my cup runneth over

i don't even have words for how tremendously blessed i feel coming home from the Global Impact Celebration at First Baptist this past week. i have always dearly loved my home church but to be celebrated, prayed for, hugged a million times, and loved on so tremendously- i was just amazed and astounded by God's sweet grace and love that was poured out through the encouragement and support of so many First Baptist people. i also had opportunity to spend time with some fantastic missionary families, one in particular with three beautiful daughters who are about to move off to Dubai for 3-5 years. i loved getting to know those girls and had a great conversation with their parents about discipleship and church starting. families on the mission field together is a beautiful thing. i love it. :)

part of my time at the GIC this week was also spent with the youth as a Disciple Now home leader for the Sr. Girls' group and as a "resident missionary" with my childhood best friend Tara. that was a super experience as well. tara and i kept commenting in amazement at all the familiar faces of children we BABYSAT! ....they're now 6th, 7th, even 12th graders. wild. the theme of the DNow was "live love" and once again in His awesome sovereignty and wisdom the curriculum covered texts from john and 1 john addressing concepts of living love and abiding in Christ, the theme that has come up repeatedly in my personal life and study for the last few weeks. just further confirmation that God has something specific to teach me and areas in which i need to grow as i study these texts. i was very encouraged to talk to shana and deb (two incredible and hard working servants in the youth ministry) and hear what great strides toward growth some of those kids are making, a couple girls even surrendering to career missions. what a joy to see tears fill these leaders' eyes as they talk about seeing God's hand upon the lives of the students. awesome.

one sweet (and nostalgic!) evening was spent on a soccer practice field with my tremendous soccer coach from years ago. Coach K has been an incredible blessing to me since my first encounters with him on a soccer team in '96. a godly coach and a dear friend with a heart for encouraging others, he is still one of the first faces i look for when i come into the sanctuary for sunday morning worship at FBC Rogers. last thursday i had a chance to join a practice with him and chelsey and their next generation of soccer players. such a fun evening.

with a couple personal days that i took before the GIC began i also got to visit Tech and spend some precious time with more wonderful people who have helped shape who i've become. my God has blessed me beyond measure with the relationships i've been able to develop in church, at school, and now on my mission field in baltimore. my cup truly does run over. :) all glory and praise to God.

thanks for your prayers and love. you're all precious to me. love-m

"...walk in the same manner as He walked."

In my study of First John, i came across this verse (2:6) and instantly began to wonder HOW this looks for me personally. So, i wrote out some follow-through questions:

- How am I making sacrifices?
- How am I changing my world?
- How am I living in communion with and obedience to my God?
- How am I bearing fruit?
- How am I making reproducing disciples?

While these were great, thought-provoking questions, I'm ashamed to say my answers were far less than sufficient. But, my study led to an earnest time of prayer and petition that God would grant the desire to make necessary changes and show me HOW to live like Him on a daily basis. I want Jesus to spill out of my life all the time and as long as I compartmentalize and hold things for myself, it will still be my selfish and prideful self that spills out of me. While this quiet time in His presence was difficult and challenging, I feel a nervous and excited sensation within that is eager to jump out in faith and commit to surrender. Pray for me, please, that I don't lose my focus or my zeal and that both are followed up with action. Some things you can hold me accountable for that I am praying about is managing my free moments (at work and at home) better - investing more time in study for personal purposes as well as for my discipleship groups and reading more. additionally, i want to find practical ways to show real love to my coworkers in our often crazy and harried office as well as to our neighbors at the PO and the convenience store, both of which i am in at least once a week. i am praying too about doing a Daniel fast for the 40 days of the lenten season. This would definitely require diligence, commitment and getting out of my "comfort zone" so to speak as many of the foods I would fast from are "comfort foods." But, this journey He is leading me on is revealing the selfishness in which I live even in the most basic areas of life, and I want so much to transition into a life of total dependence on Him and delight in His presence.

On the ministry front....please please be praying for our pastors and church members. We MUST do a better job of equipping our churches for follow-up and discipleship this year and the first step is going to be THEM beginning to VALUE these essentials in ministry. Right now the focus and emphasis is entirely on the event and follow-up and discipleship falls to the wayside, meaning in the big picture our churches rarely experience real growth and new leaders are NOT being developed. We're trying to get creative and figure out how to encourage the development of this as a value, but please just pray the Lord Himself will stir that up in their hearts and plans as they prepare for upcoming events. And if you have suggestions/resources I can share with them please let me know!

Last thoughts - my 23rd birthday was Friday and my sweet Father God just decided to totally and completely overwhelm me with love. :) My amazing church family at the Light and my roommates worked to plan a marvelous surprise party for me at John's house. (For those who don't know, John is an incredible man of God I have come to know over the last year in Baltimore and also a fellow USC2 working directly with the network of churches that my new church, the Light, belongs to. God is blessing me abundantly in this new relationship He's brought about with John.) All that said, my birthday was spent celebrating with some of the most beautiful people I know and I felt loved beyond measure. Thank You Lord for being so wonderful to me!

Thank you again for your prayers and love. I pray each of you would experience God's presence and grace in a unique way today. Enjoy our Jesus and please keep Baltimore in prayer.

LOVE! -m

joy made full...

i just started a study of 1 john with 3 of my fabulous ladies from the Light and this little phrase, "joy made full" came up in chapter one, verse four. we're taking the study slow - one chapter a week, so it's giving me a better opportunity to dig out the diamonds. this phrase jumped out at me the first time i read it and i've taken some time to study it a little further and read through various old and new testament accounts of what and who should be making my joy full or complete. when i stop and think about it, my cup of joy is always running over if for no other reason than the fact that i belong to Him and He is more than enough for me.

please be praying for my church this week. the Light is in a continual season of transition. we are sharing space with another church that is part of our 3-church network and while it's a privilege to worship as one body, it brings its own sort of dysfunction and disjointedness for the two congregations. pray for peace for each member and for the ability of our visitors to feel welcome and at home even in the midst of a somewhat confusing season in the life of our church.

MICA - the Maryland Institute College of Art is where many of the Light members have graduated college or are currently attending. this campus has been heavy on my heart this week. art students represent a culture all their own and the approach for ministering to them and meeting them where they are is entirely unique to any other form of outreach. even my artist sisters at the Light are at a bit of a loss to know how to reach these students with a message of hope and life transformation so we are praying for boldness and wisdom in our outreach and for the Holy Spirit to do a mighty work on that campus and in Mt. Vernon.

last night i had an opportunity to meet and talk with a few students who all came to worship for the first, second or third time. all MICA students who had come at the encouragement of one of our own. Jesus shines brightly in this girl and i'm so thankful for the way she loves on her peers on campus. among her friends was a guy who grew up catholic but without much thought of personal relationship with his Savior and a girl who grew up Jewish and now balks at organized religion and isn't sure what she believes about any sort of deity. pray for these guys as my friend has opportunity to share her Jesus with them and pray they find a home in our Sunday night gatherings.

pray too for a guy named Wayne who is a tenant in the building where the Light meets for services. he is unhappy that a church is there now and has been actively seeking ways to run us out of that space. his usual gesture is blasting hip-hop music from both his upstairs apartment and his downstairs video store while the Light is meeting for service. while it's certainly not accommodating, God is greater than any disturbance and we are just begging Him to do a mighty work of salvation in Wayne's heart. what a blessing it would be to see him profess Christ as his Savior and Lord.

the staff of the Light and the other churches in the network are taking this week to fast and pray over the direction of the churches and God's will for these congregations. pray for their strength and clarity and for God to speak a common vision to their hearts. pray for their physical and emotional well-being as we press on through a season of trial and transition.

thanks for your prayers, guys. they mean so much to me!

i can't tell you what a blessing this body of believers has been to me over the past year and its a tremendous delight to serve alongside them and be a part of the life transformation that takes place within the church and through its ministry. a church home was an earnest prayer request on my heart this time a year ago, and i just praise the Lord for the way He has answered that request. be blessed and be a blessing today and let Jesus make your joy full. :) love - m

new year news...

happy january...yes, almost february! hard to believe. it has been a busy start to the year in our Embrace Office and many of our pastors, excited about a new year, have hit the ground running with planning projects and outreach for the coming year. we are regularly making comments about how much farther along we are this year as compared to last January. praise the Lord for progress!

i've had the privilege of working with one of my AR churches (shout-out to FBC London!) to help get them set up for the (BIG!) possibility of coming to serve with one of our churches this summer. it will be exciting to see some familiar faces and let some home folks experience the joy and burden of this city that i love.

i also have the marvelous opportunity of being one of the missionaries at this year's Global Impact Celebration at FBC Rogers, my home church. so excited about that. i told a friend today, i felt like a little girl whose "grown-up" dreams had all come true!

a number of sermon messages, my own quiet times in the Word (specifically Genesis and Isaiah), and the past Christmas season have all had me thinking a lot about salvation and sin and grace. i cannot and will not ever understand the full depth of God's grace in my life, but i am inexplicably thankful for that grace and for the salvation that set me free as a small child. after a challenging year of changes and adjustments and new environments, i am overwhelmed by God's perfect and all-consuming love for me. delight has been the word on my heart lately...i have been delighting in my Lord like i haven't in a long time. i am finding fulfillment in hearing from my sweet Father's heart and learning what it means to trust in His plan and be content with His will no matter what. i'm not there yet, if there's anything i've learned this year, it's that we are ALL on a journey. a journey to know Him and make Him known. i praise Him that the longer we are on it the closer we get to Him. i'd encourage you to thank the Lord for sweet salvation today and then perhaps we ought to ask Him to help us live out loud with the joy of that salvation.

as you pray for us this week i'd just ask for you to remember a few things...

- That our churches and their VBS planning teams would think beyond the event and put in place effective follow-up teams
- For our national partners as they pray, plan and prepare to travel to Baltimore to serve with our churches in 2009
- For our association as a whole to develop a burden for discipleship and seek to develop Christ-followers and not just converts
- For our churches to catch a vision for ministering to youth and training up leaders who will commit to investing in students
- For me personally to learn creative ways to encourage and equip my churches and to continue to delight in the work God has given me

thanks for your faithful prayers and love and support. you all are a treasure and a blessing to me. praying you enjoy Jesus this week...

maria

merry CHRISTmas....with love from "604" :)

merry CHRISTmas

happy december, all!

what a remarkable year this has been...i really cannot believe it's about to come to a close. while i think i have confessed it seemed to drag on earlier in the year, in retrospect it really seems to have flown by. sunday, i had a chance to share with my new church family at the Light about God's faithfulness to me over the past year and recounting all His goodness was a good refresher for me. He has faithfully answered all the selfish and foolish questions i've asked about the wisdom of His will and set me in the midst of family in this city so far from the family i've always known. i've been equipped in new kinds of ministry and been introduced to a world of church i had never before known so intimately...or by which been so deeply burdened. i've had the chance to learn from the wisdom of other servants in ministry much more seasoned than i and passionately committed to Kingdom work.

while i am suffering from extreme Christmas break fever at the moment, the last two weeks have been so full of joy as i have sought to be positive and intentional in my time at the office. i'm astounded by God's faithfulness that reaches even to the little things of life...He is so very good and gracious with me.

we were putting together some praises for our embrace newsletter today- let me share a few with you!

Praise for the 80+ events already planned and scheduled for 2009

Praise for Theresa’s quick and full recovery and return to work

Praise for newly engaged BBA churches

Praise for pastors networking together for future ministry collaboration

these are just a few things for which to thank the LORD as we look to a brand new year. i can't wait to see what all He holds in store for us.

i leave on thursday afternoon (2 days!) for Arkansas. i'm so looking forward to seeing some sweet familiar faces and sharing a little more with my prayer warriors at first baptist, rogers. you all have been such a source of strength and encouragement for me and i pray you know the impact of your support. see you very soon.

merry Christmas, all...may you experience the joy, presence and power of Christ in a brand new way this Christmas. much love. :)

isn't God good?

so yesterday was one of those days that make me smile for no identifiable reason. :) i decided over the weekend to choose joy and positivity in my work, in the mundane as well as the exciting and it paid off as we sat down together to sort through our reporting system and a year's worth of tracking yesterday. the reporting process here is definitely the mundane side of what we do, but a large part nonetheless. my day ended in Acts 28 and i found myself seeing great application for the American church as well as a deep conviction over the impassionate, complacent nature in me that seeks to rise up in the day to day things. i'm excited to be in this great city as God continues to bring things to my attention about what the church is called to look like and how we are called to love and serve in the city.

on another note, God has been showing off in some other great things as well....my co-worker theresa who was out due to breast cancer for the last month is already back in the office and looking great! she had surgery back in late October and then one very hard week of radiation and has returned to us with what seems to be a clean bill of health. she'll have a couple follow-up appointments over the next few days so keep her in your prayers!

little kaia-lyn, dawn's niece is still hanging in there. she has lost the few ounces she gained, but i think they're still feeling pretty positive about her condition and continued development. she is a fighter and has a host of prayer warriors on her side.

one of our ethnic pastors, Samuel Cho, is starting a house church with Bhutan refugees here in the city and has seen some GREAT response. they recently hosted a Thanksgiving meal with a time of worship and singing, clothing giveaway and instruction on how to adapt to American culture (specifically the cold weather since they are not accustomed to it!). i called Pastor Cho yesterday to see how things went and he said about 100 people came! great, wonderful things are happening in that community with refugees from both Bhutan and Nepal all through the obedience and love of a Korean pastor. pray for him and his wife as they are older and battling some cold-weather sickness and fatigue. he is busily developing church leadership, so pray also for that discipleship process that God will bless the work of his hands.

we have a host of college mission teams coming through baltimore in March and while we're very excited to have them come serve, there is a lot of work and planning to be done before they arrive. pray for our churches to plan ahead and think of how they can best utilize these teams. we're looking at approximately 200-250 college age kids invading our city with the love of Jesus and a passion to serve and we want to put them to work building the Kingdom and loving the lost. thanks for your prayers...and by the way, if you want to come, we'll put you to work too! ;)

i also have the sweet blessing of living 4 hours away from a dear aunt and uncle i never lived close enough to to visit more than once a year or so. i've gotten to visit them 4 times this year and spent Thanksgiving with them last week. praise the Lord for family! it was a fun time of fellowship and rest.

and for you Arkansas folks, 16 days before i get to see your marvelous faces again! i am so very excited to come home and spend a few days catching up with everyone and celebrating this sweet season with my family. thank you all for your precious prayers and love for me.

love you all!