From: David Jones [david.jones@lbfc.org]
Sent: Sat 7/19/2003 10:26 AM
Subject: Re: Keeping Up...

July 19, 2003

Hello Long Beach Friends. Can you believe another week of summer is behind us? Joe updated us on what is happening in SYLI and we rejoice with you over God's work in the lives of people directly and indirectly involved. Savy, we would like to welcome you to the family of Christ. You have made the most important decision of your life. Now the adventure begins! We have also enjoyed looking at the pictures on the website of the different service projects the SYLI students have been doing. Keep up the service and the creativity!

For us, this past week has been one of getting to know people in the church through different activities and bible studies. After church on Sunday, we went out to eat with a few of the older couples from the church. We rode with a couple who moved here a couple of years ago from Louisiana. They had Emily and me in laughing fits for most of the ride. They think that Eudora is too crowded (a town of 6300 people!) and want to get back into the country. As they were describing the differences between Eudora and the Louisiana countryside, Randy (the husband) told us how hard it has been for Marlene (the wife) to get used to driving in this area. He said, "She ain't used to driving along and havin' to follow them signs. No sir, she's used to people telling her, 'Go up the road 'till you see that big tree on the left!" Now, all the while Randy is talking, Marlene is in the back seat saying, "Yep. That's right. You tell 'em Randy. That's right." (Imagine all of this done in the thickest Southern accent you can imagine!) Ah, it was comedy to say the least. We haven't been around southern folk very much, so we are having a great time with Randy and Marlene-their accents, and just the way they phrase things. Plus, they really love the Lord and have done much to make us feel welcome.

Even so, it is always challenging to start new relationships. It takes time and hard work and patience. As you know, after those relationships are developed, we feel like we have had them forever and we tend to forget about all the time and effort that went into the foundation. This time of transition has helped me reflect on the many wonderful relationships that Emily and I have in Long Beach. Over the course of years and shared experiences, God gave us something special with you. Thank you for sharing yourselves with us. And remember to continue striving for new relationships. Look for the outsider in your sphere of influence. Being the "new people" has reminded Emily and me how important it is to reach out and take the initiative.

We would like to encourage you to reach out to others and to strive for deep and meaningful relationships. Be willing to put in the time, hard work, and prayer that are required for such relationships. But first, offer yourselves up to God. Be willing to do anything He asks you to do-anything! The relationships that will come out of your obedience will go beyond anything you have experienced. In line with this, I want to share a few thoughts from Erwin McManus' book, Seizing Your Divine Moment. (Erwin is the head pastor of Mosaic, a church just right up the street from you in downtown L.A.) McManus states, "Whenever we seize a divine moment (obey what God is telling us to do when He tells us to do it), we magnify the presence of God. To act on God's behalf is to express what is on His mind and on His heart. When we do this, we become a flagship of God's activity. It is the contemporary equivalent of the pagans who called the followers of Christ Christians because they looked like Jesus. They moved in a divine rhythm. To watch a believer live was to see God move. They were not carbon copies of Jesus, but dynamic expressions of His character. And when things got tough, the image of Christ in them became clear. When we offer ourselves as instruments for God's purpose, we create opportunities for others to experience God through us. We become lightning rods of God's activity. Our lives become the X that marks the spot. Our obedience creates a spiritual epicenter through which God shakes up the world around us and others come to know Him (189, 91). Whether we're involved with SYLI, working, going to school, vacationing, or something else, let's offer ourselves up as His instruments and watch Him work miracles!

[Emily's bit]

Hey all! I don't have much else to add (Dave writes a good letter, doesn't he?!), but I want to re-emphasize Dave's encouragement to you to reach out to others and strive for meaningful relationships. It has been weird, being the "outsider" for the first time in a long time. (It's so easy to forget what that feels like!) We need to notice that "outsider/insider" dynamic enough to realize how important it is that we reach out to others. Some of the most frustrating times of being new here have been when I'm in a room full of people I don't know very well, and I don't feel like anyone wants to get to know me. And when I say "know", I mean know deeply. It's easy enough to ask someone where they're from and why they're here, but it's another thing altogether to show interest in forming a deep friendship with them. So look out for people around you who may need you! New friendships are hard work and can even be scary, but I can honestly say that I am praying fervently that some of my classmates and women in our church will feel God calling them to form a deep friendship with me.

And that's it! This week hasn't been too full of funny tidbits to share, though I do have a couple:

• Did Dave ever mention that God gave us a dryer (like washer/dryer) for $5? We had been searching all over for a fairly beat-up, super cheap washer and dryer (the Laundromat here in Eudora is WAY too expensive - we actually figured that we would save money buying old machines instead!) So we searched, and nothing seemed to be working out. We even tried to buy one from an older man, and then ended up not doing so (the deal seemed a little shaky)! So we headed to the Salvation Army to look for a whole bunch of stuff, and an older gentleman there blessed our socks off by giving us a dryer for $5. (He later told my Mom that his favorite part of his job is helping out people that come into the store.) And there you have it! We have a pretty nice dryer (it is missing the knobs on top - that's how he reasoned giving it to us for so cheap) - and God is awesome.
• I found out this week at a ladies' dinner thing for church that the winters here get pretty rough - they said it could get to 20 below! But I guess they can be mild sometimes, too. so needless to say, that's helped me to enjoy the hot weather a bit more!

That's all I have for now! Love you all - take good care of each other!

Trusting in His promises,

Dave and Emily