March of Prayer Pt. 5

This is a note from Elysia about some things God is showing me:

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye." Ps. 32:8

"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading.  It is a life of faith, not of intellect and reason, but a life of knowing Who makes us 'go.'  The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success." --Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest, March 19th.

God is showing us that He is the One who we follow.  We can never know or foresee how it is all going to work out, but we trust the One who is in charge.

Please continue to pray for God's leading and confirmation of His will as we pray about moving to Ukraine.

Happy Spring!

These were taken last week, but they are still a great reminder of the new season that begins today. Happy Spring to you all in the northern hemisphere!

Seeing with God's Eyes by Elysia

"Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh." 2 Cor. 5:16
How often we look at people with human eyes! Jesus died for all, the Bible says. How often we look at other people's works and ministry, and we can think critical, judgmental thoughts. If the works that we do are done for others rather than for God, then Jesus says we already have our reward. "But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly." Mt. 6:3-4 So we, the doers, ought to do everything in the fear of the Lord and for the Lord. And we, the observers, ought to entrust others to the Lord Jesus Christ for the true spiritual work that He is doing, that is, by the way, UNSEEN.

Tushy

Peter: "Hey Mom what is tushy?"
Elysia: "That's another name for your bottom"

Peter: "NO, my teacher said it's made or Rice and Fish."
Elysia: "That's Sushi honey."

Peter: "Oh."

March of Prayer Pt 4

Dear Prayer Warriors:
God has continued to put Ukraine on our hearts and minds. We are beginning to pray and prepare for moving back to this country. Please pray that God would open doors for the work that He has prepared for us to do. When we first went to Ukraine, God gave us a vision to serve in that country through equipping the Church through biblical, theological instruction. May we be obedient to the vision that He first gave us.

Specifically, we ask that you pray for:
That God would continue to confirm His will. and that we would obey Him.
Continued faith and vision to move forward.
The place that God would have us to move.
Good communication with the churches in Ukraine.

Please pray for our children during a time of transition. Pray that God would give us wisdom in leading them.

Please pray for good communication with our home church and its leaders here in Boise as well as our supporters throughout the world.
We need to improve the way we send out emails to our supporters. Please pray for someone who is computer savvy to help us with this.

March of Prayer Pt 3

I spent last Friday in prayer out in the desert south of Boise. I was encouraged in a book I read recently about reading the last couple chapters of Job once a day for a month. The idea is to see how God is utterly in control of all things and does as a matter of course, things we could not even understand, He controls events we do not even see, He has dominion over powers and forces that overwhelm us and uses them to accomplish His purposes.

In those chapters, God humbles Job, not to shame him, but to show Job that any understanding he thinks he might have cannot even begin to comprehend the ways of God, the control of God over all things, or even understand His purposes.

Again, God is not shaming Job. This revelation is grace. It is not to answer Job, but to bring Job back to the place where he was at the beginning of the book...an utter confidence that God is in control of all and will resolve everything to His perfect will and holy intentions. That is certainly an act of Grace which saves us from our human reason and anxious drive to resolve what we cannot understand.

Praise God for His acts of Grace, that He speaks to us and assures us of His control, His mercy, His purposes.
That is what God is showing us. Thank you for praying for us.

March of Prayer Pt. 2

Further news on my health:  I saw another doctor last Monday and he believes the pain in my kidney is related to the scarring from a previous kidney surgery.  He really examined the area by touch, and every area that hurt was centered around that scar.  He did some stretching and massaging of that area.  Hopefully over time this can improve with the aid of massage.  Pray that we can learn about how to manage this pain.  Continue to pray for healing.

This doctor also suggested that I have a food allergy.  I have had stomach problems for many years, so please pray about whether or not we should do further testing and follow up to confirm this diagnosis.

Please continue to lift up our kids during this time of seeking the Lord and transition.

Please pray for a strong sending team, prayer team, as well as improved communications, via blogs, email, and snail mail.  

Pray that we would find our strength and help in God and not be tempted to fear in any way.

Pray that we would be full of the Holy Spirit.

Pray that God would be glorified.

March of Prayer Pt 1: Peace! Be Still!

Be still, and KNOW that I Am GOD.
I WILL be exalted among the nations
I WILL be exalted in ALL the Earth.
PS 46:10

Thanks to many of you who have written us back with encouragements and commitments to pray. We thank God for you! You are an answer to our prayers! Today I (Ethan) was asked to teach an additional class for the next term of School of Ministry today; Romans plus Revelation As I considered it, I began to count the weeks. If we want to use the return tickets that we have to Europe, they must be used before June 10 which is one year after we arrived.

 
...14 weeks!!

Whoa!! I suddenly feel totally overwhelmed!! My mind begins to race! I seize my runaway brain and say Stop! God is in control! If any of this is going to be Him, then ALL of this is going to be HIM! We have no timeline but HIS, He may have something different, or he may put it all together by then.

But He already knows it now, and has a plan now. He will guide, provide, and reveal. We need to be both dilligent and resting in Him.

Whoooh, We need to Pray! Let's start by praying for His peace, in mind and heart.

Be still, and KNOW that I Am GOD.
I WILL be exalted among the nations
I WILL be exalted in ALL the Earth.
PS 46:10

March Prayer Update

We want to thank you all for all your prayers and support over the last nine months as we have been in the States. We wanted to update you on what is happening and most importantly ask for committed prayer for us over the next month. Here is what’s happening…

Thank you for praying for Elysia’s laparoscopy in January. The doctor did not find endometriosis, which is good news. However, he did diagnose a uterus condition called adenomyosis and is very confident that it can be treated with some hormones. That is prayer # 1: That the treatment can begin this month, and she will experience some relief.

The other main outcome of that procedure was to eliminate endometriosis as a possible cause of the flank/kidney pain, which it did. The flank/kidney pain has been the major issue over the last year, and this was pretty much the last test they could think of. So after a year of examinations, scans, and medicines, the doctors have concluded that they cannot find anything wrong with her. All the tests have shown her body systems to be functioning completely normally… Thank God!

Their summary diagnosis is that her flank pain is simply unexplained chronic pain. If the pain was severe or debilitating they would treat her with pain meds, but since it is neither, they have advised against that. We agree, she has had this pain for a year now and continues to function, it is simply not to the level where narcotic or other pain meds are needed. The main doctor we have been seeing works as a medical missionary in Africa. He was the one who gave the final diagnosis of chronic pain. He also added that Elysia was not at risk, and he saw no medical reason to keep us from going overseas.

All of this brings us to a point where we have to make some decisions and future plans. When we came back to the states last June we did so to find out if something was “wrong,” or something that threatened Elysia’s health and safety. After a year of looking, the doctors’ conclusion is that there is nothing wrong.

We have one last doctor appointment scheduled for Monday with an Osteopath. He is going to be looking for another source for the pain, or an allergy or food related problem, so we shall see if he finds anything. That is Prayer # 2. Only God knows.

So, the question is what to do now? This is the question we will need to decide on over the next few weeks, and so we need prayer. We know that we have come this far by the sustaining grace of God and through the power of prayer. We have seen God do so many amazing things for us over these past years as you have banded together to pray. We have much to consider and need to see the Lord confirm the direction we should go. It is our heart to serve Him, and our desire to serve, equip, and strengthen His church in Ukraine.

We ask all of you to pray for us, and would like to ask if some (or many!) of you would commit a specific day this month to fast and pray for us and the direction God has for our lives. You can fast a meal, or the day, or fast something for the day and pray for us. If you would like to commit a day for this please email us and let us know the date that works for you and we will give you specific things to pray for that day. We will also set up a post on our blog to give prayer updates every couple days. If you use an RSS, Atom or equivalent reader we invite you to subscribe to our blogs, the addresses are below. It really is the best way to keep up with us.

We have much more to say but the main reason for writing is to ask you to pray, so let’s start there. Would you take a minute right now and pray for us? Also, ask God how you might pray for us over this next month. We know God is going to direct us and give us answers as we seek Him.

Here are some ways you can pray for us.

1.) That God would give us sensitivity, the gift of faith, discernment, and wisdom, to understand His will for our future, and through all of this, our lives would glorify Him.

2.) He would give us quietness and peace and time to wait upon Him.

3.) He would give healing and resolution to Elysia’s pain, and faith to move forward.

4.) That He would provide divine appointments and confirmations of His will.

We are so blessed and honored to serve Him with you. We are so thankful for the great team of prayer and financial supporters God has given us, and thank you so much for praying for us.

There will be a lot going on this month, so we will send out news as it comes and updates on our blogs.

Let’s see what God will do.

In His Grace, Mercy, and Peace
The Larsons

Keep in touch through email or our blogs:
hope4ukraine.blogspot.com
ethanlarson.blogspot.com