Lessons from the bike trail

Today is monday, which is typically my day off...but today I did something completely different...so I'm going to tell you about it.

It started out way earlier than I ever want to experience. Yesterday 2 guys from my church wanted me to join them on a mountain bike trail in the morning. Knowing I had to get up early, kept me from sleeping, then the fear of dying was also part of the lack of sleep. We got on the trail and it was not what I expected. When I was in High school I used to ride a trail in Indy with a friend of mine, but it wasn't too dangerous. This course was ridiculous, but I learned some cool stuff while riding. When I approached the top of a hill and had to go down a 15 foot drop and then climb a hill without breaking, I froze in fear. One guy (Toby) was leading us and went through it to show me (keep in mind, he does these trails about 3 times a week so he knows what's up. Then Chris Frazier was behind encouraging me. It was cool to have these 2 men in my life that I really look up to and respect be patient with me and help me realize that these hills will always be a fear of mine if I don't overcome it. It was a very humbling experience for me because not many people see my fear so much. But in a way, I felt a lot closer to these guys because they saw me very weak and were able to help coach me through it. I'm not sure it was the most fun I've had in awhile, but I do know that it was something I am glad I did.

When I look at the spiritual implications of this, it amazes me. Life is like these trails, sometimes you don't see the turns, the trees, or something scary coming up. But when we approach those times in our lives, we can either sit there and hope it just goes away, or we trust the One we are following and the One that is with us guiding us through. Now Toby isn't God and Chris isn't the Holy Spirit, but it's an incredible visual for me. I saw Toby go through the course, I know the path is set for me, but I get scared that I can't do it, that I will get hurt. Even if I do fall, if something does happen, they both were there to pick me up and to help me press on. Sometimes in life, we focus so much on ourselves and let fears keep us from accomplishing something great in our lives. We all have obstacles in our lives to overcome, the longer we sit and wallow in it, the harder it gets to go through it. By the end of the course, I was going right down these hills because I knew the longer I sat there, the more I would have fear. I love the song..."if you're going through hell, keep on going..." if life is tough, if something isn't going right for you in this moment, if life feels like "hell" - KEEP GOING, don't stop, get through it. We weren't meant to sit at the top of the hill fearing what is to come, we were meant to enjoy the journey, to learn from what we go through and to follow God through life and know that His presence is with you. So to Toby and Chris, who may never read this, you guys taught me something today. Something that i pray I never forget.

Why Support Missions?

So I've felt a need to do this for awhile and am just now getting to it. But a lot of you know because you've read my blog posts about my brother and his family going to South Africa. You read how I felt when it was my last time to see them, you read about how much I love them and want to support them however I can, you read how proud I am of them. Now I want you to read this.

I don't know all that my brother is doing, he posts on his blog a lot to keep us all up to date (he's good about it unlike this side of the Reeds). I've seen a huge change in him since he was even in college. (It's amazing what women do to us!) But he has grown up so much, his heart has become sensitive to God's calling in their life. He is pursuing the kingdom as God has called each of his followers to do...."Go and make disciples of ALL nations" it's in Matthew 28 I believe. He doesn't send us all overseas, most of you need to do this in your own workplace, but Joe and Natalie felt the call to go to South Africa and they stepped up to the plate to answer that call. They are making a difference, they are being changed, they are being obedient.

I'm in missions as well, locally. And when I started out, we had the dreaded task of raising our own support. Which meant relying on others around us to help us meet our needs financially. I didn't accept the call to ministry so I could drive a luxury vehicle or live in a mansion. I did because that is the direction God has for my life, to impact others for Him. But God also didn't call me to poverty. Many people did and do support me financially in this area of ministry in my life.

Why am I writing this? Because I came across a website today and it made me think of my brother. It showed me reasons why God tells us to support missionaries:

1. The greatest mission ever known was when God looked down and sent His

Son ~John 3:16.

2. The world will never be brought to Christ unless we bring Christ to the world.

We are ambassadors ~ II Corinthians 5:20.

3. Jesus taught that missions was the way to make disciples.

4. Because Christ commanded us to do so. The great commission has never been canceled.

5. We cannot be happy unless we’re totally committed to telling others of Christ

~Romans 1:14-16: I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians, both to the wise, and to the unwise. 15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

6. If we don’t it’s a sure sign that we’ve lost our vision or never had one. ~Selfishness is a contradiction to Christianity.

7. A missionary spirit is the hope of the world and the nearest thing to the heart of God.

Joe didn't ask me to do this, he doesn't even know I'm doing. He may even ask me to remove this from the blog. But I want everyone who comes across this to atleast be praying for my brother and his family while they are over there. But if you know you can do more, please keep up with what they are doing, go to: http://sareeds.wordpress.com/ you can read all of their blog stuff which will honestly teach you a lot too. Joe has a gift of writing and I learn all the time from what he writes. But at the top is a support tab where you can choose to support them. I know they have not met their goals, but they are already over there and can't raise support from new people here if they're not here. So I think it's my turn to step up and ask those of you that I know that have any connection to me to consider supporting them in what they're doing. It's hard enough to live off of what support SHOULD come in, but it's even harder when you haven't met that goal.

Luke 12:48 says, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Not "much has been asked", NOT "much has been suggested. It says "much will be DEMANDED". So please, be praying for them. I'm not telling you go support Joe and Natalie Reed, but who are you supporting? Where is your money going? If God expects us to give the way He says too, what are you doing about it?

Gabe and Libby Reed

summer evenings...

Gabe and I had a date night tonight. After a good dinner....even though I made lumpy mashed potatoes, Gabe said to me, "Libby, we need to get out. Let's have a date night!" We hopped on our bikes and rode for about 7-8 miles around the countryside of Anderson. It was awesome....we talked and talked. It's amazing how much we can talk about when we ride together....the conversations just flow. Then, we headed to Ritter's and had a little ice cream while sitting outside on a bench. I love how light it stays outside even when it is nine o'clock at night. Now, we are home and I think I have convinced Gabe into watching Shall We Dance with me for a little relaxation together. I told him he would like it; I hope I am right. How sweet it is to be married to my best friend.....I love him.

the lake. the children. the job. the love.

So, I need to be better at updating. For awhile, it was Gabe who has done the posting, but tonight I thought I would give it a whirl. Plus, I have some pictures to upload and that is always fun for anyone to see! I thought I would give a glimpse as to what has been happening in our lives this summer! We are not very good picture-takers at every event, but I have managed to whip out my camera now and again!

On the 4th, Gabe and I went up to Milford for a day at Dewart Lake! My aunt, uncle, and cousins live on the lake, and it was a total blast being with the whole Brown crew! Gabe especially loved the jetskis and waverunners, while I liked tubing with my sister! And yes, I got a bloody nose while tubing! True story! We hit some giant waves and I smacked my face into my tube so hard and then flew (literally!) off into the lake. We were done after that, and I was sore for almost three days. But here are a few pictures......and no one had my camera to capture the "smack and fly", but believe me, it happened!

My surfer boy.....Gabe took my cousin Levi on a ride on the wave runner! Gabe said he was a little nervous at first, but then Levi really got into it! They both came back with wind-blown hair.....so cute!

We stopped playing long enough to take a picture before the fireworks!

We were so happy for an extended weekend for relaxation!!

My dad took Joe and Katie sailing the day after the 4th of July on Waubee Lake, the littlest lake in Milford. My parents own this little sailboat and absolutely love it!

This summer I have been working at a preschool in the four year olds classroom. I took my camera in yesterday and got to capture a few shots of my precious yet always rowdy students. Let me tell you, they can look very cute and sweet but we have had some wild days! :)

Four year olds are funny when asked to smile.....they scrunch their whole face or they make a scared, forced smile. Oh boy....

These two boys are full of energy every SINGLE day!! However, I love being crazy with them and just smiling at the things they do in our classroom.

I like this picture of us......this boy has a special place in my heart and we laugh every day! I love it in the morning when we sees me come in the door, and he runs up to me screaming "Miss Libby!!!!" I get multiple hugs from this little guy. But..... he always tells me that he only likes kisses from his mom and I tell him that I only like kisses from my hubby. :)

Silliness and fun once again.

Ahhh haha....I don't know why but this one cracks me up. Not very cute for me, but my friend has an awesome face on. He loved taking pictures with me.....special attention is a HUGE deal for a preschooler!

From the previous post, you can pick up that I got a job for the fall!! I am so extremely blessed and thankful to Jesus for providing this opportunity to teach! School starts on August 13th for Daleville!! This is my last week at the preschool full time and next week I will just work in the afternoons. I will spend my mornings preparing for school and getting ready for a class full of fifth graders! I could go on and on writing about the many awesome facets of Daleville Elementary School, but it might get a little boring. To sum it up, it is in a small community, has a close-knit staff of amazing teachers, my principal is such a helper and believes in me already, is a four-star school, has small class sizes, and many more things that fits with what I was looking for in a school! I have much to learn as a teacher this year, but that doesn't hide my excitement to try my best and do what God has called me to do: open up the minds of youngsters and help them learn and show them Christ's love in the process! I think I will love my job. :)

This week Gabe is in Texas at a big youth conference with ten students and his youth ministry interns. Yep. I am home alone for the first time. I am surviving just fine. Trinity, our cat, keeps me company! My mom came down on Monday and we went shopping after work down in Indy and out to eat! We got a few things with wedding gift cards for our house....which I will post pictures soon of our house....she was wonderful company! I can't wait for Gabe to come home....it is weird to be home without him here in the evenings. I miss him terribly. He makes life so much fun here. I have realized that now that I have spent the evenings here by myself. He really is my best friend. I love him something fierce!

Taking a walk one summer day........

Thank you Jesus for all your blessings.....family, preschoolers, my teaching job, and my amazing husband. I am blown away at the things you have given me. Your joy makes me complete!

Prayer...

I learned something cool about prayer today. Libby has been interviewing for jobs lately and it seemed so hopeful that she would get the job in Alexandria, they were very misleading with her. But for some reason, God closed that door for her. I kept trying to be positive reassuring her that we will look back and be thankful that this didn't work out. There is a position waiting for her that God specifically put in place just for her. Well, I'll let Libby tell all the job story, here's the God story. She had her interview today at 5 and I came home and began to pray for her. I opened my bible to James 4 where it says, "You do not have because you do not ask". I felt so real with God in that moment and I even said that I know you are a sovereign God and you know my heart, but God, give her this job (it wasn't really a question). I'm not asking for the sake of her paycheck or for some shallow reason, I'm asking for Libby to have her dreams come true to be a teacher, a teacher in an incredible school. Throughout the time I was asking God to make this the place, give her the job, give this to her....I felt an incredible peace. The day Libby found out that it wasn't going to work in Alexandria, my chiropractor said that Daleville would be an awesome school for her, it's a 4 star school and there are not many at all in Indiana!! This was all before we knew Alexandria didn't work out. So as I look back, I see God just took us on a journey. Not getting Alexandria brought us closer together, brought me closer in my prayer with God. The whole thing just shows God's hands in our lives!! Pretty cool, huh?

Well, folks, she found out tonight at 9:30 that Daleville wants her to be one of their fifth grade teachers this year! She took the job with confidence and such excitement! Thank you, God, for hearing our prayers!

Read James 4 and know that God wants to bless you, but what are your motives for asking? Libby is going to be such a blessing to that school and impact so many lives. I'm excited and so blessed.

-Gabe

Saying Goodbye...

It's interesting to me that God refers to his people as His body...His family. I look around and see families that are broken and relationships within that are like enemies. I realized even more tonight how blessed I am to have a family like I do. My parents did such an incredible job raising us and as much as I hate to say it, my mother was always right. She told me one day I would grow up to be close to my brothers and actually love them. I definitely did not believe her back in the day...but now, I do. A family is the closest type of relationship we can have with people, next to a marriage and I've seen how close my family has gotten over the years. Tonight was really hard, believe it or not, to say goodbye...or seeya later as I'd rather put it. For so long, I've wanted a little niece or nephew to mess with and finally God has blessed me with one of each. As I rolled on the floor tickling Ezra and totally messin that kid up, it hit me...next time this happens, I might have to reintroduce myself to him. All this time of developing a relationship with this guy, will soon be gone and we'll have to start over. I'm praying this doesn't happen and I know I'll get to see him at the end of the year, but it still was hard to say goodbye. I know my brother and his family are doing what is right and what God has called their lives too. But sometimes God's calling isn't the easiest thing...typically it isn't. Being a youth pastor was not an easy calling...still isn't, but you accept it and trust God. So now, I have to trust God, that He will protect my family and keep them safe as they are over there and He will bless their ministry to the African people.

Hugging Ezra one last time as he says "Bye Uncle Gabe", then hugging my brother - probably that hardest things to do today. I make it sound as if I will never see them again, I will. But for some reason, this is all different...they're not just a phone call away, they're not just an hour drive away. I got in my car to leave, and you know the feeling like you need to cry, but you're fighting it? Yah, I had that going on and it was hurting. I know I'm an emotional guy so that is all normal. But when you have a 3 year old look at you grinning and wanting to play with you, running up to you and sitting on your lap and to hear him say your name...you don't want to let it go.

I'm not sure why I'm writing all of this on this blog...maybe so my brother can know what him and his family mean to me, maybe so my parents can see that they were right (once again), I'm not really sure. Just know Joe, you will be missed (not just for Ezra!) but now mom and dad will come see me all the time instead of you :-) Just kidding mom and dad, I love you guys! I think I need more time alone, more time to really say "Seeya later" and know that this is all part of God's orchestrated plan for our lives and that He knows what He is doing and that all of this creates a beautiful masterpiece which He has designed for our lives. You guys are loved, showered in prayers and truly missed....I love you guys