Fullness of Joy

Joy Forney is a blogging friend I have never met face-to-face. Yet she encourages me so much!




















Joy is a missionary wife and mother in Indonesia. Her husband is a missionary pilot who is frequently gone for days at a time in places where there is no way to reach him. Joy is left at her home on foreign soil with her five young children--homemaking in the truest sense of the word, homeschooling, and on top of it all, inspiring hundreds via her blog.



Her recent post In His Presence especially encouraged me:

I am a mother, wife, missionary, friend, neighbor, daughter, sister, and many other things. And as such, there are so many times in my life that I feel that I am just surviving. Surviving from one mess, one meal, one exhausted morning, one tantrum, one homeschool day to the next.

However, as I am (slowly) learning, there is so much more to my life than merely surviving. I can choose to have deep, rich communion with my Heavenly Father in the midst of these seemingly mundane things that fill up my life.

I can choose to live my life in His presence, minute by minute. In Psalm 16:11 it says, "in His presence is fullness of joy." I can have the fullness of joy each and every day, no matter how difficult it may seem to do anything more than simply survive!!

I pray that this will be a reality in your life and mine as we serve the Lord in whatever He has called us to do!

In His strength and for His glory!
Joy

Will you pray for Joy and other missionary wives around the world today?

...And will you live in HIS presence today? There you will find "fullness of joy"!

Sister Shoebox Swap

I entered this opportunity through a blog I read and was matched with Molly, a missionary in Peru. We each filled out a questionnaire with some of our favourite things listed and then prepared a box (actually she and I used padded envelopes because of international mailing) of goodies for each other! It was a lot of fun to put her package together!

Here's what I got from Molly... Lemongrass tea, Peruvian coffee made by believers she knows, a black/white Peruvian hat, some chocolate almonds from Peru, and a purple scarf similar to what they wear in Peru.







So much fun... and now I have a new friend!

Completing Him Challenge

Two New Challenges from Courtney at Women Living Well:

1. Let Him Prioritize.

Make a list five things you currently do, and then ask your husband to prioritize them for you according to what is important to him. For example: a clean home, home-cooked dinner, coupon clipping, service at church, having friends over for dinner, watching/doing sports with him, etc.

2. Admire Your Husband.

Pop quiz:

a) List all the flaws of your husband.

b) List all the things that you admire about your husband.


Grade yourself: Which question was easier to answer?


Comment below and list the things you admire about your husband and then show your list to him!

Check out more ways to Complete Him at Women Living Well.

Here are just a few things I admire in my Peter:
-His love and passion for God
-His sensitivity to the Voice of God
-His preaching... I'm so proud of him every time he's in the pulpit.
-His smile... It makes me smile.
-His laugh... It makes me laugh.
-His ability to dress up in a suit and tie and also to dress down and also be a redneck cowboy on a horse
-His work ethic
-... AND SO MANY MORE!

I love, respect, and admire you so much, Honey! I'm so grateful God put us together!

Completing Him Challenge: Be What Your Man Needs

I love this challenge!

Click the button above for the challenge list of ways we wives can be what our husbands need and/or check back here for each new challenge.

The current challenge is Making Your Bed for the Glory of God.

If you don't normally make your bed each morning, try it for a couple weeks and see how different you feel! There is something about a made bed that makes you feel accomplished and put together. Your husband may say he doesn't care if the bed is made or not, but if he comes home from work to a tidy bedroom with a made bed, I would venture a guess that he will sense that his home is more efficient and that things are more under control, whether he ever says so or not.

Proverbs 31 says that a virtuous woman makes "coverings of tapestry." The harlot attracts her lover by decking her bed "with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt" (Proverbs 7:16). Should we wives do less than a harlot to make our bedroom attractive for our husbands? Let's keep our home attractive and a haven for our husbands to come home to. He won't want to look anywhere else if he's happy and content at home!

Note: This is not to excuse men who cheat on their wives, nor saying that it is always the wife's fault when he does.

Surprise By the Barn Door

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun... ~Psalm 19:1-4

I just love it when God sends little surprises my way--little pleasures to enjoy in His world!

Recently I discovered this solitary columbine growing by the barn door. According to the advice of my green thumbed friend (who gave me the rose to enjoy from her garden!), I was going to wait until it finished flowering and then transplant it to a flower bed. (Unfortunately I didn't tell my husband my plans... He wacked it with the weed eater! But the root is still there, so when it springs back up, I will transplant it right away!)





I so enjoy all the perennial flowers in my yard and garden (most planted by a previous homeowner), but this year, I have especially enjoyed the clematis! It was merely a string last year with no blooms. Look at it this year!




























Here’s what I enjoyed during my tea time with God on a recent morning. I love our times together. He’s the best friend ever!

What have you discovered lately in your world that God has given you richly to enjoy? Have you taken notice? Have you thanked Him?

What Am I Living For?

Darrell and Louise Champlin are one unit of the Grings-Champlin family who are serving the Lord as missionaries all over the world.

Louise herself grew up in the Congo, Africa, suffering shipwreck with her family on the way to the Congo when she was just a young child. She lost her mother on the mission field. Her father is also buried in the Congo.

After marriage, she and her husband Darrell returned to Africa to continue the ministry, and in more recent years, have been serving in Suriname, South America.

It is Dr. Champlin's desire to die (and be buried) on the mission field of Suriname. Mrs. Champlin is there with him, still working in ministry with their children and grandchildren, and caring for Dr. Champlin in his declining years.

She is an inspiration to so many, writing thousands of letters by hand to those she regularly encourages. I feel honoured to be among them.

Here is a portion of a recent letter, which she hand wrote inside an old church bulletin by covering the printed portions with white paper in order to reuse the bulletin and utilize its inspirational quote and poems. (She is one amazing lady!):

"...It is so wonderful how God knows our hearts--our desires and reveals truth when we are ready for it and enables us to discern what isn't. I 'tried Saul's armour' so to speak and found it was not for me, but that there was more when we 'walk with the Lord' so kept on my knees, kept seeking and memorizing Scripture--I John--the LOVE epistle and the dual 'in'--me in God and Him in me--what a marvel! How can it be? God perfects His love in me--we have fellowship--I don't have to be ruled by sin. I walk in the light that God is in, we're right there together and our joy is fulfilled. My salvation verse John 1:12--child of God when I was 8 has always been a delighting reality to me--I belong!"

Dr. and Mrs. Champlin's photo on my refrigerator is a continual reminder to me: for what--or more importantly FOR WHOM--am I living? Am I living for the "here and now"? Or do I seek a City whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10)? How do each of my decisions throughout the day reflect what I am living for?

Lord, it is my heart's desire to be consumed with YOU and only You.


In the secret of His presence how my soul delights to hide!

Oh, how precious are the lessons which I learn at Jesus' side!

Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low;

For when satan comes to tempt me, to the secret place I go.

~ unknown

___________________
Here is a portion of a letter from the Champlins concerning their extended family serving the Lord around the world:

God has watched over us through the years as a family and we recognize His grace and goodness to us with both the Champlin and Grings. Louise’s oldest brother Bob [Grings] is still out in the Congo at age 88. He still rides his bicycle to teach Bible classes and travel the jungle trails. His son Dan and family are there with him as well as daughter Becky and her husband. Other members serve elsewhere in Africa and there are great grandchildren as well. Youngest brother Mark [Grings] at 77 was called Home to Glory in June [2008]. Wyla [Mark's wife] stays on in South Africa with daughter Esther and her family to keep the church and radio ministry going. Sister Bessie and her husband also help with that. It’s good to have four Champlin units here in Suriname to continue the ministry. Please pray for older grandchildren in the States in Bible College, and our daughter Debbie with the direction God has for her. Darrell’s brother Russell and wife continue their Bible encyclopedia literary work and publications in Brazil. Son Charles and wife work with Indian people. Their family is divided - two with them and two in the US.

Ladies' Spring Tea

A few weeks ago our church ladies had fun having tea together at the Darjeeling Tea Room, St. Marys, Ontario. Here are our photo memories...