Beware of the fool

April Fool's Day

Even though I feel like it sometimes, no, I was not named after this holiday. You might be wondering what brought this up because it is the end of February.

I was reading in Proverbs 26 today and I began to reflect on just how many times I have allowed myself to "Answer a fool according to his folly,..." v.5a.

You may know what I am talking about. Someone is being foolish in their actions towards you or maybe towards someone else you love and without hesitation  you respond in the flesh. While, justifying it within your self of course. 

I am the first to admit how foolish I have been over the years, just bursting out with comments and being critical. It just upsets me so when people I know and love don't stand up when they didn't do anything wrong and are being abused or taken advantage of by the fools of this world.

As I look back on many of those situations I can see how they were not giving the fool what he wanted. I am also more aware of how many times I have.  

The prayer I have today for myself and for all of you, is that God would make clear the fool and his folly. That we may honour God with the way we handle the events that unfold in our lives. 

God help us all to be a better withness to the people around us.

The big wheel

This looks like a ride you might find at a fair in the states with a couple of differences, it is about 3 times the size and 1/2 the speed. The car or unit you board will set six and is completely enclosed. I am not normally afraid of heights, although when we got to the top and they stopped the wheel I have to admit I was nervous. I sure was glad I had Stephen up there with me.

We enjoyed the view, as we looked out onto the city of Belfast and it's over 300,000 people. As the city lights stretched out as far as the eye could see. It reminded us so such much of Arequipa, when we would go to the top of the city and pray for the lost souls there. As we reminisced about all the people and places we each had the oppurtunity to see while we were there, God reminded us how fortunate and blessed we were, to be given this chance to make a difference in the world. We never want to waste the time God has given us on this earth. 

Sometimes we are given these brief moments in time to help us recall what is truly important.  

God make Daddy brave

Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy a British Anglican minister who volunteered to be a chaplain on the Western Front durring the First World War, wrote to his son: 

“The first prayer I want my son to learn to say for me is not 'God keep Daddy safe' but 'God make Daddy brave, and if he has hard things to do, make him strong to do them.' Life and death don't matter my son. Right and wrong do. Daddy dead is daddy still, but Daddy dishonored before God is something awful, too bad for words. I suppose you'd like to put in a bit about safety too, old chap, and Mother would. Well, put it in, but afterwards, always afterwards, because it really does not matter near so much. Every man, woman and child should be taught to put first things first in prayer, both in peace and war, and that, I believe, is where we have failed.” 

I Love Jesus Banquet

We had a great turn out for our "I love Jesus Banquet" with 14 for dinner and 17 for service.

Everyone had a good time trying some new dishes to the area. We served meatloaf, sweet potato casserole, chicken enchiladas, chicken broccoli casserole, & baked beans w/mince & sausages. The meatloaf was a big hit some of the people had never tried it before and they all loved it. It was nice that they enjoyed everything and had a good time as well. 

Having a good time fellowshiping

After our friday night teen outreach a group of us come back to the house to fellowship for a while. We have a great time eating crisps (chips) and playing games. They have a lot of fun party games here, if you just want to have a good crack (laugh).  Of course most of them are just trying to get you wound up. 

Valentines Day!

This is when I remember the most important day of my life. 

What would make Valentines Day so important. Well it is the day the Lord saved me. Saved me from a life of sin, set me a part, made me a new creature, pulled me out of the miry pit, and when he lifted the weight of the world off my shoulders and showed me I do not have to be alone ever again. It is the day I asked to be forgiven, believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross at calvary not just for the millions who had already trusted him and millions more that would come to know him in the years to follow, but for me lowly me. I could do nothing to be good enough to deserve this gift from above. I thank God for his mercy and grace. 

Nine years now have gone by since that day, in a church on a hill with a small group of believers God spoke to my heart with these simple words, "Pride is a horrible thing to go to hell for." Oh how he was right.  

I can't tell you exactly what happened after I stood up to go forward, it all seemed so surreal, as I prayed and cried out to the Lord to do what I could not; save me from death, hell, and sin. I just remember telling him that I believed Jesus Christ died for me, I confessed that I could not save myself and I asked him to save me. No magical words, fancy speech, just my heart open to God asking him to come in and save me. 

What happened was something else, altogether different. It was almost like I felt him lifting away the burdens and guilt, that I had been caring for so many years. All at once I was overcome with a very clear since of freedom, a renewing, and cleansing of all that I am. 

I have never forgotten what happened that day. Praise the Lord for the salvation that only he can give. My life has not been the same since. The devil tried to still from me many times. Not only had I written down in my bible (thank you JP for the telling me to do that), so that I could see it and remember the day; I get to remind myself everyday I get the privilege to read his word and serve him in the ministry.  

So you see why Valentines day is the most important day of my life. 

I used to spend Valentines day alone wishing I had someone to share it with. This very special day of mine. Then God being the amazing God he is. Sent me my husband who loves and adores me, a man who loves the Lord and seeks to honor and serve God through all that he does in life.  A man who has such an amazing faith and trust in people, God has given me a husband above and beyond what I could have ever imagined or picked for myself. 

Thank you Lord for all that you are & do.

To day is a special day.

Happy Birthday, Amy!

Amy is the wife of Mark Coffey and daughter of our Pastor Wayne Cofield. Amy has been a very good friend to me over the years. Although, I have known her a relatively short amount of time, God has used her, her husband, family and ministry to help me in ways to numerous to mention.

Of course it only helps me love her more, that my husband views her like sister 

I love you, Amy. Thanks for all the time you have invested in me over the years. 

Knowing your loved,

Makes all the difference.

Oh how true that is. If you love me, you can say just about anything and I won't hate you. I might get my feelings hurt that you see some sort of bad quality in me, I hadn't seen in myself yet. 

Being the independent person I am. I have at times felt like I haven't needed anyone, I could do everything myself. Weather that was true or not I thought it. So I had a friend, a very good friend lay it on the line for me one day, in front of his wife of course. That I couldn't do everything myself. Just came out and said exactly what I needed to hear. 

Now I didn't say I wanted to hear what he had to say, I needed to hear what he had to say. I listened and took it to heart, not because it was so profound but because he loved me. I knew he and his family loved me so when he called me on the carpet about something, I took it in.  I knew he was trying to help me grow not only as a person but in the Lord.  

To be honest if the same thing had been said by someone else I could have cared less, but this man and his wife had shown me that I meant something to them, I counted, I was a part of their home and family; therefore what they said meant something to me.

I thank God for the people he uses to help us grow. 

Driving Instructor

Well, living in a country where being able to drive is a big deal is great, until you think about how much it is going to cost you to learn. 

In N. Ireland you take lessons to learn the rules of the road, much like the lessons you learned from dear old dad or mom, except you are paying someone who is licensed and qualified by the law. To have this teacher come to your house, pick you up, drive around with you for an hour, cost around 25 pounds ($50) an hour. Thats right I was surprised too, how many lessons do you take, well that depends on you. When ever you think you can pass the test, it could take 5 lessons or 20. So I hope you are saving your penny's. 

I said all this so that one might understand what God did for us. We meet a young lady here named Laura, that has been such a wonderful friend, showing us around town and helping us learn the ins and outs. Well we mentioned we were going to call someone to get lessons, so we don't kill ourselves driving on the other side of the road and all. Laura said wait to call until we talked to her. She has a old family friend she hooked us up with, nice. It gets better this family friend is only charging us for gas, that is right he is only charging us 10 pounds ($20) an hour. Hey when gas is $8-10 dollars a gallon and you are driving for an hour, it is a bargain price. Plus Jim is a very nice guy.

I just wanted to send a praise to the Lord for this blessing. 

Teen outreach

God really blessed friday night. We may not have been high in numbers but this week we were high in spirit. The ones that came really enjoyed the fellowship, they had a great time playing table tennis, pool, and the girls had a good time doing their nails and hair. 

I was so happy about being able to spend this sweet time with the ones that were here. God opened up a door with some of the girls to talk about the bible and the Lord. I sent the girls a text invitation to the am service so I am praying God softens their heart and we might have some visitors, today.

Pray for Teen outreach

Well tonight we head out to see our teens for our friday night outreach. We are going to have some time hopefully to talk with some of the girls who come, we are going to play dress up, well in most cases dress down. Some of the girls here have a saying if some one has on a lot and I mean a lot of make up, the say "I like your cake." of course the first time I heard this I was like who made a cake. 

I think for the most part these kids or just tying to find themselves and at the same time they hiding behind thick makeup, baggie clothes, drugs, smart mouths, and who knows what else. There were times I didn't want to believe I was in the situation I was in and would have done anything to go to sleep and not worry about what was around the next corner. Please pray we can show them Christ, so they will know that they are not alone in this wicked world. 

Some the girls to keep in prayer. Robin, Rebecca, Jade, Kailey, & Lara. I am going to see if I can get their numbers tonight and see if I can text them with meetings and such. I am asking God to allow me to reach these girls and lead one to the Lord before we leave. I want so much for them to see that the road they are own ends badly, with or without your friends beside you. 

What is in your pocket?

This is a picture of a homemade bog or device to smoke drugs in, this was given to me by a young man who was caught smoking it on the front steps of our church here N.I., during a teen outreach. The colors and markings around the bottle, I am told are to show tribute to a Football (Soccer) team. 

It is a shame that these kids get excited about something they will never really play a part in and it will not make an eternal difference. Yet I can't help but think what would happen if more christians paid tribute to our King of Kings in a way that kids like these all over the world could see that they could have a part, a place, a purpose, and it would make an everlasting difference in not only their life but someone else. 

Please pray for the kids we are working with here. They are headed down a bad road with the wrong people. We want to help them know that it does not always have to be like it is now. That with the Lord their is always an escape from sin. These kids need the love of Christ in their lives.