Henriet's Blog

Consider It All Pure Joy

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds."
                                                                                                                            James 1:2, NIV

Sharing Stories

In May 2013, I started a discussion group based on my book, The Story Lives. Six women gathered at Lucky Jack's Latte and we quickly decided not to plow through the material in eight weeks but take our time. We're still getting together weekly.

It's been a transformational experience for all of us. The book served as the platform to discuss our life stories and discover God's plans for our lives—together. By telling and exploring our stories we developed deep, transparent and life-long friendships. We've laughed, cried, and challenged each other through really hard trials, including: chronic pain, severe financial distress, serious illness, relational issues, and parenting drug-addicted children. (We're not the fluffy variety.) Based on our circumstances sad faces might be expected but you won't find any. When you see us you'd think we have it all! And we do...

Pure Joy           

We all have joy! Not just happiness or run-of-the-mill joy. We're discovering true, unending joy. It started blossoming when Lynn helped me through a challenging situation with a person I don't like. Lynn shared about a similar situation in her life and how God showed her to give thanks for everything, including a difficult person.

She shared this Bible verse with us:

"The joy of the Lord is your strength," Neh. 8:10.

With Lynn's encouragement, I started practicing giving thanks. It works! Since then joy has been an ongoing focus and we're all practicing giving thanks. Joy has been the inevitable result as we spur each other and encourage each other. We've all increased in joy.

It's changed us. Can you imagine having true joy while your child is a drug addict, or your loved-one is facing an uncurable disease, or you suffer chronic pain? Only God can make that happen! And he's doing it. It's available to all of us. It's a fruit that flows from his Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). 

God taught us to embrace trials and experience pure joy. 

 

Image sources:
http://servantsofgrace.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/consider-it-pure-joy-my-brothers-whenever-you-face-1.jpg
http://mamawsplace4.blogspot.com/2010/05/may-your-day-be-filled-with-joy.html
http://3rdwaverevolution.com/2011/11/17/pure-joy-in-the-face-of-trials/

Susan Lives Missionally In The Skies And Beyond

"Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples."  Matthew 28:19a

Susan Newland and I have known each other for years. We met at Timberlake in Redmond. One year, I interviewed Susan during a Sunday morning service. What was her story?

You see, Susan's a flight attendant and for years felt guilty about always being gone and not being able to serve "at church." One day, she told me about some of her experiences with passengers and fellow crew members. I asked her if she would share her story on a Sunday. And she did. She shared about how Jesus was using her on her travels. Often while traveling overseas, she would find herself strapped in next to someone who would pour their heart out to her - and she would be able to comfort them with the "comfort she herself had received"¹ - sharing encouragement, wisdom and hope. "Great job, Susan!"

But the story doesn't stop there

Recently, Susan contacted me with another story - following my post on "Jesus Knows What You Are Going Through." It happened in Holland; Susan gets to be there more than I do because Amsterdam is one of her routes. This time she walked in "De Vierdaagse" - a four-day, 100-mile march held annually. This was the 94th Four Days Marches. Susan said that it was the most incredible experience she'd ever had. What she didn't know is that my dad used to walk this many years ago in the late 1940s. So it was very cool to hear that she participated. 

The walk impacted Susan!

"What an incredible experience!", Susan wrote me. "I learned so much about myself and the strength and spirit of humanity. Everyday, when we would be struggling through the last couple of miles, we would enter the streets of Nijmegen and thousands of people would be waiting to cheer us on yelling 'Success! Success! Success!'"  

So what's the big deal? Well, Susan compared it to life on earth and working toward heaven. She wrote, "It made me think that this is what it is like working toward our goal of heaven. We are tired, and hurting, but there are thousands of people just cheering us on through those last painful miles to reach our 'Home.'"

 When I asked Susan if I could share her story, she said "Absolutely! This whole experience was such an incredible gift to me, and I would love for it to be used for God."

Susan said she had to fight off tears often. People would be along the route with signs that said 'You never walk alone.' At other times, the walkers would walk through towns and all of the nursing home people would be sitting in wheelchairs. On the last day, on the last stretch, they walked by hospital patients who were in their beds. Some with IVs hooked to them. They were right on the side of the road under a tent. One soldier had stopped by the patients and was talking to a young teenage boy. Those experience would bring on the tears for Susan and her friend threatened her not to cry - because they'd both be crying and she wanted to finish the walk. 

Telling her story

And to top it all off, Susan was on Dutch national TV. They asked her, "Why did you come all the way over from America?" Well, Susan turned a significant age and she wanted an incredible experience. God gave it to her. I'm sure Susan will be sharing about this life-changing adventure and how there are so many lessons that compare to our life when we follow Jesus with passengers and crew alike on her future travels. 

Susan, you encouraged me. The road of faith is a long road. It's tough. But there are people who cheer us on all along the route and our reward is, well...incredible! 

Thanks Susan, for sharing your story. For walking the Vierdaagse. For reminding me of my dad who I miss very much. And for cheering us on as we follow Jesus.

^{1. 2 Corinthians 1:4}

Semper Vita, Cindy Patterson and the PNW Leadership Summit

Last Friday and Saturday (June 18-19, 2010), I attended the Leadership Summit of the Pacific Northwest Conference of the Free Methodist Church at Warm Beach Camp. I have attended this annual business meeting of the church for many years. They do a great job of incorporating worship, stories and reports of what God is doing in and through the churches located in Washington and Alaska. Why do I attend this summit? Well, I'm an ordained pastor (we call them elders) in the Free Methodist Church. I had the privilege of being ordained in 2006.

Thank you, Cindy!

This year, the leadership summit was very exciting for me because my friend, Cindy Patterson, was ordained. She's worked very hard and studied for quite a few years. Last Saturday was her big day. She was ordained. And, she chose me to be her supporting elder. What an honor! "Thank you, Cindy!" Cindy is not only my friend and fellow pastor, she's also a volunteer who is making Semper Vita happen. Her skills are in operations. Her passion is to be the hands and feet of Jesus to people in the community. Being ordained only confirms that she's been serving God in many ways—demonstrating Jesus' love through service.

Thank you, Matt & Jim!

Though the ordination service was the highlight of the two days, there was another exciting moment for me and Semper Vita. I had the opportunity to share about Semper Vita with my fellow Free Methodist pastors. I currently do not serve at a local church. The denomination has released me to lead Semper Vita. And, now I had the opportunity to share what I've been working on for 3+ years. Thankfully, it was well received. It's exciting to be part of a denomination that believes in the mission and vision of Semper Vita. The superintendent, Matt Whitehead, and the assistant superintendent, Jim Harbour, have been very encouraging over the years. "Thank you, Matt & Jim!"

Thank you, Teresa!

Another Free Methodist volunteer is Teresa Lerew. She attended all my workshops at the Northwest Ministry Conference last March. Since then, she has volunteered to help get Semper Vita off the ground in Auburn, where she attends the Auburn Free Methodist Church. Teresa currently is helping us to reach out to non-profits in and around Auburn so that we can make Semper Vita active there. "Thank you, Teresa!"

Thanks Timberlake

How good it is when people live together in unity and praise God together.

A Celebration

Yesterday felt that way. The Timberlake staff and board honored me with a celebration during the Sunday services and a reception in the foyer between services. Both during the celebration and at the reception, I had the opportunity to share publicly about Semper Vita-it was the first time that most people at Timberlake heard about it. It was well received.

During the reception, there were lots of hugs, some tears and many well wishes. I've known some of these people for a long time-my family has attended and served at Timberlake since February 1994. We'll continue to attend and will still help out in various ways as God leads.

They Asked, "What Will Semper Vita Do?"

My simple explanation is that we will help people (both those inside and outside churches) to find ways to give back. Specifically, we'll connect people with opportunities to serve outside church ministries in ways that fit their skills, passions and life circumstances. Not everyone wants to help out at church or serve at the local charity. However, almost everyone would like to give back in some way. Most of us don't know where to start, who to call or how to put our gifts and skills to work.

Semper Vita's goal is to connect like-minded people with each other and with easily accessible and appropriate existing service opportunities. To make those connections, we need to establish an alliance of non-profit organizations, churches, businesses and ministries. This alliance will provide access to service opportunities and people who want to serve. Several people shared ideas of organizations that might want to partner with us-which is great! Know of any? Let me know!

Thanks For Everything

Thanks Timberlake for celebrating my time on staff and for sending me out to lead this new venture!

Seattle 3-Day For Breast Cancer

My friend and hairdresser, Marina Nichols, participated in the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk in Seattle, September 7-9, to raise funds for the fight against breast cancer. Together with thousands of women she walked 60 miles over three days as part of team The Tyee Ta-Ta's.

They walked from Bellevue Community College over the I-90 floating bridge, south along Lake Washington to Tukwila and to Burien on Friday. On Saturday they went from their campsite in Burien south to Des Moines and Vashon then back to the camp in Burien. Day 3 they walked all along the Alki Peninsula across Harbour Island, past the big stadiums through downtown Seattle and finished up at Seattle Center at 4:30 PM.

I'm proud of you Marina! I know you trained a lot. Good for you. I love how you give back to your community.

Net proceeds benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the National Philanthropic Trust, funding important breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment. The team raised over $36,850.

Missional: Taking Reggie McNeal For A Ride?

Yesterday 20 of us had a great day learning from Reggie McNeal in the D.Min class at Fuller. We discussed the concept of going missional: from internal focus to external involvement, from church-bias to Kingdom perspective, from member orientation to being sent people (missionaries).

After class, Tamara (who's down here for her first MAGL workshop) and I hopped into our rented red convertible Mustang. Another classmate joined us and we were heading out for dinner.

WE SPOTTED REGGIE

As we pulled out of the garage, we spotted Reggie waiting outside the Fuller Guest Center. We should have turned left but we decided to go right just so that we could stop to say "hi" to him. He was waiting for his friends to go out to dinner.

JOIN US FOR A RIDE?

As we talked to him we (demonstratively) took the roof down and tempted him to join us in our fabulous ride. But being the wise man that he is, he resisted his baser impulse to hop in the convertible with us. Just then his friends arrived and rescued him. They whisked him away to spend time together. Good for you Reggie!

Thanks Tamara, for renting a red convertible! We drove to the restaurant--I got to drive--and had a great dinner. We discussed living missionally.

Too bad Reggie had other plans!

Life-giving Faith

What does faith look like when you're facing life-threatening cancer? For Tom Ingram it means going to Moldova to give life-giving touch to orphaned kids and burn victims. Tom is a licensed massage therapist. He and his wife Barbara have been ministering to kids through massage, going to Moldova with Medical Teams International.

An article about him on Medical Teams' web site reports, "As he renews the fight [with cancer], his wish is to return to Moldova for his eighth volunteer trip—to provide training, massage therapy, and to spend time with the people who have become such an important part of his life."

What an amazing approach to battling cancer. He's looking to the God of the universe for a healing touch but even if that does not come, he knows that his eternity is secure. “I’ve been on a journey in many ways,” he says. “I know that whatever happens in my life, in my health, I will be taken care of. My relationship with Jesus Christ is solid.”

Tom believes that everything happens for a reason. “I’ve been told that I have a gift and I know that I need to use that gift for the betterment of my fellow man. I only keep what I have by giving it away.”

That's faith in action. Thanks Diane for pointing me to Tom's story. Tom and Barbara are leaving today, July 26. Let's pray for their trip and for Tom's healing.

A Character of Character

Dave Logothetti loved to teach and he loved his students. Don't get me wrong, he was no push over or softy and he definitely knew his stuff. Though these qualities were important but for me Dave Logothetti the person transformed my learning.

Thanks to Dr. Logothetti I graduated from Santa Clara University  with a bachelor's degree in marketing from the school of business.

This is the building that housed his office.

What did Logothetti teach? You might think he specialized in marketing or business, after all I credit him with my graduation with a B.S. in marketing. Not so. He taught Math!

I needed to take remedial math in college due to mishaps in secondary school in Holland. SCU required that I take Algebra and Logothetti taught it. He recognized in me the "different" person that I was and honored it. He made me feel understood, appreciated and capable. I think I got a B in Algebra. Then I took Calculus I from him and got another B. Next I needed to take Calc II to graduate. There was one problem: Logothetti never taught Calc II. I asked him how I was going to graduate if he did not teach this class. (I had tried another prof. and had to drop the class). He said, "take Trigonometry, it will meet the requirement and you can do it." If you teach it I will try. My grade in Trig was a C but I passed.

Dave and I became friends and had lunch about once a month. We exchanged Christmas cards--his were all hand drawn cartoons. Once he gave me a book he wrote. Sadly, in 1991 he died of cancer and I had not sees him the last few years of his life. I still greatly regret not making time to see him.

Dave would teach math using humor and his cartoons. For one concept he taught he drew a phlegmatic young pup on the black board. This was to illustrate a line, a slope up because he drew a "slow pup." I still remember and it's been 25 years.

Thanks Dave for believing in me!

More about Dr. Logothetti: Professor David Eugene Logothetti. Born 29^th December 1934. Mathematician, Lecturer at Santa Clara University. Santa Clara established a teaching award in his honor as did the California Mathematics Council. Dave Logothetti was also a published author. One of the books he co-wrote is still being used to teach kids math.

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a big deal in the U.S. Did you know that cards became mass-produced for this occasion as early as 1850?   

Valentine's Day had little to do with friends originally. It all started with Christian martyrs named Valentine. Click here to read more. The history of Valentine's Day is obscure, and further clouded by various fanciful legends. The holiday's roots are in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration commemorated annually on February 15.

Pope Gelasius I recast this pagan festival as a Christian feast day circa 496, declaring February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day.

How did we get from martyrs to lovers? An interesting statistic is that 85% of all Valentine's gifts and cards are bought by women. Hmmm. 

I remember buying Valentine's cards for my son to give to his classmates when he was in elementary school. What's up with that "tradition"? Who says marketing does not work?!

In our home, we might get cards for each other and buy chocolates. We like chocolates. No gifts though. Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? How?