Ramblings

My thoughts have been so disjointed lately, that I figured that was the best title for this post!

We have officially become homeless.  It sounds worse than what it really is.  We have moved out of our RV and will be selling it.  Meanwhile, through a series of events, we ended up house-sitting for a Florida family who live off a canal and have a pool.  We see yachts every time we look out the back windows.  Sheesh. 

Robert and Andrew helping clean one of the yachts.

The boys have been eating up every minute here.  Josh has caught and cooked a crab every night.  Robert drives his RC boat in the canal every chance he gets.  Andrew can't believe how many kids channels there are on TV.  Bill and I are enjoying the amount of space.  I am specifically enjoying cooking and baking.

From here we move into a friend's home on the 25th of November and fly to Brazil on December 13.  We have been sorting through all our RV things to decide what absolutely needs to come to Brazil with us and what needs to go on pallets to get put in a container that probably won't arrive until another 3 months from now.  Ouch.

Since houses in Brazil don't have basic appliances like refrigerators, ovens/stoves, and even cabinets, we hope to take either a microwave or counter top large toaster oven and maybe even a burner or two.

Typical kitchen in Brazil (especially a rental house)

We will do one last International Dinner fundraiser December 1 in Fort Lauderdale.  The Brazilian bible study group we have been attending will be helping with the meal.  Yum!!

Believer's Bridge International Dinner 

There is so much going on that the reality of moving to Brazil to live there hasn't really hit us.  In the back of my mind I know what it will be like, but I worry for the rest of the family who has never done anything like this before, nor speak the language.  A few positive things are: we do know some people there already and the Brazilians are VERY caring and giving.

Christmas will be different this year.  Not only because it will be celebrated in another country, but because I realized these last few days that whatever presents we try to buy need to fit in our luggage, along with the microwave or toaster oven, all our clothes, kitchen items, bedding....  You get the picture.  Gift cards are not an option as there is no such thing as a Walmart or Target there. So, I haven't figured out what to do.  Maybe we can celebrate Christmas 3 months from now when our container arrives...

I am still homeschooling the kids.  Robert is doing an online program, but it is not the same.  The good news is it is accredited so if we stick with it he can go to any college when he graduates.  Josh is doing SOS (Switched-On-Schoolhouse) which is a computer program.  Andrew and I are doing the usual workbook system.

I am amazed I have not gone insane.  What doesn't kill you, strengthens you?

On that note, I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!  We will have a PO Box here in the States.  Our faithful volunteer has been checking it for us weekly and lists all the mail we receive.  Not sure if we will have her send accumulated mail to us or just ask her to scan letters so we can at least view them online.  If you just want to communicate with us, email will be best.

Bill and Becky Rowley
PO Box 374
Pelham AL 35124

bill@believersbridge.org
becky@believersbridge.org

This thing called Life

There's our organic side of life.  You know, the bones, muscles, major organs (thus the word "organic"), and the other physical aspects, or living tissue. 

In a way, sometimes we become preoccupied with this side of life.  Hey, when my stomach starts to rumble, food becomes a priority.  I think we can all agree on that one.  And clothing is a pretty staple part of living.  No argument there.  Everyone, no matter what race or time in history you come/came from needs these things, albeit in differing ways.

The inorganic side of life, the unseen force/will that controls the physical -most of the time, is an enigma to most of us, just like the word itself.  [Enigma - a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation.]

But that's just it.  They are so intertwined that you can't have one without the other.  A physical occurrence elicits a response from our soul/mind.  Something as small as a mosquito bite creates an itch and mental irritation.  Or something huge like an accident elicits bigger responses.  Anything.  Isn't that amazing?  There.  Just reading this (physical words) creates a thought in your head.

This thing called Life is amazing, wonderful, hurtful, challenging, tiring, and intriguing, just to name a few. 

So, here's another thought:  why would God do that? 

OK, let's go a little deeper now.  After sin entered the world, were mankinds' responses different?  Yes, I believe that is what changed. 

If you would oblige me, could you read the following?

"The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³ This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. ¹⁴ The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. ¹⁵ The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, ¹⁶ for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ."

I Corinthians 2:10b-16

 

The believer gets his eyes opened to understanding, but we still have this war with our flesh.  The non-believer doesn't have the Spirit to filter their decisions.  Greed, pride, power, etc.; in essence, they are all related to selfishness. 

 

OK, hang with me a little longer.  I just can't leave this passage out.  It explains the whole thing one step farther:

 

^"22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God." Romans 8:22-27


And now I'm going to go deeper.  Mmm.  Just take a moment.  Take a few deep breathes in and out, and listen with the Spirit of God to one last thought:

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

 
Do not conform.  To the pattern of this world.  Selfishness.  Giving in to my fleshly desires.  They can be strong sometimes and can hurt others or others have been hurt by it. 

This thing called Life.

There's more than meets the eye, huh?  It doesn't happen overnight.  But there's freedom, joy, fulfilled needed desires, and in one way you could say the "nirvana" of real Christianity. 

I think the Holy Spirit works overtime with wordless groans for all of us sometimes.  But He is seeking those who want to renew their minds. 

This journey of starting Believer's Bridge has certainly been a test of not conforming to this world.  Loss of home, loss of steady income, and living in an RV for about 2 years total has been a transformation all right. 

I know many of you have been going through your own journey, and I love the intertwining of our journies together to the glory of God as we wait for the redemption of our bodies. 

Don't give up.  It will be hard, because the flesh groans for the things of this world.  
Romans 8:28