Servanthood....a quote from Maxie Dunham

"The way most of us serve keeps us in control. 

We choose whom, when, where and how we will serve. 

We stay in charge. 

Jesus is calling for something else.  He is calling us to be servants. 

When we make this choice, we give up the right to be in charge. 

The amazing thing is that when we make this choice we experience great freedom. 

We become available and vulnerable, and we lose our fear of being stepped on, or manipulated, or taken advantage of.  Are not these our basic fears? 

We do not want to be in a position of weakness."

Creative Thinking!

On our recent trip to Chicago to get our Visa's we stopped by Lyon & Healy Harp factory to pick up a BIG shipping carton & foam padding to ship my harp to Mexico.  When we arrived they laughed when they heard we were going to try to fit the box & foam into our mini van....but we made it work.  We tied the box to the top of the van, securing it with rope through the windows.  The guys from L & H were so helpful!  Notice the top right corner of the picture...Erick had to hold the rope the entire way back from Chicago to Grand Rapids!   

Are we freakin out yet......? Nawwwww...

Many of our friends and family are asking us how we're doing now that we're three weeks away from departure. We thought it may be helpful to give you a "freak-o-meter" rating.....
A little about the last several weeks....

• Went to Indiana Wesleyan Univ for Eliza to compete in a photography competition for a scholarship. (she won first place!)
• Successfully completed a "mock-pack." We packed all our stuff up in boxes and bins, borrowed our church truck, got 10 friends to help, and loaded, then unloaded all our stuff. It went incredibly well...only took 1.5 hrs to pack and unpack and we had spare room on the truck. The mock-pack allowed us to see exactly how much we'll be able to fit on the 20' container in Miami.
• Shared our story (Julie & I) at Amway with 40-50 of my co-workers. It was blatantly Christian and the response from them was incredibly receptive. Many of them talked with me afterward and took a prayer card.
• Ended my time working at Amway, as of Friday, Aug 5. Whew, was that surreal. But the group I work with most closely with in HR threw me a little party and generously supported our work in MX. Thanks GTD team!!
• Went to east Michigan to attend a graduation open house for Eliza at Flint First Wesleyan Church. They have been so gracious and kind to our family. We feel like part of their church.
• Spoke at Whiteford Wesleyan Church in east Michigan to share our story. They are interested in sending teams down to work with us in MX. Thanks, Whiteford!!!
• Some of our long-time camping friends threw us a good-by (for now) party and blessed us with a special prayer book. We have many memories with these families as we have been friends for 10-15 years. Thanks ya'll. We love you!

Over the next few weeks before we leave we will......

• Send Nick off for the last year to Camp Barakel in northern Michigan. He's gone to this camp for the last five years with his best friend Grant.
• Drive to Dayton, OH with a small moving truck to a storage unit, to store anything that is not going to MX with us. We will also go to the Back2Back offices in Mason, OH for the first time to see the home office and staff.
• Drive to Chicago to the Mexican consulate to try to finalize our visa work. We pray that this trip will mean we don't have to go to Monterrey before we go to Quintana Roo. We will also pick up a packing container for Julie's harp.
• Have a few more mtgs with families to share our story.
• Attend two commissioning services (Kentwood Community Church and Journey).
• Say many good-byes and shed many more tears.

So, are we freakin out...not too much....okay, maybe a little. But we're trusting God all the more. And he has been soooo faithful and gracious throughout this transition; we know He is trustworthy. Thanks for all your prayers and blessings.

#4.....Discouragment

"See, the Lord your God has given you the land, go up and take possession of it as the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged." (Deut. 1:21)

I've told several people now that it feels like we're rounding the third turn in the Indy 500, and the checkered flag for this race is when we arrive in MX. As we get closer to that flag, the temptation to be discouraged by what we have yet to do and yet to raise can be overwhelming. There are so many things that we have to "figure" out that feel so far outside anything we've ever done, and we feel so at the mercy of others, it can press in pretty heavy at times. And my (Erick) way of dealing with this stress and discouragement sometimes is not pretty. Then when I don't handle it well, I get more discouraged with myself.

We know we need to look back and see how far God has brought us, but my human, rational side says, "We've still got soo much to do and soo far to go that the past feels almost irrelevant. And so I ask myself, "Is this really a journey I have the courage to continue?" But as Dean Vander Mey said in his article When All Hell Breaks Loose, "You see Satan seeks to discourage the beloved people of God so they no longer operate in faith. Satan [knows] full well that without faith it's impossible to please God" (Heb 11:6). So we press forward through the challenges that come with any new chapter of life, using faith daily as the weapon of choice when discouragement presses in.

"If Satan can get you divided, decived, and distracted from God's purposes and goals, you will end up very discouraged. If Satan's schemes work and you bite this bait, God's plans will go forward....but without [the Mowery family]. We will become P.O.Ws."

Erick climbing the wall at Family Camp

Eliza climbing the wall

#3...Deception

More and more I see the need to ask God to show me the areas in my life that I am being deceived.  I don't want to believe lies about Him, about me, or about others. I thought about this song the other day because it describes our journey so well. 

The Voice of Truth - Casting Crowns

Oh,what I would do to have the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is, and he's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win,You you'll never win

But the Voice of truth tells me a different story
the Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the Voice of truth says "this is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth

Here is a link to the video of the song. 
You can pause the music on the mixpod by pushing the ipod pause button to the left.

The Voice of Truth - Casting Crowns

I want to be able to discern what is true and what is a lie.  I want to listen & recognize God's voice...the Voice of TRUTH. 

Pray for Truth 

#2....Division

Since we began raising support to go on the mission field this next "D" has crept into our lives so many times.  Sometimes it is obvious but other times it is so subtle....but so destructive!  The second "D" is division.   Satan wants to create dissension, disunity, and discord in the body of believers.  Division in our marriages, our families, where we work and even at church.  A couple years ago when we faced a struggle in our marriage we began calling our family "team Mowery" because no matter what we are all on the same team.

Luke 11:17

Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.

My prayer is that God will help us see when we have reacted or responded "in the flesh" and not in "His Spirit."

Pray for Unity



4 Ways the devil tries to destroy us: The 1st "D"

Recently we were with some friends who shared with us the 4 "D's" that the devil uses to try to "destroy" us. It created good conversation and focused our prayers. The first D: Do you ever struggle wondering if a distraction in your life is from God or from satan?  Sometimes I do.  Recognizing distractions that are FROM God and those that are NOT isn't always easy. 

John 10:10 - The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

1. Distraction (defintion): something that prevents you from giving your full attention.

It could be any of these things: interruption, disruption, mental confusion, disturbance, diversion, agitation, anxiety.

Lord help us to recognize distraction in our lives. Help us...

To be Focused

To have Clarity

To be alert

Hebrews 12:2 - Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.

1 Cor. 16:13 - Be on your guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be brave. Be Strong.

2 Cor. 10:3-5 - For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Pray for Focus