5 things i am thankful for today

5 things i am thankful for today

1. my parents.  really, i could write a really long list of the things they have done for me and how they have been there for me over the past 31 years, but that would take several blog posts to adequately describe.  i am just thankful to have such amazing, generous, God-fearing, loving people as the ones God chose to be my parents.  they are great advice givers.  they would give you the shirt off their own back they are so generous.  they have me and my siblings families over every sunday for lunch for the past forever amount of weeks... buying all of us and our kids food every week.  buying food for my growing boys is an amazing thing in and of itself.  they are fun to hang out with.  they have taught me so much about the Lord both in the way they live and by instructing me and giving really good advice.  they are really amazing grandparents to my kids and nieces and nephews.  i don't like to ask them for help often because i know they would literally give to me so much that they would make sure i had enough even if that meant they did not have enough... i hope i can be just like them in their generosity.

2.  music.  i am not talking about the generic term music, but i am specifically talking about the degree i have in music and the skills my parents sowed into by years of paying for private lessons for me to be able to now teach private piano lessons.  music has been an amazing way to supplement our missionary income and because i have both skill and a degree to back it up, it pays really well an hour so i don't have to work very much with 4 kids and one being a newborn to make some supplemental cash.  it has been such a blessing in our lives.

3. an exersaucer.  it is a baby toy gym kinda thing and let me tell you it is priceless.  i know they are pricey up front, but it is one investment/gift idea i have told new moms that will get plenty of mileage out of.  my kids have all loved being about to stand before they are able to stand and play with all the fun toys around the circle.  the exersaucer is how i am able to blog right now.

4. my piano.  it was given to me by the husband of my childhood choir director who died of cancer about 10 years ago.  this is a beautiful piano.  it is a turn of the century upright baldwin which is both a beautiful instrument and piece of furniture.  it has brought much music and joy into my home.  thank you patty!  you are loved and missed and appreciated every time someone sits down to play your beautiful piano.

5. holidays.  life is so busy and with 4 little boys running around and keeping me up at night, it is seldom that i slow down from the busy pace of life to just enjoy all that has been given to me by God.  i love the occasions to enjoy family, the food He has provided, the change of seasons, and take the time to really reflect of all we have to be thankful for.

what are you thankful for today?  i would love to hear the ways God has blessed your life below.

charis

what i have been reading

here are links to some of the sites that i have been reading lately.  i want to try to make this a semi-regular type of post on my blog.  enjoy!  let me know which you found helpful and interesting!

laughing when it's not funny : randy bohlender

8 handmade and homemade gift ideas : simple organic

m1p - a new blog for a growing movement : my one pursuit 

why social media is a better investment than seo : problogger

 

 charis

so... what is it that we do?

i recently realized that as i write on here and my audience of readers has expanded to many people i have never actually met in person, many of you reading may not know what it is that my husband and i do.  the reason i think it would be important to even know is it is a context for a lot that i think about and write about.


so... what is it that we do?

my husband and i are overseers (would that be the right title?) of a house of prayer that is starting in redding and that is connected to bethel church.  the vision of the ministry is to serve the entire city of redding.  being a part of  bethel church, we have bethel as our main covering and have our prayer meetings in a room on their campus.  right now we have 16 hours of prayer meetings, but overseeing the building of a community dedicated to prayer, worship, and intercession is a very full-time job.  we have found, at least to my surprise, it to be a lot of administration and a lot of pastoring of people.  we have monthly teaching meetings with our staff, monthly intro meetings for people who are wanting to get involved, worship practices, leader meetings, and home groups we oversee, as well as the counseling and pastoring that comes in one on one sessions too.


the house of prayer here is called the watch of the Lord.  we affectionately refer to it as "the watch" and are considering transitioning it to that as the main name of the ministry.  do we have a website?  yes and no.  we have one at this point for our team, but not one open to the public at this point.  did i ever even think of needing to develop things like a website when we dove into this ministry?  absolutely not!  (my husband, the one who sees more of the needed details of structure i am sure saw this and many other things as needed parts of our "job.")   however, our house of prayer is similar in general style to the house of prayer in kansas city called ihop.  check it out and you will have a little bit of an idea of what we do, but they do it on a much much larger scale.


why a house of prayer?  what is a house of prayer?

well, simply put, it is an earthly model of the unceasing worship and intercession around the throne in heaven.  it is also based upon the model of the tabernacle that king david established during his reign, where 4000 musicians and 288 singers ministered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to the presence of God bringing both songs of adoration and petitions before Him for justice on the earth.  it is also rooted in the passage in luke 18 about speedy justice when there is night and day prayer.  you know it... the parable of the persistent widow:

now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?
"i tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. however, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"
luke 18:7-8 

so i know you are all wondering... how do we feed the kids?

by our own choice, our income is based solely on support, similar to a missionary.  (we do supplement with a few private music lessons we each teach one afternoon a week.)  some have even coined the term "intercessory missionary."

why do we do this?

well, for one we would like to be a blessing and not a burden to the body of Christ in our region.  second, we know full well by the amount of work it is already taking to build the house of prayer that it isn't a job that can be done by one or two salaried positions.  it takes a lot of people, just like in the days of king david, to staff a 24/7 gig!  third, we believe this is real, we believe the Lord is doing this all over the earth, and we realized at the beginning that we could be an example to many many others who feel night and day ministry to the Lord is their full-time calling.

...if we can do it, surely they can do it! (family of 6 now, remember.) 

we have found the dynamics to be very similar to when both moses and david received the heavenly vision to establish on earth what they saw happening in heaven.  they would cast the vision and some people's hearts were stirred.  these people built the house of prayer in their generation.  have you ever wondered why God gave all the gold and silver from egypt during the exodus to the people and not simply to moses or aaron?  He doesn't just want a job done.  He wants the hearts of His people connected to it.  this is why money plays such a dynamic role in our relationship with God.  Jesus even said in the Sermon on the Mount:

for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
matthew 6:21

it's a team ministry

some will be called to give their time for the mission, others may be called to an administrative role, and then there will be those who fund it.  all three receive the same reward when it is all said in done because all three joined their hearts with the Lord to see His vision accomplished.  in the Bible, it is extremely rare to find a situation where it was 1 man called to accomplish the mission.  God is into teams.  why?  because He is into people being connected with one another and loving one another.


so, this is what we do.  

this is what helps shape my perspective and the context in which i blog.  you are welcome to ask questions and, if you heart is so stirred, to join with us in one of the 3 parts of the team we are building to build the house of prayer here.

the road to how God led us here is for another post, another day.  

charis

simple woman's daybook 11.1.10

 

 

for today:

outside my window... is sun!  after a week of gray skies and lots of rain, i welcome the blue sky and temperatures in the 70's back.  what a great start to november.

i am thinking...about the fact that there are less than 8 weeks until christmas.  yikes!  i know that we have entered the season that seems to be the fastest time of the year.  

i am thankful for... the sunshine.  i am hoping to get some good outdoor time today and enjoy the fresh air.


remembering... to stay present, take life one day at a time, and not get overwhelmed by the big picture.  sure, planning and goals are good, but sometimes it is just necessary to not look too far ahead and purpose to be present.  

from the learning rooms...life seems to be full of learning. one of our teams at our house of prayer, the watch of the Lord, is starting an intense study of the book of isaiah using commentaries and all.  it is a bit intimidating for this busy mommy of 4, but i am so excited for what i will learn.  makes me feel like i am in college again.  

from the kitchen...i am feeling like i am in need of some new ideas for my weekly meal planning.  any suggestions that you have been enjoying?  i would love your ideas.

i am wearing... jeans... every time i write this it seems i am wearing jeans.  probably the same pair of jeans too.

i am creating...and yet, there are so many more things i would love to be working on than i am right now.  sometimes i wonder if i will ever get back into painting again.  oh, how i miss it!

i am going... to celebrate my nana's birthday tonight.  i love my nana.  she is an amazing woman who is constant, loving, funny, beautiful, and generous!  happy birthday yesterday nana!

i am reading...still in the book of deuteronomy in my Bible reading challenge, but i am almost finished with it.  i have made up some ground for the days i got behind!  deuteronomy is such a great read that it was easy to want to read more and catch up to where i should be to finish my goal on time.  can you believe i have already read almost 18% of the Bible and i am still in the 5th of 66 books?  that just amazes me!

i am hoping... that i am not getting sick.  i have that itching in the back of my throat and sinus drainage that either is telling me i am having allergies or fighting off something.  

i am hearing... my number 1 son talk to my mom on the phone.  now i am hearing my mom talk to me on the phone.  hi mom!

around the house... i don't even want to talk about it, i mean write about it.  seriously.  so glad you cannot see it right now.

  
one of my favorite things... are baby feet.  awwww.  if you haven't rubbed the bottom of a new baby's foot, you just have to try it.  they are so soft and completely free on callouses.  they are amazing.  addicting really.


pondering... some stuff i was studying today in the first chapter of the book of isaiah.  wow.  i think i am going to have to chew on it for a while before i can communicate it.  let me just tell you that this is going to be a great study and i am so glad we are doing it with our watch of the Lord team!

a few plans for the rest of the week: well, we will see.  a parent teacher conference with my number 1 son's teacher, teaching piano lessons tomorrow, some good house of prayer time, crocheting, and on and on.  oh, yeah, and working on this disaster of a house.  how does it fall apart so quickly and take so long to put back together?

picture for the day:

 myriah grubbs photography

my baby's toes... when he was much smaller than he is now though not that much younger really.

more of the simple woman's daybook.  

please feel free to add a link in the comments below to your own simple woman's (or man's) daybook as well as link up at the link above.  i would love to read yours as well! 

charis