March 2016 – Jeff & Angie

Focus Nana

March 28, 2016 A. Knight

I heard those words from a grandson as I was about to pitch him the baseball.

“Focus Nana, keep your eye right here on the bat and throw the ball”.

Sounded odd for the batter to tell the pitcher to focus. Normally it’s the other way around. I have no picture to back this up–as I choose to “live” more without the phone in hand to record every single thing. I thought to myself later, “I really wish I had taken some pictures of them playing ball”…then suddenly the mission field came to mind. There will be a ton of days when possibly no image will be captured for me to share–but the image of the action will be etched in my mind.

This past week–I spent a few days “living”and very little “recording”. Spring break time with some of our grands–two more will be coming this week for a couple of days–and I’m hoping the energy level will return before they arrive! 0001TheBoys

I remembered my grandmother (Lois Bradley), Mamo, as we always called her, how she made memories for us. I believe she lived intentionally in everything she did–so to be intentional about making memories with her granddaughters–was as natural as rolling out dumplings for her. (She was a natural at this–and the BEST around–ever.)

I want our grandchildren–all 7 of them, to remember the fun–the lessons–the life and joy of being with us. I have to be deliberate about making memories–EVEN when I can hardly move the next day from playing ball with a 10 year old “pro”. Focus, Nana.

I heard it after he left. Focus. My idea of focusing is looking intently at the center, allowing the extremities to blur into the background…. Jesus must be the center. At all times. Everything else in our lives must fade into the background.

Early this morning I read part of my daily devotion from the LiveDead Journal. That book was a big part of my reading this past year. I hadn’t picked it up as often this year, turning instead, back to Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, and Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost For His Highest”. But this morning–I grabbed it. Today’s entry had these words:

“Where is Your Center? In the call to a crucified life, there is the sinister danger of making ourselves the center of our own Crucifixions. Even in death, even in suffering, even in sacrifice, and especially in dying to self, Jesus must be the center. Too often we accept suffering for the attention it draws to us. Jesus must be the center of our demise. If we are the center, we are not dying–no matter the depth of our pain. Death to self must result in the disappearance of the vessel and the illumination of the treasure within.” (Dick Brogden, Live/Dead -365 Days of Living and Dying with Jesus “JOY”, March 28, page 105)

Our focus MUST be on Jesus. If we are to be successful at anything–He must be the reason we are doing it–especially ministry–but not only ministry. Every job you and I undertake–Jesus must be the focus and guide for our steps. Only then can our lives truly shine for Him. Otherwise, the shining would be for ourselves…right?

I’ve watched other missionaries work on raising their support and it has been astounding! I’ve learned how to use “piktochart” and other online tools and then when I publish my “creative work”, God reveals to me yet again, “He’s in charge”. He has reminded me of this more than once–so I am stepping back to see how HE wants us to do this “support and budget” raising.

We have been BLESSED by several friends who have stepped forward to support–NOT the amount that I’ve posted with piktochart–but ABOVE and beyond what I was asking. They WANT to be in on the mission. This humbles and thrills me.

Mother gave me a check that a friend had given her for us on Saturday. She had forgotten it the last time we were together and so had told me about it–but when I opened the envelope and saw the check–tears. Oh my. But what got my attention were the words on the memo line:

“Mission Seed”.

This young lady who wrote this check was planting purposefully. So have all the other contributors and those who are committing monthly to support us on this journey of faith –headed to Bolivia. Planting seeds. Tears again. Because I know in my heart–that is exactly what Jeff and I are doing –as OUR part of this mission. We too are planting seeds. Ours takes on a form of obedience–and I trust and believe we are planting seeds for another to come behind us and water–and cultivate–and harvest. And I hope...that someone might even be our own grandchildren.

Thank you friends. Thank you for contacting Jeff or myself with your desire to partner with us on this journey. Thank you for listening to the Holy Spirit as He gave you the amount–and you didn’t just follow along with my suggestion. YOU heard from heaven when He asked you to sacrifice and stretch. Be assured….what you are doing for the kingdom will not go unnoticed…but they are indeed being recorded–and your actions have HIS focus.

God has my attention and I hope yours too. Christ our Redeemer–our Savior, God’s only Son, Jesus Christ paid the full price for our sins.

He is my focus. I hope He’s yours too.

Quote directly from “JOY” Live/Dead Journal by Dick Brodgen, page 105, March 28 entry. Published by My Healthy Church. To order your copy, visit www.myhealthychurch.com

faith, Missions

Real Easter Eggs

March 28, 2016October 21, 2016 A. Knight

I love Easter.

I love what Easter means–and often my reading is drawn to the accounts of Christ’s journey from the Garden to Golgotha and beyond. I watched pieces of several accounts of the story of Christ this weekend. Some produced better than others–and the older the movie–the acting often left something to be desired…but the story was told…of HIS GREAT LOVE….

We’ve not had little ones in our home for several years–so I haven’t colored any Easter eggs. I made an Easter basket for a friend, but beyond that– I only put out a few decorations. We are “downsizing”…all that and more.

Jeff brought me a wonderful surprise Saturday night….REAL Easter eggs. These in this basket I moved from the fridge, just for the picture. They have not been colored by dye nor boiled…they are the real deal. I love how God created a special breed of chicken to produce some amazing colored eggs! Aren’t they pretty? I especially love the green dotted one.

I love Easter. I cannot form words to describe the sacrifice of my Lord –when He left His home in heaven–so that I–YOU and me, would have an opportunity to choose our destiny… I’m left wordless. Tears flow…but words do not.

We are each as unique as this basket of eggs. Different colors of skin–but all created and loved by Him. And the inside? All the same. The only difference is— Are we born again or not? There’s no partial born again. Only fully committed.

Yesterday I read about obedience– and how that will look when we stand before Christ. We can be saved, yet not fully obedient. If God asks you to do something–you can choose not to. He doesn’t cast you aside. You are still saved….but just like you were disappointed when your children disobeyed–or didn’t fully obey–God is disappointed. And then the book of our lives will be opened and we all will give a full account of how we lived our lives….

I want to be the “real deal”- not dyed to make me look like the others. I want to be the child who fully obeyed…fully committed, without wavering.

Without remembering the cross--I would say it would be most difficult to do–but when I think of His sacrifice for me–for my life–a wretched–sinner–I am assured by His Word…He will be with us. To the end.

If you don’t know about our other blog -site “jeffandangieknight.com” please visit there and sign up to receive the blog right into your email. I don’t write on this one as often–and I was going to let this one go–but then I looked back at the history of this blog–and think perhaps God has yet something planned for the words written hear in the past 9 years. I pray so.

To become monthly mission supporters–visit: www.tinyurl.com/sendjeffandangie

To give a one time gift as we embark on this mission journey: www.tinyurl.com/sendjeffandangie

Thank you in advance for your prayers! You have no idea how critical they are for us–daily. Your prayers keep us going forward–they encourage us to reach higher–dream bigger and look forward to what God has ahead.

Please let us know how we can pray for you! Connect with us on facebook! Facebook can be a headache if we let it–but it is a great way to connect and for us to keep up with our family! Which we LOVE to do! It’s like a family reunion without the calories?!

Quick reminder…when you are driving around…and you see this truck…don’t forget to pray for us!

Disclaimer: It’s not our company--nor do we know anyone in the company–we just have the same last name–and a dear friend thought it would be a great reminder to pray for us as we get ready to leave for the mission field!

faith, Missions

the BiG dAy!

March 11, 2016 A. Knight

It’s here. Not the BiGgEsT day mind you, but it’s a doozie. (The biggest day for us would be “leaving day”.)

If you want me to be “real”, I really wondered if this day would come, OR, if God had another plan…a plan for us to serve the people He burdened our hearts for in another way…. For we know without doubt–that He has called us to these precious people to share Christ–and serve Him.

But here we are on the brink of it now–finally! Commissioning Service at Central AG in Springfield, MO. Tomorrow.

We all know what “commission” means, but for this blog–I wanted to share something specific, so here is dictionary.com’s rendition of commission:

1. the act of committing or entrusting a person, group, etc., with supervisory power or authority.

2. an authoritative order, charge, or direction.

3. authority granted for a particular action or function.

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Jeff and I have put ink to paper. Solidifying our commitment to what God has called us to. I took a picture of him signing–my friend asked me if I wanted her to take a picture of me signing–I shook my head, no. It’s permanently sealed on my heart.

Sealed even before we arrived at this day. It happened in the preparation for this day.

I wish I knew the exact moment the first domino fell for this calling–for surely there have been moments that I felt things move in such a pivotal way that whatever I was doing at the time, or felt in a moment of time–was in preparation for this and possibly caused the course of my life to get into His alignment.

Time after time, dominoes have fallen–in line with this course…with this commissioning.

You have been commissioned for your calling. Did you know that?

If you’re mom, it happened when that little line turned blue–or pink. It’s been so long I have no idea what color they turn any more.

For whatever your job is, the commissioning took place when you said “yes, I’ll take the job”, and clocked in. It’s serious business.

You have just said, “Yes sir, or yes mam, I intend to be at my duty for the hours you have chosen for me to work, and I will perform all my duties to the very best of my ability, shirking nothing given, and I will uphold company policy and even be an encourager along the way”.

I added that encouraging part…because I think every job is easier if you have some encouragers hired.

I have no idea what the commissioning message will be about tomorrow evening–but this I know…tears will flow.

Emotions will run rivers down the cheeks of every single missionary that takes that stage.

It has taken a lot of faith to push through at each road block.

Jeff and I both have been to our prayer closets on countless occasions –to make sure we were still headed in the right direction. Once He gave His holy nudge or nod that, indeed we were, we plowed on ahead.

Rough terrain and often rocks caused me, more than once to pause and breathe and even cry out in the anguish of it all….but we pressed on.

I remember one particular painful day–forms had been filled out until I had nothing left. Our personal history had been written and revisited and re-written because I had left something off–and I was a complete mess. If you had paid us a visit and looked at me–you would have wondered, “who died?” It was intense.

This day– I remember typing the words in an email to one of the precious admin assistants–who all have been amazing through the whole process–but on this day– I had reached that limit.

My words to her were, “if they need anything else, tell them to call “so & so…they know my whole life story, but I just can’t write any more….I’m done”. I wanted to say, “stick a fork in me–I’m done”, but I held that one in.

I know they need every jot and tittle of our lives because they need to know, for the sake of the mission and ministry, exactly WHO they are sending–and WHO will be representing them–and God. It’s critical. It’s vital. But for me–that day–it was too much. I was spent.

I turned off the computer, turned off the lamp, scooted the chair back to the dining table to show myself that I was done and went to the bathroom…to pray.

My tears were hot and fast and unstoppable as I knelt down at the tub and in gulps and gut wrenching cries began to sob– “I can’t do more, God. This is too hard.”

Just as I was telling Him how hard this was, He brushed my shoulder with His presence and asked me in my spirit, “Are they worth it?”

He immediately reminded me of His own sacrifice. His own blood….His own hardship….and I felt such shame. Of course they are worth it. “Yes, Lord, they are worth it”.

I knew then, in that moment I would indeed fill out a million more forms or answer a million more emails with questions–because I knew He would be right beside me–giving me strength….

We have sat through sessions this last week to instruct us on travel safety. This week, sessions have involved every thing imaginable to help you get to the field, how to keep your heart pure, how to keep your mind focused, and how to fill out all the forms (*grin*).

Tomorrow is a BiG day. And we are ExCiTeD!

We’ve heard testimonies this week that I hope I never forget…and God has reminded me–as He was with them–as He was with Abraham–Moses–Joshua…so He will be with us. Every step of the way.

So–as you go about your day tomorrow–it would be awesome if you would whisper a prayer for us…we have support to raise and a budget to raise before we can get to where we are going for the next 2 years. And after that? Who knows what God will do?

Whatever He does–we are on board. His missionaries to do our part in the Great Commission–Going wherever He is sending.

Jesus came near and spoke to them, “I’ve received all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.” Matthew 28:18-20 CEB

commission. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved March 10, 2016 from Dictionary.com http://www.dictionary.com/browse/commission

faith, Family, Missions

Mother’s Missionary Offering

March 10, 2016October 21, 2016 A. Knight

I had wanted to keep you posted every-single-day while we have been on this journey of “mission orientation”….but again, I failed.

However, if you are our friend on Facebook, perhaps you did get in on some“frozen custard” and the walk through the museum at the Assemblies of God National Headquarters ….that, my friend, was amazing.

If you don’t mind- I am going to “cheat” just a bit–this is what I posted on Facebook this week-

“While in one of the AmaZing session of training (brain overload), a vivid picture came back to me with such suddenness that my eyes leaked (they really leaked all day– a couple of us girls began to wonder why we even bothered with makeup)…

When I was a very young teenager–before so much rebellion set in like a stone, I remember getting so sick I could hardly stand up. Mother was at work, and it was summer time. Meaning, I was in charge of my two sisters and baby brother. But with me sick, Wanda was now the “in charge” daughter.

I asked her to call our Mamo to pray. Now, Mamo, in our opinion — was CLOSE to God. Probably closer than anyone we knew. I mean “right up there” with Him daily.

And truly it was “daily”….she and our Paw-Paw spent the beginning of every morning and the closing of every day on their knees (yes, knees) in prayer.

I remember vividly, even as I type, I can still hear their voices calling on God for their neighbors, their church, their family. Always their family.

As Wanda dialed Mamo and Paw-Paw, I had confidence that she would pray. I lay in the bed with tears–in pain. I was rarely sick–so for me to even cry about it, I am sure frightened my sister, Wanda.

It seemed short minutes and I heard voices. Mamo’s voice talking to Wanda as they came down the hall. I didn’t mean for her to come to me–I knew that if she prayed right where she was–God would hear. I guess that was a sign of my faith even back then…my faith in Mamo being able to get a prayer through to God.

Well–I suppose God told her to “go”. She turned off her stove (middle of cooking their lunch) –pulled off her apron and out the door they went. I am absolutely positive that she prayed on the short 2 mile journey to our house.

When Mamo–walked in my room and laid her hand on my stomach–a warmth filled my body and I FELT the pain and nausea leave. I soon slept.

You should know this was more than a healing. This was obedience…on her part. To leave “what she was doing”….and GO.

To leave “HER PLANS” for the day…and GO.

Well Friends,…. this is us. Jeff and myself—leaving our plans to see our grand-kids grow and develop into godly men and young lady, and GO. Because HE, God, asked us to turn off our stove….lay aside our apron of busy lives–and don HIS.

His apron of another type of service. His servants to Bolivia.

And after last night’s amazing prayer service—I was so thankful –and grateful to be among well over 100 other individuals who heard the same Voice call, “turn off the stove”…and GO light a fire and turn on the stove somewhere else.

Friends, God is so good. I look in the mirror and wonder why in the world He would ask us…Why? At this point and at our age…. I don’t argue–I know He has His reason… and you know what? I’m good with that. I am thankful He asked…and proud to say “YES”.

Because I am hoping…and praying…and believing that by us going–perhaps one of our grandchildren–will one day want to say, “hey, if God can call my grandparents….maybe He will call me too”. 2012-02-25 mother daughter retreat feb 2012 041

2012-02-25 mother daughter retreat feb 2012 041

Something was said yesterday that I want to leave you with… I thought of my dear sweet mother. We have, all our lives given to missions. Mother too….but she will soon give her biggest offering yet. Her oldest daughter. Me.

And she gives it willingly–and readily. Withholding nothing ….because she taught us obedience…by example. And she still practices what she preaches.

I am glad to be my mother’s missionary offering.

http://www.tinyurl.com/sendjeffandangie/

Missions

A Missionary Offering

March 10, 2016 A. Knight

I had wanted to keep you posted every-single-day while we have been on this journey of “mission orientation”….but again, I failed.

However, if you are our friend on Facebook, perhaps you did get in on some “frozen custard” and the walk through the museum at the Assemblies of God National Headquarters ….that, my friend, was amazing.

If you don’t mind- I am going to “cheat” just a bit–this is what I posted on Facebook this morning-

“Yesterday, while in one of the AmaZing session of training (brain overload), a vivid picture came back to me with such suddenness that my eyes leaked (they really leaked all day– a couple of us girls began to wonder why we even bothered with makeup)…

I asked her to call our Mamo to pray. Now, Mamo, in our opinion — was CLOSE to God. Probably closer than anyone we knew. I mean “right up there” with Him daily.

And truly it was “daily”….she and our Paw-Paw spent the beginning of every morning and the closing of every day on their knees (yes, knees) in prayer.

I remember vividly, even as I type, I can still hear their voices calling on God for their neighbors, their church, their family. Always their family.

When Mamo–walked in my room and laid her hand on my stomach–a warmth filled my body and I FELT the pain and nausea leave. I soon slept.

You should know this was more than a healing. This was obedience…on her part. To leave “what she was doing”….and GO.

To leave “HER PLANS” for the day…and GO.

His apron of another type of service. His servants to Bolivia.

And she gives it willingly–and readily. Withholding nothing ….because she taught us obedience…by example. And she still practices what she preaches.

I am glad to be my mother’s missionary offering.