As we are preparing our hearts and minds for Christmas, the daily-ness and the urgent tend to take precedence! See if you can relate to what we "gotta do"
Gotta make lunches,
gotta do household administration,
gotta get the Christmas tree and decorate it,
gotta go to a baby shower,
gotta take the dog to the vet,
gotta decide to operate on the dog or put it down,
gotta substitute teach,
gotta take a group of kids to Operation Christmas Child processing center for an evening of service,
gotta get kids to a birthday party,
gotta get Tom off to the Packer Game,
gotta put away loads and loads of laundry,
gotta walk the other dog,
gotta get ready for an Open House for our church family (fun!)
Maybe instead my list should read like this
Get to be with my kids,
Get to see Tom have fun with friends
Get to have fun with the youth
Get to be a blessing and use our home
Get to share in the love of family and friends
Get to live in a wonderful country
Get to have a wonderful church
Get to celebrate Christmas in freedom
Get to eat great food and be able to provide for our family
Get to use the daily conveniences of life like dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, washer, dryer, oven
Get to have time with the Lord and get to serve HIM
Lord, turn my "Gotta" into "Get-to" and help me to serve you with a full heart. Christmas is a season, but Christianity is all the time. I want you to be first and foremost in my heart on a daily basis to bring you glory! It is all about you!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Poem......by a Mason Girl
Memories Last Forever
Friends move and change
But their memories will last forever
The hard times fade away
But good memories will last forever
Salty tears run dry
but memories of laughs will last forever
Anger and grudges slowly dissipate
But memories of love will last forever
Make friendships that last for ages
Because those memories will last forever
Spend time having fun
Because good memories will last forever
Laugh until you cry
Because memories of laughs will last forever
Love until it hurts
Because memories of love will last forever.
Friends move and change
But their memories will last forever
The hard times fade away
But good memories will last forever
Salty tears run dry
but memories of laughs will last forever
Anger and grudges slowly dissipate
But memories of love will last forever
Make friendships that last for ages
Because those memories will last forever
Spend time having fun
Because good memories will last forever
Laugh until you cry
Because memories of laughs will last forever
Love until it hurts
Because memories of love will last forever.
Whew!!!!!!
This Sunday was a not a Sunday morning I was looking forward to. We had to talk with so many at Kost Church who just found out this week about Vienna Christian School and our anticipated new ministry there. It is scary to face unknown situations and also unknown responses! We are thankful for the wonderful people at Kost Church who so graciously heard the news from us via letter and then again this morning. They want God's best for us even though they are losing their pastor in the process. We appreciate the sincere encouragement and the prayers already committed on our behalf. So many have said, "we are not surprised. Tom is such a gifted teacher". We are not leaving due to a bad situation or due to personality conficts, but to pursue that which Tom is really ramped up to do: teach day in and day out.
Our desire for a prayer team is our top priority. We truly realize that all of God's work is done first in prayer. Our family has prayed together regarding this decision and now it is great to share the prayer issues with others. We look forward to some new prayer partnerships forming.
So all in all, we are truly thankful for Kost Church, our church family for 8 years now~~we are glad that we still have many months together before we are "divinely kicked out" and begin again. We will be the 'newbys'!
We have received some gracious welcomes from staff at VCS already. How wonderful to be appreciated before we have even met!
Thanks for reading today. God bless you! love, the Mason Family
Our desire for a prayer team is our top priority. We truly realize that all of God's work is done first in prayer. Our family has prayed together regarding this decision and now it is great to share the prayer issues with others. We look forward to some new prayer partnerships forming.
So all in all, we are truly thankful for Kost Church, our church family for 8 years now~~we are glad that we still have many months together before we are "divinely kicked out" and begin again. We will be the 'newbys'!
We have received some gracious welcomes from staff at VCS already. How wonderful to be appreciated before we have even met!
Thanks for reading today. God bless you! love, the Mason Family
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Vienna Venture
We are in the process currently of letting people know of the new ministry we are working towards--our Vienna Venture! We have appreciated all the responses to this new work. Some people are really delighted and some are fearful for us and the changes. We remain committed to this decision even in the face of friendly challengers. The challenges serve to help us realize the enormity of the choices we have made and help us be confident in the Lord to move ahead. If this was not of God, the challenges would have served to cause us to back down. But in fact, they have made us more determined! Still we know that if God does not come through for us, we do not go forward. We are really dependent on Him to carry out what He has begun.
Do we like to say Good-bye to dear family and friends, home and pets? NO!!!! But it is part of the going process. I wish we could take everyone there with us. But I know that the Lord will provide the love and support and home and friends we will need to live and serve him in Vienna.
Since we are not God we cannot see into the future and know all the consequences of every decision we make. This is where trust comes in. This is where the promises of God come in! So many promises have leapt off the pages of the Word in recent days. Joshua 1: 3 "I will give you every place where you set your foot..." We have been at Kost Church for 8 years by the gift of God. We will be in Vienna by the same gift of God. He will give it to us as we set out. We have to start walking one foot at a time into the places God has for us. He said he would give it! So we will work along side what He is doing.
Tom talked with the director of Vienna Christian School this morning. They are in close agreement for the direction of the Bible classes. It is so great for Tom to have the support and shared vision for the future of the Bible department at the school. Tom and I will join the older staff inthe spiritual mentoring of younger staff. We will also be hosting students in our home on a regular basis. This is quite a relational ministry---not dry classroom teaching! Up close and personal.
So for a prayer request, pray for us as we have sent out a letter to Kost Church and continue to let friends and family know of our upcoming new ministry in Vienna. This is a hard week emotionally for us all. Thanks so much. God bless you!
Do we like to say Good-bye to dear family and friends, home and pets? NO!!!! But it is part of the going process. I wish we could take everyone there with us. But I know that the Lord will provide the love and support and home and friends we will need to live and serve him in Vienna.
Since we are not God we cannot see into the future and know all the consequences of every decision we make. This is where trust comes in. This is where the promises of God come in! So many promises have leapt off the pages of the Word in recent days. Joshua 1: 3 "I will give you every place where you set your foot..." We have been at Kost Church for 8 years by the gift of God. We will be in Vienna by the same gift of God. He will give it to us as we set out. We have to start walking one foot at a time into the places God has for us. He said he would give it! So we will work along side what He is doing.
Tom talked with the director of Vienna Christian School this morning. They are in close agreement for the direction of the Bible classes. It is so great for Tom to have the support and shared vision for the future of the Bible department at the school. Tom and I will join the older staff inthe spiritual mentoring of younger staff. We will also be hosting students in our home on a regular basis. This is quite a relational ministry---not dry classroom teaching! Up close and personal.
So for a prayer request, pray for us as we have sent out a letter to Kost Church and continue to let friends and family know of our upcoming new ministry in Vienna. This is a hard week emotionally for us all. Thanks so much. God bless you!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
What are we doing?
Hi There, Thanks for checking in with this blog....the first time writing is a bit uncertain. But we have lots of news to share and so will try to do it via blogging. Here we go......
We, the Mason family, have talked and prayed for months now about an adventure that God has put at our feet. We are planning on going to Vienna, Austria to work with a Christian School. Many of you know that Tom has always wanted to be a Bible teacher in a classroom. Many have said that he should be a teacher. Well, such an opportunity has come our way. Vienna Christian School has invited Tom and our family to come and be a part of their ministry to kids in Vienna. He will be a high school Bible teacher and will be an integral part of developing the Bible department. The students come from missionary families in Austria, from businessmen's families, and from the United Nations ambassador families. Huge open doors to share about our love for God and His Word with over 37 nationalities. I will be maintaining family life in a German speaking culture and will hopefully be able to remember some of my German from high school and college! We will look forward to hosting lots of parties in our home for students from the school and their families. Sarah, Laura, and Andy are really game for this adventure. They are amazing. I love their willingness to tackle this mission. They believe God is totally in this. Their faith in Him is well-placed. I know we will be tried and challenged. We would love to have you praying with us. More on that soon.
This is quite a huge transition for us as you can imagine. But that is part of the Austrian adventure which we will be sharing with you along the way. Tune in for updates as they happen. There is lots to do by August 1, 2009
We, the Mason family, have talked and prayed for months now about an adventure that God has put at our feet. We are planning on going to Vienna, Austria to work with a Christian School. Many of you know that Tom has always wanted to be a Bible teacher in a classroom. Many have said that he should be a teacher. Well, such an opportunity has come our way. Vienna Christian School has invited Tom and our family to come and be a part of their ministry to kids in Vienna. He will be a high school Bible teacher and will be an integral part of developing the Bible department. The students come from missionary families in Austria, from businessmen's families, and from the United Nations ambassador families. Huge open doors to share about our love for God and His Word with over 37 nationalities. I will be maintaining family life in a German speaking culture and will hopefully be able to remember some of my German from high school and college! We will look forward to hosting lots of parties in our home for students from the school and their families. Sarah, Laura, and Andy are really game for this adventure. They are amazing. I love their willingness to tackle this mission. They believe God is totally in this. Their faith in Him is well-placed. I know we will be tried and challenged. We would love to have you praying with us. More on that soon.
This is quite a huge transition for us as you can imagine. But that is part of the Austrian adventure which we will be sharing with you along the way. Tune in for updates as they happen. There is lots to do by August 1, 2009
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