From my friend John & Abby Fisher who are in Fargo ND…please pray for the city of Fargo…here is the Fisher’s blog link…http://johnandabby.wordpress.com/
Well Friends and supporters we are in a tough situation here in Fargo.
A real quick update so I will be brief. First off baby Julia was born on March 14th and is healthy and doing great.
If you haven’t heard the Red river which cuts the FM (Fargo Moorhead Metro) in half is 23 feet above flood stage. The city is in am emergency and has evacuated different at risk spots but all in all we are still here fighting. Abby and Julia are in St Cloud for the weekend and maybe the beginning part of next week. My mother got here Thurs and is with them waiting all this out. I am still here, Abby and I had a long discussion and we thought it best for them to go but for me to stay and minister to the people and assist in fighting the flood waters back. The river is supposed to crest Sat around 1 and they have changed the crest stage from 41 to now on the higher side of 43. We have built almost 12 miles of sandbag dikes and it looks like they are going to be adding another foot to the dikes we have built. I have been out along with many other brothers from the area ministering, diking and sandbagging.
Please Pray for our city there are a lot of scared people and rightly so – this is scary.
Please pray that I and other would be diligent to not only helping but also sharing with people the one and only Savior, Christ
Please pass this along to whomever you would like, we are in a very dire situation and need all the prayers we can get. I will try to keep you updated check the websites below for updates. Also http://www.areavoices.com and click on flood 2009 on the page for up to date info.
For the supremacy of Christ
John Fisher
The start of the week, lots of plans being scheduled, lots of list being made…people are looking at calendars, wondering where they can squeeze in this or that activity or luncheon, or meeting…I’m the same way, planning how I will work out the business of my family for the week, chores, schoolwork, laundry, yardwork, …However, this week (and every week after) I’ve decided to start my day’s differently by doing 3 things every day…Denying myself, Taking up my cross, and Following Jesus…
My pastor used a quote yesterday in his sermon from Ghandi’s autobiography, he said “I would have become a Christian if I had ever seen one.” My prayer is that I become that ONE that someone sees…
So I have a little pond outside my back door…I love the sound of the water…and I love my fish…I love that they know my voice, I love that they would follow me around the pond, I love that they would gather in the same spot and want me to feed them, pretending to be ravenous…and I love that I was training them to eat out of my hand…and then one day they wouldn’t come to eat, for two days I didn’t see them, and was worried, my neighbor called and asked if I was missing fish, and I said I wasn’t sure I hadn’t seen them, she said she saw a heron in her pond that morning…what?!? I thought the worst….but I did lose some of the babies and one beautiful fantail goldfish, named Clementine. I named it that because it had a round body and was solid orange and if I found out it was a boy, Clem would work too…anyhoo…back to the evil heron…we saw him several times throughout the fall sitting on my car, on the roof, on the garage…in the tree behind my house…so I bought a net for the pond…and hoped that the fish would come around in the spring…and hoped that the heron would move to the coast!! So, spring comes, I see some baby fish (small enough to have been born in the winter months–so cool) and start seeing all of my little friends that were left, and they are starting to come around, starting to act like they did before Mr. H came to town…Now, my pond is my favorite place to sit on a nice day and read my bible, and pray…and I was doing that the day before yesterday when I see a fish that makes me do a double take…it CLEMENTINE?!? I can’t believe it…and…wow…what has happened…one half one of his double fins is missing, and a large chunk of one side of his body is missing…& there’s a scar covering most of that side…and the scar is in the shape of a heart!! I don’t know what happened…but he apparently escaped the evil heron and went into hiding and began to try to heal…I can’t believe looking at the scaring that he survived…but he spent the winter hiding and healing…and has emerged this spring eating, swimming, and interacting with the others…and then it hit me…how small a speck is my little pond in the grand scheme of the universe…and yet, God knew that Clementine was there, God knew that Clementine needed healing, God was watching…and if God was watching over this little fish…then of course He is watching over me, and all the things I think are insignificant…and all the things that aren’t. He is in control…OK…I know there might be someone saying that, God didn’t have anything to do with the fish healing, that it’s all about science and stuff…why would God be concerned with this little fish…to which I would reply…EXACTLY! Why would He…but I believe with all my heart, that He saved this little fish for one reason…so I could understand on a personal and deeper level how much he watches and cares about me & you!! I have a young, vibrant friend who is struggling with cancer…and I was praying for her at the time I saw Clem…and it was almost as if God was telling me, “See how I’m in control, see how I’ve taken care of this little one, how much more will I care for (insert name here)…and then I looked at Clemetine’s scar and how it was shaped like a heart…and I realized that there are things all the time that happen to us, life changing, life altering moments that take time to heal…but just like the heart-shaped scar, I am marked with the love of my Father…and His eye is on the sparrow, on the goldfish, and on me.
I’ve longed for the spring for so long this winter…not exactly sure this winter was any colder, or more wintery than others but my longing for the spring has been greater these last few months…I’ve longed to be outside in the sunshine, I’ve longed for a warm breeze on my face, for the heat of the sun on my back, for the coolness of the grass under my bare feet…for the sprouting of green, and the colors of the flowers…today was an exceptionally beautiful spring day…I tried to spend as much time in it as possible…I felt renewed. I opened my doors and let in the fresh air all day…it was wonderful!
But this evening I thought about something deeper how many people do I know that need that same kind of renewal in their heart…in their soul? How many friends? How many people that I contact every day are just waiting for me to be that warm breeze, or the bright sunshine that changes their day, renews their spirit, changes the season they may be stuck in currently? And how many times do I miss the opportunity? When I know the only thing that can bring a soul out of the blackness of a bleak winter and into the newness and warmth of a spring renewal is my Savior and yet…I miss the opportunity…I miss the moment that might change someone’s…everything. Why? Am I afraid of saying the wrong thing? Afraid of not having the perfect answer? But you know what, springtime like renewal is not perfect…there are weeds to pick & to deal with, there is work to be done to tend the new growth…and it doesn’t happen in one day…what does happen in one day, what happens on a day like today, is that we open the door, and we feel the warm breeze, when on others days it was cold, we step into bright sunshine when before it was gloomy gray…and it takes our breath away, and we want more…and more…and more…so if a spoken word, something I can say to someone will be that same breathtaking door-opening moment…then won’t they in turn want more and more? I may not have all the right answers for their questions, but I can be authentic enough to tell them that…and offer to look for it with them. I just keep hearing the bible verse in my head today, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me…Lord, show me the people that need a spring breeze…and be that breeze through me.
Saw this video in a pop up ad on a website…I spent about half and hour looking at the pictures on their website…I have no words…If only these victims had a louder voice…
So since the start of the year, I’ve almost forgotten I even had a blog…Started the year off planning James Russell’s 13th birthday party (13th!) He had a Wii Challenge night here at the house–it was lots of fun…Ken thought he was gonna win but ended up having to concede the Wii Challenge Trophy to a GIRL! (I know, right?). Next, I got to go on a trip with my husband to Las Vegas (that was fun! but Las Vegas is only fun in small doses). After about 5 days of walking through casino after casino and the scantilly clad cocktail waitresses that fill them, the smoke filled air, someone constantly trying to shove a card in my hand with the number of a “escort” in my hand, I’m more than ready to head back to the bible belt…! However we did spend a day driving through the desert and seeing the mountains…which was really nice, and fun to just have some time together…the downside was it was COLD…we didn’t have jackets and it started snowing on us at the highest elevation…brrr!! But being in the mountains always reminds me of how majestic God is…how amazing His creation, how creative it all is…the Sierra Nevada mountains are astoundingly beautiful with all the colors and all…but not more beautiful than the Smokey mountains…just creatively different as I’m sure the Rockies are or the Swiss alps, and …we take pictures or try to paint them and REcreate them in some way to show others the beauty the HE (our awesome Father) MADE!! When I stand there I can’t help but wonder how anyone can think this earth is a random chance…the artist paid too much attention to detail for it to be random…! The mountains always make me reflective…
I also shot a gun for the first time ever in my life while in Vegas, went went one of the other wives at a shotting range where you can rent all kinds of guns to shoot–and I didn’t just shoot a gun, but an automatic one–an UZI…! I almost chickened out, and then told myself, I might not ever have the chance again and did it…I have to admit it was pretty amazing…not nearly as scary or hard as I thought it would be, the noise was the worst part and I got double ear plugs to help with that…& I was proud of myself for trying something so completely out of character for me…who knows maybe next time I’ll bungee jump…HA! Can’t see that happening AT ALL!
Coming home was getting back into the swing of things, homeschooling, and housework, Bailey was playing basketball and had practice o9nce a week and games on Sat. which took up a fair bit of time, and then planning her 9th birthday party as well. She had a karaoke event called BAILEYPALOOZA there were 18 kids at my house and it was complete chaos and comeplete fun! On top of all the flying across the country and planning parties there was the regular, every day stuff, and I’ve tried to start the spring cleaning early getting all that stuff that collects in your house, out and cleaning and organizing! There’s been taking McKenna to ballet once a week and getting James Russell to various youth events…well…I seemed to have gotten back into the swing of everything except blogging…ALSO in keeping with one of my New Year’s resoutions I’ve been trying to learn to crochet, and am working on a purse…so I try to work on that in the evenings instead of spending so much time on the computer…SO…
here’s a few pics from the afore mentioned items…and proof that I have actually been doing what I’ve said…I’ll try to keep up and be more diligent about my blogging…we started 2009 off at a fast pace…and I’m still learning how to keep up with the blog and all the Mom stuff too…
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6
anyhoo... 