Just One of Those Mondays!

I have been trying to send out my prayer letter update since before Christmas, but without success! Here's what I've done so far:
Laid it all out in Microsoft Publisher, then saved it as a PDF file, as well as a jpeg file.
Attached the PDF to my email, then added all the addresses of the recipients (in the BCC field)
Hit the send button.
But wait! Error! The email told me that it couldn't send due to a connection error!
I attempted again, only this time with a jpeg file. Same results.
Again, only I typed in all of the addresses. Same results
Yet again, but I split up the amount of addresses. The same results.
I tried many different ways, even using two different email addresses, but it was all the same. It wouldn't send!
Finally, I sent each email individually, taking 2 hours. Success! The prayer letter finally went through!
But wait! It's not over yet. I began getting emails back from people saying that they couldn't read the font. It was too small. So I have tried, yet again, to deliver my letter bulk instead of individually. This time I just copied the text into the email, but it STILL WON'T SEND!
What should I do? Please, if anyone has any possible idea what could be wrong, I'd like to know! Otherwise, every time I send out a letter I'll have to be prepared to send it individually to over 100 people! I know it's still faster than sending it snail-mail (and a money saver), but I'd really like to find out if it's operator's error or something wrong with my email(s).
HELP!

"That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way. "

And that's the way it's been for me all week. Actually, the past two weeks or so have been one exciting step of learning after another. The things that I'm discovering are old and familiar, but with a new depth of understanding. It's all so exciting! From the articles that will eventually be posted on the web somewhere, to the homework assignments given to me in my intern disciple program, God is teaching me more and more of who He is and how He works in the world and in my life. More and more questions have come up about what I believe and why I believe it. I know what I believe, but to understand how deep one can really dig to learn about God and His purposes, and yet never reach the end of discovery is really incredible! I can't begin to adequately put into words the hunger that I'm feeling more and more as I study. Each day I anticipate what God will be teaching me. The thing is, I could go through each assignment and article with the information I already have, and be "ok", but I want to take what I already know to be true and know WHY I know it to be true. Not just, "Well, because the Bible says so," but, "What does the Bible say? Where is it said? How often is it said? What does it mean? What does it have to do with me?" Basically, I'm taking everything back to the beginning and trying to understand the entire process. God is so patient and faithful in showing me Himself in ways that I'd heard of all my life, but never experienced for myself through His teaching! Today I was looking at a Psalm that David wrote and wholeheartedly agreeing, "I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking Him in His temple." (Ps. 27:4) If only Christians everywhere would really seek God, they would see His beauty and goodness and desire to make their lives a quest for Him! I know that I'll have days when I'm discouraged and it seems like God is far from me, but He provides these times when I can get to know Him even better so that when those times come, I know that I can trust His heart, because I understand it better. What a great lifelong journey! Join me?

The Exciting Things in Life

This week I've been busy writing articles that will be posted on the web. I have a list of topics that I'm to write about, so I began by choosing 5. One of the topics I'd chosen was on sharing Jesus without fear, and as I sat there thinking about how to write this article, I was overwhelmed and wanted to walk away...forever. I shouldn't be one to write an article on how to share Jesus without fear, because I get so scared I could...well, throw up. Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid to share Jesus Himself, and I don't care what people think of me when I tell them. For me, I just have a hard time talking to people, especially people I don't know, about anything. I know that's hard for some to believe, but now you know that you're among the privileged few that I'm comfortable with talking (a lot) to! Anyway, that was the first article I was going to write, but after my overwhelming thoughts, I set it aside for last, and as I wrote the other articles, I prayed for wisdom in how to write this article. I could have put it off for the very last, but it still would have been there in the end. As it was, God showed me something that I'd never seen before, and I'm just so excited, I have to share it with you, and if you're like me and afraid to share Jesus because it means talking to people, I hope this will encourage you, too!

• Moses was afraid! Look up Exodus 3-4:16
• Jeremiah the prophet was afraid! Check out Jeremiah 1:4-9
• Paul, the Apostle, was afraid! I know this one is probably hard to believe, but go to I Corinthians 2:3. When he admitted his fear, I was curious as to when in his ministry he'd gone to Corinth, and found out that it was well into his SECOND missionary journey! And look how God used him despite his fear!
• Timothy was afraid! Go to I Corinthians 16:10, then I Timothy 4:12-15 and II Timothy 1:6-8 and see how that Paul tried to encourage him, and tried to encourage others to encourage him (I've had people do that with me!).
  

There is no more excuse for not sharing Jesus. Fear is a big issue, I understand, but look what happens when people go on and talk about Jesus despite fear! I want to be like these men, totally not letting my fear stop me!

I had a great opportunity on Thursday to talk to teens about Jesus. There's a church here that has an outreach called a "pizza feed" for the students at the public high school across the street from the church. I went, and they have tables set up in their fellowship hall, and offer food and drinks, and also put up a question on the wall that has to do with spiritual things. This month's question was, "What do you think happens to you after you die?" There were several people from the church who were there to talk to the kids, and there were also pieces of paper on the tables where they could write their answers down. I was able to talk to a table full of teens and got some amazing answers. I tried to talk to them some about the Truth, but we really only have between 5-7 minutes to talk to them. They're very interested in talking, but not about spiritual things. I did talk to one girl (a senior) who knew for sure that she was a Christian. She was a bit shy to tell people, saying that she preferred that they just see the difference in her lifestyle, and I was able to share with her what God has just shown me about the people in the Bible who were afraid, and yet how they talked about God anyway. I pray that she took it to heart and was encouraged! I'm definitely looking forward to going back and talking to them some more. There is another opportunity coming up, but that's something to be talked about at a later date.

This coming weekend will be a longer weekend because of the holiday on Monday. This will be the first time I've ever had off for a little holiday! Wonder what I'll get into...

Too Much Information To Have a Specific Title

I did get to go home for Christmas! God worked it out so that I only had a few hours delay. Some people had been in the airports for up to 4 days! Most of the flights were only an hour or so delayed. The last flight was quite a bit more than that due to plane problems, then weather conditions. Of course I was pretty anxious by that flight because I could almost smell home! What was suppose to be a 12 or so hour trip turned out being 16 hours. Not too bad!

I had a great time with family during the holidays. We talked, played, watched movies (MFL!), and much more. It was so nice to be in warmer weather, too. One day got up to 76! I made a trip to KY to see some people and retrieve my stuff from storage (to take back to SC). Lydia went with me and we had a great trip up and a good time there. I was glad she was able to go because she does a good job sorting through stuff at a quick pace. I'm not that way. Even though I got rid of a lot we still had to rent a U-Haul trailer to get it all back. We made it as far as Pound, VA, before we broke down. The engine on the truck we were driving completely gave out. We made a few calls and ended up staying the night with some friends who lived nearby. God provided in amazing ways, that's for sure! We had to rent a U-Haul truck to go the rest of the way to SC, so it took some time to get it and switch everything over. We left the next morning, and although we both like traveling, we were very glad to be home. Driving a vehicle that large was a new experience for both of us. And neither of us had driven with a trailer on the back, either! New experiences are almost always fun.

The trip back to Idaho was pretty uneventful. I didn't think it would be after the start. As I went through security at the Greenville/Spartanburg airport the security got a call and turned to ask passengers names. Since it was only me and one other guy going through just then, I got a little nervous. Not that I had anything to hide, I just didn't know what was going on. In the end, I was okay to go, but the cops took the guy off somewhere. After all the adventures over the past couple of weeks, I'll be okay for some downtime for a while. At least until tomorrow!

Since I've been back I've been given some "homework", which includes writing articles for the web (not GoodSeed's site), research and writing for my intership discipleship. I'll definitely be getting experience in writing. I just pray that I'll do it well. Don't judge by this blog. This is me being sloppy after concentrating hard on everything else. It would take too long if I thought through everything. I'm hoping that correct writing will become second nature and I won't have to think so hard!

The weather has been much warmer since I've been back. The snow has even melted off the roads and the markings can now be seen! Now people can just drive crazy without an excuse. I'm very happy for the warmer weather, and I'm really hoping it doesn't get really cold and snow again this year, but I think I probably have false hope. Oh well...

"Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit's law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."- Romans 8:1