We Are Of The Day

I have moved. 

Not physically, but in cyberspace. This blog has moved to LivingAsOfTheDay.Com.

I've really enjoyed being here, but I am completely computer illiterate, My Cousin was helping me with the changes I needed to make around here, but he's in college and not available as often as I would like. As a result, I moved somewhere I felt was dummied down to my level. :)

Please move with me! I would hate it if this meant the end of our internet friendship!

See you there!

.ambre,

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Soda isn't all it's cracked up to be...

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For the past three weeks I have been going next door at bed time and individually praying for the children sleeping there. Most nights it's for just four of them, but some nights all six are there. It has been an incredible experience.

Since I see them all all afternoon, by the time it's their turn to be prayed over, I am aware of specific struggles they are having that I can lift up for them. It's just a quiet moment between the two of us and God before they sleep and it's been having a supernatural calming effect on some very tightly wound and wounded children! 

Erik and I have been praying for our Miss N.'s two boys since we moved in two years ago. We were specifically asking God that they would put their trust in Him for salvation while they were still young.

Last week, God said, "Yes."

Praise the Lord! God is faithful to His promises. He says, in Jeremiah 29:13, "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek me with all your heart." These boys have been seeking and God's Word did not come back void! Wednesday night they both chose to put their trust in the God Who had given His Son so that they could spend eternity with Him!

This has greatly changed our nightly prayer ritual. For starters, instead of asking God to bring them to His throne of grace, now we are seeking Him to shine Truth into their hearts and to speak to the lies currently residing there. They also don't just want to be recipients any more! Their mother confided that they had started praying over her and asking God to reveal Himself to her. Are you moved yet? I pray so!

Last night was one of the best nights of my life since I chose to give my life to Christ. Let me tell you about it...

These have been some crazy past few weeks.

Physically, I have been stretched to far outside of my comfort zone, way beyond my natural talent level, and all on little sleep.

Spiritually, I have been praying more than I ever have before because I can see and feel the battles being waged for the souls around me. I have watched God bring three, possibly four, of the people we have been serving, in the last six days alone to His throne where He wrote their names in His Book in His Son's blood. 

Emotionally, this has been a battle. I am an introvert who loves to manage people and has a real burden for hurting kids. I will repeat though: I am an introvert. Being front and center from when I rise to when I collapse at night hearing my name chanted by the masses of needy children is overwhelming, but I serve a big God. Way bigger than my limitations and as I tell the kids, "When I am weak, He is strong", to which they quickly point out, "But, He's always strong!". Exactly.

Yesterday, during nap time, I sat down with Miss A. to go over with her what her oldest son had signed up for at the church retreat the day before when trusting in Jesus. I've been answering her questions for weeks now and going over a lot of Scripture, so I just felt led to lay it all out, in order, and ask her if she wanted to make a decision for Jesus as Lord. It was a great conversation and at the end of it, she put her trust in God and not in man.

Praise the Lord. You are a good God.

By bedtime, I was feeling beat. I just wanted to pray for the kids and go home and sleep! As I walked into the room and knelt down on the bed, my neighbor's youngest (8) jumped towards me asking if he could pray for me tonight. I just felt so loved by that request! 

"I would love to be prayed for! Thank you!", I answered. He and his brother knelt in front of me and he drew a cross on my forehead as we bowed our heads.

"Dear God, thank you for Ambre and for her teaching us about You and Your love from the Bible. Please keep teaching her about You when she reads her Bible so that she can keep learning stuff to teach to us. Amen."

I melted. I just felt surrounded by Angels and the Holy Spirit in that moment, I can't even begin to describe it. I felt so blessed.

His prayer was such a beautiful reflection of his desire to learn more about the Lord and proof of how far God has brought him in such a short time. The first time he prayed after Erik finished Bible time a couple weeks ago was a request for more money than any of us and included a rump wiggling dance. God truly has grabbed his heart!

Thank you to those of you who have been lifting our family up in prayer. You too are swinging a sword in this war.

His servant,

ambre

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Erik and I have really been feeling a burden for missions of late. We both have made passing comments about the fact that we may end up on the foreign mission field while our kids are still young. I'll say something about going to a Third World Country, he'll respond with a quip about how the Third World may be coming to us and then we'll go on with our day. Neither of us anticipated our family taking on full time missions, but it seems the Lord was preparing our hearts for just that. 

Our next door neighbor is an agnostic single mother of adopted sons. She, Miss N., has a real soft spot for people down on their luck and always seems to have some other single Mom hanging around that she's hired to do light housekeeping because she knows they can really use the funds. Her newest project was a nice lady, Miss A., who's son was in the same class as Miss N.'s eldest. I met Miss A. in passing a couple weeks ago, but hadn't spoken to her since. Our Little Lady saw Miss A.'s twin six year old girls outside on Monday of last week and wanted to join them so I went out as well to say hello. We ended up talking for awhile and I felt led to invite her to come and sit with me during the day instead of sitting alone next door while Miss N. was at work. This is the response I received:

"Oh, yeah, that would be great. Are you and your husband like, really religious or, you know, super religious like?"

I had to chuckle since a "yes" answer could mean all sorts of things: super religious cause I'm a bond servant of Christ, super religious and I dance around bond fires with goat heads, or super religious and ready to go on a neighborhood jihad? See what I mean? Very broad question.

"We both have relationships with Jesus" I offered.

"Great! Then when i come over can you pray for me?"

Praise the Lord. How often does that happen to you? To me: never before. Within 24 hours, I was doing a Beginning in Christ Bible Study with the Mother and reading Children's theology and teaching memory verses to Miss A. and Miss N.'s five youngest children. I am now shepherding a total of seven young hearts (including the two born of my womb) every afternoon until bedtime with my amazing husband. It's complete insanity, but God is moving mightily. I doubt it will be too many more days before the questions these eight to ten year old boys are throwing at me about God and His Word surpass my ability to fathom an answer to. They truly are seeking to get at the heart of God. 

Please keep my family in your prayers as we move into this new season. Miss A. and company have now moved in with Miss N. and her duo for an unknown length of time. The Lord knows though, and He has certainly put us here for such a time as this...

Matthew 11:25-26

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned,

and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure."

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I am not a fan of playing catch-up. I would say I hate it, except that that could almost be interpreted as "I hate my life" seeing as how the majority of my life appears to be spent running after the proverbial bus. 

Erik was sick as a dog over the weekend, as was our poor Baby Girl. My Mom and Dad were in town as were my wonderful  in-laws. My Mother-in-law and I went to two fantastic sessions on Anti-Aging and Weight Loss by a world renowned Physician on Saturday. Sunday was church and a delicious brunch at Iowa River Power Company with my pa rents sans the sicky, Erik. This was all on top of a trip last week to Peoria for an orchard visit with my Aunt Gloris and sister followed by an unexpected drive to Fort Madison for my dear Great Aunt Bernice's visitation after her death on Monday.

Weeks like that tend to leave me feeling quite overwhelmed and unsure where to even start digging myself out when it comes to caring for our home. Today I was clearing off a burner on the stove to make breakfast (before giving up and handing our Lara Bars). I was wallowing a bit in discouragement when the Lady said "Wow, Mom! This window is really clean!" I looked over to find her admiring the dining room window base. I guess she was expecting dead bugs and dust, but I had vacuumed it out last week. I was lifted in my spirits to have my daughter notice this little corner of tidy and to have remarked on it.

"Yeah, Honey? I'm glad! Mommy did that."

"No, you didn't" I was corrected, "Miss Navy did." 

"No, Honey, it was Mommy."

"Nope, Miss Navy". And with that, she sauntered off. 

I'm sorry, but someone needs to give this child a reality check! When a Mommy does something... anything!... she should be graciously thanked. In a perfect world, the credit for a job well done does not go to the IMAGINARY FRIEND! Hrmph!

I wouldn't be so put offended if it weren't for the fact that I think the Little Lady actually believes it! Every day at nap time I'm told Miss Navy is staying up to help me clean. I guess she was just sure this was some of Miss Navy's handiwork.

I wish! It's about time Miss Navy started pulling her own weight around here... 

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