Beautiful to God Online Conference

My friend Amy Vest over at Loving the Lord Ministries is releasing the online Beautiful To God Conference on her ministry blog! Be sure to check it out - each month she puts out a new topic and video. This month, the topic is The Life You Were Created to Live.

You can also visit the Loving the Lord Ministries webpage to find out more about Amy and the ministry. And of course be sure to check out the Beautiful to God blog, and share it with your friends as well!

World Watch List 2013

Please share this video from Open Doors with others, and remember to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who share our faith, but not our freedom!


 

The Lost Medallion

This movie was entered into the SAICFF - doesn't it look exciting?!

Washington D.C. Part 2

For those of you who read Part 1 . . .

The thing that President Washington and I have in common is our red hair! And not only that, we both have blue eyes as well. :-) There are no paintings of him with his red hair very visible because he either had a hat on or had gray/white hair. His hair turned gray during the Revolutionary War and white during the presidency. He left his BEAUTIFUL home - Mt. Vernon - to serve our country for the majority of his life. He was one of our finest American heroes. 

 

We had THE BEST food at the Mount Vernon Inn! Rice, veggies, and chicken stuffed with apples, figs and walnuts. YUM!

We were able to see the monuments at night, which was amazing! It was quite a long walk between them, though, so we got pretty exhausted and didn't make it to all the monuments. I especially liked the Lincoln Memorial because of it's grandness, and the Washington Monument reflecting in the pool was amazing too.

 

 

One other place we were able to visit was Arlington National Cemetery  The changing of the guard ceremony was incredible, and it was interesting to see Kennedy's grave site and the Robert E. Lee mansion.

Here is Lady Freedom - a replica of the statue on top of the Capitol Building.

Some artist depicted George Washington as a king or a god on the very top of the Capitol Building's dome . . . I know that President Washington would not have appreciated that!

The old Senate Chamber

The Library of Congress (my favorite thing there was the 1455 Gutenburg Bible!)

And of course the real reason we went to D.C. was for the Open Doors' events! The first was a meeting at the Press Club where several people shared about the top 50 countries on the World Watch List (these are not the ONLY countries, but just the top 50). North Korea has been NUMBER ONE for 11 years now, and a few countries, such as Tanzania, jumped from not being on there at all, to being number 24.

I was THRILLED to meet Brother Andrew himself! Wow! It's like history coming alive! If you've ever read the book God's Smuggler, you'll know what I mean. And if you haven't read it, quit reading this blog and go get yourself a copy at the library - NOW! ;-)

 

That afternoon we went to a church to set up for an event where several people spoke on persecution. Not only would I highly recommend God's Smuggler, but I would also tell you to go get yourself a copy of The Insanity of God. Yes, that's an interesting title, but you'll have to find out for yourself what's on the inside!

I was so privileged to be sitting with such a hero of the faith for dinner . . . what a neat experience! I asked him what was one life lesson he would want to pass on after all his adventures (including being sentenced to death once!!) and right away he said, "To be more radical! I wish I wouldn't have compromised as much." And that's coming from one of the most radical people I've ever read/heard about!

I very much enjoyed hearing the various speakers, including Brother Andrew.
He's very spry and humorous!

 

And that brings me to the last two pictures of our hotel room view, and our airplane view (of the Chicago area and Lake Michigan). I could see God's hand at work on this trip and I'm SO thankful for the undeserved blessings He has given me!

 

 

March For Life

Pray for U.S. Citizen Imprisoned in Iran

". . . I want to share with you an urgent prayer request regarding an Iranian, who is now a U.S. citizen and has lived with his wife and two children in Idaho. God has used him to bring many Muslims to the Lord and to establish numerous house churches throughout Iran. His biography was being written, and he knew once it was published in the U.S. he would not be able to travel back to Iran, so he made one last trip in September. However, he was arrested and has been held captive and severely tortured, yet without denying his Lord and Savior. He wrote a letter to his family saying, “Prison is a test of faith. I was always worried that the storms of this life would break the ship of my faith, but when you stand steadfast, the storms are like a nice breeze. Nothing can break my faith. These walls have created more fervor for me to love others through sharing the Gospel, but more than that, the walls have deepened my love for my Savior. I feel the prayers of all who are praying for me.” He may have to serve 18 years in prison or he may even be given the death penalty. News was just received that his case has been assigned to a judge they call “the hanging judge” because of his harsh sentences. He is expected to rule next week [this week]. Please join us in prayer for him and his precious family."

- A Prayer Request from Randy Alcorn and Eternal Perspectives Ministries

Washington D.C. Part 1

Alright, so here are some pictures from our time in Washington D.C.! I had never been to our nation's capitol before (and mom had when she was only 16) so we both had a wonderful time taking everything in. The weather was BEAUTIFUL - in the 40s most of the time.



Here we are riding the metro system - we boarded the wrong train the first time, but thanks to a kind stranger got put on the right path. Let's just say after that we learned the metro system very quickly! :-)

President Hannah?

At the National Air and Space Museum

Here I am driving a huge aircraft carrier

Yep, that is THE original Wright Brothers airplane - it was so cool to step back in history!

A model of the Hubble space telescope

 

 

Next we went to the National Museum of Natural History. Even thought we got to see many amazing creatures, we couldn't turn around without some evolutionary saying being there. It was pretty sad - it's so obvious that these wonderful and beautifully designed animals had to have a Designer!

 

 

Below was one of my favorites - the pre-flood Titanoboa! It almost swallowed me alive. ;-)

 

Mount Vernon was next for us . . . . and both mom and I consider it one of our favorites! Seeing the exact place where such a godly hero as George Washington lived so many years ago was absolutely amazing. 

"Martha Washington" asked where we lived, and when we said Minnesota she said she didn't know where that was (we are such early pioneers it hasn't been made a state yet, I guess). ;-)

But the MOST AMAZING FACT that I learned on THIS ENTIRE TRIP was . . . was . . . *takes a deep breath to collect thoughts* . . . . was . . .

 

 . . . well, you'll have to find out next time, but I will give one clue. In the picture of a young George Washington above, if you look closely, you may see that I have something very special in common with him.

Until next time!