Those who have not heard....

I receive the Missions Catalyst eMagazine each week. Its purpose is to "inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry" Each week, different stories are shared about the work going on all around the world.

This week, from the Joshua Project, this was shared:

"Joshua Project, a collaborative missions effort that focuses on unreached people groups, reports that an average of 160,000 a day hear the message of redemption in Christ for the first time. Every hour, 3,000 more people decide to follow Jesus Christ.

In 1800, those who had never heard the gospel were almost 75 percent of the globe's population. Today the percentage of those who have not heard is 28 percent. That means, however, that about 1.5 billion people have not heard the gospel message even one time! "

3,000 decisions for Christ every hour.....1.5 BILLION people...that is a lot of people...

Those are some fascinating numbers.

Daily Email Devotionals

I have signed up to receive 2 daily email devotions. One of them is going through Romans. And it seems to be just what I need everyday.

Today, it is on Romans 12:1-2-being a holy and living sacrifice to God.

And it made me thing...is that what my life exhibits? That is the desire, but do I really do it?

And this is a quote that really hit hard....

"Thus the Christian life is not a heavy burden, but the light yoke of Jesus, lived in joyful acceptance of God’s daily mercies. "

Slowing Down

Blake and I are trying something new...we are trying to learn to slow down. This is extremely hard for both of us, as we like to do stuff and be with people. However, with planning a wedding and settling him into our house, we have just had to cut certain things out.

Last week, we canceled our plans for Wednesday night and Thursday night. Then plans seemed to go away for one reason or another on Friday and Saturday night. And it was so good.

With that said, we are trying to continue on this path of not overplanning, but it is hard when there are still so many things to do and so many people we want to hang out with.

We are going through 1 Corintians right now (we started it on Monday), and both chapters 1 and 2 talk about God's wisdom. And I was reminded how God's foolishness is wiser than my wisdom. And this made me begin to pray more fervently for wisdom, something I know I definitely need.

Extreme Home Makeover, The Bridge, and DeYoung Properties

On Sunday night, The Bridge was the host site for DeYoung Properties community party for Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The Riojas family was present, as well as Jerry and Paula DeYoung (who were extremely nice, down to earth people), many from DeYoung Properties, Dr. Welty from Fresno State, and those that contributed significantly to the building of their home.

I had a really hard job on Sunday....I got to hang out with the "celebrities" and be friendly....it was a daunting task but somebody had to do it :)

It was a great night, filled with food, fun, and much laughter. We watched the behind the scenes show at 7 pm and then the show, Extreme Makeover Home Edition at 8 pm. It was a lot of fun to watch the show with those that put in a lot of their time, effort, and resources to help the Riojas family.

It kind of makes me wonder if Blake and I would have bought a DeYoung Home if all of this had taken place in the fall....

Sammy...

This is the new love of my life (sorry Blake!)

Tired...

Not just tired like I want to take a nap tired. But the tired that is deep down within. I feel like I am running on empty. And when you are in ministry, running out of a place of emptiness is not good.

I just want to get away for a couple days. And spend it with the Creator of the Universe...spend it with My Redeemer... spend it with the lover of my soul.

So that I may be refreshed.

A Cup of Coffee and the Bible

Tonight, after I sat at home for a while as my parents helped Blake pack, (I mean, did stuff for the wedding and house, yeah....whoops...but really, I did...do stuff....) Blake and I went to Starbucks.

One of our favorite things to do is just to be able to sit and talk....talk about life, talk about work, talk about our day, talk about the future, talk about whatever. But lately, our lives have been so crazy that we haven't been able to do that.

But tonight, we made time. And it was wonderful. We were able to stop and just be. And nothing else in the world mattered. And we connected. And it was good.

And after we sat for awhile and talked, we opened up our Bibles and read Amos 1 and 2, and talked about its significance back then and our lives today.

And it was good. So good.

Some of my favorite times have been when we were able to stop our lives, sit down, and just enjoy life together.