Grandpa Shorty

I wanted to let everyone know that Shelby's grandpa went home to be with the Lord the other day. Shelby went to Indiana to attend the viewing and the funeral. He was able to share at the funeral and it has been a blessing for him to be with his family. Thank you for your prayers. I was so thankful that I was able to call him Grandpa too, he is such a very special man and was one of Shelby and my biggest fans! He is a hero to our family, we cant wait to see him again in Heaven.

Blessings,

Andrea

Prayer Request

Hey guys, this has nothing to do with our Africa trip directly, but just a personal/family prayer request. I got a call yesterday regarding my grandpa and he is not doing well health wise. I am not asking for a miracle or for healing or anything like that. He has lived a good life, fought the good fight, and its just time. Mom said a few days ago he said he was just tired and ready for some heaven. So I am just praying for a peaceful transition from the temporary tent, to his new glorified body. Because of his da-men-sa (no idea how to spell that), they (hospice) have had to sedate him these last couple of days. So I am also praying for one more opportunity to say goodbye. Not that I have to have it, but it would be nice. Our last visit was a good one and if thats all I get I am good. This all happened the day we left to go to Florida to raise support for our trip and also spend one last visit with our family and friends here. So I am struggling a little bit with not being there. I love my grandpa, he has been one of my biggest fans, advocates, and supporters. He is one of the greatest, neatest men I have known. He is a true Hero, and an excellent fisherman. This will not be easy for me, so I guess you can pray for me to. His name is Robert, but everyone calls him Shorty, and his wife's name is Faye. thank you
Shelby

God's economy vs man's economy

I need to start this post out with  some truth, God is above man!

Simple, isn't it? If that is TRUTH then we will launch off from that point. God is hard to grasp at times, He doesn't do things in a certain way and is not concerned about doing things the "right" way. I believe that God wants to ROCK us on a daily basis. 

Why if He is moving do we so often hold back His hand? I keep having this vision of God's hand out stretched and out of His hand are GREAT things, literally blessings are pouring out of His hand non stop. Yet we (as a church) keep closing His hand up, curling His fingers back and saying "It hasn't been done that way before, this is not the right way to do things!" God's fingers curl back and the blessings begin to clog up and shoot out the other way away from us.... The blessings don't stop, but they don't get to be used by us... Hmmm

This I can't stop thinking about. I want to challenge us as a body to look at Christ in a little different light, just for a second let's not limit Him. Just for a a moment let us not hold GOD to man's constraints. We know that God has ALL, he is not really concerned with money at all. Money is nothing to God, He is above money. We are confined by money and amounts and needs! God is not limited by time, we are the ones that have time issues and dates and deadlines. God is not concerned with following any set way to do things, He is God! He can do things however He wants to. We have proper ways of doing things, right ways, the way it has always been done before. 

Don't we see in the Bible that the Lord didn't ever follow a set way of doing things? He is full of variety and freshness. The word new comes to mind. We know in Lamentations His mercies are new every morning, He is faithful. We know that His ways are not our ways. Then why do we curl back His fingers by simply not accepting His newness?

God is doing new and fresh works everyday. We need to recognize God's hand and just allow Him to do His thing. It may look different! Maybe no one has ever done anything like this before??? Maybe people say you should maybe change what you are doing and do it differently because this way won't work. If God does the work it will work, He cannot fail. I have watched God do plenty of unbelievable things through people in ways no one would have thought would work.

I am praying in my own life that I do not curl back His fingers, that I will move with His Spirit and recognize His movement. That I will not constrain God's hand by my own fear and limits. He is limitless, He is above all and can do all. His way is the only way. I want to live in the midst of that!

Blessings,
Andrea