Valley Letter
5-19-04
This is a letter from the current valley.
I have passed through many valleys before.
I will pass through many valleys in the future.
Valleys are not bad.
Like trials and suffering, valleys come with the pilgrim path.
It is best to learn lessons quickly and then earnestly commit to apply them.
And I have learned the hard way that it is wise to ask for prayer sooner than later.
The symptoms of this valley are financial pressures, like most of my valleys.
Other pilgrims have valleys related to their health, children, job or marriage.
I got into this valley by a particular route.
It is important to recall the history instead of reacting to the symptoms.
The last time I was actively making face-to-face presentations they were too rambling.
They took 30 minutes and never got to any point of conclusion
The friends I showed it to did not get the Big Picture quickly.
They could not see how they might become part of the biblical solution.
If I could not convey this to friends, then it would be tough to convey it to wealthy donors.
So I went back and took the whole thing apart.
I put together a wide and shallow outline.
The current phase is creating diagrams and developing the threads as summaries.
This has been more difficult and time consuming than I had expected.
Meanwhile the bills keep coming.
The donation income has been very small.
So the pressure keeps increasing.
THANKFULLY
Thankfully God has provided me with wonderful members of the board of directors.
They know about the internal and external struggles.
Thankfully God has provided me with supportive friends and accountability partners.
I am alone and I do not feel isolated.
Thankfully God has provided many intercessors.
Over and over I can bear witness to the internal and external answers to prayers.
Thankfully God has laid a large theological foundation so I am not disoriented.
Often when circumstances and feelings are swirling, my theology gives stable anchors.
Thankfully God has provided a large group that receive these emails.
I can quickly and economically request prayers.
Thankfully God has taught me to be open honest and real when I share.
That macho tendency to hide your weakness and feelings just blocks the love and truth.
Thankfully God has taught me how to write over the years.
Much practice has improved my output and it is on a blog to bless others later.
LESSONS LEARNED
I have learned to take special care of my health.
When the cash flow is thin then it is tempting to cut back on nutritional suppliants.
But I have often spent more money on junk food in an attempt to get my energy level up.
Sugar and caffeine are not food groups, regardless of the spending habits of Americans.
I need to be wise and use moderation in this area.
But zero supplements is not an option for the kinds of stress I face.
I have learned to SLICE up the monstrous projects into bite size units.
Then I line up the units into suitable categories with relative priorities.
With prayer and persistent actions the monstrous projects are not as overwhelming.
This is an application of the saying about eating an elephant one bite at a time.
I have learned to choose to recognize God blessings and give Him thanks.
There are many tiny blessing in everyday life.
This reminds me that God is not cold, impersonal and harsh.
My Jesus is warm, personal and loving.
My Jesus is right here, right now with perfect love for me.
I have learned again to just tell the truth about how I am feeling to my trusted friends.
Stuffing and hiding feelings does not cause them to go away.
They come back sooner than later.
I have learned that being absolutely candid with God in prayer is the best route.
I can never fool God, so why try?
He knows my thoughts, feelings, circumstances, histories, hopes, fears, etc.
Prayer is necessary, important and commanded.
It is okay to express my real doubts, angers, worries and frustrations to God.
He is not shocked or offended.
But I need to keep pressing in until the faith victory that will eventually come.
It is biblically wrong to blame or complain.
It is also biblically wrong to play religious games during prayer.
I have learned to use DVDs throughout the week for mental and emotional breaks.
Netflix www.netflix.com offers more than 20,000 DVDs.
They mail them to me.
I watch them when it suits my schedule and mail them back.
I can have three out at a time.
This is so much better than the what I found on commercial TV.
Commercial TV was taking my time in exchange for disappointment.
These DVDs help my emotional health.
I unwind when I see nature shows, documentaries and good movies.
I have learned that I can cast ALL my cares on Jesus.
He takes the big cares, small cares and ugly cares.
When I run out of gas I can just give up and totally quit, even many times a day or night.
He gives peace, rest and comfort.
He restores my strength.
I do not need to be driven from the flesh.
Jesus gives the motivation from the Spirit.
CONFIRMATIONS
God has used this journey through this particular valley to confirm various things.
The board of directors are each wonderful people that I can share my whole heart with.
God has ways to getting groceries and meals to me that defy the cash flow.
There is NOTHING more important than trusting and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus will stretch my faith as He purifies and perfects it.
God has given me a personality and spiritual gifts that match the calling on my life.
The news items indicate that our society needs the Bible and Jesus more every day.
Every week I observe another example of how the ministry will solve a perplexing problem.
When the Blueprint for the ministry is presented then the wealthy Christian will give generously.
The Blueprint is a dynamic document that God will keep changing.
This valley will end someday and the lessons will last.
5-19-04
This is a letter from the current valley.
I have passed through many valleys before.
I will pass through many valleys in the future.
Valleys are not bad.
Like trials and suffering, valleys come with the pilgrim path.
It is best to learn lessons quickly and then earnestly commit to apply them.
And I have learned the hard way that it is wise to ask for prayer sooner than later.
The symptoms of this valley are financial pressures, like most of my valleys.
Other pilgrims have valleys related to their health, children, job or marriage.
I got into this valley by a particular route.
It is important to recall the history instead of reacting to the symptoms.
The last time I was actively making face-to-face presentations they were too rambling.
They took 30 minutes and never got to any point of conclusion
The friends I showed it to did not get the Big Picture quickly.
They could not see how they might become part of the biblical solution.
If I could not convey this to friends, then it would be tough to convey it to wealthy donors.
So I went back and took the whole thing apart.
I put together a wide and shallow outline.
The current phase is creating diagrams and developing the threads as summaries.
This has been more difficult and time consuming than I had expected.
Meanwhile the bills keep coming.
The donation income has been very small.
So the pressure keeps increasing.
THANKFULLY
Thankfully God has provided me with wonderful members of the board of directors.
They know about the internal and external struggles.
Thankfully God has provided me with supportive friends and accountability partners.
I am alone and I do not feel isolated.
Thankfully God has provided many intercessors.
Over and over I can bear witness to the internal and external answers to prayers.
Thankfully God has laid a large theological foundation so I am not disoriented.
Often when circumstances and feelings are swirling, my theology gives stable anchors.
Thankfully God has provided a large group that receive these emails.
I can quickly and economically request prayers.
Thankfully God has taught me to be open honest and real when I share.
That macho tendency to hide your weakness and feelings just blocks the love and truth.
Thankfully God has taught me how to write over the years.
Much practice has improved my output and it is on a blog to bless others later.
LESSONS LEARNED
I have learned to take special care of my health.
When the cash flow is thin then it is tempting to cut back on nutritional suppliants.
But I have often spent more money on junk food in an attempt to get my energy level up.
Sugar and caffeine are not food groups, regardless of the spending habits of Americans.
I need to be wise and use moderation in this area.
But zero supplements is not an option for the kinds of stress I face.
I have learned to SLICE up the monstrous projects into bite size units.
Then I line up the units into suitable categories with relative priorities.
With prayer and persistent actions the monstrous projects are not as overwhelming.
This is an application of the saying about eating an elephant one bite at a time.
I have learned to choose to recognize God blessings and give Him thanks.
There are many tiny blessing in everyday life.
This reminds me that God is not cold, impersonal and harsh.
My Jesus is warm, personal and loving.
My Jesus is right here, right now with perfect love for me.
I have learned again to just tell the truth about how I am feeling to my trusted friends.
Stuffing and hiding feelings does not cause them to go away.
They come back sooner than later.
I have learned that being absolutely candid with God in prayer is the best route.
I can never fool God, so why try?
He knows my thoughts, feelings, circumstances, histories, hopes, fears, etc.
Prayer is necessary, important and commanded.
It is okay to express my real doubts, angers, worries and frustrations to God.
He is not shocked or offended.
But I need to keep pressing in until the faith victory that will eventually come.
It is biblically wrong to blame or complain.
It is also biblically wrong to play religious games during prayer.
I have learned to use DVDs throughout the week for mental and emotional breaks.
Netflix www.netflix.com offers more than 20,000 DVDs.
They mail them to me.
I watch them when it suits my schedule and mail them back.
I can have three out at a time.
This is so much better than the what I found on commercial TV.
Commercial TV was taking my time in exchange for disappointment.
These DVDs help my emotional health.
I unwind when I see nature shows, documentaries and good movies.
I have learned that I can cast ALL my cares on Jesus.
He takes the big cares, small cares and ugly cares.
When I run out of gas I can just give up and totally quit, even many times a day or night.
He gives peace, rest and comfort.
He restores my strength.
I do not need to be driven from the flesh.
Jesus gives the motivation from the Spirit.
CONFIRMATIONS
God has used this journey through this particular valley to confirm various things.
The board of directors are each wonderful people that I can share my whole heart with.
God has ways to getting groceries and meals to me that defy the cash flow.
There is NOTHING more important than trusting and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus will stretch my faith as He purifies and perfects it.
God has given me a personality and spiritual gifts that match the calling on my life.
The news items indicate that our society needs the Bible and Jesus more every day.
Every week I observe another example of how the ministry will solve a perplexing problem.
When the Blueprint for the ministry is presented then the wealthy Christian will give generously.
The Blueprint is a dynamic document that God will keep changing.
This valley will end someday and the lessons will last.
