by Tina | Nov 17, 2016 | Devotional
I know it is not Thanksgiving yet, but we will be traveling and will not have much computer access so I decided to post about one of the things that has helped me immensely through my life and is relevant with Thanksgiving approaching.
Back in the late 80’s, early 90’s I was a HUGE Oprah fan. I made sure every day when she came on I was there, the kids were napping and I learned. One of the things I learned about was an “Attitude of Gratitude”. I know, this concept was not a new thing to planet Earth, but it was new to me as a young woman, wife, and mother.
My mother used to tell me to eat my food because there were people starving in other countries. This SHOULD have made me grateful, instead my ungrateful, chubby heart said, “Send it to them, they must like raisins in their oatmeal or rice pudding”. Not very grateful! Well as I have now spent 30 years of trying to cultivate a grateful heart I see so much clearer now that it has colored and still colors my life in beautiful ways!
We as Christians should be the shiniest, happiest, most joyful people on the planet. We should utterly be exploding with LOVE! Jesus died for me, He has given me freedom to do so much more than I can imagine, and freedom from the things that harm me most. He is there, always there. He gives me wisdom, insight beyond myself. He had a purpose for my life even before I was born. Each day I work on making sure that I am doing that and only that. I have the freedom to put my wishes, wants, and problems aside. THEY ARE HANDLED. HE HAS IT COVERED!
Friends, this is the core of my being at this stage of my life. I am His and He is mine! On top of this I was born American. I am very proud to be an American and I know that I have been very privileged to have been raised in a low to middle class family with Christian values. I have had education, I have been able to voraciously read books. Books at my disposal since before I could even read. I am privileged to be here in Nigeria serving people that have not been as privileged as I have been with Earthly things as well as Spiritual leadership. I get to be here on the ground and see their faces, interact with, teach, and provide things that help people, hopefully generations of people that are created in God’s image will be affected. I get to see that with my own eyes. Dan and I have a very large team of supporters and we are privileged that we get THAT job.
I am grateful for the very hard times of learning. I have found as I look back at areas of my life, that the growth in all areas, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and relationally have been after making big mistakes, stupid choices, and then learning tools to improve in those areas. I have learned to apologize first, and that my pride can be one of my biggest obstacles to me being a healthy person.
My point for today is this: In looking at your day to day life how can you cultivate an attitude of gratitude in your daily walk? How can you make it an integral part of YOU?
by Tina | Nov 11, 2016 | Devotional
Today, November 11 is Dan’s 56th birthday. My birthday had me reminiscing and now it’s time to tell you about this man that I married so very long ago and how I have seen God shape him into the person he is now.
The first birthday I celebrated with Dan was his 19th birthday. I wish I had a picture to post on here about what he looked like at 19! He was the cutest boy I had ever met and really had gotten to know him when I was 11 and he was 14. I was not really shy after I got to know him and used to tell him he had a cute “baby face”. That might have been my 11 year old self flirting with him lol!
There have been many birthdays since then, and a lot of good times and a lot of bad times too. But to tell you the truth, the bad times were made better most of the time with his positive outlook of most situations and his strength of character. His favorite saying is, “It is what it is”. That is about as negative as he gets.
Dan is consistent. He is the first person I ever knew who was the same if he was at church, at work, home, with children, with CEO’s or with truck drivers. He was consistent and did not change. Growing up I didn’t really experience that. It seemed that you had “faces” for who you were with and what the situation was. It took me many years to trust that Dan WAS and WOULD BE the same in any situation. He wasn’t hiding anything. His value system and actions were consistent. He has taught me this.
Dan is a “Learner”. Here he is this past week at the Global Leadership Summit that we held for 64 Nigerian leaders from our area. He has always loved self-improvement and that is one thing that I have learned from him. A good leadership book or training can always help you self-evaluate and see how you can be better in daily life and leadership roles. I have watched him lead and lead well in good and heart-breaking circumstances.
Dan is a family man. He loves his family. There is nothing that he would not do for any of his family. Our family is very broad. Starting with me and our two sons and daughter in law, Katie. Then we have his biological family, my biological family, teenagers that lived with us, good friends, friends of our boys, our church family. NOTHING that he would not do to help his church, friends, or family. I have seen him sacrifice many things to help someone in need or do something that he saw that needed to be done for someone. He is that man.
Dan is a strategic planner. He sees things that amaze me. Over a year ago he told me that when he looks around our compound here in Nigeria he sees buildings where the trees are, ministry buildings to further our scope of ministry here in Gembu. He did not start doing anything about these buildings physically until we got the go-ahead from God to start clearing land, and preparing. Two of those buildings are underway right now. He has taught me that just because God has given you a dream, does not mean that you run right out and do that without first doing your homework and planning.
Dan is a “nerd”. I hate to say this but in 1981 Dan drug me to a college class on Basic Computer Programming. I really did not see the “potential” of computers and really only went because he wanted me to go with him and we were dating lol. Well, he has continued to research and explore opportunities, new ideas and technology that can further work, whether it be for God or in a business application. For a couple of years we thought God might be calling us into a ministry to use his IT and technical brain. We were right, we just didn’t know it was going to be in Nigeria.
Dan is a hard worker. Okay he is a workaholic! He has taught me that if you have a dream, if God has given you a vision, it is not going to come easy. At one time in our marriage he was working five part-time jobs. This was very hard on him physically, but with God’s help we were able to dig out of the financial situation we were in. Whatever he does he does with his whole heart. We are both like that. But I have to say, he has pulled me up, rather then pushed me from behind in this. We are still working on the how to take a break to recover and rejuvenate. In our missionary location there is no place to have “dates”, no place to “get away”. We are here on the compound, and there are a lot of things to do to move forward. This is one thing we are still working on, but we will get it figured out. We had a good plan while we lived in the States, we just need to get it figured out for our life now.
I am with Dan 24 hours a day now, all day, every day. I love him more then I did at his 19th birthday and am excited to see how the Lord will use him during this coming year of ministry.
My point for today is this: If you are married, really get to know your spouse. The best gift you can ever give your husband is your consistent prayers, your time, love, and your respect. We have used many resources over the years to help us with that. I have not used them, WE have used them together.
by Tina | Nov 3, 2016 | Devotional
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.
We stayed at the State Park in Geshacka where I took this picture of these tree roots. I was amazed and unable to capture the massive amount of root system around these trees. It really got me thinking about where am I rooted? What do I really believe? Lately more and more I am repeating the words to this song I learned in childhood and sang frequently through the years and again this week at staff devotions.
Think about this, day by day, minute by minute am I ONLY leaning on Jesus? It is a sobering thought. When things are going great and everyone loves you it is easy to think that is the case. Life is good, Yay God! When nothing seems to go right and it seems like everyone and everything is attacking you and/or your family it comes down to who you really ARE. Who are you in your being? Are you Jesus’ precious child? If you are, then Satan wants us to believe a lie that we are out there all on our own in this World. If we believe this lie it makes us ineffective as Christians and causes pain and frustration and hurt that Jesus has already taken for us on the cross. Do you trust that He has it handled? He does, all we need to do is TRUST. Trust that YOU ARE HIS. He knows the outcome. We do not. He sees the whole picture and we only see the tiny piece that affects us at this moment.
My point for today is this: Do you really know your Abba Father? Can you hear His voice? Are you obeying? If you don’t, that is the first place to start. Search the scriptures and find out just how very much YOU are loved. God has a plan, are you going to do it your way or His way?
by Tina | Oct 20, 2016 | Devotional
Yesterday the coolest thing happened! During staff devotions I sat next to an older woman holding a chicken. Now I know this is Nigeria, but typically people don’t bring their chickens to their appointments with them. After staff devotions, Grace, our Program Director talked with her and she told Grace that she brought the chicken to give to our staff so that we could cook it and all have a wonderful meal because she was so grateful that she was healthy and alive at her age! We sold the chicken and added those funds to our “Mercy Fund” a fund that staff and others contribute to so that we are able to help patients in hard circumstances with their medical care.
I wish I would have taken a picture of this dear woman and her very large rooster but I did not know that was why she was there and I didn’t want to be rude and single her out to take a picture in the clinic just because she brought her chicken with her! Now this woman was possibly in her sixties. It is hard for me to tell here, but she was wrinkled, with a very simple wrapper, and a smile that would touch anyone’s heart. She was thankful that she could give!
You know as I thought about this and just how very encouraging it is to know that even on a day where it seems we go in circles and NOTHING is accomplished, God is using it and making a difference through our little contributions.
This made me think of the time we KNEW God was calling us to something different than our Suburban life and we said, “God, anywhere you want, whatever YOU want, we’re there. We made this decision as individuals and as a couple as well. I believe when God calls one of a couple to something like this He also calls the other as well. He worked on us as individuals before we even got to the point of discussing it as a couple. Isn’t God cool!
I think about the small goals and plans we have for ourselves and our lives, and wonder WHAT IF………………what if we placed everything we are, everything we dreamed, everything we had, our past, our mistakes, our weaknesses. EVERYTHING in His hands. What could He use it for? How will He use it?
Look what He did with a small boys’ lunch of fish and bread. What can He do with YOU?
My thought for this week is this: Have you placed everything you ARE, everything you HAVE, everything you hope to BE in HIS hands? If you have then look out, He has big plans for you!
by Tina | Oct 8, 2016 | Devotional
This is me, I am Tina, I love Diet Pepsi and good coffee and conversation! Tomorrow is October 9. I will be 53, but not until tomorrow lol! This has got me in a reflective mood today and I thought I would share it with you.
When I was a child I was in my own world most of the time. I knew I was going to marry a prince and live in a castle, didn’t everyone? I lived in a world of fairies and imagination. I had an imaginary monkey who lived under the table that I fed at mealtimes (my mom was a patient mom and encouraged my creativity). When I got a little older I loved reading. I would get lost in a book and visit places I had never been. I was told as a child that if I did well in school I could go anywhere and do anything. I believed it.
There were many special birthdays over the years. I would get to invite a friend for a sleep-over and choose what we ate. I always chose spaghetti and cheesecake. My grandparents took each of us shopping for our birthday for a while and it was the most wonderful thing to go to JC Penneys and pick out a beautiful sweater that was brand new (I love sweaters and did not get many new clothes). I loved all of the time I got to spend with family members. I have rich memories of encouragement, advice, and love. I wasn’t popular at school, but I had friends that I loved and we had fun being goofy all through school. I was blessed!
Well, at 16 I decided that I would plan out my life. Here was my life plan: I would get married at 30, have children at 35 and be a lawyer. I wanted to go to Hamline University as they had a new accellerated legal program I had read about. Well, that was MY plan! At 17 I started dating Dan and at 18 decided to get married because I didn’t feel I could be a good mother AND a good lawyer AND he was super cute! I got my legal secretary degree and was ready to find a job. Being married at 18 and 21 was wonderful! Of course, we were immature and selfish but we were in love and going to conquer the world! At 20 I had Andrew and was now a mom. My! Being a mom is the best! I loved him so much I didn’t think I could love anyone ever as much as I loved that little guy! At 20 I did the best I could being a mom, but being young I can see now where I was selfish and spoiled in many ways, we can always look back and think, “If I knew then what I know now”. But that is not very productive! I have tried to remember this as I go through my days to embrace the moments we have with family and take interruptions as “God appointments”.
Well at 23 we had Robert. This little chubby adorable boy stole my heart and I knew how you could love the second child just as much as your first. We were apartment managers and caretakers and I kept busy with that and the kids and Dan worked about 70 hours a week and then would come home to cleaning, painting, or fixing – whatever the night required that I couldn’t do during the day. It was good, I had two wonderful babies and a man that loved me and my heart still speeds up every time I see him!
Over the years I worked at a Daycare/Pre-school, then had my own daycare/pre-school, was involved in all childrens’ ministry at the church we attended and were very active at. I was blessed with children and families to love and care for and get to make a living at it as well! I was also blessed to be able to homeschool our children for 7 years. I treasure many of our homeschool memories and wouldn’t trade it for anything! For birthdays, Dan and I would have a date night without the kids and go to a movie and out to eat. One of our favorite ways to have a date night!
I worked at the church we attended in Brooklyn Park when the kids were teenagers. I loved working with volunteers and kids and studying curriculum, and the best ways to reach our pre-school aged children at church and training and mentoring youth and adults who served our children. Dan and I also helped plan mission trips for the youth and went on our first mission trip with our teenaged son and not quite teenage son as well as about 30 other teens.
On our second mission trip Dan and I both felt that God might be calling our family to serve at the children’s home we were at. The first thing we had to do was learn Spanish, and consider what moving might mean to our children. As years went on we didn’t pursue that, we carried on with work, church, kids, life.
It took took until I was 48 for me to know what God was calling us to do next. This, of course was selling the house, getting rid of our years of “memories” and STUFF, working hard at learning something totally new (we are not missionaries, never thought we were “qualified” to be missionaries, and were surprised to find out that what we were being asked to do was totally in both of our giftings.
God has led this journey every step of the way. From the shooting on our first visit to today. Each day we pray for wisdom and that we hear what He wants this ministry to look like and that guides our days. Each day is different here. There is no store to go to to buy special things here, no restaurant, or coffee shop to celebrate at, we haven’t had a date night for a couple of years now. We do our celebrating at home with what we can make or do here at the house. Dan really managed to surprise me this year. He ordered a new light fixture for above the table from Konga and I didn’t even know it and when I woke up this morning it was there hanging above the table. I hardly ever get surprised! I am wayyyy too nosy! I am always able to sniff out things so Dan has pretty much given up trying to surprise me. He sure did this morning though!
I do have a point today, thank you for letting me reminisce: Make each day count! Pray, listen to the answer, be available for “God appointments” wherever you are. We are all on this journey together, friends! Live it well!
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