I just bought my first Brita water pitcher - the Space Saver model (since our fridge is always too full). I have always enjoyed Brita filtered water but I've never stepped out and bought my own pitcher.  I am looking forward to enjoying clean, cool water tomorrow.

Mmmm...Brita water.

A Breath of Fresh Air

For the last couple of months I've been very spiritually dry. Apathy, discouragement, laziness, and .... have crept in and taken over.

Tonight at church I talked to the kids (elementary age) about prayer walking and we went on a ten minute prayer walk around our church grounds.  We prayed for everything we saw - the school across the street from the church, the pastor and his wife (as we stood by their house), the houses/neighborhood beside the church, the youth meeting in the youth building, the church van (safety when using it), etc.  The kids did great - they really got in to it.  They did not hesitate in lifting any needs they thought of to the Lord.  One little girl in my group told me at the beginning that she just wanted to pray silently but by the end she was praying out loud (with no external prompting) for the youth in our church and the food ministry that our church runs for the needy folks in our neighborhood (while standing by the annex building which houses both of these ministries).  Wow!  The beauty of the children praying and the truth that our Lord hears us was something this 'ole heart needed.

Matters of the Heart

I saw the following quote on someone's xanga site the other day -

"To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right."

I found it quite thought provoking and applicable to my life.  I want to share some of my thoughts about it but I am not feeling very 'eloquent of speech' at the moment so I'll just post the quote for now. 

Blessings, J.E.

Cultural Confusion

Today (in Alabama) a car passed by me as I was walking and I had to do a double take.  The man driving was in the right front seat and the steering wheel was there with him also.  This position in the vehicle is commonly known as the front passenger seat here in the states and as the driver's seat in many other countries.  I became familiar with that sight in the short time I was overseas but it took a minute for it to register in my brain when I saw it today.  I didn't expect to see that here - how odd.

Good, better, and the best!

Good news -

Today I completed and mailed in the final project - a research paper - for the summer TESOL course I took at Wheaton in June.  I don't know why but I find paper writing excruciatingly painful.  It was rough getting that done this week but now it is finally completed and there's even....

Better news -

I received the final release for assignment overseas from my supervisor.  Everything is in place - my ticket, visa, support, and all that last minute paperwork.  I am packing up and shipping out Sunday afternoon.  THIS SUNDAY!  

And now for the BEST NEWS of all -

My dad got baptized tonight in our backyard swimming pool!  I heard my dad verbally confess Jesus as his savior and saw him dunked by our pastor right before my eyes - raising from death to walk in Jesus forever. Man this has been a long time in coming but the Lord was not slow - He was there through all the prayers and tears, working on my dad's heart and drawing him unto Himself.  Woohoo! 

Many, many, many praises unto the Lord!