PEACE

Yesterday I read this devotion & journal entry by Hannah Whittal Smith (below) and since then her prayer has become my own. Thanks to the trials God has graciously allowed in my life over this past year, this is more my heart's desire than ever. Some circumstances may never change (there's no guarantee because we can't see around corners) but praise God that our hope is not in them; it is in the Sovereign God who holds the universe in his hands! How I have wasted time and strength giving in to anxiety over my unmet desires, in other words, saying I trust him, but not living it out. I want to be completely moldable and in his hands so my life will glorify him in the way he intends. He is the one who has overcome the world so I choose to trust him with my whole heart! Just like Horatio Spafford could say, "It is well with my soul" after his four daughters drowned, we can claim this same "supernatural" peace too!

Won't you join me in owning this prayer this too?

ALL ON THE ALTAR
As much as I have objected to it and disapproved of it in the past, I have been brought to the point of entire consecration. I find that the soul which wants to live the life hid with Christ in God must be entirely given up to Him—and definitely given up too. I must present my body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto Him, which is my reasonable service.
And I do! Lord Jesus, here and now I definitely yield myself up unreservedly to you. All that I have and all that I am, both now and in the whole future of my life, I lay upon your altar. Everything is yours, and I am yours to follow you wherever you may lead me.
Oh Lord Jesus, let this be a reality! Bring this consecration about in me and through me, and keep it. You know my utter weakness, and to you I commit myself in this. Oh I ask you, let me never, never, never, draw back from the transaction of this moment. Let me never for a moment take back the slightest thing of all I have now consecrated or surrendered to you. Make it a reality.

—Journal, March 30, 1868

Smith, H. W., & Dieter, M. E. (1997). The Christian's secret of a holy life : The unpublished personal writings of Hannah Whitall Smith (April 6).



IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Ho­ra­tio G. Spaf­ford, 1873.

SISTER'S WEDDING . . . SYDNEY FAMILY

A FEW SYDNEY MEMOIRS

Well here we are, so happy and rested in Australia. Yes I survived the 14 hour plane ride with our three children but could not have been more relieved to see family on the other end. Eric arrived one week after us and every moment has been quite an adventure.

So far we have been roaming around Circular Quay and the Opera House; spent an afternoon splashing around the impressive Olympic Aquatic Center & parks, where we learned what a water baby Jack is; experiencing Sydney's NYE fireworks from my sister's rooftop; visiting churches (there is truly no place like our CBC home), enjoying the beautiful beaches here; savoring each great thunderstorm; snorkeling; preparing for my sister's wedding tomorrow morning; and plenty more.

Of course we were delighted when my cousins, Bernard & Tanya, offered to loan us their extra car for the month. God is so good! While I am learning not to panic through Sydney's extremely narrow lanes, Eric is doing a stellar job driving on the left side and finding his way around these complicated city streets.

The children adore being with my Australian family. What a blast they are having exploring my mum's backyard; gathering veggies, discovering giant spiders (ten times the size of our Calif. ones), and avoiding the "mozzies" (mosquitoes). Jack quickly learned to sleep in a bed, even though we do find him sleeping in odd places at times. Sofia-Maree turned a corner with the ocean and learned to jump waves at Manly beach. Braydon turned three and enjoyed all the attention from having his first real family birthday party (with cousins & all).

And how could I not add that today is extra special . . . my man and I celebrate our nine year anniversary! I love you Eric!

We are praising God for this wonderful time and can't wait to be back with our CBC family again soon.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We are celebrating so many good things God has done in our family in 2007. Here are a few . .

~Sofia-Maree, who just turned five, started kindergarten in the fall and is a great pleasure to homeschool. She loves to read and blesses us daily with her art creations. In November she entered an American Airlines coloring competition and won first place! This sweet servant-spirited child is always helping at home!

~ Braydon is almost three and keeps us humored daily with his endless energy, clever imagination, and his funny little animation voices. He is always happy to play his much-esteemed sister's games. They are the best of friends! We are reminded daily that Jack is "his" baby brother.

~ Jack , is almost 18 months and has a language all of his own. He is such an easygoing, friendly, hugable, loveable little guy; just the kind of baby that makes you want another.

~ It has been a topsy-turvy year for Eric work-wise, and despite the long, crazy hours of working, his perserverence without complaint is truly admirable. Such humbling circumstances have found us more grounded than ever in the things that count the most; our dependence on the Lord in prayer, and gleaning from the word together. These are the times we are cherishing the most.

~ Yvonne is loving the new adventure of homeschooling, the rewarding work of coordinating the Partners ministry, her Women's Bible Study is a favorite day of the week, park dates with friends, and Voice Over classes.

~ Yvonne and the children are also looking forward to visiting family in Sydney, Australia for the month of January. We are so excited for God's provision so that Eric can now join us, yet we are still trying to get a seat for him (January is completely booked to AU). God-willing we will be able to celebrate our anniversary in Sydney where Eric proposed nine years ago. Other great news is that we will get to meet our newborn nephew (Glen & Nikki's 2nd child).

~ Lastly we can't express enough just how thankful we are for our friends and our church family at Compass Bible Church.

Have a wonderful Christmas and may you burn brightly for Christ in 2008!

The Foust Family

God grant you
The light in Christmas, which is faith.
The warmth of Christmas, which is love.
The radiance of Christmas, which is purity.
The belief of Christmas, which is truth.
The all of Christmas, which is Christ.
-Wilda English

EMPTY CUPS, FULL HEARTS

I'd like to share the following as a word of praise for my husband . . .

It's Sunday evening and I am so joyful that Eric is coming home from work that I try to prepare an extra special dinner for him. We have not eaten dinner together since Wednesday because he has been working almost nonstop and I've missed him tremendously. By this time, I'm wiped out and forego the nice presentation I had hoped for, disdaining the thought of clean up so I succumb to paper plates, paper napkins, and plastic utensils.

When Eric arrives, everyone greets him with great excitement and news of the day. After he gets comfortable we sit down to a hot meal and he prays but before eating he turns his chair toward mine. Oh, here it comes, I am going to cry. He takes my feet upon on his lap, takes lotion and massages my feet. He does this every evening he is home from work (usually on the couch) so why would would I cry this time? My husband has not slept more than two hours in a row since Thursday night, he is literally almost passed out from exhaustion, he is unwell, and he probably hasn't eaten a meal all day because he rarely stops to take a lunch break at work. Yet he chooses to give all he has to show me his love.

It's Monday now and it still brings tears of gratitude to think of the sacrifices my husband is making for our family right now. It's difficult but he never complains. I am ashamed that I can't say that about myself. He could easily come home, eat and collapse in bed, yet he foregoes his own need of sleep and serves me instead. I am humbled and moved with gratitude to God for blessing me by Eric's model of servanthood and continual tenderhearted affection toward me.

His behavior reminds me of Jesus' words about what our response should be to God in Matthew 16:24b,

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

Through my reading, I have also been reminded that as Christians, we must be like empty cups. We must be emptied of the junk the world throws our way. For instance, people around us say that we must get our needs met before we can love others or we must draw boundaries so that other people will not walk all over us. This is wrong! We should not hold back from others who don't treat us the way we would like, or wait to be shown love before we can demonstrate love and service to them.

"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it" v25a

Isn't it enough that we have a Father in heaven who showed us love by sending Jesus to take away our sin? He already knows our needs and will hear us when we humble ourselves and pour our hearts out to him. If we empty ourselves before him, God will not leave us empty! Peace comes when we choose to surrender our burdens to the one Person who can perfectly handle each one.

". . . but whoever loses his life for me will find it." v25b

Isn't it amazing that God has given us eternal life! How much more should we live for him, with an unshakable hope in our sovereign God, in spite of our circumstances. The way my husband demonstrated such love and service to me in spite of how he was feeling, motivates me to love God and others more even in times of great difficulty.

"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." v26-27

Alert Little Ears

Two and a half weeks ago our daughter turned five. Before heading down to SeaWorld to see Shamu, we took her to the mall to get her little ears pierced. Since then I have been reflecting on how teachable children are and how engaged their little ears really are. Who would have thought that our daughter would teach us and delight our hearts so much.

Let me share a few ways . . .

• Any time Sofia-Maree sees one of us or hears of someone else sad or ill, she drops everything and disappears for some time only to emerge later with a colorful card adorned by pastel butterflies, flowers, rainbows, little people etc and filled with words of love to cheer that person up.

• Recently when we were out, I had a brief opportunity to speak with someone about the Lord. On the way home, Sofia-Maree asked me about it then commented, "Mommy, it makes me so happy that you gave him that because he needed to hear the gospel!"

• There's nothing this girl loves like giving back to God. She regularly puts the majority of her $1 weekly allowance in her "Giving" jar (and sometimes she does this with gifted money).

• And her joyful giving to others . . . The first time she was ever taken out to spend her allowance savings, it was by her Grandma and she picked out a gift from the $1 section for everyone in the family except herself. Then she was worried that she might have missed someone and started through her list of friends until Grandma brought up that she should pick out something for herself.

• How often she takes a load off me by helping me with her younger brothers. Frequently I will come downstairs to find that she has dressed Braydon, made his bed, and sometimes she has even fed him breakfast! She gladly does housework like vacuuming, sets the table, helping me unload the dishwasher, cleaning mirrors and tiles etc.

• Last week a dear friend of ours came to babysit, who had never changed a diaper before. No worries, our daughter was right there to give her step by step instructions. (Conversely, I also discovered afterward that she is very good at making up new rules. That night she informed Christina that she and Braydon only had to eat two carrots at dinner time, could eat dinner while watching their Veggie Tales dvd, and that she was allowed to eat two and a half cookies for dessert. Huh??? Of course I had to keep from laughing when Christina shared this with me later.)

• And last week in the car, I was chiding Braydon for fussing over being woken up from his nap to go somewhere. The problem was that he had played about in his nap time rather than lying still to sleep. With the sweetest little voice Sofia-Maree chimed in, "Mommy, can I please tell Braydon something?" Then from a sweet to a sweet-authoritative tone, she continued, "Braydon, when I was a little girl, your age, I used to do the same thing. But I didn't have brothers. You have to stay in bed because then you're obeying Jesus." Too cute!

• I'll never forget another incident in the car when Sofia-Maree was our only child. She was not even two years old with a growing but small vocabulary. I had explained to Sofia-Maree that her hands and feet were made to use for Jesus; to show his love to other people. I really had no idea what she understood from what I was telling her. Then over a week later we were in the car when I experienced a moment of sadness and found myself sniffling as I was driving. From the backseat, I heard her little voice say, "Mommy sad?" to which I answered, "Yes, a little sad." Then I thought I heard the words, "Jesus' hand!" Of course I had to clarify because I had never heard her say the name Jesus before. "Sofia-Maree what did you say?" As I turned to glance at her, I could see her reaching out toward me as far as she could to offer me her tiny hand. A second time she spoke the words, "Jesus' hand!" Oh! Who would have thought that God would send the love and comfort of Jesus to me through the hands and heart of my little girl!

I marvel at this goodness from the hand of our Father. Children are one of his most beautiful gifts in this life. May we train them up in righteousness for his wonderful name's sake and be in awe of him for all eternity!

Praise the LORD, O my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy
name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits-
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your
life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies
your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Psalm 103:1-5

SHINE LIKE STARS!

"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing." Philippians 2:14-16

Movie stars have often been referred to as "royalty" by the press, and are often treated by them as if they were demi-gods, by erecting statues in their honor, by preserving their footprints in cement, by museums enshrining their artifacts, and Halls of Fame to salute their deeds. Every month the Hollywood Walk of Fame unveils new stars in their illustrious sidewalk. While movie stars shine by capturing our imagination on screen, godly people transform our lives. As children of God, the people we hold in high esteem are those who shine by their pure and blameless lives, who work hard for Christ to hold out the word of life to us.

While we may not be striving to get a star on a sidewalk or our face on a billboard, we do have the opportunity to shine as godly people, by becoming a celebrity to one person . . . in God’s kingdom. We can have an enormous effect on others as we hold out the word of life through discipleship, one person at a time. With each person we disciple, we become stars who shine brighter and brighter for God’s glorious kingdom.

The word shine in this verse is translated from the Greek word “phenos” which is derived from “phos” and means “light” or “fire” as in the kind of heavenly light that surrounded angels when they appeared on earth. What a beautiful metaphor for how we appear as we share truth with others together with the spiritual purity of our lives.

As Paul stated in this verse, an important part of becoming blameless and pure excludes two things. Our lives will not shine if they are marked with complaining and arguing, or as my two year old would say, “No whining!” While both of these come naturally, a pure and blameless lifestyle doesn’t; as I have rediscovered in my own life this past week. It is a decision we must make to allow no inner debates or secret contentions within us, otherwise we will not be effective in the crooked and depraved generation around us. Paul felt so strongly about this exhortation that he based the value of his labor upon it. He was counting on the Philippians so that he could boast on the day of Christ that his work was not for nothing.

Partners is one ministry at Compass Bible Church that provides a powerful way for us to shine like stars and to also be able to boast on the day of Christ. Partners opens the door for every one of us to hold out the word of life in a more intimate setting if we are willing to labor in the way that Paul did. It is a wonderful setting designed for each partner to know the Lord more deeply through one-on-one learning and accountability.

Our culture measures the accomplishments of celebrities by household name recognition and their performance in the media. As Christians, our goal is not to achieve this kind of cultural “royalty” or even household name recognition but to store up accolades in heaven. This begins by sharing our lives with others one person at a time and continuously holding out the word of life. The best legacy we can leave is our investment in those we disciple, one by one.

"Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." Daniel 12:3

Just as real stars in the universe cause us to look up in awe of their beauty, we are to shine as stars by our pure and blameless lives enough to cause those around us to lift their faces in awe of Jesus. Our joy is in knowing that in God’s kingdom only one name is recognized, Jesus Christ.

http://www.partnersprogram.org

This was an article I wrote a couple of years ago for the Partners newsletter.

FLASH BACK FRIDAY

I have been feeling nostalgic not just for my beautiful hometown of Sydney, but for my family there. This was taken in 2005 on a ferry in Sydney harbor with the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the background. Watch for pictures in the slide soon!