Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Treasures

Dear friends,

Well, it has been over a week now since we returned from a short vacation to find the bars on our windows removed and our house turned upside-down.


I was not exaggerating when I told friends that we could not walk in our bedroom. Closets and drawers were emptied, papers and files were scattered everywhere, and many "valuables" were taken.  We are still not done re-organizing.

Verses that I had just finished preparing for children to memorize in our summer program immediately came to mind: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)


Then I listened to the story of a young lady who was orphaned at a young age and grew up in our children's homes. Her life has been changed and she is studying to be a doctor so that she can help others. Her testimony was a timely reminder that our purpose here is to make a difference in kids' lives for eternity. Even if we have lost some earthly treasures along the way and we sometimes feel like packing up and moving away, the children we work with are worth staying for.

Where are your treasures?

In Christ,

Marcie Cooper


Sunday, June 17, 2012

Father's Day and Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness

Hello and Happy Father's Day!

I have been trying to write a message about faithfulness for a few weeks but the ideas were just not coming to me. Then I started to think about Father's Day and I knew that the two had to go together. My Dad is a faithful man in so many ways. Here are a few:
- He is faithful to his Detroit sports teams no matter if they win or lose.
- He is faithful in his work at which he has excelled for over thirty-five years.
- He is faithful to his church where he has been a member since I was a baby.
- He is a faithful son and visits my Grandma and cuts her grass regularly.
- He is a faithful husband and, in July, will celebrate forty years of marriage to my Mom.
- He is a faithful father and loves and supports me and my brothers no matter what.
- He is also a faithful, loving, and giving grandfather.

Thank you, Dad, for being such a faithful father. You demonstrate God's faithfulness in so many tangible ways and I appreciate you very much. I love you, Dad!

Love, Marcie

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Freddy's Adventures

Once there was a little budgie named Freddy who lived with a missionary family in the Dominican Republic. He loved to come out of his cage and sit on top of it.



From there he would fly to the table to play with toothpicks that the little girl laid out for him.


Sometimes he flew down from the table and sat on the rungs of the chairs. He liked to stay there so long that the family forgot he was around.

Freddy found feet fascinating and loved to go for rides on them.


He also rode on shoulders and would even tag along while the Mom swept the floor. It tickled the little girl when he played with her hair.




People did not mind his gentle poking and investigating but they did not like to be bit.

He worked on not biting and got better at stepping or flying to fingers when people said, "Step Up!"


He loved to spend time in the window observing all that was going on inside and outside the house.


One day, from his perch on the window sill, Freddy saw that a door had been left open and there was no one around. He flew as best as he could out the door and across the driveway. One of his wings was deformed so he could not go very high. He passed a hibiscus tree and made it to a wall where he held on tight. When the family realized that he was no longer in the window and that the door had been left open, they quickly searched and found him outside. The Dad said, "step up," and he hopped onto his finger and rode back into the house.

The next day, he flew out again but this time the family saw him. They followed him outside and found him standing on the driveway. Once again, he "stepped up" and was taken back inside. He returned to his cage where he contentedly swung on his swing, ate his seeds, and enjoyed his lettuce treat.

As for the family, they had to be more careful with their two little boys who constantly went in and out of that door near Freddy's cage.







Sunday, June 3, 2012

Sunday Devotions

Hello!

Today, like most Sundays, was a day to relax and go to church. My little monkey boy has been taking his day of rest seriously and has been making a habit of falling asleep in church. I decided that he should have some Bible teaching on Sunday but we already read The Beginner's Bible every night. I decided to started this devotional book with him that my Mom sent him in the mail.



He did not want to stop!

My little girl had her older girl version and was thrilled to learn more about prayer since she is a bit shy to pray in front of others.



Her lesson's activity was to make a bookmark that said, "Lord, teach me to pray." They both made them to keep their places in their books. Sunday Bible time was a success!

How about you? Do you have a good kids' devotional that you use?

I hope that you had a restful Sunday!

Marcie Cooper


Friday, June 1, 2012

Missionary in the Mountains

Hello from high up in the Dominican Republic!

"Mommy! Look! Hills!" It was as if my little boy had never seen them before and at three and a half had just realized that we live in the mountains.


Sometimes I can't believe that I'm really a missionary and this is really where I live. I always loved hearing missionaries speak at church when I was growing up. I thought I wanted to be a missionary but was not sure if I could handle poor living conditions. I remember hearing a couple share about Japan and thinking that it seemed clean. Maybe I could go there. When I was seventeen I went to Europe and Russia with Royal Servants. It was not always clean, especially camping in tents, but I loved it. I went with them to Asia a couple years later and loved that experience too. But when I went to Cambodia when I was in university and saw people living in huts and rocking their babies in hammocks I thought, "I can't believe that I am really here! It is like the missionary stories I have always heard about."

I thought that I might go back to Asia but met my husband who had learned Spanish and, to make a long story short, ended up in the Dominican Republic. There are a lot of missionaries in our town and we have thought about going to another country or city but keep being led to stay here. We do not know what the future will hold but, for now, we are here. We love it (most of the time.)

Whether or not you love where you are right now, God knows where you are and has a plan for you.

Have a great day...wherever you are.

Marcie Cooper