READ: Review, Simply Salsa by Janet Perez Eckles
Picture yourself seated in a comfortable chair, talking and laughing with a friend. Her smile embraces you like a warm hug. Her openness encourages you to share your heart. And her words of wisdom challenge you to walk more closely with the God who loves you so much. A luscious Latin melody plays in the background, adding both sweetness and spice to a golden afternoon. This experience mirrors the joy of reading Janet Perez Eckle’s new book Simply Salsa: Dancing Without Fear at God’s Fiesta. The book takes a refreshing look at the Christ-life—with a uniquely Latina flair. Authenticity drives this project, whose author shares her wisdom through real-life stories with a sprinkling of Spanish (translations provided). The choices and challenges Eckles has faced include everything from life in a new land and language at the vulnerable age of twelve to the crushing loss of an adult son to the heartbreaking news of her own impending blindness. Reader-focused questions and challenges enhance the book’s conversational feel. Gentle humor combines with transparency to allow readers to learn and laugh, no finger-pointing or lectures in sight. I received an advance reader copy of Eckles’ August 9 release but was not required to post a positive review. The author has found her sweet spot in this expression of her journey and its application to each reader’s walk with Christ. Thanks for sharing your heart and this book with us, chica. Dios te bendiga! When you order her book TODAY August 9, Janet is offering more than $100 worth of bonus gifts and a chance to win some amazing prices. Go here to find out more!Also. Janet is physically blind, I believe she sees more than most people. Do you know someone with a handicap whose life reveals similar strengths? Leave a comment below for the opportunity to win a copy of Simply Salsa. I’ll post the winner after I return from teaching at the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference next week!I’ve missed my blog family while serving on the mission field in Ecuador and Panama this summer and would love to hear your thoughts. Please watch for a READ interview with Janet, coming this...
read morePRAY: A Missionary’s Response to Short-Term Mission Trips
I’m newly returned from my SUSIE Magazine/Never the Same trip to Ecuador and overflowing with stories about the great things God did there. I need to save most of those for the magazine so you won’t read many here!Blogging and mission trips don’t seem to go together well for me. Internet tends to be sporadic and my days, long and full. Of course, I had good intentions of pre-posting (didn’t happen), posting during training (didn’t happen), and posting during the trip (you guessed it–didn’t happen). But before we return to our regular programming, I wanted to share a word received from a dear friend from seminary who now serves as a career missionary in Honduras. She had tried to post this as a comment on my “Prayer for Summer Missionaries” and was unsuccessful so I received her permission to include it here.I don’t understand everything about the spiritual dynamic of mission trips. I do know that God talks about the importance of planting and watering as well as sowing and reaping. When I teach about prayerwalking, I remind people that sometimes our work is as much or more about preparing the soil than harvesting. Each aspect of a trip is important and, although we want to see people come to know Christ, we need to be aware that the timing belongs to the Lord. He is the One who draws people to Himself. And if our work moves them one step closer to true relationship with Him, it has value whether or not we get to see them cross the line.Please read my friend Beverly’s remarks and add your own comments. Are short-term teams valuable? Do they hurt or help the work of career missionaries? Do they make an impact in the kingdom? Feel free to join the discussion!As long-term missionaries, we’ve learned to value short-term teams. They are sometimes a breath of fresh air, sometimes a headache, have much to offer or are barely prepared, but at the end of the day there is a powerful spiritual dynamic in their presence.We are faith missionaries, so some have asked, “Wouldn’t it be more useful to just send you the cost of the airfare and other trip costs?” While we never turn down God’s provision :), the answer is “no”. The truth is that when they, in obedience to God’s call, place their feet in our nation, they bring the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom, after all, is where we do exactly what the King says, including putting our passport to work. Their obedience creates a dynamic in the heavenlies over our nation that results in the salvation of persons whom we haven’t been able to reach (even when the visiting team can barely communicate the most basic facts of the gospel). It’s not logical; it makes sense only in eternal terms, but it’s the truth. And we rejoice not only in what their submission to God sows in our nation but in the opportunity to sow into their lives as...
read morePRAY: Prayer for Summer Missionaries
This morning, I leave for my short-term missions trip to Ecuador with SUSIE Magazine. I go as the writer charged with sharing the story of the trip; as a seminar leader; and above all as a missionary and servant to my fellow missionaries. My heart overflows with prayers for these more than 300 teens and what God intends to do through them as well as for Awe Star Ministries and my own teen daughters who begin their ministries in Peru and Latvia today. This summer, many others will travel to serve in short-term missions. Will you join me in praying for them today? Lord, I praise You because of Your great love—a love that extends to all nations, all peoples. What an honor we have to carry Your love to other countries. What an honor we have to serve You as we carry Your life within us, ready to spill out as we go. Today, Lord, I ask You to go before us and prepare the way. Prepare the soil in the countries we go that it may be soft for Your touch. Protect the people who listen and who speak from the evil one—fill the land with Your presence and banish him by the power of Your Word and Your shed blood. Open their hearts, open their lives to hear not from us but from You. Prepare my fellow missionaries and me as well, God. Prepare our hearts that we may be worthy vessels. Prepare our hands that we may be willing servants and our minds that we may be wise counselors. Prepare our feet that we may be sure travelers and our mouths that we may be sound proclaimers. Prepare us, revive us, restore us to follow You. I thank you, God, that You are the giver of all good gifts and have many in store for us this summer. Help us to receive everything as from Your hand, to trust You from moment to moment and step to step. Thank You for choosing us and using us as we go. In Your holy name I pray—AMEN. Are you praying for summer missionaries? Please tell us about them so we can lift them up as...
read morePray: Why Missions?
Team Latvia, 2011 (Karissa in front row, second from left) “Wow. That’s great for your kids. I just don’t think our family could do that.” That’s the most common response I hear when people find out that we said goodbye to both our youngest daughters this past weekend. One left Saturday and the other Sunday for the training step of their five-week mission trips. Although they’re both in Dallas for training, on Thursday, Melanie (14) and her team will head to Peru and Karissa (16) and hers to Latvia. This trip marks Melanie’s third missionary journey and second summer in Peru. And Latvia makes Karissa’s (counting on fingers here) fifth mission trip and fourth summer overseas (she’s served in Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Panama in all). And yes, we could list similar countries and numbers for their older siblings. Missions matters to our family and, by God’s grace, has become a treasured part of our lives. Team Peru, 2011 (Melanie in second row, far right) I’ve read some negative things about short-term mission trips that focus more on the needs of those who go than the needs in-country. I count many fulltime missionaries as friends and understand something about the work these trips involve for them. But I will continue to help my children (and others) go. Since I hear many questions about our family’s mission activities, I thought I’d share my responses to a few of the more frequently asked. Aren’t your kids missing out on normal summer activities? In a word, yes. But I don’t have a problem with that. My children have grown up knowing that what was right for everyone was not necessarily right for them. Their youth group’s going to a fantastic camp this summer. My girls are sad to miss the adventure and praying for their friends who attend. But at the burden to take the gospel overseas outweighs any desire on their part for sun, sand, jobs, or a great camp experience. To say they’re missing out is like saying the person who dines on steak and lobster has blown the opportunity for a fantastic Happy Meal. How can you let them go for so long? Our children serve with Awe Star Ministries which provides a 35-day (3 days training, 30 days in-country, 2 days debriefing) missions experience. In the beginning, these were rite of passage trips for them both. The trip length has been specifically designed as an intentional step from childhood to adult. Now, they love the five-week format and the intense discipleship/missions experience. I miss my daughters, but I rest easier at night knowing they’re with an organization I trust doing work that counts for eternity. How can you afford it? I can’t. Although my husband and I have always donated to their trips and given many hours of sweat equity on our children’s behalf, we’ve never paid for a single trip ourselves. One of the most valuable parts of the experience, in our view, is the fundraising aspect. Together with a hand-picked mission board, the girls take responsibility for their fundraising. They plan and carry out activities, events, and jobs that will bring in funds. Yes, they’ve had some generous gifts. But they’ve also spent four or five months working hard to reach their goals. I...
read moreREAD: Attitude-inize by Jan Coates
“You need a better attitude.” “Attitude is everything.” “Change that attitude!” How often have you heard (or made) comments like these? But how often has someone given you achievable, affirming tips that help you put such a transformation into effect? I bet I know the answer. But it can change along with your attitude as you read the latest offering by Jan Coates, motivational speaker and author: Attitude-inize: 10 Secrets to a Positive You (Beacon Hill Press, 2011). Jan writes not from the lofty platform of a perfect life but from the transformed perspective of a broken one. Name the mistake—Jan made it. Name the heartbreak—she experienced it. But instead of dwelling on the family dysfunction that fostered her wrong choices, Jan chooses to remember the works of the Lord. Instead of focusing on her son’s death at the hands of a drunk driver, she works to help others live beyond their pain. The result is a transparent, helpful volume that offers readers hope, healing, and help. Each chapter of Attitude-inize presents one simply-stated secret to a new attitude. Examples include “Forgive yourself and others,” “Prepare for obstacles,” and “Transform from the inside out.” These biblical, practical tips will help you move toward a fresh perspective or work on an area of special concern. Features such as real-life stories, apply-as-you-go activities, and questions help you take your learning to the next level. And a bonus eleventh chapter holds an Attitude Toolkit with interactive features that give practical handles for applying what you learn. The next time I’m tempted to tell someone to change an attitude, I’ll remember the impact my own can have on others. I’ll also remember this book and its encouraging, step-by-step approach. At what point in your life did you begin to understand the importance of attitude? Did a difficult situation or circumstance lead to your growth? I’d love to hear your comments or your own tips toward attitude adjustment. Leave one here (include a link to an e-mail address so I can contact the winner) as your entry in a drawing to win my review copy of Jan’s book. Have trouble leaving a comment? E-mail me instead using the “contact” button to the...
read moreWelcome
I've asked God to use my writing and speaking to count for eternity. I'm passionate about relationships and creativity.
