Changes

I love to rearrange things. I grew up having built in beds, closets and bookcases. They were practical and sturdy and served their purpose, but maybe because of this, there's a restlessness within me that bursts out every now and again. I like to rearrange the furniture in the living room. I like to move pictures around on the walls. I love a new coat of paint on things and I like switching things up on my blog!

I've been toying with the idea of changing the name of my blog for some time now. As I state on my side bar, I started the blog when we were preparing to go on a mission trip. It was a great way for the folks at home to stay in the loop of what we were doing. I chose the title "How Beautiful On the Mountains" because of the verse from Isaiah 52 that says "how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news" It gets paraphrased a bit in Romans 10 but the meaning is the same. I thought it the perfect name for the blog and as you can see, we take pictures of all the places our feet have gone, in the name of Jesus.

But, more and more, Bruce and I realize that our mission field is right here in our backyard. Or up the mountain. The neighborhood we live in, the church we attend and the people we worship with, that's our mission field. It doesn't preclude that on occasion we may feel compelled to dig out our passport, pack our bags and fly away to Timbuktu! But for the most part, we know this is where we've been called to serve.

Deming, WA

I have also reflected on my posts over the past several months and notice that a lot of what I write about is more geared to my own personal battles, agendas and callings. I feel  compelled to share about my battle with depression, and chronic illness and my victory journey from an abusive past. I love to share how God is walking me through all of it. I celebrate what He has done, is doing and is going to do in my life. It's all good!

After some thought, I decided to change the title of the blog. I wanted to keep a tie to the original however. I use the name "Songbyrd" for my online presence so it seemed like a natural fit. I love to sing and I know God has put the song in my heart.(I have a small tattoo on my ankle of a heart with musical notes that represents just that.) I do feel that God has given me a new song to sing, a song of freedom, a song of rejoicing, a song of thanks.

So..... 
Welcome to (the new and improved) Songyrd on the Mountain!

He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
    and put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40.3, NRSV

I'm Not A Missionary

Before we ever went on our first mission trip out of country, my husband was deeply involved with Habitat for Humanity. (In fact it was due to this connection with Habitat that the first mission trip to Costa Rica in 2001 took place.)  Bruce jumped into work parties with H4H with his whole heart and pretty soon the joke about me being a 'Habitat Widow" on weekends was standard fare.

I do not have the physical strength nor stamina to pound nails, lift walls into place or install windows, and truthfully, I don't wish for it. I'm not saying I don't care, because I do, but I'm just wired differently. I will-- and DO-- however, get up on mornings Bruce has an outreach project going, to make sure he's well fed before he leaves and has nourishment to take with him so he will have the fuel he needs to get the job done. I can't do the projects but I can support him in this.

While I score high on the scale for compassion and mercy, I am much, much lower in rank than Bruce. His #1 gift is Compassion. He is also gifted with speaking words of affirmation and truth. He loves to find out what makes a person tick and will listen attentively to your story and ask questions to draw more of your personality out in order to know and understand you better. This is probably one of the first things I came to know about him and undoubtedly, one of the reasons I fell in love with him. Because of his compassion and listening ear, he tends to attract what we lovingly refer to as EGR's. (Extra Grace Required) And while his grace is not limitless, he is able to extend it much more of it than I can.

So where does that leave me? While I do score high in the compassion/mercy category, my #1 gift is Helper or Serving. #2 is Discernment which is probably why my mercy gift sometimes falls short of grace. I can't seem to muster much patience or grace when my BS Meter is shrieking. But together Bruce and I make a good team: I keep him from giving away the farm and he keeps me from kicking people off of it!

The out of country mission adventures we've gone on have been another example of how we are well-suited for each other. In addition to swinging his hammer, he has good administrative skills and organizes work parties beautifully.  I am good at documenting what the team does, and because a picture is worth a thousand words, this is a priceless contribution. (and I have to admit, it's taken me time to come to a place where I could see that as an asset to the team)


Here on the home front, we have come to see our placement in our church on the mountain as our current mission field. We both have leadership abilities, we are mature in our faith journey and we're pretty much  willing to be Fools for Christ on a regular basis. Again, Bruce has thrown himself in whole heartedly with community outreach projects, leadership in bible studies and just being a strong shoulder for other men to lean on in times of trials. While I'm a little more cautious about my level of involvement, I have none-the-less been his back up person, support person and cheerleader for all he volunteers to do. I am learning to be more obedient to God's nudging about opening our home for entertaining, knowing that God will also give introverted me the energy and grace I need for a evening of extroverted involvement. I am learning, thanks to Bruce's lead,  about being more open to allowing our home to not just be MY safe place of refuge, but a place of safe refuge for others also. Our role as small group leaders has been a place for us to really put this into practice.

The other night as we sat out on our back deck, watching the coals burn down in our fire pit, we were talking about our team effort as husband and wife, to minister to our church family. When our conversation drifted into talk of our LIFE (small) group, I remarked that it was Bruce who really made sure our group was grounded. He is clearly using his gifts to connect with our group members. I recognize it goes far beyond our LIFE group though; many of the guys at church are drawn to him and he spends many hours offering prayer and encouragement to them as needed. I went on to point out that that is not my forte. I can handle a small circle of friends-- and I do mean SMALL circle, but even that wears me thin quickly. I love my people but I have to do it in small increments. STILL, I so understand the VALUE in people being connected, which is why I am the Life Group coordinator for our church campus. I can't be the one who reaches out to all the EGR's, I'm not likely to be the one who offers timely wisdom and sage advice. But I can and will help you connect with someone who can!

Like I said, I'm not a missionary.
Or... am I?

If it's May We Must Be Going to Tall Timber!

It's become an annual thing! Memorial Weekend while other folks are going to parades, lighting up the Barby, competing in the Ski-to Sea race, or paying tribute to those who died for our country, my sweetie and I will be heading east of the mountains to our favorite camp for the weekend. We're taking a whole bunch of our favorite people with us as we have the last few years. It's the weekend better known as "Work and Worship", a time well spent doing a myriad of things to spiff the place up in time for summer camp.

For us its also a great opportunity to take our small group out on a service project. We think of it as a mission trip that does not require a passport. A time for our group to better bond and share adventure, a time to serve and be blessed as we bless.

Of course, for Bruce and I Tall Timber Ranch is a special place and we love any reason to get over there! We leave tomorrow and I am excited to see what God has in store for us this year!

Blessings in a Bean!

ABINA stands for A Blessing IN A---- (we let God fill in the blank) and this time it was a BEAN. 
A Chili Bean! 

We had a wonderful time at our Saturday Fundraiser! 

We had a Chili King and Queen. 

We had a White Elephant Yankey Swap. 

We had pony rides, and Model A rides!

There was swimming and limbo and horseshoes. 

There were nachos and sourdough bread and a dessert table. 

And of course, there was Chili! 

We had 7 entries in the Chili Cook Off 

and we had some surprising wins from the Judges Choice and the Peoples Choice awards.

the judges in chambers, waiting for the samples to arrive so they can begin the judging.

some serious competition!

We had a power outage at 8 am which threatened us only a wee bit till the generator got put to use. Fortunately the power came back on before the event began!! 

We had sunny skies after some dark clouds rolled over. 

We had people trickling in all afternoon and generosity that amazed us. And we had, most certainly God's blessing over it all. And you can't ask for any more than that!

We learned after the day was over that we raised more than enough for the concrete and rebar needed for the home improvements on the orphanage. We also received via mail, an anonymous designated donation that will cover our airfare for the trip in December. THIS IS HUGE. I mean, God orchestrated things once again, right down to the penny!!  We will still need to raise funds to cover food and lodging and transportation while in country but I have NO doubt about God providing these funds as well. 

God has done this EVERY time Bruce and I have committed to going on a mission trip. Can I say again, if you are ever contemplating about signing up for any kind of mission adventure, don't let the amount needed for the event stop you from saying yes. 

Because, to quote the late, great Hudson Taylor; 

God's work, done in God's way, will never lack God's supplies. 

THANK YOU!!! FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS. 

Adventures in Missions!

Today I am supposed to be with my husband, helping with preparations for next Saturdays Fundraiser for our next mission adventure. (see picture)

Supposed to be.

Instead, I woke up with inflammation in all my joints which then led to my back going into spasms and now I am stuck at home feeling a little sorry for myself and a lot frustrated!!  And it's too warm to lay on a heating pad and ice won't do the trick in this case. I think that would make me tense even more and right now this *twinge* in my back needs to R-E-L-A-X!!!  I swear, my back goes out more than I do!!

Well, at the very least, let me use this opportunity to increase your knowledge about the mission trip we are going on in December. I think I've posted about this a little bit before but it's good to keep current events current!!

In December Bruce and I will be going to Costa Rica for 2 weeks to help with work on an orphanage there. We will be traveling with the founders of ABINA ministries and working with two Christian based orphanages... I will let co-founder Colette explain a little about ABINA and what they do:

 ABINA is short for "A Blessing In A...” The ending was purposely left blank to allow God the place to fill the need. 

Believing that all things are possible with God, that all blessings are from Him, and to walk by faith and not by sight alone, the dream of ABINA is in its third year of blessing others.
It is through giving that we become part of a greater whole, with the ultimate privilege of giving to not only those in need, but to our Lord Jesus Christ. 

With heartfelt appreciation, thank you for taking the time to learn more about ABINA and our current outreach projects for two Christian orphanages in Costa Rica. Hogar de Vida provides loving care for children aged newborn to ten years old, while Residence of Life cares for children newborn to 18 years of age who are not adoptable. 

You can read more about ABINA and follow their blog here

The fundraiser we are having next weekend is a Chili Challenge. Enter your pot of chili and perhaps you will be the winner! Or sign up to be a judge and do some taste-testing. Or just come out and have fun sampling chili, enjoying music, games, buggy rides and raffles. Its going to be a very fun day!

And there is still so much to do in preparations for it and here I sit-- or lay-- not able to do much of anything.  I suppose there's a lesson in all of this but right now I'm a little too close to see it.

Willing Hands, Willing Hearts

I am constantly amazed at the body of Christ. When we operate the way God intended for the church, great things happen. I have been exposed to the heaping helping loving sacrificing body in the past few weeks as never before. it makes my heart sing.

We headed out Friday afternoon, 9 people divided between 2 rigs, with 2 more meeting us at Tall Timber.  The ride over and back was just as much a part of the adventure as the service projects we tackled were. Laughter, music, snack food, joking, sharing, quiet moments and embarrassing ones. We know each other a whole lot better after this weekend!

We arrived Friday afternoon with time to settle into our rooms and take a tour of the camp before Dinner. We had promised our friends they would see deer and we spotted one in the first couple of hours. We saw several over the weekend. Always an awe/'awwww' moment when we see these delicate gentle creatures gliding, then bounding, through the woods.

Our service projects included fence repairs, weeding, chasing dust bunnies, plumping repairs, planting flowers, scrubbing, sanitizing, building stuff, fixing floors, changing oil, washing cars and getting vehicles running. Just to name a few.....

In between our work, we enjoyed plenty of good home style cooking, walks around the camp, a trip to the White River Falls, campfire and S'mores, vegging with a good book, and worship.

We came home Monday evening a little bit fatter, a little bit sorer, a little bit sunburned and a little bit better acquainted with Tall Timber, it's wonderful staff and with each other.

Summer Camp will run a little bit smoother thanks to the projects we helped with. Kids will be impacted for Christ as the gospel is presented through nature, music, crafts, story telling, food and the body of Christ operating the way God intended. 

All for the glory of God.

Mission Tall Timber

how beautiful upon the grounds of Tall Timber are the feet of those who serve to further the gospel of Jesus Christ.

it was a truly awesome weekend. I will be sharing more pictures and details in the next post.

~~our team of servant-hearts with spectacular Chiwawa Ridge in the background

Mission Tall Timber

How beautiful are the feet

going on a mission trip. 

 In just a few days we will be loading up Big Yellow Truck, plus a couple of carloads of people and heading east to our favorite little camp, Tall Timber Ranch for the Memorial Day Weekend. Better known in camp as Work & Worship Weekend, we will enjoy fellowship with friends as we work on service projects together, worship together and enjoy some recreation in a spectacular setting.

The main bulk of our group is our small group and we thought this a fitting way to bring the (school) year of our time together to a close. Then we opened up the invitation to anyone else who wanted to go with us and we quickly multiplied from 8 to 15!  We are excited to be leading the group and can't wait to share the beauty of Tall Timber with our church family. It's going to be a special weekend.

What's Stopping You?

or perhaps I need to ask what's stopping ME?

This morning in my Quiet Time, as I read from 1 Corinthians, chapter 7, this little scrap jumped out at me in a powerful way: happiness or sadness or wealth should not keep anyone from doing God's Work. (verse 30, NLT)

I think sometimes I stop actively working for God because I allow myself to be stymied by the physical and the emotional. "I am too frail to do those kind of physical tasks." "I am too depressed." "I don't have the money."
But this verse reminds me of the marriage vows we make about in good times or bad, for better or worse, in sickness and in health. And my relationship with God is like a bride to her husband, making a vow to follow Him and be open to serving Him however He sees fit.

Even financial issues are no excuse for doing what God has planned for me. I already know first hand how if God wants us to go on a mission trip (that will require excess funding,) HE makes it happen! And there is PLENTY for me to do in my life that does not require me to go on a mission trip; my mission is where ever God places me. And that could be at Curves, church, the post office, the grocery store, coffee shop, facebook or my blog.



This morning I also saw a blurb on my facebook wall to join a group that friends of ours have pioneered, to go to Costa Rica this Dec. for Christmas to help finish work on an orphanage. (http://abina-project-ministries.blogspot.com/)
And it jumped out at me just like the little scrap of scripture. it grabbed me like Bruce's email last year about going to serve in Japan. I texted my husband and I am sure I startled the spit out of him by saying "Lets go to Costa Rica this Dec. with ABINA ministries"  Yah, just like that. Scares the spit out of me too!

My dear friend Melody Mae, on her blog of the same name, is always encouraging us to shine out lights and not let life pass up by but make the most of every moment. And Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians is basically saying the same thing.

There really isn't a good excuse for not living out the purpose for which we were designed now is there?

Let's GO!

Video Japan

 Flash back to November and Bruce's time in Japan. One of the men on the team Bruce worked with, Billy Jackson, has made a video which you can find on you-tube. It's about 5 minutes long but it gives a participant's perspective of the destruction and rebuilding of the Tsunami. You can watch the video here.

Welcome Home!

He is on American soil folks. The plane actually brought him in about an hour earlier than scheduled but even so, he was not able to catch the earlier shuttle bus. So sticking with the same plan, to meet him at the airporter shuttle bus stop in Bellingham at 12:30.

I feel as nervous and excited as I imagine the wives of military personnel feel when their soldier husband/lover comes back after months, even years, on deployment. I feel as nervous as I did on our first date! And fussing over what to wear like I did that day as well!. Silly me, but I want his homecoming to be special.

He, on the other hand, has his own agenda. One that includes a list and a stop at the hardware store for supplies because he is coming home with, well, an agenda. 

Months ago we began a plan to do a little remodel on our dining room/living room area. We have one of those houses that has each room compartmentalized. No overflow from one room to the next. Which means when we have company and we usher them into the living room and then I go to the kitchen to finish the meal, I am excluded from the conversation because I am in a boxed in little room where I can neither hear nor see them. (I suppose sometimes, depending on the guest this could be a blessing, but I would never say that!)

Anyway, we decided (or I should say The Builder decided) that we could knock out a wall and at least allow flow to happen from dining to living room. It's a 3 step, no maybe 4 step, process.

Step 1. Remove the wall in the dining room. Done.

Step 2. Remove the wall in the living room. No, first, figure out what to do with all the furniture lined up against that wall, THEN remove the wall....

Step 3. figure out what to do with all the wires located between walls.

Step 4. remove the living room carpet. (we were gifted with an almost new carpet that will fit our L.R. and it is waiting patiently in the garage to be installed) 

Ok, I miscounted. Step 5. finish the trim on the opening and make it all pretty.

Bruce told me during one of our skype dates that he wanted to tackle this project as soon as he got home... before we take off on our little holiday escape. My first thought was "Jetlag" but I wasn't going to try and dissuade him. 

But, because we have family coming for Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday after T-day, I just made a different plan. One that involves holding the dinner at the church fellowship hall where there are no walls and has 2 stoves in the kitchen. Now, I am not saying I don't trust him to get the project done in time (in fact he readily stated the project would not be done-- just the other wall removed and the wires gone) but I know how I get when we have lots of company over and-- I need my space! 

So, back to the homecoming welcome. I'm dressed up all cute and flirty 

and I have a container full of home-made peanut butter kisses for him

and.... I have his list. 

The list was written down on the sheetrock of the wall that needs to be removed 

and I painstakingly copied it down at his request 

and I have the list on my , uh.... person.... 

because, folks, I have MY Agenda too.

Final Dispatch from the land of the Rising Sun

Good Friends,

 

    I am writing this last dispatch from a hotel room in Tokyo. We left Tome base this morning with a grand send off from those continuing the home rebuilding work. Rode the bullet train at an incredible rate of speed and here I am just a few hours from flying back home tomorrow. I have got to say, when you are standing in the train station, patiently waiting and out of nowhere comes a bullet train at close to 200 mph and without slowing down, screams past, just a few feet from where you are standing, its amazing ! 

 

 

    If you have any feeling of wanting to participate in this rebuilding work in Japan, I want to encourage you to follow through. Contact Samaritan's Purse  to apply and plan for a life changing experience. Workers are divided into two work efforts: those who "mud out and dissassemble damaged wall and floor assemblies and those who replace the damaged materials. The carpentry is fairly fundamental and only an average level of skill is required. If you can commit to a month or more, housing, food and transportation are paid for by SP. Your only expenses will be spending money. Air Fare for a shorter committment is about $1500. This opportunity will probably end in March.

 

 

Our coworkers here have come from many locations in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Singapore, etc.. All types of people from all points on the compass have gathered here with a singular focus, to share the love of God to those hurting from the natural disasters that occurred here. It is a true Christian community environment where there is joy in the sacrifice of leaving home to providing homes for those without. 

 

 

I have been honored to have helped complete two home repairs in the two weeks I have been here. We have held dedication ceremonies for both homes as well.

 At the dedications the family and relations are present, as well as SP carpenters and staff. The local Pastor, David Suzuki and his wife lead the event with some hymn singing, scripture reading, a Bible presentation and a very clear gospel message based on John 3:16. 

 

Bear in mind that typically there is zero understanding of the Christian faith, only a Bhuddist belief system that seems to be only marginally practiced. He tells a story of a Japanese woman who risked her life to return into her burning home to retrieve and rescue her Bhuddist god (there are thousands of different ones). She arrived at a shelter with this idol and a worker asked her about it. She said that her god was the only thing she rescued from the fire and then carried it to the shelter with her. The worker replied by stating that the Christian God doesn't need to be rescued or carried, in times of tragedy the One True God rescues and carries us.

 

 

    So, let's talk construction. It is vely vely different...  

 

 

 

 

The floor system starts with a stem wall foundation and 4x4 floor girders laid out about 3' apart. Over these girders are laid 2x2 joists about every 19" apart. 1" foam insulation is cut and fit between these 2x2's. 1/2" plywood is used for subfloor. 

 

 

The walls are kind of a hybrid system of timberframing and mobile home framing.The strength comes from a frame of 5x5 posts and then infilled between with 1x2's running horizontally. 

 

 

The exterior is some sort of stucco or imitation brick product. The interior, between the 5x5's is done either in drywall covered with wall paper or luan mahogany plywood.The roof system is an insane mixture of lumber sizes, joinery and ornate metal. 

 

 

Common features in every home is an abundance of sliding doors (both sides slide in both directions - how clever), a sunken entry area where shoes are removed, two side by side rooms surrounded by sliding soji screens, multiple funky sized storage closets and a Bhudda shrine spot. The room sizes are laid out based on the tatami sleeping matt (about 1 meter by 2 meters - 3' x 6'). All room widths and lengths match up to multiples of the size of these matts. The sheets of drywall and plywood are also the size of these matts. All of our measuring is done in metric and precision cuts within 1mm is essential. Pretty challenging when the house has been racked by the tsunami.

 

 

    So, I hope these email updates have been interesting to you. I have felt like what I had to offer to the effort here has been a good fit and well worth the challenge of getting here. Along with assisting with the work here ,my desire has been to bring you along with me as much as possible, so that you have a better understanding of the Japanese culture and their very real physical and spiritual needs. Yes, financially they are a very successful people, but as we have discovered in America, money can't protect you from physical or spiritual harm. Only the currency of heaven can do that.

 

Arrigato gozaimasu and sayonara for now,

(Thank-you and good-bye)

Bruce

 

p.s. I have included a couple extra pictures that testify to the destructive force of the tsunami.

 

The first picture is simply of a row of pine trees that are between the town of Ishinomaki and the beach. We were told that the tsunami wave was seen coming over these trees as it entered the town.

 

The second picture is a mountain of debris collected from the town which is being sorted and recycled.