Mary Resolve in a Martha World
October 24, 2023
It was not my intention to let five months go by before publishing another blog post, but it did. The months were busy with work, family, house construction decisions and the daily grind of life. Through it all, God’s loving faithfulness has sustained me. He has provided not only encouragement in the moment, also all that we needed, and gone ahead of us to make a way.
To be honest, I confess that I struggled at times with my “Mary Resolve” in my “Martha World”. If you’re not familiar with what that’s about, I’m referring to two sisters in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10. One of them, chose something better than the other.
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
I don’t know about you, but I relate to Martha very, very often. I often feel the pressure that there are so many things that need to be done. Being a wife and mother, I used to struggle with feeling overwhelmed by this. Over the past couple of years, the Lord truly helped me to choose the Mary approach in my home life. I learned to set aside time just for Him, and it changed my life. I treasure my early morning times with the Lord.
In my workplace, I found myself in the very real and constant battle again. With persistent and constant pressure to squeeze as much productivity out of myself and the students I guided, I found it easy to fall right into the Martha mindset. Working hard is important, but the devil will use even something that is good to squeeze out time for what the Lord has said is more important. I had to pray and ask God to help me to not be so fixated on work that I didn’t give enough time for operating out of my time at His feet, and encouraging others. By the Spirit’s guidance, He enables and empowers us to choose what is better.
For a more expanded study on this passage, I was blessed by this article by Michelle Christy. I hope you will learn from it and enjoy it as much as I did.
The header artwork for this article is called “The Better Part” by Simon Dewey. I love it.
In the last couple of months, I have sensed the strong nudge from the Lord that my assignment is getting closer to being over at College of the Ozarks. Within the next two weeks, our home should be completed and I sense a new chapter coming along with it. I pray that I will find more time to become more like Mary in the days and months ahead.
May you take time in your days and months ahead as well, to sit at our Lord’s feet. This song has haunted me in a good way for the past weeks. May it take you there!
There Is Nothing Like His Presence
May 15, 2023
At College of the Ozarks, students who have been accepted into the summer work program will be joining us next week to begin a summer of work in exchange for their school year’s room and board. As a project to encourage new students, one of the current students in the lodge Guest Services department requested both staff and students to submit their story in 10 words or less. Mine was:
“Wife, Mom, Innkeeper, God Chaser – Unqualified, Called, Eternity Bound”
I would say that at the heart of my existence is a deep yearning for the Lord, for His presence, for His voice. Truly, it is in all of us. I’ve felt and heard it before, and I long for it again. I ask Him, “When am I going to hear your voice again?”
“The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18
It shouldn’t be surprising that some of the times I’ve heard His voice and felt His presence most closely was in times of brokenness.
Last week, a coworker had a really difficult day when a student he had closely mentored was told to leave the college. This student had been given many opportunities and had continued to make bad decisions and choices for quite a while. His home life is a bad one. My coworker was crushed after saying goodbye to this student.
That evening, I was overwhelmed by the presence of God as I stood in my kitchen. A Hindi worship song came to mind, and every time the melody went through my mind, the weight of God’s presence was there, bringing me to tears.
I couldn’t remember what the words were in English, so I looked them up.
I texted both the song and interpretation to my coworker, and he was encouraged. God is with us in everything that we go through. We are not alone, and this is not the end!
Mine and my families’ life continues on, looking above for guidance. During our first week in Branson, while shopping for pants for work, we met a lady in a clothing store who told us about a supernatural experience she had while driving in Branson on a Wednesday evening. She said she saw a man standing in the clouds over a church and it troubled her so much for two weeks. She showed my husband and I the picture she took of it. She returned to the church over which she saw this and asked someone there if there was anything happening that Wednesday evening during the time when she saw this. This person said that their Wednesday night church service was going on. Later on, over a few weeks time, a few different people who Jins met in town told him that they should come to this church and meet their pastor.
We visited the church and felt the Lord’s presence. It is exciting to know that God has brought you to a specific place with purpose. We don’t know why, but we just want to be where He wants us to be.
The finishing date for our house has moved forward again, now to August. It is okay. Not what we hoped for and not what we anticipated, but it is okay. Its moving along and it is not just our house – it is His house for His glory. We give everything to Him.
I’ve been so blessed with my job the past two and a half months by co-workers and students. This opportunity has been a great blessing to my family and I and I’m also blessed by the way they stand behind me and support me. It is definitely more than just a job – it is a God given assignment. I am holding His hand, walking in obedience to do the assignment He has given me to do. I don’t know how long I will be there, but I don’t need to know and understand the big picture, as long as He is there in every moment, leading me.
I pray that you, too, will be encouraged by this testimony and listen closely for the Lord. It is something, that, no matter what I am going through, I cannot wait for the next time I hear His voice and experience His presence.
Stepping Into the Promised Land
March 25, 2023
There are times when hearing God’s voice doesn’t happen in ways that you expect and His leading doesn’t come through avenues that you would anticipate. There are times when you have to take steps of faith based on peace that comes from taking that step or prayerfully rethinking and deciding to withdraw because of the lack of it.
If you have followed my family’s journey, you will know that we have been following the Lord’s leading to the Branson, Missouri area since about April of 2020. For nine months, we volunteered at a church camp about two hours north of Branson, waiting mostly for the construction of our house to be completed. Around the end of 2021, we felt the strong urging of the Spirit to move down to Branson, even though the house wasn’t ready yet. Through an unexpected, but totally divine turn of events, I began an interview process for a position with a renowned Christian college in the Branson area, College of the Ozarks, and was hired as a guest services manager in their student run lodge. During the last week of February, our family moved down to live on the campus property until our house is completed.
There has been so much peace that we are where we are supposed to be after moving down. I find myself so blessed to be in a godly environment and by the students and my co-workers. As Jins continues in seeking the Lord about future mission trips, he has been walking in his calling of sharing about God’s great love and what He’s done in our life with people he meets. He has also had the privilege of meeting with and encouraging believers here. And of course, visits to our house as the construction continues. Our girls are adjusting to a new school and are witnessing God writing the pages of this story firsthand.
I have been focusing on two books of the Bible during the past weeks: Ruth and Romans. An interesting pairing, but God has been encouraging me and bringing some similar themes from them both – ones I have needed to hear and that at the very heart come back to those greatest of commandments. Love God. Love others.
In studying these two books, I used http://www.first5.org from Proverbs31 Ministries as my devotional guide – it’s been my go to lately.
As I’ve been going through the book of Ruth, a couple of fresh points have stood out to me, even though I’ve read the book many times. One comes from Ruth 1:1-5, where we are given a picture of a Jewish family that left Israel to go to a pagan land, where the sons went against God’s instructions of taking foreign wives. The same day I studied this passage and reflected on the teaching, I also attended a morning prayer meeting at the campus chapel in which the key verse for the morning was Joel 2: 13:
“Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”
Even out of our mistakes, God can work. He can bring His incredible purposes out of a human made mess. He works miracles even when we don’t think its possible to get out or can’t see light at the end of the tunnel. And He moved when there was repentance and a turning to Him.
The other theme was grace. The example of how Boaz extended grace to Ruth. How Jesus extends grace to us. We are grateful for grace, but how willing are we to extend it? I was really blessed and challenged by this particular day’s teaching from First5.org, called Unity Brings God Glory.
On Sunday, our family was invited to a prayer meeting in the community where our home is being built by a member of the Property Owner’s Association. There have been dissensions, discord and hurt feelings between two groups in the community, evidencing spiritual attack in this place. It was incredible to join hands with a group of believers and future neighbors and stand on this ground in our “promised land” and pray with them over it.
There have been other things going on with my family in Idaho at the same time – the same day actually. My Dad and his wife and my grandmother who lives with them returned home from town to discover their home was on fire. It burned to the ground and they lost everything, and sadly, did not have insurance. I was so thankful that they were all okay and when I talked to my Grandma who is soon to be 83 the next day, she was not discouraged. She said that God has them in His hands and they will see that He is going to take care of them and do miracles. They have since had an outpouring of community support (as well as from friends and family) and places to stay and I know that they are going to be okay.
And so, so many things are happening in this time. We look at all that is happening in the world and see the fulfillment of Biblical end times prophecies and know that we are not far from our Lord’s return. Are we ready? Dear friends, get closer to Jesus. Walk with Him! Seek Him and listen to Him. I claim this song over my life and my friends, family and neighbor’s lives, over our world. May God bless you!
Eternity Set In Our Hearts
February 9th, 2023
It’s been another season of waiting and remembering that God’s timing and ways are not like ours. Since the New Year, my husband and I have been sensing it is time to move down to Branson, near to our house that is still under construction and is way behind schedule. We’ve been seeking the Lord’s direction and considering options, waiting for the right doors to open. We sometimes feel like we are waiting on the other side of the Jordan to cross over into the Promised Land! Waiting can be agony at times, but in these times, God is working. Many times, the verse below has come to mind – He knows. We are not alone and this is not the end.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:16
I will share more on what God is doing in my family’s life later, but to start off this year’s blog posts, I would like to feature a guest and share from her blog. This friend was a neighbor in Wyoming and is a lovely young person who is pursuing the Lord with all her heart. I have so much respect and admiration for her zeal and fervor – what an example she is to her generation and to anyone who aspires to live a life that is sold out to Jesus alone.
From Redeem the Time blog by Hannah Gross:
Time is Running Out-Are You Ready?
Growing up, many people ask, “what are you going to do with your life?” The answer looks different for many, but we all are striving to make the most of what little time we have here—to make a difference in the world. When I meditate on the concept of eternity, I realize just how short my earthly life is, and the Lord has graciously shown me that I need to make the most of it. The Lord has given me His life, so I want to give my life back to Him and use it for His glory.
So, what am I doing with my life? By God’s grace, I have come to realize that everything in life means nothing if it does not glorify the Lord. While He calls individuals to different purposes, I believe God has called me to be a missionary for the rest of my life or until the rapture of the Church, which I believe is very soon.
What is a missionary? A missionary is someone who preaches the Gospel—or “good news” of Christ. And that good news is this:
God is perfect, holy and just. Because of that, He cannot allow any sin into heaven—we all fall short of His standard of perfection (Romans 3:23). The penalty for our sin, which is a crime against God, is death (Romans 6:23). Not just physical death, but eternity in hell, the lake of fire, separated from God. No amount of good works can repay the bad. That would be like a serial killer and rapist trying to wash enough dishes for his mom to recompense his crimes. It’s impossible.
But that’s where God’s love comes in. He loved us enough not to leave us in that impossible state by sending His Son Jesus Christ to the earth as a baby. Throughout His life, Christ was tempted in all the ways we were, but since He was fully God, He never sinned. However, He suffered like a criminal by dying on the cross, taking the punishment of God’s wrath for us. Since He was fully human, He was the perfect substitute in our place. Three days later, God raised Jesus from the dead, proving once and for all that He has victory over sin and death!
Those who put their trust in Jesus can experience the forgiveness of sins and receive eternal life—there’s nothing you can do to earn it—you simply have to trust in Christ. We get to exchange our sinfulness for Christ’s righteousness. Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Ephesians 2:8-9 declare that “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God not of works so that no one can boast.”
And this is the hopeful message I want to share with others that they might no longer live in bondage to sin and death but experience the freedom that comes only through Christ. This is my reason for living. As most of you know, the Lord opened up the opportunity for me to live with the Clark family who are missionaries in Mexico for the next ten months. And I hope to share that journey with you here.
However, none of us were prepared for the news we were to receive in those first few days. I arrived Friday night with some others from the United States who were there for the work week. On Sunday night, Nate Persson received the news that Salomon Correa, Andrea and Suzy Prime, Ava Luplow and Maggie Franco were in a car accident on their way back to Arkansas after visiting JHBC. Hours later, we learned that they instantly died on impact.
The news was shocking at first, and I sat in my bed in disbelief. A lot of tears were shed that day, but I found myself with an unexplainable peace and joy that surpassed the depth of my pain. The Lord is constantly reminding me to keep an eternal perspective, but I never knew it would come at such a price.
I found myself praying the words of Job, “You give and take away. Blessed by the name of the Lord.” As I watched the sunrise, I thanked the Lord for His many blessings and rejoiced because all five who died knew Jesus as their Savior and are at this moment worshiping Jesus before the throne of God. I was reminded that someday soon—much sooner than I realized—I would get to see Jesus my Savior face to face. Never before had I so eagerly longed and desired for His soon return.
We never know when our last breath might be. Life is so show and fragile. Time is running out, and I’ve asked myself, am I ready to see my Savior? Am I making the most of the life God has given me? Am I investing in heavenly treasures that will last? Or am I wasting my life away for selfish pleasures? Maybe I’m a Christian, but I’m not using my gifts for His glory and purposes. I want to be completely sold out for Jesus. I want to finish this race having poured out every ounce of strength the Lord has given me. I want to hear those words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Jesus is coming soon, and we ALL will be judged by Him. Are you ready? Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior? Or do you still have one foot in the world? John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
As tragic as the accident was, I believe the Lord is using it to bring glory to Himself in ways that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. The story of the crash has gone viral and because of that, many people have been reached with the gospel. Their faith has been the highlight of the story. Who but our God could turn a tragedy like that into a triumph (Romans 8:28)? Many of us have been praying that the Lord would use this to cause many people to place their trust in Him, and already we have heard encouraging stories of hearts softened to the gospel. I pray that this also wakes up the hearts of believers to kindle a flame to live on fire for the Lord. What about you? How are you going to respond?
If you don’t know Christ, death is a terrifying thing—and it should be because you will face eternity in hell. But because my hope is in Christ, I have great hope because I know I will see my friends again. May we who have trusted in Christ find comfort in the words of Paul from 1 Corinthians 15: “For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead…O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
Read the powerful story of love in forgiveness in this article about the accident: Father Of Two Daughters Killed On I-80: ‘I Forgive’ Driver Who Caused Fiery Crash – Cowboy State Daily
He has set eternity in the hearts of men…
Ecclesiastes 3:11b
Life By The Spirit 