Banjo Onmyknee Schupbach

Laughter... it's one of my favorite things to do. Some of my best moments have happened while I was laughing, and some of my most embarassing moments. Just ask Nicole Farley about our pop drinking contest that occured last week. Anyway, this dog, Banjo Onmyknee Schupbach (who belongs to my brother Jordan and his wife Rochelle) has provided me with more laughter than I was expecting when she first joined our family.
For instance, Banjo has been going through some training... the last year has been one intense lesson and so after tonight's laughter episode I thought I would share some of my Banjo training highlight stories...
When Banjo was younger, she was learning how to jump into the jeep. She would put her two paws on the jeep ledge and would expect Jordan or Rochelle to pick her up. But Jordan and Rochelle were adamant about getting her to jump into the jeep. So Mom suggested that maybe Rochelle needed to take a running start with Banjo. So Rochelle would back up a couple steps and then run into the jeep and Banjo would run with her but then stop and put her two paws up on the ledge. Back and forth Rochelle ran across our front lawn.
Then Jordan thought that if he nudged her in the back she'd get the idea, well
that didn't work because Banjo thought she was supposed to lean on Jordan's leg and so she just flopped backwards.
The dog is so silly. One time, when they were grilling out in their backyard, Jordan caught her eating the ashes, so he "rapped" on the window (with his knuckles, not like Tu Pac) and she turned to look at him. When she breathed out ashes blew out of her mouth, like pffft.
ha ha
Banjo once ate a whole shingle that fell of our Uncle Mark's house. Banjo also got "fixed" and had a cone put around her neck to keep her from eating her stitches. At first, she liked her cone because she learned how to use it to "shovel" in the dirt with it. She'd dig, dig, dig and then SCOOP with her cone and toss it over her shoulder.
Then she grew tired of the cone and ate it. Yup, she ate it!
She'll eat anything and she is SO disobedient. Man, I've never seen a dog deliberatly disobey their master.
Today's episode with Banjo was that she ate a piece of wood from the fireplace (there was no fire in it) but then Rochelle had to dig in her mouth (SICK ME OUT) and then had to shake her face with her mouth pried open.
ha ha ha!!
Man, thanks Banjo for all the laughter. Actually, thanks Jordan and Rochelle for letting me laugh at you.

bear costume...:)

Who can resist such an adorable face? With this face, Lenora Daye is growing into postively the cutest thing ever. I bought her that bear costume. She is now smiling and cooing to Jonah and Becca. I am absolutely in awe at how fast she is growing. What a precious baby!! Did I mention I got Leni that bear costume?
Nothing too new in the Schupbach household. We are anticipating Thanksgiving out in Denver (I can't wait to see those mountains!!) with Jeremy, Alaina, and Alaina's family. We are all very excited. I am flying out early to take care of some business and hang with friends in the Springs but then spend some quality time with Jer Bear (aw, Jer Bear~ Leni must get it from you Jer) and Alaina. I cannot wait!! Other than visitng the Colorado Schupbachs and hopefully the Michigan Schupbachs there are no huge plans in this girls life.... oh yeah, Japan!! Ha ha!! But I meant before Japan.
So what's with the pointless blog? WELL!! In case you didn't notice, there is a picture of a BEAUTIFUL baby up there.... so, now that I've blabbed about nothing, showing off my niece is officially over. I'm glad we could share this blog, just so I could show her off.
...did I mention I bought her that adorable bear costume?

Cherishing Friendships....

Kelli, even though you forgave me for how I treated you on Sunday... I wanted to write and tell you what I learned tonight in Bible Study and let you know that I value your friendship more than you'll ever know.

This is dedicated to my true friend, Kelli Burrier!

Tonight in Bible Study we talked about Matthew 7 and asked the question "Are we concerned with people being right with God or do we hold them tightly to our own standards?"

When I first met Kelli Burrier, she was Kelli Brown. Yes, she's the pretty girl in the picture above. It was the spring of 2004 and although we had just met I knew that Kelli was someone I wanted to invest my heart in. It began with some deep emails, right away Kelli and I dug deep into our friendship, asking for prayer for this and patience with that. We wanted to see God move HUGE in the summer we had coming up. We were looking ahead to our summer in Winter Park, Colorado for a Navigator Summer Training Program where Kel and I would be leaders.

Kelli and I became accountability partners when we entered the summer. The summer was "a-to-the-mazing" to quote something Kelli always said. This girl was real, she was solid, and she wanted something more. The first night our speaker Drew Frazer spoke, she and I cried, wanting more of the BIG GOD, Drew spoke of. We talked with Drew late into the night about wanting so much more than the small doses of God we had been used to. That started the mornings prayers. Kelli and I would get up real early in the morning to pray for our bible studies, those around us, and each other. I remember one time we couldn't finish our prayer in the room we were using because the guy who vacummed didn't realize he was interrupting our prayers. (I think he thought we were sleeping?)
I don't think I can ever read Romans 12:9-21 without thinking of Kelli and how we passionately prayed to become more like Christ. Kelli is intense!! I remember running through freezing waterfalls in all our clothes, just to be silly. I remember driving home from Colorado Springs and memorizing five verses. Kelli always had a new verse, a new lesson~ something she couldn't wait to share with me and those in her life. Kelli was all about giving her life away. She continually invested in those God put in her path and was passionate about the ladies God led to her. Kelli, you have spurred me on and made me reach for so much more of God than what I have now. You wouldn't let me settle!

Kelli taught me a lot about being a woman of God. I was delighted to see her friendship with a young fella' Marcus, turn ever so slowly at first, into something more. I remember so many of those first feelings Kelli had. (my personal favorite story, Kel? soggy fries vs. crunchy fries)Waiting on the Lord for His favor, seven months later they were married.

The summer ended much to quickly and Kel and I vowed to write hand-written letters as opposed to emails or phone calls. We didn't want to write "fluff" to each other and knew that hand writing each page would force us to be real and dig deep with one another. Our letters were twelve pages of intense friendship. Followed by one page of silly questions i.e. "Wat did you just eat? Last time you showered?" ha ha... even though Kelli was intense with her time with the Lord, she has a carefree side that is free and light-hearted. Through those pages I caught a glimpse of the beautiful girl that God had created with a heart to be His. I learned to LOVE my mailbox and cherish each page of Kelli's realistic life. She told me the good and the bad... and we shared life with one another. (And Kelli, I have a box full of letters and cards people have given me to read when I am lonely in Japan~ guess where all of YOURS have ended up... i look forward to rereading them in Japan and getting to hear your heart.)

When Kelli and I parted ways for the summer, I "gave" her the verses from 1 Samuel 18:1-3 *As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.*

And Kelli~ going back to the question my Bible study asked tonight~ I was being so selfish of your friendship... and I am sorry. When I confronted you I was hurt but the bigger issue is not "are you right with me" the bigger question is, "was our weekends in step with God, and am I concerned with whether you are right with God?"
I have not been the kind of friend to you that I would want for myself. You are full of grace and beauty. Thank you for joining me on this crazy journey as we continue to become more like Christ. And thank you for your honesty... you'll never realize how true those 1 Samuel verses are of me. Thank you for being YOU!!

And to others who read this, these 1 Samuel words ring true of my heart to serve you. Have grace on me as the Lord works on me to bring me to completion... I cherish your friendships, I cherish our moments. You make me laugh, you make me smile. You make me love Jesus!! Thank you!

Crazy but I believe this time

Begging for sweet relief

A blessing in disguise
Dying behind these tired eyes

I've been losing sleep

Please come to me

Tonight

Hands on a miracle

I got my hands on a miracle

Believe it or not, hands on a miracle

And there ain't no way

I'll let you take it away

Everything that we survived

It's gonna be alright

Just lucky we're alive

Got no vision I've been blind

Searching everywhere

You're right there in my sight

Hands on a miracle

I got my hands on a miracle

Believe it or not, hands on a miracle

And there ain't no way

I'll let you take it away

Hands on a miracle
I got my hands on a miracle
Believe it or not, hands on a miracle
And there ain't no way
I'll let you take it away

Take it away

Foo Fighter's "Miracle"

Quotes for 10:30PM 10/06/2005

*When I was growing up, I went to Bible Camp every summer for a week... making friends and experiencing life changes. At the end of the week, every summer, the windows of that station wagon grew blurry as I would without fail burst into tears as my parents pulled away...
I feel like that today.
I know that this week has to come to an end, and even anticipate the upcoming changes but a little piece of my heart stays here with you... with the friends I made here. I can't quite explain how someone I met seven days ago can move me to tears but these people can, I have come to look for your face, listen for your call, look for your smile... but these things I will take with me as the windows once again grow blurry* JKS

*She dreams she's dancing, around and around, without any cares and her very first love is holding her close, and the soft wind is blowing her hair...* Rascal Flatts "Sara Beth"

*I've been painting pictures of Egypt, leaving out what it lacked. The future feels so hard and I want to go back. But the places that used to fit me cannot hold the things I've learned, and those roads were closed off to me while my back was turned.* Sara Groves "Painting Pictures of Egypt"

*A Christian woman's true freedom lies on the other side of a very small gate- humble obedience- but that gate leads out into a largeness of life undreamed of by the liberators of the world, to a place where the God-given differentiation between the sexes is not obfuscated but celebrated, where our inequalities are seen as essential to the image of God, for it is in male and female, in male as male and female as female, not as two identical and interchangeable halves, that the image is manifested.* Elisabeth Elliot "The Essence of Femininity: A Personal Perspective"

*When Christian was crossing the River at the close of Pilgrim's Progress, his heart failed him for fear. He began to sink in the cold, dark waters. But Hopeful, his companion, helped him to stand, calling out loudly, "Be of good cheer, my brother; I feel the bottom, and it is good." Then Christian recovered his faith, and passed safely through the waters to the Celestial City. If there are (those) who find the waters... dark and deep, who feel, "I sink in deep waters, the billows go over my head; all his waves go over me," this is my message... "Be of good cheer, my brother, my sister; I feel the bottom, and it is good."* Maragret Clarkson quoted in John Piper's "Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood"

Perspective

*I cared not where or how I lived, or what hardships I went through so that I could but gain souls for Christ. While I was asleep I dreamed of these things, and when I awoke the first thing I thought of was this great work. All my desire was for the conversion of the heathen, and all my hope was in God* David Brainerd (quoted in Piper's "Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood")
I don't want to say too much because I don't want to take away from the thoughts that this quote produces... but my heart is pondering some things... read on if you dare.
May God grant me a heart that is so submissive to His greater work like Brainerd's quote above. I am out in Colorado Springs finishing up my training (state side) for Japan. And it has been a heavy two days. The first day was basic heart issues and I received some hard news about a friend.
God is definitely preparing me for something big and I can't quite put my finger on it. Although in all reality God never intends to be pinned down by my idea of "something big". My idea of something big is nothing compared to what He offers me.
I have often heard it said that we must say no or give up some things that are good in order for God to give us something better.
Have I done that? Am I willing to do that?
My heart is heavy with friends who are suffering and who are walking in darkness...
My heart aches, because I long to fight the great battles and be bold like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I heard a speaker once say that the LORD could have stopped those three from entering the fiery furnace (check out Daniel 3 if you haven't read the story). God could have saved them and glorified His name by turning off the furnace or preventing them from entering it. YET, it was their faith, that even if God did not save them from the fiery furnace they would still not serve the King's gods or the golden image. (Dan. 3:16-18) So the King threw them in and they were probably thinking, "Well, goodbye guys! See you on the other side!" But the BEST part of the story is that when they entered the furnace GOD MET THEM THERE!!
Sometimes God wants to meet with us in the midst of our fiery furnace. Wait! Let me say that again so it can sink in, GOD WANTS TO MEET US IN THE MIDST OF OUR FIERY FURNACE!!
And not only meet us but glorify Himself through our faith that travels us there. It's true that those three guys "knew" they were about to descend into the furnace, but it was "unknown" to them what God's outcome would be. Could God have been glorified through those three men dying for His name? You bet!! But God chose that time and place to meet with the three guys to show that even in our fiery furnaces He can and wants to meet us where it's hot.
...
I don't know if this makes any sense. I feel like with training I am being refined by fire, in my own little furnace in a way. I'm just thinking, jotting down thoughts as I stare at this screen.
...
*And they hae conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death* Revelation 12:11
Lord, place in me the Spirit of boldness. That I would be like those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who did not know their fates but stood firm on the Truth that YOU are better than even life. I lay down all the "good" and even the sin I choose in my life and I wait for Your best. Lord, place in me a patient heart, that I may sit at Your feet and wait. God, sometimes waiting is so hard but I choose to wait for what You will do in my life. And I pray this for my friends. May they choose You today.