So what is LOVE?

I know there is always a big debate going concerning which version of the Bible (in English) is the most accurate. As you can imagine, I have an opinion, (LOL) but I'll save that for an upcoming post. For, now I would just like to comment that I REALLY like the down-to-earth way the New International Readers Version presents the famous 1 Corinthians 13 LOVE chapter. We have been using it this month to discuss what love is and what it is not. The kids made love chains and hung them above their doors. Each link lists ways that we truly love. So, what does the Bible say that Love is? Below, I have listed 16 different things that are mentioned in the love chapter. I have also written the comments that William and Grace made about each one.

1) Love is patient. (It waits until everyone is up in the morning to start singing while doing chores. - Grace)

2) Love is kind. (It lets older people go up the elevator even though your legs are really tired. - William)

3) Love does not want what belongs to others. (It is okay that I don't have all the American stuff. Grace)

4) Love does not brag. (It does not tell other people that we got a package from the States. William)

5) Love is not proud. (It does not tell people that my hair is better than yours. Grace)

6) Love is not rude. (It does not pick your nose when someone is talking to you. William)

7) Love looks to the interests of others. (It lets smaller kids follow along and play with you. Grace)

8) Love does not easily become angry. (It doesn't yell at your sister even when she is frustrating. William)

9) Love does not keep a record of wrongs. (It does not keep talking about what others have done to you. Grace)

10) Love is not happy with evil. (You cannot like to be on the side of the bad guys. William)

11) Love is full of joy when truth is spoken. (You should always tell the truth. It makes mom happy. Grace)

12) Love always protects. (You have to watch out for your sister at the park and the store. Someone could try to grab her. William)

13) Love always trusts. (Well, you can't trust everyone, so I am not sure what this one means. Grace) We are working on learning what it means to believe the best about people and still keep ourselves safe.

14) Love always hopes. (You always have to know that the good will come and God will win. William)

15) Love never gives up. (You can't just stop working and say you are too tired to do the right thing. Grace)

16) Love never fails. (You can't just stop loving. God never stops loving us. William & Grace)

Well, I think for 9 and 7 years old they are moving in the right direction. We pray you are showing love to those around you this month. Much Love, AT, WT & GT

Just keep going...

I love it when I find myself living in/participating in poems and other literature. A mentor of mine once said, "All truth comes from God." She herself is an avid reader - not just what is considered "Christian" in nature, but all works. When she first said this, I confess, I really had to roll it over in my mind. I think in our world today so many people in an effort to "not offend" have jumped on the train of everything is good and all roads lead to God. I realized, or course, that is not at all what she meant, and we both completely disagree with that line of thought. She was simply trying to help me understand that God is sovereign over all things, and He can draw us to His truth in a variety of ways. I have shared this before, but I am continually amazed at how the Father speaks to me. He speaks in a variety of ways, but most often recently it is through day to day events. It is almost like at special moments the Holy Spirit tugs my heart and whispers His truth. I would love to report that I entered 2011 fully motivated, inspired and pushing forward with full force. Unfortunately, in truth it has been more a story of gritting my teeth, holding the rope with all my might and drudging forward. Yes, I have goals, as mentioned in my last post; however, most of the goals really just mirror what God has had me doing for almost 2 years now. I have not had a poor attitude, but I have had a real lack of enthusiasm. This week, I believe that the Father has been calling me to the carpet and showing me over and over the importance of PERSERVERANCE. It has been during my homeschool time with the kids while reading different pieces of literature that the Father has spoken. I would like to share a few of those moments/works of literature with you: The first one is the story of John James Audubon. Audubon's story is one of triumph over adversity. He was born illegitimately in what is now Haiti to a French sea captain. He was raised by his step-mother in France and was sent to the Americas to escape being sent to war with Napoleon's army. His birth-mother had a great love for birds and wildlife. In his early years, while still in Haiti, she influenced him greatly in this area. Once in America, he determined to write and illustrate a book on American Birds. He dedicated his whole life to this cause often spending months and years in the American wilderness. Grace read a short story about his life this week. It stated that at one time he had been in the wilderness for over a year tracking, studying and painting birds when mice got into the box that held all of his writings and paintings. Without him knowing, the mice gnawed and shredded all of his work in an effort to make a nest for themselves. He was grief stricken at the discovery. He spent several days lamenting the loss. However, after his time of mourning, he got up, dusted himself off and spent the next four and a half years creating his best work. He had learned a great deal through the experience, and he was able to paint and put out better works than his originals. To this day other wildlife artists are still measured against him. Wow, what strength it takes to lose everything and keep going towards your goal! The second work of literature that spoke to me is "Aesop's Fables". We use The Mystery of History curriculum, and this week we did a short lesson on Aesop's life as well as Greek storying. We have a copy of "Aesop's Fables", so for fun we decided to read several and discuss their meaning. You can guess, as God would have it, every one of the short stories the kids chose, the Holy Spirit used to convict my heart to persevere. The written moral for the famous, "The Hare and the Tortoise" is: "The race is not always to the swift." How many times have I prayed, "Lord, please help me to get through this quickly?" When really what I need to be praying is, "Father give me your strength, teach me that may I be useable for your Kingdom." The last work is one by Shel Silverstein. (I posted a blog using one of his works last year. Click Here to read.) Melinda Mae "Have you heard of tiny Melinda Mae, Who ate a monstrous whale? She thought she could, She said she would, So she started in right at the tail. And everyone said, "You're much too small," But that didn't bother Melinda at all. She took little bites and she chewed very slow, Just like a good girl should...And it eighty-nine years she ate that whale, Because she said she would!" Crazy...but what a testimony of someone keeping their word and being faithful to a task! SOOOO, now that I have made this blog WAY longer than I intended....what is my point? Whatever God has asked you to do, do not lose heart...Just Keep Going!! AT

Jumping into 2011

Hummmm....what will this year look like for the Travis Family? Honestly, I can't even begin to guess. We have several major things that we are praying for expectantly, but if there is one thing that we have learned on this adventure, it is that God does things on HIS time and in HIS way. Yes, we are still asking the Father to add children to our home and to totally remove Matt's student loans. Both of those will take a HUGE miracle financially, legally...and so many other details. We are asking Him to bless us in the area of language learning and to continue to move in a big way to help us adapt to culture. We are also continuing to ask that He moves in ways that we cannot even imagine in the areas of relationship building, sharing and vision for where we are. Do we believe HE can do all these things? - YES! How are we moving forward? - IN FAITH! We are simply trusting that His plans are perfect; that He is in control; and that He always keeps His promises. I'm not saying that trusting is an easy task, but it is made do-able with the sweet moment-by-moment strength the Father provides. Now, do I recognize that there are a few things in our power that will help these goals to be reached; i.e. prayer, listening to the Spirit and making productive choices? - YES! So, what are we doing: The Travis Goals for 2011! Well firstly, it has been a few years since Matt and I have purposely set out to read the Bible through in its entirety. We are also challenging ourselves to use this reading not only as a time of studying His word, but in language learning. Secondly, we are both going to begin to put together small teaching lessons in our host language. We regularly have young believing couples in our home for the purpose of fellowship and encouragement. We would like to start developing that time more. The list of personal, family and work goals continues, but I will not bore you with the details. Just like last year, I simply wanted to get you thinking down the road of creating 1) a family purpose statement; 2) overall goals as a family; and 3) how this year in bite-sized pieces you can move successfully down the road that the Father has for you. I quoted this last year, but still think that it is really good: The philosopher Eugene Peterson says that "a successful life is one that has a long obedience in the same direction." I think too many times we get excited about the latest opportunity and forget that God has a special purpose and plan for us. We need to stay the course and work the ground that He has given us. Please pray for us this year as we persevere. We desire to be characterized as people that are faithful and obedient for His glory. We are remembering you as you strive towards your goals as well. Jumping Out For HIM - AT



PS: Last year my New Year's post was on the Sabbath Rest. i.e. tips on helping you set goals; click if interested.

Christmas 2010

We pray you all enjoyed a very Merry Christmas. Hugs and kisses all around this year!!! Matt, Amy, William & Grace

Blessed Are The Poor

Weekly, I am privileged to attend a ladies' Bible study with national Believers. It is often a stretch with my language ability, but I am learning so much from these women. This week we went to a village to visit some family members of our church's pastor. It was a humbling experience. I truly believe that the Father will judge us by how we treat the poor of the earth. God has given us so many instructions in scripture regarding our responsibility, but He has also made it really clear that it is the poor that understand who He is and will receive their reward in Heaven. This being true, I have to ask myself two important questions: Am I poor? and How am I actively serving the poor around me? The answer to the first question from a monetary standpoint is, no. By some western standards, perhaps, yes, but really the answer is no. We have so much compared to others that I am often embarrassed at times. However, let's look at the question from a heart point of view. Am I poor? Poor is defined as: lacking in specific resources, qualities or substances; inadequate; not sufficient to meet a need. Wow, I would say that is an accurate picture of my heart and life without Christ. In that case yes...yes I am very poor. I think that in the Sermon on the Mount when Christ said, "Blessed are the poor" one of His main points was that if a person thinks he has everything he will not see his true inadequacies and need for a Savior. The second question: How am I actively serving the poor around me? That is a very interesting question. I guess we each have to evaluate our own hearts on that. One might look at the ladies that I fellowship with as having very little. By most standards of the world, that might be a correct assessment. However, these ladies still manage to give of themselves and their resources to the surrounding villages and city homeless. Through the years, Matt & I have watched many church plants try to make a go of it in the US. I think one key mark of the churches that are successful is that they have a plan for serving the poor and reaching beyond themselves. It is our opinion that one of the reasons "inner-city churches" have such a hard time succeeding is because their focus is inward. Yes, we all have needs and struggles...refer back to question #1! However, when we start "looking to the interests of ourselves and not to the interests of others", I think we are no longer useful to the Kingdom and will not be successful in our ventures. I just heard that 6,000 children in the Dallas area registered "as needy" this Holiday Season are still without a gift for Christmas. I am not pointing any fingers at my fellow Texans or even debating the question of true "neediness", but wow, this is a shame and a reminder to us all to again search our hearts and ask ourselves if we were to stand before the Father today would He say that we have been faithful to serve the poor? "He who oppresses the poor taunts His maker, but he who is gracious to the needy honors Him." Pro. 14:31 I have attached a link to Chris Tomlin's song, "O Holy Night" I am moved by the line that says, "His power and glory let the poor proclaim." May I be found among those proclaiming His power and glory! AT

Travis Traditions

I love the Christmas holiday season, but I will admit that for the past few years it has been a difficult time for me. A sweet friend recently reminded me of one of the best ways to help with "Holiday Blues" - make your own traditions. For many years, I cringed at the thought of having traditions. I married into a family that openly admits they are full of traditions. To be honest, at first, it was very difficult to relate to and even to find my place in a family with so many traditions that had to be up-held each year. I think we have all learned a lot through the experience. I do love having traditions at our house, but I think the thing that keeps it at a good balance is that one of our traditions is to come up with something new to do each year! I recognize that traditions are good for a transitional family like ours. William and Grace need concrete things in their lives: things that they can count on and look forward to each year. However, we have tried to think of things to do each year that are not dependant on location, foods, places or things that would be difficult for us to replicate. Our focus has been on things that bring true meaning to what we are trying to celebrate, things that bond us as a family and things that fit within our family purpose statement. One of the big things we do every year is the lighting of the Advent Candles. I posted several blogs last year on this tradition. You can click here to read more if you are interested. One special tradition that the kids love is the opening of Christmas books. I re-wrap the same books year after year and the children open one each night leading up to Christmas Day. Some of the books re-tell the story of the birth of Christ and some of them are simply fictional stories that point to the true meaning of Christmas. This year our new activity was stringing popcorn to decorate our doorways. We have been reading about early Christmas traditions and this was one of them. It is very interesting to see how people around the world and over different generations have remembered the birthday of the Savior. This year we are enjoying being a part of a local body of new believers. They call the holiday, "The Birth Holiday". Being isolated, they know nothing of the commercialized holiday of Santa Clause. Everything they do is focused on remembering that God came in the flesh. They sing a song that the children dance to entitled, Welcome Jesus, Happy Birthday. William and Grace love it. The kids pair up and do their routine at the front of the church each time we sing the song. I would love to hear your holiday traditions. Write as you have time. AT

He's 35!!

Yes, we're hitting mile stones at our house. Matt turned 35 today! It feels like such a strange age...not young anymore and not old either... As Grace said, "You're half way to 40 now!" I told him not to worry he didn't look a day over 42! You may remember that I turned 29 in Hawaii, so come May I have nothing to worry about in the getting old department. Matt was given his favorite game, Monopoly, as a gift from my mother. It was the hit of the day. Matt is ruthlessly teaching the kids to be serious business contenders. They played all afternoon. Matt's dad called at the perfect time. We were lighting candles and singing Happy Birthday. Matt is an amazing man, and I am proud to be his wife. I can't wait to see what the next 35 years look like for him/us. Blessed be His name....the Lord is good! AT