lazy days

It has been a quiet few days for us, which has been good for our hearts.

It has been warmer, which has brought some much needed time outside.

It has been lighter in load, with trips to the park and a walk after dinner since it was still light outside. While this is strange and different, we think it is a direct result of insisting on some margin in our lives (which for us means no sports this season...different but good for us)

We have been reading more than we have in ages.

We are going through things and trying to get rid of as much as possible.

We watched LOTS of basketball this past weekend, and bought the kids a Wii. They now think we are the coolest parents on the planet.

We had lunch with friends after church which is always refreshing to our souls. By the time we left, it was time for dinner. Just a nice, lazy day.

I am reading a book called "Choosing Forgiveness" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, which is challenging.

And I am checking email like a crazy woman, wondering if today will be the day we hear from Rwanda.

Looking for a good book?

I am not a reviewer of books, but man, I have had some really good ones in my hands lately!

All recommended by others. All seriously unbelievable.

I am not even that big of a reader. While I have very good intentions of reading, and often have books falling over themselves on my nightstand, the actual reading part gets lost, and the desperate need for sleep or good conversation with my hubby take over.

Until recently! I can't put these books down.

Get on with it already, you are saying. Okay.



Do you have a trip coming up? Do you need a good book for the car/plane? Go get this book from the library! Go buy it! It is so good. I could not put it down.

outta dodge

Do you ever just sometimes need to see something else?

Do you ever just like to get out of town?

Do you like to surround yourself with things that are different every now and then?

Yesterday was one of those days for us.

It was slightly warmer here, it was a Friday, and Daddy had the day off.

We decided it was time for a FAMILY FUN DAY!

Can you guess where we went?









It was wonderful.

specifically

As I've been pondering and processing what I am learning through the book I was telling you about yesterday, I think what has struck me the most is that, while International Justice Mission is cool and all, (and I do think they are way cool), freedom for captives and release from darkness for the prisoners is God's idea!

International Justice Mission is cool and what they do is cool because God is cool and His whole plan is freedom and justice and rescue! And they know that, and they proclaim that. They know that justice is not just their passion; it is God's.

What I love about this book is that it points me to God, my Father, my Savior, who loves all things FREEDOM and all things JUST and all things RIGHT; the book doesn't just point to themselves to say, "aren't we the best?"

The passage that Gary Haugen quotes at the beginning of the book is "You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more." Psalm 10: 17-18

International Justice Mission in Rwanda

I am finishing up one of the best books I have ever read, entitled Terrify No More by Gary Haugen, founder of International Justice Mission.


This post is on their website today:

Arrest in Rwanda

Friends, we want to share with you this casework victory in Rwanda from today. Please keep little 2 year old Kissa,* as well as the man who committed this rape against her, and the IJM staff team in your prayers as they move forward to bring the full circle of justice. Pray also that this case would send a strong message to others in this community that rape will not go unpunished. It has been treated with impunity for far too long, turning rape into a pandemic in this nation, and one that not only strips life and dignity, but also fuels the spread of AIDs.

From the IJM Rwanda Team:
---------------
We have a praise report from an ongoing case involving the rape of 2-year old Kissa*. In September of 2009, Kissa was raped in her relative’s home by an older male cousin while she was left unattended. The same day, Kissa told her mother and the mother immediately reported it to the police. Kissa was also examined at a hospital by medical professionals to document the incident. Shortly thereafter, IJM became involved in the case.

Last week, one of our investigators was able to secure an arrest warrant from the Prosecutor’s Office based on medical evidence and witness testimony in the case. Yesterday, this investigator assisted an officer from the Rwandan National Police to track down and arrest the cousin who raped Kissa. The arrest was done in a small village outside Kigali. A couple of children helped to identify the young man when he denied his identity. IJM’s investigator and the police spoke briefly to the cousin, and he stated that he had raped the 2-year old girl. The young man is now in jail and IJM Rwanda will continue to work with the police and prosecutor’s office through the next stages of the case.

*Kissa is a pseudonym

Forgiveness

Today I am thinking about forgiveness.

What is it?
What does it mean?
What does it mean on a practical level?
What does it mean for me today?
How do I relate when I haven't forgiven?
How do I relate when I have?
Do I have to forgive?
If I forgive, does that mean I also forget?

As I work through this today, I realize that so many of the choices I make today about what forgiveness means will impact my children. And so it makes it even more important that I get this right. It impacts generations!

I parked at desiringGod.org this morning for my quiet time, getting some good ol'fashioned teaching and preaching about forgiveness by John Piper.

As you can imagine, there were many good things to read.

I grabbed a hold of this:
"You can actually look someone in the face and say: 'I forgive you, but I don't trust you.' But O how crucial is the heart here. What would make that an unforgiving thing to say is if you were thinking this: 'What's more, I don't care about ever trusting you again; and I won't accept any of your efforts to try to establish trust again; in fact, I hope nobody ever trusts you again, and I don't care if your life is totally ruined.' That is not a forgiving spirit. And our souls would be in danger."

Oh how my heart needs to be taught, again and again, to forgive.

uh oh

It is only 12:05pm.

My Diet Coke with Lime is already gone.

This is not a good sign.