God Knows!

Good morning from Missoula, MT!  We spent last week in Kalispell and Whitefish with our Potter's Field friends and now we're in Missoula for the weekend.  Monday we head to Boise for the remainder of this tour.  Three and a half weeks until we're "home for the holidays". :)  I am anxious to be home with family and friends, but God is blessing this tour so abundantly it's hard to wish it away.

I have a ton of pictures to share from our time in Whitefish, but I also wanted to write a bit too. So, I'm going to post a few pics at the end of this post and then I'll post more in the next few days. :)

A couple weeks ago, Josh and I were discussing our need to be more diligent about listening to our pastor’s sermons online and even finding other sermons to listen to/read.  We are in church several times every week, but we are almost always doing the speaking.  Although, this is an incredible privilege and we are very grateful for the opportunity, it does leave us without an important piece of spiritual nourishment.  We need it and we miss it! 

God is so gracious in the way that he meets our needs so perfectly.  Before Josh and I even made any extra effort to download sermons, etc… we found ourselves blessed with a few different opportunities to be “fed” this past week!  I have been so encouraged and challenged by these messages, I am anxious to share about them.  I pray you are blessed by these few short notes from a couple of the teachings that so blessed me.

First, last Sunday we were in a Sunday School class (we don’t usually get to attend S.S., but last Sunday it worked out) where the teacher was speaking on Matt. 6:25-34.  The lesson was primarily about how we tend to prioritize money and put our trust in it.  However, the verse that most impacted me was the second half of verse 32 which says “…and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them.”

The question the teacher challenged us with was “What if we lived like God knows?”  As a follower of Christ, I would always tell you that I believe God knows.  He is omniscient – all knowing.   And yet, how often do I live as if I truly believe that God knows…

He KNOWS what I need!
He KNOWS my fears, my worries, my weaknesses, my regrets!
He KNOWS my past!
He KNOWS my future!
He KNOWS my husband, my children, my friends!

What if I behaved, thought, spoke in appropriate reaction to the TRUTH that GOD KNOWS?!

Second, Tuesday night we attended chapel at the PFM headquarters and heard a powerful message/testimony on Acts 20:24 which says,

“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” 

Before I share briefly what so touched me about this message, I have to point out that I quoted this in the King James Version because this is the version the pastor used.  I do not usually use the KJV, mostly because I grew up on the NIV and I often have trouble understanding the KJV J.  When I went to find Acts 20:24 in my Bible it doesn’t include the first part about not being moved.  That bothered me because that is the portion of the verse that most impacted me.  So I went searching and could only find that phrase also in the NKJV and the Amplified versions, not in any other version.  I will admit that the understanding about different versions of the Bible, where they came from, why they have differences, etc… is not something I know much about.  However, what I do know, is that whether that phrase “should” or “shouldn’t” be in that particular verse, the same concept comes up over and over again in Scripture and I found a very similar phrase just this morning in my personal time alone with Jesus in Colossians 1:22-23a  NIV which says,

“But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” (emphasis mine)

Okay now that that's out of the way, back to the message.   That pastor pointed out that before Paul made that statement in Acts 20:24, he had gone through an insane amount of suffering and persecution AND he knew that he was nearing the end of his life and would almost certainly be killed for his faith in the very near future.  So, at the end of his life, with all of the suffering in his past and the suffering he was about to endure, he said “none of these things move me”!!!  Can you imagine?! 

He stood firm!  He was confident in who God was, in God’s faithfulness, in the far greater glory of eternity in Heaven - and so impending torture and death did not “move” him!  That is the kind of follower of Jesus I want to be.  Someone who, when my world is falling apart around me can look to my Savior and say, “I will not be moved!”

 

Now I find myself repeating these two questions over and over in my mind:

"Do I live as if God knows!?!"

and

"Will I be moved?!"

 

I pray these thoughts encourage and challenge you as they did me.  Thanks for letting me share! :)

 

Here are a couple pictures from the past week.  I'll post more soon. :)

 snow just barely above us in the mountains

 My two guys doing what they love to do most!

(these pictures was taken just moments apart)

 Glacier National Park

 

 

 

 

 

A Quick update on Snodgrass Happenings

Hello friends,
We are in Kalispell, MT now.  So far on this tour we have had fantastic weather, but the past few days things have taken a turn.  It has felt more like a typical Seattle fall lately.  We've had quite a bit of rain and the sun has been hiding.  I think all of our summer sun spoiled me because I have been particularly sensitive to the cold.  Brrr. :)

This has been a busy traveling week.  We try not to do much traveling mid-week, but it couldn't be avoided this week.  We drove last Saturday to Butte, Wednesday to Lincoln, Thursday to Kalispell and Sunday we spend most of the day in the car driving to and from our morning and evening services.  The drive's have been beautiful, though, so I won't complain too much.

Tomorrow we'll be leading worship at the Potter's Field Ministries chapel service.  We're super excited because the four ignite interns who were serving in Guatemala when we were there are doing their re-entry right now in Whitefish (just a short drive from Kalispell).  We will be able to reconnect with them and meet the rest of their class!

We'll be spending most of this next week in Kalispell and Whitefish.  Then we're headed to Missoula for the weekend and then on to Boise for a couple weeks.

As always, we appreciate all of your prayers as we seek to follow Him on this wonderful adventure!

From Up Where The Air is Thin and Cold

We have wandered a little deeper into the Wild West. :)  We are 5500 feet up in Butte, MT.  We were here this time last year and there was snow.  It was about 28 degrees this morning, but no snow yet!  Praise the Lord!  Montana autumn is so funny.  There was frost on the truck this morning when we got up, but it is nearly 70 degrees now.  The sun is shining and it's beautiful. 

Butte is probably the most fascinating city we've been too.  They call it the richest hill in the world.  It was a major mining town and extremely wealthy during the copper boom but eventually the population plummeted.  Now you can tour the mines and see tons of big beautiful historical mansions and buildings, but the city is small and financially struggling.  We look forward to doing some sight seeing tomorrow - another "field trip" day! :)

Our week in Bozeman was busy catching up on homework and booking.  We did have the blessing of visiting with a couple friends and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and scenery!

 I couldn't resist stopping my run earlier this week to take a few pictures!

I took this when I was out running errands one evening.  I love the sun just barely still visible on the tops of the mountains!

 

Yesterday we drove to Butte and then had a home concert outside of town.  It was a very intimate group with meaningful conversation and a rich time of worship!  What a gift to be consistently meeting new brothers and sisters in Christ and partnering with them in ministry!  I was especially blessed by my conversation with one of the women after the concert.  She shared with me the story of how God led her and her husband to move their family at a time and to a place that they never would have expected and about how He has faithfully and graciously confirmed that decision and blessed their obedience.  It is so awesome to her stories of God's work in other's lives! 

I took this from the care window on our drive from Bozeman to Butte.

This is the view from the "upper room" where we did the house concert -

this picture does not do it justice!

 

Today we had two services.  Both were at new churches and went really well.  God continues to grow our circle of partnering churches, which is so exciting!

 

Tomorrow is our day off and we look forward to exploring Butte and relaxing together as a family.  This week we travel Wednesday, have a concert Wed. night, then travel again Thursday and have events Saturday night, Sunday morning and Sunday evening.  It will be a long week and we'd appreciate prayers for strength, energy and traveling mercies.  Thanks!  

(I also updated the praise and prayer request page today :)

a little too long for a facebook post

This morning I found myself overwhelmed by some specific blessings in my life and I thought about doing a quick facebook post, but as the blessings added up I decided it would be a little too long for facebook.

I am grateful for my two sweet boys and their individual sleeping habits.  They make me smile!  Caden has NEVER needed much sleep.  He wakes up before the sun comes up and hides under his blanket reading with a flashlight.

Due to Caden's lack of needed sleep, there was probably never a baby who's sleep was more prayed over before birth than Noah.  Those prayers were heard and answered generously.  The rest of us can be up and moving with the sun shining bright and Noah stays curled in his sheet sleeping soundly! :)

I also found myself this morning so grateful for the privilege of homeschooling.  I am thankful that I can adjust my schedule and curriculum according to the needs of my children and I am so blessed to be able to incorporate and prioritize character development in our curriculum. 

I love my cozy little trailer, my loving husband, and this great adventure God has called us on.

My cup runneth over!

Bozeman and a Birthday

Okay folks, we are settled in Bozeman.  And with two laptops and good wi-fi, we are working diligently to catch up on....everything! :)  Josh spent the day sending emails & flyers and making phone calls while I homeschooled the kiddos, booked RV parks, and scheduled doctor/dentist appointments for when we go back "home".  It was great to have a super productive day!

Last week we ended our time in Billings with a few more concerts and some time with family and friends.  Saturday we drove to Bozeman, set up "camp" and then had a concert at a church a little way out of town.  It was a blessed event and the boy's had friends to run around with afterward so that was a special treat for them (especially after spending all day in the car).  Sunday morning we ministered at a church we did an outreach with last summer.  It was a gift to partner with the leadership of that church again and worship with the church body!  Sunday evening we were blessed to have the opportunity to visit with some friends here in Bozeman.  We were not expecting to get a chance to see them this time we were in town, so that was a fun surprise!

 The church we went to Saturday night was in a remodeled theater.  The building was beautiful!

 



Sunday Morning

 



Yesterday was my sweet hubby's birthday!  We spent the day relaxing as a family and that was a gift!  After such an insane three weeks in Billings, it was wonderful to have time to have fun just the four of us.  Below are some pictures of our fun at the Museum of the Rockies.

 

 

 

The rest of this week will be spent with typical "every day" stuff - booking, practice, homeschooling, etc...  Saturday morning we'll head to Butte for the weekend.  We are grateful for God's blessings on our travels so far and are praying that the snow holds off for a few more weeks! :)

One more week in Billings

We are starting our last week here in the Billings area.  This past week was a "five event week" and so is the upcoming week.  It is great to be busy and we're excited about the doors God has opened...but these weeks certainly fly by in a blur...please hold while I look back at my calendar so I can remember where we were and when. ;)

Wednesday morning, we lead worship at the chapel service at Yellowstone Christian College.  We have shared music at the college a few times since Josh and I got married.  YCC is where Josh attended for a year right after he came to the Lord, where his mom works, and he actually helped build the chapel building.  It was fun for him to go back and see familiar faces!  The former president of the college approached me after the service and said, "I was praying for you and Josh this morning and had no idea I'd see you today!  I want you to know you are out of sight but not out of mind!"  What a blessing and encouragement to have this great man of faith praying for us even though we see him less then once a year!

Wednesday evening we did a concert at a church we had not been to before.  It was a very blessed night of worship and testimony!  The Spirit moved in a powerful way and I was humbled and so grateful to be a part of what God is doing in the body of believers!

Here's a funny little story about that church.  The day before Josh was making booking calls and called a church in California.  While he was chatting with the secretary, he mentioned that we were in the Billings area.  She said, "Oh really?  Where?  Our previous pastor is at a church in that area?!"  It turns out, that was the church we were going to Wednesday night!  She was excited and spoke very highly of the pastor and asked Josh to pass on her "Hello!"  Wednesday night the pastor was excited to hear about Josh's conversation and insisted he'd call that church right away and let them know that he was blessed by our ministry!  Small World!!! :)

We were at a repeat church last night and so enjoyed our time there just as we did last spring!  This morning we went to another church we've been too, and as usual were so grateful for the opportunity to worship with them again!

This evening we are headed to a new church and are excited to see what God has in store.  I am consistently blessed and amazed that God has called us on this great adventure and chooses to use us! 

Here are a few pictures from this past week.  The boys are continuing to love there time here with Grandpappy and Grandmama!  I know it will be sad to leave, but I was blessed to hear Caden say the other day, "How many more days 'til we're on the road again?  I'm excited to get back on the road!"...God is good!:)

 from our drive to the Wednesday evening concert

 

Wed. Night

Fishing with Grandpappy!

 

Please continue to pray for God's blessing as Josh books for our winter tour to Southern California.  The first time we go to an area is always the hardest, but we're trusting God to open doors.

 

Love to you all!