Discipleship Training for Disciples

For the last few days I've been thinking about how difficult discipleship can be for those of us who are not pastors or counselors. I realize that people need to know that we genuinely love them, but in today's world where sin is so rampant and accessible it is difficult sometimes to relate to people who have been more exposed than us. We are all called to share the gospel, but sometimes it's easy to just refer someone on to the next spiritual authority figure available. If we are instrumental in leading someone to Christ, than we are the primary person that they look to to "be Jesus to them". That can mean calling on us when they face some temptation that is completely foreign to us, and possibly something that we would rather not be exposed to. It wouldn't be very Christlike to push them off on someone else when they are depending on you. We always talk about needing "good discipleship" for new converts, but it seems to be an area where we continue to fall short. Has anyone ever been to a class on how to disciple or know of any curriculum on the subject.

A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY

This may the most sentimental thing that I have ever posted, for I must tell you about a subject that is close to my heart. Today marks the tenth anniversary of the day that Harold and I laid down our accordion and guitar for good. Many of you may not have realized that we were ever in the music ministry, alas friends that was to your misfortune. Actually we formed our group around the same time that "Vision" was formed. I could never figure out why they became so much more popular than us. I guess people were more impressed with their close knit harmony than with our rather disjointed sound. We did have a few good hits though, like the one we were singing in the picture above "God Ain't Never Had A Grandchild". It always seemed to speak to the two or three who gathered in to hear us sing. Some days I just have to break into a round of my Dad's favorite song, "Can He, Could He, WOODY".
It was through some very wise counsel that we came to the realization that maybe this was not to be our life's calling. So Harold went on to Moody Aviation and I went to nursing school. I will say that we are very fulfilled with the life we now lead, but there are days when the desire to just belt one out is almost more than I can contain. Please sing a little song today in remembrance of "VernaDean", the group that almost made it.

PS Thanks to Rochenda ,a devoted fan, for preserving the picture for us.

Hurricanes, Heathen, and Harvest

Life in South FL is full steam ahead. We have literally been falling into bed every night in exaustion. It was unquestionable that Hurricane Dean could affect the Carribean without affecting Harold Dean. We were awakened by a phone call from Samaritan's Purse last Sat. morning, Jamaica was expected to recieve a direct hit and they wanted MFI to be ready to fly relief supplies in as soon as the storm passed. Harold has been on the go since then coordinating relief flights to Jamaica and to Mexico, which was actually hit harder. This is a really big job since it includes getting clearance to fly over Cuba, lots of loading and unloading, and making sure all the right connections are made. Please pray for him as he helps to "give cups of colds water in this way.
Ethan and Collin started back to school last week, as you can see them standing so proudly in their little uniforms. Collin got up about five times the night before just to look at his uniform. This is his first year at the academy after doing preschool at the public school. So far, so good, but please keep his teacher in your prayers. I'm so glad to have some help in their spiritual guidance, because the conversation lately has me wondering if anything I say is getting through. I told Harold tonight that I feel like I've already been "given the heathen as my inheritance". At supper tonight Ethan was preaching Collin a sermon about only listening to the "good voices". Suddenly Collin covers one ear and says "I'm only going to listen to the voices on this side". He then starts a conversation that I can only hear one side of (probably the only side). "Hi Jesus, How are you? YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT? Build an ark like Noah. I don't know. Oh, I can wait until I grow up. Okay I'll do it." I'm so thankful that we have the rainbow as a promise that this will not be a requirement for him. If we do end up having to purchase gopher wood, we will call on Julia and her boys for help with the measurements.
We are also having prayer issues. During devotions last night I asked who wanted to pray. Landon readily volunteered, so we all bowed our heads only to hear. " Dear Jesus, thank you for this beautiful chickens. Thank you for helping me be a good chicken. Please help us to have a good chicken of sleep." You get the picture. I don't know what this obsession with chickens is about. I will say that the prayer was egged on by the convulsive, uncontrollable giggles of his two older brothers, but he uses the word chicken about fifty times a day. Of course Aunt Kimmy helped by giving him a tape of Texas Swing Music, the first song was "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens". These are the things, along with many more that I won't subject you to, that I am dealing with on a regular basis, so please forgive me if I don't keep my blog up to date. This is a picture we took in Idaho of a field ready for harvest. Having never lived near wheat fields before, I was enthralled with the beauty. It is no wonder that Jesus used it in so many of his parables. A few nights later in OK, Harold spotted the video The Harvest laying on Brian's table. He saw it a few years ago at a missions conference in TN where he was representing Moody. He had told me about it many times, and wanted to get a copy. We watched it that night and I was deeply moved. We actually bought our own copy since we got back. It is one of the most powerful videos on missions that I have seen. I highly recommend that if you haven't seen it that you try to find it. It has definitely motivated me to make more of an effort to reach out to the lost around me, and to pray for more workers to hear the call.

BUFF?

Dylan was playing in his Exersaucer the other day when Ethan looked at me and said, " Ya know Mom, Dylan is starting to look buff". Now there may be those of you out there who ,unlike me, are unable to visualize just what a "buff" individual might look like. Therefore I decided to give everyone an example to go by, just in case you ever wonder.

Follow Up

Now that the laundry is done and we are back on a somewhat normal routine I will take time to tell the "rest of the story". We left Altamont, KS on Wed. and headed for a few days of family fun in Branson. We camped out in a state park nearby.

From there we headed to Kansas City on Sat. We had the privilege of having dinner with Twila and Kieth. They took us to a really cool dinasour restaurant. The kids loved it. We were at a church in Kansas City that Sun. morning and then in Ottawa that evening. The service started at 7:30 because there is a family in the church who own a huge dairy farm, and they have to get the evening chores done before church. We got there early enough to take the boys to watch the evening milking. Thus the picture on me and the cow in the last post. We really bonded.

On Mon morning we left our little trailer in KS and headed for Colorado. We spent Tuesday in Colorado Springs. We took the boys to Odessy, which is way too cool, then we drove into the "cold mountains". (Collinese) Pikes Peak is really cold in the summer, the boys actually got to play in the snow.
On Wed night we had a service in Delta, CO. It was nice to be with Nathan and Amy. Since she is the cook at Seabreeze Campmeeting we were treated to lots of good food. From there we headed toward Idaho, with one overnight campout near Salt Lake City. On Sat we had the Alumni Reunion for Hobe Sound Bible College. It was wonderful to visit with old friends. We were disappointed that quite a few were out of town. We stayed with Brent and Rochenda. Since she is one of my nearest and dearest it was wonderful to spend some quality time together. They took us to a rodeo that night and the boys thought they had died and gone to heaven.

We were in Emmett on Sun morning and in Nampa that evening. Then on Tues we drove two hours through the mountians to McCall, which I must is gorgeous country. We were at a church there that night and then back in Boise for Wed. night. We left that night after the service and began the long drive back to LA in order to be in Shreveport Sun morning. We are so thankful for God's protection over us. He is so faithful. We arrived back in FL on Mon night and our beds have never looked so good.
We got to go to our church on Wed night. Harold was standing in the back with Landon who looked at him very innocently and said "Dad, do you remember when we used to go to this church?". I think we'll stay home for awhile.
I'll post some more random pictures at the bottom for anyone interested.

Hey It's Good To Be Back Home Again

We've made new friends.
We've visited with old friends.
We've climbed the high mountians.
Our Little Papoose is now the Big Chief.

We are tired.

After traveling 8,400 miles, visiting 15 churches, and having a whole bunch of fun we are finally back home. I will give a more detailed update later, just wanted to let everyone know that we are safe and sound.

Here I sit in McDonald's once again. Sorry that I have not kept in contact as well as I initially intended. Connections and time restrictions have kept me away, but here I am to let you know that we are alive and well. We spent the first five days in LA getting my parents situated and visiting with family. It was great to be with Kimberly for a few days and get some quality time in. Liz was also there for a couple of days, so I couldn't resist a picture with my cousins who are also my good friends. Harold is still trying to forgive Kimberly for getting us lost in New Orleans. We had two services on Sunday. Since Wed. was the 4th of July we didn't schedule a service, but spent the day with family. We left Fri. morning and headed west. We camped out that night in a state park in TX. On Sat. we drove up to Altamont, KS where Chad and Aimee are pastoring. It was really great to spend some time with them. It is always exciting to see how God is using young people from our generation. After the service on Sun. morning we went back to Tulsa. We were very disappointed that Bro. Gremillion was out of town, but getting to see Brian and Jamie R. made up for it. Since we spent two weeks with them in Haiti, we feel right at home with their family. It is now Mon. and we are back in Altamont. They are graciously letting us stay in their fellowship hall for a few nights. We were unable to schedule a service for Wed. because the church already had a group there. Harold is hoping to tour the Cessna plant tomorrow, one of his instructors from Moody works there now, so we hope to see him. I want to go the original Little House on the Prairie which is only 30min from here. We shall see what the day holds.
The boys are doing well. Thank God for DVD players. It has been a lifesaver. So far they are handling services well, we just have to keep them from falling apart when it is over. God is really helping us, but we still need your prayers. We still have many miles to go, but at this point we are still excited.
I will post some pictures at the bottom. Someone really needs to help me learn how to put them on the post.