Sometimes I Write

“Knowing you, we are sure that you will be sharing the Gospel as the opportunities are made available. But the main focus of your work does not appear to be sharing the Good News.”

There you have it…part of the cause of my anger this week. One of our supporters sent us an email to let us know they would not be supporting us in 2007. They had three reasons…this being the third. They have supported us all year…they have known us since before we were married, so we’re not strangers….they have never visited us to experience our work firsthand. This was an unfair assessment and lacked the facts about what we do, what we’re about, and definitely who we are. I’m not even going to mention the first two reasons but trust me when I say I disagree with those reasons as well. This one put me over the edge. I was angry! As Michael would say, “Anger is always a secondary emotion”. (Don’t tell him I’m quoting him – it will only go to his head!;)) The primary emotion was pain…I was hurt. A song I learned as a child popped into my head, “Angry words, oh let them never from the tongue unbridled slip…” So I took a little break from this for a few days.

So what does that mean? If sharing the Good News (and I thought that WAS the Gospel) isn’t the main focus of our work, then what is? EVERYTHING we do leads to that focus. The kids we work with aren’t open to hearing the gospel without first having a relationship with us. Does this mean this supporter thinks we should be standing on the street corner with our huge Bible under our arm, yelling at the kids about how lost they are and they need to come to Jesus? I’d like to give THAT little talk in a few churches I know. ~deep breath Niki~

I have to say that I’m very proud of Benny and his response to the email. He was polite and his wording was awesome. He got our responses to each of the reasons laid out as well as inviting them to reconsider their decision. In regards to this “reason”, he reminded them that a lot of the kids we know on the streets RUN from Christianity. In many cases there has been some sort of abuse (physical and/or sexual) in their lives by family members or friends who were “Christians”. Without building trust through a relationship with them, there is no chance of them listening to anything about Jesus. At the same time, they know from the start that we are ministers. This is not covert Christianity friends…it’s meeting them where they are, loving them through their circumstances, and through that relationship inviting them into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Our end goal isn’t to get homeless people off the streets…our end goal is to introduce them to Jesus and give them HOPE for the future. There is such a thing as a homeless Christian…I know some. Sharing the Gospel with someone who has been abused by Christians doesn’t look the same as sharing it with your neighbor who has been thinking about getting back into church after a hiatus from it since childhood. You have to have two different plans for those situations. Paul put it well when he spoke about being all things to all people so that some may be won to Christ. There’s more, but I’ll stop now.

I blogged that I was too angry to blog on Monday. On Tuesday we were blessed with a letter from another one of our supporters. This supporter thanked us for being who we are and doing what we do. They said they are pumped about our new ministry plans and they look forward to visiting us to experience it for themselves. It was so needed and much appreciated. God is awesome to work HIS way in HIS timing to bless HIS children. YEAH GOD!

And speaking of our new ministry plans…check out our new website at www.sevensonline.org I’ll blog more about that soon, but the scoop is on the website.

How is it possible that I can be so incredibly uplifted and so harshly insulted all in the same day??? Life is definitely NOT FAIR!!!

We had a FANTASTIC weekend which I’ll tell you all about tomorrow because I’m exhausted! The truth is that I’m too angry to blog tonight. I don’t want to let someone else’s ignorance cause me to spew lava all over my space on the web. Pray that God will calm my heart and keep a tight leash on my roving tongue! Angry doesn’t even begin to describe my feelings right now.

The good news is that I’m loved by a God who knows how to be angry, understands my anger – because in this case it is truly a righteous one, and will love me through this. Another amazing thing is that when the insult came, my very first thought was to cry out to God about the injustice BEFORE crying out to you, my friends. Ahhhh growth…Also thanks to God! 😉

I’m writing to you tonight from our hotel room in Oklahoma City. Benny and I are here (actually heading to Lawton, OK in the morning) to speak at a youth retreat for the weekend. Our theme is “Plunder the Darkness”. I have a few posts in the works about that theme, but I’ve been saving them until after the retreat. Please pray for all who will hear the message we have been given to share. Over ten years ago I asked God to make this happen. I dreamed and prayed that someday God would use Benny and I as a speaking team for His glory. This is the first time we’ve done this together outside of the youth groups we’ve worked with. I’m pumped!

Our flight here was fun. Not really…I get motion sickness and I forgot to take something for it. Thankfully I didn’t need the vomit bag, which is surprising considering the turbulence I had to endure. I joked that we got a pilot in training. We boarded the plane, a 2-seats on each side type, and found our seats. Me in 15D – a window seat, and Benny in 15 B an aisle seat…across the aisle. We waited for my seat mate to arrive, actually hoping they wouldn’t. A few minutes later a well-dressed man put his coat in the seat next to me while he stowed his leather bag in the overhead compartment. When he was finished I asked him if he’d mind switching seats with Benny. He smiled and said, “Are you sure you that’s what you want?” and I replied, “Well, he said he wants to make-out and that would be kind of hard with you in the middle”. Everyone around us had a good laugh, and I sat there happy I could bring it.

Most of the people around us were reading books the whole flight, including me. I’m part way through Susan May Warren’s book In Sheep’s Clothing. I met her at my friend Paula’s house this summer. Cool ladies…great writers…check out their websites. I’m loving the book and already looking forward to the sequel which came out this month, The Sands of Time. There’s something fun about reading books written by people you know. I’m amazed at the people God has brought into my life! And I’m grateful too!

And just in case you’re wondering, our kids are playing the weekend away in Wyoming with their cousins on their 40 acres of land, complete with animals. My city kids are going to have a blast!

When I was growing up I rearranged my bedroom atleast once a month. It was my little way of having some control during a time I most often felt I had none. I was also fortunate enough to have a mother who indulged me by letting me have free reign rearranging the livingroom as well. I liked giving a new, fresh look to something that had become mundane through my eyes. I also loved the look of surprise on the faces of everyone who walked through our door and admired my handiwork. It taught me to be creative with my space, and resourceful with what I could find to work with while having no money to spend on my projects.

Well, I didn’t pursue a career in interior decorating or home design, and I find it amusing and a little annoying when my oldest child wants to use his creativity to rearrange our house. We were definitely cut from the same cloth. That makes me wonder if he’s going to have control issues as well. 😉 My friends tease me about how often I still rearrange our livingroom and I secretly think Benny attached our bed to the wall so I couldn’t rearrange in there. I almost typed “so I couldn’t get creative in there” but that’s talk for my other blog! The creativity and resourcefulness have carried on into adulthood and I’m trying to pass that on to my children…but not today.

Today’s rearranging took all afternoon, was fraught with frustration at my lack of html knowledge and code placement, and produced a project (webpage) that’s not half bad. If I were a computer geek like some of my unmentioned friends (unmentioned for my safety -haha), I could have whipped out these changes like it was nothing. That is sooooooo not me! But so far I’m pleased with the finished product, and a little surprised that it took me two years to change my template. I was finally tiring of the pink and I would really make it my own if I knew how to design templates. Anyone want to do me a favor and do it for me? I’ll do your laundry for a week. No? Darn it. My Yoda wasn’t even around to help me…he works at Starbucks now. 😉 And Kevin, thanks for calling and averting my attention before I wanted to cuss out the people at Blogger. You’re a true friend. 😉

Life has been a little crazy here at the Nowell Hacienda. There’s been too much to say and not enough motivation to say it. Some days are like that, aren’t they? First things first. I received another Turner update:

I haven’t updated your recently on Brandon’s status mostly because there hadn’t been much change. This past week, though, has been an answer to all the prayers going up on his behalf. He is talking!!! That’s right, he is talking. It may be a whisper at times; and, sometime he has to repeat himself several times to be understood. But, he is talking. The doctors changed one of his medications (removed him from it) a week ago last Friday. We almost immediately began to see a change in him. He began making noises like he was trying to talk. He also began following instructions in therapy much better. Then on Thursday, the speech therapist called Kathie all excited that Brandon was talking. When Kathie got to the hospital, he met her with the question, “What did you do today?” Needless to say, we have been excited and praising God. Brandon still has a long recovery process ahead of him and he may never recover fully. But, we can now communicate with him. We have been trying to assess what he remembers and how much he really understands. For him it is still July. His memory of us, his grandparents and old friends seems to be intact. However, there are some gaps in his short-term memory and he will become confused when too many questions are asked in a row.

I have attached a picture of Brandon to show how well he is doing. The strange look on his face is him trying to smile. Only the right side of his mouth works when he tries to smile; but, he is working on. Keep praying for Brandon. Kathie and I know the recovery he is experiencing is the direct result of God hearing prayers and applying his healing to Brandon. We continue to put Brandon in God’s care and know God cares for him. Thank you so much for your prayers. As Brandon improves, we will send further updates on his progress.

Thank you again for all of the prayers for our friends, the Turner family. I am so thankful I can count on my friends to pray for the needs of others. Bless you all! With that being said, I have another request for you. My Aunt Sharon was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer last week. One of her breasts is completely full of cancer, and the other may be treatable. She was scheduled to have a mastectomy today, but failed the stress tests on her heart on Tuesday. She has had two kidney transplants in the past few years and though she has an iron will, her body isn’t strong. There is a fear that whatever treatment she has to receive will severely damage her kidney, which has been working well. She is having a repeat stress test tomorrow, please pray for her…I’m not sure how…but God knows. I don’t want it to come down to a decision between letting the cancer kill her or the possibility of the surgery killing her. My mom and her other sisters and brothers are really hurting through all of this. Please pray for strength for all of them, especially my Uncle Randy and my cousins Scott and Shannon. Breast cancer isn’t always fatal, but this is a situation where it could be.

Thank you again for your prayers!