I'm reading this book for the second or third time. I really like it! It's about a love story. Two people who lived their lives according to themselves, then found God. Through grace they were given a new life, through Christ, and refocused their lives. The book is all about their lives before they met, their friendship, and then how it grew to love. It would be a wonderful thing to meet them someday. I should look them up online and see if they have a family of their own. =)
Sorry, I'm not keeping up on my blog lately. I really want to get back to writing again. I need to add more to my life experiences at Rosebud! I also should share the enjoyment of seeing my now one-year old niece "open" her presents. Her sweet little giggle as I played with her at her home. The joy she brings to our lives is absolutely wonderful! I also should find the time to write all the notes I took while listening to a great sermon at Liz and Scott's new church in Kansas City. I should asap! But until then.......thanks for your patience.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Why I Work
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men..."
Colossians 3:23
"For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
2 Thessalonians 3:10
Colossians 3:23
"For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
2 Thessalonians 3:10
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Answered Prayer & Updates!
Sorry, it's been awhile since I've updated. It's already August!
1. I haven't had a job for a long time! Prayers were answered!! I have a job interview tomorrow at 1:00pm for the Learning Post! The one place I was really hoping to work! I'm really excited!! Answered prayer beyond what I could ever imagine! The guy's name is Monte and he said I could work for a month with about 30 hours and see how things go. If I liked working there and wanted more hours I could adjust and get more hours! If I didn't like working there I could leave and not feel guilty about it. He really wants me to feel comfortable. He also said if I work Saturdays I'll get paid more, and it really helps him out with scheduling!
"By prayer and petition, give your requests to God!"
2. Friday and Saturday my church small group had a garage sale to raise money for older orphans (check last blog post). Once these kids hit a certain age they don't have a home and they have no education, resulting in making some poor decisions to make a living. Our goal is to help this organization called Kid Save. Next year we are bringing the older orphans to the U.S. to host families, hoping they will get adopted. It's a great organization! One of the families from our church adopted a girl using this organization (that's how we heard about it). From the garage sale we raised $2,300!!!! =) Praise God!!
3. I don't have kids so I don't have fun little updates of what my kids are doing now. But I do have nephews and a niece. It's fun to see what they are up to. While typing this post, I'm watching my mom read books to the boys. Sam just watched Cinderella, because they are going to Disney World in September. The boys haven't watched a lot of television so their parents were just thinking maybe it would be a good idea for them to see some Disney stuff before they go and see it in person! ;) It's fun seeing how much Max has grown up even within the past couple weeks. He's definitely getting out of the baby stage and moving to the toddler time! He wants what ever his brothers have and is getting more vocal. It's really fun! Evelyn was here this past weekend. She is adorable as always. I didn't see her that much so I dont have much to share, but they did go swimming and I was able to see those sweet pictures!
4. Since the last time I updated my blog, I was single. My boy friend is Jon, yeah I know....another Jon in the "Tometich" family. God does have humor right!?! Jon's a great guy (of course). It's cool to see how God has made both of us a certain way that fits so well together. =) Sometimes I get speechless cus I dont know how else to explain it. We've been dating for 15 days now. Last week he was in Colorado with some of his relatives. He had a great time: saw a black bear on the street, climbed a mountain, went on a trail on bikes, and went swimming (brrr).
5. My best friend Kate is going to Chicago for the first semester this year. I wont see her until December, unless we go there to visit! My friends from church are planning on going there with me sometime. That will be nice! =) She's going with the possibility of great opportunity of a job. It will be a great experience for her.
6. The days I didn't have a job.....some went quickly (thank you God for the rest). Some of the days were filled with the ability to help other people, giving them the ability to do the things they needed to do without kids at their heels. =) It also gave me some time to learn some household things (with out the stress of a busy/stressful job) that I can use in the future in my own home.
7. In life we always have our rollar coaster experiences in everyday life for different reasons. Some things are a bigger deal to some people while it might be small to someone else. But overall it's still a rollar coaster ride. Lately my quiet times have been like that. There's nothing I can really point out about it. I've been reading different books of the Bible and seeing how they relate to one another. Joshua, Job, Daniel (I finished 1 & 2 Timothy and Galations.)
*Well those are my updates. If you want more specifics let me know, I would be more than happy to share with you. Just send me a message or e-mail.
Hope your fasssst summer is going well!
God's blessings and keep on praying (earnestly)!!
1. I haven't had a job for a long time! Prayers were answered!! I have a job interview tomorrow at 1:00pm for the Learning Post! The one place I was really hoping to work! I'm really excited!! Answered prayer beyond what I could ever imagine! The guy's name is Monte and he said I could work for a month with about 30 hours and see how things go. If I liked working there and wanted more hours I could adjust and get more hours! If I didn't like working there I could leave and not feel guilty about it. He really wants me to feel comfortable. He also said if I work Saturdays I'll get paid more, and it really helps him out with scheduling!
"By prayer and petition, give your requests to God!"
2. Friday and Saturday my church small group had a garage sale to raise money for older orphans (check last blog post). Once these kids hit a certain age they don't have a home and they have no education, resulting in making some poor decisions to make a living. Our goal is to help this organization called Kid Save. Next year we are bringing the older orphans to the U.S. to host families, hoping they will get adopted. It's a great organization! One of the families from our church adopted a girl using this organization (that's how we heard about it). From the garage sale we raised $2,300!!!! =) Praise God!!
3. I don't have kids so I don't have fun little updates of what my kids are doing now. But I do have nephews and a niece. It's fun to see what they are up to. While typing this post, I'm watching my mom read books to the boys. Sam just watched Cinderella, because they are going to Disney World in September. The boys haven't watched a lot of television so their parents were just thinking maybe it would be a good idea for them to see some Disney stuff before they go and see it in person! ;) It's fun seeing how much Max has grown up even within the past couple weeks. He's definitely getting out of the baby stage and moving to the toddler time! He wants what ever his brothers have and is getting more vocal. It's really fun! Evelyn was here this past weekend. She is adorable as always. I didn't see her that much so I dont have much to share, but they did go swimming and I was able to see those sweet pictures!
4. Since the last time I updated my blog, I was single. My boy friend is Jon, yeah I know....another Jon in the "Tometich" family. God does have humor right!?! Jon's a great guy (of course). It's cool to see how God has made both of us a certain way that fits so well together. =) Sometimes I get speechless cus I dont know how else to explain it. We've been dating for 15 days now. Last week he was in Colorado with some of his relatives. He had a great time: saw a black bear on the street, climbed a mountain, went on a trail on bikes, and went swimming (brrr).
5. My best friend Kate is going to Chicago for the first semester this year. I wont see her until December, unless we go there to visit! My friends from church are planning on going there with me sometime. That will be nice! =) She's going with the possibility of great opportunity of a job. It will be a great experience for her.
6. The days I didn't have a job.....some went quickly (thank you God for the rest). Some of the days were filled with the ability to help other people, giving them the ability to do the things they needed to do without kids at their heels. =) It also gave me some time to learn some household things (with out the stress of a busy/stressful job) that I can use in the future in my own home.
7. In life we always have our rollar coaster experiences in everyday life for different reasons. Some things are a bigger deal to some people while it might be small to someone else. But overall it's still a rollar coaster ride. Lately my quiet times have been like that. There's nothing I can really point out about it. I've been reading different books of the Bible and seeing how they relate to one another. Joshua, Job, Daniel (I finished 1 & 2 Timothy and Galations.)
*Well those are my updates. If you want more specifics let me know, I would be more than happy to share with you. Just send me a message or e-mail.
Hope your fasssst summer is going well!
God's blessings and keep on praying (earnestly)!!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
GARAGE SALE (Money going to orphans!)
GARAGE SALE
in Grimes (off of highway 141)
My church small group is having a garage sale! All of the money will be going for children in Columbia who need adopted. We are working on raising money to be able to bring some to the U.S. (with host families of course) and hopefully find them a place they can call home. We are praying that these children will have a chance of a Christ-centered life with a family who loves them.
Feel free to bring your donations to my house or to our church on Sunday mornings.
Check out our website at timberlineonline.org
The church address (but not mailing address) is:
6600 Westown Pkwy (Regency Building)
West Des Moines, Iowa
You may be asking, "Mary! What time is the garage sale!?!"
The garage sale is:
Friday, August 7th at 8am-6pm and Saturday, August 8th at 8am-4pm.
It's at 704 Dovetail Road (the next door neighbors garage will be full also).
We have a whole garage filled with clothing (and coats and shoes) for all ages, toys for kids, puzzles and games.
A garage full of house-hold items! We also have some great bikes (even brand-new)!!
So please stop by and check it out!
in Grimes (off of highway 141)
My church small group is having a garage sale! All of the money will be going for children in Columbia who need adopted. We are working on raising money to be able to bring some to the U.S. (with host families of course) and hopefully find them a place they can call home. We are praying that these children will have a chance of a Christ-centered life with a family who loves them.
Feel free to bring your donations to my house or to our church on Sunday mornings.
Check out our website at timberlineonline.org
The church address (but not mailing address) is:
6600 Westown Pkwy (Regency Building)
West Des Moines, Iowa
You may be asking, "Mary! What time is the garage sale!?!"
The garage sale is:
Friday, August 7th at 8am-6pm and Saturday, August 8th at 8am-4pm.
It's at 704 Dovetail Road (the next door neighbors garage will be full also).
We have a whole garage filled with clothing (and coats and shoes) for all ages, toys for kids, puzzles and games.
A garage full of house-hold items! We also have some great bikes (even brand-new)!!
So please stop by and check it out!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The ROSEBUD EXPERIENCE
There are going to be many posts about my experience at Rosebud 2009 and possibly even information from the past years as well. This year was my sixth year going, but let me start from the beginning.
Each year the youth group takes a mission trip to South Dakota, Indian Reservation. This year was the biggest group yet of 75 youth and leaders. An experience I will never forget. I should put some pictures up, but I don't have any at the moment. You'll just have to check them out on facebook. I have so many stories to share but let me have this first post be just about the mission idea.
We continue to go back because the lives that have been changed by Jesus Christ. They are starting to become a warmer group of people and the children are seeing us love on them. Love that has never been shown to them. And this area of love is when we share the love of Jesus to them. Unconditional love is what they desire, something they dont see everyday (compared to us). They need to learn the basics of living, because they have no other way of knowing. They have parents that could really careless what they were doing. (So instead of complaining about the 'early' curfew, I encourage you to thank your parents for blessing you with the ability to know how much they love and care for you!) Many of the parents there don't care when we take their kids from their house for the day. Their parents never ask questions in concern of their children. BUT the questions we do have from the families there relate to the reason we are there. They might not care what their kids are doing but they wonder why we are even there. So we open up and tell them. It's wonderful to see how some families are slowly being changed by seeing how natural it is to love and Where it comes from.
While most parents are busy in things that are not common where we live, we are giving the children food, fun, and love! We call it Kid's Club but it actually looks like a layed back VBS. By the end of the day you have face paint all over your body, wet clothes from water balloons, sweat everywhere, bracelets on your wrist, and a tight squeeze from a dear child who loves you. You can't help but smile and get excited for the next day to come back and start all over loving on those kids! The last day is obviously the hardest. In a later post I'll talk about my last day experience from this year. But now, just know that I tear up just thinking about the Last Day.
I am blessed to go to the town called Ideal. The towns the leaders choose from for missions are: White River, Ideal, or Winner. I have definitely built many relationships with the kids there, it would be hard to think of going to any other town. We continue on going each year because the children remember us by name! The "church van" (as they call it) pulls up and they all come running down the street to greet us. I'll get into more details later about this, but one special girl (Alicia-a picture of her is on my page) told me that she knows we come in June....so she waits everyday and watches (the street among the fields) for the church van to come! What a blessing this young girl is to my heart! She encourages me to keep on going and to be strong! Patience is so important. And to have a seven year old give you a small glimpse of what that is like, it's the most incredible feelings of emotion you will ever experience.
And that's just some of the reasons why I am taking the time to post my experiences from the mission trip!
Each year the youth group takes a mission trip to South Dakota, Indian Reservation. This year was the biggest group yet of 75 youth and leaders. An experience I will never forget. I should put some pictures up, but I don't have any at the moment. You'll just have to check them out on facebook. I have so many stories to share but let me have this first post be just about the mission idea.
We continue to go back because the lives that have been changed by Jesus Christ. They are starting to become a warmer group of people and the children are seeing us love on them. Love that has never been shown to them. And this area of love is when we share the love of Jesus to them. Unconditional love is what they desire, something they dont see everyday (compared to us). They need to learn the basics of living, because they have no other way of knowing. They have parents that could really careless what they were doing. (So instead of complaining about the 'early' curfew, I encourage you to thank your parents for blessing you with the ability to know how much they love and care for you!) Many of the parents there don't care when we take their kids from their house for the day. Their parents never ask questions in concern of their children. BUT the questions we do have from the families there relate to the reason we are there. They might not care what their kids are doing but they wonder why we are even there. So we open up and tell them. It's wonderful to see how some families are slowly being changed by seeing how natural it is to love and Where it comes from.
While most parents are busy in things that are not common where we live, we are giving the children food, fun, and love! We call it Kid's Club but it actually looks like a layed back VBS. By the end of the day you have face paint all over your body, wet clothes from water balloons, sweat everywhere, bracelets on your wrist, and a tight squeeze from a dear child who loves you. You can't help but smile and get excited for the next day to come back and start all over loving on those kids! The last day is obviously the hardest. In a later post I'll talk about my last day experience from this year. But now, just know that I tear up just thinking about the Last Day.
I am blessed to go to the town called Ideal. The towns the leaders choose from for missions are: White River, Ideal, or Winner. I have definitely built many relationships with the kids there, it would be hard to think of going to any other town. We continue on going each year because the children remember us by name! The "church van" (as they call it) pulls up and they all come running down the street to greet us. I'll get into more details later about this, but one special girl (Alicia-a picture of her is on my page) told me that she knows we come in June....so she waits everyday and watches (the street among the fields) for the church van to come! What a blessing this young girl is to my heart! She encourages me to keep on going and to be strong! Patience is so important. And to have a seven year old give you a small glimpse of what that is like, it's the most incredible feelings of emotion you will ever experience.
And that's just some of the reasons why I am taking the time to post my experiences from the mission trip!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Internet Judgements (What can we do as believers?)
I have so many updates that are needed to get out in the open right now. But today I'm going to open up an issue that has crossed my path. Feel free to give your input.
When people state their opinion for others to see, what is the purpose? To give others the benefit of learning more about it or to bash those who are doing the things that the person is speaking against? Sometimes I wonder if we are judging people without even noticing. I pray as Christians that we don't state our opinions on things for any reason but to glorify God. It hurts me to read things from believers that do more than just give a wake up call, but I've been hearing things that have offended others. It's my passion to change that. I don't want my blog or my facebook to show anything that could hurt anyone over issues that are not necessarily wrong or unrighteous in God's eyes. Sometimes that can mean just by how it is shown or published. I want my blog and facebook to show things of what I believe and why I believe it.
So this is where you all come in. Please feel free to tell me what you think of what I let others read. Do you feel judged when you read it? Do you think I am telling you not to do something that is not an issue that is unBiblical?
When people state their opinion for others to see, what is the purpose? To give others the benefit of learning more about it or to bash those who are doing the things that the person is speaking against? Sometimes I wonder if we are judging people without even noticing. I pray as Christians that we don't state our opinions on things for any reason but to glorify God. It hurts me to read things from believers that do more than just give a wake up call, but I've been hearing things that have offended others. It's my passion to change that. I don't want my blog or my facebook to show anything that could hurt anyone over issues that are not necessarily wrong or unrighteous in God's eyes. Sometimes that can mean just by how it is shown or published. I want my blog and facebook to show things of what I believe and why I believe it.
So this is where you all come in. Please feel free to tell me what you think of what I let others read. Do you feel judged when you read it? Do you think I am telling you not to do something that is not an issue that is unBiblical?
Thursday, May 28, 2009
EPHESIANS 4 (part 2)
Some notes I made while at Bible Study on Tuesday night at Galyn's house.
*Personalize Ephesians 1-3 to be at peace and be able to find unity among other believers.
*Ephesians 4: 1-6 mentions four characteristics of the new life (humility, gentleness, patience, and love) which lead into unity which is described with seven-fold unity (ONE body, ONE Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God/Father).
*Ephesians 4:7-16 introduces the necessity of diversity within the unity which will cause the body to reach maturity and unity.
*Ephesians 4:1 "Urge" and "live a life worthy of the calling you have received"
-This should now change every area of your life! (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 [If this doesn't make sense to you, then you're not going to do it; Romans 12:1; 1 Cor. 10:31; Philippians 1:27; Colossians 1:10; 3:17)
-You are dealing with humans. Come with an open mind with humility, gentleness, patience, and love.
*Ephesians 4:2-3 How do we apply this?
*If you can't have a "church meeting" without unity how can you go to the world with Godly love and unity?
*When you are showing love in unity: "showing tolerance" and "allowance for one anothers faults"
*How easy it is for Satan to mess with the unity in the church.
*Personalize Ephesians 1-3 to be at peace and be able to find unity among other believers.
*Ephesians 4: 1-6 mentions four characteristics of the new life (humility, gentleness, patience, and love) which lead into unity which is described with seven-fold unity (ONE body, ONE Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God/Father).
*Ephesians 4:7-16 introduces the necessity of diversity within the unity which will cause the body to reach maturity and unity.
*Ephesians 4:1 "Urge" and "live a life worthy of the calling you have received"
-This should now change every area of your life! (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 [If this doesn't make sense to you, then you're not going to do it; Romans 12:1; 1 Cor. 10:31; Philippians 1:27; Colossians 1:10; 3:17)
-You are dealing with humans. Come with an open mind with humility, gentleness, patience, and love.
*Ephesians 4:2-3 How do we apply this?
*If you can't have a "church meeting" without unity how can you go to the world with Godly love and unity?
*When you are showing love in unity: "showing tolerance" and "allowance for one anothers faults"
*How easy it is for Satan to mess with the unity in the church.
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