The Harvest Fields

Luke 10:2 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask The Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Photo Credit: Emily Hilkemann

John 4:34-35 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." 

Photo Credit: Kristin Tillotson

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Photo Credit: Emily Hilkemann

Hebrews 12:11-13 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and week knees. "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled but rather healed. 

Isaiah 60:1-3 "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of The Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but The Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn". 

Gifts from Above

When you are far away from home, experiencing Christmas in a place where the holiday means tacky tinsel and bright lights and nothing more for most people, it is the little things that mean so much.

- A friend who posted a Christmas concert on Google+ without knowing it, not realizing it would bless two girls overseas who were missing the beauty of carols and praise to Jesus, music in our heart language, hearing friends singing.

- Pictures of snow, decorating the family Christmas tree, friends who are wearing sweaters and exchanging gifts, the familiar.

- My stocking, the one that normally hangs next to my siblings' stockings in our living room on Christmas Eve, filled with candy in a package from home that made its way all the way to Cambodia.

- The beauty of quiet. No traffic noises or construction sounds, people yelling or dogs howling. Just silence and a cup of tea and Jesus time.

- A cool breeze that means I have worn long-sleeves every day for the last week.

- Restored joy, only found in Jesus.

I'll be honest, it has been a tough couple of weeks. Oh, nothing major, just the little things like ants that eat our tortillas, sickness, mosquito bites, things that break, missing home. But if I look hard enough? There are gifts, so many gifts, pouring down from the Father of Light and Life and peace that fills this weary heart.

For the Rough Days

(Reflections from Sunday)

I am normally a one-cup-of-coffee kind of gal. I enjoy savoring a mug full of French press coffee while reading my Bible as the sun is coming up, getting ready for our day. Of late I have been enjoying a bit of homemade caramel and cream in my coffee which has been a lovely December treat.

But today is a two-cup-of-coffee kind of day. We have increased the hours of language school we are doing every week, and by the weekend I am quite worn out! It seemed this morning there were so many things that were trying to steal my joy, to make the exhaustion seem greater and the day seem longer.

As I was sitting in church, fighting the distractions, I declared to The Lord, "I am not going to let these things steal my joy". Jesus is our joy, and this is the day He created! We sang in church today about how wonderful our Savior is, the One True God, Most Powerful! Perhaps I may not feel like singing from the rooftops, but the wonder of God is not dependent on my feelings. He deserve the glory no matter what!

What Does Christmas Look Like?

When I was a kid, Christmas looked like lots of snow and cold, frosty mornings. It meant practicing for Sundays on end for our Christmas cantata, a new Christmas dress from my grandma. There was the anticipation of waking up to find my dad's old socks which doubled as stockings filled with treats, waiting while my dad finished chores to open presents. There were little boxes of cereal and cran-apple juice for our Christmas breakfast, new toys to play with and new books to read.

Later Christmas looked like sweet family time, my siblings and I happily squished together in the girls' room for a Christmas Eve sleepover. The socks got replaced with stockings with our names on them, and the Christmas story read all together as a family took on deeper meaning. There were still presents, still little boxes of cereal and carols sung by candlelight at the Christmas Eve service. But Christmas was about Jesus and family and celebration.

Now, Christmas looks very different. Take away the snow, the stockings, the cran-apple juice, and add thousands of miles in between my family and me, and what is left? This year with everything else stripped away, there is more Jesus. I miss all those things, but I am able to see more clearly this year the beauty of God's gift, how God prepared the way through all the prophets and servants He used to show the need of a Savior. Oh, I most certainly miss my family, our sweet traditions, and I can't listen to Silent Night quite yet because it reminds of the special moment of the lights turned off and the glowing candlelight shining in the faces of dear friends at my church. I EVEN miss the snow and below zero weather, and so I treasure the days here when a cardigan is necessary. But I am seeing Jesus in a new way, seeing His coming through fresh eyes. In this Advent season I am more aware of my need for Him, filled with joy in the anticipation of His second coming, and praying for new ways to see the beauty of the gift of His first coming.

I am also thankful for sweet blessings here that make the familiar seem not so far away: 

1) A sweet little tree that fits perfectly in the corner

2) A celebration with friends of Thanksgiving and Advent, how it all fits together because without Jesus we could not give thanks

3) A Christmas concert with familiar carols, put on by an expat choir in Phnom Penh, and the beauty of singing Joy to the World all together 

4) The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp, The Women of Christmas by Liz Curtis Higgs, invitations to study the story of Christmas in a new and deeper way, serving as encouragement on this side of the ocean

5) Advent sermons online 

{Advent} Hope

Hope. A feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen; a feeling of trust. 

December is the perfect time to read Genesis. I've been trying to imagine Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as they received the Word from El Shaddai, God Almighty: "I will bless you and make your name great."

"Me?" says Abraham, yet to have a child, getting along in years. Isaac with his two warring sons, Jacob with extended family problems. Yes, these men who sometimes messed up, wrestled with God, struggled to obey, but at the end of their lives still praised God saying, "The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm" (Genesis 48:15).

How could they know what was to come? That generations later, kings and prophets and vagabonds and sinners and persevering souls later would come the Messiah. They couldn't see it but could only believe what was promised. These men surely looked at their lives and knew they couldn't put their hope in their mischievous wives or often-selfish children, and definitely not themselves, rather they could only hope in God and His Word. They could only look expectantly for how only God could answer their prayers, only He could fulfill His promise.

This is our only hope too: Jesus. Oh, we try to let ourselves think we can do it on our own, but then we hit rock bottom, with no where else to turn. Instead, we need to turn our eyes as the Genesis men did, to El Shaddai who wove the story of redemption throughout all of time, to Jesus who paid it all so that we might live free and full of hope.

Psalm 62:5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.