Posts Tagged ‘family’

Quoth the Raven or Lets Make a Clean Beak of It

Posted in Bible Study, Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“Then a revelation from the Lord came to him: ‘Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan.  You are to drink from the wadi, I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.’  So he did what the Lord commanded, Elijah left and lived by the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan.  The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he drank from the wadi.”  1 Kings 17:2-6

We all have pretty developed concepts of what are appropriate avenues for God to provide for us.  They are engrained in us culturally as we grow up.  We tend to follow economic paths that fall within that cultural upbringing.  Unfortunately, particularly as Christians (but not solely limited to us) we spiritualize those concepts and values and label them as Christian.  I know that since God called me to full-time ministry, and more particularly to the Urban Mission field he has been rocking my world in this area.

I can imagine Elijah’s reaction as God began to use him as a prophet to Israel.  He probably gave himself a high-five after dressing down Ahab and congratulated himself on his appointment as Yahweh’s Weatherman for Israel.  But the call to the service of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ has certain life style and life view changes that come as part of the package.  The next revelation from the Lord probably hit Elijah with as much joy as Jonah’s call to Nineveh.  Elijah already had a plan going, outlining how God could provide for him through the drought and ensuing famine; perhaps a nice cushy spot on the coast somewhere with cool deep spring and lots of fish that just jump onto the beach.  Then it comes:

“Hey Elijah, yeah you. This IS Yahweh and as you expected I have made provision…no …nope not the coast, though that would be very nice.  Nope sorry no rich family with lots of storage and living space.  I have the perfect spot, head out-of-town east.  Yes into the wilderness.  No, no spring but there will be a wadi (dried up stream bed that only runs when it rains hard) Oh yeah and I will send Ravens to feed you.”

“SEND WHAT! Ravens are going to feed me, with bread and meat in their mouths.  Have you seen a raven?  Surely there is a mistake here, I don’t eat stuff that comes from the mouth of an animal that eats mostly DEAD things.  Oh and wadi’s only run when it RAINS.”

Now of course my dialogue here is completely fabricated and probably bears a much greater resemblance to conversations that I have had with God over the way that we should be provided for but I think that the inferences are reasonably valid.  When we teach it in Sunday School it seems so cool.  Wow Elijah got to be fed from the beaks of ravens! This is the reaction of someone who has not connected raven with the bird picking at the roadkill you just drove by on your way to church!  I can continue with the proposed water source.  A creek bed that flows into the Jordan only when it rains.  This is wilderness runoff not refreshing spring water.  Consider Naaman’s reaction to just bathing in the Jordan River: “Aren’t Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?.” (2 Kings 5:12)

However no matter what his gut reaction was to God’s plan, Elijah was obedient to his God and entered the spiritual stream of provision that would provide for him and eventually for the widow of Zarepath and her son.  But what if Elijah had turned his nose up at God’s initial provision plan?  Maybe he would have been able to eke out the time and perhaps come out still used by God but he would have missed the miraculous wonder of God’s provision and of God’s almighty healing hand.  God loves rocking our world with spiritual truth before rocking our world with spiritual blessing.

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TLH Kid’s Club Lunch 2012

Posted in Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

But Jesus called for them saying,“Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

Luke 18:16-17

I just had to share this Facebook post from my lovely and talented wife Allana.  My summer of Kid’s Club ended today because I am going to the Assemblies of God National Youth Convention and Fine Arts Competition in Louisville KY next week.  It has been a blessing to have been permitted to share the Love of God with these kids!

PRAISE THE LORD! In the past 8 wks of the Kids Club lunch program that has been running Monday through Friday at The Lewis House – we have served 93 different children!!! 75 of those children have come more than one time, many of them 10 times or more. We are so excited about the 40 children that we see weekly (usually multiple times through the week). It has been so wonderful forming relationships not just with these 40 children, but their parents as well. A big big thank you to our volunteers who come out weekly to pour into the lives of these children. If you are interested in being a regular volunteer at The Lewis House – please let me know ♥

We look forward with great anticipation to our next season of ministry here in the Five Points Community of Toledo.  As Allana said if you would like to volunteer on a regular basis, just for events or live out of the area but would like to bring a visiting mission team we would love to talk with you!

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Nisa Faith

Posted in Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 31, 2012| 2 Comments »

                  (Nisa- Miracle)

Faith

Guidry

We have prayed for this day for 9 years.  We have ached for the losses and doubted our faith.  We refused to give up even when we were labeled as a “Chronic Miscarriage” case.  When the entire world (and even God himself from a purely worldly standpoint) seemed to be saying emphatically NO, the Holy Spirit whispered in our ears to leave it in the Father’s hands.  So we did.  Don’t get me wrong we cried, we wailed, we begged over and over again.  We wanted at times to throw in the towel and act out of our own understanding.  We still do not completely understand, but understand this:  We have a mighty heavenly Father who cares for us in ways that I cannot begin to fathom.  He loves us in a way that is so far beyond my understanding that I only touch the edges of what AGAPE really means!

Several weeks ago while in prayer God gave me the name Nisa Faith.  Indeed she is a miracle of faith, not the simple faith of a single prayer or even the cry for healing but the faith of a 9 year journey.  She represents to us the faith of Abraham as he led his entire family to Canaan.  She represents the faith of Joseph as he waited in slavery, in prison for God to act.  She is even now, yet in the womb that miracle, an incredible act of God.

The difficult part to grasp is that my statement about our Father’s love for us is not just true because Nisa is healthy and strong.  It is an eternal truth that is expressed in both the tragic and the joyful.  He does not love us more now than he did on the very days that we miscarried our other seven precious babies.  The reality is that our journey to the fulfillment of the call that He had placed on our lives led us directly through David’s “Valley of the Shadow of Death”.  While we might prefer a detour around the Valley, God does not promise that.  He does promise that he will be with us, standing by us with His rod and staff and even more importantly for New Testament believers dwelling in us.  Many times it is not until after we are through the Valley that we are able to look back and see that God wielded His rod and staff on our behalf as we walked that  difficult road.

Even more than she represents the miracle of life to us, she is the miracle of faith itself.  Perhaps a better way to say it is that she is an expression of miraculous faith.  Faith inspired by the ongoing presence of God in our lives.  It is the faith that kept Abraham going on his 400 mile journey.  It is the faith that kept him in relationship with God even when he arrived only to face famine.  It is the faith that saw the birth of Isaac and the substitution of a ram for his only child on the mountain before God.  It is not a faith of the perfect life or of perfect people. It is a faith that traverses pitfalls and carries us through our own mistakes; faith that originates not with us but in the very heart of God and comes to us as a gift from the hands of our heavenly Father.  It is Nisa Faith.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me to lied down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.  He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.  Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

PSALM 23

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Some Thoughts on Ordination

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“1. To invest officially (as by the laying on of hands) with ministerial or priestly authority.”  (Merriam Webster online)

Ordination is so much more than I ever though it would be.  As our ordination approaches God has been speaking to me, driving me to explore this idea of an official investiture in ministerial authority and responsibility.  The priests of the Old Testament were ordained to serve before God.  Leviticus 16:32  talks of the hereditary nature of the Old Testament priesthood yet still he had to be anointed and ordained.

The New Testament is perhaps  less explicit yet we cannot but envision ordination in Acts 13 when the elders of the Church of Antioch laid hands on Paul and Barnabas investing them with the authority of the nascent church to carry the gospel message to new lands.  I love the next verse, “The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit…”  Ordination then is not a symbol of The Lewis House but it is a call to the Holy Spirit by our peers, friends and colleagues.  It is a call for Him to send us on our way empowered by spiritual gifts which as Paul expressed to Timothy, we must fan into flame in the performance of the ministry that He has for us.

For Allana and I it is an acceptance of the responsibilities that are inextricably attached to the empowerment and authority that is represented by our ordination.  I would venture to say that if the past year has been our “engagement” to full-time ministry in service of the Gospel that the ordination is the marriage ceremony.  We commit ourselves to His service and recognize His call on our lives.  We trust that he will bring to completion the work that he has begun in us.

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Guidry Year End Letter

Posted in Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , on February 6, 2011| 1 Comment »

Greetings Family and Friends,

WOW! What a year of change it has been for these Guidry’s (and our BowmanJ)…

EMILY – Emily Rose Bowman came to live with us in June 2009. Her mom was having a hard time and needed us to care for Emily. She came into our world at such a hard time (Sam lost his job, Allana miscarried baby #9, we lost our house and had to move in with Allana’s mom, which meant we lost our church family and had to start completely all over again… all within 6wks of Emily moving in with us, wow that is a lot to go through all at once as a 14 year old girl!). Though it was a whirlwind of change for all of us, Emily quickly became a blessing to us, and we found that her smile lit up our lives and she brought much needed laughter to our family!

JOB LOSS & MOVE– Sam’s restaurant closed in July 2009 and he has since then been unemployed. August 2009 we move in with Allana’s mom and brother in Adrian, MI.

COMPELLED CHURCH – We started attending Compelled Church in September 2009.  It quickly became home for all of us, (except Chayla, it took her quite a while to let anyone be her friend, feeling it would betray her Canton friends). We all have found so many ministries to be a part of.  The first thing we did was join the Greeting Team in October 2009; it was a GREAT way for us, as new members, to meet people at the church. Sam has taught twice for Wednesday night small groups (and has been asked again for the small groups starting up this winter). Monday nights he is a youth leader at EVERFREE, and he is the leader of WITHOUT WALLS (our youth outreach team). Sam attends a Men’s Bible Study on Thursday mornings. Allana joined the worship team in May. In June she led a dance class during VBS (Vacation Bible School) for 300 kids.  Allana became the director of SHINE (Kid’s Choir) in November. She also became the Women’s Local Outreach Team Leader in early December and she attends a Women’s Bible Study on Monday mornings. Emily and Robert are both very involved with EVERFREE on Monday nights, the youth small groups on Wednesday nights, and the WITHOUT WALLS team. Emily is on the youth worship team and Robert is on the youth media team. Emily helps out once a month in the preschool class on Saturday nights and Robert helps out twice a month in the kid’s chapel on Saturday nights.  Samantha and Chayla are doing JBQ (JR Bible Quiz) this year. Both girls are a part of SHINE.

THE LEWIS HOUSE – TLH is an urban community outreach ministry in Toledo, OH. It’s about taking the troubled 14 year old boy across the street out fishing. It’s about helping a single mom with her kids. It’s about helping the widow down the street with her yard work. It’s about doing community dinners on Thursday nights, BBQ’s in the summer, a community garden, Sidewalk Sunday School, Christmas parties, and starting the only Toledo 4H group… anything to get to know neighbors and befriend them. We heard about The Lewis House and checked it out in October 2009. In June, as a family, we lived at TLH for a month long local mission trip. We quickly found that their vision was the same one that God was laying on our hearts. All 6 of us fell in love with the neighborhood and the heart of TLH. And look forward to being even more involved in the coming year!

JOHN AND JULIE’S WEDDING – April 10th, a beautiful  day in Minnesota, we were able to attend the wedding of John (Sam’s oldest) and his lovely bride, Julie. It was wonderful to officially welcome Julie into the Guidry family J  Robert was JR Groomsmen, Samantha was JR Bridesmaid and Chayla was the Flower Girl. It was such a special event!

35 DAY ROAD TRIP – We drove from Michigan to Minnesota to visit Sam’s sister, Beth & her family and John & Julie. Some highlights were lots of tubing/boating trips, going to the Zoo, seeing the Mall of America, a Guidry family outreach at “The Healing House” (a rehab for mothers and their children), not to mention the many games of badminton and Ping-Pong.  From Minnesota we drove to South Dakota to see the Badlands, Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills. From South Dakota we drove through Wyoming and onto Colorado to visit Sam’s sister, Lisa & her family. Some highlights were of course the BEAUTIFUL scenery of the Rocky Mountains, the Wiersma and the Guidry guys climbed a 14er, visiting two of Allana’s online friends (Diana and Rachel), going to Focus on the Family, seeing The Garden of the Gods, and going to Eldorado State Park. From Colorado we drove to Missouri to visit our friends, Bobby and Vanessa, we didn’t get much time with them, but it was nice to get hugs just the same.  Another highlight there was being able to visit friends, Derek and Rebecca and going to IHOP (International House of Prayer), wow was that totally awesome!!! From Missouri we drove to Tennessee and visited our dear friends, Jeff and Kim and their 3 boys. Highlights were a night of worship, going to the Zoo, and going to the Science Museum. From Tennessee we moved onto Indiana. We stayed with Pastor Bosworth and Debbie. The evenings often included Debbie whisking me away for the evening for just the two of us while Pastor and Sam hung with all the kiddos. Highlights were seeing Dan and Karen and their kids. From Indiana we came back to Michigan. It was such a wonderful time and we are SO very grateful for those who opened their home to us, without the Olson Family, the Wiersma Family, the Dronsella Family and the Bosworth Family, this trip would have been impossible and what memories we would have missed out on!! Thank you all!

Now a personal note from each of us…

CHAYLA – I am 7 years old. I am in 2nd grade. I like to play with Sami. My favorite color is purple. I love to color. I love to read. I asked God to help me read so that I could read His Word. Now I read really well. I can even read chapter books. I read the Bible a lot; I especially like reading the red letters in the Bible. My two favorite books are Winnie (a book series about a girl who likes horses and how she saves horses from being beaten), and FaithGirlz (a book series about girls living real life). I liked our big trip. And I especially love that I was a Flower Girl at John’s wedding. Now I have a sister-in-law named Julie, and I can’t wait to become an aunt (not that it will be anytime soon). I like that I am making new friends at church, even though I still miss my Canton friends. My best friends Jaida and Sarah threw me a surprise birthday party for all my Canton friends to attend, including my other best friend, Lindsay, because I was having a hard time fitting in at our new church.

SAMANTHA – I am 10 years old, finally a preteen. I am in 5th grade. My favorite color is Lime Green. I had a lot of fun this year spending time with family and friends. I was a JR bridesmaid for John and Julies wedding. I was really nervous and excited at the same time. It was a very long day, because we had to get up early to get our hair done and dressed for pictures before the wedding. Then we had the ceremony and then more pictures after it. The reception was fun. The food was good. I liked the big trip. We went so many places. We saw family and friends, some I haven’t seen in a really long time. I liked going to all the different places we went to and it was fun meeting my cousins’ friends. It was nice to be home and see my friends again and being back involved in my church. I had an awesome Thanksgiving, eating all kinds of yummy food.

ROBERT – I am 15. I am in the 9th grade. My favorite color is red. I love to read, write and have fun outside with my friends. My favorite food is ravioli. I enjoyed our big trip. I really liked climbing the 14er that we did. The Science Museum in Tennessee was cool. The drive was really cool being able to see so many different landscapes. The Arch Way to the West was really cool to see too. This year has been a year of growing closer to God. I love my church and our youth group. I have made some really great friends, and I fit in well there. The Lewis House is great. There is this kid there named Jake that I like to hang out with. I am one of the very few people Jake will talk to. He walks in the door and rushes to me and doesn’t leave my side. He has had a really hard life and he needs someone to care about him which he hasn’t found over the years. I am glad that he trusts me enough to be his friend. This has been the best year of my life even though my dad lost his job and things should be worse, things are better than they have ever been.

EMILY – I will be 16 in March.  I am excited to turn 16, really for no other reason other than I have waited to be 16 my whole life. I have a wide verity of friends. I love to read and write. I wrote a chapter for Fine Arts Competition. It was fun; I met a bunch of people from the youth group during our trip to Grand Rapids, MI. I liked going on the big trip, even though I was dreading it at first… being stuck in the car, being away from people I knew… but it was fun meeting so many people. My favorite part was tubing on the Mississippi River. I am excited about going to FL this summer for Great Grandma Carr’s 100th birthday (Sam’s grandma) and seeing all the new friends I met on our big trip, and meeting some that I haven’t met yet, like Uncle Paul who I hear is very funny!  Our youth group did “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” Christmas Play this year. I am friends with a lot of the cast members, so I was a VIP member and helped them get ready and hung out with them off stage; I also made a new best friend during the play. I am hoping to try out next year for the Christmas Play.

ALLANA – This year has been the best year ever! Though the circumstances we have gone through could have ripped our family to shreds and made our faith die, it has made us stronger. The heartache that started this new journey was very real… Sam losing his job, losing our house, losing our church, losing our friends, losing 6 years of our lives, lives that were left in devastation. This is what had to happen to make my dreams come true. Since I was 14 years old I wanted my life to be devoted to God and His work. Though through life it seemed that everywhere I turned there seemed to be road blocks that made this seem like an impossible dream. But now, now we are serving God as a family, doing ministry together as a family, living life stronger as a family than we ever have before. Our God is greater and our God is stronger and HE is ABLE to turn ALL things for HIS good when we trust Him! As you have heard of all the wonderful fun things we have done this year, I just have to take the time to say Thank You God, with tears in my eyes and sob in my throat, I am way beyond grateful for destroying us to rebuild us for YOUR WILL!

SAM – God has basically blown all of our lives up and put them back together in the way that he wants this year.  He has really put me in my place and prepared me to serve Him on His terms.  I have been unemployed for well over a year now.  It has been a humbling experience and a big lesson in relying on God.  Through a series of events and influences in early spring, God led me back to school to finish the Bible and Theology degree that I started 28 years ago.  He recently blessed me by having Central Bible College approve all of my transfer credits (they originally rejected quite a few).   This cut the time and expense to complete my degree by 1/3.  It has been such an exciting year.  The summer trip which you have heard so much about was awesome.  God brought so many interesting people into our lives, like Velcro the pastor of Biker Church in Cheyenne Wyoming.  It was really neat to have a mini prayer service at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere. It was exciting to have the opportunity to preach again after so many years, filling in for a pastor with family business to take care of on the west coast.  I am so thankful for his grace and this second chance to fulfill his call on my life.  We look forward to 2011 with anticipation of the great things that God is going to do!

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Posted in I'm Just Sayin', Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Wow, here we are in Colorado.  Three weeks into our trip I am amazed at the hand of God in our lives.  He has provided ministry opportunities at every step, both opportunities to minister to people and opportunities to be ministered to.  I have been so touched by so many people already I am excited by what God is going to do over the next 17 days. 

Our time in Minneapolis was awesome.  Beth, Bruce, Grant and Luke were a blessing to us while we enjoyed their hospitality.  It was also great to be able to spend time with my son John and the most recent addition to our family his wife Julie.  We are so blessed and excited that God has provided teaching positions for both of them.  We know that they are going to be a blessing to their schools and to the children they teach.  Those of you that follow us on Facebook know of the great time that we had at Healing House.  Our time with the residents was such a blessing as well as the opportunity to contribute in some small way to the facility.  Highlights with the Olson’s included tubing on the Mississippi River, a visit to Big Lake, Great food, Neat fellowship and conversation for all; as well as an awesome day of playing Airsoft with the boys. We enjoyed our visit to Twin Cities Bible Church and it is always a treat to hear Julie play her violin no matter what the setting.  We are also thankful that God prompted Bruce and Beth to highly encourage us to take the time to travel through South Dakota and stop at Mt. Rushmore.  It was such a blessing to see so many facets of God’s creation.  It was also the beginning of the chain of events that led us to Mule Creek Junction and a visit with Velcro, head of  www.freeicewaterservices.com and of a Wyoming Biker Church (www.churchwithanattitude.com).  We enjoyed the free ice water, the kids enjoyed the free sugar-free cookies (yes they had sugar-free cookies!) and we were all blessed when Velcro prayed over our family.  The kids got a quick lesson in biker prayers and we were all touched by the Heart of this big burly biker, his wife and Coaster his associate from biker church.  We look forward to many more God-Appointments on this trip.  Be sure that God’s outlook calendar is full of appointments for all of His children.

So here we are in Westminster Colorado, enjoying the awesome hospitality of my other sister Lisa, her husband John and their kids Micaiah, Hannah, and J. Samuel (ok Joshua).  After one day of much needed rest I joined John, his father, Micaiah and Robert on a trip to the summit of Mt. Evans, 14,210 feet above sea level.  Fortunately there is a road almost all the way to the summit.  Unfortunately we parked about 1500 feet below the summit.  Fortunately the trail to the top is only 1.7 miles from where we parked.  Unfortunately this trail is UP the side of the mountain.  Fortunately I am not in horrible shape.  Unfortunately there is NO OXYGEN TO BREATHE…ok maybe a slight exaggeration.  Still I made it up…and back down so qualify as a hiker that has conquered a 14er as they call them.  There are over 50 of them in Colorado.  Robert has now climbed 3.  The view was incredible.  Again those of you who follow me on Facebook may have seen some of the pictures.  I may post some here but have not transferred them to my computer yet.  I am glad that I did not know exactly what I was getting into when I decided that this 1.7 mile hike couldn’t be so bad (Lisa did try to warn me!).  I might have decided it was too hard, that I did not have what it takes to succeed.  I would have missed the incredible Spiritual experience that it became for me.  I would have missed a view of God’s world that is breathtaking. If God has placed a mountain in your path, keep climbing.  I know that every joint in your life aches and that you feel like you can’t breathe, but the view at the top is awesome and God would not have you there if he did not KNOW that empowered by HIM you can do it. (Philippians 4:13)

We have another week of experiencing God’s blessings here in Colorado and then we head to Kansas City and Independence MO.  We are looking forward to visiting EPIC Church and Pastor Bobby Hawk (along with his lovely wife Vanessa and their new baby), as well as seeing Derek and Becca friends from the Lewis House!

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