Laboratory of light

Inside the room of knowing lives Light.
Swirling, dripping, stirring Light.
The Light lives, and we watch
That we might be full of knowing.

It is the essence of what formed us.
It is the essence of Him who formed us.
For God is light and in Him there is no darkness.
And in the laboratory tucked away somewhere
Deep in the Kingdom, all you will see is Light,
Dancing, spinning, whirling.

Watch it, test it, dissect it.
Touch it, taste it, weigh it.
Know it intimately.
Wonder at its limitlessness,
At its agility, at its affection
And emotions,
Breaking through the confines of science.

Where experimentation meets imagination,
And imagination sets the protocol for reality.

This was written in response to a vision God gave me of a room in heaven behind a round door. Inside the room was what looked like a science lab, but everywhere, in everything was this liquid light. It sat in the beakers, it dripped from those drippy things, it spun through tubes. It was mysterious and beautiful, and then God handed me a key to the room. Spirit of wisdom and revelation, Papa. Oh how I love these mysteries…

The Coin Game

Sooo… Some of the ministry students at Bethel started playing this “coin game” thing a few weeks ago where they would ask the Holy Spirit to hold a coin to the wall. Just an exercise of faith and fun. When the coins began to stick to the walls, they, of course, were pretty excited.

So this little game has been spreading throughout the church as people would just give it a try. We were sitting around the table talking about it one night and thought it was all good fun. Amanda and I came back from a service to find Shawna and Kristy laughing in Shawna’s room watching this video they made earlier. Turns out they played the game…and coins started sticking to our walls and ceilings.

After seeing the video, I was pumped, cause if it worked for them, why not me? I grabbed a handful of coins, and started putting them on the wall, just one after the other, believing at some point, honestly, they’d have to stick. I’d ask the Holy Spirit to please hold the coin to the wall…and then after a few minutes…a coin stuck…just for a few seconds, but long enough to defy gravity and completely delight my spirit. So I kept going. Soon the coins were sticking for minutes instead of seconds and we even had a coin stay on our wall over 24 hours. This sounds crazy, I know. But there was actually a point when you just knew the coin would stick, like you could feel something connect.

God uses the foolish to confound the wise, and silly games to delight his children. Our new friend Karissa came over and we were telling her the testimony and told her give it a try…and then her coin stuck. She told her mom over the phone, and it worked for her mom too!

Explanation? I dunno. Here’s where you would expect a good sound theological reason for all of this, but I don’t have one. This I know about our Father – He’s fun, likes to play, and often silly. He is full of mystery, and His ways are beyond our understanding. Sometimes, I think He really does just want us to enter into His Kingdom like a child. And His Kingdom is without limitation – even by our imaginations….
One thing’s for sure…my faith in His ability to do immeasurable more than I could hope or imagine has grown leaps and bounds just from seeing a silly coin stick to a wall.

Here’s a link to Karissa’s video, it’s on facebook, so I’m not sure if you will be able to see it:
Karissa plays the coin game

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Tis the Season

I always love Christmas. It always means family time. I love family time.
With Amanda’s great leadership our Redding home turned into a little Christmas cottage with fun lights and hand-me-down tree and ornaments. No snow for us here in Redding, just rain. But, the rain was kind enough to lace the surrounding mountains with beautiful snow tops.

I spent my time off from work and school down in Houston with all of my family. ALL. This has never happened in my whole life, having our whole family present. It was a wonderful treat. My grandfather hosted a delightful dinner for the tribe at his rehab hospital. I got a wonderful and much needed chair massage from my sweet cousin, Karen. And we all enjoyed time with Noah and Anna, the now very mobile niece and nephew. My favorite times remained the moments lingering around the breakfast table, laughing. And prayer time with mom and my sister. Oh, and I taught my niece the word “dance”. That was very fulfilling, you know, like all my teaching classes are paying off ;o).

Hold my family in your hands, Papa, til we meet again.

The dance of trust

In the midst of life, there comes a time where you must stretch forth your arms, and entrust them to the faithful hands of a great Dancer. You must lay aside the proposed journey of a tango, the dream of a charleston, or the wonder of a waltz, forsaking the steps you seemed so determined to keep, and simply dance with the King.

You must go beyond the awkward and traipse through the fear to partake in a dance that has never been unveiled. You must trust in the Eyes that lead you and the Hands that guide you as you spin and twirl and float across the dance floor. Knowing and trusting in the beauty and mystery of a voyage which has no learned steps. For there is only one who knows the way to dance through time and space, allowing each movement to move His Kingdom and His heart.

There comes a time when you must stretch forth you arms and trust the One who leads you. You must trust Him to guide you. You must trust Him to hold you. You must trust Him. For He is good and He is your friend.

And try not to look at your own two feet.

Holiday Feast

A couple of years ago I while I was meandering through the book of Luke I came across this passage in chapter 14…

“When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Vs. 12-14

I paused and just sat there dreaming of such a banquet. I wondered what it might look like in Cairo to have such a meal, and so I started to write a list of what I would want it to look like if we hosted a Luke 14 banquet in Cairo…here was the list I wrote…

A Christmas banquet to love on the “poor, crippled, lame, blind, etc.”

-a sit down banquet where the guests would be served at their tables. 3 courses.
-inviting people off the streets to come to the center
-partnering with pastors from pastor’s prayer and their congregations to love and serve ont his congregation
-to give away extra food, blankets, scarves, hats, warm clothing/ xmas gifts to guests.
- table prayer ministry – to pray for those at each table
-invite musicians to play background music, essentially praying over those who come through music.
-a prayer/needs card to help connect the individuals with needs they may have (housing/jobs/education, etc.)
-to encourage them with the message of the love God has for them, of value/worth and calling
-to repent and ask for forgiveness to this population for the ways the church has not been Christ to them
-to ask them to pray for the church, for us, to be ones who would stand beside them, and that we would be more like Jesus to those around us

Members of the churches would help cook meals, walk the streets and invite those they come across, and serve at the banquet, also provide music, they could also help with banquet decorations – make the place look fit for a “king”, give those we serve the best we have – table cloths, table settings, sparkling cider, chocolate truffles, etc.

Pray that God would use it as a night to bring deliverance and freedom.

For whatever reason I never felt released to launch this idea in Cairo, so I’ve just sat on it for a while, dreaming of a day when I would get to be a part of one. And today. I was. In fact, it was as if someone stole my list and set up a whole feast based on this little dream. God’s good like that. He’s sneaky and knows those things we dream up in the secret place.

So today Amanda and I hosted tables at the 14th annual Bethel Holiday Feast. It is a Luke 14 banquet, for sure. The church is all decorated, our church family host and decorate tables with their finest dishes and we invite and bus in homeless, poor, and in need people from our community, to wine and dine and bless them. As a host, you decorate your table and sit and have a meal with folks at your table. You are treated to a 3 course meal (note my list above!) served to you by other wonderful church family, amazing live background music, powerful drama, dance, a call to come to the love of Christ and opportunities to pray for those at your table. Afterwards our guests were able to go pick out some free new clothes from our clothes drive, and the kids had a chance to have photos with Santa and receive a stocking full of goodies. We had over 800 guests attend the banquet! A dream come true.

Bethel was beautiful today. I had the amazing opportunity to have lunch with 6 wonderful individuals, 3 of whom prayed for Jesus to be their Lord today. What a great opportunity the Lord has given me to love…

Sorry, some of my pictures were fuzzy, and I didn’t get any detail shots of my super cute plates…but you get the idea…

Amanda and Jackie pose by Jackie’s table.

Amanda’s table

A few of my new friends.

The little girl who sat down at my table, her name is Destiny. I kind of like that, when you dream with God, as He fulfills the desires of your heart, sometimes Destiny comes right up and sits at your table ;o).

The Embrace

When I imagine the horizon on Golgotha that day it unnerves me. Three crosses stand there, surrounded by a mob of people who yell and spit and taunt the victims. Such a death is like a fantasy. It seems so unreal that a person could do that to another person. But what if I really had been there? What if I had nailed that man’s pummeled body onto those planks of wood, with no remorse? What if I had looked at that man they called, “King of the Jews” with disgust because…I don’t even know why…why did I hate him? Who had told me to hate him? Why had I believed them? Yet there I stand, writhing in hatred for a man whose blood waters that “place of the skull”. And I leave, and he is but a faint memory, never to taunt my thought again. We were rid of him. A faint memory.

Just outside Bethany. He stands before me and my knees buckle. It can’t be. Truly this is the greater fantasy – the image that stands before me now. How could this….? I have no words. But I know he is there. I know it is truly him, the man I yelled at, the man I spat at. He smiles at me. How can he smile at me? How can he look at me with those eyes that seem to say come closer, I want you to be near me? It’s true. All that he said is true. I don’t have enough tears to express my sorrow- and my joy. “ I’m sorry that I ….Jesus, forgive me for I…can we just forget how I…help me, I have no words.” And then he walks towards me and reaches out his arms, and I am enveloped in them as my tears stream down his shoulder. I tremble with tears, and he holds me tighter.
“Forgive me,” I utter through my tears. “I do not deserve this embrace.” And he looks down into my face, smiling still, “I died for this embrace.”

I wrote the above snippet years ago, while in college. I came across it again just recently, and pondered anew, the gift of Christ. His great love…while we were yet sinners, he hung with anticipation of the moment we would turn to Him and see Him for who He truly is. Savior. Father. Friend.

Master’s Touch

He bends and lifts over his turn wheel carefully orchestrating the shape and form of the new creation. He loves the process of creation. He molds and shapes us with water and care. Ever dreaming of our purpose and sculpting us with this intent. And then, when all is finished at the end of the spinning wheel, he carefully picks us up and places us lovingly in the fire. Not for destruction, but to make all of His intricate loving touches, permanent in us. For He is proud of His work.

Where to begin…really…

So…fall. This may be a very long blog…just warning you.

I’ve now officially called California home for about 3 months. It feels honestly like twice as long from the sheer fact that I started school, work, and life and haven’t stopped since. The rhythm of life is very different than Cairo and I’m starting to get into the swing of things now! The past few months have been full of fun surprises, readjusting, and learning much from the Lord. I have to say as much as the pace of life has left little time for stopping to smell the roses, I am enjoying life in the mountains, beautiful fall weather, meeting wonderful new people, and just meeting with Jesus here.

Reunions.
Labor day weekend I had the pleasure of flying down to Flagstaff, Arizona to be with my best friend from high school, Whitney and her family! We were celebrating our 10 year high school reunion…I’m not sure how that happened that 10 years have passed, but somehow, it sneakily did. Though I was the only one of our high school clan who could make it, I was richly blessed to spend time with Whitney. I love her family, and it was so much fun just to be there and watch them in action. I love being with families, it’s good for my soul. She treated me to my first sushi experience (yum!) and a movie. We were able to just chat and rest and just be. Wonderful. I’m excited how living in the west now will provide more opportunities to see the Gobles!

Grandmas.

Not long after arriving here in Redding we went to a meeting about the healing rooms at our church and how to get involved. We sat down next to this wonderful older woman who by the end of the night had invited us over to her home for dinner and a Bible study. We now venture over to Grandma Phyllis’ every other week for a homemade dinner and Beth Moore’s Breaking Free Bible study. What a blessing to have been adopted by a grandma from the church! I love grandmas.

Work.

I was very blessed to get a job so soon upon moving here, it’s only part time, but good experience. I work at a local school, that is three years old, and rather small. Many of the classes are combined (several grades together), which I actually like; it reminds me of life in Colombia when all the expat kids were together in one class. I loved that, and I love seeing the camaraderie amongst the students here because they all know each other. I work as a teacher’s aide, so I bounce from classroom to classroom just helping out. I also monitor lunch and recess, which I actually really love. It provides much time to get to know the kids. I get to gaze at the beautiful mountains during recess, which is lovely. The faculty are all great to work with, and there are even a few who go to my church, so it’s nice to have different kinds of connections to people. The Lord has been teaching me so much just spending time with these kids…which I will elaborate on in another blog, so stay tuned. One of the highlights (and challenges) this first trimester was teaching the jr. high kids guitar in their music class. I was roped into teaching their music elective when I mentioned I played guitar during my interview… I’ve never taught a whole class guitar, and since I really don’t know squat about music theory, it was quite challenging figuring out how to teach a whole class full of kids, who weren’t always that interested. But they all survived and the Lord gave me some great ideas in the midst of it, and a chance to keep playing guitar…which was probably His intention. Another highlight was going on the all-school field trip hiking on a Friday…every school should do this ;o). I went with the jr. high kids on the long hike and had a wonderful time checking out Castle Crags, just north of Redding.

School.

This semester I’ve been taking two teaching classes. They meet once a week each, each for 4 hours in the evening. In addition to the evening classes we are required to observe 30 hours in local schools here in Redding and teach 4 lessons in those schools over the course of the semester. It’s a steep load, even with just 2 classes. But my professor (I have her for both classes) is wonderful, and taking classes with people in all stages of life is rather wonderful. I really love the other students in my class, and the atmosphere of learning is positive, encouraging, and even fun. We’ve had great guest speakers come and lead us in drama classes, PE, math classes, etc. giving us tons of ideas to use in classes. I’m really pleased with Simpson. I will have one more semester of classes after Christmas, and then will student teach next Fall.

Wheels.

After our van began to struggle yet again, and knowing how much I needed to get around town and to various schools and work, I bought a car off of ebay. It was a great deal, and I’m so excited to have purchased my very first car ever. “Scribe” is a 2005 Honda Civic. We must be Californian now with Scribe’s Cali plates and my California driver’s license. Crazy.

love and covenant.

In October, Kristy, Amanda and I had the great pleasure of traveling back to Cairo for Jesse and Stacy’s wedding. It was sooo beautiful! I loved getting to see the spiritual family again, even for a little while. Just to be some place familiar, was refreshing, honestly. It was an honor to be there and celebrate their marriage, to see so many of our friends and ministry partners come together for such a special day. After so many years of praying and gathering at St. Mary’s park, I believe their wedding was a powerful event in Cairo, and the ceremony itself was simply awesome. The newlyweds are happily established in their new home in Cairo, and we continue to celebrate God’s goodness in their lives!

Fall.

We hosted a little fall festival at our “farm”, which we have named “Shiloh Farm”. We invited some church friends over to have yummy pumpkin goodies, carve pumpkins and enjoy a wonderful bonfire with hotdogs and smores. The evening was wonderful! Though it was a fairly small gathering, we still had 5 nations represented…Brazil, New Zealand, Scotland, Canada, and the US, of course ;o). We laughed well into the early morning just enjoying the dwindling fire.

Last weekend my roomies and I ventured out to spend time together and see some beautiful sights north of the city…the lure of the moutains. We stopped at exit 707 and found a sweet little hidden beauty spot. Then we headed up to Mt. Shasta, caught a delightful craft fair, and then tracked down a beautiful waterfall just east of Mt. Shasta where we caught an inspiring sunset.

We’re keeping busy, for sure here in Redding. The highlight of it all, honestly has been spending time with the Lord here, and all our conversations as I come and go throughout all I have going on. He is extending grace in the busyness to still find time for Him, to abide in Him, to just be with Him.

Stay tuned for more updates on what God is doing in my life and my very exciting book writing class. Get ready…I’ll be in print in 2010. ). It’s coming….

HEALED – After 30 Years of MS (Multiple Sclerosis)

This happened on October 31, 2009 in the healing rooms at Bethel Church. This was quite the hot topic this morning at church! Our church hosts healing rooms every Saturday, a time for people to come and receive prayer for healing. There has been a lot of powerful testimonies of God healing stage 4 cancer, bi polar, deaf, blind, you name it. This is what happened yesterday!! May God encourage you through this!

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You are faithful O God.

The journey from Cairo to Redding was full of the faithfulness of God!

God sold our house in Cairo in a day. Kristy put an ad up on Craigslist, and the new tenants came, saw, and decided to buy it. This truly is an act of God – selling a house is hard in this nation right now, in Cairo it’s almost downright impossible, truly. We know this was the Lord’s hand in providing for us in the transition – AND Kristy received what she asked on the house, praise God!

God provided gas money for the three of us heading out to Cali through the kind and generous gift of a wonderful brother in Christ! Thank you – you know who you are!!

We were able to stay with a woman in Redding for the first week, and were so blessed to know her and encourage her. We spent 3 days looking at houses. We found one that we all really liked – a small farm house. When the owner showed up to show us around the house, we asked him about pets, and his immediate response was, “nope, this isn’t going to work for you, we’ve replaced the carpets twice before because of pets.” We all were a little bummed by the comment, but we decided to take a look none the less. As we walked around the inside, we really liked it, Kristy encouraged us that there are sometimes ways to work around situations – especially with pets, to be able to put down a bigger deposit or such. When we walked into the kitchen, it was as if the Lord had just blown down on us, because the owner had a change of heart. He offered that maybe there was something we could work out with the dogs, and just to talk to his wife about it.

When we went into the office to get the application, his wife told us that her husband (the owner) really liked us, and they had been waiting for the right people to rent to, as she handed us the apps, she said, “This property is very popular, so hear me out, get these back asap, okay?” God’s favor. Thanks you, Jesus! And so, within about 5 days of landing in Redding, we had keys to our new home!

Week two in Redding…
I’d been praying that God would connect me to other writers and so week two, I had the opportunity to go to a fellowship time for Children’s Writers at Bethel…it was wonderful! I’m excited for upcoming times to fellowship and share stories, we’re even having a Christmas party to read our stories to kids!

Attended Orientation for the teaching program at Simpson and was blessed to meet some of the other students.

Applied for and got a part-time job at a local school here working as a teacher’s aide!

The Lord has certainly been faithful in meeting us here, providing all we need and helping us get settled! Nothing is impossible with Christ!