Rejoice, Be Patient, And Pray

     Dave and I were enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Hawaii last Sunday. I checked my phone after waking up from a nap and noticed I had a missed call and voice mail from my realtor. I thought it was just him calling to touch base with me about my house and how things were going at his end. I checked the voice mail and to my shock, excitement, and relief someone had made an offer on my house. It is such a blessing to be in God’s grace. My house has been on the market for almost a year. That means Dave and I have been making two house payments since then.

     We both have been trying to live out Romans 12:12 lives. “Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.”

     It hasn't been easy. I know there is a lot that could go wrong before the closing date. Still I will forever rejoice in the Lord and give thanks to Him for everything…good or bad.

 “Rejoice in hope”

Have peace in knowing that God will do what He says He will do for you. One of God’s many promises is found in Jeremiah 29:11. He wants to give us a future and hope. Put your hope in the Lord. He will provide the perfect future for His will for you. 

“Be patient in affliction”

Trails are God’s lessons. Sometimes it is something little like trying to sell a house, and sometimes it is something as devastating as the loss of a loved one too soon. James 1:2-3 says, “Consider it GREAT joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trails, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”

     I am a teacher myself. With that come tests. One cannot learn if he/she is not growing through the measurement of tests. An exam (trial) helps you to evaluate where you are, what you know, and what you still need to learn.

“Be persistent in prayer”

Prayer-it is your time to be alone with God. Even if you are praying with someone else or in front of a whole church, it is you talking to your heavenly Father. Prayer is so powerful. It is so intimate. The Holy Spirit works through it. People can be changed by it. Lives can be fulfilled through it. God’s presence can be so real when you speak to Him through prayer. Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your prayer be known to God. God tells us to not get anxious (Don’t take things into your own hands.) just pray!

Dave and I did not get enough time off work to travel home for Thanksgiving. We decided to travel instead to one of the other islands. He booked us a room at the Westin in Maui. We arrived late Wednesday night. On Thanksgiving morning we had a nice breakfast at the resort. Dave had scheduled us a surfing lesson. 

Neither one of us has ever been surfing before. We were both ready to get out there. I know I was excited. Here's a few pictures from our surfing lesson.

Here we are getting some land instructions before getting in the water.

Dave catching a wave

I think this was after one of my many wipe outs.

He's trying...

Almost there...

Looking good Dave!

I got really good at the paddling part. 

Here's a few waves I was able to catch.

Look at that form... Casey my instructor was proud.  

Here I am trying to turn on the wave...I soon fell. 

After I caught my wave, it was official. I could now give the Shaka. 

Casey (our instructor), me, the surfboard, and Dave 

We will definitely try this again. Surfing was hard but fun. After the lesson was over Dave and I had a massage at the spa. Later that night we had our Thanksgiving dinner that the resort. The food was awesome. I missed my family but man we had a great Thanksgiving in Maui.

On Friday we went on a snorkeling trip. We were sitting on the boat wait for it to take off, and there stood a naked lady on the second story building. No lie...she was at least 75 and was just standing there naked as a jaybird. She then proceeded to sweep in front of the window. We asked the people who owned the boat if this was an everyday thing or were we just that lucky. They told us that she does it all the time. LOL...That was a weird start to our day. Here are some pictures from our snorkeling trip...no pictures were taken of the lady. 

On our way to do some snorkeling

You got to try and get that under water picture. 

So many fish.

Our boat had a slide off the back. You know us young ones had to give it a go. 

Eric and Dave in the water after coming off the slide. 

Eric, Leslie, me, and Dave on our way back from a fun day of snorkeling.

Maui was awesome. Dave and I missed our families, but we made the best of a bad situation. We will definitely come back to Maui for another visit. 

If you are what you eat…is your life what you speak?

Give me the words to speak Oh Lord. Not so they will think I’m great, but so they will know you are. 

Does your life reflect what you speak? Take a moment and think about that question. Go on…I’ll give you a little more time if it is needed. I’m a teacher, and we have inherited flexibility through our environment.

Here are a few things that the Lord has taught me in the last few days.

#1. Matthew 12: 34b

                “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

We've all said things that we “think” we don’t mean. It comes out of our mouth and we are like, “What was I thinking?” Or you may have thought, “Did I just say that?” Perhaps you said something and immediately wished you could have taken it back, say you didn't mean it, or hit the backspace button of your life. The truth is you cannot reverse the damage that words do to your reputation and your witness. So maybe we should clean our filters. Just a little maintenance is needed to make sure junk does not come out of your abundant heart and pollute the people around you.  Don’t worry it’s not as harsh as washing your mouth out with soap. The key is to start at the heart and work your way out.  

#2. Psalm 40:2-3

                “He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. “

God is so good. He is way better than we deserve. He pulled us out of hell to stand with Jesus. You know Jesus, that friend of yours that picked up the cross, bled, and died for you. Our sin caused His death, but could not keep him from rising out of the grave.  WOW! I definitely want Him on my side. When Jesus became real to you and you allowed the Holy Spirit into your heart, a change took place (at least it should have…right?). Well maybe if you are like me the lessons (changes) of the Lord are ongoing. Still a change should have started at the moment God pulled you out of the bondage of your sin.

Your feet were given a new path. Your heart was given new life. Your soul was washed in righteousness. Your mouth was given a new song. YOU HAVE BEEN CHANGED! God wants you to remember that your path is His. He wants you to remember that your life leads to Him. Live your life in a way that reflects this thought. Know that you are a citizen of heaven. Your heart now has that little spark that goes to your brain to convict, right any wrongs and love like never before. Your soul has eternal life in heaven.  You are whiter than snow because of Jesus Christ. Your mouth now reflects the love of the Lord. The moment you became a Christian all others were looking at you and watching what you say. Are your words showing that you love the Lord and want to do everything in your power to see that other people come to know God for His greatness? Are your words that of a changed Christian? Are your words so powerful that non-Christians want what God has to offer? 

If you are like me and you still need a little tweaking, then here’s an excellent way to get started.

#3. Psalm 141: 3

                “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!”

Boy do I need to say this daily. It is wonderful to be a child of God and to have this opportunity. God will keep a watch over our lips if we just ask. Be mindful of what you say. Let God protect the things that are coming out of your mouth.  Allow him to clean your heart so that out of your mouth will flow the awesome power of the Lord.

How do you keep from going backwards? How can you make sure that you will always be a good representative of what God can to for a sinner? Well I’m glad you asked!

#4. Psalm 19: 14

                “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

The cleaning process begins when we spend time with God. We must first know who He is in order to speak of Him. Meditate on His word (The Bible). If you fill your life with things of this earth, then things of this earth will come out of your mouth. If you fill your life with Jesus, then you will equip yourself with everything you need to be a positive representation of a Christian. Make God a part of everything you say and do. Don’t give in. Don’t lose focus. Pick up your cross daily and choose to set an example. What are your words saying about you? What does your life say about you? What do the things that you put on the internet say about you?

God can change us all and it can start today.

If you are what you eat…is your life what you speak?

Reacting Like A Christian

It's been so long since I've written something on here that I almost forgot my log in information...almost.

     Well Dave and I are doing well. God blessed me with a wonderful job. I was starting to wonder if God might have something else in store for me. His timing is perfect. I kind of wished I would have relaxed a little more instead of worrying about getting a job. I could have saved myself a lot of stress by just knowing that He will provide even if it's not the way I wanted.

    Anyways we are both doing great and enjoying life on the island. Things sure are slow in Hawaii. I had someone tell me that they once had their household goods scheduled to move and the people didn't show up because they said it was a good surfing day. Well that's how it is out here. It will drive you crazy before you get use to it.

     My dad is having issues with his blatter. There's a mass growing in there that won't let him go to the bathroom on his own. He has to have surgery Wednesday. Hopefully they can remove it and everything will be okay. My family is pretty positive about it. My dad is in his mid 70's so you tend to chalk it up to old age right? Still it's hard to think of my dad as old. Every time I think about him he's that dad I had when I was little. Parents aren't suppose to age right? We are trying to keep it positive and support him in anyway that we can. I'm so proud of my family. We have always been close. Still I believe this has brought us even closer (if that's possible). For example...my sisters and I have been sending texts to each other just to say I love you. Everyone is checking up on each other and working together to provide whatever the family needs. I think a crisis has a way of doing that...bringing people together. How can you look at a crisis as negative if it's so powerful to do that?

     I was on my way home from work today and I heard a man say this on the radio.

"Acting like a Christian is easy...it's reacting like one that shows maturity." Ding, ding, ding! A light went off. What a great saying. Thank you man on the radio. I needed that! I'm sure you all did too so I wanted to share.

     There's a lot of people here and only 3 major highways. They are the H1, H2, and H3. I have to take the H1 to work. This is the busiest highway on the island. Isn't God so good to teach me some patience everyday with my 45 minute drive to and from work? Before this would have driven me crazy. For those of you that don't know I am so impatient when it comes to driving. I tend to think I'm in a race and everyone should look out for me (not the other way around). God has used this to teach me some spiritual maturity. Now I use it as a time to talk with God and worship through good Christian music. It really does help me to be kind and let others in. It has helped make my 45 minute drive enjoyable everyday.  Now I'm not perfect. I still get a little anxious some times and want to run into the back of someone that cut me off...it's called a safe following distance...I'm not making room for you to come into my lane...I'm still a work in progress. I think that's how God wants it...us actively moving forward and growing.

 "Acting like a Christian is easy...it's reacting like one that shows maturity."

 

RUNNING THE RACE

     Ahhh...the Olympic season brings so many wonderful memories. I can still remember cheering on the USA as a child and wishing I could be there cheering them on in person. My sisters and I were glued to the TV at a young age when the Olympics were in full swing. I'm pretty sure, like me, that they (my sisters) still stay glued to the TV during this season.

     Competition can bring out the best as well as the worst in some people. I was so excited to see the USA gymnastics and swimming do so well. It got me to thinking that these people must devote their entire lives to achieving such a goal. Some even go as far as to move away from family to win a gold metal.

     My sister Andrea was asked by my business in 2007 to give a devotional to our cheerleaders before they took the floor for a major competition. Her devotional has remained in my heart. It's times like these that I'm reminded of running the race.

     Her devotional can be found in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
      "²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. " (NIV)

     What a wonderful reminder that we are all running a race. As Christians we get the privilege to work toward righteousness. We also get to live a life eternally with the one who made us. We should all live in a way that gets a prize worthy to lay before our Lord and say, "Everything that I am and everything that I ever had is because of you. Glory to God in the highest." I personally want something amazing to lay at the feet of my Lord. My gold metal will be when I hear, "Good job my faithful servant."

     As you watch the rest of the Olympics remember that these people give their lives to win this prize. We must choose to dedicate ourselves to live for the Lord and the kingdom of heaven alone. God was even so kind as to set us up for gold by giving us Jesus as an example. He's our ultimate coach in how to win the prize. Oh and there's more good news. We have a Father that is powerful enough to get us back on track when we fall or get lost.

     So the question is what race are you running?

(All pictures are from NBCOLIMPICS.COM)

Jersey Time

Kunsan Air Force Base is a really small base. One of the things that caught on (a long time ago) was each department wearing a jersey. Each department designs their own jersey. Here's a picture of Dave and his legal team. I loved this tradition. I'm all about traditions.

 I asked Dave when I get to Kunsan if I could get a jersey. He said I could but ended up surprising me with one the other night. He actually had it made before he left to come to the states in May. I was so excited!

Okay so let me lead you through my jersey. Patches are the thing when it comes to designing your jersey. Some of these guys have patches all over their jerseys. On the front is THE LAW of the pack. The guys and girls at Kunsan Air Force Base are called "The Pack". Notice at the top right is a wolf and a judge's gavel. On the left is my name in English and Hangul (Korean).

Everyone has a call sign. Dave's is SHARK, so naturally mine would be SHARKETTE! If you didn't know I'm a high school math teacher. Most people put numbers on the back. Mine would be PI or 3.14...

On my right side is the Kunsan Base patch and of course the Prattville Power P patch. GO LIONS!!!

On my left side is the Auburn University patch, the Air Force patch, and an American and South Korean flag patch.

Super cute and it means I'm a part of the team...kind of! At least I look the part.

DMZ Take Two

Okay so here's the second leg of our DMZ tour. Remember the DMZ is the Demilitarized Zone. It extends from the east to the west of the Korean Peninsula, and divides the two countires.

This is a picture of North Korea.

This is propaganda village in North Korea. That flag pole is 160 feet tall and was erected after the South Koreans erected one that was 100 feet tall. That flag weighs 800 pounds dry. There are also high rise building that were built in the 1950's. Of course it's all for propaganda. No one lives in these buildings. They were merely constructed to make North Korea look like it was prospering. Our guide told us that at night they "might" turn on lights. He said they know there are no floors in the buildings because when the lights are on the light will travel to the bottom getting dimmer at it travels down.

Post 4 where the August 1976 axe murder took place. I've got a closer picture a little later in the blog.

This is a monument that stands where the yellow poplar tree stood. The round concrete base shows how big the tree was. The tree was removed by the Army because the two South Korean towers could not see in order to protect one another. South Korea had just had their memorial day and laid flowers at this site as well as graves of other South Korean soldiers.

Let me get back to that poplar tree...
At 10:30am a UNC work party supervised by CPT Arthur Bonifas and 1LT Mark Barrett began to trim the tree. At 10:50am a North Korean officer threatened the UNC work party when the UNC refused to quit pruning the tree. Shortly after the threat, North Korean soldiers murdered the two Army officers and injured 8 other U.S. personnel by beating them with axes and metal pipes.

This is the bridge of no return. POWs were released here and this bridge is a part of the post 4 area where the axe murders took place. Once they crossed the bridge they could never return. President Clinton was quoted as saying, "This was one of the most scariest places on Earth." He actually crossed over the line that divides the two countries in the middle of the bridge (not knowing of course). As he did, he was met by a North Korean soldier holding a rifle (our guide said the soldier wasn't going to do anything but wanted to show President Clinton that he was there and beware). A young South Korean ROK soldier then stood in front of the President shielding him from the enemy soldier. You would think that he would have gotten praise for being so brave. Instead, when he returned to the DMZ he was verbally reprimanded by his superior for interrupting an important (an unexpected) photo opportunity for the President.

Well that completed our trip to the DMZ. It was both surreal and scary all at the same time. I'm so glad I got to go. If any of you military are ever stationed over in South Korea it is a must see tour.

D M Z

DMZ- Demilitarized Zone

The DMZ winds 155 miles across the Korean Peninsula stretching from the Han River to the East Coast. It's devoid of people which makes it one of the most unnatural nature preserve. Peace and high tension coexist here on a daily basis. Only military are allowed here. I was very pleased to get this opportunity. I can't even begin to tell you how surreal this place really is. The quietness can be deafening. It's both fascinating and scary at the same time.This is the only place in the world where enemies stand face to face in peace and high alert every single day. Since the axe murder of 1976 (I'll get to that later), security guards are forbidden to cross over to the opposing side's area. There were many rules we had to follow while touring this site. Here are some pictures.

I'm standing on the South Korean side. North Korea is to my back. On a daily basis there are five ROK (Republic of Korea) soldiers that stand at the ready. These guys do not move! They are South Korea's finest and each hold many degrees. That makes them pretty smart! Oh our tour guide told us they know English too, and that they were probably listing to everything being said.

This white building in a long line of blue ones housed the North Koreans for a while. Our guide said that the soldiers could be seen stepping out and making neck slashing motions toward the ROK Guards as well as "the finger". It became known as the monkey house.

There are always two guards on the North Korean side. The first one you can see. He kept looking at us. The other is behind the white curtain looking thing in the window. It was one of the few places they would let us take photos. Our guide said that we were allowed to take photos of them beacuse more than likely they were taking photos of us.

Again these ROK Soldiers do not move. They keep half their body behind the building as a way to protect themselves. They also do this in case they see something on the other side that might look suspicious. They will lift their concealed hand (in this case his right one) to show that something doesn't look right on the other side.

This is inside the Military Armistice Commission (MAC).This building has housed secretary's meetings, joint duty officer's meetings, and general meetings for observation of the Armistice Agreement since its signing.

I'm actually standing in North Korea in this picture. There are always two ROK soldiers that stay in this building during the day. Our guide told us that there use to only be one. There is a door behind the ROK soldier that leads to the North Korean side. At night the door has to be locked, and the one soldier went to lock it on this night. There were a few North Korean soldiers standing on the other side waiting for him to start locking, and they opened the door and pulled him into North Korea. The ROK guard was able to fight his way back and was not harmed. After that incident the South Korean government put two guards inside. One will hold on to the corner of the wall behind us with one hand and have a gun in the other while the second guard holds on to him with one hand and locks the door with the other. Talk about being cautious. 

There will be more to come on the DMZ...stay tuned!