2011/10/31

Tired, but still Inspired!

Today was one of those days where one feels a little overwhelmed by life:
  • 3 meetings
  • errands down the street
  • laundry piled up on the couch to fold and put away
  • sink & counter full of dishes that need to be washed
  • a floor that is in desperate need of a mop
  • need to prepare for Bible study tomorrow
  • teaching next week in DTS -- all morning long, all week long, need to prepare for that
  • Titus contacts to e-mail
  • Titus applicants we need to write and accept
  • Titus teams to continue arranging
  • Titus outreaches to organize
  • meetings to arrange
  • kids have their mid-semester exams this week and need help studying the next few evenings
  • family is hungry -- need to make meals
  • Michael's thumb is broken -- I get to do the dishes for 6 weeks straight :-)
  • not sure I have enough clothes to wear for teaching for a week -- may need to go shopping
  • We have seriously run out of space in our 850 sq. foot apartment -- we pretty much have clutter everywhere -- but I have no idea where to put everything anymore
  • youth group to prepare for Friday night
  • Michael preaching the next two weeks at a church in Taipei
  • and... we want to spend quality time with our kids and be discipling and inputting into their lives each day!
So, we cleaned up after dinner, the girls helped with some dishes, and Michael played Legos with the kids while I sat down at the computer for a few minutes of down time before I tackle a bit more on the house.  As I was praying for a renewed burst of energy, I re-read the following and was both blessed by God's goodness and grace as well as re-inspired to keep giving absolutely everything we've got.  One of my favorite verses is from Col 1:28-19, "Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Christ.
For this I toil, striving with all the energy which he mightily inspires within me."


Need a little boost of energy or re-inspiration?  Read this! :-)
From Titus Montana
(I tried to upload a few times earlier this year, but only got it to work tonight...)

Titus Times Montana 2011

2011/10/28

Decision Dilemma

Over the past several months Titus applications have been trickling in -- until we reached the deadline the beginning of this month, at which point they flooded in!  The current grand total? = 36!

As far as I know, this is the most applicants we've ever had for one program.  It is exciting but also frustrating:  The other night, as we had the applications stacked up on our coffee table and were reading through a few I got tears in my eyes.  We were reading various answers to the question, "Why do you want to do Titus?"  with answers like:
  • I want to teach the Bible more than anything else 
  • I realize the importance of knowing truth from the Bible and want to share that in places where they are hungry and in need 
  • I want to give what I have learned to other people 
  • I want to see people saved and lives transformed 
  • I want to learn how to teach the Bible effectively so that I can teach it to those who have never heard before...
Would YOU turn down any of the above?  Of course not!  Yet, with the high number of applicants we have, but only a small number of staff, that is what we are somehow going to have to do (hence the frustration).  Because of the nature of Titus -- we try to go into the more remote/harder places and bring Bible teaching to those who otherwise may never have the opportunity to get Bible training -- we need to keep our teams small.  Small teams with that many applicants means lots of teams, and we just don't have that many staff to go around.

This morning we had a very long staff meeting, laying out the names of each applicant on our coffee table, where we prayed over, re-arranged, prayed again, switched people around, prayed again, etc.  We are really seeking God for wisdom as we continue to make decisions through the acceptance process and form up the teams.  Although frustrating/sad that we can't take on everyone this upcoming January in Taiwan, the good news is that there are several Tituses running all around the world, and if they can't join this one, they can come this next June (we'll run again) or join another one of our Tituses around the world! :-)

May God's Word continue to go forth by His grace and in His power!

(And) Please join us in prayer for more long-term Titus staff! :-)




2011/10/27

Oh Joy for this Toy!

(aka: Saga of the Sprain / Spotlight gets off the ground) 

It was an hour past midnight, and the whole house was sleeping soundly, when Michael & I both startled awake from a very loud thud followed by whimpering coming from the youngest three kids' room. Immediately thinking Nathan had fallen out of his top bunk, we both bounded out of bed. I bumped into Michael, causing him to actually fall off rather than jump off the bed and hit his head. I made it into the hallway first, where I tripped, landing full body weight on ankle. I didn't really realize I had injured myself yet at that point, as the only thing I was thinking about was making sure Nathan was OK. Once inside the kids' room, we discovered all three fast asleep -- Nathan still in his bunk! The culprit? Kenna had fallen asleep with a large toy piano on her bed and knocked it off when she rolled over. About the same time we discovered Nathan hadn't fallen out of bed, I realized I had split the skin open on my ankle bone and that it was in excruciating pain. While the kids slept soundly on, I spent the rest of the night with ice packs trying to numb the pain enough to fall back to sleep. I spent a week going back and forth between crutches and wheeling around the house on an office chair, then a couple weeks of limping, and now over two months later just an occasional wince.  (I honestly didn't know sprains could hurt so bad or last so long -- maybe I'm just a complete wimp?)

The main thing I'm thankful for is that as laundry and floor dirt piled up, extra time at the computer allowed me to finally get our "Stevens' Spotlight' off the ground!  Consistent communication has been a goal of mine for so long, I really feel a bit of a load lifted off my shoulders, yay! :-)

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