Last week Steve Jobs died because of cancer. He touched people all over the world. Newspapers, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and any other social media you can think of was abuzz. They all hailed him as a great innovator, as an amazing inventor. Really. I read one guy's FB post comparing him to Albert Einstein. I think there are a lot of people who idolized him.
No disrespect intended but he wasn't the only person who died.
Today I found out a great man died. Ken Jones.
There wont be all the news headlines. There should.
Twitter and Facebook won't be abuzz. They should.
People all over the world will never know who Ken was or what he meant to a bunch of kids on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. They should.
You see Ken was on the Board of Directors for Arizona Reservation Ministries. He also volunteered his time on the Rez. He also loved the Apache people. He made a difference for the kids on the Rez. He made a difference for the adults on the Rez. But most importantly, He made a difference for the Kingdom!
No, you won't see or hear CNN or Fox News or any other news organization speak of Ken Jones. They won't broadcast a picture showing him surrounded by a bunch of kids.
This world lost a wonderful man, a kind man, an inspiration.
Right now Ken is walking with the Lord. There is no more pain.
I know when he stood before the Lord, He said to Ken, "Well done my good and faithful servant."
By the way, that is better than any news article/story/post from anyone.
I will miss Ken Jones, but I will see him again.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Please pray for his wife Frances.
In Him,
Robert
The Center of the Falls
As most of you know I was fortunate and blessed to travel to Canada twice this summer. The first was a planned, intentional trip to Mississauga, Canada to work with Impact Canada’s flagship plant, Churchill Meadows Christian Church in May. We attended and helped with 2 weekend services, delivered door to door thousands (OK maybe hundreds) of flyer's for a community BBQ, visited and experienced a Buddhist temple, a Hindu temple and a mosque. We also got to do a couple of “touristy” things like going to the top of the CN Tower and visit Niagara Falls.
Niagara Falls was a “bucket list” item for me. I was so excited to get out of the car and run to see it! (Yes, the team kept looking at me strangely) They were more than I imagined, God’s handiwork could not be questioned standing in front of this marvel! As I peered over the railing, a small boat was heading to the middle of the Horseshoe Falls. For those who have not been there, the Horseshoe is named appropriately. The falls on the Canadian side are shaped like a horseshoe. You can walk along one side of it, but the center and other side are not accessible by land. This small boat, the Maid of the Mist, was headed into the center of the horseshoe. It sat there fighting the raging waters swirling in the center, the massive mist that covered the view of the falls from time to time with its power, battling to stay in the center. I looked at our team and said “let’s go!” Well, we didn’t make it that day on the boat but that was OK, God was using us all in incredible ways, and I did get to see the falls.
Then in August, through countless blessings and generosity of loved ones, Robert and I went to Canada to work with Churchill Meadows. They had been looking for a magician for their summer Quest camp for kids, and I mentioned my husband does that. We spent 5 unforgettable days in Canada, sharing at Churchill Meadows and having some true quality time alone together we have not had before. Robert had been to Canada before, but not to Niagara Falls.Before we went, I asked if he would be interested in going on the Maid of the Mist the day we planned on seeing Niagara Falls. He had a very enthusiastic, YES!
Just like me, he was excited, overjoyed and in awe of the sight God placed before us. We enjoyed the view, and then headed to the dock of the Maid of the Mist. We could hardly co
ntain ourselves as we slipped on our blue rain coats and waited to board. We made our way to the very front, top deck of the boat, on the railing not wanting to miss anything. The boat went to the American falls first and stopped for a few minutes as we were sprayed with water and loving the view so close to the waterfall. The boat slowly turned and headed toward the Horseshoe Falls. We raised the hood on our blue rain coat and held on as the plastic coats whipped in the wind. The closer we got to the center, the current was rougher, the wind stronger, the water poured on us, not mist, full on water pouring so hard I had to fight to keep my eyes open. But I fought; I did not want to miss a thing. The beauty was incredible and indescribable, to experience it all around you, everywhere you looked. We were surrounded by God's power and beauty.Have you ever been in the center of God’s will? Are we living in the calm of our lives, watching from the sidelines saying wow, this is great. I am here looking in and I am safe right where I am. I have a great view from here God; I don’t need to move any closer. I don’t need to go on that Mission trip, I can pray from here. I don’t need to share with my non-Christian friends; they already know where I stand. When I first felt a tug to step out and truly give everything up for Him, I fought it. Guess what, when I started to give into the idea, moving into His will and not mine own, I entered a storm. It wasn’t a calm step; here I am Lord now it’s easy from here. It is tough, it is difficult, it is challenging and taxing and I felt like giving up. I questioned whether I really wanted to do this? Like the small boat fighting the currents and wind in the center of the falls, I feel like that boat some days. Struggling for the center, fighting against the waves; but I am actually fighting myself, my desires, my selfishness. My desire is to be in the center of God’s will for me, wherever that may be. It may be rough, it may be difficult, dangerous, completely not what I had planned, but I want to be in the center!
Journey –
1. a trip somewhere: A trip or expedition from one place to another
2. Process of development: a gradual passing from one state to another regarded as more advanced, e.g. from innocence to mature awareness
• A spiritual journey
This morning I felt the need to look up this word in the Encarta dictionary. As I speak of our lives these days, this word comes to mind. I love what it says to me. While it may say something different to you, what I see is the difficulties in this life are moving me to a “mature awareness.” As a kid, I couldn’t wait to grow up. All I ever wanted to be was a grown up. I had my life perfectly planned out. I would become an English teacher with summers off, a big wedding to the man of my dreams, 2.5 kids, a dog, a house with a white picket fence, sipping lemonade on my front porch in my rocking chair listening to the crickets chirp. This was my idea of maturity. Sounds perfect right? Well perfection in my immature mind.
So it leaves me with the question, what does maturity look like to me now? I’m not sure; I’ll let you know when I get there. "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." ~ James 1:4 In the meantime, we are moving forward in our journey.
While Robert was unable to go back to Australia this year, God blessed us with an amazing opportunity to go to Canada. Though it was not in our plans, it was obviously in Gods. The church in Canada I visited with our church in May, asked Robert to come and perform magic at their annual kids camp. We prayed. They were looking for volunteers, and we simply did not have the means to work it out, we said we truly appreciated the offer but needed to say no. Several people who had heard this started offering money for us to go, even though we had turned the church down. Robert was offered some random side jobs to help friends with work, to perform magic at my work, various offers for money we didn’t count on. A few days later, the church asked again with a small offer of pay. We listened.
Friday we leave for Canada. Robert is performing at the camp and we are getting a couple of days away by ourselves. God always amazes me, I love that moment. I did not believe we could work this trip out, and I was right…we couldn’t.
Please pray for our time in Canada with our friends at Churchill Meadows Christian Church and the kids coming to camp, and the time we get to reconnect, rest and rejuvenate.
Serving Him,
Liz
1. a trip somewhere: A trip or expedition from one place to another
2. Process of development: a gradual passing from one state to another regarded as more advanced, e.g. from innocence to mature awareness
• A spiritual journey
This morning I felt the need to look up this word in the Encarta dictionary. As I speak of our lives these days, this word comes to mind. I love what it says to me. While it may say something different to you, what I see is the difficulties in this life are moving me to a “mature awareness.” As a kid, I couldn’t wait to grow up. All I ever wanted to be was a grown up. I had my life perfectly planned out. I would become an English teacher with summers off, a big wedding to the man of my dreams, 2.5 kids, a dog, a house with a white picket fence, sipping lemonade on my front porch in my rocking chair listening to the crickets chirp. This was my idea of maturity. Sounds perfect right? Well perfection in my immature mind.
So it leaves me with the question, what does maturity look like to me now? I’m not sure; I’ll let you know when I get there. "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." ~ James 1:4 In the meantime, we are moving forward in our journey.
While Robert was unable to go back to Australia this year, God blessed us with an amazing opportunity to go to Canada. Though it was not in our plans, it was obviously in Gods. The church in Canada I visited with our church in May, asked Robert to come and perform magic at their annual kids camp. We prayed. They were looking for volunteers, and we simply did not have the means to work it out, we said we truly appreciated the offer but needed to say no. Several people who had heard this started offering money for us to go, even though we had turned the church down. Robert was offered some random side jobs to help friends with work, to perform magic at my work, various offers for money we didn’t count on. A few days later, the church asked again with a small offer of pay. We listened.
Friday we leave for Canada. Robert is performing at the camp and we are getting a couple of days away by ourselves. God always amazes me, I love that moment. I did not believe we could work this trip out, and I was right…we couldn’t.
Please pray for our time in Canada with our friends at Churchill Meadows Christian Church and the kids coming to camp, and the time we get to reconnect, rest and rejuvenate.
Serving Him,
Liz
What's it worth?
I watched a video of a guy tying his shoe in 1 second. He actually showed how to do it. Of course he had to do that over under thing we all do to start it. That didn't count in his time.
So I tried to tie my shoe as fast as I could and I did it in just under 2 seconds. I'm actually pretty good at it. I would put my shoe tying skills up against anyone. I'm that good at it.
Anyway, I did the math and I think I would have saved something like 14 hours. Now that assumes an average of 2 shoe ties a day for 45 years per foot. I'll put the first 5 years on my mom. Also I'm not counting the times I tied my kid's shoes. I'll let Liz take those. So that's 2(avg.times per day) times 365(days in a year) times 45(years) divided by 60(number of seconds in a minute) divided by 60(number of minutes in an hour) = 9.125 hours divided by (actually you have to multiply) .75 = 6.8 hours times 2 (number of feet) and the grand total is 13.6 hours I would have saved if I had learned how to tie my shoes in a second.
What would I do with an extra 13.6 hours? What would I do with an extra 13.6 hours?
Probably just sleep. Oh well I guess I will just keep tying my shoes the same old way. Because after all it's my 13.6 hours and I will spend it any way I want.
If you had my day today, you would understand this so much more.
Have a good day,
Robert
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