Happy New Year

HAPPY 2007!

I hope that this new year is finding you and your family well. We had a great time over the holidays. It was lovely to see some our family in Edmonton and Victoria. Portia and Mercedes are natural travelers...what a great blessing and RELIEF! In the picture of Miss Mercedes she was dancing! I think it's a beautiful picture of her :). My little angel!

There is a song that keeps running through my head. The words are as follows:

I Will Never Be

I will never be the same again,I can never return, I've closed the door

I will walk apart, I'll run the race

And I will never be the same again

Fall like fire, soak like rain,

Flow like mighty waters, again and again.

Sweep away the darkness, burn away the chaff,

And let a flame burn to glorify Your name.

There are higher heights, there are deeper seas,

Whatever you need to do, Lord do in me.

The Glory of God fills my life,

And I will never be the same again.

Fall like fire, soak like rain,

Flow like mighty waters, again and again.

Sweep aways the darkness, burn away the chaff

And let a flame burn to glorify Your name.

I will never be the same again,

I can never return, I've closed the door.

I will walk the path, I will run the race

And I will never be the same again.

This is a Hillsong song from the 1996 Shout to the Lord c.d. the worship pastor that led that c.d. was Darlene Zschech (http://www.darlenezschech.com/pages/default.asp?agid=1).

This year is a landmark year for Shaun and I. We are gaining confidence in our position as heirs of God. Somehow it's all coming together into a more focused vision for the future. We are delighting in God and He in us. It is a precious time. We are asking for His favor every day. We are seeking Him with an intensity that has not been there before. I love this song but one line has always stuck out to me...soak like rain...I love that. We get a lot of rain here in the lower mainland. I've been able to observe just exactly what that means.

Shaun and I have also been listening to a lot of motivational lectures on business (Christian and non-Christian) and something that has struck me is how much the Bible has to say about business. It's all very intriguing. Then there is something else that has struck both Shaun and I. In the church growing up it was a very noble thing to be a "priest" or in some sort of ministry. The church has done the "priest" part very well. But if you were called to be a business man or woman it was second rate. But you know...we need both. I ran across a web page that stated it well..."In the Old Testament, the Kings (entrepreneurs) were anointed to gather large amounts of resources while the Priests (God's ministers) were privileged to spend time with God and speak for God. We must understand that the Kings and Priests worked together to fulfill the perfect will of God. The results of this God-ordained relationship eliminated lack in the King's business and in the Priest's ministry." (http://www.king-priests.org/) It says in Revelations 5: 9, 10 "And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And He has called us unto our God Kings and Priests: And we shall reign on the earth.". So Shaun and I are feeling free the leave the poverty mentality behind and pursue our kingship (or queenship as it where ;) ). We are starting with this new business but that will be a leaping off point. So basically we are shaping our philosophy on business. As always, when we are learning, it is intriguing and consuming. There is so much to take in. We are excited.

It is also a time of huge adjustment. Shaun is not around nearly as much as he used to be. He is working extremely hard. It is hard on all 4 of us. We miss each other. But as with all things this is a season.

There is something else that I have been pondering. of late...and NO my mind NEVER stops...I was reading the story of David and Bathsheba. Nathan the prophet was reprimanding David and telling him the consequences of his actions for taking someone else's wife etc. God was reminding David, through the prophet Nathan, of just what he had given him...

"I made you king over Israel. I freed you from the fist of Saul. I gave you your master's daughter and other wives to have and to hold. I gave you both Israel and Judah. And if that hadn't been enough, I'd have gladly thrown in much more." (2 Samuel 12: 7 or 8) What hit me was the line "And if that hadn't been enough, I'd have gladly thrown in much more." It says in Matthew 7:11 "11If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give good and advantageous things to those who keep on asking Him!". I just love my children. I try not to spoil them because I don't think that would really help them in the long run. But I try to give them the best and shower them with love. If there is something that they want and it won't harm them, I do everything in my power to get it for them. Just think of all the ways that God wants to shower us. I never have fully grasped this until now. I mean I heard the words but I never let it "soak" in. I had a different perception of God on this topic. It was more along the lines of "well whatever God wants to throw my way rotten sinner than I am". But no He has much MORE. You know there are so many things running through my head... one of them is a sermon that I heard about that...once we are saved we are saints that sometimes sin not sinners that sometimes get it right. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE there...another thought is a sermon I heard yesterday and the pastor was talking about Joseph. There are several things about him but one thing is that in Genesis 39:3 It says that God's favor was on Joseph. Now Joseph's heart was very self seeking when it says that because it says in Psalms 105 that while he was in prison his heart was made right. Anyway, the pastor stopped and asked the congregation...have you asked for God's favor in your life today?:" Well honestly I had never thought to do that...however, I definitely will from now on.

I remember a few years back saying to God..."If this is all there is...I'm done! I have heard the same stories over and over" and seen cynicism in myself and other etc etc...there was a lot that brought me to that point...and ever since I layed that out before God He has been gracious enough to show me SOOOOOOOOO much more of Himself and I have every confidence that the BEST IS YET TO COME! What a journey...Shaun and I are NEVER bored that is FOR SURE!

Have a happy day seeking the favor of God,

Tama