giving thanks for november

i love having week days off.
it makes the long twelve hour shifts worth while.
i thought it best to update my blog with recent going ons.
what better way to spend my day off wrapped up in my resto, 
sipping on a home made egg nog misto, and listening to future of forestry christmas eps?


last month, my mom and i ventured to redding, ca to visit my aunt. 
i love going to visit. 
redding is absolutely beautiful and a great place for some r and r.

fall is no joke in redding

 

 hikes and gorgeous beauty abound

 

 

balloon flying shananigans after church are pretty great

 

bay trail walks and awkward selfies are incredible

 

celebrating new life and sippin on purple kow make me smile

 

dates with my mama to the coast are too good for words

 attempting to be youths and do a cosmic 5K is hilarious

 

and who could forget thanksgiving?

it was sincerely the best 

(pun completely intented).

 steiger's thanksgiving palooza was pretty amazing as well

this was our first thanksgiving without gammy,
and very possibly our last thanksgiving with uncle bob.
but despite the emotions, i have much to be thankful for.
{please see above}
i need to be reminded so often that i have much and 
that a spirit of thankfulness should abound in my life,
especially in light of the cross.
as the popular saying goes,
"gratitude turns what we have into enough."



cincerely,

*a grateful* cindy
 

when God says go

i mean, you gotta go, right?

two weeks ago, i woke up with the clear need 
to go help relief efforts in oklahoma.
i texted my friend to see if she would join me.
she had already applied. through some crazy, 
God-ordained circumstances,
marge and i ended up in shawnee, oklahoma
serving with samaritan's purse (sp).

  
shawnee had been hit with an estimated ef4 tornado
the same day as the close-by town, moore.
due to the large magnitude of moore's tornado,
shawnee has been overlooked by much of the media,
but their pain and hurts are just as deep.

samaritan's purse is serving at multiple locations throughout shawnee.
we ended up in a trailer park that had been pretty much destroyed.
our job was simple: 
clear rubble and look for family keepsakes
with a smile and a glad heart.
  

so that's what we did for four and a half days.
from clearing trees to rooting through glass in the dirt,
we work as heartily for the Lord.

but my favorite part was when we finished a property.
sp gives a bible to every homeowner they work with.
all the people who work on their property sign the front
and write something to the homeowner.
whether the homeowner is a believer or not,
it is definitely an emotional moment as we say thank you for the opportunity to serve them in the name of Jesus.

i could go on and on, sharing funny and God glorifying stories,
but i think i'll ask you to pray, instead.
pray for healing and restoration for those effected.
pray for the families we have worked with, that their hearts would continue to be softened to the gospel.
pray for endurance for those who are still working.
pray that God would use local believers and sp workers to share and shine Jesus.

many thanks to those who were praying while we were away
and will continue to pray!


cincerely,

*prayerful and hopeful* cindy

Easter: the day after

easter is my favorite day of the year.
without Christ rising over 2,000 years ago,
life would look and be totally different.
my life, your life, everybody's.

one of my easter traditions is to read through 1 corinthians 15.
it's a basic argument for why the death 
and resurrection of Christ is paramount.
at the end, paul reminds of the victory foretold in isaiah:

"'Death is swallowed up in victory.^'
 'O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?'"

as amazing as easter is with its focus on such amazing truths,
it becomes like so many holy days:
remembrance on important realities 
that seem to not impact our lives after a few days have passed.
 
i read this section of scripture anew yesterday, with my focus extending to verses 57 and 58:

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."


we have victory because of and through the risen Christ!
and while we rejoice and reflect on that, let us not forget to act.

i pray in this renewed season of victory in Christ, that i would work abundantly for the Lord,
being steadfast and immovable.

and i pray the same for my brothers and sisters.
may we "press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus!"





cincerely,


cindy

fighting the good fight

^{"But godliness with contentment is great gain, For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.}  

 ^{For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.} 

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

1 Timothy 6:6-12

in this new season, the Lord is impressing upon me 

the need to fight this good fight.

in my life, it seems so easy to just go about my day, thinking on the Lord and His goodness and on His cross and simply on Him.

yet my life is not much different than it was a year ago. 

i go to work, i try to sleep,  i go to church, i beat my missions drum, 

and well, that's about it.

i've become so discontent with my life and 

haven't really been able to figure out why.

until this last week.

i started reading "forgotten God."
while the concept scares me, i know it's true.
in essence, mr. chan says that the (western) church often lacks power 
because it lacks the Holy Spirit.
i'm not talking about a second baptism or anything like that, but the church all too often lacks the working of and the reliance on the Holy Spirit.

i had to spend some honest time before God in those moments.
how easily i forget that the Holy Spirit is present, active, and powerful.  
how quickly i forget to fight the good fight, knowing and resting in the power and faithfulness of the Holy Spirit.

i pray in this coming season, i would fight the good fight,
being "strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might" (Eph 6:10).
i pray that i would take up the whole armor of God, remember my only weapon is the sword of the Spirit, (although called the "word of God," it is powerless without the working of the Spirit).
i pray that others would join me in this fight, and that i could join others as they battle against our flesh, this world, and the schemes of the enemy.



cincerely,

cindy