Gifts

A friend of mine lost his wife to cancer a month ago. His blog has been a constant encouragement to me. Yesterday he blogged about God's gifts to us. All of life is a gift from God; it is "something planned for us, not designed by us. Something received, not earned. Something shaped by HIM, the Giver of every perfect gift." The last 6 months have brought many different things in my life. Some have been hard, some have been wonderful, some have been clear and others confusing. Through it all, do I trust that God is in charge? I falter so, so often. Do I believe and trust that He works all things out for our best and His glory? Psalm 62 has been a comfort to me.

My soul finds rest in God alone;
my salvation comes from him... He alone is my rock and
my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken...Find rest,
O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock,
my refuge... Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving.

Home Sweet Home

After a wonderful summer full of traveling it's good to be home. The red flowers (I forgot what kind they are) are still blooming and greet me as I walk up the stairs. My roommates (Rach in the white and Casey in the red) have started grad school at Westminster Seminary. We've all been traveling so much this summer, it hardly feels like we're roommates. I'm excited about getting into a rhythm of life together.


We spent Sunday afternoon laying in the sun- the last of it before fall and winter come. We read, slept and talked. It was the perfect beginning for the week.

Abby Hunter and I are good friends and had lots of fun together while I was in Vienna. She let me use her scooter throughout the week. We had some girl time as we watched Little House on the Prairie. That TV series is a wonderful classic.

Schombrunn Castle is on the agenda for this afternoon. I have the afternoon off so I'm going to put on running clothes and take my bus pass and the Hunter's extra cell phone and head to this beautiful, historical castle.

Netflix has an extensive movie selection. Recently I've been going putting my childhood favorites in my queue. This week I watched the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder. I love the creativity in this movie and the good lessons of honesty, unselfishness and love it brings out. I think I will give the Johnny Depp one a chance.

Batman: Incredible

London

On our day off some of our team (Julien's and Jessica) went to central London. We saw Westminster Abbey first then Coventry Gardens for lunch. Then to the National Gallery & Trafalgar's Square. We took the tube to the Tower of London and walked around. For more pictures go here.

During LEAP we sang many wonderful songs. The one that went right to my heart is below:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Mini Florida/ Atlanta Vacation: June 13- 18

Sara's graduation from cosmetology school.

Linde's in pink. Yes, we're all summers.

Our beach.

Cousin Eric in ATL.

Friend from college & admissions: Pam

I also saw my college roommate, Sara, and another friend (her current roomie), Janna. It was wonderful to take a break from Philly and be with friends and family. More pictures here.

Roomies: Casey and Rachel

After a rain there came a beautiful rainbow. This is from our new front door!

A shot from the sun room into the living and dining room. The couch and table are from the person before us. As of right now, we don't have any couches or tables. We ate lazania on the floor last night. Fun adventures!

10-10-10

Rachel and I ran the Broad Street run on Sunday. It was TEN miles. The race went well. The last two miles were hard to push through but Rach challenged me and we finished strong. It was exhilarating to run with 22,000 other people! I'm so sore though- I can barely walk.

You can click here to see a picture slide show from the newspaper.

Philly skyline in the background.

Broad Street is the straightest street in Philly. The race is from the start to the end of Broad Street. It runs through many different kinds of neighborhoods.

We averaged TEN minutes per mile.

The finish line was the Navy Yard near all the stadiums.
That night we went to TENth Presbyterian for church.
It was a day of 10's.

Running

Spring is here in Philadelphia. It makes my heart so happy. Running is a gift from God to me. Erik Liddle said it perfectly, "when I run I feel God's pleasure." When I run I think, dream, pray and let my mind wander. A run will aways do me good if I'm happy, sad or moody.

My favorite place to run in the city is Boathouse Row along the Schuylkill River. All the trees are in bloom. I'm not a sure all the names of the trees but I know some are cherry, weeping willows, lily trees and dogwood. I can't describe the beauty.

A few friends and I are training for the Broad Street 10 mile run. Last week I brought my camera on one of my runs to try to capture the beauty along the river. Below are a few of my shots. You can see more on my flickr page.

Good Friday

I went to my church's Good Friday service. The church was dark and solemn, a few candles were light at the front of the church. We sang hymns about Christ's death. At the end of the service, we were given the opportunity to be prayed for by the elders and anointed with oil. We left the church quietly and in the dark.

This service was so powerful to me. The service didn't end on a happy note, it ended in the reality of Christ's death. He died a terrible death for me, for my sins. What amazing love. The Gospel is too good to be true and yet it is true. Easter Sunday was much more special for me because of the reality of Good Friday. The contrast of the two days was vivid. Thank you, God, for sending your only son to die for us. Thank you for raising him from the dead so that we can live in freedom and live forever with You. This is good news!

Lunar Eclipse

A friend called me late tonight and said a Lunar Eclipse was happening as we talked. I had no idea. The next full Lunar eclipse won't happen until 2010. In the words of Emily Haymes' a Lunar eclipse is "the only time the Earth sees its own shadow."

Covenant comes to Philly

Last week three girls from Covenant came to be assessed to join the Kenya team for a year. They were approved- no surprise there! I loved hanging out with them. We had dinner in Manayunk and then met with up with my roomie- Rachel- to see 27 Dresses.

Still Sick

It's been a week of being under the weather. It's kind of a bummer but it's forcing me to rest. WHM has the day off tomorrow so that means one more day of low key activities. I look forward to catching up on emails and phone calls and getting back to life soon.

Donovan...

Many of you know Dr. Donovan Graham. He taught at Covenant College for many years and was the school's chaplain for his last few years. He is now a missionary in Ireland with World Harvest Mission. He and Wilma travel to our fields to do missionary care. I am always blessed by their friendship. They were at the team leaders' retreat this past week. He's been trying for the last two years to get me to call him "Donovan" instead of "Dr. Graham." It's been hard but I think I'm now comfortable calling him "Donovan."

Austria... is magnificent! Where we have been staying for the team leaders' retreat is absolutely beautiful! We had a day of skiing. I know I'll barely be able to walk tomorrow.

View from our room














Jamie & David- two of the three childminders for the missionary kids this week. They are apprentices in Spain with World Harvest.

A Florida Christmas

It was wonderful to be home for Christmas. Mom encouraged all of us to take lots of pictures because at the end of the week we were going to scrapbook as a family. All 6 of us created a page for our new annual Christmas scrapbook. Each of our pages looked creative in different ways.

I've grown up in with warm Christmases. I've never thought going to the beach on Christmas day was a strange event. Well, when I went home this year I just couldn't believe that we went to the beach on the 25th!

Another thing I noticed during vacation was the safety in my home town. I hadn't realized how much I need to think about safety in Philly. I found it quite refreshing to be able to leave the front screen door open while I was home, not having to lock the car door for a quick trip into the store and not having to be painfully aware of my surrounds all the time. I was able to breath easier.

The West coast Linde's came for a few days. On Christmas day, my dad made arrangements so we each had a bike. The 12 Linde's went for a nice ride. It was so fun! The weather was perfect. My skin hasn't seen the sun in so long my shoulders got quite burned.

Other Christmas break highlights:

• Sara dyed my hair- twice!
  
• Went to the gym with my buff brother
  
• Sale shopping was a must
  
• Lot of yummy food including our yearly Swedish tradition of meatballs and Yule kaka (bread)
• Matching sister shirts (see above pic)
  
• More memories here
  

Ebola Outbreak in Uganda on WHM website.

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Brokenness

The last two weeks have been full of brokenness. There have been daily, even hourly reminders that we live in a very fallen world. I've always known we live in a broken world but it's hitting close to home. I want this to be an honest and yet hopeful post so I'm not going to run through the list of reminders of this broken world. In the midst extreme sadness, confusion and tiredness I know God is who he says he is. I know the Holy Spirit is giving us grace to make it through each moment. A friend reminded us this morning at staff prayer that when life doesn't make sense at deep, deep levels, we can only run to Jesus because he has the words of life. John 6: 68-69 says, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." It's King Jesus who hangs on to us when our faith is weak.

Many of you have heard about the Ebola epidemic in Uganda. Our WHM team has been greatly affected. The tone at home office is heavy, sad and clinging to Jesus and his promises. I greatly encourage you to read the blog of the doctors who have stayed in Bundibugyo to help with the Ebola epidemic. Their children and the rest of team were evacuated to Kampala earlier this week. Each post is powerful. Click here for the blog link: Myhre's blog

Last night Rachel and I were at Young Lives Club. I said hi to a friend and they asked how I was doing. I can't lie when life is rough. I don't have the gift of faking it so I said I was tiered and worn out from seeing all the brokenness in the world. They wrote me an encouraging email later that night. "You are at the point where your gifts will not help, but his Grace will be sufficient for you. Without ignoring the pain or denying the weight you carry for yourself, your friends, Uganda, your missionaries-- God is placing you right where he wants you-- naked before him, open to the cold-- ready to rest in the warm blanket of his embrace... Monica, go there!

Tears came to my eyes as I read these words. God will still use my gifts in the midst of the sadness but I'm realizing that my gifts won't fix the problems, pain and sadness. The graphic picture of my expose before God was hard to read and yet beautiful. I can be as I am before him and he loves me. May He give each of us the strength to "go there" with him.