Questions to Ask During Moments of Dryness by Andrew Gutierrez

A Passion for Jesus Christ
By Andrew Gutierrez

Question to Ask During Moments of Dryness:

1) Do I have a passion to know all that I possibly can about my
Lord? Verses about his deity, prophecy about his first and second
coming, etc…

2) Do I enjoy what He enjoys and hate what he hates? Do I know
what these things are?

3) Am I excited about heaven everyday? Am I excited because He
will be there?

4) Do unbelievers or Christians outside of my local church see me
as being loyal to my Lord above any spiritual leader of mine?

Resources for Help:

1) Scripture – OT (Law, Prophets, and Psalms – Luke 24:44) NT –
Gospels, Hebrews, Epistles, Revelation

2) Books – Daily Readings from the Life of Christ by John MacArther, The
Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArther, What Jesus Demands from the World
by Piper, How to Worship Jesus Christ by Joseph Carroll, The Glory of
Christ by John Owen

3) Understand that I am prone to wander
a)Beg the Holy Spirit to keep my fixed on my Savior
b)Understand passages like John 6:66 and Revelation 2

Just a Few More Weeks...

Kalena was watching one of her favorite videos of Elmo and Abby Cadabby. It was time for bed and the DVD was over so I picked her up and said "Ok Kalena, time to get ready for bed." Wanting to watch more, and knowing that she wanted more than "just a few more minutes" Kalena struggled slightly with what to say next then exclaimed "Mommy, just a few more weeks, OK?"

Kalena Makes A Friend

Kalena is at that age where she loves other little children and gets excited whenever we see them out and about. Frequently she will also yell across the store to another child "What is your name" or wave frantically saying "Hi... Hi... Hi.."
While shopping at Costco, today, Kalena and Sara were sitting side by side in the cart while I picked out some fruit. Across the isle was a little girl parked in her cart, and of course Kalena struck up a friendly "conversation" with the little girl.

"Is that your mommy?" she asked, gesturing to the adult next to the little girl.

The other little girl was a little younger than Kalena, I think, and she just stared blankly back at her.

"This is my mommy," she continued, pointing enthusiastically at me.

Still no response, but of course this didn't slow Kalena a bit as she continued to talk to the girl, waving and trying to get the girl to wave back. When it was time to move on we said good bye to the little girl, who was still sitting expressionless in her cart (maybe she didn't speak English?).
As I pushed the cart away I asked Kalena, "Kalena, did you make a friend?" hoping Kalena wouldn't feel badly that the girl never responded.

"Yeah, I did," she said happily. "Mommy, she was SOOOOOOOO nice."

Sara's First Tooth!

Our little Sara Bear had her 10 month birthday yesterday! Monday March 2nd right after Grammy had left, Sara chomped down on my finger and I felt the little sharp tooth! I called for Daddy and Kalena to come see and we all spend the next few minuets trying to pry Sara's mouth open so we could see. That didn't work well but playing "peek-a-boo" made her giggle so much her mouth opened right up and we could all take a look at our new perly white tooth! Time to get Sara a tooth brush!!

Krapina, Croatia

About 10 years ago I had the privilege of going to Croatia with NorthCreek Church for several summers in a row. We worked with a church there in Zagreb doing outreach into the community with conversational English. The pastor took me and his daughters on a day trip to this little town called Krapina, to encourage the believers there. This little trip changed my life. Never had I been in a place that was so spiritually dark. I had read about these places where there was little to no church established but the actual experience of being there really touched my heart. There were only a handful of Christians there and I knew we had past numerous towns on the way, that were in the same spiritual condition. We could have driven all day and not found one church. I equate this experience with reading about starving children in a magazine, but then to actually holding a starving child in your arms is a totally different experience.

I came home from Croatia with a new passion to take the gospel to places Jesus' name has not yet reached. I was given the opportunity to speak at NorthCreek about my time in Croatia and this experience of going to Krapina was my focus and passion. "Imagine if even some of our church (of thousands) brought the gospel to a place like Krapina!!" I said to my missions minded listeners and prayer worriers. My heart was on fire to make God's name known in places like this and I let everyone know about this little town. I also mentioned it to my supporters in my return letter.

Today, 10 years later, I headed over to Every Woman's Grace at my church, 300+ miles from the church I went to Croatia with. I was attending the Mindset for Missions fellowship. Little did I know, as I took my seat, what was about to happen. The missionary was from Croatia and started with a presentation about his ministry. It turns out that he is a lives a short distance from Krapina and is a seminary instructor IN KRAPINA at a seminary there!! The first class of the seminary graduated in 2004! I did not keep up with the news of Krapina, but of course I never forgot about it. It felt like years since I have thought about this little town. How amazing that right now, a time in my life of such uncertainty in my future, and facing the very real possibility of leaving all my family and friends, God would send me this not so subtle reminder. It is a reminder that when we pray for workers in the darkest harvests, God will hear and answer. When our passion is God honoring, He will confirm it to us. Out of all the places in this world... God chose to let me know, today, about a seminary that has started in.. of all places.. Krapina.

Our Ski Weekend!

We had an amazing weekend in Tahoe snowboarding!! Kalena was too short for the smallest snowboard so we rented her some little skis and she did really well!! She went up and down the little hills and inclines outside our condo. Myia, Casey, Lisa, Maria, Jus and Don had full days of snowboarding fun with only minor injuries. (Lisa- hows your head?) I even got a half day of boarding with Lisa and it was amazing!! We loved every minuet of being with our wonderful family, from Myia's cooking to a vicious game of "Scene It" the days were filled with laughter and love.

Resolved

Dear Sisters,
I would like to tell you about what the resolved conference is all about. This was a conference that doesn’t have a fancy location, there is no gourmet food prepared for you, and there are no fun games planned. This is a conference for only those who would like to be bombarded for an entire weekend with the Word of God by some of the best theologians of our day. It seems the more we hear scripture speak about the Lord and serving Him, the more our souls are impacted and changed, and the fire inside our hearts burns brighter for HIM. Resolved for me was a bombardment on my soul for true change and true determination and “resolve” in my life to live entirely devoted to Christ every minuet. Nine amazing sermons in one weekend hit my heart like a ton of bricks, and I walked away a totally changed woman. My resolve has never been so strong for Christ. I don’t attribute this entirely to Resolved, but I say thank you to my pastors (John McNeff, Chris Brunzyleele, Doug Stolhand, Kirt Gebhards, Adam Chiappelone and John McAurther) for bringing me to a place were this conference stirred in my heart a RESOLUTION to live for Christ that is now more than ever, impenetrable.

-Written after Resolved 2006, the weekend I found out I was pregnant with Kalena. The following 4 months were some of the hardest times I have ever faced in my life. God had prepared me!