An Analogy

An analogy from the flood.  


Rain falls from the sky drop by drop.  Sometimes there are just sprinkles and then other times it seems to rain 'cats and dogs'.  Fundraising can be like the Rain drops.


It only took a few hours for my garage floor to go from dry to having 14" of water standing.  My house filled very quickly with water, but the rain came down just drop by drop.  


Using this analogy I pray the rest of the support will come in with 'drops', but with God it can be accomplished very quickly!  Just over 50% left.  Commitments are needed by November to be there in December.

Have you asked God where you are to invest your God dollars in His kingdom's work?

Little by little, bit by bit.  

When I'm there, again it will be little by little as I share with people and invest my life for Him.

Insieme possiamo fare la differenza!  Together we can make a difference!

August’s Dot’s Dabbles - Extended version

Today’s blog is to share more details from August’s Dot’s Dabbles.

ANNOUNCEMENT – ORDINATION – I will be ordained (set apart) as a Christian missionary on Sunday, August 11, during the 9:15 service

BUDGET REDUCED

- The first six months of my time in Italy will be in intensive language school.  This time will be away from the work in Verona.  It is important to have a good grasp of the language before being involved in the ministry.  After much research on current prices for good language schools and the housing for that time period, I have been allowed to lower the budget by $906 per month!  Praise God!  I now have commitments of 41.45% of the monthly budget.

WLCC Camp (3^rd – 5^th graders)

- I was the missionary for the OK Corral week at camp.  This western themed week was based on the Beatitudes.  The campers and staff learned of the spiritual need in Verona, Italy.  The offering doubled the goal the campers had set!

North American Christian Convention (Louisville)

- During this convention I was able to talk with many people about Team Expansion and my mission to Italy.  There were times to have contact with other Team Expansion missionaries, too.

- I also worked the Unleashed for the Unreached’s Wall.  Sharing with people there are 1,583 unreached people groups in the world that have over 100,000 people in their group.  Hundreds of people were encouraged to commit to pray for salvation for a people group.

- The theme of the week was Victorious and the main sessions were well done as the ministers preached through the book of Revelation.

BL Church Ladies’ group

I was able to share information about my mission to Verona, Italy.  New partners have joined with me for this mission.  So exciting to be able to share with a new group.

Verona Team’s - Day of Prayer for Italy

July 13^th was divided into 15-minute increments.  People could chose one or more of these times and commit to pray during that time.  Thank you to all who joined us in praying for the mission to Italy that day.

Cakes

I’ve enjoyed making and decorating cakes for friends for years.  However, the last several cakes I’ve decorated I’ve done for the mission.  If you have need of a cake before I leave, consider letting me do it for you with all the proceeds going to the mission.

House

Finally, after the flood in April I believe all the repairs are made and the painting is done.  Just the trim to be put up and the toilet reinstalled and the flood will be history.

I’ve had help sorting through my belongings and dividing them into four groups: 1- for my daughters (I think this is done), 2 - to take to Italy (not a big group), 3 – put in storage for when I return (memories), and 4 – things I no longer want, to sell in a garage sale or two.

Garage Sale

My garage sale was a fundraiser.  The next one (August 16-17) will again be a fundraiser.  All proceeds will be put into this mission.  My thought is if I can get some money for my things, it would be better than just donating it to another mission for them to sell.  I had (and will again have) my display set up and brochures available for anyone.  If you know anyone who likes garage sales, send them my way!  Please pray for good weather for those days so people will be out and about. 

Meals

I’ve had the chance to meet with several people to share more about my mission over mealtimes.  I’d love to meet with others this way, too! 

COC at Logansport

I was able to present the mission of Team Verona to the combined Sunday School classes here.  Since I was a part of this church for five years I feel a special closeness to them.  Many encouraged me.

LJCA – School of Missions

  While at the NACC this camp was brought to my attention and I was encouraged to attend and bring my display.  Since I had the week available, my plans were made.  I remembered when I was four years old I went to the School of Missions when my parents took our family to the camp.  I had good memories of that week.  LJCA was where I attended camp each year when I was a camper.  I hadn’t been there for many years.  I had forgotten about the School of Missions. 

  While at the School of Missions I shared in the sign language interpreting for the evening services.

 What I didn’t anticipate was so many people getting to know my mission and me so well.  During the evening service they have a missionary parade.  Each missionary went across the stage and was able to be in front of the rest of the group, spending a couple of minutes explaining their mission.

  Each morning there was a ‘Meet the Missionary’ time.  One day the interviewer asked if he could interview me the next day.  I was able to share with group more about the spiritual need in Italy.

  Reconnections are always great.  God provided another missionary in the same dorm.  I knew her name, but couldn’t place her at first.  We both were born in the same town, grew up in the same church. Her parents went on the mission field; her aunt and uncle went on the mission field, to Italy!

   

Italian learning

   In July, even with all the other things going on, I was still able to meet with my Italian language helper for more than 10 hours. During one session she met me at the door and said, ‘sempre italiano’ (only Italian).  For the next hour and 45 minutes we ONLY spoke in Italian!

   I’ve not had a lot of time this month for Rosetta Stone.  But, I am nearly halfway through Level 5.  I have a several apps that are for Italian learning.  I’ve have Hang Man and different flashcards.  But recently I heard about Duo Lingo.  It is an app that has helped me get the sentence structure correct.

Thanks for the prayers.

Gutters of Life

Gutters of Life

Matthew 7:24-27 is the parable of the Wise and Foolish builder.  Your ‘house’ needs to be built on the firm foundation.  The rains come and beat on the house and if it is on a firm foundation it will remain.  Otherwise it won’t stay standing.

However, our houses today have taken an additional step in protection.

Gutters do an amazing job when they work correctly.  But they could cause lots of problems if they are in need of being repaired. 

Gutters on a house should be snuggly fit just under the roofline. The new kind are put in without seams to allow the water to move effortlessly.  They are designed to allow the rainwater that falls on a house to be collected and moved away from the house so water does not collect around the foundation. They should still periodically be cleaned out to remain free from debris. 

Old rusty gutters can develop a leak and actually cause the water to pool near the leak, creating more leaks.  That in turn can pull the gutter away from the house allowing for water to pool around the foundation.  It could lead to erosion, a leaky basement, or even worse, for our foundation to crumble.

When we put Jesus’ words into practice we’ll build our house on that firm foundation and are wise.  But issues fall on us and cover our lives.  We need to allow God to collect those issues and direct them away from our foundation.  We need to be sure to keep our gutters cleaned out.

If we are not in God’s Word we allow these issues to build up and leaks to develop.  They might not be too noticeable at first.  But as the leaks grow and then issues come down on us harder than before and seep through the holes and may eventually erode our foundation away.

Stay in the Word of God and keep an eye on the ‘gutters’ of your life.  Allow God to be able to redirect worldly issues away from your foundation in Him. 

Rain

I can’t imagine it raining for forty days and forty nights.  Two weeks off and on was plenty for me recently! 

After Noah built the ark the animals came on board as did his wife, sons and daughter-in-laws. Imagine being locked on that boat with your family and animals, a lot of animals.  Then the waiting game began. 

It starts to rain, for the first time in history.  Man, that would have been amazing.  But to hear the first drops of rain dropping on the roof of the ark would have be kind of frightening, too! 

It didn’t stop.  It kept on coming down for forty days.  That’s a long time to be inside and hear it strange new sounds outside.  But they knew God was in control.

Imagine with me how you would have felt when the water rose enough to move the ark off the ground?  To feel the whole boat shift a little, then shift a lot, and finally start floating?  They were inside, just the eight of them, with the animals, floating around.  God granted them peace.

Forty days the waters came.  Not just showers, but torrential downpours.  Water burst from below, too.  How unnerving it must have been.  Recently my city had over 5” of rain one afternoon and evening.  It was hard to go to sleep that night hearing more rain beating on my roof.

Even when the rain stopped they weren’t able to get off the boat.  They continued on the ark for another 150 days while the water flooded the entire world. 

Water is destructive when it comes as a flood.  Currents are formed and things move.   People drown.  Houses are destroyed. 

Thud, the moving stopped, the ark rested, but still they weren’t allowed off the boat.

Forty more days of sitting there no longer moving, just waiting, taking care of the animals.

What about the animals on the boat?  There had to be food for them.  Someone would have to clean out the stalls. What about the smell?  They weren’t there just a day or two, but they were on that ark a very long time!

Finally, they got to disembark from the ark.  The animals head out to places God called them and they leave Noah and his family.  Eight people – four men and four women – the only people in the world.  They are alone.  I’m sure they took in the effects around them of that devastating flood.  I’m sure they were a little overwhelmed.

Still, they build an altar to God and praise Him for bringing them through the storms.  The world around them had started to spring into growth again.

God made a promise not to destroy the entire earth again by water after the great flood.  God is faithful. 

Ten years ago my house went through a flood.  I had three feet of water in my lower level.  From my front yard there was a ‘lake’ separating me from my neighbors across the street.  The devastation inside my house was unbelievable.  A waterbed had been picked up from the corner of the room and gently placed at an angle in the middle of the room!  Some totes floated without getting the contents wet, while the recycling which had been neatly stacked in the garage was covering everything now.

This past week my city experienced major flooding along the river the worst in history. Flood stage is 10’ and the river crested over 18’.  Any house with a basement near the river filled up.  People who have never had water in their basement had water.  From experience, I understand the damage water can leave.  My heart aches for those going through this disaster.  I had some water in the house, walls and a furnace need replaced, but most other things were up high enough.  Well-built, sealed items made it though without a problem. 

I recently heard a song that touched me, “Whatever You’re Doing” (Something Heavenly by Sanctus Real).  Part of the song that says,

‘There’s a wave that’s crashing over me

And all I can do is surrender’. 

Through the storms of life – literally or figuratively – when we surrender to Him, He will get us through.

The Wind

Springtime often provides windy days.  That wind is great for kids wanting to go fly a kite or someone on a sailboat.  The wind is there, but unseen, only the results of the wind are seen.  

In the Bible God used the wind for His glory.  I believe I can relate to this in my journey to the mission field of Italy.

In the Old Testament God called His people out of Egypt, out of slavery, out of oppression.  Awesome, right?  God heard their cries for help and called Moses to help them.  It took a while to convince Pharaoh to release the people.  After many years and ten plagues, he finally let them go.

Then reality hit.  All they had now was sand and wilderness.  Things looked overwhelming.  What were they doing?  They left the comforts of their  homes and their jobs.  They left all they knew.  They were in a desert and  before them was the Red Sea.  Behind them they could hear Pharaoh’s army approaching.  They started doubting, complaining and feeling sorry for themselves.  They were backed into a corner.

God wanted there to be no doubt Who was making their deliverance possible.  He protected against the soldiers.  When there seemed to be no way out but to die, God provided a wind to blow the waters of the sea back providing a dry path for the Hebrews to safety cross.  It was not an instantaneous miracle; it blew all night.  The bottom of the Sea was dry.  It was crystal clear this was a miracle.

How do I relate to the Hebrews fleeing Egypt?  I was a single mom of three, working two or more jobs just to make ends meet, I felt sort of like a slave.  I prayed for God’s deliverance, for His plan to be manifested in my life.  He let me know I was going into missions, later.

When my girls were all grown He started opening the doors for me to go on the mission field.  I was elated.  First He let me know where – Italy, then what organization – Team Expansion.  My four year job ended.  I stepped out on faith.  My stateside training has been completed.  The start up costs are almost complete.  Over 200 prayer supporters in place.  Moving forward!

But, there in front of me is a ‘Red Sea’ (raising $4500 more a month in support).  Trying to overtake me is my old ways of doing things.  At times I want to moan like the Hebrews, but I know God provides.

Do I know how God will provide the way to Italy?  No, but I can't wait to see how He will provide a 'path on dry ground' for me.  Exodus 14:14 says, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." (NIV)