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

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration this year. Funny, it didn't look like any "American Thanksgiving" I have ever had, but I confess it was one of the best. We felt this year like the "Pilgrims" trying to make it in a new land. The "Indians" helped us through our first tough year and then rejoiced with us at all that God has given us! "Indians" meaning our national friends from our first city in country came to visit us. They didn't want us to be alone on our "thankful day". We feel truly honored that they would spend their time and money to help us make the day special. We have learn so much from this family...not just cultural things like customs, food & language, but more importantly, what it looks like to truly love people unconditionally. Why they want to be our friends is a mystery to us...except that we believe that God is going to do an amazing work through this friendship. HIS ways are amazing, and we can't wait to see what He wants to do. I fixed mostly traditional local dishes for the day. I was able to squeeze in stuffed eggs and pecan pie. They were dishes not too far off from their own. We were blessed to have two MBB (Muslim Background Believers) families over for dessert and our traditional time of giving thanks. It was very moving to hear what was on everyone's hearts. Please join us in prayer for the work that we know the Father wants to do! Because of Him, AT

Do I smell?

The ability to smell is an amazing thing....isn't it! Sometimes....like when they added the seafood section to our local market last week....I really wish I was lacking in the ability to get a good whiff. On other occasions, our sense of smell plays tricks on us.....like when we first moved overseas, I really thought that my new hand wash dish soap smelled like the toilet bowl cleaner I used in the States. I confess I carefully read/translated the label several times to make sure I wasn't washing my dishes with the wrong thing! There are many times when our ability to smell helps us detect a problem. Last week, I put a chicken on the stove to boil, and...yep, I forgot about it...that is until I smelled the smoke that was billowing from the kitchen. Of course, that little incident had to happen just after I had washed the curtains in the entire apartment...everything WAS smelling so clean! I do appreciate that I have a heightened sense of smell on the days when I have a child that is coming down with something. I know it is strange, but I can smell a person's body chemistry changing because of illness. On the bright side, there are many more times when our sense of smell brings us good memories and special feelings. A few weeks ago, while I was fixing Grace's hair, she told me that our new jel smells like grandpa. Now, she lovely refers to the jel as her "grandpa's perfume". (My dad is known for smelling good - he loves cologne!) William thinks that our new hand soap smells like jello. He is pretty sure that it is made from "the wiggly stuff" he had in the US. There is also nothing like the smell of fresh banana bread and a newly opened Dr. Pepper! It is finally the allotted time in our city to start burning the coal furnaces that will heat the buildings over the next 5-6 months. The air is filled with the smell of "campfire". It reminds me of special fall evenings spent in the backyard of our dear friends the Birds. I guess I am writing about smells today because I am missing precious friends and family, and I am also trying to think about the importance of my fragrance as a follower of Christ. Tomorrow begins the biggest holiday in the Islamic religion. Kurban Bayramı is the "Feast of Sacrifice". You can (Click Here) for more information. I am not looking forward to the smell of blood and death in our city, but I am hopeful for opportunities to fellowship with my neighbors. Please pray for us this week as you feel led. Our desire is to be a fragrant aroma for Him. "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifest through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. " 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 I hope I smell good!! AT

So Am I Just Going to Rot?

Shel Silverstein's book, Where the Sidewalk Ends, was one of my favorites growing up. Recently, we obtained the book from a family that was returning to the States. My kids have read it through twice now! It's great to watch them laugh, giggle and try to figure out the meaning of each prose. Here is one that really struck with something God has been trying to teach me lately. "I Won't Hatch!" Oh I am a chickie who lives in an egg, But I will not hatch, I will not hatch. The hens they all cackle, the roosters all beg, But I will not hatch, I will not hatch. For I hear all the talk of pollution and war, As the people all shout and the airplanes roar, So I'm staying in here where it's safe and it's warm, And I WILL NOT HATCH! It sounds silly, doesn't it? However, I do find myself quite often snuggling down in a warm comfy spot telling God how He really could use me right where I am. C.S. Lewis said, "It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs as present. And you canot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad." In my opinion, it's not that being a bird is all that bad of a gig; it's the process of getting out of the egg that takes work. Why is it so difficult to get to the place you know you are suppose to be? I have heard it said that a chick gains the strength it needs to be a bird through the struggle it sustains exiting the egg. I don't really know anything about poultry, but I do know it has been my experience so far in my walk with God that I usually have to go through a really hard place to learn what He is wanting me to use on my next phase in my journey. Just like chicks in a shell, I believe that the Father feeds us and allows us to grow until one day we are to the place he wants us to work and stretch out what He has taught us. In faith, we have to crack through the shell. It is tiring, painful and scary, but in the end we are able to bloom into the new creature He wants. I don't think that we go through this just once in life. I think that He uses this process often in our sanctification. "At a certain point in the spiritual journey God will draw a person from one stage to a more advanced stage. At this stage the person will begin to engage in religious exercises and grow deeper in the spiritual life. Such souls will likely experience what is called 'the dark night of the soul'. The 'dark night' is when those persons lose all the pleasure that they once experienced in their devotional life. This happens because God wants to purify them and move them on to greater heights." (John of the Cross "Dark Night of the Soul") I think sometimes we often get confused when as Believers we seem to be going through struggles whether spiritual or physical. We think that we must have sinned, not obeyed or done something wrong. This can be the case, but it can also just be that the Father desires to teach us something new. He wants us to trust Him in order to get us ready for a new stage in our journey with Him. Yes, it is going to be a rough process; it is going to challenge us; and likely we are going to question. However, to stay where we are is to rot. To break through the shell is to fly with Him. Yes, I am in one of those shells right now. I feel like I am pecking away at it, but not able to get it cracked enough to even see light. My shell is learning a foreign language. I know that it is necessary, and it is for His glory. However, in all honesty my beak is hurting and my body is heavy from the weight of the shell. I know each of you are likely in process of breaking through a shell or have just come through. Here is another poem from Shel Silverstein that will hopefully encourage you today: "Listen to the MUSTN'TS" Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child, Listen to the DON'TS, Listen to the SHOULDN'TS The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS, Listen to the NEVER HAVES, Then listen to me - ANYTHING can happen child, ANYTHING can be.

Pecking Away and Trusting each day! AT