Missionary Monday

I want to thank all of you who have been participating in our Missionary Monday.  If you have a blog and have not joined us for Missionary Monday, would you please consider joining up this week?  It's a great way to meet other missionaries and learn more about them and their field.  And don't forget to leave comments as you go blog hopping.  We all love comments, don't we?

Every first Monday of the month we are sharing missionary interviews.  I'm excited about next Monday!  If you are a missionary women on the field, would you consider letting us interview you?  Just send me an email - baptistmissionarywomen@hotmail.com  The more interviews I have the more often I can share them!

Without further ado...

The Attitude of Gratitude

by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

October 12, 2009

After more than two decades of ministry to hurting people, I have come to believe that a failure to give thanks is at the heart of much, if not most, of the sense of gloom, despair, and despondency that is so pervasive even among believers today. Furthermore, many of the sins that are plaguing and devastating our society can be traced back to the oft-undetected root of unthankfulness.

The “attitude of gratitude” is something that desperately needs to be cultivated in our hearts, our homes, and our society. Its presence brings a host of other blessings, while its absence has profound, lethal repercussions. Consider with me some of the contrasts between a grateful and an ungrateful heart:

A grateful person is humble, while ingratitude reveals pride.

The grateful person feels a great sense of unworthiness: “I have so much more than I deserve.” But an ungrateful person says, “I deserve so much more than I have.”

I have always been impressed by the grateful spirit of Ruth the Moabitess. Widowed after less than a decade of marriage, an impoverished stranger in a foreign land, and “condemned” to live with her embittered mother-in-law, Ruth sought a way to support herself and Naomi. When she was discovered by Boaz, who extended to her the right to glean in his fields, she fell all over herself trying to express gratitude for his gracious gesture: “Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?” (Ruth 2:10, kjv).

Under similar circumstances, I might have been more likely to think, or even say to others, “It’s the least he could do!” But the humility of this young widow is seen in her response of gratitude to the least little kindness shown her by another.

A grateful person is a loving person who seeks to gratify and bless others, while an ungrateful person is bent on gratifying himself.

One of the most common end results of ingratitude is the sin of moral impurity. The man or woman who is not thankful for the way God has met his or her needs easily begins to falsely accuse and find fault with our good God. In rejecting the provision God has already made, the ungrateful person is only one small step away from seeking to get his needs met in illegitimate ways.

A grateful heart is a full heart, while an unthankful heart is an empty one.

No matter how little he may actually have compared with others, a grateful person enjoys a sense of fullness. But no matter how much a person may in fact have, if he is not a thankful person, he will live with a gnawing sense of emptiness. I picture an unthankful heart as being something like a container with a hole in it that causes all its blessings to leak out. The grateful person has unlimited capacity to truly enjoy God’s blessings, while the ungrateful person can’t enjoy the blessings he does have.

The apostle Paul provides us with a powerful illustration of this principle. The Book of Philippians is a thank-you note, written to express gratitude for what the believers in Philippi had done to minister to Paul’s material needs while he was traveling and planting churches.

Having expressed his heartfelt appreciation for their most recent gift, Paul, writing from a Roman prison and deprived of all but the barest of necessities, made a remarkable statement: “I have all, and abound: I am full” (Phil. 4:18)! Who but a grateful person could have assessed his incarcerated condition with those words?

A grateful person is easily contented, while an ungrateful person is subject to bitterness and discontent.

Years of counseling with people who are chronically unhappy, depressed, frustrated, and emotionally unstable have convinced me that these “disorders” often stem from an unthankful heart, regardless of any external circumstances that may appear to provide an explanation.

An ungrateful person holds tightly to his “rights” and sets himself up for hurt and disappointment when God or others fail to perform according to his expectations. But the individual who has yielded all his rights to God sees all of life through thankful eyes and has no room in his heart for selfish, destructive emotions.

A grateful heart will be revealed and expressed by thankful words, while an ungrateful heart will manifest itself in murmuring and complaining.

A grateful spirit is what enables people to view and respond to the most painful circumstances in life with thanksgiving. As one person observed, “Some people complain because God put thorns on roses, while others praise Him for putting roses among thorns.”

Thankful believers from the past have much to teach us in this matter. Matthew Henry, the well-known commentator of the 19th century, was once accosted by robbers. Reflecting on the experience, he wrote in his diary, “Let me be thankful, first, because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because, although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed!”

We are called to be thankful people, to recognize and express appreciation for the benefits that we have received from God and others. We are all debtors, and we repay those debts with grateful hearts and words of thanksgiving. It is not enough to feel gratitude in our hearts. That gratitude must be communicated to those to whom we are indebted.

You and I cannot be truly free, though we have been released from bondage, if our hearts and tongues have ceased to give thanks. Perhaps right now would be a good time to take a trip to Calvary, to kneel before our incredible Savior, to look into His loving face, and to say, “Oh, Lord Jesus, thank You! Thank You! Thank You!”

© Revive Our Hearts. Used with permission. Adapted from The Attitude to Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Available for purchase at our store.
 www.ReviveOurHearts.com 

Copycat Coffe Creamers

Good morning, and welcome to Tasty Tuesday!
Have you ever seen a great recipe in a magazine or on a blog, gotten really excited about it, tried it out and been disappointed? I have. Ughhh. Sometimes I've even wondered, who in the world wrote this down? Did they actually eat this before sharing it with the world? Yikes!
For this very reason, I try not to post recipes here that are not tried and true. I only share recipes either I've tried out myself or those that come highly recommended.
But.......after saying all that, I'm giving you all some recipes I've never tried out today!
I think most of us missionary gals are the same, there are just some days when you want a taste of "home". Something that looks like, smells like, and tastes like something you remember. (Although, funny thing is, many times a homemade version tastes LOTS better! Trust me, I'm on furlough right now!) That's where lovely copycat recipes come in - a beloved memory made from real ingredients!
I noticed that one thing quite a few missionary ladies mentioned missing at Christmas time was flavored coffee creamers. Thus, our post today.
The reason I haven't tried these out is because I hate coffee. Simply put.
So....would you ladies be willing to give these a try? Maybe, just maybe they'll be yummy!
Just follow THIS LINK to Deliciously Organic and try out her recipes for Cinnamon Strudel Creamer, Chocolate Almond Creamer, Pumpkin Spice Creamer, French Vanilla Creamer, or Peppermint Mocha Creamer. After you've tried these out, maybe you could let us know in the comments which one is your favorite!

Missionary Monday

Did you know we have a private group on facebook for Missionary Women?  A place for you to come share your prayer requests, ask questions, get encouragement and be encouraged!  Look us up Baptist Missionary Women (BMW) and ask to join...only requirements - you must be a women and you must be a missionary!

Now come link up your Missionary Monday!

Devotional Friday - ...If You Faint Not

...If You Faint Not

submitted by Tori (missionary wife in Croatia) over at A Home Away from Home

I was always a kid who made due with whatever life threw my way. Growing up in poverty in a drug-dealer's home made circumstances sometimes unpredictable. While my Daddy made many mistakes he loved me and did his best to protect me. There were many days without electricity or water and getting ready for school was impossible a real feat. I learned to do much with very little. I learned to endure. To take whatever the day brought and deal with it, struggle through, and move on. While many people would pity my childhood, I don't.

I'm the sorta gal that realizes what has to be done and if I don't like it I make myself like it, if that makes any sense at all. Growing up I always wanted to have one child and I was going to spoil that child. When I married Johnny he informed me that he wanted 7 children, WHAT?. I was in shock but I soon decided that if this was what had to happen I was going to make it my desire also. Before long I dreamed of having a home full of little children calling me Mama Mother Dearest.

Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would one day be a preacher's wife much less a missionary to a foreign land. When I stop and think about where He brought me from and where He took me to I stand amazed. Here I am, a little dirty girl from the wrong side of the tracks, literally and my life amazes me.

I have no complaints about life at all. I don't feel as if I have missed out on something or that there is something I deserve which I don't have. I have no complaints! God has been so good, giving me more than I deserve while giving me less than I deserve. He amazes me.

In 2000 when we arrived in Croatia with our 3 little children in tow we had no idea what to expect. There were no American friends waiting on us, no one to explain life to us, it was just us and the dear Croatian people God sent us to. That first year was an experience of grace. I felt loneliness like I had never felt before. I watched the children cry for their grandparents and just as I had been trained so many years before I sucked it up, dealt with it and moved on. This was God's will for our life, and I knew that so I was going to make the best of it. I decided to make myself love this place.

Here I sit in my living room thinking to myself, I love this place. I love the house God has given us, I love the church I go to, I love the people I work with, I love the Croatian people as if they were my people, I love the little Gypsy children who run to me at the children's meetings and give me hugs, I love the weather here, I love the food and especially the deserts, I love being needed and loved, I love the joy I get living for someone else, I love my dog, I love having coffee with friends in the square, I love the will of God for me.

Hey it's a long road. I know if I had given up, I would have never reached this place in my life. If I hadn't purposed in my heart to love the will of God I would be unsatisfied, unfulfilled and who knows where we would be now. I had to consciously decided to love the will of God for my life. I remember fighting negative feelings and having to tell myself that I wouldn't allow it. I didn't allow my self to ask, "what if?" I refused to even entertain the idea that there was something else. I knew His will for me and I decided to accept it and make the best of it. Now...after all all these years His will is truly my delight. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I wouldn't want to leave these people or this place. I wouldn't want to be anyone else, my life is a picture of God's foreknowledge and a little stick-to-it-tive-ness, as my Preacher would say. If we had decided it was too hard, or entertained ideas about what it would be like somewhere else we would have never made it to this place. This place of contentment.

God is so good to have a will for each of us, the problem is that we faint long before we arrive at that perfect will. It's not too difficult to be in the geographic will of God but it takes time to love being there. I see so many missionaries and young people these days who make decisions for God and never carry through. Or they arrive at His will and don't have the endurance or character to stick it out. Anything worth having takes work and sacrifice. If you will ever make it to that place of rest within His will you have to struggle through the tough times and there will be many. Life is hard, it throws stuff at us that we could never prepare for. It is hard, it will be hard. STICK IT OUT!! We will reap if we faint not but we have to endure. I makes me sad and ashamed that so many missionaries and pastors fall by the wayside daily. It's an epidemic. We have become soft and we faint too easily. The statistics for IFB missionaries as as follows:

1,000 American Missionaries return home each year

75% of missionaries return home within the first three years and never go back to a foreign field

43% of missionaries never complete deputation

These statistics are staggering! Are you kidding? Missionaries start deputation, travel and accept money for years sometimes and then just decide it's too difficult. Are you kidding me? That's dishonest! Some go to the field stay 2 years come home knowing they will never return and then travel for a year accepting money from churches knowing they'll never return. It's a shame and it's dishonest!

What ever the missionaries and workers of the past had, we need it! We need to figure out how to find the strength to stay, to endure if we will ever make it to His perfect will for our lives. How many thousands have gone unsaved because a Christian quit and didn't endure?

Over the last twelve 11years and 9 months we have seen more missionaries go then we have seen come. We are a shrinking population and as Christians we need must wake up, buck up, stand up or grow up, which ever is needed.

This has been on my heart for so long. I don't like heavy blog posts but maybe just maybe someone is struggling to hang on. Contemplating quitting. Imagining brighter pastures. DON'T!

Decide that His will is going to become your delight and put the time in to it that it'll take and one day...you'll find that perfect will and delight in it.

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in

due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Gal 6:9

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall

give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4


Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Heb 13:5

Perspective

"I cannot believe there is only a trickle of water coming out of the facet again. I NEED to do laundry!"

"Bill, power is out! I'm going to have to take a cold shower AGAIN."

"It takes so much time to cook here."

Have you ever caught yourself saying something similar to the above statements? I did the other day. The power had been out more than usual. When the power goes out a lot, our water from the city comes to a trickle, or sometimes stops altogether. I was frustrated that we were again without water. Then came my worker, Pendo. I asked her about their water situation, and she begins to tell me that they haven't had a drop of water in two weeks. She has to arise early in the morning, before coming in for a full day of work, in order to walk a distance to carry water back to her house. After this conversation I took a walk and saw a bunch of women down at the lake gathering water for their families. It was then that it hit me...

PERSPECTIVE

You see, I tend to compare my life with those who live in the Western world. (First mistake. 2 Corinthians 10:12c says - "and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.") So I was getting frustrated about the lack of water, knowing that my friends in America have water aplenty. I mean really, how many times in my life, when living in America, did I go to turn on the facet and wonder if water was going to come out?

PERSPECTIVE

God used the situation with my worker and my neighbor ladies gathering water at the lake to get my attention. I realized that morning that rather than grumbling about what I thought was my "right" to have water each and every time I went to my facet, that I should be thankful for how God has blessed me with water at all. (Second mistake. Philippians 2:14 says - "Do all things without murmurings and disputings:") To top it off, even if water doesn't come out of my facet, God has blessed us to have an underground water tank and even a small above ground tank. If I come to the place of no water in the house I can still haul in buckets of water from those tanks. So in reality, I'm not out of water. I'm just used to the ease of turning on my facet and watching it pour out.

PERSPECTIVE

What about you? What is your PERSPECTIVE today?

The Perfect Meal for Valentines' Day

Good morning, and welcome to Tasty Tuesday...on Monday! I really wanted to share these recipes today, just in case you hadn't made plans for Valentine's Day and were still looking for the perfect meal.
Now I'm not the one who says this is a perfect meal. My hubby does. And that, my friends, means a lot. My dear husband knows what he likes and doesn't like. He is a foodie. And he heartily approves of this meal.
Not convinced? It originated with dear Pioneer Woman. And if that's not enough to convince you, I don't know what is!
First up.....

Comfort Meatballs

FOR MEATBALLS
1-1/2 pound Ground Beef
3/4 cups Oats
1 cup Milk
3 Tablespoons Very Finely Minced Onion
1-1/2 teaspoon Salt
Plenty Of Ground Black Pepper, to taste
_____
FOR COOKING MEATBALLS
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
Canola/Vegetable Oil
_____
FOR SAUCE
1 cup Ketchup
2 Tablespoons Sugar
3 Tablespoons Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire
4 Tablespoons (to 6 Tablespoons) Onion
1 dash Tabasco

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes. After 5 minutes, remove meatballs from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour. Brown meatballs in oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish. Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Since these are more like meatloaf meatballs than Italian meatballs, I serve them with mashed potatoes {boil your potatoes, then use a potato masher (not a mixer!) to mash them with salt, pepper, WHOLE milk and plenty of butter}, and his favorite vegetable of the moment. Just happens to be these.



With Valentine's Dinner, you must have a dessert. If you've got the time and the ingredients, this one is incredible. Don't be put off by the strange ingredient....it makes the most incredible, moist cake you've ever had. Plus, no artificial food coloring necessary. I like that! With much thanks to Joy.

Chocolate Beet Cake with Beet Cream Cheese Frosting

For the Cake:
2 medium beets, unpeeled but trimmed of their greens
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
6 ounces (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pans
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

For the Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces (1 brick) cream cheese, softened
4 to 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons finely grated beets, mashed with a fork
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or scrapings of one vanilla bean pod
1-2 teaspoons milk, depending on desired consistency
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt

Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Thoroughly wash beets under running water, and trim their leaves, leaving about 1/2 inch of stem. Place clean beets in a piece of foil. Drizzle with just a bit of vegetable oil. Seal up foil. Place on a baking sheet in the oven. Roast until beets are tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour.
Remove the beets from the oven. Open the foil and allow beets to cool completely. Beets will be easy to peel (just using a paring knife) once completely cooled.
Using a box grater, grate the peeled beets on the finest grating plane. Measure 3/4 cup of grated beets for the cake and 2 tablespoons for the frosting. Set aside.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Use butter to grease two 8 or 9-inch round baking pans. Trace a piece of parchment paper so it is the same size as the bottom of the cake pan. Cut it out and place inside the cake pan. Butter the parchment paper. Add a dusting of flour to coat the pan. Set pans aside while you prepare the cake.

Cream together butter and sugars. Beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, for one minute after each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Once eggs are incorporated, beat in beets and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter and egg mixture. Beating on low speed , slowly add the buttermilk. Once just incorporated, add the other half of the dry ingredients. Beat on medium speed until milk and dry ingredients are just incorporated. Try not to overmix the batter. Mixture can be folded with a spatula to finish incorporating ingredients. Cake batter will be on the thick side… not pourable.

Divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes (for a 9-inch pan) or 30-32 minutes (for an 8-inch pan). Cake is done when a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cakes from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting and assembling the cake.

To make the Frosting:
Beat cream cheese for 30 seconds, until pliable and smooth. Add the butter and beat for another 30 seconds, until well combined. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl as necessary. Beat in the beets. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, milk, lemon juice, and salt. Beat on medium speed until smooth and silky. Refrigerate the frosting for 30 minutes before frosting the cooled cakes.

To assemble the cake, place one layer of cake on a cake stand or cake plate. Top with a generous amount of pink frosting. Spread evenly. Place the other cake on top of the frosting. Top with frosting. Work frosting onto the sides of the cake. You will have extra frosting left over. Refrigerate for an hour before serving (it will make the cake easier to slice). Cake will last, well wrapped in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days
You can, of course, make this into cupcakes or mini-cupcakes if you so wish. Just make sure to reduce your baking time!


They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. So cook well, my friends! Make your hubby happy this Valentine's Day!