The End of the Books of Moses

Yesterday we handed in our homework for Deuteronomy, and passed yet another SBS milestone: the end of the Pentateuch. We’ve spent four weeks studying these five books, and I’ve been more amazed by God’s mercy and faithfulness every day. I’ll never understand why he put up with this nation that kept rejecting him, but I’m so glad he did! Haven’t each of us done the same thing at some point?

The end of Deuteronomy got me thinking about the end of SBS. Moses’ time as their leader was coming to an end, and he gathered all the people together to remind them of the covenant that they had made with God, and to urge them to obey him and follow him as they went into the land that he was giving to them. Moses wouldn’t be around anymore to intercede for them or confront them when they’d sinned. He just had to let go and know that God would send someone after him to lead the people.

What does that have to do with the end of SBS? Well, in about 4 months our staff will no longer be with us to help us on our journeys. While we’re here they teach us, they love on us, they correct us, and lead us ultimately toward God. When we receive our diplomas, they’ll be letting go. SBS isn’t the Promised Land. It’s an amazing privilege that we get to do this for 9 months, but it isn’t the kind of setting we’ll be in for the rest of our lives. It’s a preparation stage to help us as we move into the calling the God has prepared for us to spend our life doing. That calling is our Promised Land. We’re going to need to take all of the things that we learned here—the skills and the knowledge of God—and apply them to whatever we do next.

Are you ready to hear what that is? I know we’ve been pretty silent on the subject since well before the holidays. I’m sorry to tell you that we’re still not revealing it! I will tell you a few things though:

1. Teaching is most definitely part of it…but probably not right away after SBS
2. There’s still more to learn…but we’re coming home to learn it!
3. God has been SO faithful in guiding us. We asked for prayer as we considered what to do next, and we have definitely seen God give us vision and excitement and confirmation and MORE excitement over and over again!
4. The “coming home” part is most likely in August, not immediately after SBS ends in June.

I think that’s all for now, but stay tuned!  

God Story!

I was all set to write about what we're learning in the Books of Moses, but just discovered something that needs to be shared more!

You might remember that we took at trip to the ER last fall because Jesse had some chest pain and we were worried it might be serious.

So the FIRST God story is that he was fine!

After that fun little trip, we found ourselves with over $2000 worth of bills-- one for about $1500 to the hospital itself, then smaller ones to the doctors and to the imaging department. So each month we get three bills popping in to say hello. Mmm, fun.

Look what I found today:

They randomly took over $1000 off our bill! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

God is good! The end!

A Request

Dear Supporters,
My computer received a bath in a cup of tea. After letting it dry out for a day to ensure minimum damage, I turned it on and discovered a very broken keyboard. It isn't covered by the warranty. I've been loaned an external keyboard to temporarily use until I can get my computer fixed.
I'm sorry to say that we can't afford to get it fixed right now. We need about $40 for the new keyboard (yes, I've checked ebay and lots of other sites; it's a new computer and spare parts aren't in abundance yet) plus probably $50 to have it installed. Please let us know ASAP if you feel that you would like to help us with this!  You can send money, as usual, to Grace Community Church, but it would be faster to put it directly in our account. If you'd like to help, let us know and we'll give you details!

The Bright Side:

• We're studying Numbers right now, and it's reminding me not to grumble.
• I'm more sure than ever that God is in control of all things and that he loves his people
• Only the keyboard is broken
• I was able to get an external one to use, so I don't have to pack everything up and study in the library
• None of my files are lost
• Everything belongs to God; he is more than capable of providing

Love,

Amy

Up Close and Personal

So here we are in Genesis…back at the beginning. I actually love the Old Testament. When we did the Core Course in South Africa (a 3-month school very similar to the SBS), it was while studying Deuteronomy that I knew I wanted to get to spend more time doing this. Sometimes we have this weird view that the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New. We think he was big and scary and that he really enjoyed killing people. I think it’s impossible to read through the Old Testament and still walk away thinking that. We serve an AWESOME God, and he’s more loving than we can even imagine. I’m ready to get to know him better in Genesis and through the rest of the books from now until June (and, of course, for the rest of my life as well).

Talking to a fellow SBSer last week, I was struck (not for the first time) by the realization that this experience is not just for me. I’m not learning about God just so I can have warm fuzzies about him, or so that I can have a lot of knowledge crammed into my head. HE is the point. He’s the reason for everything that we do. He’s the One who called us here and the One who gives us the strength to finish it. This knowledge of Him and passion for Him are not just for me—they’re gifts to pass along.

This is where you come in. Whether you’re a financial supporter or someone who prays for us, or someone who just gets encouraged by reading what we’re doing—I’m doing this for YOUR benefit. If you need a little more Jesus in your life, I want to pass something on to YOU in return for the love and support you’ve given to US. Feel like you need to spend more time in the Word and kind of stuck on what to read? Feel like it’s really dull to read the same stories over and over again? Tell me about it. Ask for a reading plan. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I do claim that chasing after God ALWAYS leads to growth in relationship with Him and greater awareness of who he is and what he’s doing in our lives. Join me in that chase?

If you're not convinced you want to chase him, go read AW Tozer’s Pursuit of God and come back to me when you’re done. You’ll be convinced.