Happy day…
By: Sandy Echols
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I love this song. It is a simple song. The lyrics are not complicated, or overly emotional. It is simply an anthem about the happiest day of my life 🙂
Enjoy! (If you are reading this on Facebook click here to see the song.)
“I am secure in Christ.”
By: Sandy Echols
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God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of need.
Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains are moved into the heart of the sea, though it’s waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter, he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth, he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, He burns the chariots with fire.
Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is out fortress.
Psalm 46
With the turmoil that we see in the world we live in, it is sometime’s easy to become overwhelmed. I wanted to write this blog entry today so that I don’t ever forget what the preacher said in church this morning, or the feeling or release I felt when he said it. As he preached from this chapter of the Bible he said: “Even if the breath is taken from my body, I am secure in Christ.” That is it. That is all that matters in this life. It doesn’t really matter what is going on in life, on earth, He is God. Nothing can change that.
When we were in Namibia, in the car accident all those years ago Nadia read this Psalm, focusing on the first verse. God is an ever present help in time of need.
So remember, “Even if the breath is taken from my body, I am secure in Christ.”
Help in time of need…
By: Sandy Echols
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Those looking for a place to give in order to help the Haitian people there are many options. First of all, go over to thepioneerwoman.com and comment on her blog. She is giving away money to readers selected charities, and will donate a dime for every person that comments on her blog, right now it is up past eleven thousand comments, so keep it going!
Then go take a look at Living Water Christian Mission, this is a ministry that was started by Salonique, a CCCB grad, in Haiti. He is keeping the website up to date with what is going on on the ground in Port au Prince, this would also be a very good place to send money to!
Also check out ides, they are a great organization that gives aid in times of disaster all over the world. Furthermore, by texting HAITI to 90999 you can donate ten bucks to the red cross relief efforts, or text DISASTER to 90999 and ten dollars goes to Compassion International for their relief efforts.
Now is not the time to look the other way, give up eating out this week or going to starbucks and give to help! People like you and me are using their bare hands to dig up their trapped neighbors before they suffocate. By giving some money, that you probably won’t even miss you can make a difference. Maybe get some friends or family members together and give as a group.
Above all else pray, pray for the hands of those searching to be fast and effective, pray that those that are trapped will last longer and be found faster, pray that those who have lost loved ones will be comforted, pray that the hearts of people will be touched so that they will give, pray for Haiti as a whole. Spread the word.
Don’t let the cries of Haitian fall on deaf ears!
Please leave a comment if you know of anywhere else to give, or if you have specific prayer requests for your friends and loved ones in Haiti.
2009 in review…
By: Sandy Echols
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It is true that 2010 may be one of the most exciting years in our life. We will finally move to Namibia as missionaries. This is something we have been working towards since we were first married in 2003. However, this blog entry is dedicated to the year that was 2009.
We spent the holiday season of 08-09 with the family in California. This picture is of all us grandkids with David’s grandpa. It is one of my favorite memories ever. This trip was the last time we were able to spend time with Grandpa…
We graduated College as Co-Valedictorians!!
We adopted a cute pair of horny toads.
My parents visited the United States for the first time ever…
We ate sushi for the first time. The jury is still out on whether we will ever try it again.
Sara found out they were expecting a beautiful baby…
We celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary.
We celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary in Branson Missouri.
I went to my first Christian camp. It was a lot of fun, we were guest speakers. In this picture we asked the kids to come up with their own culture. It was a hoot!
We got and beat the swine flu…
Our dad’s figured out that they are long lost BFFs.
We tried out Samantha’s baby clothes on George. We had to make sure they fit…
I found and am now addicted to Flickr.
Samantha Joy Wright was born in November. She is the cutest baby and one of the most loved babies ever!
We celebrated Thanksgiving in May with our family in Colorado.
We said goodbye to David’s grandfather. He died of cancer in June, he is desperately missed by the whole family. He was a good man, totally committed to his family.
I found “Jesus Culture,” a brilliant worship team with beautiful music. You should check them out! This is the first song I heard by them:
I got Carple Tunnel and had to quit my job at Wal Mart. It was bittersweet.
We drove over 12000 miles. (ignore the junk food reflection)
We flew over 5000 miles.
We were fortunate enough to spend some time with our three gorgeous nieces.
In November we met with John and Suzanne Hunter, missionaries to Namibia.We decided to partner with them and will in the near future be working along side them at Community Hope School. A school started by them in one of the poor areas in Namibia. This video tells more about what they are doing.
Our last winter in Missouri seems to be the coldest one in history. This picture was taken at noon with the sun shining, but it was unable to make a dent in the ice covering this bush.
Adam and David invented a new “sport.”
I finally joined the “digital decade” with a hot pink ipod. So far I love it!
We spent Christmas with friends, and the unfortunate egg eating contest took place. You can see the shock on Sara’s face.
We learned and experienced the generosity of God’s people and the beauty of His plan in 2009. I hope and pray that 2010 will be a blessed, prosperous, fulfilling, and beautiful year for you and your loved ones!
iHeartfaces!
By: Sandy Echols
Comments: 1
Hey. This picture is one of my favorite ever. It is of my niece. I took this picture when we visited them in California last easter.I am entering this pic in an iheartfaces foto contest. Check it out at iheartfaces.blogspot.com .
7000 miles.
By: Sandy Echols
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We’ve driven 7000 miles in the last few months. We’ve been in 9 different states. We’ve spent over 100 hours in our car. We have exhausted our music collection. This has been our life since we graduated from Central in May. It has been fun and exhausting. We have visited some churches, we have had the priviledge of showing America to my family, and we drove to California to attend a memorial service for David’s grandfather.
Right now we are preparing to move to Namibia next year. It is strange to know that next year we may be living is a completly different country. Surrounded by all new people and opportunities. It is really exciting too. I remember the last time I was preparing to move to a different country it was terrifying an exhilirating at the same time.
There is no guess as to how many miles we will travel in the next several years. Our families are scattered around the globe, so that alone guarantees many frequent flier miles. However, we are also guaranteed that there are lost people wherever we go. Above all, we are guaranteed that we will not go alone. “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Rain
By: Sandy Echols
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It was raining the other night. Not the pounding-drenching-renewing kind of rain, just the barely-sprinkling-reassuring rain. The day had been unseasonably warm, and the rain itself seemed out of place for a cool February night. I had been in bed for a while when David asked if I would like to go and sit on the porch to enjoy the rain. We sat on our porch, in front of the house that we have called home for the last five years as the rain lazily drizzled down on us. Sitting in the dark and in the rain like that reminded me of another night just like this one…
It was in 2004 when I had sat on a porch in the rain dreaming about the future. David and I were on a short college scouting trip in Moberly and we were sitting on the porch of some CCCB students. As we sat in the rain that night we decided that we would take the step and become students at this small country Bible college, in anticipation of bigger things that God may have in store for us.
As I allowed my mind to drift to that night I smiled, because here we were in Moberly almost on the eve of our graduation, but more than that; we are finally on the eve of that bigger thing that God has in store for us. In a few month we will be finished with school, we will be on our way to the mission field!
Maybe one day four years from now I will be sitting in the rain in Namibia, and who knows what new memories I will have to think about then!
Wow
By: Sandy Echols
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I am so overwhelmed today, and I am also blessed by the faithfulness that I have seen, and am seeing in the lives of Mike and Dezi Worstell. In the adoption process that they have been going through there have been so many reasons for them to quit. Mike even wondered out loud what it is that God was trying to teach them, but now Raena is finally here, safe and at home. I think that God used their experience to teach me something too, I have doubted so many times, I’ve doubted God’s wisdom and His plan. When I saw little Raena today, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by answered prayer, and by faithfulness. In life’s storms God is there, I saw that today.
Grandad
By: Sandy Echols
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Please pray for my grandfather. He is in Scotland on vacation visiting his family. We got word on Sunday that he was in the hospital because he had stopped breathing. The thing is, he is an alcholic, and years of abuse has destroyed his body. It might have been pneumonia that put him in the hospital this time, but it is ravaging affects of the alcohol that is keeping him there as they find more things wrong with him.
I ask that yes you pray for his health, but more importantly, pray for his spiritual health. Pray that he might find the way.