August Blessings and Burdens

Dear Friends and Co-Laborers in Christ,

Drops of Sweat!

Camp!  The month of July is our usual time to head to the South of France for a three-week long youth camp!  Those of you who are well familliar with our ministry know that this is the same camp that greatly influenced me as a teenager, and in which we have been participating every year for the past fifteen years (except for baby times and furloughs.)

Due to increasing difficulties from the French government, this year the camp transitioned from being a youth camp to a family camp!  I think it is a good change as the family is more and more under spiritual attack.  It is good for the French Christian families to have a place to go during the summer vacation, to be away from the world (no TV, radio, Internet, and other outside influences), but not to be away from the Lord.  We had Bible studies every day and many opportunities to be and give a testimony either in groups or individually.

The Lord blessed us with beautiful, yet very HOT weather.  It rained only twice for about an hour or two each time.  The rest of the time stayed in the 100's (30+°C) with very high humidity--even at 10 pm when trying to go to sleep.

Please take a look at Susan's blog (here or here) for more information or to see some pictures from camp.

Tears of Joy!

There was great rejoicing as we heard the testimony of a 24-year old young lady who accepted Christ just days before arriving at camp!  Then, at the end of camp, an 11 year-old young man gave his testimony on how he accepted Christ the day before at camp!  Praise the Lord as he goes back to his family, transformed by the power of the Cross!

Susan taught the young people during camp giving a very clear presentation of the Gospel for the lost and very clear instruction in putting God first for the young Christians.  She used the story of Pilgrim's Progress as a help and the kids loved it.



This August also marks 50 years wedding anniversary of my parents!  What an example and encouragement they continue to be.  I will never thank the Lord enough for the family He has allowed me to be born into.  If the Lord tarries a little, I hope one day that my children will be able to look up at Susan and me with eyes of admiration and thankfulness, in the same way that I do for my parents!



As we close this letter, we are thankful for the family God has entrusted to us, and are constantly made aware of the passage of time.  Timothy and Joshua will celebrate their birthdays later this month (ages 12 and 10 respectively.)  Juliana will also begin a new stage in her life:  homeschooling as she prepares for her future education in the US.  Please keep praying that our whole family will be used by God for His glory, reaching the lost, encouraging Christians and always growing in the Lord.

Servants of Christ,
Carey and Susan Abbett, Juliana, Timothy and Joshua

Tossin' and Turnin'...

"Casting all your care upon him: for he careth for you." (I Peter 5:7)

Good morning, dear......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Photo: markusspiske pixabay

Sorry, must have dozed off for a minute there.

Ever have one of those nights that never seems to end?

I don't usually have trouble sleeping.  My heart goes out to my friends who suffer from chronic insomnia, or to new moms who are faithfully tending their newborns all night long.  Usually, by the time my head hits the pillow at night, I am already half out.  Many times I find myself closing my eyes before I finish my evening chat with Jesus about my day.

Last night was like that for me...until about 2 am.

(Why is it, that when I wake up in the middle of the night, invariably it is around 2 am?  Why not 3:45 or midnight?)

I fell asleep almost instantly last night, and then, I was awake.

Not a drowsy, trudge to the bathroom and then waddle back to the bed half awake.  WIDE awake.

I couldn't figure out what was different.  There was no late afternoon coffee or coke, no weird happenings right before I went to bed.  Just that uncomfortable wide awake sensation that meant I would not be returning to sleep for a while.

What do you do in those situations?  Sometimes I have gotten up and read for a while, or wandered over to my computer to see if any of my American friends were online to chat.

Last night, however, I didn't want to get up, so I held vigil in my bed.

And prayed.

Sometimes I think the Lord just wakes me up in the night, to remind me of unfinished business in my heart.  Or people He knows that need help right then.  I have friends that are travelling by airplane today from the US.  Friends who have cancer, or have been in accidents, or have lost loved ones, or have recently gotten married.  My own family and friends were heavy on my heart last night, and so I prayed.

I often heard as a young Christian, that if I wake up in the middle of the night, to pray, and because Satan hates to hear a Christian pray, he will cause us to fall back asleep quickly.

That may be true, but there is so much more to it than that for me.

Prayer changes me.  It takes the worries I have for my family and friends off my shoulders, and places my burdens in the right hands.  Many times I don't even realize that I am worried for others or situations in my life, until that moment when I give them to the Lord.

I spent a long time in prayer last night, until I finally fell back asleep.

And while I am awake and tired now, my heart is lightened.  I know that God is already working out His perfect will in the lives of those for whom I prayed last night.

The verse that I quoted at the top of the blog is usually a verse that comes to mind isolated by itself:  "Casting all your care upon him: for he careth for you." (I Peter 5:7)  As I was rereading the passage this morning in its context, I was surprised to find this verse tucked into a passage about authority and submission to authority.  The first verses of chapter five talk about pastoral authority and my submission to their leadership, younger people being submitted to their "elders," and all of us submitted to Christ.

I Peter 5:6 gives the key to this submission:  "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:"  I must be willing to submit myself to the Lord, in all humility, before I can cast all my care upon him.  If I am still trying to have the upper hand and wrangle out my problems before the Lord, I will fail miserably.  I will not receive the perfect answers that only come from God, and I will be unrested and ineffective as His child and servant.

I do not know what challenges I may face today, nor how the Lord will see fit to answer the prayers that I offered during the night, but I want to be willing to accept this day, and its trials and blessings, as a precious gift from my Father's hand.  May I be submitted to His guidance, and wait patiently for the answers that He will bring.

I do see a nap in my afternoon future, however....

Part of the family...

"...behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields..." (John 4:35)

Good morning, dear friends,

Now that I have been home for a week from camp, my brain feels less foggy and I think that I am ready to get back to being a sane, normal person again.

(Or, at least as close to this as I ever am.  Don't ask my family--I am sure that they have a different viewpoint. After all, the best moms are always a little crazy, aren't they?)

Before I leave camp behind, though, I did want to share about a new addition to our family.

This is a picture of my two boys, plus one.  The young man in this picture was an invited guest of one of the adults here.  He was very kind and happy for the two weeks at camp, and I enjoyed watching my sons interact with him and see their friendship grow.

During camp, I teased him about adopting him into my family.  You see, even though I have enjoyed close relationships with my parents, I have been adopted into several families over the years.  I know that at any moment, I can get in touch with these parents and seek wisdom and counsel for different areas of my life.  I am a richer person for all those families who have opened their homes to me.

At the end of camp, this young man became my brother in Christ, and my "son" in the faith.

This young man is more than just another missionary story, another face among the sea of those your missionaries will write home about in their prayer letters.  He has real burdens and trials that he stepped into as soon as he returned home.

Would you please join me in prayers for him?

Moments like this remind me of the blessings that God gives by allowing our family to serve Him here in France.  All around me are young men and women just like him who need to see real, authentic Christianity lived out in daily life.  People have questions, whether or not they will voice them, about why they are here and where they will spend eternity.

Thank you again for standing with us in your prayers for the mission field of France.  There are so many more, who have never heard....

The View from Up There

"Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens." Psalm 123:1 

 Good morning, dear friends,

 The house was quiet this morning, very quiet.

For the first time since we arrived home on Monday from camp, everyone was still asleep when I got up. (To be fair, my kids have always been early risers.  7:30 for them is sleeping in. I'll take what I can get.)

As I woke up this morning, it was a beautiful day outside, and I wanted to be a part of it. One of my favorite parts of summer vacation is getting up and going for a walk before the craziness of the day starts.  I grabbed my phone, laced up my tennis shoes, and headed out to my favorite walking path.

 Things have been so crazy this week, coming back from camp and trying to reestablish a routine, even a vacation one.  Before I realize it, school will be upon us again, and all of life's craziness.  I needed just a few minutes this morning to collect my thoughts, reestablish my priorities, and figure out how to make the rest of this summer fun and productive for everyone.

 Needless to say, my mind was running in fifty different directions at once, as I was praying, thinking, and planning, and then praying, thinking and planning some more.  I desperately needed some direction, some focus, some wisdom, and the more I walked, the more all the craziness of my life right now spun around in my head.

Instead of answers, I had more questions.

Instead of clarity, all I had was more confusion and  conflicting goals.

I had spent so much time and energy with my thoughts tumbling in every direction as I walked, that my eyes were focused on my feet and the next few feet in front of me.  As I approached the first field on my walk this morning, and my eyes finally left the ground, I noticed a giant hot air balloon filling the sky right in front of me.

How had I missed that?

 My focus was on the ground, and not upward.

 The Lord gently reminded me, that although my feet are firmly planted on the ground in this life, my eyes need to be focused elsewhere.

 I do not like heights, as a general rule. I have been up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and had to be coaxed out of the elevator. (OK, my hands had to be pried off the handrails, but I digress.) So, being in a hot air balloon will never make it on my bucket list or any other list for that matter.

 But I could not help but wonder, how different the view from "up there" must be.

 The world seems less complicated and much neater, from up there.

 My house and all its preoccupations must seem so small, from up there.

And from up there, I must be a tiny, insignificant speck.

 How different the view of my life is, when viewed from "up there."

 As I returned from my walk this morning, I was reminded of many verses in the Bible that remind me, in difficult times, in times of uncertainty or decision making, to look up:

 For help:  "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help." (Psalm 121:1)

 For reassurance:  "Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens." (Psalm 123:1)

 For refocusing my attention on God:  "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth." (Isaiah 40:26)

 The more my eyes are focused here on earth, the more I will see of my problems and fears, and the less I will see of God's greatness and glory.  May the Lord help me to direct my eyes, and my prayers, upward, as my feet walk firmly along the ground.

 How different my perspectives on life will be, if I will just take the time to look up...

Good News Camp, July 2015

"As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." Proverbs 25:25

Good morning, dear friends!

Our family in front of a shepherd's refuge

It's amazing how quickly time goes by!  It seems like yesterday that I was packing everything I owned into suitcases and preparing for camp, and here we are at the house again!  My laundry is going, my house smells like the outdoors, my fridge is empty...can I say how good it is to be home again?

We are very thankful for these two weeks spent at summer camp!  My husband attended this same camp as a camper, and has always had such a burden for this special ministry.  After 40 years as a youth camp, this year marked a new direction for the ministry here:  a family camp!  It was a challenge and a blessing to be part of this new ministry!  We were thankful for the families that participated during the two weeks, and are excited to see how the Lord will use this camp in the future.





This was our home away from home.  In the past, the kids and my husband have slept in the campers' tents.  For the first time at camp, we slept in our own little village, with nice beds.  Aah...









We arrived a day early, and there was much to do to get things ready!  Everyone pitched in to get the camp in shape.  Our kids cleaned the game areas...





...and yes, that is my son upon on the roof, cleaning off a year's worth of leaves and moss...







...and my daughter Juliana helping out Françoise in the kitchen, looking stylish as always.






The mornings after breakfast were times spent cleaning and then there was morning Bible class.  There was an adult class, and then a children's lesson which I taught through the story of Pilgrim's Progress.  It was a good time of discovery and fun with the kids.  The map of Pilgrim's Progress was a painting project that Juliana and I had a great time finishing before camp.

It was HOT this year, one of the hottest years that we have had in a long time at camp.  It made for sweaty days and little rest during the day.  The kids still found time to play outside games in the morning, like tetherball or pétanque, a French game similar to bocci ball.

 

 The afternoons were spent with water games....

...or crafts, or board games, anything to stay cool!

 I'm sure that there will be more to say about camp in the next few days, but for now, I am glad to be home and catching up after being gone for several weeks!  Thanks for all your prayers and kind words on our return!

"Helping" the Winners

"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and unto good works..." Hebrews 10:24

Photo:  jill111 pixabay

Good morning, dear friends,

I have missed my daily communication with you all.  I am hoping that after camp things will settle down and I will be able to write more freely again!  Thanks for all your kind words and prayers these last few days...I believe it has truly helped me to be ready with stressing overmuch.

(Maybe you should ask my family how I have been doing...their opinion might be different from mine.)

This time of year in France is the Tour de France, the famous bicycle race that takes over two French TV channels this time of year.  This is a special year for us here in Amiens, because the race finishes today in our city.  So, if you happen to have access to a channel that is showing the Tour, you will see it pass through the villages near our home, and finish in the larger city of Amiens that our family is trying to reach.

I think I'll stay away from the crowds, though.  I'm not very big on waiting hours in crowds just to see the cyclists zip through our city in a matter of seconds.

When our family first arrived in France, I enjoyed watching the Tour de France on TV, especially when Lance Armstrong was a strong favorite for the rest.  His story was an inspiration to me, until I found out that he was cheating on the drug tests.  Afterwards, not so much.  Since Armstrong stopped competing, and there are no really interesting American contenders, I have kind of let my enthusiasm for the Tour dwindle out.

My family still laughs at me though as we remember me watching the Tour in our early days here in France.  I would be sitting on the couch, mesmerized by the cyclists, until my family pointed out that I was swaying lightly back and forth, imitating the movement of the cyclists on TV.  My legs were even trying to move up and down as I was watching them.

I was trying to "help" the cyclists climb the hill, finish the sprint, or stay ahead of the pack.

How silly it seems now, and how many times we have had a good laugh at my expense.  My husband recently purchased a secondhand exercise bike for me to use at the house, and he laughingly told me to make sure to "help" the cyclists today as they arrive in Amiens.

Ha ha.

It's so easy to be an encourager, if I will just take the time to think about it, and do it.  It only takes a few words, a kind gesture, a smile, a friendly hug to lift someone's spirits and help them to keep on keeping on for the Lord.

It comes from...

...kind words instead of critical ones.

...thoughtfulness to other's needs instead of selfishly guarding my own interests.

...compassion for those who hurt instead of judging missteps or bad choices.

...lending a helping hand instead of jealously coveting another's blessings.

...speaking God's truth in love instead of using it as a club to hurt others.

How much I need to grow in this area of encouraging others.

If I can so easily be swayed into "helping" bicycle riders on TV, then surely my love for the Lord and for my brothers and sisters in Christ should come just as easily.

Hope to see you all at the finish line one day!

Happy...what day is it again?

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."  Galatians 5:1

Good morning, dear friends!

Photo: unsplash pixabay

Yes, I am still here!  I haven't written in a few days, but let me just say that there is light at the end of the tunnel!

This time next week we will be packing up and getting ready for the long drive down to camp.  The kids were too impatient last night and decided that the tents had to be aired out, with them sleeping inside of them.

Needless to say, Mom stayed inside the house.  I'm not quite ready for camp beds and mosquito netting...just yet.

It's the fourth of July here, just like it is in the US, so Happy Fourth, everyone!  But while it is Independance Day for my American friends, here it's just the fourth.  Yes, I will probably cookout today, if nothing else than for myself and the family, but the fireworks and the rest will have to wait until ten days from now.

(That's Bastille Day, for my American friends, the French "independance" day.)

Earlier this year, our family was watching a series of videos about the events of the American Revolution--I have to say it like that to my children, because the French had a Revolution, too--and I had one of those missionary mom stirrings.  As I watched the videos with my children, I was getting excited about the different steps leading up to American freedom from England.  Names, dates and places were mentioned that I shared with the kids, only to be given...blank stares in return.

My son had to memorize the year 1776...in his history class at school.  When I prepared him for the quiz, I expected him to already know the answer.  He didn't.  How on earth could he not know that American independance came in 1776?

Because, while he is American, he is not living in the U.S.  And his overly patriotic mom had not taught him this and many other important points of American history.

My children did not know the words to the Star Spangled Banner.

But they know two verses of the Marseillaise.

Hence the videos.

And...raising patriotic American kids outside of the U.S. is hard.

Living outside of the U.S. gives our family a unique perspective on America.  We love our country, and consider ourselves Americans first.  Our house becomes an American military zone during the Olympics (yes, I am a little crazy during the Olympics, especially during the summer ones.  I think I scare my children at times.) I was relieved when the French women's soccer team was eliminated from the World Cup recently, so that my loyalties did not have to be divided between cheering for them or cheering for the U.S.

(Go, team USA!)

At the same time, we have a love for France and its people, as well.  Thankfully so!  I think I should be happy to be here, especially since we are raising our family here!  And right now, I can't imagine living anywhere else.

While France may not be "the land of the free, and the home of the brave," I still want my adopted country to be...free.

The verse at the top of this blog reminds me that freedom...comes with a price, and a responsability.  And, while I am extremely grateful and indebted to our many military servicemen and servicewomen around the world, who are paying and have paid the ultimate price for these freedoms, there is a different kind of freedom and a different responsability that comes from God:

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."  (Galatians 5:1)

There is the freedom from God's wrath, from sin's bondage, from a life of destruction and from the torments of hell.  There was a price to be paid, that cost God His Son, that I could never pay.  Jesus bought my liberty, and then offered it freely to me.

There is the responsability now, to live a life that is pleasing to the One who made this sacrifice for me.

American's independance came July 4th, 1776.  My independance came much later, June 27, 1987, but it carries the far greater weight in my life, today.

So, happy birthday, America!  May she celebrate many more years in freedom!  Enjoy her celebration today, all my American friends and family!

May God help us all, to celebrate the freedoms that come from our independance...purchased by Jesus Christ on the cross.

This is why I celebrate the fourth in France here today.