Mountains of Meteora

This is not so much a poem as a reaction, words to the experience I had while visiting the mountains of Meteora. You can see this site in the pictures Alastair has taken above or in the Movie “For Your Eyes Only”, staring Roger Moore.

This was one of the places on our educational tour in Greece where Apostle Paul did not go. However…007 did!



The Rocks cry out

Mountains
Rising up like fingers
Like ships run aground
Rocks crying out
How awesome is our God!

Monasteries precariously
Clinging to the cliffs edge
Men seeking a higher place
Seeking God
Who formed the very rocks
they balance on

Each rock formation
Standing on its own.
Isolated
like the monks
Who live in their caves
Yet, standing together
like a great wall.

A wide expanse of mountains
Contrasted with a small
dark rooms of incense.
Incense too think to breathe freely

saints painted on walls
speaking loudly
voices
voices
voices
of the past
no rest for my spirit
simplicity lost.

Icons with closed lips
Their lives have testified
all has been said
“asleep but not dead”

Wake up!
Wake up and step outside
See the Rock on which you
Have built your shelter.
The rock from which you were cut

Breath in the
Fresh mountain air
Hear creation testifying
He Lives
He lives
He Lives!

Leave the small dark rooms
Leave your caves
See the Light of day
See the Glory of the Lord
It’s outside your window
For the whosoever
For you
For me
For the whole world to see.

I’ve heard the rocks cry out!
How awesome is our God!

cjb

Greece

First few hours in Greece, with jet lag.
Sitting under the olive trees in Athens across from Mars Hill.
(R to L or L to R - Carole, Sue, Sue and Carol)

Click here for slideshow

Believe

Believe that the seed planted will grow.
Believe that the word given he will bestow.
Believe that he rewards those who seek him.
BELIEVE and he'll bless you beyond reason!

cjb

This day is His

I will not worry
what this day will bring
Because I know,
I’m in step with my King

He holds my hand
He leads the way
This day is His,
Come what may.

Remain in me and I will remain in you
Great wonders you will see
As my Spirit comes alive in thee,
Remain in me.

The miracle is this;
That God’s character could be
Contained in THIS jar of clay.

Remain in me and I will remain in you
Great wonders you will see
As my Spirit comes alive in thee
Remain in me.

What do I want?
Fruit to be seen.
Fruit that you are alive
and living in me,
Remain in me.

He holds my hand
He leads the way
This day is His,
Come what may.

cjb

Ruth's song

You send me home
With arms of grain
It is more than I deserve
Yes, more than I deserve
My arms are full

You cover me,
You hide my shame
It is more than I deserve
Yes, more than I deserve
I am your own

At the city gates on my behalf,
Before the elders you speak for me.
You are more than I deserve
Yes, more than I deserve

To be your bride
To take your name
You redeem my life
I am not the same
It’s more than I deserve

Now I’m no longer called a servant
Now I am called your wife
Your household bows before me
You have redeemed my life

A future, I now have
Inheritance is mine
It is all by your own hand
This new full life of mine.

It’s more than I deserve
Yes, more than I deserve
my inheritance is secure
It’s all by your own hand

Your loving kindness
Your mercy and grace
Your love divine is all mine,
You’ve removed all my disgrace

It is more than I deserve
Yes, more than I deserve
Your love, your son
You’re more than I deserve
My kinsman redeemer.

Slideshows from the last few weeks

TAM 07

SLMC 07

Atlanta 07

M-M-M-My Schwannoma!

They removed my schwannoma because it was getting on my nerves!

What is a schwannoma? In short it is a tumor/outgrowth on a nerve.
I found out about three months ago that I had some mass growing in me about the size of a ping-pong ball. The doctors all agreed it needed to be removed. They could not tell from the MRI and ultra-sounds if it was attached to anything important and at the time they were unsure as to what it was exactly.
So, feeling completely fine, I checked into the hospital last week and had surgery to remove this “ping-pong” sized enigma.
Abdominal surgery, even laparoscopic, has a way of making a healthy person feel sick. After one night in the hospital they told me the ping-pong was removed, everything looks great and the next day I could go *home.
Six days later at my check up the Doctor says, “So the punch line is this…you had a schwannoma and it was resting on a nerve. Do you feel any different with it gone?”
Actually, I did feel different. I felt like someone ran over me with a truck, like I could sleep for a week and when I walked I looked like my grandmother in her 90’s.
However this is not what I told the Doctor. I just told him my left knee (that has bothered me for years) when I sit for long periods didn’t hurt anymore. Could it have been a pinched nerve that now was no longer pinched?
He just raised an eyebrow and said, “Sure, I’ll take credit for that!”

So my schwannoma is gone.
( I kinda like saying that word… SCHWANNOMA!)
Strangely enough my knee which is no where near my abdomen :) …. feels better and I am in recovery from the surgery.
God is good.
You see, I didn’t even know there was anything wrong but the Lord knew and through a series of seemingly random events he made it clear to me and to the physicians. Those who knew how to help me, who were trained for this kind of work did what they had to do to remove it. As a result, I feel pain for awhile because of the surgery but in the long run I am healthier.

What’s getting on your nerves? Is it affecting your walk with God?

How often do we have something resting on our “last nerve” slowly growing with in us and we don’t realize how it is affecting our walk with the Lord, our relationship with others.

The removal process can be painful but the end results are health for the whole body.

Hebrews 12:10-13
“Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”

* Thank you to my parents for coming to stay with us, helping with the house and the kids!

A Battle Cry

I stand before the throne of God interceding. God is high and lifted up on his throne. I am on the right and there is one who opposes on the left. I face the Lord making my request known to him. As I speak with the Lord, the one who opposes my every word becomes louder and louder. I turn and face him. He is angry, yelling at me but when I look at him his words are sharpened with a mocking tone. I see those standing behind him jeering and cheering him on. In this moment of discouragement I turn my head to look at the throne of God and I see the Lord tilting his head with a smile as if to say “look behind you”. I looked behind me and there standing with me was a great multitude of people. An ocean of people as far as the eye can see. Some of them look right at me and I knew them. They were those who had gone before me. My grandparents, great-grandparents on both sides of my family and my husband’s ancestors as well. I also saw ancestors of soldiers and officers in the Army. Most were people who I had never met before but who had invested in the Kingdom of God; people who had been faithful. They were standing there cheering me on and claiming with me God’s promise to be faithful to the generations of those who have loved him and obeyed His Word. I knew they respresented our heritage standing before the throne of grace warring for us, warring with us.

Suddenly, standing there looking at this great cloud of witnesses, a wave of encouragement and strength in the spirit overwhelmed me. At that moment I turned to look my accuser in the eye. As I turned my eyes locked with my mocker and I saw the fear in his eyes. Those behind him fled before I even opened my mouth and when I spoke, I directed my words right at him.

However, they were not so much words….
What does one say in a moment like that?
One screams! One shouts! A battle cry!

Picture it like the scene of the last battle in the movie Braveheart. The shout of William Wallace echoed by all who stood with him….. the battle cry! Each time they shouted, they became louder and more in unison. They were ready to fight to the death. This is the position I now took before my accuser standing with the great cloud of witnesses before the throne of God. Our shouts of victory, our battles cries of past and present bled into one voice.

In that moment, the mocker, the accuser, the one who opposes was reminded of the truth that is ours…….We have already won! The Battle is the Lords! The victory is ours! There are more for us than against us and those who oppose God will be broken. Truth like that has a way of making the enemy slither away. His only hope is to keep us ignorant of this reality, to keep us discouraged and fearful of him. Once we know the truth, once he sees in our eyes that we KNOW the TRUTH….what else can he do but flee?

Do you believe it?
Sound the battle cry!
There is victory in Jesus!
We have already won.

Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Intercede

‘This far and no further!’ says Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings. He is standing on a thin bridge, his words directed at a flying fire-breathing dragon. He holds his ground and emphasizes his words by slamming down his staff. The bridge breaks and Gandalf falls wrestling with the dragon to unseen depths.

I keep hearing these words, the words of Gandalf. “This far and no further!”
These are the words of my own soul when I intercede before the Lord.
Satan has had his time. He has wreaked havoc long enough. It is time to claim back the land that belongs to our King, to recapture the hearts and minds of his people, those dedicated to and for His purposes.

This is where it stops! We can stand with Gandalf on the bridge and say to satan, “This far and no further!” You have stolen our sons and daughters; you have made a mockery out of our attempts to follow God. You have found pleasure in our weaknesses and have stolen ground that was never yours to take.

We are at fault too. We have sinned against God and our ancestors; we have not kept the vows of our youth and have let the enemy enter our promised land through the open doors of hypocrisy, apathy and ignorance. The gates to our cities have not been guarded, the enemy has had his time but we can say, “This far and no further!”

This is a call to intercessors for such a time as this. As it was with Nehemiah a time has come for a re-building of our city walls and a time has come for the ancient gates to lift up their heads. Nehemiah appointed families to build up and guard the walls and gates from the threats of the surrounding enemy. As intercessors we must take our appointed places, guard our gates, re-build our city walls. We need people to take a stand for what is rightfully ours. We need people who will go forth to claim back that which was stolen from us. We need men and women to stand against the enemy and say defiantly “This far and no further!”

The Battle is the Lords.

1 John 3:8b “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.”

FUN at O.O.B.

View slideshow

'The Angel of Amsterdam'

6 July 2007 10:31 AM GDT

The Netherlands Says Goodbye to 'The Angel of Amsterdam'

Author: International News

The Netherlands Says Goodbye to 'The Angel of Amsterdam'

A PEACEFUL and almost holy atmosphere descended on the red light district of Amsterdam on Saturday 30 June as the funeral procession of Lieut-Colonel Alida M. Bosshardt OF passed through. Church bells rang and people applauded as 'Major Bosshardt', as she was known, made her last visit to the district where she had worked for almost 50 years.....

(click on link above to read the full article)

Lieut-Colonel Bosshardt's slogan was: 'To serve God is to serve people and to serve people is to serve God.'

Even through her death Lieut-Colonel Alida Margaretha Bosshardt was able to touch the hearts of thousands of people who applauded her in the streets or who watched the funeral service on television. 'If there were more people like you,' wrote one person on the condolences web site, 'the world would be a better place.'
Report by Ruud Tinga

NJ music camp

Slideshow

Blood and Fire

Underneath the Blood and Fire
My soul will find it's rest
As I fight beside my Master
This war’s not over yet!

Covered with the blood of Christ
Saved by grace -grace alone
Baptized by Holy Spirit’s fire
Righteousness not my own.

The Savior’s blood poured out for me
But not for me alone,
I must speak forth the gospel truth
I must make Jesus known.

Fire that comes and burns away
All traces of my sin;
Immerse the world in God's own WORD
Baptize with fire for Him.

A victor’s life to win the war
Needs only these two things:
The blood of Jesus -saves our souls,
The Fire that makes us clean.

cjb

Graduating class of 2007!

This year we had two graduations in our family.

Our oldest graduated from Middle School and ....



our youngest graduated from Pre-School.

I guess that is what happens with a 10 year span between the oldest and the youngest!

Next year we will also have two graduations. One from Elementary School and the other from Middle School.

Mile markers in life. We are so proud of all of them.

" All your children will be taught by the Lord and great will be their peace."

Isaiah 54:13 (NIV)

As promised- Anniversary before and after photos!

Alastair proposed to me on Torn mountain at Star Lake camp. ('88)




Married at Hempstead Corps June 16th, 1990



At the Eastern Europe Territory's congress in St. Petersburg, Russia ( '06)


Our Wedding Song
written for us by Darryl and Faith Collier

From the start and through all my life
I have been searching trying hard to find
the one who might touch my heart
Yes, The Lord he knows my heart's desires
and He knew you would come into my life.
How you compliment my individuality,
He willed us to be man and wife.

Now together we belong
and I have no doubt that it is true,
because The Spirit gave me confirmation
to share my love and give my life to you.

When I prayed to God for a glimpse of His love
I could not envision a union like ours.
Love responds to dreams growing closer,
everyday joins us in the bond of love.
I now belong to you and yes, you now belong to me.
Hand in hand for life, death us do part.

Now together we belong
and I have no doubt that it is true,
because The Spirit gave me confirmation
to share my love and give my life to you.

Yes! Together we belong
and I have no doubt that it is true,
because The Spirit gave me confirmation
to share my love and give my life to you.

New Pictures

Alastair got a new camera for Father's Day/our Anniversary so there are a lot of new photos that I have just uploaded to my flicker account.

You'll be surprised how many we've taken in such a short time.
He is very happy with this new toy and the girls have taken quite a few pictures too.
Check out the different "sets" of photos to see our oldest graduating from Middle School, new family and friend photos, Father's day at the corps, a concert at the park and the corps band's recording day.
It's been a busy weekend!!
The nature and flowers sets are mostly photo's taken by our oldest two daughters.
I was impressed- with them and the camera!
Blessings-

17th Anniversary - June 16, 1990

This is the "After" pic -I'm going to scan the "before" when I get a chance!

He is faithful to His word

The Lord has spoken
He is faithful to His word
The Lord never fails
He is with me in this world

When all the pressures come
I will not be crushed
When all earthly reasons gone
I will not loose my hope!

When evil says “all in vain!”
Efforts I have made
When doubt whispers to my heart
I’ll call upon His name!

If all I’ve hoped for is gone
Some may call me fool
Even still I will look up
I know I’ll rise with Him!

cjb

God of the floodgates

God of the floodgates
Open your skies
Rain down upon us
Changing our lives

God of the harvest
Plant within me
Seeds of your word
Rooted in thee

God of the ocean
Lord of the seas
Depth of devotion
Submersed in thee

Start the revival
Lord in my heart
Spread it like fire
Your will impart

cjb

This is why I'm saved

Sharing in the master’s work
Sacrifices come
Every loss will be my gain
When this war is won

Sharing in your suffering
Giving as you gave
Living out your life in me
This is why I’m saved

Giving all I have for you
What more can I do?
Your love is extravagant
Make me more like you

Living every day in full
Life abundantly
God’s great goodness and His grace
Brings me to my knees

Fighting in the war for souls
This is why I’m saved!
Battles raging all around
Efforts not in vain


cjb