Christian – Page 2 – Xapa to the World

Short Story – Gladys Aylward

I found this in the book I’m reading, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood compiled and largely written by John Piper and Wayne Grudem. As you can expect with those two authors, I’m still wading my way through the Foreward…and what a trove of treasure in those few pages.

I have, for a long time, enjoyed reading about some of my favorite women of the faith, especially missionary women, and especially those who have worked in the field while single. These are primarily Amy Carmichael (India), Lottie Moon (China), Elisabeth Elliot (single for a time after her husband Jim died and missionary in Ecuador, to the people who murdered him), but I keep forgetting about Gladys Aylward, missionary to China. I haven’t read too much of/by her, but this little story makes me want to raid my personal library for her bio that I know is in there somewhere. The story is related by Elisabeth Elliot in the Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter:

She had been a missionary in China for six or seven years before she ever thought of wanting a husband. When a British couple came to work near her, she began to watch the wonderful thing they had in marriage, and to desire it for herself. Being a woman of prayer she prayed – a straightforward request that God would call a man from England, send him straight out to China, and have him propose. She leaned toward me on the sofa on which we were sitting, her black eyes snapping, her bony little forefinger jabbing at my face. “Elisabeth,” she said, “I believe God answers prayer! He called him.” Then, in a whisper of keen intensity, “but he never came.”

I will not close a door that God may be keeping open, but I am no longer trying to force it to remain open. It can do as it wishes and I will be content to stay on this side of the wall until God gives me a reason to go through it. And the peace of that is amazing.

October 8, 2010

Lyrics: “Break My Fall” – Lanae’ Hale

I was just listening to this song this morning and thought I’d share the beautiful lyrics with you. Enjoy!

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Seems simple enough
When everyone is gone
And the halls are empty
And my song remains unsung

Take a second to breathe
Hope for change, a breakthrough
Begin to pray for relief
From lies that silence the truth

chorus
Would You break my fall
Even though I don’t deserve it at all
Would You call my name
And heal the wounds of lonely days
When lost love mocks the heart and stains the soul
Makes it hard
Could you make these pieces into something beautiful?
I wanna be… beautiful

In the midst of it all
Try to regain composure
By first confessing this fall
That proves my need for a savior

Words and Music by Lanae’ Hale
©2009 Centricity Music Publishing/ASCAP

August 24, 2010

Promo: IKnowHope.com

The wife of a new family in church had one of the coolest bags I had seen lately. Upon asking her about it, I found out that it was re-purposed from old coffee sacks! I’m a huge fan of re-purposing and so had to investigate further. It was made by an organization called “I Know Hope” which was founded by my new friend’s mother-in-law. Here are some of the details of the history of this group:

Know Hope was founded in 2009 by Connie Baker. Connie was born with a heart to help children around the world. Especially the desperate and the suffering ones. In 2005, Connie began taking teams of people into mountain villages around Tijuana, Mexico to build houses, churches, and orphanages. It was through these trips that her eyes were opened to the desperate children in the world.

In 2009, shortly after hearing a message preached on Matthew 25, we launched this non-profit organization called Know Hope. Our mission is to get the message to children around the world, that there is hope in Jesus Christ. The way we send that message is by bringing food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, and aid to the orphans of this world.

So what they do is gather empty burlap coffee sacks and pull the best part of the bag and make sweet hand-bags. These are on sale throughout the US and Canada at different shops, or you can just go to their online site: Know Hope Store

Here are some examples of the bags:

I really like this one. It’s like totally my style, especially with the big “S” on the front. 🙂 It’s a midi bag measuring 8″ high and 12″ wide. Has matching blue liner with 1″ strap.

I believe this one is $25.

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I like this one as well. Just the colors are really nice. Brown and blue go together so well…and teal is a kind of blue! Measures 12″ high and 14″ wide (medio size) with a 1 1/2″ thick strap. This one/size costs $35.

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This last one is my favorite! I love the rhino and the colors! It’s super-cool. I would totally buy it for myself, but I’ve placed a moratorium on spending (we’ll see how long that lasts) until the end of summer. You can get this particular design as either a medio (12″H x 14″W) or a grande (insert big smile here) which can hold a 15″ laptop. Cool, huh?