Thursday's Child - Steven Van Kranenburg Meets His Sponsored Child Mood: happy Topic: Compassion International
Recently my friend Kees sent me a video of Steven Van Kranenburg, a Christian worship leader, meeting his sponsored child for the first time. It is a very touching video that I think exemplifies what Compassion International is all about. Here it is:
I also wanted to give you an update on Mwende Mumbe, our Christmas Child. As of the writing of this post, we still have not found a sponsor for her, but Compassion has given us until the end of January to find a sponsor before our Christmas Child's portfolio goes back into the hands of Compassion International to continue to try to find a sponsor. Although I know that God has a specific sponsor for Mwende, and that she will be sponsored in His timing, nothing would thrill me more than to be the one to find the sponsor for her. Would you please continue to pray for Mwende? Pray even for your possible role in sponsoring Mwende or another child. Remember, I have several copies of her portfolio that I could send to you if you request it. Sending the portfolio would not obligate you to sponsor her, it would just give you more information about her so that you can pray more specifically. Here is the link to my previous post about Mwende. If you feel that God is leading you to perhaps sponsor her, or if you would like for me to send you the portfolio, please leave me a comment below or you can email me at tink38570@yahoo.com. Thanks for your continued prayers.
The New Thru 30 Challenge is about to begin! Mood: happy Topic: Bible Reading & Devotions
It's almost here! It starts Monday. Have you been praying about it? Have any of you decided to do it? I'd love to be able to pray for you. Just leave me a comment below. Please pray for me as well, as I endeavor to do this. I am really excited.
If you are still unsure about it, why don't you check out the New Thru 30 website. Click here for a direct link to the downloadable reading plan. Here it is for you to view yourself and to pray over:
Tuesday Toolbox Mood: energetic Topic: Blog Carnivals!
It's my weekly Tuesday Toolbox post, and I can guarantee it is like nothing else I have ever posted. Watch the movie first, then I'll explain !
I found this on another blog today and immediately thought it would be a great homeschooling tool. Since most people now days have a computer in the home, and since www.xtranormal.com is free, then I figured it would be great for this week's Tuesday's Toolbox. It is easy to use and is a real hoot! Have fun everyone.
Can you believe that we are on our fourth question? I have really enjoyed hosting this meme and all of the great feedback it has received. Even though it seems like it has had a slow start, the Men's Monday Meme has generated a lot of interest, and I'm sure that it will grow.
Now for the new question of the week!
How do you divide up the work at home? Do you help out with housework?
All right, so it's two questions, but they go together. I have heard many families say that the outside is the man's, and the inside is the lady's. In other words, anything that involves the outside of the house - mowing, painting, landscaping, etc. is the husband's responsibility. The inside - cleaning, redecorating, cooking, etc. is the wife's responsibility. They are in no way trying to dictate what should or shouldn't be a man's job or a woman's job, that's just the way they divide the work. How do you all divide the work at home. Do you do some of the housework? Do you cook? Do you have a special housework job like the dishes or the laundry? This could be a heated topic, before you discuss it with one another perhaps you should make a New Year's resolution to get along this year with no fighting !
Don't forget the rules:
This is a man's meme, so the answers must be the answers from a man. Either the man can answer on his blog, or a wife can interview her husband for her blog. However, if the wife puts it on her blog, she must stay true to what her husband said.
You are encouraged to put one of the Men's Monday Meme buttons found to the left on your blog. Just copy the code below the button of your choice. The more folks who link, the more readers you may have to visit your blog.
You may answer the question any time during the week up through next Monday. After you answer the question, add the address to your post to the Mr.Linky below. If you could, please only add the direct link to the post to make it easier for readers to find the entry.
My answer along with a new question will be posted next Monday. The new Mr. Linky will be added at midnight Monday night.
Do you make New Year's resolutions? If not, why not? If so, what are they?
In years past I have made New Year's resolutions. Sometimes they are just casual thoughts, sometimes they are more thought out. This year is one of those years where I have thought about it a little more than usual.
Interestingly enough, this is the first New Year's after a full year of blogging and some of my New Year's resolutions have to do with blog posts that I have read or blog challenges that have been made. After some mulling in my mind, I have narrowed down my list into five areas. Some could possibly overlap, and all are broad, so they need to be broken down into manageable steps, but here they are.
Spend more time in prayer and Bible reading. - You would think, that as a full time missionary, these things should be down pat. In reality, though, missionaries are just like any ordinary Christian and unfortunately, we often fall short in these areas like many Christians do. That's one of the reasons why I have committed myself to the "New through 30 - New Testament in 30 Days" challenge starting next Monday. I am really excited about it and hope that you will join me. Just click here to go to the official New Through 30 website. Along with the Bible reading, I would like to begin a prayer journal. I have begun them in the past, but they have always ended up being put to the side and eventually forgotten about. I would really like to begin and continue with one this year.
Spend more quality time with my family. - I think that I do spend more time with my family than the average Joe. After all, the mission is attached to our house, and we do homeschool. I would like, however, to spend more "daddy" time with my kids and "hubby" time with my wife. So often, the time spent with my family is scheduled time. Time to homeschool. Time to go to therapy. Time to drive to practice. There really isn't time just for the kids. I would like to plan some time that I just do something with my kids with no strings attached. Individually and as a family. Along with that, I would like to plan times with Sarah. Reinstitute the date night that we used to have, and, perhaps, begin doing some daily things together. Prayer would be at the top of the list, but exercising, walking, sitting down with a cup of coffee together - are all possibilities.
Spend more time praying, planning and implementing my ministry at Good News Mission. - Since God has narrowed our focus to working just with Good News Mission, we have seen the mission and it's ministries really flourish. Sometimes God has to get our attention in painful ways because we refuse to heed his voice. That's what He has done over the past couple of years, and I don't want Him to have to repeat those lessons. I have not been this happy with my ministry and my life in a long time. It hasn't always gone smoothly, but we prayerfully try to keep God in the center, and He is blessing.
Eat right and exercise. - I wrote a post a few months ago that never got published on my blog. It was an introductory post on how Sarah and I were trying to eat healthier. Although the article was never posted, we are still trying to watch what we consume. I will hopefully write something about that soon. We also would both like to exercise more. There is an exercise challenge that I would like to join, and I will probably be blogging about that real soon as well.
Clean the house and my office and get organized. - Still another challenge that I heard about this week and am going to sign up for. I will be blogging about that really soon. A less than clean and unorganized house effects everything that we do. You can't live, work, homeschool ... anything...with a dirty, messy house. As I said, I am going to join a challenge soon, that will explain the plan. Stay tuned.
OK, there you have it in a nutshell. My five broad New Year's resolutions. Now that I have blogged about them, I know I will have countless accountability partners to keep me on track. I would appreciate all of the encouragement and prayers that you could give. New Year's resolutions are never easy to keep, but this year I would like to accomplish at least three or four of them. I'll keep you posted!
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happy
I also wanted to give you an update on Mwende Mumbe, our Christmas Child. As of the writing of this post, we still have not found a sponsor for her, but Compassion has given us until the end of January to find a sponsor before our Christmas Child's portfolio goes back into the hands of Compassion International to continue to try to find a sponsor. Although I know that God has a specific sponsor for Mwende, and that she will be sponsored in His timing, nothing would thrill me more than to be the one to find the sponsor for her. Would you please continue to pray for Mwende? Pray even for your possible role in sponsoring Mwende or another child. Remember, I have several copies of her portfolio that I could send to you if you request it. Sending the portfolio would not obligate you to sponsor her, it would just give you more information about her so that you can pray more specifically. Here is the link to my previous post about Mwende. If you feel that God is leading you to perhaps sponsor her, or if you would like for me to send you the portfolio, please leave me a comment below or you can email me at tink38570@yahoo.com. Thanks for your continued prayers. 
energetic
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a-ok
Spend more time praying, planning and implementing my ministry at Good News Mission. - Since God has narrowed our focus to working just with Good News Mission, we have seen the mission and it's ministries really flourish. Sometimes God has to get our attention in painful ways because we refuse to heed his voice. That's what He has done over the past couple of years, and I don't want Him to have to repeat those lessons. I have not been this happy with my ministry and my life in a long time. It hasn't always gone smoothly, but we prayerfully try to keep God in the center, and He is blessing.
