Simple words, profound truth

I have had some health issues lately (migraines, Shingles, recurrence of my symptoms of my a.i. disease). After feeling so great for sometime, it is hard to return to a place of pain. One day, I was feeling particularity discouraged and started to cry as I was trying to make sense of all this in light of my upcoming trip. That evening, my little Elliana (3 1/2yrs) prayed for my "owies" to get better. These are her exact words:

"Dear God, thank you for that my mommy's owies to get better."

I smiled at the sweetness of her prayer, the structure of her sentence, and the way she mixed up "thank you" with something like "please help" or some other word. Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by God's whisper to me;

"Tammi, she has it exactly right.

I know it is hard, but this is part of My plan for you." Then He reminded me of His words from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Give thanks...in everything. My daughter had no idea that her prayer was about to refocus my prayer life. What would happen if I replaced words like "please ___ " or "I ask" with "thank you for ___" when petitioning God to intervene in a situation?

So my prayer was something like, "Father, I ask you to help me through my challenges right now. Help me to trust you." Was that prayer wrong? I don't think so. But my focus changed from "me" to "Him" when I prayed, "Father, thank you for the challenges in my life right now. I know that You are in control. Thank you for allowing me to bring you glory as you give me the strength to press on." My prayer becomes less about asking God to change the situation, and more about asking Him to change me in the midst of it so that others may see His work in my life.

It's a small change of words, but a huge change in perspective. The more I use "thank you" it starts to make it more about Him and less about me. After all, that is what my life should be about. Living for the purpose of bringing glory to God.

I also see "thank you" as words of faith. Do I really believe that He will take care of the situation? Let's take that a step further. Do I have faith enough to thank Him in advance, even if the situation may not turn out the way I would want, but believing that His way is best?

This is my desire, Lord. Please forgive me for my selfish perspective. Father, change my heart.

So dear friends, by faith with a thankful prayer, I continue to move forward with my trip, knowing with confidence that it is God's will that He be magnified in my weaknesses.

Thank you, my sweet Ellie-bean. Jesus used your simple, yet profound prayer to give me a much needed change of perspective in my prayer life.


Here she is, my sweet girl. Always with camera ready :), I sneaked some pictures of her one day while she was praying. Isn't she precious?

Thailand Trip FAQs Pt. 1

Several of you are wanting to know more details about my trip. Thank you! I am touched by your interest. Here are two questions that some of you have asked:

1. Can you tell me more about the Safe Houses?

Women At Risk works with two Safe Houses in Thailand. These homes are places where women rescued from sexual slavery can live, learn about God's healing love, and learn a trade to support themselves. At these two homes, the women are trained to make jewelry, which is then brought to the States to sell at jewelry parties. The money goes back to support the women and the Safe Houses. I know there are more details that I will be able to fill in after I visit them.

***There will be a jewelry party at Immanuel Church in Holland on March 5. I will also be sharing about my trip. Mark your calendars and stay tuned...more details to come***

2. What will you do when you visit the Safe Houses?

We will interact with the women, worship with the women and learn first hand much more about how these ministries work and what they do. We will have a chance to pray with the women who run the homes and give them encouragement they need as they shine Jesus' light in a very dark place. We will also have opportunity to buy some of the jewelry the women living there have made.

One of the nights we will be putting on a banquet to pamper and love on the women. Becky McDonald (the President of W.A.R.) will give a message about being the Bride of Christ, so we are having fun running with a wedding theme. We will play some shower type games, have favors for each girl, and share a meal together. Many of the women living at the Safe Houses have made decisions to follow Christ, but not all. You can pray that through our times with them, and Becky's message, that women would be drawn to Him.

Keep your questions coming- it helps me to answer what you want to know!

Fat Baby... I had to do it!

Okay, so I couldn't resist. After mentioning this song in my last post, I had to google it. Look what I found! Does anyone remember this? It's pretty goofy, but the point is made.

If you were a fan of Amy Grant's in the early days, you've got to watch. Even if you weren't, the outfits and choreography are too funny. Be sure to check out the guy on the right of the screen. One word. Hair.

If you look closely, there's another celeb singer in the beginning and he shows up again at about the 3 minutes 8 seconds mark. I'm scared to think he may be wearing yellow pants. Yellow. We'll just hope it's the lighting. Can you tell who it is?

I find the audience response at the end a bit scary... ( Although, I shouldn't talk- if this was a video of the "Friends Tour" it could have been me). Yikes.

Let's all be thankful that Christian music has come a long, long way!

From Russia with Love- one of many lessons learned

In 2002, we left for our first term as missionaries to Russia. Little did we know that we would only spend 3 years there. We had committed for however long God desired us to serve Him overseas, but had no idea our time would be so short. I will share more about that in the future, but for today wanted to share one of the most important lessons that I had learned.

One of the challenges I found in life overseas is the lack of resources available for Christian growth. No Christian bookstores, often no radio stations, no conferences, retreats, and Internet access can be touch and go. Many times there aren't even churches to attend. And then there's the issue of finding something in English! (as a "bookie" it killed me to leave so many books in the States!) In the US, as we all know, the resources abound. We have so many opportunities to further our spiritual growth. My whole life I have been blessed with resources available at every turn.

While our organization prepared us for this, there is nothing quite like experiencing it. Our first year, I struggled with this issue, and I have to say I floundered. Unfortunately, I had done "autopilot" in the States at times, but there was no autopilot in territory that I knew nothing about. I was so fat (anyone remember Amy Grant's "Fat Baby"?) from being fed by others, that I didn't truly know how to feed myself and be satisfied with the Word ALONE, all the time.

So how does a missionary ask for help in this area??? Not exactly the type of question you put in a prayer letter. Because you know, missys are spiritually superior!!! ;) (that's another story ). When I reflect on it, maybe it was for the better, because I ended up going to The Source. Desperate with the need to survive and desire to thrive in my first term, I cried out to God. He led me to himself. I began to spend more and more time in the Word and learn what it meant to be "self fed". I no longer needed to depend on other avenues, because I had found the True Source. This "challenge" of lack of resources turned out to be a huge, life changing blessing.

Fast forward 3 1/2 years, back in the States, and I have found myself getting fat again. I (and maybe you too) am facing the challenging of so many spiritual distractions. It shouldn't matter if I was challenged by Sunday's sermon, or if I can't find that cd to lift my spirit, or that book to spur me on...it should be my Lord, the Holy Spirit and His Word that I depend on and desperately need.

So, for the New Year, I have resolved to "slim down" in a few areas:

1. My home- trying to simplify and get rid of stuff that weighs me down. These things may not be wrong to have, but do I really need all of it?

2. My body- To eat healthier snacks and get in better shape

3. My spiritual life- I need to lose some "fat" here too. To not depend on books, sermons, music to feed me. I need to FIRST be in the Word, and quiet, listening before Jesus. (Please hear me out, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with those other things- it just can't be my main source. Jesus can and often does use those- He just wants me to find my all in Him. Are you with me?)

My prayer this year in this area comes from Jeremiah 15:16 "When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name."

One of the ways I will meet this goal is to fill my mind with the Word by memorizing. I am joining in with Beth Moore and other women in their scripture memory team. You commit to memorizing just 2 verses a month, more if you'd like, for the year. Check it out and join the challenge! Click here.

Right now I am working on memorizing Ephesians 6:10-18 in preparation for my trip to Thailand. (By the way, I'll be posting more about the trip this week).

Please hold me accountable to any of these- but especially #3. I would really appreciate it, and if you join in on the scripture challenge, let me know so we can encourage each other.

Top 2 books for 2008

I love books, and I love reading, so it was very hard to pick my top two favorites. But these two were the winners because of the impact they had on my life.

"a call to die"- a 40 day journey of fasting from the world & feasting on God-
by David Nasser~

An amazing and life changing study for your time with God. The idea was to give something up for 40 days and in place of that activity, to spend time with the Lord. The book guides you through Bible reading, journaling and prayer. If you are looking for something to challenge you in your walk with Christ- go pick up this book.

"Strong Women Soft Hearts"- a woman's guide to cultivating a wise heart and a passionate life- by Paula Rinehart~

A book that I constantly refer to. In fact, I keep it on my nightstand because I go back to it so often. I have highlights and notes all through this book! If you enjoy books that challenge your thinking and cause you to dig deep- this is it. It is not a "quick read" but one you will want to read in parts. A great book to read with a friend because there is so much to discuss! (Thanks Aim for recommending it and for all the great discussion).

Let me know if you pick up either of these books- I'd love to hear what ya think!

So, what about you? Do you have a favorite book? (and it doesn't have to be spiritual ;) ) I'm always looking for a new read!

Keepin' It Real

I am still finding my way in this Blogging World. It's an interesting one because the Blogger is completely in control of what they post and the angle they spin. I have to admit, it is tempting to portray myself/family a certain way- but that way wouldn't be reality. Besides, my family wouldn't believe any of it, and then I'd lose 70% of my readers. :)

I realized that because I don't post everyday, I usually write about the bigger or sometimes more exciting happenings in life. Because of this, my life is shown from one side (although not intended). So, before we go much farther and certain assumptions are made about me, I thought I'd share a story that happened this past week.

I received a call from someone at a Christian publishing company that was given our families' name to be part of an advisory team for an upcoming product. Basically, our family (along with many others- don't be impressed ;)) will be testing out a daily reading Bible that is written specifically for families. We will be looking at it for user friendliness, age appropriateness, design, etc. Our family dynamics apparently fit the profile they were looking for.

We wanted to get back into a habit of family devotion times, so this sounded like a great way to do it. I began to have visions of my kids sitting calmly around the dinner table with their hands folded in their laps, listening intently and waiting respectfully of their siblings for their chance to speak. Thank you very much. Read on.

Just after my phone conversation with this woman of a prominent Christian company began, I could hear the rumblings of a kerfuffle between two of my children. So as I'm listening, note taking and question asking, I'm pondering if I should get off the phone, handle the "potential situation" and call her back. ( Have you been there?) But no, we have trained our children right, so I decide to continue the call, hoping that the infraction would sizzle out. Um, yeah right.

We live in a ranch home and I am at one end of the house and the two warriors are at the other. I can hear the "dialogue" getting a bit louder. I peek my head into the hallway and feeling like the guy on the airplane runway, I am signalling for the older one to retreat by my finger pointing and giving the universal "mom" eyes. No such luck. Again, I should have ended the call, but noo- I was determined to finish.

So, what do mom's do at this stage? You got it, we go into the bathroom and lock the door. Perfect. Except that the screaming of Miss Drama started. As I am continuing to converse, I am praying that my children will not find me. I'm also trying to judge if the woman on the other end has heard any of this.

Apparently my children have used their radar because the crying/screaming sounds are getting louder and I can tell they have isolated my location. I have very few options left at this moment. I'm guessing that turning on the shower would sound a bit odd to the woman on the line, so I rule that out. Visions of Chad finding me turned into an icicle as I am stuck hanging out the window cause me to rule that option out too. I opt for turning on the fan to drown out the noise.

Soon just outside the door you could hear yelling, crying and "mommyyyyyyyy!!!!!" Miss Drama has made herself known by her banging on the door and crying to me about her trauma. Next we have the Negotiator who is trying to explain away his actions- and of course by yelling them over the sound of the fan. Nice.

I realized it was time to surrender because there was just no saving face now. I said to this kind woman, "Well, as you can hear, we're far from a perfect family. So, if we sound like what you're looking for, than we might be able to help you out!" She started laughing and said we would fit perfectly! Gracious, gracious woman.

I'm wondering if we can start that Bible reading with I John 3 for a little "Let's not merely say we love each other, let us show the truth by our actions.." And maybe I need a good dose of Proverbs 16 "Pride goes before a call... er fall." So, my friend, if you don't mind, on this blog I'll be Keepin' it Real. And when you see that title in future posts, you'll know what to expect, and hopefully get a chuckle or two.