God is Good

The Vallance family were all together for Christmas of 2008 except for Veronica and Megan, whom we missed terribly. We hadn't been all together since 2002, I believe. So with grateful hearts and joy for the occasion we celebrated Jesus and our family... our family in Christ. All Glory to God the Father for the Miracle on Arbor Street.











Trevor on Daddy's back ready to tackle the "down hill" adventure trying to dodge all the other sleds and people climbing back up.







Mary in foreground with Garrick, Kristal, Chris, Ashley and Jakeb . It was a bitterly cold day but everyone was having fun on the sleds apart from Grandpa and Grandma. We were content to take pictures and watch the gang.



Christmas day, was amazing! So many families chose to spend time behind the Carmichael school sliding down hill.











Trevor and Garrick climbing back up the hill after a
successful run. What fun on the day after Christmas.

A New Year well started.

How could this be? The New Year of 2009 with a month gone already!!
Going back to December is most appropriate because we experienced
"A Miracle in Richland, WA on Arbor Street." Not "34th Street" but nevertheless it was "Our Miracle."
We asked God to Please let our Florida Family to come for Christmas and He honored our prayers and performed Miracle after Miracle. From the Finances needed to the Weather problems. All worked out perfectly and we had 7 glorious days together. Gary, Mary, Christian, Ashley and Garrick landed in Seattle on December 22, 2008. For those who were watching the weather-- Seattle had the worst snow storm in years and people were stranded in the Airport unable to fly out. BUT GOD brought our family all the way through on the 23, over the pass and right to Arbor Street. It was without incident after they were able to dig their rental car out of a snow drift at the motel, that is. And Gary did lose his cell phone as he was trying to extricate the car from the deep pile of snow, but not to worry it was insured. Praise God for his blessings and love.

Sowing and Reaping

In Galatians 6:7 we read... "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows that he will also reap." and verse 8 says "For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption... "

What does this mean to you?

I learned this verse as a child and never, ever forgot it. It was powerful in a way, however, I only understood a very negative part of the verse. Sowing seeds of sinfulness and the end result. After all 70 plus years it has dawned on me through study of the Word and by the Holy Spirit, (Bless Him) that there is more, much more to this message than Galatians 5:17-21.. Do read it.

Praise God-- Galatians 8:6b goes on to show the beautiful bright side of this great truth.

"BUT he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (emphasis mine)

And verse 9 goes on to say... "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."

And verse 10 goes on with...

"Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."

WOW.. can you see this?

Don't you just love God's 'BUTS' in His Word?

But he (or she) who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life and do not lose heart. See how it goes on to say.. "'do good to all' especially to those of the household of faith."

And this later part of the verse crosses all boundaries and means everyone who is -- In Jesus. And how do we know who they are? Are they just the ones we worship with in OUR CHURCH? How blind we are if we think so: because we cannot see the heart and only God the Father knows who have been cleansed by the blood of His dear Son.. Jesus.

So, as I see it... it behooves me to be very careful how I judge others and who I consider to be in the 'household of faith.' For sure, it doesn't seem to say only those with whom I worship and fellowship with each Lord's Day. I'm afraid that this has been my thinking and very narrow at that, for many years. He raised my sights to see beyond my denomination.

His CHURCH has no boundaries -- it is limitless and vast! Hallelujuh!

Praise God, someone must have been praying for me as Paul prayed for the Ephesians in chapter one verses 17 -

"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,

may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,"

(and ) 18-"the eyes of your understanding (or heart) being enlightened;

that you may know what is the hope of His calling,

what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,

according to the working of His mighty power which He worked

in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and

seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above

all principality and power and might and dominion,

and every name that is named,, not only in this age but also

in that which is to come."

So what will we reap if we do not lose heart? According to Romans 6:8 it will mean eventually living with Christ, as I see it. However, there are many seeds we are able to sow and reap in the mean time. As we go back to read in Galatians 5:22 and 23.. we find the fruit of the Spirit and all those fruits have wonderful seeds that I see in my Christian friends all around me. "Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.. all being sown by you and me. May God bless you, each one in your sowing and reaping. May your harvest be blessed. Until next time..

Garbage Truck, Dumpsters and Hearts

That is a strange title for a paragraph in my Spiritual Blog, for sure. But let me explain.


As the garbage truck came this Tuesday morning, as it always does, and was clattering away I was drawn to the window. There it was just below our 3rd floor window doing it's thing.



But this morning as I watched, I thought, 'God has given so much wisdom and 'know-how' to people so they could come up with different inventions. And this one is amazing. How the driver of the truck knows just how to lower the arms of the pick-up mechanism and place them 'just so' in the slots on the dumpster so as to lift it up, then to raise it just right, waiting for the cover to open up so he can lift the dumpster even further and let the covers fall away perfectly so the junk all falls into the truck. Swoosh.. in it all goes. And it is all then packed away by another mechanism and the driver then lowers the arms and sets the dumpster down on the pavement all clean and neat ready for more trash to be collected.


God kind of gave me a picture of myself.. full of garbage from, who knows how far back. Then I saw myself being lifted up and turned upside down and shaken so all the garbage could fall out of my heart and soul. What a vivid picture it was. All kinds of junk and yucky stuff came tumbling out. Unlike the dumpster, however, which is now clean and ready for more garbage, my heart is not so square and smooth. Don't you know there are crevices and little corners where junk is still clinging to the walls? So I'm reminded that this is an on-going process of Confession and Cleansing by the Holy Spirit. Thankfully, God understands and because He does not give up on us we can count on Him to reveal those hidden areas that need His attention. May His Name be lifted up by you and me. May we all bring Honor and Glory to His Name which is above every name in Heaven and on Earth.

I John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is Faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Thank You Father. In Jesus Name. So be it.

Voice of the Martyrs Weekend September 13th-14th

This has been an awesome weekend. For years we have been supporting VOM-

Voice Of The Martyrs and finally have had an opportunity to hear first hand...

what is being done for our Brothers and Sisters in Christ who are in Chains in Hostile lands.

Praise God for the Vision of VOM. David Witt came from AZ to share and the weekend was 'electric' with all the information and interest.

Along with all the information and literature regarding VOM, David shared his own passion. He has his own Ministry with The Spirit of Martyrdom which includes work with the Islamic community.

Thank you, David, for coming and sharing this important Work of God.

Too busy.. need to update more frequently....

This is the front of our Complex..

The Vintage of Richland.

Our apartment is on the third floor and we call it "The Penthouse" because we have such a lovely view to the east. We sit up on a high place and I have a vision of God's glory shining about the place as He is 'held up' by some of the people living here. His very own people who love Him and honor Him in their lives.

My Spiritual journey of late, has been exciting and sometimes bumpy but altogether blessed. How good to see God 'Abba' Father leading and guiding, sometimes shining His spotlight deep into my soul.

Leading From Your Strengths- Workshop

Be sure to come back and visit this blog.. cause I've just attended a fantastic Workshop regarding Strengths and Weaknesses in our 'makeup'.. Our Character versus 'pancake makeup', that is.

Well, here I am, finally. This week has been a bit hectic but not unexpected after the intense study we have just gone through.

Of course our decisions are going to be challenged and temptations are going to increase. But
Our God is so ABLE to meet our every need.

There were about 18 or 20 of us. A good mix of gender and age, too.

The leaders of the Workshop were outstanding.. a husband and wife team- Nelson and Barbra Fox. They were quick to give examples and to help us understand the 'whole picture'.
It was so helpful and a lot to chew on. Not finished with the study by a long shot. There is so much to digest and put into practice.

This has been a desire of mine for some time.. in fact, I heard about a similar workshop back in April but missed the deadline for signing up. Then again about a month later, another one was going to be held in the Desert Stream Bible Church but the deadline for signup eluded me then, as well. Of course, God had it all well planned, as usual and as usual, His timing was perfect.

I believe that "all things work together for good" and this was one more proof. It was held in The Garden Christian Church, very close to home, where, I not only, enjoy attending Saturday evening worship but find it is alive and the messages are very thought-provoking. Not the run of the mill, traditional church but God's presence is there and the freedom that comes with Salvation is very evident.

Since we were encouraged to share the message with others, I've been doing this at every opportunity. John was keen to know what I had learned, so we looked it over together then sent for the book "Leading from Your STRENGTHS". This came with a free online assessment which John decided to take advantage of.

I had taken it before the course began, (as all the participants had done,) so we all would have something to work with. What an eye opener. Not necessarily information that was new regarding our strengths and weaknesses but how they impact our relationships with others was a biggie. Something to really work on and seek God's guidance and blessing.

This is something that I can highly recommend to any Christian seeking to have more impact on his environment and to be more effective in his or her ministry.

It is highly recommended for small groups and even husbands and wifes can benefit from the study and exercises.

Here is the website. http://www.leadingfromyourstrengths.com/

This is one more 'link' in my Spiritual Journey. Praising God for His guidance and blessings all along The Way.