May, by God’s power and grace, those Isles of Pathos around us in our neighborhoods be bridged with the Gospel of Jesus, and become Archipelagos of Peace.

Jacque

2011-04-26T14:04:00.000-07:00

I am Wolverine Woman.

This was initially a surprise to me, as it may be to you, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Let me back up a bit and fill in some gaps.

Over the past few years I have been tutored in the world of super heroes. Bit by bit I’ve gained knowledge about one or another of the multitude of super heroes out there. In fact, it seems the past few months I have learned more because my “teacher” has learned more and he naturally passes these things on to others of us who will listen. Of course, he knows super heroes are not real. But there is a very real world of the unreal. Seems I have entered it.

So how have I become a character in the family of super heroes? Maybe I’m not a super hero, but I am akin to one who is: Wolverine. By what means? By dint of my metal bones. Or metal in my bones to be precise. Wolverine has adamantia; I have titanium. (Adamantia, in the real world of the unreal, is most certainly related to the words “adamantine”, which means “unbreakable”, and the more familiar “adamant” which means “refusing to be persuaded or to change one’s mind”. Super hero creators are, to say the least, creative!)

So I have metal in my bones, but beyond that, I also have inherited something by birth. You see, I was born in Michigan. The State animal of Michigan is…yes, the wolverine! Makes perfect sense then, doesn’t it? Born in Michigan, therefore, a wolverine, and I have metal in my bones. Who else could I be but…Wolverine Woman!?

The looks on my grandsons' faces were priceless.

Coming back to the real world…the surgery to put the metal into my bones, on April 12, went very well. In that moment of semi-consciousness as I began to awaken from the general anesthesia, groaning in recognition of the pain and trying to raise my leaden hands off the bed in recovery room, I knew I had survived surgery and was on the “other” side, the recovery side. I knew I faced a few weeks of pain and rehab on my way to full recovery and reuse of my legs. I felt pain but also Thankfulness.

The bone biopsy done during surgery came back with no indication of any abnormality such as cancer, only the damage consistent with overuse of Fosamax (to treat osteoporosis). My doctor praising the name of Jesus Christ on the phone as he reported this news. I praising His name with him. Deep thankfulness.

A week and a half following rods being inserted into the shaft and upper portion of my left femur, I gave up the walker (never used the wheelchair at all), exchanging it for my quad-cane, am doing steps and will continue to press for new strength and healing with the physical therapy I am getting. Right now looks like I will be doing PT for another 6 weeks, at least, to the end of May. We will see what the doctor orders after that.

My hope is to go back home to West Virginia sometime this summer. I cannot make plans yet, obviously, so am taking each day as it comes, doing my PT exercises faithfully twice a day, working through the pain and emotional ups and downs…again. Or is it yet?

This is not easy nor can I do this alone. By no means. I am thankful I do not have to do this, and am not doing this, alone. It is hard. I need encouragement all along the way. There is a deep, dark abyss of discouragement and depression I keep skirting; sometimes the edge seems frighteningly close. It is good that others remind me this “up and down-ness” is normal, that though the good days will get more common, that the pain will lessen, not to be discouraged when I have a bad day, either. Breathe. Breathe.

The wolverine is known as a fierce fighter. In my innermost self I am not surprised at my will to improve, to fight for the use of my legs, to push to get back to a normal lifestyle. I have been doing this kind of thing all my life, pushing on and pushing through. I have inherited a fighting spirit. I’ve seen it in others; I’ve known it in myself.

But it is your prayers which buoy me up when I begin to “sink”. I am not alone. Thank you.

2011-04-08T09:57:00.001-07:00

I think I went on a roller coaster ride once as a kid, a very small one in a small town carnival, definitely not one on which you throw your arms up and scream. We sort of laughed at its tameness but it was still fun. It’s the big roller coasters which can really get to you. Some people love the experience of the fear, the adrenalin rush, the stomach flip flops as you plummet down a steep incline, barreling around a banked curve. Others of us love not the experience.

Riding an emotional roller coaster, however, can be worse than a real “tracks and cars” roller coaster in an amusement park. Whereas that kind of roller coaster ride lasts but a few minutes, an emotional roller coaster ride can last days, weeks, even months or, sadly, years. I’ve ridden these with their ups and downs, many times over the years. I recently got off one...again.

There are reasons God tells us to guard our hearts, out of which proceed, among other things, our emotions. It is unhealthy if we don’t, in many ways. One way in which we can get into an unhealthy state is to let our emotions take over our way of looking at things. Our perspective becomes skewed, our clear vision obscured, by things we want or want to happen rather than remaining cool and objective about what is before us, being rational, reasonable. Some people have a greater capacity for emotional coolness than others and some of us are made with a warmer emotional temperature, so to speak. I am one made that way. It is good to know these things about oneself.

If you are one of those cool and collected types who has never had a wild emotional ride in your life, maybe this won’t be interesting to you. But I’d be willing to bet you know someone, perhaps a dear someone, who is not so emotionally cool. We certainly need one another, for balance and perspective. We need also to listen to each other and learn from each other.

Even when we want with all our hearts to do the right thing, emotions can trick us. This has nothing to do with “faith”. It is all about how we naturally tend to approach life and the issues of life which arise, which call for us to make decisions. Even when the foundation of our life is grounded solidly in the knowledge of God, we must deal with our hearts, our way of looking at life and its problems, challenges. Part of growing up in Jesus is learning to let all these things coming at us in life flow through the filter of God’s clear, plain truth which is based on His character, who He is and what He demands of us, His creation. That is why it is so important to be intimate with the Word of God. The words of God. God’s talk to us. “He who has ears to hear…”.

God doesn’t put as heavy demands on us as we put on ourselves. That tricksie, devious heart of ours. Not to be trusted. We can start loading ourselves down with all kinds of fears, doubts, wonderings, burdens, expectations. Our vision gets obstructed, if you will, by all the junk we pile into the arms of our minds.

When my emotions are controlling me, rather than me controlling my emotions, I find myself focusing more and more on that one issue, it taking up more and more of my thoughts, and when that happens my mental energy is diverted from other things I should be dealing with on a regular basis. Does anyone else ever do this??? I am afraid there are many others who get caught up in this same unhealthy process. I really don’t believe I’m the only one.

It took a cold splash of reality to startle me out of my recent roller coaster ride. Very unpleasant. But just what I needed at the time. I thought I was giving things over to God, letting Him have the controls. But I wasn’t there yet. Still going round and round, up and down on that ride. I said the heart is tricksie. It is deceptive and completely sick, through and through. We cannot trust our hearts, or our emotions.

Cold hard reality stopped the ride dead. Well, maybe better say it put the brakes on hard and a bit later I rolled to a stop. Emotions are powerful parts of our make-up, part of who we are. When vision is cleared, though it is painful, we get a start on a right perspective once again. Cool down. Re-center. Then objectivity is possible.

At that point I started over, reexamining each part of the issue at hand, before the Lord, even going back over my life, the teachings of scripture and the way God has graciously worked in our lives in the past. This is akin to the Psalmists’ recounting the great acts of God in history. Very helpful exercise. I came to the same conclusions, I didn’t feel any stance I had taken, prayer prayed, was out of line, based on my cool and reasoned understanding of God’s truths, His word. I reconfirmed, in this instance, the direction I was going was right and good. One part of this particular situation, Timing, was reconsidered, though. A very important aspect of what I was dealing with.

It really doesn’t matter the issue one is dealing with. Those change all the time. New things come up in life and we must act on them. The way we deal with them is crucially important. We must be aware, self-aware, of how we tend to view life and what it throws at us. This is learned over time, and often, faithful friends can point out to us these tendencies, which they may see more clearly than ourselves. Faithful, godly counselors are of inestimable value. It was, in fact, the verbal ruminations of one of these who inadvertently threw the cold water of reality on my simmering emotions, bringing my emotional roller coaster ride to a sliding halt! Just be sure your counselors are themselves deeply rooted and grounded in the words of God, or their own perspective will be skewed from the truth of God.

Guarding our hearts is a full time job. We must not slip in our vigilance. Guarding our emotional responses, stepping back (for objectivity) and checking our emotional “temperature”, will help keep us on track. James says that wisdom from God is “reasonable”, or easy to reason with. I’m working on all this! I want to operate in His wisdom, not my own. The outcomes are so much better!

2011-03-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

Life can sometimes seem to be a series of “hurry up and wait” periods. This has seemed like one of those times. So we loosen our grip and settle back. We cannot change some things.

Randy arrived here Tuesday, March 15, to be with me as we make hard decisions. Two days later we visited my orthopedic surgeon and he confirmed (based on the PET scan results) there is damage to the upper portion of the left femur and as a protection against fracture and to eliminate the pain in my left leg, surgery to place rods in the left femur was recommended. The choice is mine, ultimately. Though it appears there is no cancer involvement, a bone biopsy would still be done during surgery.

Randy and I had a few days to consider our response since the doctor called me the day following my PET scan, giving me the results. That was fast! The scan showed there probably was not cancer in the bone, but there is some sort of damage to the bone, most likely due to Fosamax usage for over 10 years, and surgery is recommended.

We have decided to pursue getting the surgery done as soon as possible, as unpleasant as it is to contemplate. The doctor said my healing and recovery time should be faster since there is no fracture in the left leg compared to when I had a fracture to deal with in the surgery done on my right leg. The insurance, he said, with the evidence of the tests I’ve had, should pay for the surgery.

So that is where we were a few days ago. The insurance company had to review the doctor’s notes but I received a call back from the doctor’s office saying they did approve the surgery and the date has been set for April 12.

I also need a couple of units of my own blood collected in case we need it in surgery. That will put off the surgery about 3 weeks. And the issue for us in waiting, is that Randy needs to be back in WV by early May. I will need his help in the first few weeks after coming back home from the hospital so it is going to be very close. I have my first appointment today at the Blood donor center to collect the first unit of my blood.

Please pray with us that all goes well with every aspect of the pre-surgery preparation and that Randy’s time here will be all I need before he has to fly back to WV. He was such a help and comfort to me in my last surgery and initial home recovery period. I am praying I can come straight back here to (our son’s) home after 2-3 days in hospital following surgery.

I’ve struggled through some issues again, God helping me. It is never easy when these things happen to us, when hard decisions are called for, when we face pain and unpleasantness, when life takes a turn you weren’t expecting. There is help and comfort, wisdom and guidance for us when we go to the Lord, time after time. But though He is near and able to give grace, the realities still face you and you must work through each issue as it arises. And as you know, there are never any simple issues, no easy answers! We appreciate your concern and prayers for us as we continue to seek the Lord for His direction in our lives and ministry.

So, what is going on at Mustard Seeds’ headquarters in West Virginia? Our staff is once again admirably “holding down the fort”. Teams have been there this month and they still encouraged Randy to come out and be with me. When teams are in, everyone’s work load changes. The days become longer since they have to work with the teams in the evenings as well as during the days.

In May we have summer interns arriving who must be trained for the work they will do all summer in leading teams in home repair for the needy, elderly and disabled. Even now we are still in the hiring mode to have all the interns we need for the summer work load. Lacy is busy assessing homes and lining up work which will be done by the many teams coming to WV this summer. We have many youth and adult teams as well as more and more family teams.

I continue to communicate (via email and phone) with both “booked” teams and prospective teams as we move toward the summer months. It is all quite exciting when you stop and realize the potential for good all this work represents!

And we as Mustard Seeds staff continue to prepare our hearts for true revival in McDowell County, the kind God wants. We seek Him and have open ears and hearts so that He can accomplish His will through us. Pray with us to that end. Revival must always start with the ones praying for it….

Jacque

2011-03-05T12:47:00.001-08:00

The days are warming and, in fact, Spring will officially be here in just a couple of weeks. Since arriving in southern California a few weeks ago I’ve had 7 doctor’s appointments and tests with 2 more to go next week before a 5 week hiatus with no appointments! For all these I have depended on either borrowing a son and daughter in law’s car or being driven by one of them to my appointments. I am thankful for their kind willingness to serve me in these ways. Randy plans to drive our car out here to California once again, in April, so I will have a car of our own to use.

I have my ups and downs with my legs, generally “up”. Currently I continue to be very cautious walking, especially when outdoors and on uneven ground. There is a library directly across the street from the home in which I live and it is very hard for me not to just up and walk over there! I love libraries, all the books, all the wealth of knowledge and information available. But I must consider the walk itself and my safety. I used to go on long walks all alone; now I cannot do that. Not until I have healing in these legs. I am trusting God to effect that, so that my life can move back into the area of activity I used to know.

So what do I do with my time? I have plenty to occupy myself! Among the things I do, I spend a good bit of each day on the computer in communication with teams and prospective teams for Mission as Life trips this summer, and other related aspects of it. Booking mission trips has been one of my responsibilities at Mustard Seeds and Mountains for a number of years and one which I enjoy as well. With internet access and telephone I can do this from anywhere in the world.

I often communicate with Shawna in the Mustard Seeds’ office in Elkhorn, WV. Sometimes she calls me with questions or issues related to any number of things that must be dealt with in the corporate offices of a Christian non-profit organization, and together we are able to make sure things are running properly, or I call or email her to look something up which I cannot physically do because of being here, but she can do there in the office. I call staff when they have their staff meetings so I can participate on the conference phone, one of the gadgets we also often use for Board of Directors meetings as well. Wonderful technological inventions which enable us to work together even though separated by thousands of miles.

A couple of years ago at a missions conference the hosting church Skyped a missionary couple in South Africa. So even though this couple and their children were unable to be with us in person at the conference, we all got to listen to them speak and see them on a large screen at the same time. Amazing. Good uses of technology.

Speaking of missions conferences, Randy is winding up a week in Roswell, GA, at the annual missions conference of Fellowship Bible Church. He’s called me every day (and I’m glad because we miss each other) and said it has been a good week.

He had been asked to speak to our fellow missionaries one afternoon.We are thankful for this opportunity, and for the chance to supply those missionary friends with copies of the book, Mission as Life: Making the Kingdom of God Your Family’s Passion. Hundreds of families in the church also have the opportunity to acquire the book as well. It is our prayer that God’s people will be encouraged and challenged by reading it. We are convinced this book can be a powerful tool for the advancement of God’s Kingdom. We want to see it get into the hands, and hearts, of thousands of God’s people, and not only that, but its principles and truths put into practice by thousands of families! We all are called to be faithful to carry out God’s purposes in our generation, our lifetime. We pray this book will spur many on to that goal in their lives and the lives of their children, carrying the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the next generation. (I guess I should add that you can read the Introduction to the book to get a taste of what it has to offer, and purchase a copy by going to www.missionaslife.com or www.mustardseeds.org .)

Please continue to pray for us as we look to the Lord for guidance and strength in our own lives and that of Mustard Seeds and Mountains, guiding this ministry into the years ahead. Pray for our staff back in West Virginia as they carry on with their usual work and also begin the Spring Mission as Life mission trip season, starting this Sunday, March 6; and for Randy as he lends leadership to the entire ministry. It is a big responsibility. And it holds potential for great works of the Lord and much fruit. Pray with us to that end!

Jacque

2011-02-18T13:39:00.000-08:00

I’m back in sunny southern California. I can get out of the house to sit on the porch and get into the car for travel to appointments and church and elsewhere without the assistance of another person to help Randy carry me in my wheelchair up to the car! That was the scenario at our home in West Virginia. I am back to walking, mostly unaided, but use a cane when out and when I need it in the house to take weight off my left leg. Funny (metaphorically speaking…because literally it is not funny) that my “good” leg (the left) is now the “bad” leg. So, really, I have 2 “bad” legs! But I my right leg, which broke and has a surgically placed titanium rod in it, is healing up well, according to the doctor.

I saw my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Yu, the same one who replaced Randy’s knee 3 years ago when out here, and he gave us the results of my bone scan, letting us see the actual image on the computer. There is “activity” in my left leg which indicates it is possibly healing tiny fractures and is at risk of a break, like my right leg experienced. Not a nice thought. I do not want to go through that again. Surgery to place a rod in the femur would stabilize the bone, however, insurance companies do not pay for those kinds of preventative surgeries. And having seen the claims sent to my insurance for the bills for my medical care in December, there is no way we could pay for such a surgery out of pocket.

So what are the alternatives? Being very, very careful, for one! I am also going the route of nutritional supplementation. And I am avoiding busy places with lots of people such as stores, but I still go to church on Sundays.

But first and foremost I have requested prayer for healing. God is the one who makes medicine “work”; he makes healing possible and actual. This is what the Psalmist was talking about when he wrote in Psalm 33:16-21 (parenthetical comments and emphases mine)—“The king is not saved by a mighty army (though he has one); a warrior is not delivered by great strength (though he has it). A horse is a false hope for victory (though he is used in battle); nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope for his lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in him, because we trust in his holy name.

I believe in seeking the best medical help I can find, just like the king goes to war with a strong, well trained army. But my trust, my hope is not in even the best of medical technology or skill. That in itself will not guarantee my good health. My hope is in the LORD who created us and is the Healer.

When we were in Dr. Yu’s office, the orthopedic surgeon, Randy and I having prayed beforehand for God’s wisdom for the doctor, Dr. Yu asked us to bow our heads and prayed with us for God to give him wisdom and guidance as he sought what was best for me, his patient. We knew this about Dr. Yu from when he treated Randy, and besides his great knowledge and skill as an orthopedic surgeon (he is a doctor for Olympic athletes), we have been greatly impressed with his faith in God, which is very evident, even just walking into his lovely office. There is great comfort for us knowing our doctor, one of the top in his field, humbly seeks the Lord too!

As you have probably figured out by now, my stay in California will be a long one. All this has confirmed in our minds the rightness of Randy’s initial feeling that I should come here for recuperation because it is so much safer than back at our home in West Virginia. We have no idea when my leg will improve, how long it will take. By God’s grace I will have healing and improvement so that my “bad” leg indeed becomes a “good” leg again. We both appreciate your prayers for me, for safety and healing, and for the two of us as we seek the Lord’s wisdom for all the ramifications of my condition.

Randy is back in West Virginia and I do Mustard Seeds work via computer and telephone from here in CA. We will have long periods of separation when he is in WV and I remain here, which is not pleasant for us, but necessary. We remind ourselves other servants of the Lord have suffered much worse, and do suffer worse, in their commitment to serving God and extending his kingdom on the earth. He will give us grace. Pray for us, for you strengthen us by your prayers.

God is at work in McDowell County, WV, and we were this week reminded of it by a public entity asking one of our staff members to hold prayer for and with their employees just this morning. This event served as the reminder that God wants true spiritual revival in the church in McDowell County more than we do! We just get to be a part of what he is doing. God put it into Randy’s heart to begin a prayer campaign to the end that the church would be called back to the Lord and strengthened so that they can and will reach out into their communities to those without hope, without Jesus Christ, loving them into the kingdom of God, training them up in the ways of the Lord. Pray for us and the church in McDowell County.

Jacque

2011-01-26T11:48:00.001-08:00

As God has been bringing me through the physical pain of recovery from my broken right leg and subsequent surgery, and now the danger to and pain in my left leg, He has been teaching me, going deeper into lessons learned, righting skewed perspectives, and humbling my heart for my lack of faith. How easy it is to criticize those whose stories of faith and struggle are laid bare for us to learn from! Like the account of the disciples, crossing the sea in a boat with Jesus when the great storm arose which began to sink the boat. They were scared to death they were going to drown and chided Jesus for his apparent lack of concern as they cried out for him to save them from certain death (Luke 8:22ff). We look at that and wonder how can they be so dull when they had been with Jesus as he did miracle after miracle of healing, casting out demons, even raising the dead. Jesus, after commanding the wind, calming the storm and sea, himself rebuked the men for their lack of faith in him.

This incident came to my mind just this morning. I have been acting just like those followers of Jesus. I’ve been fearful, crying out to God, focusing on myself to the point I can’t see him clearly and I begin to think he doesn’t care the way he says he does. And though I have been constantly giving my fears back to God as they raise their ugly heads, seeking his peace in exchange, I keep having the same battle over and over again. The root of my problem is lack of faith in the One who is with me “in the boat” in the storm. The One whom I have seen do miracles in the past. Am I so short sighted to forget?

This is why it is so important to give thanks in the process of laying our fears and anxieties on him (Philippians 4:6,7). Among other things, like giving God his due, by thanksgiving in prayer we refocus our attention on him and off of ourselves and our problems, even as we lay our worries at his feet, over and over again.

Being honest with God is good and right, as long as we do what the Psalmists did and that is to refocus on God and praise him for who he is and the great things he has done. Then we begin to build up our faith as we look at the immensity of God, his might which is all-mighty, and his great love and tender compassion for us proven beyond all shadow of doubt in the person and work of Jesus the Messiah. I think this is what is meant by “David encouraged himself in the Lord”. It is when we look at the great realities of God that we begin to have hope in our own circumstances.

The scriptures are full of God telling his people not to fear; God telling Moses, Joshua and the prophets; Jesus telling his disciples not to be afraid; God speaking to Paul and John not to fear, and on and on. God has been reminding me of his mantra of ‘do not fear’, and I need to take heed to it. Do not fear. Definitely a work in progress, but at least it is going on.

More than anything I want to express faith in my Lord, not doubt and fear. I wish to please him above all else. God is pleased when we have (live out) faith in him. Without it we fool ourselves, but not God, for we cannot ever please him without faith, living faith.

So I stumble on. Your prayers strengthen my feeble knees and lift up my hands which sometimes want to hang down in despair. As Amy Carmichael said so well, when God blesses, even the broken pieces are not wasted. I know I have been blessed of God. I have so much to thank God for. He will not, he is not, letting my brokenness go to waste. He will use me to fill other needs in his kingdom. I have, in fact, prayed for that very thing. May it be so.

Randy and I intend to proceed with our plans to drive to Atlanta Thursday (Jan 27) and fly out to California Saturday January 29. Another (yes, another!) winter storm is passing through the area so we are praying for wisdom and safety related to travel. The results of my bone scan done Monday wouldn’t have been available to us until Friday of this week so we are having the results sent to my doctor in California for follow up on my left leg there. I am back to using the wheelchair and walker, under the strict orders and watchful eye of my caregiver, Randy. I can’t get away with anything! He continues to be the sweetest, kindest caregiver ever. I thank God for him.

Thank you for praying for me. There is a spiritual work going on here in our county and we need your prayers for the work of God as well as for ourselves.

Jacque

2011-01-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

Be careful what you listen to. About God, what he is really like and how he works. There are the plain words of the Bible which, if we would familiarize yourselves with them and the contexts in which they were written, would give us a clearer picture of the true God. But still, thoughts sometimes come in through the back door of our minds, quietly, stealthily, and stay in the shadows of our thoughts, whispering quite effectively into our minds lies about the Person and character of God. We should not be surprised at this. We should be on our guard against these enemies. But I confess, in the midst of choosing to praise God and affirm his lovingkindness, patience, mercies, forgiveness and all such wonderful traits shown toward me, I have uncovered a nasty villain in the background, lurking and insinuating and stealing from me…peace. It’s the oldest trick around…lies about God (remember Eve and the talking serpent?). I’ve been duped.

I am terrified at the thought that I might be harboring, even if not speaking aloud, thoughts about God which are not true, just like Job’s friends did. They thought they had a corner on the truth. Theologians all. Hah! Were they wrong. And to their souls’ detriment. When I read that God was angry with them for not speaking the truth about Him, I cringe and cry out for forgiveness! I take seriously that God doesn’t stand for lies about himself, especially from those who profess to know him and serve him, even if they are confined to one's mind.

I believe God has, in the midst of my current emotional and spiritual struggles arising from the trauma of my broken right femur, opened a door of understanding in my inner being. An issue (unrelated to my current situation) which has been niggling in the background of my mind, lying all the time about the nature of God, has been exposed for what it is…a lie of the enemy. Now the fears and doubts which have been hanging on and persisting, keeping company with and emboldened by lies, are gone. Vanished and vanquished, by God’s grace and power.

Peace. It is a good way to start a new year, broken leg and all.

2010-12-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. And I am exteremly thankful to be here after 2 weeks in hospital, for surgery and then rehab hospital. It was not a bad place, just not home. There is no place like home.

Just in case you wonder why I was in a hospital for surgery and then rehab, on Wednesday, December 1, I was walking down our sidewalk to the house when my femur snapped in half and I fell, thankfully onto the grass. When I tried moving my leg the bottom half didn’t move. It was definitely broken. I knew I couldn’t crawl up the hill and cement steps, nor down to the house. I knew Wendy was expecting me to bring the car around (the reason for going to the house was to get my keys) so we could do an errand and would wonder why I was taking so long. Surely someone from the office just across the street, which I could see from my position lying on my side, would poke their head out the door and look for me….I refused to let myself panic, hunkering as best I could against the wind whipping a few snowflakes around me. The ground was cold but not yet snow covered nor frozen. As long as I didn’t move, I didn’t hurt…yet. Prayed God would send someone out of the office soon so I wouldn’t be there too long on the ground. I tried yelling, “HELP!”, several times and waved my arm. Amazing that you must use hip and leg muscles for yelling. And how quickly one’s voice gets hoarse.

Though I was scared and cold, I knew this could be much worse. I could be alone here, no one in the office, no one expecting me at any moment. I thanked God that others would soon come looking for me, that the ground and weather was not yet full blown winter, that I had gloves on, that I had a hood on my jacket which I put under my head on the ground; for so many things. It could have been so much worse.

After what we estimate was about 30 minutes, Randy came out the door of the office onto the porch. Just then I yelled and waved my arm and he yelled to those inside to call 911. I was going to be ok. Deliverance was on the way.

Everyone from the office piled out and did whatever they could to assist. I was piled high with blankets and a heating pad to keep me warm. I had begun to get seriously cold just before Randy showed up. It took another 30-40 minutes for the ambulance to arrive and needless to say I have never experienced such pain as when I had to be moved onto a stretcher for the ride to the hospital, and subsequent moves from one pallet to another in hospital. It would be several hours before I received any pain meds. But I was thankful to be rescued, for that is certainly what it was. As I said, it could have been so much worse.

After an agonizing X-ray (my femur bone, in 2 pieces, was criss-crossed), it was determined I’d have surgery the next day. In mid-afternoon Thursday I went to surgery and after a day or so transferred to the rehab hospital next door where I spent a week and a half.

Winter storms came rushing into our area with many inches of snow and single digit temps and even below zero windchill temps. Randy couldn’t even get out every day to come the 35 minutes to hospital to visit me. I was glad he was wise and stayed home in the worst of it, though I missed his company. Mountain roads can be treacherous. With this weather the prospect of getting me down through our yard into the house when I was released seemed daunting. It was of great concern to Randy. But God graciously let me be released on one of the only days we had calm weather, higher temperatures and sunshine. The roads were clear and with the help of 3 friends, who practically carried me in the little wheelchair I had, I got down the several steps in our yard and into the house with no incidents. Again, we are so thankful, so thankful.

I do not know why all this is occurring. The why's belong to God. And I know beyond a doubt (my own) that God is good. I have simply yet pointedly prayed that God make something eternally valuable out of all this. Suffering of any kind should never be wasted. God doesn’t waste anything. He knows I am His, totally abandoned to Him; to live for, love and serve Him. May He work out His eternal, righteous purposes through this brokenness of my body.

I am doing rehab on my own at home so far. We do not yet know if there is a home health company which accepts our insurance which can provide in-home rehab. But I see my orthopedic surgeon this Thursday (23^rd) so please pray all is well, that I will mend properly with no problems, that I will have no blood clots or fat embolisms which can happen with a femur fracture.

Randy has been caring for me at home, fetching and doing everything for me that I am incapable of doing for myself yet, plus running the household: laundry, cooking, dishes, cleaning, etc.

Since our home has a step into our downstairs half bath and a flight of stairs to the only shower, the yard is all incline and sidewalk steps, Randy has determined for my welfare and safety that as soon as I am ok’d to travel, I will be going back to California to live with our children for my recuperation. It will be a long road to complete recovery with incremental improvements, but by God’s grace I will improve every day. Randy assures me he sees it each day now. If you’ve been through anything like this, you know exactly what it is all about.

Thank you for your prayers for me. Please continue them, and hold Randy up as he has the extra load of work and burden of concern for me.

Grateful to God for His mercies…and friends like you. May you know more deeply this year His goodness as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and only Savior.

Jacque

2010-10-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

Baby “Heavy” Fanchi (he does have a formal name too) came for a short visit to his mom, dad, siblings and other family yesterday, October 3, 2010. We understand they had 15 minutes with him, for which they thank God, before heading right on to his final destination, his heavenly Father’s home. Of course, all here mourn his quick departure, but they were prepared ahead of time for this real possibility and have made the most of the little time allotted them with Heavy.

Thank you for praying for the Fanchi family. As you think of them in coming days, as the seasons change and express yet more wisdom of our creator God, please continue to ask our loving heavenly Father to hold them together and fill with his peace the lonely space in their lives as they grieve Heavy’s death.

Jacque

2010-09-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

Friday morning, Mustard Seeds’ staff worship, prayer and study time. As we sang songs from the songbook we’ve compiled over the years, Angie requested “Blessed be Your Name” (by Matt Redman). Sitting next to me on the settee, she leaned over and said she thought of this song as she was praying for Peter and Chelsea. Angie is very concerned for this couple and what they are going through with their as yet unborn baby, nicknamed Heavy. I had just sent an email reply to them the other day, encouraging them in their struggle. They are not alone, and not just because so many are praying for them, lightening their burden in unseen ways, but because we all have to go through “dark valleys” at some point or points in our lives, and those who have gone before us, whether yet living or not, can teach us much about struggle and faith… and the light beyond the dark valley. We only need look at their lives; they will reflect this song.

Blessed be Your Name in the land that is plentiful

Where your streams of abundance flow,

Blessed be Your Name.

And Blessed be Your Name, when I’m found in the desert place,

When I walk through the wilderness,

Blessed be Your Name.

Chorus:

Every blessing You pour out, I’ll turn back to praise,

When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say,

Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be your Name,

Blessed be the Name of the Lord, Blessed be Your glorious Name.

Blessed be Your Name, when the sun’s shining down on me,

When the world’s all as it should be,

Blessed be your name.

Blessed be Your Name on the road marked with suffering,

Though there’s pain in the offering,

Blessed be Your Name.

Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise,

When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say,

Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be your Name,

Blessed be the Name of the Lord, Blessed be Your glorious Name.

You give and take away, You give and take away,

My heart will choose to say, Blessed be Your Name.

(repeat)

I can never seem to get through that song without tears choking me silent. I have had a wonderful life, but not without suffering, fear and pain. I know, however, others have suffered so much more, to my thinking, in ways I have not. Yet our common reference point, for those of us who trust in the living God, is His grace and Presence. For those who have gone through a dark valley, and have come out into the light, they know one gets to that light by living the song, by offering the sacrifice of praise to God in the midst of pain and suffering. Because we have hope, hope in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

When my dad died I thought of him in the presence of God, having gone on before us (I always have a tinge of longing to be there too), and of all the things he was learning. How much he will be able to tell us when we get there!

Though we don’t know the “days” marked out for baby Heavy by his heavenly Father, we are pretty sure his life will be much shorter than most. Yet as I think about him, I again think of Heavy going before us, and the things he will learn from our Lord. How precious he is to the God who loved us all so much He sacrificed His son for us. How our Father will welcome this little person to His bosom! What will He teach him? What will Heavy be able to teach his family when they arrive? It is awe inspiring to me to think about it.

Baby Heavy, for whom yesterday was to be his birthing day, though he must go through a dark valley too, and will not even know to “live the song”, will soon be running and jumping and praising God, in fields of light; the Presence of the true and only God.

And through their tears his loved ones, by faith, will rejoice with him, looking to the time when we all will join him running and jumping and praising God in His Presence.

2010-09-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

Here is the continuing journey of Peter and Chelsea Fanchi, parents of 2 young children and expecting their third, nicknamed Heavy, who will not live long after birth (see my last blog). We can journey with them through prayer, and learn from them as they learn to walk their dark valley with Jesus. Chelsea wrote the following and sent it to us September 6^th:

Today was a really rough emotional day. I haven’t had one of these days since June. A WHOLE LOT OF TEARS! Everything made me sad. I pouted like a little kid. I didn’t want to be with people. I really don’t feel like I want to go through with the next few weeks.

I am afraid.

Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of being sad for a long time. Afraid of taking a whole lifetime of love and packing it into a few precious moments. Afraid of the afterward.

Peter with tears filling his eyes, gently, in his most loving way, reminded me that when Peter or Maria are in pain, or sad, our desire is to hold them until the hurt has stopped, and what a wonderful opportunity we have to do that with Heavy.

Somehow, in my emotional messiness that helped my tears to slow down and to not be quite so afraid. The future is always a bit scary, but I can get my head around moments of holding our child until they no longer hurt and then continuing to hold them.

I even think that it is a blessing that we have the opportunity to be the ones who are with our child as his breath returns back to God (Ecclesiasts 12), the One who breaths life into us all.

In the midst of our fears, we KNOW that we are not alone. This summer I had the opportunity to volunteer at Peter’s VBS at church. One of the nights a leader got dressed up at the disciple Peter and in character shared about the step of faith it took to walk to Jesus in the stormy water. The leader, could have been speaking only to me, said, you just keep you eyes only on Jesus and step, then step, then step.

That night at VBS as the elementary kids were watching the leader finish his silly Peter character skit, I was fighting back tears. Knowing that we, as God’s children, whom he fiercely loves are never forgotten.

Please pray for us as we wait and prepare for Heavy’s arrival. We are 3 ½ official weeks away and counting. (Due September 27)

On Monday August 30^th, we had our ultrasound. Dr. Landers confirmed that Heavy does have a heart defect, one that is in fact operable, but not in his case due to all of his other health complications.

We also found out that our little guy was still breech, but, we have a ROCK STAR perinatologist who flipped Heavy manually (also called, version). It kind of tickled and was really cool for Peter to see Heavy float across my belly. My abdomen felt pretty beat up the following day, but I wouldn’t trade that for a cesarean any day!

Please pray that Heavy will stay head down!

Since our last update we also completed our birth and life plan. It was strange getting in writing what we wanted and did not want for our son’s life on Earth.

Please thank God with us that we feel confident and secure with our document. We know that God has helped us to create a peaceful plan for Heavy.

With Love,

The Fanchi Family