Sunday, June 28, 2009
Emie's Update
Hey everyone! Thought I'd come out of hiding again and give you a quick update on all that has been happening around here for the Locke family. We are continuing to LOVE and ENJOY our season of rest.
With the help of our friends, the Coulombes who came to visit for 3 weeks, we made and planted a beautiful little garden. Judah is in heaven as he has been longing for a garden for a couple years now! He is thrilled with the peppers, tomatoes, flowers on the melon plants, and the corn that is taller than he is! He's also thrilled that the world of words is FUN now and not the effort it has been almost all year! It's fun to hear him read every sign he passes!
Asher is growing and enjoying catching every bug, lizard, bird egg that falls from a tree, tadpole, frog, slug, snail, caterpillar, roly poly bug, you name it, he'll catch it, bring it in a jar and beg to keep it in the house!!! NO! He is learning how to be just as aggravating as his big brother and I'm no longer sure who's to blame in the sibling rivalry!! He can hold his own really well. Watch out Judah. Pray for Asher's immune system. He is the one who seems to get every germ that comes around and it hits him hard. We just had a round of sickness and he is still trying to fight off a fever (we're on day 5), sore throat, throwing up, headache, stuffy nose and all the rest of it! He's been better natured through this sickness than ever before, so that helps.
Elianna is full of life and personality! She is finally becoming more independant and not needing mommy to hold her as much as before (which was pretty much all day every day!!). She's talking like crazy and repeating everything we say! One day she had a snotty nose and I said, "Can you say booger?" "JUDAH" instantly came out of her mouth!!! I had a good laugh with that one! Judah is her favorite word to say! It may be because it's the word she most frequently hears me say!!! :-) She loves the chickens, weeding the garden with me (though I loose a few plants every time!), playing in the dirt and splashing in water. Every morning she climbs out of her crib, comes into my room and brings me my flip flops and glasses, smacks her lips, and stands there until I get her breakfast!! See Heath, who needs a dog?! :-)
Abiel is a beautiful young lady almost ready to turn 10! She is loving swim lessons, and dreaming about her summer that is full of fun! She is able to go to a summer camp that I went to as a kid and also a small camp in Oregon. She's looking forward to possibly taking ballet classes this fall and getting involved in 4-H. She continues to be my most social child and can make friends in the span of 3 seconds flat! It's pretty fun to watch. I don't know what I'd do without her. She is precious and extremely helpful.
So that's the kiddos. Heath is keeping busy by learning some new skills in videography and photography. He had the opportunity to be hired to do a promotional video for a local company and it turned out incredible. It seems God is opening some avenues for Heath to incorporate more of his artistic abilities into some of his dreams for the future. I'm really excited for him. He continues to be a blessing and light in his work place and pretty much where ever he goes. Though this isn't his ideal place in life, he is very much alive and moving forward with what God puts before him. He is a faithful man of God who works hard and brings Jesus whether he is in formal ministry or the business world. By the way, his birthday is June 28th. He loves encouragement as we all do, so if you think of it, send him an email and let him know how much you appreciate him!
I am in resting heaven!! I never thought I'd be able to say that raising four kids is resting!! But I guess after the chaotic life of our previous years, I'm able to say this is a piece of cake, comparatively! Heath does a great job of giving me breaks. About once a month, I spend the night at our friends house for some peace, quiet, and soaking time with Jesus. It has been so healing for me. This weekend, I am going away for 2 nights to just BE! I don't even know what I'll do with all that time and space, but I plan on enjoying every moment with Jesus all to myself!
As I feel like I'm coming to life, I'm being able to "see" the world around me again. As everywhere, there is a fairly large homeless population in the area. Several weeks ago, Serenity and I (when the coulombes were still visiting) met a lady named Laurie. She needed help with food. So we were able to take her to the grocery store and bless her. She also very humbly shared that she was sleeping in her car and at the moment it was stranded in the Walmart parking lot, needing a new water pump. I told her I'd be back in a couple days to help her with it and gave her my number. The next day the kids and I decided to meet Heath for dinner at In -n- Out Burger. As I walked in, there was Laurie. I grabbed her and gave her a big hug and said, "Hey Jesus really wants us to be friends! Do you want to have dinner with us?" And that was the beginning of my friendship with Laurie.
Over the last several weeks, I have met with Laurie for a few meals. I'm learning who she is. I'm hearing her needs. I'm enjoying just getting to know her and sharing who I am and who Jesus is with her. The other day when we were at lunch together I asked, "Who is Laurie?" She got the most innocent, childlike smile on her face and thought for a long time before responding. It was a precious moment of her just reveling in the fact that someone wanted to know her. Don't we all just want someone to know us?
Today I had the opportunity to help her get to Georgia to see her son graduate from National Guard Basic Training. She called me earlier this week wondering if I could help her get down there. Honestly, I wrestled. It's one thing to buy someone groceries. It's another thing to be someone's friend who has continual need. Just ask anyone who has been the friend of the Locke family.
I wrestled with whether or not I should help. So on the way to meet her, I heard the Lord ask me, "Could you give the money to Me?" "Of course. No problem." And then He answered me with this, "Then just find Me in Laurie's eyes tonight." Wow.
And as I drove I remembered all the times we were in need of getting somewhere and friends listened to Jesus and came through. Why is that any different? Is it more noble to give to a "missionary" than to give to a homeless friend? And again, I was reminded of all the times we've literally been homeless and if not for the generosity of friends and the family of God, we would've slept in our van too. Is it different? Maybe you could argue that the circumstances of homelessness were different. . . or maybe not. I wish you could've seen the joy, light and excitement in her eyes tonight as I sat across from her at In -n- Out, listening to her quiet but excited voice share about how amazed her son will be to see her there! And I had no problem finding Jesus in her eyes right there in that noisy, crowded restaurant.
Thank you Jesus for being among us. Thank you for showing us Your face. Thank you for giving us the privlege of being ministers of reconciliation. Thank you for giving us the job of reflecting Your glory with increasing measure. It is an honor to represent you to the world. Pour out your love into the hearts of Your people so in turn, Your people can pour your love out on the world around them.
We love you all,
emie for the locke fam
With the help of our friends, the Coulombes who came to visit for 3 weeks, we made and planted a beautiful little garden. Judah is in heaven as he has been longing for a garden for a couple years now! He is thrilled with the peppers, tomatoes, flowers on the melon plants, and the corn that is taller than he is! He's also thrilled that the world of words is FUN now and not the effort it has been almost all year! It's fun to hear him read every sign he passes!
Asher is growing and enjoying catching every bug, lizard, bird egg that falls from a tree, tadpole, frog, slug, snail, caterpillar, roly poly bug, you name it, he'll catch it, bring it in a jar and beg to keep it in the house!!! NO! He is learning how to be just as aggravating as his big brother and I'm no longer sure who's to blame in the sibling rivalry!! He can hold his own really well. Watch out Judah. Pray for Asher's immune system. He is the one who seems to get every germ that comes around and it hits him hard. We just had a round of sickness and he is still trying to fight off a fever (we're on day 5), sore throat, throwing up, headache, stuffy nose and all the rest of it! He's been better natured through this sickness than ever before, so that helps.
Elianna is full of life and personality! She is finally becoming more independant and not needing mommy to hold her as much as before (which was pretty much all day every day!!). She's talking like crazy and repeating everything we say! One day she had a snotty nose and I said, "Can you say booger?" "JUDAH" instantly came out of her mouth!!! I had a good laugh with that one! Judah is her favorite word to say! It may be because it's the word she most frequently hears me say!!! :-) She loves the chickens, weeding the garden with me (though I loose a few plants every time!), playing in the dirt and splashing in water. Every morning she climbs out of her crib, comes into my room and brings me my flip flops and glasses, smacks her lips, and stands there until I get her breakfast!! See Heath, who needs a dog?! :-)
Abiel is a beautiful young lady almost ready to turn 10! She is loving swim lessons, and dreaming about her summer that is full of fun! She is able to go to a summer camp that I went to as a kid and also a small camp in Oregon. She's looking forward to possibly taking ballet classes this fall and getting involved in 4-H. She continues to be my most social child and can make friends in the span of 3 seconds flat! It's pretty fun to watch. I don't know what I'd do without her. She is precious and extremely helpful.
So that's the kiddos. Heath is keeping busy by learning some new skills in videography and photography. He had the opportunity to be hired to do a promotional video for a local company and it turned out incredible. It seems God is opening some avenues for Heath to incorporate more of his artistic abilities into some of his dreams for the future. I'm really excited for him. He continues to be a blessing and light in his work place and pretty much where ever he goes. Though this isn't his ideal place in life, he is very much alive and moving forward with what God puts before him. He is a faithful man of God who works hard and brings Jesus whether he is in formal ministry or the business world. By the way, his birthday is June 28th. He loves encouragement as we all do, so if you think of it, send him an email and let him know how much you appreciate him!
I am in resting heaven!! I never thought I'd be able to say that raising four kids is resting!! But I guess after the chaotic life of our previous years, I'm able to say this is a piece of cake, comparatively! Heath does a great job of giving me breaks. About once a month, I spend the night at our friends house for some peace, quiet, and soaking time with Jesus. It has been so healing for me. This weekend, I am going away for 2 nights to just BE! I don't even know what I'll do with all that time and space, but I plan on enjoying every moment with Jesus all to myself!
As I feel like I'm coming to life, I'm being able to "see" the world around me again. As everywhere, there is a fairly large homeless population in the area. Several weeks ago, Serenity and I (when the coulombes were still visiting) met a lady named Laurie. She needed help with food. So we were able to take her to the grocery store and bless her. She also very humbly shared that she was sleeping in her car and at the moment it was stranded in the Walmart parking lot, needing a new water pump. I told her I'd be back in a couple days to help her with it and gave her my number. The next day the kids and I decided to meet Heath for dinner at In -n- Out Burger. As I walked in, there was Laurie. I grabbed her and gave her a big hug and said, "Hey Jesus really wants us to be friends! Do you want to have dinner with us?" And that was the beginning of my friendship with Laurie.
Over the last several weeks, I have met with Laurie for a few meals. I'm learning who she is. I'm hearing her needs. I'm enjoying just getting to know her and sharing who I am and who Jesus is with her. The other day when we were at lunch together I asked, "Who is Laurie?" She got the most innocent, childlike smile on her face and thought for a long time before responding. It was a precious moment of her just reveling in the fact that someone wanted to know her. Don't we all just want someone to know us?
Today I had the opportunity to help her get to Georgia to see her son graduate from National Guard Basic Training. She called me earlier this week wondering if I could help her get down there. Honestly, I wrestled. It's one thing to buy someone groceries. It's another thing to be someone's friend who has continual need. Just ask anyone who has been the friend of the Locke family.
I wrestled with whether or not I should help. So on the way to meet her, I heard the Lord ask me, "Could you give the money to Me?" "Of course. No problem." And then He answered me with this, "Then just find Me in Laurie's eyes tonight." Wow.
And as I drove I remembered all the times we were in need of getting somewhere and friends listened to Jesus and came through. Why is that any different? Is it more noble to give to a "missionary" than to give to a homeless friend? And again, I was reminded of all the times we've literally been homeless and if not for the generosity of friends and the family of God, we would've slept in our van too. Is it different? Maybe you could argue that the circumstances of homelessness were different. . . or maybe not. I wish you could've seen the joy, light and excitement in her eyes tonight as I sat across from her at In -n- Out, listening to her quiet but excited voice share about how amazed her son will be to see her there! And I had no problem finding Jesus in her eyes right there in that noisy, crowded restaurant.
Thank you Jesus for being among us. Thank you for showing us Your face. Thank you for giving us the privlege of being ministers of reconciliation. Thank you for giving us the job of reflecting Your glory with increasing measure. It is an honor to represent you to the world. Pour out your love into the hearts of Your people so in turn, Your people can pour your love out on the world around them.
We love you all,
emie for the locke fam
Friday, June 5, 2009
Quick thoughts
Sorry it has been so long . . . blah blah . . .
Of course all of you Facebookers will keep up to date with my wife and thus hear a quick on the fam.
Life is going great. We love our home and fields of Ag all around us.
Finally feeling like we are settling in.
I have been busy (late nights) creating a video of a local company. Finished last night or about 1am this morning.
Ministry is going awesome and I feel bad we have not shared any stories.
I got to pray for a co-worker a few weeks back who was laying his head on the desk in intense migraine, sinus, and neck pain. He was only at work because he was head on vacation towards the end of the week and had to get his stuff done.
I asked to pray for him, he said sure (quick version). I prayed and he said it had gone down from a 7 pain level to a 5. So I prayed again, then he jumped up and yelled get away from me Heath you're a weirdo (half serious/half joking).
He was stunned because all the pain (and everything else attached to it) instantly left.
He sat there in silence and disbelief. I briefly shared the gospel of the Kingdom and smiled because once again Heaven had invaded earth.
Bless you all and until I write more stay socially connected with Emie on Facebook.
Of course all of you Facebookers will keep up to date with my wife and thus hear a quick on the fam.
Life is going great. We love our home and fields of Ag all around us.
Finally feeling like we are settling in.
I have been busy (late nights) creating a video of a local company. Finished last night or about 1am this morning.
Ministry is going awesome and I feel bad we have not shared any stories.
I got to pray for a co-worker a few weeks back who was laying his head on the desk in intense migraine, sinus, and neck pain. He was only at work because he was head on vacation towards the end of the week and had to get his stuff done.
I asked to pray for him, he said sure (quick version). I prayed and he said it had gone down from a 7 pain level to a 5. So I prayed again, then he jumped up and yelled get away from me Heath you're a weirdo (half serious/half joking).
He was stunned because all the pain (and everything else attached to it) instantly left.
He sat there in silence and disbelief. I briefly shared the gospel of the Kingdom and smiled because once again Heaven had invaded earth.
Bless you all and until I write more stay socially connected with Emie on Facebook.
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