The Yarboros in 2016

Family and Friends, 

            What a year it has been for us! God has certainly filled it with many blessings. There were many changes and adjustments to be made in 2016, some easier than others, but God has been good through it all. We truly feel that we have experienced the wonders of God’s love as we have started our own journey of love in marriage this year. We hope and pray that God has been good to you as well in 2016 and continues to be as we enter into this New Year!

           

As you know, we got married on March 19^th. We were thrilled that many of our family members from both sides were able to make the trip to New York to celebrate our big day with us. Even my (Lindsey) cousin and his wife who live in Laos and had just made it to the States a few days before showed up and surprised us! The day was a whirlwind of love, friendship, and happiness but we were blessed by each other and everyone who made our wedding so beautiful. We left from our wedding and immediately drove down to Baltimore (stopping at Burger King on the way so we could actually eat something!) We stayed the night in the Hyatt Regency on the inner harbor and then boarded our cruise ship the next morning, spending ten days on a Western Caribbean cruise over the course of our spring break. We visited St. Thomas, St. Kitts, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. We had a great time! Two of the other three couples at our table got married on the same day as us! We had a blast connecting with them at meals. Our honeymoon was a wonderful getaway before heading back to mid-semester reality! We came back from honeymoon and dove right into getting moved, setting up the apartment with all of our stuff, and catching up on school work.

Lindsey graduated from Davis College on May 7^th with her bachelors of religious education in teaching English as a second language and Christian counseling. Through the summer she continued her work on a full time basis with Child Evangelism Fellowship of Broome County (where she had been working part time through school) as the Summer Ministries Coordinator. She was in charge of scheduling 5-Day Club programs for kids in the area and helping teens to lead those clubs. She also started working for our church as the Ministry Assistant in July several hours a week. Once the summer ended she went back to working for CEF part time, increased her hours at the church, and also picked her morning babysitting job back up. She is definitely busy but enjoys all three jobs very much.

Patrick is in his third year at Davis College getting his bachelors of religious education in pastoral studies. Patrick worked as the evening and weekend chef for the Davis kitchen until May but then went back to working at Panera full time for the summer. Between work and homework he stays busy volunteering at our church. Most recently, he has been helping our church to begin a Christian recovery program for the church’s community. It’s still in the beginning stages but he is excited to be a part of it as it is something he is very passionate about. In November, our pastor gave him the opportunity to preach his first sermon in service. He did great for his first sermon and looks forward to being able to continue to sharpen his preaching skills and getting practice for the future.

We were able to spend three weeks travelling in May. We spent one week visiting Patrick’s family in Wilmington, NC, one week visiting Lindsey’s family in Pittsburgh and having a wedding reception there, and then travelling to Nebraska to visit Lindsey’s extended family and attend to her cousin’s wedding. We were also able to take several weekends and day trips exploring New York in places like Syracuse, the Finger Lakes, and Niagara Falls. We are blessed to have flexible jobs that allow us to get away from it all and spend some quality time with each other once in a while!

2016 has been a year of blessing! We pray that you have a wonderful Christmas to wrap the year up and a wonderful year of similar blessings in 2017. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

-The Yarboros-

One a Day: Bible Challenge

I want to give testimony which means that I also need to be transparent and honest…

I really suck at reading my Bible regularly.

It is and always has been a struggle of mine. I so easily get caught up in the busyness of life, the busyness of ministry even, that I feel like I'm doing good if I can even manage to take 2 minutes out of my day to read a quick YouVersion devotional. And not that there’s no merit at all to that, but it definitely doesn’t impact my life with the word of God. Let me tell you, I felt the impact of this in my spiritual life.

I have definitely been in a spiritual dry spell for some time.

Recently we got a desk/bookshelf together and so I finally got around to organizing some of the boxes we had just left in storage in our second bedroom/office. In one of those boxes was an extra journaling Bible that was the result of an ordering mishap for our wedding. (We used one as a guest book but ended up with a second one because Patrick’s friend, Andy was concerned the one he ordered online wouldn't come in time). So we had this extra one lying around the house. As I picked it up and thumbed through it, I thought how convenient such a Bible made doing devotions because there was room to journal right next to the word, which is ideally how I like to have my devotions. So I decided to start using it for my personal devotional Bible.

This is how I know my brain is a weird place…

Just the idea that I could journal right in Bible was enough motivation for me to actually get into the word again. Knowing that I could hold one book instead of both my Bible and my journal made it seem easier. It makes no sense, because it still takes just as much time and sometimes I still write a reflection in my journal, but whatever… it works for me.

As I picked it up to decide which chapter I wanted to start in, Patrick suggested, “Just start in the beginning…” Immediately my brain starts coming up with excuses, “I already know so many of the Genesis stories…” “But I could be reading something from the New Testament…” But the more I thought about it, the more I decided that the beginning did in fact seem like a pretty good place to start.

Would you believe I made it through 5 years of Bible College, and I still have not read the Bible entirely?

It’s somewhat embarrassing actually, though I know many Christians are in the same boat as me. I actually had a non-Christian ask me one time, “How can you be sure you believe it if you’ve never read the whole thing?” Now of course I still have read much of it and know the themes and meaning of the Bible as a whole, but I have always known reading the Bible in its entirety is important.

I’m not a fan of one-year Bible reading plans.

They don’t work well for me and they often make me feel like I’m reading just to accomplish a goal of reading it. Plus it usually has me reading so much at a time that I have a hard time applying and gaining the meaning out of it. So I decide to make a simple goal for myself…

Read straight through the Bible at least one chapter a day, every day.

I know it may not be the most practical plan. I know it will take a long time (3.25 years). But I want to soak in the word of God. I want to take it one chapter at a time and truly meditate on that chapter. I don’t want to read it just to finish it in a certain amount of time, but read it to truly learn it on a personal level and to know God. I know there will be long days and short days. I know there will be painfully boring books and really exciting ones. But it’s all in the Bible for a reason, so I want to read it.

I’ve missed a few days already.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t been perfect so far. But I have done SO, SO, SO much better than before. So far I am on Genesis 5. And guess what, already I am noticing the power that being in God’s word on a regular basis has made in my life. I feel like I am hearing from God again. I am gleaning more from speakers of God’s word and I have a passion for living life for God again. I don’t feel like I am just going through the motions but rather that I am passionately living life for God. I’m actually finding that I want to spend time in the word and I look forward to reading the next chapter.

And that’s only after a few days.

Not only that, I am getting so much out of it. I mean I’ve read stories like the creation account, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel… all stories that I’ve heard time and time again. And with every chapter I read, I have gained something new out of it. I have been able to pull out an application for my own life from the Word of God. I feel like God is truly speaking to me through his word as I step out in obedience and challenge myself in this way.

At first I didn’t want to tell anyone about this challenge…

I was nervous to tell anyone that I had challenged myself to do this because I didn’t want people to know if I failed. Tonight, I changed my mind. On my own, I will most certainly fail. I need the help of others to hold me accountable. I need people to ask me how my Bible reading plan is going. I’m not going to prepare for failure but rather set up and plan for success. So please, hold me accountable. Ask me how the plan is going. Ask me where I’m at in the Bible. This is at least a 3 and a quarter year journey I am embarking on. I know I may miss days here and there, but I know I’ll stop altogether if no one helps me.

And maybe… MAYBE I’ll do blog updates as I continue on this journey.

If God has done this much work through just 5 chapters of his word, I’m interested to see what other changes I will see in myself as I continue reading. There truly is power in God’s word. It is definitely living and active. I wonder what it will activate in me.

Please join me in this.

Hold me accountable and ask me about it. Maybe you need to challenge yourself to read a chapter a day all the way through too. And you can also subscribe to a Daily Bible Message that I send out. I have been writing these daily devotions based on my reading for the day and based on my personal reflection of the word. And look for blog updates about what God continues to do in me as I stay in his word.

The Magic Forest

Dedication: To my parents, Andrew and Stacy Sutton, for our many journeys through the Magic Forest. For always encouraging my creative spark and for allowing my imagination to be out of this world. 

The Magic Forest

Lucy had been on countless trips in the car back and forth from her house and her grandparent’s house. She would watch from the window of her seat as there were many sights to see along the way. They would take the bridge that took them over railroad tracks. Sometimes, if there was a train to see, mom and dad would slow the car down so Lucy and her brother could watch it. They would pass by the building that had fountains that shot up water. But when the trees became a bit denser and the road a bit curvier, Lucy knew they were coming close to her favorite part of the trip: the Magic Forest.

The forest that lined the edges of the curvy road had at one time just been a normal forest. But one day, Lucy saw something completely out of the ordinary. “I see a green elephant!” Lucy exclaimed. All of a sudden, time seemed to slow down and Lucy forgot all about the car she was in. She found that she was standing on the forest floor and the magnificent green elephant was standing high in front of her. “H-he-hello,” Lucy stammered nervously, “I’m Lucy.” She had never been so close to an elephant before. But the elephant spoke in a deep friendly voice, “Hello, pleased to meet you Lucy!” Lucy calmed down a bit, this seemed like a very friendly elephant. “What’s an elephant like you doing in a forest like this?” The green elephant smiled, “Well don’t you know? This isn’t a normal forest. This is the Magic Forest.” “The Magic Forest?” Lucy asked a bit confused. “Yes!” The green elephant explained, “In here you will find all sorts of different animals of all sorts of different colors.” “That’s amazing!” Lucy exclaimed. “It surely is,” Green Elephant said, “But for now, you ought to get back to the car to make it the rest of the way home. I’m sure you’ll be able to visit again another time.”

Lucy could hardly wait for the next trip to her grandparent’s house! She wondered if she would meet the green elephant in the Magic Forest again. On the way back she waited excitedly as they crossed over the bridge and passed the fountains. And when the trees became a bit denser and the road a bit curvier, Lucy knew she was back in the magic forest! Lucy’s eyes were wide open as she looked around as the car zoomed over the curvy road that took them through the Magic Forest. She was so hoping to see Green Elephant again! She looked all over for him, but that’s when she saw something else! “I see an orange kangaroo!”  she called. Time seemed to slow and once again Lucy forgot all about the car she was in. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the orange kangaroo. 
She was less afraid this time so she spoke up confidently, “Hello! I’m Lucy!” The orange kangaroo smiled at Lucy. “Pleased to meet you, Lucy!” “Do you know Green Elephant?” Lucy asked. “I surely do!” Orange Kangaroo said, “Come let’s go find him!” Lucy glanced behind her, “Shouldn’t I get back to the car?” Orange Kangaroo smiled, “I am sure it will be there when you get back.” So Lucy bounded through the forest following close behind Orange Kangaroo. 

They soon found Green Elephant and Lucy was thrilled when they met up with even more friends! She got to meet Pink Hippo and Rainbow Flamingo. She was a little nervous when she met Purple Crocodile and Rainbow Tiger, but Orange Kangaroo assured her that they were very nice animals. Lucy stayed and played with all of her new friends! She went swimming with Pink Hippo and Purple Crocodile. She played hopscotch with Orange Kangaroo! And she even swung through the trees with Red Striped Monkey. She played until she could play no more. “Thank you for playing with me!” she said, “But I should probably get back to my car now.” “I’ll walk you there!” Green Elephant said. They walked together to the edge of the forest where the road ran through. Lucy turned to Green Elephant before getting back in her car and asked, “Can I come play with you all every time we drive through the Magic Forest?” Green Elephant smiled, “If you’d like us to be here, we will be.”

Every time Lucy was able to take a trip back or forth from her grandparent’s house she would look forward to seeing the magic forest! She would hold her breath in excitement as they crossed over the bridge and passed the fountains. Lucy could barely sit still when the trees became a bit denser and the road a bit curvier and she was back with her friends in the Magic Forest. She would stop and play with all of her animal friends. It seemed like each time she went she would meet someone new. Her mom and dad had even started helping her to spot new animal friends in the Magic Forest! Throughout the years, she went on too many adventures to count in the Magic Forest.

But as Lucy started getting older, something seemed to change.  Her parents would still drive the car through the Magic Forest, but Lucy didn’t see her friends as often anymore. When she did see them, she didn’t stay to play as long. In fact, the older Lucy got, the less and less she stopped to play at all. Some of her animal friends would still come to road as the car drove past. But Lucy found that she didn’t always want to stop and play. As Lucy got even older, she saw less and less of her Magic Forest friends until one day, she didn’t see them at all anymore. On day years later, as her and her family were driving through the forest, her mother said with a laugh, “Look Lucy, do you see Green Elephant?” Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes. “Mooommmm!” she said, “I’m too old for the Magic Forest game.”

Lucy continued to grow up. She finished high school, went to college, moved away, got married, and even had kids of her own. It had been many, many years since she had been in the Magic Forest. But one day when she was on her way back from visiting her parents, she found herself driving over the bridge and passing by the old fountains. Her memory stirred when the trees became a bit denser and the road a bit curvier. Lucy smiled to herself as she started to drive down the curvy road of the Magic Forest. She turned her head and looked at her own children sitting in the backseat. With a smile she said, “Did you know this is a magic forest?” Their eyes grew wide and her daughter asked, “It is?” “Yes! See over there?” Lucy said, “I see a green elephant and an orange kangaroo!” Lucy looked towards the forest. She was a bit surprised but very glad when she saw her two old friends smiling and waving at her. She remembered the words Green Elephant had said to her many years ago, “If you’d like us to be here, we will be.” Lucy decided she would never be too old to go on another adventure in the Magic Forest.

The End