Simmons Family Legacy

 

 

     Today we celebrate the life and legacy of our Grandma Eloise Simmons. Psalm 78:1-7 describes her legacy, the Simmons' family legacy perfectly. What a blessing it is to be a Simmons and instill a love for Christ and a heart to love and serve others in our future generations just like our Papaw and Grandma Simmons have done.

 

My people, hear my instruction; listen to what I say. I will declare wise ...sayings; I will speak mysteries from the past— things we have heard and known and that our fathers have passed down to us. We must not hide them from their children, but must tell a future generation the praises of the Lord, His might, and the wonderful works He has performed. He established a testimony in Jacob and set up a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children so that a future generation—children yet to be born—might know. They were to rise and tell their children so that they might put their confidence in God and not forget God’s works,
but keep His commands. ~Psalm 78:1-7

 

 

 For the past couple weeks I've avoided any article/ post about Ebola because just seeing each one seemed to upset me more and more. Not because of fear for myself or my family, but because each post shows how heartbreakingly selfish people are. 

Several times I have wondered if possibly there was something wrong with me because of my views on the subject. Why I would, in a heartbeat willingly give up my insignificant first world problems to love on and care for a dying third world country. Not until today when I came across a Christian article did I finally comprehend the feelings I had been having. 

[...an "epidemic that seemed like the of end the world actually promoted the spread of Christianity." By their actions in the face of possible death, Christians showed their neighbors that "Christianity is worth dying for."...Nearly eighteen centuries after the Plague of Cyprian, Christianity still prompts people to run towards the plague when virtually everyone else is running away...]

Ayúdame a Sonreír (Help Me to Smile)

     I'm still trying to pull myself and my thoughts together after the past week so I can wrap my heart and mind around everything we witnessed. I'm still a mess. I'm so exhausted but I can't sleep because my mind is racing with 1,000 ideas of how we can help the church at LaRomana and the sweet little school ( Ayúdame a Sonreír) we visited. I've decided to just start a list of these things so I can start reaching out right away this week and put these ideas into action. Praise God for opening our eyes and allowing our hearts to break for what breaks His.

We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you (LaRomana) had become dear to us.~1 Thessalonians 2:8

Let Us Not Grow Weary

Construction on the church has made amazing progress! We are about 1/3 of the way up the walls ...on the 2nd floor! We are tired but God is giving us more strength each day to keep working.  

We met an incredible couple (Nancy & Roberto) who has opened a school in their home to extremely poor children who aren't able to attend public school because they don't have birth certificates. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see such extreme poverty. I have never seen anything so touching in my entire life. I'm sure I speak for my entire family when I tell you my life will never be the same. We found out that we get go back to see these children again tomorrow to feed them and also take them school supplies for the next year, praise God! I don't know exactly what we can do beyond this, but those children will not be forgotten. We will figure out something to help those precious babies.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. ~Galations 6:9



I am Yours and You are mine

Just one of my favorite pictures on our way home, probably 15 minutes off the coast of the Dominican Republic. I was overwhelmed with emotions from the previous week as I sang this quietly in my head....
 

"You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery...
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine"

 

 

Enlarge the Sight of Your Tent

La Iglesia Acción Misionera y el Centro Enseñanza Generatión del Reino

      We are settling in at home but Braeden and I are both still waking up early as if we were heading to the new church site in La Romana. I am so excited for my new friends and family in the Dominican Republic to have their church and school finished as soon as possible. We were able to spend some time with them in their present church / school and it was overflowing with people. I have been reading in Isaiah... 54:2 -3 where God is instructing the people through Isaiah to enlarge the site of their ministry and make room to hold many more people. By obeying and doing so, their ministry would be blessed by multitudes of people coming to know Christ. He instructs them to not hold back. I can tell you the people of this church in La Romana are not holding anything back, they are offering all they have. They fed us by nourishing us with the food they had and also spiritually by their passionate prayers over each one of us that were working on their new building. They gave their time, money and a love like no other to us while we were there. God says that by not sparing anything their church will begin to grow even more, not just in the surrounding areas but throughout the world! This gives us a sense of urgency to help the church in La Romana finish enlarging the site of their ministry and help them reach out to the multitudes of people around them. I can not wait to see how immensely God is going to bless this church and it's people in future!
 

Enlarge the site of your tent, and let your tent curtains be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your ropes, and drive your pegs deep. For you will spread out to the right and left, and your descendants will dispossess nations and inhabit the desolate cities. ~Isaiah 54:2-3

Guide Me

     Chad and Braeden had plans to serve on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic this coming March, but as usual, our plans are not always God's plans. Shortly after Christmas, Chad found out that he wouldn't be able to go. Inevitably, I jumped at the chance to serve along side of my seasoned little missionary. As the new year approached I made a conscious decision to de-clutter my mind and heart of unnecessary things such as social media in order to devote extra time to spiritually preparing myself for the endeavor ahead. Today was no different. I came in from taking Chloe to school and cuddled up on the couch with a blanket, cup of coffee and my bible. My hope and prayer is that God will pour in to me the words, His words, that I will need in order to touch other's hearts (as well as my own) for Christ while I am there. I came across the most perfect scripture this morning in Hebrews.

By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ~Hebrews 11:8-10

     The excitement inside of me has been building with each day as we get closer to our departure date. I find myself looking over maps of the D.R., studying it's history and looking up pictures of it's larger cities. Like Abraham going in to the promise land, I'm not exactly sure of where I'm going. As Christians we may not know why or where God is guiding us, but we do know our Guide. That in itself, is overly satisfying and exciting! I too, am looking forward to seeing this new city God is leading me to help Him build!