Ryan Hall + World Vision

Testify

I am sitting in St. Mark's Lutheran in Mooresville waiting for the Testify Youth Choir to begin their final performance for this Christmas season. They are an incredible group of over 120 teens representing 30+ churches who share about Christ through music.

If you are interested in joining for the spring season contact Susan O'Keefe at testify4God@gmail.com

Congrats Allie, Hannah, Lauren, Charity, and Jackson!!!

Saudades

I was just talking to my friend Brenda in Brazil. And we ended the conversation with the Portuguese word "saudade"....she said that she likes that word because it means so much more than the English phrase "I miss you."....So, I typed it into google, and this is what I got http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade

JoBurg

My home church Grace Covenant has a missions team in South Africa right now. Read about their work here.

Long Journey

Long Journey
Song By Sarah Jarosz
Listen HERE

I have just begun
a long journey that will run
the length and width of summertime
and the cool fall air will guide me home
yeah the cool fall air will blow me home

You'll be miles away
I want to go but I want to stay
the music's begging me to go
but your love can guide me home
yeah your love can guide me home

Starry nights and summer sun
I think you just might be the one
this mountain pass keeps winding on
and I wonder if your love can guide me home
oh yeah I wonder if your love can guide me home

I have just begun a long journey
that will run the length
and width of summertime
and the cool fall air
will blow me home

Yeah your love can guide me home
oh yeah I wonder if your love
can guide me home

CCB

In a moment of temporary, or perhaps just dormant, insanity, I decided to audition for the Charlotte Concert Band a few weekends ago. They let me in ;) SO....if you need a distraction from what you normally do on Saturday nights, or you wouldn't mind hearing some not quite professional, better than high school band music, come on out!!

http://www.charlotteconcertband.org/

Upcoming concerts:
"Anniversaries"
Saturday, October 3, 2009
8:00 p.m. w Dana Auditorium @ Queens University

George Frederick Handel (1685-1759)

Selections from "Suite from Water Music"

Broadway 1959

My Fair Lady

West Side Story

Gypsy

The Sound Of Music

The Music Man

Great Movies of 1939

Gone With The Wind

The Wizard Of Oz

Cole Porter (1934)

Love For Sale

Begin The Beguine

Anything Goes

Leroy Anderson (1949)

The Wearing Of The Green

and more!

"Winds of War . . . and Peace"
Saturday, December 5, 2009
8:00 p.m. w Dana Auditorium @ Queens University
Barber: Commando March

Grundman: Concord

Bilik: American Civil War Fantasy

Sousa: The Gallant 7th

Bukvich: Symphony No. 1, "In Memoriam Dresden, 1945"

Brahms: "Blessed Are They," from A German Requiem

plus Dona Nobis Pacem, Gesu Bambino and other

Christmas favorites.

I asked the Lord...

I asked the Lord that I might grow,
In faith and love and every grace.
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.

‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He I trust has answered prayer.
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request.
And by his love’s constraining power,
Subdue my sins and give me rest.

Instead of this He made me feel,
The hidden evils of my heart.
And let the angry powers of Hell,
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe.
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Cast out my feelings, laid me low.

“Lord, why is this?” I trembling cried!
“Wilt Thou pursue thy worm to death?”
“Tis in this way,” The Lord replied,
“I answer prayer for grace and faith.”

“These inward trials I employ,
From self and pride to set thee free!
And break Thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may find thy all in me.
That thou may find thy all in me.

Words by John Newton/Laura Taylor

Peru Slideshow 2009

XC Blog

Check out our SLCA Cross Country blog!

Transition Time

One big change deserves another, I guess.

So many changes: Move to a new house/city. New roomies. Worship leader moved to ATL, church is still great, but just different. New school year. So many close friends moving away....Brenda to Brazil, Melissa to Bahrain, Christy to the Middle East, Rhonda to Texas....other friends are MIA because now they are dating someone.....

Wonder what is next......Trish to Mex? Trish to Spain? Or perhaps it is just Trish in Charlotte/Huntersville....or, how 'bout, Trish sit still.....or.......

"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10

Once upon a time there was a guy named Josh...

Facebook status to start the story :"Joshua David Stockment will never again do trish jackson a favor. At least the back of the police car was air conditioned."

And this is his story in his own voice:

Ok -So Trish asked me to feed her dog/let it out this evening because she had to stay late at the school. When I showed up her roommate's car was in the driveway. So I thought: Maybe her roommate is home and I don't have to do anything. So I knocked on the door but there was no answer. I called Trish to see what to do but she didn't pick up. After doorbell/knocking again and no answer I walked around to the side and unlocked the door. But when I opened it there was no audible alarm noise so I thought: Sounds like her roommate IS home. Obviously I didn't want to be unlocking the house and walking in on her, so I quickly locked the door. I called Trish and didn't get an answer, called C-Robb to see if she knew anything about the situation. As I was hanging up the police showed up. The alarm got set off, but it didn't make any warning noise when I opened the door and it didn't make any noise when the actual alarm went off.

When the police showed up I was walking in the side yard looking for a phone signal because Sprint sucks and I have to chase half a bar around. He frisked and cuffed me and put me in the back of his car. After walking around the house and deciding that things appeared to be normal he came back and questioned me. I told him what happened and that I had no indication that the alarm went off [and that I had a key and the alarm code]. He said that I was too articulate and thorough in explaining the situation. So he asked me to describe the inside of the house, took the handcuffs off me and had me open the house and prove that I was supposed to be there. Once convinced that everything was alright he left.

I took the dog for a short walk and fed it. 30 minutes after I got home and about an hour after the ordeal with the police Trish called and said that the Alarm company just called and said the alarm was going off at that moment. So I raced back to the house to make sure that I set it properly when I left; I had and everything was fine. And that was my excitement for the day.

Monterrey Mex, 2009

Here are some highlights from Uptown's mission trip to Monterrey, Mexico. Thank you to everyone who prayed and supported us financially! The trip went really well- we got to know and serve so many sweet Mexican families and their children. The main purpose of our trip was to be a connection between the local church and the community and to promote the VBS that was happening in the upcoming week. It was a good week :)

We did four nights of basketball camp in the community. The first night was very interesting....it didn't go quite according to our plan, but it DEFINITELY went according to God's plan! What looked like a bunch of intimidating young men who didn't looked interested in doing anything with us turned into a crowd of over 50 kids and teens playing and throwing balls around (football, futbol, basketball, volleyball) and just enjoying being outside.

An amusing translation..

Here is a picture of our team: 3 teachers + 2 seminary students + 1 High School student = great teamwork!
One afternoon we had some time to go visit the Grutas de Garcia-
The caverns were filled with stalactites and stalagmites and were a cool relief from the 100+ temperatures.

On the first day we went with Eraclio Conde, the pastor of Iglesia Bethel, and Carol Oban, Short term teams coordinator for MTW, to visit a lookout that had an incredible view of the city.

On the last day of English class we made animal masks :)

The "federales" or Federal Police were staying at our hotel. A month before we arrived there had been a standoff between the federal police and the local police in MTY after 80+ local officers had been fired because of corruption.

Brian and the "three amigos +1"....the three on the right were quite a handful, but a lot of fun :)

This is a view of Monterrey's most famous landmark, the Cerro de la Silla, or Saddle Back Mountain. The picture was taken from the Paseo Santa Lucia, a river walk located near downtown.

Thanks again for praying and for supporting us! Please continue to pray for:
1. MTW/National Presbyterian Church in Mexico: they have a vision to plant 52 churches in the largest cities in Northern Mexico. Their goal is big, but God is bigger and there is such a need for churches that teach and preach the word of God with care and conviction. The harvest is great but the workers are few- pray for godly men to be called to plant these churches.

2. Pastor Eraclio and His Family at Iglesia Bethel: They work in a community that is lower income and have also sought to reach out to an indigenous group called the Tepehuanes people.

3. The Theological Institute: this a place for men and women to be trained in how to study and teach the bible. Please pray for them and the institute.

4. VBS this week at Iglesia Bethel.

Not enough words to describe....

Here are some pictures from this year's teacher trip to Peru! We had an incredible time and saw God's faithfulness throughout our entire trip as we traveled, shared the Gospel in two orphanages and several public schools, and spent time with and were mutually encouraged by Scripture Union's school workers and volunteers.

This year's team included: Susan Smith, Jose and Iva Bas, Elizabeth Smit, Christy Seifert, Aimee Powell, and Trish Jackson (me!).

The pictures are not in order, and there is no way to capture all that we saw and all that God did, but we hope that they encourage you to continue to pray for the work that God is doing in the hearts of children in Peru.

This is Alan, the school's worker in Chincha, Peru. He is opening a gift from SLCA that included a bookbag filled with goodies and a picture of the class that prays for him. We got to eat lunch with each of the Lima area workers and their volunteers.

Jose talks with some children during our first school's presentation. Over the course of the week we visited several schools and were able to share the Gospel with the children that we met.

These boys are pretty excited after doing
the "Baile del Pollito"....aka The Chicken Dance!

In between schools and eating, crazy things sometimes happen :)

A typical peruvian meal: chicken, rice, and potatoes.
We were NOT sad to get home to our own food.

Happy to find a little taste of home!

Riding dune buggies in Ica, Peru, just south of Lima.

Here we are sharing our favorite song "Soy Honesto" (I am honest) with the children at the INABIF in Lima. INABIF is a state run orphanage that SU is involved with.

Jose is teaching about Bloom's taxonomy. He did an incredible job of explaining and giving examples of how to get students to use their higher order thinking skills!!!

These children participated in one of our
workshops called "How to tell stories creatively"

Trish teaching!

yay! candy!

Christy, Aimee, and Susan did a skit about honesty in our school's presentation.

On Sunday we got to join the Lima workers for church at Camino de Vida.

One night we went to a show called Las Brisas de Titicaca
We saw many typical dances of Peru and got to do some of our own at the end!

After presenting at this particular school, the "Directora" and her teachers invited us to a snack and we enjoyed a good time of fellowship and sharing. They were very encouraged by the presentation and hopeful to gain more ideas from the weekend's training session.

We got to spend our very last day in Peru at Kawai,
our favorite boy's home, located south of Lima. We worshipped with the boys, Elizabeth and Iva shared the gospel with the boys, and Jose encouraged the older boys to "sigue adelante"- keep moving forward- and to put their eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Iva and some of the boys at Kawai

Not so they know us, but that they might know HIM!

Pray for Peru:
- For the workers and volunteers who share the a values curriculum in the public schools
- for the summer camps where these same children hear the Gospel
- for the street boys who live in the 5 SU homes
- for the very difficult task that the house parents have of raising these boys

Our theme for the week:
¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-2

Peru, again :)

Hello all!!

We made it safely to Peru! I have decided that these next 10 days will be a great opportunity to take a break from the internet, so I am writing to ask for prayer for the rest of our trip....Apart from Him, we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5)....we really covet your prayers.....that our time here would be fruitful and that God´s kingdom would come and His will be done in Lima, Peru! Also that we would be an encouragement to the volunteers who give their time to teach Bible in the schools here.

Our two main goals: Share the Gospel, help equip volunteers to teach the Bible effectively in the public schools.

June 13- Gospel presentation at INABIF Lima (a state run orphanage)
June 14- Church in the AM, and then lunch with UB (union biblica) workers
June 15- AM/PM Gospel presentations in two local schools, lunch and dinner with UB volunteers
June 16- AM/PM Gospel presentations in two local schools, lunch and dinner with UB volunteers
June 17- Professional development workshop for INABIF workers
June 18- AM/PM Two teacher workshops for UB schools volunteers
June 19- Bus to Chincha, Gospel presenation at INABIF Chincha, Bus to Ica
June 20 (my birthday!) - Training with UB volunteers in Ica
June 21- Lead Chapel service at UB boys home in Kawai, return to Lima
June 22- return home

Beauty in the Desert

At the beginning of our trip to Peru we journeyed south to Ica, a town located in the desert. It is a very dry place with areas of extreme poverty. A little over year and a half ago, an earthquake struck the area creating even more problems...people without homes, children without parents....

We passed out water in an neighborhood that only receives a water truck once a week. Not everyone gets their share of water. One woman said that she had not had water in almost a month. She had two children and her husband was sick.

Many of the people came up to the truck with any kind of bucket they could find.

The water truck told the truth: El agua es vida.....water is life. But, perhaps Jesus says it even better: Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14

"Water s life"

Any bucket they could find

Students helped carry the water back to the people's houses.

Something else stood out in this community: even though there was extreme poverty, the people still took the time to plant flowers and enjoy their beauty.

I love this quote from Hinds Feet on High Places.

On the last morning she was walking near the tents and huts of the desert dwellers, when in a lonely corner behind a wall she came upon a little golden-yellow flower, growing all alone. An old pipe was one tiny hole through which came an occasional drop of water. Where the drops fell one by one, there grew the little golden flower, though where the seed had come from, Much-Afraid could not imagine, for there were no birds anywhere and no other growing things [in this great desert].

She stopped over the lonely, lovely little golden face, lifted up so hopefully and so bravely to the feeble drip, and cried out softly, “What is your name, little flower, for I never saw one like you before.”

The tiny plant answered at once in a tone as golden as itself, “Behold me! My name is Acceptance-with-Joy.”

Much-Afraid thought of the things which she had seen in the pyramid: the threshing floor and the whirring wheel and the fiery furnace. Somehow the answer of the little golden flower which grew all alone in the waste of the desert stole into her heart and echoed there faintly but sweetly, filling her with comfort. She said to herself, “He has brought me here when I did not want to come for his own purpose. I, too, will look up into his face and say, ‘Behold me! I am thy little handmaiden Acceptance-with-Joy.’”

A home in the desert.

Yet, there is still beauty.....a promise of things to come and the hope and longing for something better, things as they should be, a world lost, but soon to come again

Isaiah 35: 1-2, 4-7, 10

The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus,

² it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

⁴ say to those with fearful hearts,
"Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you."

⁵ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

⁶ Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.

⁷ The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

¹⁰ and the ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Peru 2009

SouthLake is taking its 6th group of Seniors to Peru! Please pray for our 25 students and 6 chaperones, that God would be at work in us and through us to bring the good news to Peru! For more info about our trip and past trips go to http://slcamissions.blogspot.com/

Plumbing 101

My toilet was leaking. A friend suggested that maybe it would be possible to fix it on my own. So I went to Lowe's and got the part....only $2.87. Only, we couldn't get the old part off the put on the new one (the screw was corroded....see below for our creative attempt at uncorroding). So now I may have to pay a plumber to fix it. Sad!

Toilet fixing tools: screw driver (check!),
wrench (check!), flashlight (check!)....cotton balls?
Coca-Cola? Paint scraper?

Plumber Josh, sporting his www.ilikeandy.com shirt.
I don't know that Mr. Osenga would appreciate this type of publicity!
Or would that be "plumbicity"?

Moral of the story, if you can't fix a toilet, at least come up with creative ways to TRY to fix it so you can make a mess, take pictures, and have a funny story later!

PS: you may perhaps want to bring a nose plug!

the grass is greener, the food sweeter

My cat taught me a (another) little object lesson yesterday. He was hungry, prancing around my feet, "mrow"....so I filled up his bowl. He ate one bite and then went into the kitchen and starting trying to open one of the cabinets. "Weird!" Somehow he managed to get the door open. I went over to extract him from the cabinet, and I found the extra bag of cat food torn open and almost gone. The exact same kind of food that was in his bowl...

The question(s): Why do we always want the thing now that is intended for later? Hasn't God already given me exactly what I need today? Is it not enough? Why am I not content? Why do I always think that what I don't have is better than what I do have?

My cat made me think of Israel wandering in the desert. When they didn't have food, they grumbled to God, "Are you going to let us die here?" God provided manna. Later on, they grumbled again "But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"

"It seems to me that we often, almost sulkily, reject the good that God offers us because, at the moment, we expected some other good." C.S. Lewis

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.-- Psalm 16:5-6

He is enough!

Snow Peas

Last Tuesday I planted
some little seeds in some peat pots.

Today the first snow peas peaked through!

1 Corinthians 3:5-7

"What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."

Housewarming

My mom gave me the best housewarming gift!
A shovel and a gift card to Lowe's to pick out a tree.

This is me trying to get the tree home. :)

A dad who was walking by told his son:
"look there is a tree growing out of her car!"
( Yoshino Cherry)

Mia in the shade of the new tree :)

Are you serious??

One of my students brought this into class today!
Yes, it is a poptart!

Los Santos Vienen Ya!

avocados, beware!

I had a gift card to Williams-Sonoma. Good thing! Among their highly specific kitchen tools, over priced everything (a pepper grinder for $70?!?!), and very enthusiastic staff, I found the answer to all my guacamole dreams. A beam of light shone from heaven upon this magical piece of human ingenuity. Behold-The Avocado Pitter/Slicer!

two wolves

My stepmom forwarded this to me...

Two wolves...

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two ' wolves ' inside us all.

One is Evil. - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed".

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." Galatians 6:7-8

Father

"Dia, What are you doing? Dia! Look at me, look at me. What are you doing? You are Dia Vendy, of the proud Mende tribe. You are a good boy who loves soccer and school. Your mother loves you so much. She waits by the fire making plantains, and red palm oil stew with your sister N'Yanda and the new baby. The cows wait for you. And Babu, the wild dog who minds no one but you. I know they made you do bad things, but you are not a bad boy. I am your father who loves you. And you will come home with me and be my son again"

Isaiah 43: 1
But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

Ezekial 36:26-28
²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁸ You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

Jeremiah 31:1,3 "At that time," declares the LORD, "I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people."³ The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:"I have loved you with an everlasting love; have drawn you with loving-kindness."

First Softball Game

The two coolest coaches ever! Oh wait, that is Meg and I, and yes, we are cool! Especially with our new official coaches' shirts!

Who could not love coaching these beautiful, sweet, middle school girls? Even after a loss, they are still smiley and excited! Megs and I decided that our score (29-11) was really a sign from God. Jeremiah 29:11...For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Perhaps this applies to softball!!?!?!?

Moved in

I can't believe it has already been two weeks since I moved! There are still boxes to be unpacked and painting has not yet happened, but it is already beginning to feel like home.

Mia and Riley are getting along well. I was trying to get Mia to catch a frisbee....it worked...... until Riley charged Mia to steal the frisbee.

Hmmm...perhaps Riley does not realize that he is- a) a cat, b) a lot smaller than Mia, c) not the kind of animal that catches frisbees.

This is Mia's watchdog face to keep away all the neighborhood thugs.

The tail wag is an indicator that she is getting ready to attack. BEWARE!

Riley is helping pick out paint colors. He decided on "amaretto" (a burnt orange) for the kitchen and "sweet annie" (an olive green) for the master bedroom. Good choices! I couldn't have done it without him.

there's no place like home?

I was supposed to close on house back in December, but everything fell through because of a bad appraisal. BUT, God has definitely taken care of the details! Everything that didn't work out with the other house seems to be going smoothly with this one. SOOO, hopefully I will be able to close mid-February! AND, there is even room for the doggie some very sweet friends are giving me :)

Thank you, Lord, for all the "no"s along the way!