What on Earth Am I Thinking?

When I step back to look at our future, this question comes to mind.  What on earth am I thinking?  Going to another country?  Taking my kids with me?  Learning two languages?  Giving up my favorite running route?  Selling the house we built with our own two hands?   Leaving behind a barn full of memories of dairy goats, guineas, chickens, piglets, and chocolate lab puppies?   Moving from our 16 ½ acres where I have planted raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry bushes?  Where I have dug holes in rocky, clay soil for 6 peach trees, three cherry trees, and a strawberry patch?   Where I have weeded in my garden until my arms ached?  Saying good-bye to our family, our church, and our really great life?  Seriously, what on earth am I thinking?

Others have asked me the same question in a different form.  Why would you ever leave the safety of America?  Don’t people here need Jesus?  Do you really think the kids will be okay?  Are you really going to sell your house after all you put into building it?   Where will you go to church?  Will you be able to run in Senegal?  What if you can’t speak their language?  I know, what on earth am I thinking? 

Here’s what I’m thinking.

Genesis 22:18:  “through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.”  Ps. 96:3:  "Declare His glory among the nations.”  Isaiah 66:18:  “And I (the LORD), …am about to come and gather all nations and tongues…”  John 3:16:  “For God so loved the world…”  Revelation 7:9:  “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language.”   

God has a heart and a plan for all nations.  He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world.  For any who would believe in Him, He gives the gift of eternal life, a robe of righteousness, and freedom from sin’s deadly destruction.  God has a heart for all people and wants to spend eternity with them. 

So what on earth am I thinking?  Well, to be honest, I’m not really thinking about earth at all.  Eternity, that’s what I’m thinking about.  

Soccer Season Begins

Each Fall and Spring we find our Saturdays spent at the soccer field.   With three kids playing at three different times, on three different fields, we keep busy. 

Samuel gets ready to pass and score in warm-up before the game.

Rebekah lines up to have the ref check for shin guards and jewelry.

Gabby pauses to tell me she is cold before taking a shot on goal.

At The Cross: Triumph

The other day I heard my children playing a war game:  Stuffed animals versus Lego Men.  As they discussed who would die, I saw sadness on my daughter’s face. She was thinking about Rinty, her stuffed German Shepherd dying. 

           

I interrupted the game and told my daughter that Rinty could have an invisible, indestructible body suit that was created by the secret, mad scientist in her laboratory.  (Moms can have a good imagination also). 

           

My son quickly protested, “That’s not fair.  How can I win if he can never die?”  Good point.  We sorted out some details and the game continued, but my son’s words stuck with me.

 ‘How can I win, if He can’t die?  How can I win?’ I bet that’s a little how Satan feels about Jesus.  ‘This isn’t fair.  He can’t die.  How can I ever win?’ 

Colossians 2:15 says, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

Let’s break this verse down by defining some words. 

            Disarmed:  to divest, set aside, or spoil.

            Powers:  chief or magistrates.

            Authorities:  force or capacity. (1)

Do you see the win?  Jesus absolutely stripped Satan of all power, all force, and all capacity to have authority.  He didn’t just take away Satan’s momentum, or slightly “turn the table.”  He didn’t just “buy more time.”  He didn’t just get a little breathing room in order to execute the next move.   He completely destroyed any authority or rule of Satan.

The verse goes on to tell us the how of this triumph,  “the cross.”   Because of the cross, “The devil and all the powers of hell were conquered and disarmed...” (2)

One last word from Colossians I want to share with you.  Triumphing means an exclamatory procession, or to conquer. (3)  Jesus wasn’t about secrecy or hiding His victory.  He was about proclaiming it to the world.   We should be about proclaiming it also.

Because of the cross Satan can only ask, “How can I win?”  To which we answer—you can’t.  We serve God who in His great wisdom and power, has given His Son indestructible life which He has offered to us.  To Him be the glory!

1. Vine, W. E.  Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words.   Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN.  1996.

2.  Henry, Matthew.  Matthew Henry Commentary.  Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI.  1992.

3.  Strong, James.  Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.  Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA. 

Springtime on Little Maple Farm

I wanted to share with you all the beauty and newness of springtime on our farm.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; 

the old has gone, the new has come!"

2 Corinthians 5:17

"He put a new song in my mouth,

 a hymn of praise to our God."  

Psalm 40:3

"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Farther, we too may live a new life."  Romans 6:4

"See I am doing a new thing!  

Now it springs up; 

do you not perceive it?  

I am making a way in the desert 

and streams in the wasteland." 

 Isaiah 43:19

"But because of his great love for us, 

God who is rich in mercy, made us alive 

with Christ even when we were dead in 

transgressions--it is by grace you have

 been saved."  Ephesians 2:4-5

Hope you enjoy the newness of life this spring.

Prayer Cards

Holly and I sat down at the computer today and spent about an hour and a half designing our prayer cards on a company's website.  After all that time,we attempted to submit it and the website stopped working. So we tried again and again to get the information to go through.  No such luck.  I guess that is just preparation for the mission field.  So we used another company and we should be getting our prayer cards in the next few weeks.  We are also finalizing our first newsletter.  If you are interested in being on our mailing list and getting updates and a prayer card from us, just send us an email with your street address.

darin.larrabee@sim.org
holly.larrabee@sim.org

Meet our future neighbors

These past two weeks we have gotten the privilege of getting to know Philippe and Laurie.

Laurie was previously a missionary to Senegal with another agency.  Philippe is Senegalese and he has been doing sports ministry in Senegal for several years.  They have a great story of how God brought them together and they have now been married for almost a year.  We will be living in the same city in Senegal as them, and they have been so great as we have overloaded them with questions.

Pop Quiz!!!!!!!

We have spent two weeks in Charlotte, NC training for the mission field with SIM.  What has happened during these two weeks?  Let's find out.

Which one of the following statements is false?

1.  We got shots the day we arrived.

2.  We talked with someone from Senegal everyday.

3.  We skyped a missionary in Singapore.

4.  We learned about computer security.

5.  We ate dessert after lunch and dinner everyday.

6.  We wrote our first newsletter.

7.  We signed Fred and Wilma Flintstone up to receive our newsletter.

8.  We shared our testimony in Chapel service.

9.  We discussed the cost of purchasing a car in Senegal (and then picked ourselves up off the floor)

10. We went swimming.

I'll leave you with a little suspense as I share a few pictures of our fantastic, fully packed two weeks.

On Saturday, a group of us hiked up Crowder's Mountain

The kids were just as busy as we were.  They finished their school workeach morning and spent the afternoons learning about Senegal.  They learned about the food, the traditional tea, the flag, and the map.  Here they are dressed up in traditional Senegalese dress. 

I know you are all waiting in suspense for the answer or maybe have a bet going with your spouse, ... the last statement is false (#10).  I know #7 seems obviously false, but we did sign The Flinstones up to receive our newsletter in our training program.  So what did we do these two weeks at Simco?  We received training, encouragement and new friendships.  Thank-you all who prayed for us.

Rebekah's 9th Birthday

Rebekah had the longest birthday celebration ever.  On Sunday (4th) we went for her special birthday dinner to the...

On Tuesday (her actual birthday) the folks here at SIM gave her a wonderful birthday blessing:  a giant cake  and a giant crowd singing happy birthday.

 

On Saturday (10th) she finished her last piece of cake.  And on Sunday (11th) she broke open her birthday pinata with her new friends.  A whole week of birthday.   She knows how to party.

A quick tour

We are currently staying at the headquarters of SIM USA.  SIM is an international mission which is made up of various sending offices in several countries.

This is the guesthouse which is our home for these two weeks.  Each apartment is 2 bedrooms with a shared kitchen.  Each floor has a common area where everyone can hang out.

This is an old farmhouse which was originally located nearby.  When the property was developed, the owners donated the house to SIM.  They then had it moved to the current location on the property.  It is where the kids spend there day while we are in classes.  They have several ladies who have generously volunteered their time to watch all of the kids from 9 to 5 while we are in classes.

Gordon Conwell Seminary in Charlotte is a short walk through the woods from SIM USA.  Most of our classes are held in this building.

On Friday we played a game. I don't know what it was called, but it was fun. In this game you answered questions about yourself, and then tried to find someone who put the same answer. I found someone with the same answer to seven of my questions and there were twenty.  
                                                                                                             -Samuel 

We've been treated like dogs!

OK, so we have actually been treated really well.  I just never thought I would be getting a rabies vaccination.  Although after all the buildup, it really wasn't that bad.  Even Samuel said, "Was that it?"  The polio and yellow fever shots were actually worse.  I am still bruised from those and we got those as soon as we arrived on Saturday.  We have a total of three appointments for vaccinations while we are here.  Two down and one to go!

Making our way to Charlotte

Thank-you all for your prayers for safe travel.  We missed the storms rolling through KY and TN on Friday and arrived safely in Charlotte on Saturday.  

We spent Friday afternoon with our friends in TN that we met when we lived in Wilmore.  We have missed them since we moved to Lawerenceburg.

Will and Celeste and Family

We spent Friday night in Gatlinburg, then traveled through the Smoky Mountains on Saturday morning.  It was a bit chilly at some picture spots.  See if you can guess which pictures made our teeth chatter.

Surrounded by God's vast creation.

If you look closely you will see a part of KY on the girls' dresser.  Yep, they brought the herd of horses.

Missionary training, here we come!

At The Cross: Atonement

As I study God’s word I am constantly encouraged by all that God did for believers at the cross.  After a weekend of sharing the gospel at a ladies retreat I decided to dive into this subject a little deeper.  So over the next several months I will post something specific that God did for believers at the cross.

 

 Atonement.  Propitiation.  Appeasement.  These are the words used to describe the effects of Jesus’ shed blood.  But what do they mean?  How are they experienced?

We rarely begin, ok never begin, a conversation by talking about God’s wrath, but that does not mean it doesn’t exist.  Ephesians 5:6 says, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.”  (see also Ps. 21:9, Lk. 21:23, Rom. 1:18, Rev. 6:16) The Bible makes it clear that because of people’s wickedness, rebellion, and sin, God will pour out His wrath on mankind.  He is holy.  He is perfect.  He is completely without sin which means He cannot, (not just won’t, but actually cannot), let sin go unpunished.  (If He did not punish sin, He would cease to be holy).  His holiness demands that He punish sin. 

So although we do not begin a friendship by talking about God’s wrath, talking about what He has done about His wrath just may make a friend for eternity.   You see, God will pour out His wrath because of sin, but He has offered propitiation to those who believe.  He has offered atonement.  He has made a way to have His wrath lifted from our lives.   

Propitiation (used in the Old Testament) or atonement (used in the New Testament) mean to “satisfy” or “appease.” (1) In the Old Testament propitiation referred to the lid on the ark of the covenant or “mercy seat.”  Once a year the high priest entered the Holy of Holies and sprinkled the blood of a ram on the “Mercy Seat” thus making atonement for his sins and those of the Israelites.  The blood satisfied God’s holy requirement and removed God’s wrath from the people.

I John says, “This is love:  not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”  (See also Rom. 3:25, Heb. 2:17, I Jn. 2:2).  John makes it clear that Jesus’ blood is what makes atonement for our sins.  His shed blood appeases God’s wrath by satisfying His holiness.  “Through the ‘propitiatory’ sacrifice of Christ, he who believes upon Him is by God’s own act delivered from justly deserved wrath, and comes under the covenant of grace.” (2) God’s wrath is lifted from the believing sinner’s life because of the cross.  Because of the cross we can experience peace with God.  Because of the cross our lives can be changed for all of eternity.  Because of the cross we have great news to share with others.

1.  MacArthur, John.  The MacArthur Bible Commentary.  Nelson Reference and Electronic, Nashville, TN. 2005, pg. 1951.

2.  Vine, W.E. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words.  Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN. 1996, pg. 493.