Tuesday, September 27, 2011

He Never Ceases...

Several weeks ago I shared with you that God was up to some interesting things in my life, but I couldn’t share with you back then due to helping transition my folks involved in the counseling ministry. At this point I think I’m good to go.

While in Uganda back in the Spring of this year, God put it on my heart to close down my Morrilton counseling ministry and be on the road with Pure Joy International. Getting the word out about the opportunity for churches to partner with us, go with us, and pray with us and anything else God might be up to that we are clueless about! Which could be endless! Ha,ha,ha,ha

Anyway, I came home from that time totally freaked out about shutting down my counseling office. So, I chose not to tell anyone but Jennifer Halbrook, our financial advisor for the Board of Pure Joy. I then chose to not talk about it again and pretend like God never moved on my heart to do that. Well, as so many of you know, you can’t pretend with God! Following our return from our Retreat in Costa Rica this past summer, God really went to work on my heart. Actually, I should say He was silent, and it made me crazy! It would be like your husband and you (those of you that are married) not talking, yet you live together day in and day out. (Hmmmmmm, some of you might be doing that as I write this.) Anyway, I was miserable with no peace and no joy. One day as I was driving to Ft. Smith, AR where I provide counseling one day a week, God allowed me to come to my senses and confess my sin and repent, which meant turning back towards the time He and I had together in Uganda and what He put on my heart. That very week, I talked to my mom and a couple of Board Members just to be able to say out loud, “I am closing down the Morrilton Counseling Office”. All that to say, “I am water walking now…I’m out of the boat! I am excited and yes my flesh is still wacky sometimes, but God always reminds me through so many things that He is my provider and He has a plan for Pure Joy International and me. It is so beyond what I can even imagine, the thing He has laid on my heart of how He wants to minister to missionary women overseas. Sunday I was watching Charles Stanley before leaving for church and he made this statement, “Be obedient...leave the consequences up to God.” We all know that and have heard that in different forms and fashions along the way of our journey, but that was one of those “God was speaking to me moments”. I felt like a Nike commercial recipient, “Just Do It!” ha,ha,ha,ha

If you have figured out anything about Pure Joy International over the times of reading this blog, you will know it is all about ministering to the missionary women overseas and providing them a place to come be fed spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally at “NO” cost to them. It is also an incredible place for them to minister to one another in ways we could never even begin to understand! Over this past year we have been encouraging the ladies at each retreat on the last day to follow our web site so they will know where our next retreat is going to be so they can “pay it forward” by telling another missionary in another part of the world about being able to attend a retreat 4 days and 3 nights free of charge to them.

There is nothing more exciting than seeing them encouraging one another. Thus our ministry verse….(Hebrews 3: 13), “Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called, ‘today,’ so that none of you may hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

Today, we received the following letter in the mail addressed to Patty our Financial/Technical person and the Uganda Team along with a check for $1000 dollars from a missionary that attended the Uganda Retreat. She has given me permission to use her letter to the ministry.

Dear Patty and team…

God was apparently trying to remind me of his ability to provide for me when He gave a windfall from (of all places) the U.S. Government! Remembering how y’all blessed us in Uganda earlier this year I would like to pass along a blessing.

Please feel free to use it on salaries, office rent, paper clips, the upcoming retreat in Peru or wherever a little oil will make the ministry run better.

With Love,
Vicki

Did you catch that comment from her, “or wherever a little oil will make the ministry run better!” Isn’t it true that a little oil makes a big difference!!! We will use our dear sister’s money to go towards sponsoring two more missionaries for the Peru trip. Also know this: God used her in a mighty way today to oil my heart as I continue on this faith walk of obedience regarding Pure Joy International.

Is the oil of the Holy Spirit of God working through you to encourage others? If not, maybe it’s time for an oil change!

Love you so much,
His,
Vickie

Monday, September 19, 2011

Don't be stupid!

As I write these words to you I am sitting on the side of the road on I-40 waiting for my mom to bring me some gas. When I first realized I had run out of gas, I started looking for all the spiritual reasons for why this happened, what God is trying to tell me, etc. And I could come up with some very spiritual reasons and do believe God speaks to us through our circumstances. However, God did give me a brain and the ability to use it! The warning signal for the gas gage went off 18 miles ago. Hmmmm, I skipped the next exit because "I" thought I can make it to the next town. But then I got side tracked listening to the Praise and Worship music that Nikki is putting together for Peru and did not get off at the next town and there you have it! Stupidity!

Ok, so as not to continue in a mode of stupidity, I just remembered that my hair stylist lives in the next town. I called her to come help me so my mom wouldn't have to make the 40 minute drive. Since I am waiting, I might as well go ahead and add a few spiritual thoughts to the situation! “Why miss an opportunity,” I say!

You know...we kind of do this with God in our lives at times when we are off track or involved in something we shouldn't be, or we just aren't taking time for Him. He is such a Gentleman. He will give us a warning just like that gage gave me a warning so we can address the situation before it gets out of hand, before we end up with a consequence we don't like. But in the same way I ignored the warning signal in the car, we ignore the warning signals of the Holy Spirit! And then there we are to deal with the consequences. I regret I didn't take action when I received that warning, but no matter my regret I'm still sitting on the side of this Interstate. Remember I said God is a Gentleman. He isn't out to humiliate us, embarrass us or shame us. He gently tries to get our attention before regrets and/or consequences, but He loves us enough to stop us in our tracks to get our attention. Is there an area in your life that He has given you a warning in? Don't end up sitting on the side of the Interstate! But if you are sitting there in life right now, call a friend!! We need each other!!

Peru is closing in and we are all getting so excited!!! Please continue to give!!!! We have just over half of the 50 missionaries sponsored!! Yeah, God!!!!

I love you guys,
Reporting live on location from I-40 (ha ha)

His,
Vickie

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

God and Peru...

I love to watch God going to work on behalf of that which He has called us to do!  The Peru trip is taking shape and I want to encourage all the missionary women that are reading this blog that will be attending the Peru Retreat to get excited about watching HIM move on your behalf.  He does love His girls!!!

Below are two stories from one of our team members that I think you will really enjoy and is evidence of what happens when His servant is listening.  The first story Deb tells is how He showed her she was to be going on this retreat.  The second is how He is working on gifts for the ladies that will be attending.  By the way I had to take some words out of the second story to keep things a surprise for the Peru ladies.
Please remember to pray and give!  Love you all!

His, Vickie

Enjoy! Story #1

"Two Sundays ago, I woke up at 5 am, unable to sleep.  As I do sometimes, I grabbed my iPhone and decided to see what was on Facebook since I had been on there in a day or two.  It had been a busy weekend with holiday parties and company.  The first thing I saw was Nikki Boyd posting to Jan Tabrizi about seeing her name on the Peru team list.  I had this twinge of something – was it jealousy?  I’m not a jealous person, so it just seemed odd.  Earlier in the year, when I heard that PJI was going to Peru, I had been very interested in the trip, but got busy and didn’t keep up with what was going on, except that I had head the team was “full.” My husband Carl and I both got around early that morning.  Over breakfast I just happened to mention that Jan was going to Peru on her first trip with PJI.  He asked, “Is that something you need to be doing too?”  I just blew it off and didn’t let the thought take root.  Our daughter and son-in-law had come to stay with us for the weekend and they were still asleep.  They had plans for later in the day and had to leave to go home that morning.  We decided to leave them a note and went on to Sunday School since we hadn’t been there in over a month with our summer travels.  As I neared the Sunday School classroom, I ran into Kristy Pinion.  She had the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on her face.  She excitedly told me she was going to Peru.  There it was again, that strange, not-quite-jealous feeling.   I think I mumbled something about my earlier interest in the trip.  She said, “You ought to talk to Vickie, there were some openings.”  Once again, I didn’t let the thought take root; I just went on in to class.  Our teacher, Harry Layden, is such a great practical Bible teacher.  He was teaching out of Colossians 2 about walking shoulder to shoulder with each other for the cause of Christ.  He reviewed some points about how to step out in faith that he’d made in previous weeks “for those who’ve missed Sunday School lately.”  (That was me!)  I like those “4 point” kind of lessons so I got my pen and started writing.  First, what does God’s Word say about the decision?  Second, what does your spirit say about the decision? 

Third, what does your authority say about the decisions? And fourth, what are the circumstances.  He said that when all four are present, we probably ought to go ahead and take that step of faith.  Hmmmm…..now that was taking root in my mind.  Carl and I went on into church and I didn’t say anything until the greeting time when everyone was going around shaking hands.  I grabbed his hand and said, “Would you pray for me about going to Peru?”  His answer was, “If God told you to go, go! That’s it.”  Okay.  So point one, two, and three were taken care of, almost.  After church I talked to Linda Roach, one of the PJI leaders, and she said she thought there was still an opening, to “call Vickie.”  I could hardly wait to get home to check my calendar (point four:  circumstances).  It was clear!  We had just set aside some money for ministry work.   I called Vickie and left a voice mail, then I texted her.  I wanted her attention! I needed to know if there was still an opening (I guess you figured it out, I didn’t read the blog that week!).  When she finally called (about 10 minutes later), I told her my story and she said, “You know my two questions, is God calling you and does your husband support you going?”  Those were two Yesses!  Vickie was the final authority and she said YES!  It was the next day when I opened the team information that I saw the scripture we are using for the retreat:  “Speak, for your servant is listening.”  (1 Sam 3:10b).  God certainly got my attention and that scripture is the basis of my prayer every day. “ Lord, I want to listen to you.  Help me to have ears to hear when you call me for the small and big things in my life.”
 
Enjoy! Story #2

"As I was cleaning of my (rather messy) desk before our PJI team meeting last Thursday, I found a $50 ----------- rewards certificate I’d forgotten about.  I decided I was going to use it for some --------  --------------- to put in the retreat bags for the missionaries.  I had ---------------- and --------------------- in mind when I went.  The -------------------were on a terrific sale and I found ‘matching’ ------------.  When I got to the counter I asked the lady waiting on me (her name is “Promise”) to put the PJI stuff in a separate bag from my other purchases and told her those items were going to Peru.  She asked if I was going on a mission trip and I told her what we were doing.  She thought it was amazing.  And then, she gave me a $20 off coupon that she had laying on her cash register.  That and the reward certificate covered the entire purchase of PJI stuff.  Now isn’t that just so cool!  God never ceases to amaze me in the things He makes happen and how He makes me just want to giggle when I pay attention to what He is doing."

Friday, September 9, 2011

Reposting Our Weapons...

We know that those of you that get the blog via email and on Facebook were not able to see the video posted with yesterday's (9/8) blog. It did work on the regular Blogspot site but we don't want anyone to miss it so we are reposting the entire blog entry below with a link to the video instead of embedding it in hopes that you can enjoy it now.

This morning, as I write this blog, my mom and I are sitting in a hotel room just a little over an hour outside of Knoxville, TN headed to Williamsburg, VA to watch my godson’s wife run in her first Triathlon. I can’t wait to see them and be one of her cheerleaders!

Anyway, as I was preparing to have my quiet time I received a text from a counselee dealing with a difficult situation. After responding I set down to my quiet time and began reading God’s Word. One truth that burned in my heart from the reading is something I have found myself telling my counselee’s and friends a lot lately and that is we, as believers, cannot deal with life from a physical world view and walk victoriously! If our eyes are only on the physical we will crumble, be defeated, give in, give up, and give out! The enemy is out to destroy us! He doesn’t have to destroy lost people He already has them. But you and I he has to destroy because we are God’s tools for reaching them and proclaiming that JESUS IS THE HOPE OF THIS WORLD! Therefore, life is not going to get simpler. In fact, the very people we are trying to minister truth too most often are the very people the enemy uses to distract and overwhelm us, such as a spouse, child, sibling, parent, friend, etc.

I say all these things to encourage you and remind you we are in a battle daily! The enemy loves to lull us to sleep with no gun-fire for a season and then drop a grenade and or a missile! But we have the victory through the shed blood of Christ! Therefore, remember the words of 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 which says: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive everything to make it obedient to Christ.”

What are those weapons…check out Ephesians 6:10-20 (Spiritual Armor). In short, get dressed friends…..we are in a WAR!!!!!!!!

We have 43 women signed up for Peru as of today! It is so exciting to us to watch those slots fill up! The team continues to be in the prayer and preparation mode. It is so fun for me to watch the team starting to get excited. Give it about two more weeks and they will be like, “I can’t believe we are going to Peru to minister to missionary women.” Oh, wait, that is what I start saying about 4-6 weeks out! Ha,ha,ha,ha Anyway, please keep us in your prayer as we continue all the detail work of preparation. Also, do not miss out on an opportunity to be a part of this trip by giving towards helping sponsor the missionary women to attend the 4 day-3 night event free of charge to them. I wish all of you could experience what this opportunity means to them. Follow the link below for a video that will help you get a glance into what God desires to accomplish through the ministry of Pure Joy international from out trip two months ago to Costa Rica. Enjoy! (Tip - If the video doesn't play smoothly try pausing it and allow it to load for a few minutes then start playing again.)
And remember to pray, go, and give to missionaries all over the world!!!!

Love you all like crazy!!!
His, Vickie

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Our Weapons...

This morning, as I write this blog, my mom and I are sitting in a hotel room just a little over an hour outside of Knoxville, TN headed to Williamsburg, VA to watch my godson’s wife run in her first Triathlon.  I can’t wait to see them and be one of her cheerleaders!  

Anyway, as I was preparing to have my quiet time I received a text from a counselee dealing with a difficult situation.  After responding I set down to my quiet time and began reading God’s Word.  One truth that burned in my heart from the reading is something I have found myself telling my counselee’s and friends a lot lately and that is we, as believers, cannot deal with life from a physical world view and walk victoriously!  If our eyes are only on the physical we will crumble, be defeated, give in, give up, and give out!  The enemy is out to destroy us!  He doesn’t have to destroy lost people He already has them.  But you and I he has to destroy because we are God’s tools for reaching them and proclaiming that JESUS IS THE HOPE OF THIS WORLD!  Therefore, life is not going to get simpler.  In fact, the very people we are trying to minister truth too most often are the very people the enemy uses to distract and overwhelm us, such as a spouse, child, sibling, parent, friend, etc. 

I say all these things to encourage you and remind you we are in a battle daily!  The enemy loves to lull us to sleep with no gun-fire for a season and then drop a grenade and or a missile!  But we have the victory through the shed blood of Christ!   Therefore, remember the words of 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 which says:  “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive everything to make it obedient to Christ.”

What are those weapons…check out Ephesians 6:10-20 (Spiritual Armor).  In short, get dressed friends…..we are in a WAR!!!!!!!!

We have 43 women signed up for Peru as of today!  It is so exciting to us to watch those slots fill up!  The team continues to be in the prayer and preparation mode.  It is so fun for me to watch the team starting to get excited.  Give it about two more weeks and they will be like, “I can’t believe we are going to Peru to minister to missionary women.”  Oh, wait, that is what I start saying about 4-6 weeks out! Ha,ha,ha,ha  Anyway, please keep us in your prayer as we continue all the detail work of preparation.  Also, do not miss out on an opportunity to be a part of this trip by giving towards helping sponsor the missionary women to attend the 4 day-3 night event free of charge to them.  I wish all of you could experience what this opportunity means to them.  Here is something that might help you get a glance into what God desires to accomplish through the ministry of Pure Joy international from out trip two months ago to Costa Rica.  Enjoy!  (Tip - If the video doesn't play smoothly try pausing it and allow it to load for a few minutes then start playing again.)

Unable to display content. Adobe Flash is required.
And remember to pray, go, and give to missionaries all over the world!!!!

Love you all like crazy!!!
His, Vickie