Idols

I have been reading from the beginning of the Bible since I arrived in Bulgaria 8 months ago and I am in Isaiah now.  After reading through the Old Testament and how they would turn to idols and other gods so easily, I began to pray about the word "idol" and make it relevant to me.  I wanted to understand in my easy 3rd grade teacher mind, how this word would apply to my life.  I prayed and asked God to reveal this to me.
The other day as we were driving through the Thracian valley in the middle of Bulgaria in the most furtile parts of the country, I was talking and the answer just came out of my mouth.  I was talking about how we as humans put value on things.  Earthly things only are valuable in regards to how much value we place on it.  If we pay alot for something, we deem it valuable.  If it is a family heirloom, we may value it.  This is why we love to watch shows like "Antique Roadshow", because we see value in things we may not have valued before.
We, as humans, have this power of value that we can place onto things and also onto other people (or lack of value, however).
It causes me to think about the things and people that I value in my life.  As far as people go, of course, my faith, my family (my husband and our four AMAZING kids) and friends are the most valuable to me.  People I would die for...
As far as things/possessions, well, I've already let go of most things I valued already (like the Keiurig coffee maker and the Dyson vacuum cleaner).  You might say my laptop or some other thing of monetary value might rank at the top, but  I really would say my Bible.  I know, how cliche, a missionary loves her Bible....but I really do.  It is the most valuable thing to me...I really like it.  I lost it (or left it at the mission house we were staying at in the hussle and bussle of moving) and had to begin in a new Bible.  I like it ok, but the team brought mine back to me last week.  I liked the Dukes and the hot sauce, even the M & Ms, and the beef jerky they brought to us, but my Bible was back home with me.
Anyway, back to idols and the value we put on things.
This was just my assessment of the things I value.  We should all ask ourselves, what we value most...
I believe an idol becomes anything that we OVERvalue.  The idols of the Old Testament were old skulls put on a mantle and worshipped.  Graven images that became as gods.  They took ordinary things and overvalued them.  Made them worth more than they really were.
What have you overvalued?  If everyone else says, that's not really worth much, but in your eyes it's worth more than money could buy, has it become an idol to you?
Can you not sell your house because you have overvalued it?  Can you not let go of something because it is worth too much to you?  Has it then become an idol?  This, for me, is now my "idol test".  Have I OVERvalued an object, a person, or even a tradition?

Unique

We just spent a week with the Christ Community Church mission team in Kyustendil, Bulgaria. I think it would be impossible to describe all that happened in such a short period of time.  I could start with the two Sunday services we attended or the 160 Roma children that learned Bible lessons, sports and songs for five days.  I could describe working with the orphans, elderly or street evangelism, but I want to talk about is the uniqueness of our God.  I am reminded of the scripture:

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NCV)

22 The Lord's love never ends;

       His mercies never stop.

 23 They are new every morning;

       Lord, Your loyalty is great.

Definition of New

1.   Having been made or come into being only a short time ago; recent: 2. Still fresh 3. Not previously experienced or encountered; novel or unfamiliar:

I wanted to share about how God surprised us this week, which was new or not previously experienced.  We laughed about how these surprises brought us encouragement and even joked how we (Chance and Dee Dee) had arranged all these strange consequences.  I thought of the movie “Funny Farm” when Andy (Chevy Chase) and Elizabeth Farmer had compensated the town in order to sell their house.  As a prospective buyer looked out the window of Andy’s house he said, “Que the deer!” and the deer ran across the yard in order to impress the buyers.  We, as a team, could never have arranged all the unique experiences God had in store for our group.  I know by now you want to know what happened, so here we go:

1.    One member of the group was baptized in a cold river on Mt. Osogovo during our end of the week picnic.

2.    A shepherd walked up with his sheep during this picnic and explained about his sheep and goats.

3.    A missionary from South Africa came and gave his testimony about his daughter and their work with orphans in Bulgaria.

4.    The Pastors of a church in Kyustendil came by and delivered ice cream for the mission team.

5.    A local pastor’s wife gave a testimony about Bulgarian churches during Communist times.

6.    A former Bulgarian solider testified about Communist times and how the church was tested.

7.    We got to experience the Roman baths.

8.    How God moved on the hearts of the Roma people while we were praying during street evangelism.

9.    Americans singing “How He Loves” to the Roma during street evangelism.

10. While in Sofiia on our last day, a Bulgarian always showed up right on time to show us around town which was not scheduled AT ALL.

11.Washing the feet of the Roma that served us lunch all week was more than words can express.

We as a grouped cried…. And… cried during all the happenings during this week.  We are thankful for God’s love and grace during this trip and we know that without organization you cannot have the power of the Holy Spirit.  Even if the same group came next year and we planned things exactly the same, because of God’s uniqueness or new mercies it would be completely different.  I am reminded as a member of the Body of Jesus Christ we desire the same, but we need to embrace His unique new mercies everyday and experience His love and grace.

My friend

A few days ago, I had a thought about an old friend of mine when I came across a song that he liked so much back in the day.  I’m almost too embarrassed to mention the song but it was Neil Diamond’s “Hello Again”.  The song references “I just called to say hello” and my ole friend would always call me and say hello.  I have some very fond memories of him because we grew up together.   We would talk for hours about football, girls, and every other subject meaningful to a boy growing up in the south.  We also argued about church things, especially the Methodist and Pentecostal movements (he would be surprised I’m a missionary today).  I was with him through many of his girlfriends and a couple of his marriages, with him through the death of his dad and brother in law.  After the divorce from his first wife, these pains took their toll on his life, and he began to battle with alcohol.  We both had our struggles with alcohol, but dealing with the grief, guilt, and failure of his life was very hard for him to handle.  We had many conversations over his last days, and he was consumed with his past (before all the tragedies in his life had occurred).  He just did not want to talk about the future or face the reality of today.  He had such a fear of the future and did not want to take any more chances, because he did not want to fail again.  He was such a big part of my life, and I still miss him to this day.

Years before his death, my life was spinning out of control.  I was struggling with alcohol and drugs and unable to let go of the past and face the future.  I had made a mess of my life with my family and friends.  As I happened to be sitting in jail as a result of my actions (solitaire confinement to be exact), it was the first time I was able to think about all my actions and deal with the guilt.  I knelt down by the cot in the jail cell and told the Lord, “Not my way anymore, but Your way!”  That was the day the Lord forgave me, and I forgave myself.  I still, to this day, ask people to forgive me for all of my actions.  Please forgive me.  I let go of what had been holding me back all those years and gave it to the one person who could take it, Jesus.  I was ready to face the future with no fear and no guilt.  Now, giving to God is the easy part, but walking it out everyday, was, and still is the harder part.  I do not want to limit God in my life anymore.

I tried my best to reach my friend and tell him that there is another way and let’s face the future together.  He knew his destiny was heaven, but he was not willing to face the reality of today.  The lesson I’m sharing today is to always humble yourself (submit), repent (change your mind), confess everything (and give it to God), take the limits off of God in your life and see how everything changes!

Paperwork

Fun day!
We have been going through paperwork here in Bulgaria since around January.  It is always fun to find out what you need, how it is not enough, or how it has just expired and you need another one.  We truly give our lawyer plenty of work to do.
We recently had to get FBI criminal background checks processed and sent from America to Bulgaria.  (I won't bore you with the details and length of this process, but began back in Feb.)  They were finally obtained in America and sent to Bulgaria via my amazing parents.  We were on a time crunch, but we had gotten an extension so we had three weeks to get it here.  Priority mail in the states costs around $17 to get it here and states that it takes 6 to 10 business days.  DHL or UPS is about $130, so we opted for the cheaper and figured we had time.  I should also state that we are not familiar with the mail here and how it works.  We just put up a mailbox with our name on it for these documents specifically and checked everyday for the notice they said would get placed in the locked mailbox.  They were sent Apr. 24 from Atlanta.  On May 7, I went with a friend here to the post office to check on them and was told they had not arrived.
By May 14 the lawyer called and said the police stated that they must be here by the 23rd (and apostilled and translated) or we would have to leave the country.  This is when you send prayer requests to prayer partners :D
The next morning (thanks to prayers) the police officer told our lawyer that if we sent the unofficial copies he would accept them and give us another extension, praise the Lord! (but of course this meant more paperwork)
So, our lawyer comes to our town (I've lost count of how many times she has had to take the bus to our town from the capital to help us), to help us submit the extension papers.  While we are there I am apologizing for not using the faster service, thanking him for his extension, and made a joke, "Wouldn't it be funny if they are sitting at the post office right now?"
So afterwards, I asked our lawyer if she would go to the post office with us just to check.  Guess what?  They were there!  And had been there since May 7!  (The lady said someone must have stolen our notice.)
We ran them back to the police officer and we all had a good laugh!  We are currently getting them translated and sealed and go back Monday to present them.  Please help us pray for the finalization of these documents.  This will give us legal residency status until next year.
This reminds me of how God has provided for us "Everything pertaining to life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1:3), but how the enemy or people or circumstances sometimes make it seem we are at a loss.  The good thing is that we weren't emotional or fearful about the situation in any way.  We knew God called us here, and He would see it through.
The documents were there the whole time...sometimes we just need a little wisdom and persistence to see it.

Opportunities

God has been talking to my heart over the last 6 weeks about this word...opportunities.  We as parents want/wish to give our children every opportunity we can to help them to be a better person.  We introduce them to different sports, different people, different activities, and different foods.  We do this to make sure they are given every opportunity to better themselves or to be anything they want to be.
Growing up I was given great opportunities that my parents worked very hard to give us.  We then become adults and choose to walk away with the opportunities we want.  I can't begin to name all of the opportunities my parents gave me, but I would like to list 3 main ones.  First, was education.  My parents knew that education was very important.  They would find the best public school in a city and then find the closest house for sale.  Education mattered.  Second, speech.  My mother would constantly look me in the face to correct my speech.  Third, people.  I was not raised to belittle another race nor look down on anyone, no matter their status.
I remember this lesson of "opportunities" was ingrained into me through a situation I found myself in when we lived in Bibb City (a poorer section of our town) in my twenties.  Chance and I were living in a staff house at a local homeless shelter.  I was given the opportunity to help a young girl in her twenties just like me, with small children, just like me.  The only difference between the two of us were the opportunities given to each of us growing up.  Her speech was different and her education was different.  I saw us as no different other than the fact that I had been given different opportunities.  This reminded me of the movie "My Fair Lady" in which the professor takes a lady away from the poor part of town, educates her and perfects her speech and tries to pass her off as royalty.  These are opportunities.
In America, "the land of opportunity" the opportunities are vast.  Being here in Bulgaria, I saw this desire to be more like America in dress, slogans, and pop culture, but I believe the desire to be like America, comes more in the opportunities available.  In America you are told you can be anything you want when you grow up.  You can take advantage (if you work hard enough) of every opportunity America gives you.  Many choose to take advantage, but many don't.
We, here on the mission field, want to give opportunities to those wanting to choose them.  An opportunity to move from the kingdom of darkness and into God's glorious loving kingdom, an opportunity to learn God's word and become a disciple and live in freedom and victory, an opportunity to learn English so that more opportunities are given to them, and an opportunity to change the world.

Great day!

I was very privileged to get to speak today to two classes at a local high school.  Their high school goes from 8th-12th grade.  The first was a class of older students, and they understood English very well.  Their high school is a language high school, so that is what they concentrate on mostly.  The second class was of 8th grade, so they have only begun studying English the last few months.  They both did very well in listening and asking questions in English.
Some background information in how this came about was that our translator and friend introduced me/us to one of her students and she helped me by taking me to get my first haircut in Bulgaria.
The lady that cut my hair is also an English teacher at the high school.  She teaches English in the morning and cuts hair in the afternoon.  She asked if I would come to her classes to speak English and let them hear and also to tell them why we are here in Kyustendil.
I told them that we were here to serve and help the poor.  That seemed to open a door to why we would even think of helping the gypsies because in their words, "they are dirty and nasty and thieves and they want to be that way."  I had obviously opened a can of worms.  I explained that in my faith I believe that God is no respecter of persons and that we all bleed the same.  We all have a spirit, soul and body.  That if we love God with all of our heart, soul, and strength, then we cannot help but to love our neighbor.  To help those that are less fortunate.  This became quite the discussion and I truly pray that I gave glory to God and tried to open their minds a little bit.  This new generation yearns for change and all that is American and western. They know the other countries in Europe look down upon Bulgaria as being less than they are, so why then in human nature do we turn around and do it to others, when we know how painful it is to ourselves?  I believe it's that ugly thing called pride.  We put others down to bring ourselves up...it becomes a vicious cycle.
I ended with this statement...  the definition of insanity is to doing something over and over but expect a different result.  If you want a new Bulgaria and want a different future for yourselves, begin with yourselves.  Put the past behind and think fresh and new.  To change the world (or country) we must begin only with ourselves.  We are only as mighty as our weakest link.
I also shared some of our testimony on how we were led by the Lord to Bulgaria (which is very strange for them to understand why anyone would want to come here).  We talked about perpective and choice.  I said, "Look at that tree.  What a beautiful tree!"  You may say, "What an ugly insignificant tree...I see it every day."  I said the only difference is perspective and perspective is a choice.  We choose every day how we choose to see or perceive things, life, and people.  They said that we as Bulgarians are very negative...it's the way we are.  I again said,  "That is a choice."
So needless to say we got into more than I can type, but that is the logisics of it.  I came home and read Acts chapter 4.  Peter and John said something that was very cool...they were told to be quiet about Jesus and not to speak in His name.  They replied, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard."  It is easier to conform and not to make waves...but God did not call us to be easier and conform.  He told us to, "Go your way, stand and continue to speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life." Acts 5:20
This Life is a choice...are you willing to live THIS LIFE? :D