stuff

We have been pretty busy as of late what with Britany's medical tests, moving AND doing a little demolition at RE:hope... here is Brit's latest update!

Hey friends,

What an amazing God we serve! This day was a God given day from the moment we woke up to the Dr "unofficially" closed my case... to the peace Tim and I are feeling - It has been a God given day.

Do we understand any more about the journey God has had us on (from spots on the brain to holes in my heart)?

No, but we are filled with a renewed hope and trust in our Savior.

What now for the McDonald clan? We move forward with the saying of goodbyes and the moving of our belongings... June 4th is the day we will officially leave Glasgow! We will do our furlough (and fundraising) in Canada and Portland and then we will (God willing) settle our clan in San Diego and stop... and see how I feel after that. We have learned so much it is hard to even express it all. Though I still have the symptoms, it feels like we at least have a little closure.

We are so thankful for all your prayers... please keep praying! We still need to raise a lot of funds AND get this little herd into a new life in one peace. New position. New country. New home. New culture... so much will be new! Thank you again.

blessings on you all,
Britany and the clan

Google Reader

I would encourage you to check this out AND use it... it has saved me a lot of time AND keeps me up-to-date on all the latest ramblings!

the uncommon life

James 1:25

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

It is tragic (and probably partially causal) that calling people to be hearer's and doer's of Jesus' Word has become a cliche in our generation. I caught myself the other day apologizing for saying, "...the Bible says..." because I could see the semi blank stare (and eye rolling) of the people (Christians) I was talking to. Afterward I began reflecting on a couple things that stood out to me in our conversation...

First, I was struck by the fact that it seems today that we are so often inclined to talk about the latest great book or idea BUT wary of going to the Bible for the exact same idea. And the same could be said for any number of spiritual disciplines or "habits". I guess it is because they seem to have become common to us.

Second, I was embarrassed (and angry at myself) that I had apologized for using the Bible to support a relevant idea. I was embarrassed because I felt myself giving in to what is truly common... and becoming like everyone else. This got me thinking about a quote I had written down several months before from A.T. Pierson's biography of George Muller called, George Muller: All Things Are Possible:

The most intimate knowledge of God is possible on one condition - that we search His Holy Scriptures, prayerfully and habitually, and translate what we find there into obedience. (pg 50)

Men like Muller lived lives that were marked with a different set of convictions, a different set of values, and that resulted in strange uncommon habits and priorities. They were driven by a focus on Jesus, generous to a fault, surrounded by simple men and women (like them) building a simple kind of church. They fought with passion for a holy life and often fell on their faces in humble prayer and intercession... and they read their Bibles... oh did they read... over and over... front to back... on their knees... through tears... and with many prayers. That my friends today is uncommon. It would seem that if we are to live the life that follows Jesus whole heartedly we will find that we are in a different sort of company... uncommon not just in the world we share but in the faith we profess.

Lord... I want to be uncommon. Strengthen my "hind feet". Prepare me for battle. And give me courage to live and speak for you any time, any place, at any cost. Amen.

Strange pictures...

For any of you who may have seen some strange pictures on my blog recently...
I am sorry!
I had an auto flicker going with the key word sun rise...
Apparently that means different things to different people!
My face is a little red right now...

faith

Matthew 17:18-20

And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.

My family has walked through a lot this past year... as have many of you who read this BLOG (all three of you ;) ). After a while you begin to ask yourself the "faith" questions... why won't these mountains move? ...where did all these mountains come from in the first place? ...what's the matter with me? ...what's the matter with my faith? You begin to wonder why, if only a small amount of faith is needed to move mountains, do I seem so unable to even open a door?

Many of us have been in situations where we HAVE believed God and found ourselves in the strange place of actually seeing what we believed Him for materialize in front of us - as this man's sons healing did. It is amazing. It can take your breath away... praise God for those moments.

BUT

Many more of us have found ourselves in that place of believing God for something that did not materialize. We are left standing at a closed door. We know the "right" answer... that God's answer is always right (which I believe to be true) but we can't seem to reconcile these types of verses with our realities. We may have even found ourselves hearing (in our head OR in our ears) the voice of doubt or shame... "obviously we don't have enough faith". Hmmm.

One thing I know "for sure" is that I don't have enough faith. I don't believe enough. The disciples didn't have enough (Luke 17:5-6) and they walked around with Jesus right in front of them. Enough... what does that even mean? As if there was some magical quantity that gives you some sort of super power to do whatever you want... for Jesus of course.

BUT

I want to...

I want to be able to move these mountains AND I know that God can... I wonder, is that faith?

A "wee" update from the McDonald clan

I thought I might include a recent email we sent out to our prayer support team updating what is going on in the McDonald house hold as of late!

Hi everyone,

WOW is time flying by... we move in less than 2 months and there seems to still be so much to do. It has been way to long in writing this email but we have had the privilege over these past many weeks of hosting close friends (while Tim traveled to India with The Berean Way), Britany's mum and sisters and traveling to South Africa ourselves for a Nieucommunities conference. We have been very busy.

In the midst of all this Britany went back to the hospital for a day of "final" tests... at least that is what we thought. They did an ultrasound on her heart and were not happy with what they saw. They are not sure BUT seem to have found a valve in her heart that is leaking and want Britany to come back for more tests. So, on May 8th, Britany will return to the hospital for more tests on her heart (including a heart echo - which will include putting a tube down her throat). Britany is not very excited for that test but we are thankful that they have been so thorough and we feel blessed to have walked this journey with the same doctors. Our prayer is that we would have the results WELL before we are to leave. But, this has created a new set of questions as to whether we should be leaving in the midst of these tests or not? Our thoughts are no (in light of seeing the tests and treatment all the way through), but our tickets home say yes! We believe that God will provide the perfect path for us AND we will follow it. Britany was hesitant about us even writing about these tests because it feels like it never ends with us... BUT we know how much we are going to need you all and your prayers now and in the months ahead.

Another area we could sure use prayer for is with our finances. We have amazing supporters and have never gone for want... God is our provider! We will write more in our next letter (coming soon) but through a series of different and difficult circumstances we have had a significant drop (%35) in monthly support. There are many things before us (Britany's health, our family move, new ministry role, etc.) but this was not an issue we thought we were going to need to deal with. So, our prayer is that God will use this as a reminder of our total dependence on Him - a path we have walked down numerous times over these last years (like when we moved over to Scotland in the fist place). We know that our mighty God is faithful.

Thank you once again for continuing this journey with us... you all are a gift to us.

God bless you all as you live life where God as placed you,
The McDonald Clan

Found this little plaque...

on my recent travels... made me think about my BLOG.

Been busy with friends, family and God... but I think I'm back.

:)