Hero Monday: The Eskimos

How on earth

they ever did it
without the

wooden rafters

is beyond us. :)

Hero Monday- Daddy

I haven't ever really thought much about being a Dad. Probably because it is something I'm sure I'll never be. But have you ever really thought about what it takes to be a father?

I am blessed with the most wonderful dad in the world who loves his wife, his children and the Lord so much. He leads our family and provides for and protects us every single day. What an incredible calling, to be a father- the one who represents God to his family and to the whole world. A father demonstrates the way that Christ loves the church to his wife and the way the Lord shepherds His flock to his children. He models what it looks like to be to be a Provider and caregiver in establishing a Godly home in front of the watching world. He treasures his family the way that the Lord treasures His children.

One of the most wonderful things about my dad is that he is a teacher. He often teaches other people, at church or Sunday school or other places like that, but more than anyone else he teaches his children--- by example and instruction. Yesterday I was struggling with some things and worrying about the future and we had the opportunity for a little father daughter time. Nothing could have been better than for me to hear first, what he had done in a similar situation, second, how much he and mom love me, and third that I don't need to fear because my worth is not in what I do. I am free to fail in Christ. And he was promising me that I was free to fail in him to, because he would still love me, just like Christ would.

If you have a father who loves you and cherishes you- don't forget to thank them and appreciate them every day.

But even if you don't have a good relationship with your earthly father, maybe you don't even have an earthly father, there is one thing that I know you have. A heavenly Father. His love is even more perfect than the very best of earthly dads. And you are His adopted child.

I love you Daddy.

Hero Monday - Corrie and Betsie ten Boom

The ten Boom family

Most of you probably already know the story of Corrie ten Boom as she tells it in her eye witness account of the holocaust, The Hiding Place. Corrie and her sister Betsie were seperated from their family, dragged from their little home in Holland, watched as their elderly fatherwas brutally murdered, and endured the horrors of one of the Nazi concentration camps. Betsie, who was already in weak health, struggled even more than Corrie did physically. She eventually died in the camp after months and months of unimaginable suffering.

Do you know why?

Corrie, Betsie and their father were a modest, Christian, happy family in Haarlem when the effects of the German invasions drove them to make a serious decision. They were not Jewish, so they weren't in the most danger yet, but the ten Boom family made a choice. They chose to sacrifice.

Through several years before being taken prisoner, the ten Boom's opened up their home to the most desperate people. They DAILY put everything they had, even their own lives at risk to serve the Lord. Without hesitation, this FAMILY of God gave up their present comfort and future (earthly) security and learned what it means to RELY upon God.

Even while in the concentration camp, Betsie's forgiving heart would actually weep and pray not just for the prisoners, but for their Nazi oppressors. Before her death, Betsie had a two visions. Her vision was of hope, and forgiveness and redemption. Betsie had a vision of a concentration camp that was transformed into a home and place of restoration for the Nazi soldiers to recover. She also had a vision of a beautiful house to be a renewing and healing place for the holocaust victims. Betsie died in the concentration camp. The last words that she spoke that Corrie heard were "....so much work to do...."

It was Corrie, in the pain and struggle and grief that followed the war, who was entrusted and empowered by the Lord to make these visions become a reality. Not on her own strength but on His. The Lord blessed Betsie with Hope and the foresight to see where the need was, and He blessed Corrie with the strength and the tools of see it fulfilled.

Sometimes, it is so hard to balance both of those things. We are either inspired with a burst of imagination and ideas from the Spirit of ways to help or things to do, but we lack the courage or diligence to trust the Lord to use us to carry them out. Or we are filled with a passion and a zeal to act for the Lord, but doubt where we should begin.

God gave Corrie and Betsie the strength, courage, hope, and ability to do what He had called them to do day by day, and we are still experiencing the blessing of their ministry and hearing the Hope of the Gospel that they helped to spread to the people who it was hardest to love. If the Lord can enable people like Corrie and Betsie ten Boom to forgive the ones who cruelly oppressed and in Betsie's case even killed them, can He not enable the church to rise up to plead the cause of the orphans and widows? We don't have to rely on our own strength or our own vision. Because like He did to Corrie and Betsie, the Lord will give us both. Wait on Him. His plan never fails and His love never ends.

The ten Boom house/watch shop in Haarlem

Corrie ten Boom

Hero Monday--- Rahab

So, I had this idea that every Monday I would write a summary of the life of one of the Heroes of the Faith that have encouraged me. This Monday's hero is my favorite heroine in the Bible, Rahab. The story of Rahab in the scripture is less that a chapter long, but her name is repeated throughout the Bible as a Old Testament believer and as one of the five women listed in the line of Christ. I have also read this short little incredible book by Francine Rivers called Unashamed about Rahab, I know is historical fiction but it aligns with the Bible story and has captured my imagination nontheless.

Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho, but despite the secular, pagan culture she lived in, she heard the Stories. She knew the things that God had done in delivering His people from Egypt and she recognized Him for who He was, even though she probably stood totally alone in Jericho as the only one believing in the God of Israel. When the two spies from across the Jordan came in to see the city, Rahab took a step in faith without expecting anything in return, risking her life to serve a God who she knew was the True God. She tricked the guards, hid the spies, and lowered them out of her window in the Wall of the city where she lived (which indicates that she was a woman of consequence) by a scarlet cord. She and her family's lives were spared because she had faith and the Lord had mercy on her (Joshua 2). Forgiven, Rahab was accepted into the Covenant, a daughter of Israel, one of the Chosen people, and one of the five recorded women in the ancestral line of Jesus (Matthew 1:5) In the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews lists Rahab as an example of one who "did not perish with those who were disobedient" (Hebrews 11: 31) but instead "died in faith, not having received the things promisd, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowleged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth" (Hebrews 11: 13).

Rahab, like Abraham, Moses, Abel, Noah, and all the other faithful Old Testament believers were saved by faith through grace just like we are. We look back on the death of Christ and see our salvation by the Cross. They had to do something perhaps even harder, they looked forward. But in the same way all of the believers have been saved by grace through faith, it is not of our own doing, it is a gift from God (Ephesians :8) who died once for all mankind for all time.

I love Rahab's story because it isn't her story, it is God's story. The story of Rahab shows God's perfect plan being fufilled through the most unlikely of people. His redemption and His forgivness are the theme of Rahab's adventure.