Grace Perspectives .... Glidden Family in the U.S.

I'm pleased to introduce you to my friends, Greg and Bethany Glidden. They were my team leaders the first year I lived and worked in China. It was their third year in China and they were great at helping us newcomers understand how to successfully minister in a new culture.  

Now, they have three beautiful daughters and are working with Priority 1 Ministries, leading and supporting ministry teams. Soon, they'll transition from Pennsylvania to New York, and begin inner-city work in the Bronx. I think you'll gain a lot from their perspective on grace, and be challenged by their faith as they live out the gospel in our homeland.

*What are you learning about God or from God in this season of your life?

The incessant patience of God never fails to amaze me. While I sulk, whine, pout, and wallow in my own shortsightedness, He’s always there, gently reminding me that He is who He says He is, and that He’s got it all under control. I’m reading through the gospels right now, and in Luke 17 the disciples plead with Jesus, “Show us how to increase our faith!” (They had just had yet another realization that the simple, wonderful things He was teaching them were simply and wonderfully impossible for them to do without God’s help.) Jesus tells them, basically, that the “amount” of faith they have isn’t important; having any faith at all is a very powerful thing. Great! But He doesn’t stop there: He then tells a story about obedience, about servants and masters and how they interact. Does the master serve the servant dinner? Of course not! Does the master thank the servant? Of course not! It’s simply the servant’s duty.

Here’s what I see, both in the passage and in my life: When your faith feels small, focus on obedience. Focus on doing what you know is right, even if your mood isn’t in the mood. I found myself praying that God would show me where, specifically, He wants me to be obedient. I asked that He make it blatantly obvious, because I’m pretty dense sometimes.

And He did. God answers prayer, and He is there when we call.

*What does grace mean to you and how has it shown up in your life over the years or in your marriage?

I (Bethany) once had a professor who said that God does not have grace. Grace isn’t in little packets that God distributes throughout the world. Instead, God is gracious. Period. That idea changed the way I thought and prayed. I realized that we could ask for more grace, but instead we should ask to be more like God – among other things, gracious.

In terms of marriage, grace is being deeply committed, loving someone despite his/her weaknesses and faults and admiring and respecting their strengths. Grace makes that commitment work. A marriage is just a little peek at the deep commitment (covenant) that God has with us. He is gracious, and His graciousness inspires us to be gracious.

And let me (Greg) say a word about grace and being a parent. When you have kids you come to understand grace – or at least, you get to experiment with it – when your kids look you in the eye and do the exact thing you just told them not to do. You have an immediate decision to make: justice or grace? Or both, somehow? That God can be gracious to us when we don’t deserve it at all is mind-boggling in itself, but when you are in the position to offer undeserved grace to someone else, you realize just how huge a thing it is.

*How can people pray for the people you are ministering to right now? Priority 1 work, or praying for the people you'll serve in the Bronx?

The groups we train and send primarily work with children, running open-air Bible Clubs for as many kids as can fit in the space. We’ll be based in the Bronx, New York, and we’ll work directly with the youth and adults who come to serve in the city, with our partner ministries and organizations, and with the kids who come to the Bible Clubs. Please pray that everyone, whether resident of or visitor to New York City, will know Jesus better and be closer to Him.

Please pray for us as an organization. We are in a time of transition, with new staff and new opportunities for existing staff. We are a small organization, so fund-raising can be difficult. We know what God has laid out before us, though, and we desire to follow His guidance even though some odds seem against us. And hey, if God is for us, who can be against us, right?

We desire to see people of every color come to know Jesus, and we hope that we can be a bridge between those who need the gospel and those who need to share it. We pray that churches will see not only the needs of the people around them, but that they will see that they are able to help. We pray that we can follow hard after Jesus, and help others to do the same.

Grace Perspectives ..... Morgan in Asia

My dear friend Morgan is serving the Tai Lue people in Asia.  I met her on a prayer trip in Laos almost four years ago.  It was just the two of us on the trip - she was leading me as part of the group she serves with - and we discovered that we were actually both from the Seattle area and had mutual friends!  She is devoted to God's call on her life and genuinely cares for the Tai Lue.  Here are Morgan's thoughts on grace.  I hope you find encouragement here.

I'm learning about trusting God when things don't turn out the way you hope (serving without teammates with me), believing in His goodness and faithfulness to His promises (that HE is with me! and that He will exalted among all nations and He has given us power to be His witnesses and that He will complete the good work He started in me). That my life and peace is from knowing Him, not based on whether I lead people to the Lord, whether I am married, whether I am healthy, or whether I look great. Really my peace, security, acceptance and love are in Christ."you have been given fullness (completeness) in Christ" Col. 2:10  Knowing this frees me up from myself and my issues so I can just praise Him, love Him.

God's grace, His undeserved gift is astounding to me. That through Christ's sacrifice He reconciled me to Himself, giving me the greatest gift- Himself is incredible. Recently, I've been thinking how His Spirit helping me change to be more like Him, help me know Him more, and work with Him to help others come to know Him is all His grace. Being able to live where I do and share the Gospel of grace with people who have never heard it is such a gift!

Thank you for praying for the Tai Lue people who live in China, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and the USA! Please cry out to Father that Tai Lue people's hearts will be opened and softened. Pray that they will turn from their idols to serve the Living God and wait for His Son from heaven.
May God will make his light shine in their heart to give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2Cor.4:6).

Grace Perspectives ..... Lyle in Uganda

Now it's time to hear from Lyle:

What am I learning about God or from God in this season of my life?

As I think on this two things immediately come to my mind that apply both to what I am learning about God and from God. They would be His sovereignty and his faithfulness. As I look back at my life I can see how much of it I lived as if I had sovereign control over it and only involved God when I needed Him. The reality is that He IS sovereign and I need Him continually. 

What does grace mean to you and how has it shown up in my life over the yers or in my life as a married couple?

Grace means so much more to me now than it used to. I used to think of grace only as "God's unmerited favor," which it is, but I see now that it is so much more dimensional. Just one example might help explain. If I am living in sin, I used to see grace only as God forgiving my sin and life moves forward as if nothing had happened. Now I understand that God exposing that sin is grace. If I continue in my sin it will bring destruction. His grace in exposing my sin saves me from that destruction and brings me to repentance and right relationship with Him. 

Pray for Uganda:

I read Ingrid's response on this and I would very much agree. I would add that as a society that claims to be predominately Christian, that the Truth of the gospel is lived out in its fullness and not diluted in syncretism. I pray this same thing for the U.S. as well.

photo credit

Grace Perspectives ..... Ingrid in Uganda

Ingrid and Lyle Lathrop are serving the Karamajong people in northeastern Uganda.  They work with Africa Inland Mission (AIM) .  After intensive training in Uganda last year, they returned to the US to raise support and soak up time with family.  At the end of last month, Ingrid and Lyle returned to Uganda - this time to live there for the next two years.  I've grown up with their daughters, and went on a mission trip to Nicaragua with them when I was a teenager.  I love Ingrid and Lyle's genuine love for all people, and their joy in saying yes to serving the Karamajong.

Here are Ingrid's thoughts:

1. What does grace mean to me and how has it shown up in my life over the years or in my life as a married couple.
        I have come to understand grace as a powerful force that God has placed over my life through the Holy Spirit, in my years of following Christ. It is not only the gift of redemption that transformed me into a new person, not refurbished, but new:), it is the power that allows me to resist temptation and evil, and the power of Christ within to love with His love no matter the person or circumstance.  In my marriage this has proven to be a force to allow me to see sin clearly, both in myself and when my spouse might sin against me, and still understand that God's grace to us is sufficient to see honestly without negating what has happened and forgive or repent. 1 John 3:9 and 5:18 both speak to God's children not "practicing" sin.  I have come to understand that it is the power of grace that makes this a reality in Christ followers lives.

2. What am I learning about God or from God in this season of my life.
        I continue to learn more about Who He is, His character, His absolute ability to be trusted, His vast multifaceted creative variety in culture  and people. From Him I have and am learning that His ways are consistent as is His nature, so I can trust Him speaking in me to line up with what I have already known about Him. His power to move in my circumstances as I yield and surrender to what He leads me to do continues to amaze me and fill me more and more with the absolute certainty that He is worth all my life in every way forever.

3. How to pray for Uganda and the Karamajong people.
        In seeking The Lord on this; both absolutely need reconciliation between clans and tribes as well as interpersonal. For the Karamajong-the children (street children) that are being resettled in Karamoja back with family of some sort, that they would remember what they learned here at the home they were rescued by, Dwelling Places, about God, Jesus and who they are in Christ.  That the families would receive them back and that the Holy Spirit would move in these families. Pray that they will receive the truth that God loves them and sees them as most valuable to Him.

If you would like to learn more about the Karamajong and the Lathrop's work in Uganda, please read more here:  Lathrop's Path .  

photo credit: homes

photo credit: karamajong

Grace Perspectives ..... INTRO

Ephesians 2:8-10

The Message (MSG)

     Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.


      God's grace is so wonderful to me, and yet so very mysterious.  I want to let go, and fall back into my Savior's waiting arms.  To cease striving, to extend the favor I've received to others.  I'm trying to understand grace more deeply, while at the same time, not over-thinking it.  There's a time for mental wrestling and there's a time to just say, "Dang, I am a chronic messed up girl and God loves me enough to have His Son die.  That's amazing."

     I have dear friends in many corners of the world.  I thought it would be great to use this little blog to think more about grace, and to let more people know how to pray for the people my friends are serving.  I asked everyone the same three questions:

1.  What does grace mean to you and how has it shown up in your life as a married couple or single person?

2.  What are you learning about God or from God in this season of life?

3.  How can people pray for the community you serve?

     I hope you are blessed by these perspectives and are encouraged to pray 
for God's people all over the world.

Photo Credit:  My brother's dog, Henry, photographed by Dana Pleasant

Letters About Control

To my students:

Teaching has been tough lately.

Our classroom is full of interrupting, impulsive behavior, and rude comments.

Simple instructions turn into total chaos.

In the staff room, I tell the other teachers that my day is not going well,

My students are out of control, I say.

They microwave their lunches and offer sympathetic words.

After school, your PE teacher stopped by,

He sat on your desk and listened.

I told him you wrote the F-bomb on your Math book,

I told him how you crawl under tables,

I told him I don’t know how to get your attention.

In our talking, I realized something important:

My day is not determined by your behavior.

You can throw a fit, kick someone at recess, or refuse to do your homework.

That’s up to you.

It turns out, I still get to be happy and full of peace.

I’ve tried to control you so I don’t feel out of control.

Today, I release you to make decisions

I’ll be right there with you,

Offering guidance,

Learning from mistakes,

Celebrating achievements.

But your day won’t be my day. 

I’m going to make my own choices.

To my God:

Is this lesson I’ve just learned from my students

Something You’ve practiced all along?

When I’m screaming at You, angry and defiant,

Are You still having a good day?

Are You in control but lovingly letting me choose?

When I make a mistake,

You’re there.

It’s not the end of the world, after all.

When I sin the same way, again and again

And again,

You haven’t given up.

So, God,

Would You be for my students what I can’t be?

Indwell me and show them the grace they need in their faltering?

Would You love them through me?

My class doesn’t have authority over my decisions,

But I invite You to.

I Wish I Could Trust God Like I Trust My Coxswain

“Push with your legs!  Give it all you’ve got!”

My heart pounded.

“Breathe deeply!  Bend from your waist!”

My lungs kept pace with my body,

Push back and exhale, slide forward and inhale,

“This is our race to win!  Don’t let them take one inch from you!”

With each stroke, I kept my eyes locked with my coxswain,

And willed my body to follow every word from her mouth.

On weekend mornings, I row with twenty or so adults on Green Lake.  I am usually in a mixed 8, which means both men and women in an eight-seat boat where we each have one oar.  For the past several months, the coach has assigned me to the stroke seat, which is the farthest to the stern.  I row face to face with the coxswain, and the other rowers match the pace and stroke length I set with the rower directly behind me.  I’m proud to be the stroke, because it’s not an easy position.  A stroke has to focus hard on consistent, long, aggressive strokes.  From that position in the boat, you can feel every shift that every other rower makes.  If someone puts their oar in the water before you do, you can feel it.  You have to fight to keep your rhythm, whether or not everyone is in sync or when the boat hits waves or encounters other glitches. 

Yesterday morning, my class formed 4 boats and raced each other during practice.  The races were differing lengths, so we could feel the difference between sprinting and longer pieces.  As much as I’m proud to be stroke, it makes me nervous when we race.  I worry that I’ll mess up or not be aggressive enough and let my boat down.  My hands and arms usually shake as we sit, grasping the oar handle out in front of our forward-leaning bodies, poised for the start command from the coach’s megaphone.   

As we raced, our two coaches drove two separate speedboats alongside us, calling out adjustments and encouragements.  On top of that, our coxswain, Corey, who wears a microphone attached to speakers under our feet, was coaching us.  Keeping a consistent stroke rate and listening to three different voices, all while my body was screaming, “This is crazy!  I’m pooped!  What are you doing to me???” was too much.  Not only that, but in my peripheral vision, I could see the two boats on either side of us – the boats we were trying very hard to pass.  Something had to change.

I decided to block out everything – my body’s pain, the other boats, the wind, even my coaches’ voices – except Corey.  I locked eyes with her and did whatever her voice said, immediately.  If she called for a higher stroke rate, I didn’t question her command or wonder if my body could go faster.  I went faster.  If she told us ten more strokes, I followed her countdown and was ready to keep going if she asked.  You see, Corey is the only person in the boat who sees where we are going.  There could be fishing boats, swimmers, and buoys in our path, but I will never know.  I have a general idea of when we’ll finish, based on knowing how long it takes to row a certain amount of meters, but I can’t see the final buoy.

My boat was really successful.  We won nearly every racing piece.  I went home thinking about how good it feels to blindly trust my coxswain.  In rowing, I am totally okay with not seeing where I am going.  In life, I can’t stand not knowing the future.  It messes with me all the time.  I want God to just tell me what’s going to happen for sure so I can prepare for it.  When life is difficult and painful, I want to know how much longer I’ll have to endure.  I want to stop trying when life is not going my way.

I wish I trusted God like I trust my coxswain.  I can row without caring if we hit something.  Corey knows where she’s going and she doesn’t want to hit stuff or cause an accident.  In fact, she is totally invested in our boat winning.  I am 100% sure of that.  So, if she says something that doesn’t make sense, based on what I perceive from my position in the boat, I still follow her command immediately and without question.  Just because I can’t see where I’m going doesn’t mean I’m not going anywhere.  I’m actually going straight to the finish line, without fear and without stopping until the race is over.

While I have a long way to go in trusting God like this, the next step on which I’ve set my mind is to simply be okay with not seeing where I’m going.  I have no idea where I’m going on this earth, and I am content to put my full effort into moving forward all the same.  I’m happy to let God have His role in the boat.

As you consider trusting God more fully, remember with me that:

God loves us (Jeremiah 31:3).

God has plans full of hope and prosperity (Jeremiah 29:11).

God takes care of all of our needs in Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:12-14

Watch a few minutes of this video to feel the perspective of a coxswain looking at the stroke seat, coaching her boat.  This is a video I found online, not my team.