04.26.2007

Romans 12:21
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Psalm 43:3
Send forth Your light and Your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You dwell.

Psalm 52:9
I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of the saints.

Hello everyone,

This past week and a half has been an interesting and busy time for me. It’s been over a week since the happenings at Virginia Tech, and my prayers continue to be with those affected by the tragedy. The rest of that week left me down trodden about the loss of life, not just at VT but in all the places in the world (including the city in which I live) where senseless violence occurs. I found myself in an interesting paradox, being frustrated with the violence that exists in the world and also knowing that there is a God in heaven that loves us. I don’t know why God allows certain things to happen the way they do, I just know that He doesn’t turn a blind eye to them. I had begun to be gripped by worry while trying to cling to the promises of God. When I find myself in that spot, where what I know and what I see collide, it hurts. I want to have faith with all that I have and it’s a fight to do that when the weight of the world seems to be dragging me down. I actually ended up crying in front of a friend in the middle of a coffee shop, and it was pretty embarrassing. However, as embarrassing as it was, it was also deeply needed.

Thankfully since that crying moment, the Lord has done some pretty awesome things to encourage me and see Him working in my life and in the lives of others. I pray that He has been working similarly in your own life through whatever it is you have been wrestling with (VT, personal/family life, etc). God is good. Through Psalms, the writers (especially David) continually speak about the troubles going on in the world around them or in their own lives; it would seem commonplace that they end on a note of praising God’s goodness or professing to trust in Him. God hears our cries against injustice and violence; He hears our cries when we are confused. He hears when we hurt and we’re angry about what is happening. God is a God who hears and sees, even though sometimes – perhaps more often than not – it doesn’t seem like it.

I pray that each of us are enabled by the Spirit to cling to truth and to what is good, although still acknowledging the terrible things that do happen in our world. I pray that we would not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good and faith and hope. May each of us express ourselves to God openly and honestly, in whatever anger, sorrow, confusion, joy, or praise that we feel. I ask that the Lord assure us that He hears us and is continuing to work in the world around us, in the lives of others, and in us.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne


P.S. Since I'm in the habit of doing this sometimes, I wanted to share a poem that I wrote in response to VT and all the senseless violence in the world...

"The Blood of Abel"


Unsettled and uneasy with heavy shoulders,
and graying out my sense of color,
this weight lingers just above me.
I struggle to decipher what I see
and what I know.
The underbelly of a beast
feels the ground protesting its feast,
where Abel cries out, desperate to be heard;
the seed of his life stolen by cruel birds.

All men suffer and all men die,
but this? this grips me inside
like tendrils loose enough to give me room,
yet entrapping me with a sense of gloom.
Is what we reap really what we sow?
I smell blood and death
yet know of glory's bredth-
This paradox arrests my thoughts;
is frustration all but naught?

In quiet buildings and classroom halls,
colors hide in corners, afraid of the Fall.
The sounds break silence and cut through more:
life doesn't soak into tile floors,
nor retreat its flow.
How long, O Lord,
must they die by the sword?
How long must time repeat the terrible?
I cannot stand the story of Abel.

Blood pleads, thick and drawing near,
"Why weren't you here?"
Why are there children of Cain?
When will you restore the slain?
Yet you do know.
This did not all go on unseen,
they aren't left alone, in need.
Help us to wait, O Lord,
for our hearts to be restored.

YB 07 4 18

04.16.2007

Colossians 2:6,7
… just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 37:4-6
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Hello everyone-

I hope that you had a good week, and that you were able to learn a lot from our Lord through the different circumstances in your life right now.

Closer to the end of last week, God showed me how incredible He is in providing for me and keeping His hand over me. The story is difficult to fully explain in an email, but basically I had gotten into a car accident. I am fine, and amazingly so is my van; however, it could have been ugly, if I had seen the wrecked car jack-knifed in the left lane any later than I did. I didn’t see it until I was practically on top of it, because no flares had been set out yet. God truly kept me safe that morning (4AM, and rainy and misty), and as I continue to think about it I am full of gratitude that God is who He says He is. On and off during the week I’d been struggling with worry about how finances were coming for my ministry and the prospect of moving in the next few months, and this minor accident was a reminder that God is going to take care of me. He’s going to take care of you. All of us who profess Jesus Christ are loved and cared for by God the Father. Although He will permit a lot of things to happen in our lives that we don’t understand, He is still there caring for and protecting us and providing for us. Perhaps He is doing all these things in ways we don’t see because we are so worried about our current situation, which acts as a barrier in our trusting Him.
I think that sometimes God takes action and provides at, what we think, is the last possible minute. In relation to my accident, I didn’t even see the other car until it was almost too late – but, I did see it. God provided in “just the nick of time” so that the damage dealt was minimal and the only thing I suffered was fright. In some situations in our lives, we are so impatient and eager to receive what it is that we’re waiting for God to give us that it seems like we don’t receive it until “the last possible minute.” Think of all the countless examples of missionaries not having enough money to go on their trip until a week before the date they need it. I heard one story in which God provided a missionary with nearly all of their funds in one day, the day before it all needed to be raised.
There are other stories, some found in the Bible, when it seems like it’s too late. In Luke 11, when Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the dead, Martha said to Him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” You can almost hear the pain in her voice, because Martha had sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick days before. But Jesus waited so that God could be glorified; He came and met the request, just not when Mary or Martha had expected. I would have to think that He operates in much the same way in our own lives. I can only hope I can remember this the next time I’m tempted to worry.

I pray that in each of our lives, whatever it is that we are impatient or worrying about would be overshadowed by the promise that God is going to provide for us. I pray that we would learn how to wait on Him and that by the Holy Spirit we would be stretched and strengthened in the times we are tempted. I pray we also come to cherish God’s promises in our hearts, clinging to them despite opposition or whatever current situations we find ourselves in. May we cling to Christ and be rooted in Him always.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

04.05.2007

Romans 5:6, 8-11
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. … But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Hello friends,

How are you all? How has Holy Week been? For those of you who practice Lent, I hope that you have been able to focus your thoughts on the Lord rather than on the things you’ve chosen to fast from. Resurrection Sunday – Easter – is just around the corner… only a few days from now. There have been a lot of things that I wanted to share with you about art and other such related things, but it doesn’t seem fitting to draw your attention away from the season.
Easter is one of those holidays that I’ve celebrated all of my life however I’ve only been a Christian for about five and a half years. The rest of my years I celebrated it just like any other holiday, and hadn’t the slightest inkling of celebrating it because of Christ. But now that I know who Christ is and have a relationship with Him, what a glorious day to throw our hands up in jubilation! I’ve been reading through the end of Matthew to follow the teaching and days before Christ’s crucifixion, and today I read through Gethsemane and Jesus’ arrest.
It truly is amazing that the Son of God would allow Himself to be captured as an innocent man, and say nothing before His accusers. The One who had no sin was given to the hands of men to suffer for the sins of the past, present, and future… We by nature are separated from God and have no way to get to Him, and Christ put in the bridge so that we could have a relationship with God. What is more is that although the Cross is glorious because it is a symbol of the undeserved gift God offered us through the suffering of Christ, it is important to remember – as Easter reminds us – that the Cross is an empty cross. Jesus did not remain dead and entombed, but rather He came to life and is living today at ‘the right hand of the Father.’ He lives and intercedes for us, and we will one day see Him face to face. His resurrection to life is His victory over death – and in Him, we too have victory over death in the end.
The suffering and the resurrection of Christ go hand in hand, and without one or the other our salvation would not be complete. How beautiful it is that God works it out in this way! What an amazing message of hope that we have in our Savior. Praises be unto the Lord for His mercy.

Although Easter is an amazing time to remind us of the goodness of God, and an awesome time to share with others His goodness, I earnestly pray that this essential fact is something we always remember throughout the entire year. May it be something we live and breathe by, always praising God and rejoicing in our salvation. I pray that your time with family and friends will be joyful, even if those you celebrate with do not know Christ. I pray for their hearts, that they would see in you some light of Him who saved you, and that you would be praying in your hearts for them.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend. Praise the Lord!
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne