HoveyServinGod

Lord, You are more precious than silver. Lord, You are more costly than gold. Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds, And nothing I desire compares with You. --Lynn Deshazo I remember this simple chorus from kid’s club when I was growing up.  It’s copyright date goes back to 1979, according to the song book I have on hand.  In church on Sunday, I gave a brief testimony of what the Lord has been teaching me before sharing this short chorus with our congregation.  To be here, back in PNG, has been a blessing beyond words.  HOWEVER, it is not PNG that is a sacred place.  The divine appointment by God to be here at this time is what makes PNG the best place for us today. That could change tomorrow.....It did change last year in December…for a time. Worshipping in the heavy rain... For those of you that are wondering where we’ve been for the last six to seven months, we were dislocated.  I, Phyllis, had some serious health concerns that required almost immed...

  Brian and Phyllis under the magnificent rainbow of God's faithfulness!  Only He could bring us to where we are today! Gunner and Moriah's "Welcome Home" sign on our front door. A view from the sky coming back into PNG... Gunner and Moriah posing by Brian's truck with some new clothes...all ready to go to church! Because of the prayers and support of our team (aka YOU), we are pleased to announce that we have arrived back in Papua New Guinea!   We started our journey back around the world with a short break in Cairns, Australia to allow time for our heads, minds, and bodies to get used to the time zone change before arriving back in Goroka.   We are pleased to be OUT of travel mode and back on the ground!    Moriah and Gunner both did well traveling.   We are so grateful for your prayers for that to occur!   Our God showed up in Mighty ways!   We had 16 pieces of luggage overall…we didn’t travel light!   Two checked bags per person, a...

 We had a wonderful gift of having some visitors from home for a couple weeks!  It was jam packed with all kinds of activities and adventures.  We were able to start the time off with a milestone event at Goroka Baptist Bible College.  We had a 50-year anniversary to celebrate the faithfulness of God in this small part of the world.  We were then able to go right into the 41st graduation and celebrate with those who are being launched into the ministries God has called them to.  Nolan, Bre, Doug, & Pastor Gene They were able to see some of our landscape..... They were able to experience some culture.... They had "epic adventures" with games, movie, pizza, beef jerky, popcorn with chocolate and fun that our children will not forget !! One of the big goals of the team was to start work on our new clinic project.  While the building materials are still in process and things are not ready yet for the main structure, they were able to start another part...

There are some times when God’s grace feels like deliverance.   There are other times when God’s grace is simply sustenance.   Still other times, God’s grace is mysterious and cannot be identified.   Still, it can be trusted.   This week alone, we have seen God’s grace show up in these ways, and doubtless, there are myriads of other ways that God’s grace comes to us in our lives.   Deliverance.   God delivered us from needing to evacuate.   Gunner came home and got sick last week on Thursday.   He had vomited a time or two that evening and complained of belly pain, but I didn’t think too much of it.   Friday came and he seemed to be doing alright so we thought it may have been something he ate.   The evening came and the puking started again through the night.   Saturday morning he watched cartoons like normal and laid low until he started throwing up again in the afternoon.   By Sunday, he still wasn’t eating much and drink...

  I want to have a candid conversation for just a minute.   As I’m getting older, I am faced with the hard reality that my time is growing short.   Of course, I have no idea if I shall live to be 45, 72 or perhaps into my 80’s…my days are numbered and ordered by My Savior.   I don’t KNOW how much time I have.   And, in the face of that?   I want to use my time wisely!   So?   Let’s cut to the point…. On my morning commute to school with kiddos a couple of weeks ago, one of my passengers commented that there was a broken playground slide ahead in an area beside the highway. “A broken children's playground slide?” I questioned, “What’s broken on it?”   As we sped by it, I was tempted to stop.   I couldn’t believe my eyes.   It was a straight sloped slide with the bottom half of the slide missing…yes…MISSING!!!   I was speechless.   I haven’t even shared the worst of it.   Slides are a hard thing to come by in ...

  There is great debate around the globe as to if children are inherently good or inherently bad.   Contrary to popular suspicions, I would side with the latter.   The Bible says clearly in Romans 3:23 that “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”   There is no room there for a maybe.   We ALL fall short and that means our kiddos do too. Though, children can learn through adversity and struggle…it does NOT need to be crippling….the question I am wrestling through at the moment is how am I responding to adversity and thus modeling it for my children?   I’ve faced some unique challenges as of late, and I must confess, I haven’t always dealt with them appropriately or how I wish I would’ve when I have looked back at them.   God has granted grace and mercy along the road, but writing in general about the principles I’m learning helps me to feel like I’m doing something about it, and solidifying the lessons so as not to need to repeat them...