Peace.  It is the gift that most of us desire but don’t always think to ask for.  As we watch the news and surf the Internet, it doesn’t seem like there is a lot of peace in our world.  Even in our lives with the daily hustle and bustle, especially around the Christmas holiday, it is easy for peace to elude us.  Our family has started a tradition this year of lighting the Advent candles at home, and it has really been a special time to reflect on what they represent.  We started with the candle of Hope, then Love, then Joy and finally this week we lit the candle of Peace.  As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior, I know he came and brought with him all of these things but for some reason it is peace that most resonates with me today.  Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be our Prince of Peace.  Even as nation rises against nation and communities live at odds with each other, we have peace because we have Jesus…“he himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14).  He came to give us peace with God and to bring peace among all who follow Him.  2009 has been a whirlwind year and we don’t know what 2010 will bring, but we walk confidently into the New Year with peace because we walk with Jesus.

We wish everyone a hopeful and joyful Christmas this year and pray that you would be filled with peace in the New Year!

I have been thinking a lot about the lives of Muslim women.  In many countries, the culture is incomprehensible to those of us looking at it through a Western lens.  I read a book over the summer called A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini which centered around the lives of women in Afghanistan.  These women lived difficult lives marked by isolation, abuse and total lack of power.  Most countries are not as extreme as Afghanistan, but it got me thinking of how Muslim women perceive God in light of their circumstances.  Do they see him as a compassionate Father who desires a relationship with them or a distant Being with demands they are always striving to meet?  Then I got to thinking how feeling overlooked, powerless, isolated and invisible certainly isn’t limited to Muslim women.  There is a passage in Genesis which I absolutely love because of the name that is ascribed to God.  As far as I know, it is the only time this name  is used in the bible.  The story is about Hagar, the servant of Abraham and Sarah, who has fled their home after conceiving Abraham’s child and being mistreated by Sarah.  An angel of the Lord speaks to Hagar about her descendants and the son she is carrying, and Hagar responds, “You are the God who sees me.”  El Roi is the name in Hebrew.  I love this because it such a powerful truth about the God we serve.  He sees us where we are even when we feel unseen.  He speaks to us directly and not only knows our name but has numbered the hairs on our head (Matt. 10:30).  We cross paths every day with people who would love to know that God sees them.  Will we point them towards El Roi?

 So, for the past week or so God has really been impressing on me to listen when he directs me to help someone.  It started after I read a sweet friend’s blog about how she was obedient in taking some watermelon to her neighbor and ended up ministering to him in a powerful way.  Then a guest pastor at our church last weekend talked of a guy who bought a bunch of dress shirts on clearance that were not in his size and had no idea what he was supposed to do with them.  He came across a young, struggling pastor who desperately needed them and they just happened to be in his size.  Coincidence? Hardly…

On Monday, I heard another similar story on the radio as I drove to work and finally prayed “Okay, I get it, Lord!”  I prayed that I would find someone who really needed my help during the week and that God would use me to answer that persons prayer.  About 15 minutes later, I parked my car and went to up to the machine to pay.  Along came a man who I have seen several times over the past 6 months or so.  His request is always for money to help buy food for his kids.  I’ve given him small amounts of cash before if I have it.  Sometimes I don’t.  I just haven’t really thought much of him other than as a slight annoyance to encounter as I am rushing to get in to the office to start work.  This time wasn’t much different.  I gave him what I had and we both went on our way.  Then it struck me as I left and my thoughts were something like this, “God, this can’t be the person.  It is so awkward to be asked for money and I don’t even know this guys’ story.  I’ve never seen any kids and for all I know he just wants to buy drugs or alcohol and I would just be enabling him and blah, blah, blah.”  Surely, all of us have had these thoughts at times about someone asking for a handout.  But what I heard back from God was “I love him.  Trust me.”  Silence.  It was pretty hard to argue with that.  I kept thinking about him all day and God brought to mind how Jesus called himself “the bread of life”.  In John 6:35 he says, “He who comes to me will never go hungry.”  I knew that I could give this man (I don’t even know his name) money and he could eat but would certainly be hungry again.  What he desperately needs is a Savior who will truly satisfy and he needs someone who can point the way.   I decided that I would go and get a gift card to a close-by grocery store to give to him the next time I saw him.  I also bought a bible for him.  I want him to know how much God loves him and plan to tell him when I give this gift.   I don’t work every day, so I haven’t seen him again.  And I don’t know how he will take what I have to offer, but I will trust and I will pray.  I would love to  invite you to pray too!

Today is my mom’s 60th birthday, and I just wanted to honor her and wish her a perfectly beautiful day.  I pray special blessings for my mother who has always given of herself to make our lives richer.  There are so many good memories…fun times at GA camp, the surprise slumber party for my 8th birthday, the times I came home from school to find a new outfit on my bed, cheering at all of my softball and basketball games, shopping for the perfect prom dress, the trip to Washington, D.C. with just the two of us, planning a fairy tale wedding, taking care of me after I had my precious babies and so many others that are too numerous to mention.  My mother has comforted me when I thought life wasn’t fair and rejoiced with me during life’s sweetest moments.  I am blessed to have been given this kind of mother.

On another note, we realize the blog has been a little slow.  It is not because nothing has been going on, but quite the opposite!  We will work on posting more in the coming months so stay tuned…

Not quite so excited yet...

Today was the first day of school for both David and Mary Kate and everything went off without a hitch.  Both kids had new shoes to wear.  David is not really a shoe person.  He mostly goes barefoot in the summer except when he absolutely has to wear something (like going to church) in which case he consents to wearing Crocs.  Crocs are not allowed in preschool, so he had to put on tennis shoes for the first time in a long time.  In the store, he had only kept them on his feet for about 2 seconds while trying them on, so I never realized that the shoes we picked are the kind that light up every time you walk.  David was very excited.  I was less so.  He stomped out the door enjoying the light display and continued stomping all the way to class.  I am sure his teacher appreciated his new shoes all morning! 

Mary Kate seemed to settle in well to her class.  There are 6 girls and 2 boys.  During “Met the Teacher” day it was obvious that most of the girls (including Mary Kate!) are very bossy.  If she has learned anything from David, it is certainly how to hold her own.  It should make for an interesting fall!

You may be wondering about the significance of the name of our blog livingongrace.com.  Far from being a divine revelation, Matthew and I each made of list of names we would like.  After discarding all of the ones already taken (which happened to be most of them), we compared lists and living on grace was the only one we had in common.  As we reflect on our journey so far and anticipate what lies ahead, it is obvious our choice was not merely a coincidence.  God has lavished grace on His people.  John 1:16 says, “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”  We see evidence of this grace every day.  We are also becoming more and more aware of the need to show a little grace to ourselves.  As we prepare to go, we are doing things we have never done before.  This journey into the unfamiliar will intensify when we arrive in Turkey.  We are sincerely seeking God’s guidance and desire to follow wholeheartedly but even so we are sure we will make mistakes.  Probably quite a few.  We like to think of ourselves as competent, self-sufficient people but we are coming to terms with the fact that we will be awkward and inept especially as we start to navigate a new culture and learn a new language.  So we are thankful for grace; God’s grace towards us, grace for ourselves and the grace that others will have for us!

David turns four today!  He got a pirate costume and a knight costume for his birthday and has had fun all day playing with his sword, hook and eye patch!  Mary Kate was even thoughtful enough to give him some new play dough.  We spent the morning at the park with some friends and then had a picnic lunch and walked around the pond feeding the ducks and watching people fish.  It has been a perfect day with more festivities to come tonight.

We are very blessed to be parents and we celebrate today our energetic, unique and imaginative son who keeps us laughing every day.

I have been reading through Mark the past week and came across a series of stories that really made me stop and think. I have read them many times before. They all involve Jesus, His abundant provision and the disciples doubt. Remember when Jesus fed the 5,000? The people were hungry and all they could scrounge up was 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Jesus blessed it, everyone ate and there were 12 baskets of leftovers. Then there is the story of Jesus feeding the 4,000. Jesus again feels compassion for the hungry people he has been teaching. The disciples’ response is “How can we feed these people out in the middle of nowhere?” (slight paraphrase!) Many of us read this and think “Umm…hello? Weren’t you just there when he fed the 5,000? He can probably cover the 4,000 too!” And he does…with only seven loaves of bread, everyone eats and there are seven baskets left over. Now I get to a part that I don’t really remember reading before. Jesus is with his disciples attempting to teach them a significant truth and they are hung up on the fact that they only have one loaf of bread between them. Jesus asks them, “Do you not yet understand?” He has now fed over 9,000 people with a combined 12 loaves of bread and 2 fish. And the twelve are worried about how to divy up one loaf amongst themselves? It is easy to think “wow, the disciples were really dense!” without applying this truth to our own lives. Jesus is our provision! He not only cares about our needs but he has the power to provide for them in ways far more abundantly than we can imagine. We follow the Creator of the universe. Colossians 1:16 says, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him.” We know this and yet, like the disciples, we sometimes worry excessively about how God is going to come through for us. I pray that God will teach me powerful things through the grace of His provision in the days ahead.

My baby turns one tomorrow!  How could this year have gone by so quickly?  I love watching her grow but am a little sad I don’t have an infant anymore.   I just started a book by Beth Moore called Feathers from My Nest.  It is a wonderful collection of memories of her children growing up.  She stresses the importance of taking advantage of the fleeting window of time we have to build a foundation of faith for our children.  When you have a baby, it seems like you have all of the time in the world to teach them.  But then you quickly realize that time is short.  Our children may be in our homes for 18 years (or more!) but the time they actually delight in being with us and listening to us is much shorter still.  I am in that precious season now where my baby’s face lights up when she sees me  and my little boy asks for “five more kisses and five more hugs, Mommy” when I leave.  In 10 years, it will not be like this! 

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says,  “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.   These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.   Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up…”

I want to take advantage of the teachable moments.  My son David loves stories.  He is funny because he will say something like, “Tell me a story about the ocean, a giant whale and a fish who looks like Nemo who gets thrown into the fiery furnace.”  I laugh at his sponge like mind which is obviously soaking up everything from Disney movies, Veggie Tales and Sunday School lessons.   I don’t know how many more years David will ask, “Mommy, tell me a story!”  I am guessing not many.  I want to make my stories count for both of my kids.  While we are at home, while we are walking along the road (or driving down the Katy Freeway), while we lay down and while we get up, I want to impress upon them things that are true.  I want to impress upon them stories that speak of God’s extravagant love, His grace and certainly His joy.  I hope these are stories they will keep with them forever.

I was taking a training course about a month ago and one of the instructors had lived in Istanbul for several years.  In the class, we were talking about cultural differences and our instructor shared with us this picture that she recently received from a friend.  In case you don’t read Turkish, it says “Lazy Wives Section.”  Everyone in the class burst out laughing.  I mean seriously….if buying pre-washed vegetables wrapped in plastic makes you lazy, I am in big trouble!  I do like to cook.  I really do.  But I am so often tempted by the FULLY COOKED meals they have ready to go in brown paper bags at our HEB Plus.  They are great!  But alas, I realize that these days of easy meal preparation will eventually come to an end.  So as we are now in preparation mode, Matthew and I are starting to try out cooking some traditional Turkish meals completely from scratch.  Think Americas Test Kitchen meets Turkish cuisine.    Last Saturday, we went to a specialty grocery store (Phoenicia on Westheimer) to buy some of the ingredients we would need for our first authentic meal.  We took the kids and made a morning out of it.  We made Patlican Saksi Kebabi, which is basically meat and vegetables baked in an eggplant.  We also made Coban Salatasi (Shepherd’s Salad) which is chopped tomato, onion and cucumber with some lemon juice and olive oil.  (I tried to cheat a little by using lemon juice from a bottle instead of real lemons but Matthew is always there to keep me honest!) It turned out fairly good and we are already looking forward to our next dish.  We may even need a few tasters for some objective opinions.  So if you want to volunteer, just let us know!