Have you ever wondered what Noah’s Ark really looked like? Well, travel to Kentucky (of all places), and you’ll get a pretty good idea. The Ark Encounter, a project of Answers in Genesis, is a life-sized ark based on the dimensions listed in the Bible.
Using the theory that that each pair of animals represented one “kind,” they filled the ark with models of these creatures based on prehistoric fossils. There are also several displays within the ark, including an exhibit provided by the Bible Museum and one that shares flood legends around the world.
It’s a little bit museum and a little bit theme park, which appealed to my five-year-old who loves science. Our visit to the Ark Encounter was an awesome experience for our whole family, from my parents (who brought us!) to my kids.
Judging by the major crowds at the Ark on the Saturday we visited, this is a popular destination. Perhaps this is, in part, because children’s tickets are free. The venue also hosts conferences and concerts–the day we visited, there was live music by a well-known Christian band included with the price of a ticket. We didn’t attend because there was so much to see!
Definitely a fun trip and one I’ll repeat when my kids get older and mature enough to appreciate new things about the experience.
This book is reminiscent of the compiled sermons of classic theologians. They are presented in a direct, oratory style, and you can almost hear the author’s voice addressing the reader passionately and personally. The text is engaging and punctuated with short illustrations from the lives of influential people, catchy sayings, and humorous anecdotes. Scripture and prose flow together seamlessly.
This devotional is perfect for families, but it’s applicable to any believer. The writing is clear and succinct, conveying practical messages that are alternatively encouraging and convicting. The devotionals are short enough and straightforward enough for children to grasp, but they cut to the heart of issues experienced by adults as well. Topics range from faithfulness to finances and everything in between.
If you only have time for a devotional reading, you can absorb a chapter of the book with your morning coffee. Or, you can sit down with your family at dinner time and expand the devotional with the questions and Bible reading at the end of chapters.
As someone whose life has been deeply influenced by the author of this book, I can testify that From a Pastor’s Heart and Hand is the perfect title for this devotional. Pastor Joe Oswald has spend his years shepherding congregations, children, P.E. classes, and youth with both loving guidance and hands-on engagement.
From a Pastor’s Heart and Hand flows from this discipleship, which is at the heart of Christian teaching and leadership. For this reason, this book is sure to impact your life in a small way each day and for the rest of your life. Years after reading it, you may find yourself engaging in “Thankful Thursday” prayer or reminding yourself that “when you point a finger at others, four are still pointing at yourself.”
You can get this book on Amazon in either print or Kindle format. If you don’t have a devotional for the New Year, why not make a strong start with From a Pastor’s Heart and Hand?
If you haven’t figured in out by now, Ben and I are foster parents! We’ve been enjoying the company of a teen boy for about six months, who you may have seen mentioned vaguely as “R” in some of my recent posts. I haven’t talked about this explicitly, mostly because I’m not really sure how to talk about it in a public forum. For one thing, our son is a teenager in a small community, we’re Facebook friends with a lot of his friends, and all the kids around here are all over the internet. I don’t really want to be “that mom” and write things that are potentially embarrassing. Secondly, as the rest of you foster moms know, there’s a lot of obligatory privacy when it comes to foster kids. You have to follow the rules, and you have to be respectful. So I’ve opted not to talk about it thus far. However, this is a really big part of my life, and I think it’s good to talk about the foster parent experience. So I’m going to be posting a lot more about foster parenting here, and hopefully creating an element of camaraderie with other foster moms.
So what is it like to be a foster parent? Well, that’s hard to answer. Our situation is very, very different than most peoples’. However, I’d be kidding myself if I said that being a unique foster family is, well, unique. Everybody has a distinct experience with its own joys and challenges. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that you can’t put the foster-family lifestyle in a box!
For us, we’re a cross-cultural family. This wasn’t much of a stretch for us. Ben and I already have learned to enjoy and appreciate our own cultural differences. With our son, there’s also a difference in nationality. Ben and I are expats in the Caribbean, and our son is from here. We’ve had to learn to navigate the system in a place that is very different from the United States, but thankfully we’ve had wonderful people from the children’s service organization who are very kind to us as we pick through the cultural obstacle course.
We’re also a young couple fostering a teen. We’ve experienced some judgement from people who don’t think we should be taking on this kind of responsibility, but ultimately, we don’t dwell on those voices. Fostering has taught me that no matter what you do and no matter what your motives are, people are going to find fault with you. You can’t let it get you down. Listen to concerns of people who care about you, but in the end you just have to do what you know is right for your family. And guess what? It’s gone beautifully. If you’ve never considered fostering teens, why not look into it? I never thought I’d be good at this, but it’s one of the best experiences of my life.
We’re in med school. As one of my college professors used to say, “It will never be the ideal time to start having kids.” Doesn’t matter if they’re biological or not. Of course, there are some things that have to be in place, by law, in order for you to foster. But you don’t have to have a house or a massive income! You just have to have an extra room and be able to take care of yourself. Med school isn’t the ideal time to do anything, really, but we decided we just have to live our lives and not act like we’re on pause.
We’re pioneers. As far as I know, we’re the first foreigners to foster here. I think we’re the first who ever asked. Also, the program is fairly new. So learning how this works for us is a process. There’s a lot of uncertainty about things. We just have to take stuff day by day, which is hard for me to process—I love planning everything about two years in advance! It’s a learning experience for me, and a growing experience. I never know what to expect and I’m learning to walk in faith.
We’re Living by Faith. I have to take every step before I can see where it will land, which is scary. It’s easy to say that I know God will lead me and take care of me, but it’s hard to act on it. However, as Pricilla Shirer teaches in The Armor of God (my current Bible study book), faith is an ACTION. Faith has little to do with my ability to believe really hard and everything to do with God’s faithfulness. If I trust in that faithfulness, I can take the action God is asking me to take before I see the outcome. So that is what we are doing. We have to live by faith and do the things God wants us to do. Ever since we first felt God leading us in that direction, we’ve had to take steps before we had assurance that things were going to work out. Financial commitments and time commitments had to be made before we even knew if we were going to be certified. And it worked out. We’re still up against unknowns every day, but we are trusting God to work those out, too.
What about you? Are there any other foster families out there? I’d love to hear your story, too!
Well, it finally happened. I had to change a tire without my husband there. In fact, not only did I have to conjure up the memory of how to change a tire, but I had left my American phone at home, my island phone was dead, and I had two teenagers in the car. Also, I was stupid enough to park in the mud on a slight slope, which made the whole thing more difficult. And you know what? It wasn’t actually so bad. In fact, in ended up being a good thing, in a way.
Of course, no teenage boy who has been promised a beach excursion wants to sit in the mud and change a tire. But the kids I had had a pretty good attitude, and I was a darn good thing they were there, especially R, who never complained once and worked really hard for an hour. Together, we managed to jack up the car, get the blown tire off, not get our feet smashed when the car slid in the mud and fell off the jack, jack it back up, and put on the mock.
As soon as that tire blew out, I knew I had two choices: get really stressed out and frustrated, or play it cool and have a good attitude. To be honest, if I was alone I probably would have thrown a great big hissy fit and cried a little. But with two teens in the car, I didn’t have that option. If I could keep my wits about me, it would be the perfect opportunity to model how one ought to handle a crisis. I decided to stay very calm and not freak out. By the grace of God, I was able to do just that.
We were quite a ways away from any buildings, so I just pulled off in a dirt patch and we got out to survey the damage. Yup, the tire was flat, and we were not going to make it any further than where we were. In hindsight, I should have made sure we were on level ground, but I was focused on staying level-headed. “Well,” I told the boys, “You two are going to learn how to change a tire.” And I silently thanked my dad for showing me how to do it way back when I was their age, because otherwise we would have been in big trouble.
I unloaded the massive amount of random stuff out of the trunk (you know, coffee pots, sheets, and spoons, the usual) and located the spare. After some hunting, I found the jack Ben bought and an assortment of tools. It took us what felt like seven years to get the car up, and I honestly wondered if we were actually going to do it. Even so, the whole time, we stayed pretty chill. Maybe it was a little overkill when I suggested we think up positive things about our situation (R looked at me like I had lost my mind), but better positive than negative, I guess. I’ve been in worse situations– Ben and I once changed a tire in the rain using a jack, a broken antenna, and an old fork, only to discover than the spare was also flat. We survived that, so we could totally survive this. Sure enough, couple hours later, we were back in Philipsburg with a new rim from the tire shop and a pumped-up tire. And R was armed with his newly-acquired knowledge of how to change a tire.
I learned a few things from this situation. First, it’s super nice to have a helpful teenage boy around who is strong enough to raise the front end of a car. Secondly, I’m more capable of taking care of myself that I thought. Third, I need to be vigilant about how I handle things these days, since a bunch of kids and teens are watching me.
Finally, I learned that being a mentor isn’t just about fun outings and giving advice. It’s also about walking through everyday life with someone, in the good times and the bad, and showing them how to deal with life’s storms. I think that maybe the flat tires of life are the most powerful mentoring moments.
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What has been your most powerful mentoring moment? Comment below to tell me about it.
I am a Christian, and I am fasting for Ramadan. Why? Read on.
Ramadan is the Muslim holy month of prayer and fasting. During the month, Muslims do not eat during the daylight hours. This Ramadan, I and many members of our church are observing a Ramadan fast for at least one day. I’m probably only doing one day, because I turn into a raving rabid bear if I don’t eat and my husband needs his normal(ish) wife this week.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I do not believe in synchrotism, the merging of religions. I do not believe that all religions are the same or that the various religions are all ways of worshiping the same God. I hold to orthodox Christian teachings and believe that the Bible is perfectly inerrant. I am not fasting to observe Ramadan per se.
In our community, Christians and Muslims live in close proximity with close ties of friendship. I wish it were this way all over the world. Our next-door neighbor is Muslim, and he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. The day before Ramadan started, he asked us if we’d mind him using his blender to make breakfast before the sun rose. He didn’t want to disturb us while we were sleeping. We’ve had a lot of great conversations about life and about Jesus and Islam and religion and worship. He’s one of many good Muslim friends we love and respect.
In fact, those friends are the reason I am fasting for Ramadan. When Christians fast (and this may be true for other religions as well), we spend the time we would normally spend on food and dedicate it to prayer for something that weighs heavy on our hearts. The gnawing hunger throughout the day reminds us to stop and pray between mealtimes as well. What weighs heavily on my heart this Ramadan is my Muslim friends. During our day of fasting, my Christian friends and I will be praying that our Muslim friends will come to fully know Jesus and the saving power of His death and resurrection.
This is the part of my post where many people will become offended. Please do not be offended, and please keep reading. In our culture, it is somehow “wrong” to want someone to convert to your religion. As if it’s trying to steal someone from one club for another! Actually, it’s not like that. In fact, if I did not care what my friends believe, I wouldn’t be a very good friend. Here’s why:
Imagine I know that a hurricane is about to hit the island. And I know that there is only one airplane capable of flying out of the storm. Would it be loving for me to let my friends get on an airplane that I know will crash? Would it be loving for me to care more about offending them by telling them their airplane isn’t strong enough to outfly the storm? No! It would be loving to tell them about my airplane.
That’s how it is when Christian share about their faith with others and pray for them to know Jesus. We believe that the only way to Heaven is by trusting that Jesus has paid the penalty for our offenses. We believe that no amount of good works can cancel out the bad ones. We believe that a relationship with God and forgiveness of sins can only come from trusting in Jesus and his death and resurrection. And the part we hate talking about– that if you’re not headed to Heaven, you’re headed to a place that is far less pleasant.
If a Christian truly believes that, the most hateful thing we could do is not share about Jesus with others, and not want Jesus for our friends. The most loving thing we can do is tell them that Jesus has their back if they trust in him. Even if you disagree with my religious beliefs, we can at least agree on that.
Muslim friends, it is very hard for most Christians to get the nerve up to share about their faith with you. Religion is a highly volatile subject, and it is hard for many of us to bring it up. In fact, most of us will probably shy away from it and hope someone else talks to you. But we will almost always pray for you, and I hope that makes you glad. If your Christian friend talks about Jesus with you, please know that friend loves and cares about you very much.
And I love you, too. There is nothing I want more for you than to know Jesus the way I do. I long for you to know that he is God, and not just a prophet. I desire to spend eternity with you in Heaven. I hope that before we part ways, you’ll hear that from my mouth. If we never have that conversation, I believe I will have failed in our friendship in that way. Know that this Ramadan, I will be thinking of you and praying for you.
Airplanes, expats, and the missionary life! Kaitlyn Stewart, the author of today’s guest post, grew up in Senegal, a nation in West Africa. I met her during our college years in Arizona. This summer, she is embarking on a long-term missionary journey of her own to Mali.
I sat in the back of the airplane, my ears silenced by the foam squish of the airplane headset. My heart sped up with the deep whir of the propeller, thumping slightly as the wheels bounced over the lumpy concrete. As the wind rushed heavy over the wings and lifted the aircraft high into the Arizona air, my heart lifted, thrown into an excited tempo by the soaring plane. Faster than it seemed possible, the Kodiak left the earth and sped up and away over the dry landscape. Glancing out the window, my view shifted and I imagined the green leaves of lush jungles and the beautiful mountains this plane would soon see. And my heart took flight again, enchanted with the future the Kodiak would see among the rainforests of Papua New Guinea.
These airplanes have been an answer to prayer. With more room both for passengers and luggage, they can travel faster and cover longer distances than other small aircraft. They also use less expensive fuel, making them more cost efficient as well. If needed, these planes can carry a stretcher, turning them into makeshift ambulances. Overall, these planes have been an incredible asset, making it easier to transport supplies and people to the farthest unreached places and people of the world.
Airplanes have always played a significant role in my life. I grew up around them, stepping on an airplane for the first time at four years old, and was always near, in, or around one. To me, the airplane became a way to connect with missionaries that I knew in the villages of Senegal, a way to bring supplies, pets, medicine, and technology to those working to spread the gospel of Christ. I loved the chance to experience the joy of flying and being a part of the missionary work.
It doesn’t always take an airplane ride for someone to be able to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those around them. It can take a simple step outside their front door, a short walk to a neighbor, a car ride to a country that needs help. But for those places that are inaccessible, the airplane provides that opportunity that may not have been otherwise possible. With these new planes, mission work can be redefined, and the gospel of Christ brought to those who may have never before had the chance to hear about the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
Consider the roles these airplanes will have in the years to come. Transporting people, bringing supplies to remote locations, ferrying those who are sick or injured to medical facilities, and most importantly, carrying the good news of Jesus Christ to the lost places of the world.
Consider your own role. Just as the airplane is a thread in the tapestry of God’s overarching sovereign plan for saving this world, so are you. He has equipped you to be a vessel that carries important news to the far reaches of earth- that Christ can forgive sins and pull individuals from the chains of brokenness and death into light and redeeming love. Through the power of Christ, you have the ability to bring healing to a broken world. You have the ability to soar on the wings of eagles and impact this world for Jesus Christ.
As the wheels touched down again on the concrete of the small Arizona airstrip, my mind envisioned a crowd of excited villagers and smiling missionaries crowding around the door to get a glimpse of the plane that would change the course of history in the jungles of PNG. And suddenly, it didn’t matter where I was now, I wanted to someday be a part of a team that worked to bring that good news to those people. We are called to take the good news of Christ to the far reaches of the earth, and with one small airplane ride, my desire to proclaim the name of Jesus to the lost nations flew as high as the planes soaring overhead. The magnificent plane stands ready to do its part in helping save this world- will you join us?
