Mark 10:29-30
Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.


It's funny, sometimes when God wants you to know something, He makes it pretty hard to miss. This verse was laid out before me three times last week. First, it was in a sermon I listened to. Then Friday some staff that are taking time off to go to Grad school talked about their experience in Guatemala and this was one of the verses they talked about. The third time it was in a different fashion.

A friend of mine got married this weekend. And by friend I mean the one from the relationship that I had to sacrifice for me to fully follow Jesus. The one that broke my heart, knocked me off my block. It reminded me of how God's plans are always best. If we hadn't have split, I wouldn't have gone to Architecture school. I wouldn't be here at eMi. I would have missed out on a multitude of blessings that I would have never imagined. If I had gotten what I wanted at that time I have no clue where I'd be now or what all I would have missed out on.

Well I have really been stumped about what to say about my trip to Haiti. It was like pulling teeth writting my newsletter. It was the antithesis of my Costa Rica trip, but it was still wonderful. They were two completely different experiences and it just made me want to serve full time even more. The people were so passionate about our Lord, it blew me away. Again the words escape me so I will quit my attempt to express myself.

Isaiah 55:8-9

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts."

It's really been hitting me that I am not in control, I don't always know what God is doing, ok I rarely do. God is doing some amazing things right now that we cannot yet see. For instance all of my ministers back home are stepping down. There are no disagreements, no secrets, no indiscressions. The men are remaining at our church to serve as laymen. Why has God laid it upon their hearts to step down, we can only wait in anticipation.
As for myself I have even less of an iota of what lays ahead of me. By the grace of God I will finish my 8th and final year of college next year. Beyond that I want to be free to go as the Lord pleases. Recently I read a quote from J. Oswald Sanders, "Instead of planning on staying and being willing to go - plan on going and be willing to stay." I feel as though that is were I am at, and I am excited.
I leave for Haiti in a week and a half and I cannot wait to see what God will reveal of Himself this time. Its hard for me to believe that He is sending me. Who am I? Who am I to get to serve my Lord? Who am I to receive someones tithing? Who am I to get to have such an adventure with the Creator of all things? Why would He chose to send some bumpkin from po-dunk Kansas?

I just listened to a most wonderful sermon by John Piper. I'd suggest it to any of you ladies out there.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2007/2088_The_Beautiful_Faith_of_Fearless_Submission/

Being Known
What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it – the fact that he knows me. I am graven on the palms of his hands. I am never out of his mind. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when his eye is off me, o r his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters.
This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort – the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates – in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worse about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me.
There is, certainly, great cause for humility in the thought that he sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow humans do not see (and am I glad!), and that he sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself (which, in all conscience, is enough). There is, however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought that, for some unfathomable reason, he wants me as his friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given his Son to die for me in order to realize this purpose.
Knowing God – J.I. Packer

PSALM 37

1Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
2For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb.
3Trust in the LORD and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
5Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.
7Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
8Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
11But the humble will inherit the land
And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
16Better is the little of the righteous
Than the abundance of many wicked.
17For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the LORD sustains the righteous.
18The LORD knows the days of the blameless,
And their inheritance will be forever.
19They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
And in the days of famine they will have abundance.
21The wicked borrows and does not pay back,
But the righteous is gracious and gives.
22For those blessed by Him will inherit the land,
But those cursed by Him will be cut off.
23The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
And He delights in his way.
24When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.
25I have been young and now I am old,
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Or his descendants begging bread.
26All day long he is gracious and lends,
And his descendants are a blessing.
27Depart from evil and do good,
So you will abide forever.
28For the LORD loves justice
And does not forsake His godly ones;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.
29The righteous will inherit the land
And dwell in it forever.
30The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
And his tongue speaks justice.
31The law of his God is in his heart;
His steps do not slip.
34Wait for the LORD and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
39But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
He is their strength in time of trouble.
40The LORD helps them and delivers them;
He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they take refuge in Him.

BIRTHDAY / BABY WEEKENDMy new baby cousin Brooke
Paul and Javen have grown so much in the two months I've been gone. AND Paul became a big brother on March 5. Luca was born at 12:30 and he's in the dog house with me cause he came after I left.

Psalm 139:5-6
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it. El Jardin Sagrado - Orosi Valley - Costa Rica
Well I just spent the most God soaked weeks in Costa Rica. God orchestrated everything perfectly as only He can. There is so much to say, that even if I tried here it would be too much. But it short, the team and missionaries were most amazing, an instant family, I made "tico" brothers that I will love forever, the site was beautiful, the people were the most loving most hospitible that I've ever encountered. We got our job done early. I got to play soccer every day. I've never felt the love of God more fully than the past two weeks. My brain is spinning and that is never a good thing. If you want to know more I'll be sending out a newsletter soon, or you could just call me.

eMi Update

So the semester is over, I turned in my last paper last night. I think it ended well. Now its time to focus on preparing for Colorado, I need to get back on routine of waking up early. I’ve got to exercise to be prepared for the altitude and whatever else the job may bring, and I’ve got to decide what I can and cannot live without for 8 months.

Here’s some updates if you are wondering.
I need to be in Colorado Springs by January 7.
I will be in the Orosi Valley of Costa Rica from February 9 to the 23.
We are setting at a team of 9 right now, with 2 architects, a landscape architect, a structural engineer, a civil engineer, an electrical engineer, a surveyor, the team leader and me.
Our team leader said:
It’s going to be fun, exciting, an adventure, a time of discovery and a real blessing. But it will also be hard work, long hours, and lots of travel and times where it will be just plain hard (on mind, body and spirit).

So, I’m going to need some prayers. Here’s what’s on my heart right now.

Pray for all of us interns as we are raising support and preparing for a big move.
Pray for our team, that we would mesh and God would work through us.
Pray for Global Outreach Ministries, the organization we will be designing for.
Pray for me as I am speaking in front of my church Sunday.

Thank you all for all your support.
Have a most blessed Christmas!!

Dare Una Mano,
Julianne

I MADE HIM LAUGH!!

So Roger Creager's got a song called "I got the guns" talking about inheriting his grandfather's guns and of course I was in the front row and Sheria and I start flexing our muscles when I realize he's gonna sing that song. He gives us a look, that we get quite often, as in "What are you doing?" So I yell, "WE GOT THE GUNS!!!" And he laughed. He was looking right at me and laughed about what I had said. I made him laugh. Man I miss have friends in the same town!
My old neighbor and his buddy, I was the 5th wheel in that picture.
Thats ok I had Roger, see he's a multi-tasker!

My most favorite accordian player of all time, Allen, He also plays the keyboards and the washboard. After the concert he and I had a discussion about how the washboard is going to be my instrument .

yep that'd be my hand.

THATS HOW I ROLL
I was asked to teach Sunday School to the High School and Jr.Highers last Sunday. I was going to teach about how God believes in us because He created us, gifts us and provides for us. I did what I always do, cross reference, cross reference, cross reference. I'm in the middle of teaching and one of the kids (great kid, hilarious), well he says "Wow Juli you went way out for this one." I ask him what he means and he says "Well you have alot of verses" So I say goofinly in all my Kansasan Redneckedness "Thats how I roll." They all chuckle and one of the girls, the same that asked if I was "like a high schooler" earlier this year, she says "I've never heard anyone old say that before." I was called old, I got quite the kick out of that one. But then all the boys jumped in to defend me, "She's not old, she's only 20 something." and the girl started back peddling. I just laughed.

Here's Jessica (Johnson) Arndt - "Cheez"- and Myles Arndt's son Javen Gordon Arndt. I got to hold him and feed him and he pooped on me so I'm certian I'm his favorite (course he also peed on Tara so she's up there too).


Here's Tara (Durham) Strahm and Loren Strahm's son Kenan. He turns one at the end of the month
Here's Trish (Denchfield) Rolon and Diego Rolon's son Paul. He turns one at the beginning of December. Here's my baby, I'm undecided on the name. I'm torn between Wasta Time or Wasta Money. I'm just guessing but I'd bet that making their babies were infinitely more fun then making mine.

What's on my mind What's not on my mind!

I just found out that I got an internship with eMi. Engineering Ministries International (eMi) is a non-profit Christian development organization made up of architects, engineers and design professionals who donate their skills to help children and families around the world step out of poverty and into a world of hope. Check it out http://www.emiusa.org/
I get to go to Colorado for 8 months I get to fly fish and ski and hike and visit Cracker at camp. But most importantly I get to help people and I get to help people for Jesus. I'll get to work in a soup kitchen on Fridays. I'll get to go to another country for 2-3 weeks, maybe Africa or Haiti or the Dominican Republic. There I'll do site analysis and such probably with a missionary. Are you all grasping the magnitude of this? This firm embodies all that I went into architecture for!!!!
But I could use anyone and everyone's prayers now. I have to raise money, like a real missionary, so if you got any laying around. And prayers for which team I get placed on which will determine which country I go to.
Less good but still good news. My project is done. I present today. So no studio this weekend. Should I catch up on my other classes. Or maybe I'll just eat and sleep.

Its good to be home, even though I feel out of place everywhere I go. But church was good this morning, Ken's preaching is one of the things I miss the most. But after church I went over to Grandma and Poppi's. Poppi has been down recently and so of course mine and Chucky's smiling faces have just gotta brighten his day. I went and laid in bed with him awhile then went out to talk to Grandma. She told me of how this morning he kissed her and told her he loved her three times right in a row. Then she about started crying when she was talking about if he had to go to the hospital. Is our generation gonna get to know that kind of love at all. How many of us are actually gonna get 60 years with our spouse? Last year Grandma was in the hospital for a week and Poppi is so used to her serving him that he didn't know you can't put a metal pot in the microwave. Now girls aren't really taught to serve their husbands cause that just might mean the men are wearing the pants and we can't have that. But don't get me started on how feminist killed romance. Will our generation of wanting whats fast and easy, our generation of I can't work for anything or care about one thing, I must keep my options open, I must be independent otherwise I could get hurt ever going to know what it feels like to be 80 years old and not know what we're gonna do without the person we fell in love with in our 20's.