Hello all.
It has been a while since my last post, but only because our life has been crazy busy with all that God is doing in this wonderful city. I wish I had videotaped the last couple months so you could see, but since that would be a really long movie, I'll try to hit the highlights in writing. Here goes...
The New Year brought about a renewed sense of purpose in our life. We began to ponder that next step that God would have us take to expand the circle of influence he had for us here. As we felt led, we began to host a series of dinners at our house for anybody to come and eat. I don't think it ended up working out the way we expected, but when God is in charge, does it ever? Our apartment became the meeting place for pretty much a group of "regulars". Most of these students, have some affiliation with the catholic student group on campus. How this came to be is a really long story of twisted connections.
The first couple of dinners in January were kind of get to know each other events. However, last week we watched Rob Bell's video of his talk called "Everything is Spiritual". You should have seen the group of us sitting there watching. I was nervous/excited/praying the entire time. It worked out GREAT. We were able to talk about some huge things and open the "idea" door pertaining to what we are planning on for Monday nights to look like from here forward.
That said, Monday nights, starting in February, will be a time when Rob and I will be opening our home to be the meeting place for a new "branch" of Shawmut Springs, our house church here in Boston. We are multiplying in order to expand that circle of influence and to further the kingdom of Christ. Both groups will still be under the larger Shawmut umbrella, but we will be the new addition called the Hillside House. This is an amazing leap of faith, and we feel like God has his hand on this transition. He is moving here in our city and we are excited to see what he has in store for us.
We just gone done with our Monday dinner for tonight. It was packed with mashed potatoes, meatloaf and dominoes. However, the most important event of the night was when we told the group that starting in February, this would turn into a house church meeting. They were VERY receptive and I think God was truly here in this place with us tonight. I can't speak entirely for Rob, but I know my mind is whirling. Faith is a funny thing. You try to have it, but then when you realize that you are and God is moving through that faith, it can be earth shattering. It's the kind of thing that gets your blood pumping. :)
Please pray for us as this is going to be an amazing, but busy and somewhat difficult time. I am in my last full semester of school and Rob is working hard as always. Pray that we would learn to manage this and that God would bless this transition. Pray that he would open hearts and minds. Pray that he would comfort emotions and quiet anxieties.
We love you all and are excited to be on this journey with you.
Heather
Monday, January 26, 2009
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thankfulness
This week God has been challenging me to be Thankful in all things. At first I was challenge through my friend Jon that was learning to rejoice in pain and hardships, and looking at what it means to really rejoice with our lives. Next a close friend Scott, challenged me through his life to learn through suffering, cause Scott suffers in way beyond what I know to be suffering. This brings me to my thought on thankfulness. As we rush in to this week of turkeys and mash potatoes let us not forget to be thankful, cause if we loose our hearts of thankfulness I truly believe we will miss the views of the Father. Thankfulness is a lens by which we get views of God. If it's not looked through I fear that we will loose sight of Him. Heather and I just had a long talk with a friend, 3 and half hours long, about God, hell, life, and so much more. By the end he came to a conclusion that if God really did care or exist why doesn't he just give us a glimpse of himself, something that would say "Hey I'm really here". I think our friend has lost sight of being thankful for the beauty that surrounds us. This week lets not use reasoning or logic to explain things in our lives, lets just be thankful for them, and maybe we'll see something new.
Rob
PS I'm thankful for a new glass window in my car cause it's raining like crazy right now!
Rob
PS I'm thankful for a new glass window in my car cause it's raining like crazy right now!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Broken Glass...
So, when I titled this post "Broken Glass", I meant it as literal. However, it works both literally and figuratively. Let me explain...
On Thursday night this week, Rob was coming home from hanging out with some friends, when he noticed that something was weird about our car. It had been parked outside the apartment for a few days without us using it. This is pretty normal for us because we have an awesome public transit system in the city. However, when I last used the car, I forgot to bring the faceplate (the front of our stereo system which has all the buttons on it and detaches) inside with me. Big mistake in the city. This is why when Rob arrived home that night, he came home to find the front passenger side window in too many pieces to count and the entire stereo system no where to be found.
I was really upset by this experience. I had never been so violated by the people who live around me. Also, I felt guilty for leaving the faceplate in the car. I was not sure what to feel. At first I cried. Then I was angry, but I could not figure out who exactly to be angry with...myself for leaving the faceplate in the car, the thieves although I will never know their identities, or God. I mean honestly, isn't he supposed to protect us while doing his work in this city? This is where I had to stop and think through all these jumbled emotions. This is hard to do. It is hard to learn from something so awful. However, when I let my anger cool and took some time to let God speak to me, this is what he showed me...
1. Through an enlightening conversation with a fellow Christian in the city, Suzanne, I learned that the people that would do this kind of thing are the reasons we are here. They are lost, hurting, helpless without Jesus. How could I have been mad at them? Suzanne reminded me that I should actually pray for them. Man, that was intense. I was in the middle of crying while vacuuming up broken glass, and God used her to show me the beginnings of his will in this...he began to "break" a Glass of his own. When I was so angry and hurt, he used the situation to remind me of his love in my life and my purpose to make it known in others lives. Wow.
2. Life in a city where people have not made Christ to center of their lives can be challenging. One of these struggles revolves around things. Material things. When I saw that broken window and stereo gone, I immediately asked Rob "How does God expect us to drive students and all the other things we do if we can't keep the car together?" However, I realized that this attitude was entirely selfish and once again, God broke some Glass of his own. He showed me that he loves us and that this was not of his hands, but that he did have something to teach me. We don't need a stereo to drive students. We do need a window, but God provided that at a minimal cost from a local junkyard. Once again, when I was mad at him, God provided. And he pursues us. He gets the bigger picture. He sees an opportunity to break and teach a Glass while all I could see was broken glass.
3. In light of my recent acceptance to the India program, I have no idea how I even cried over this situation. I have Jesus, what more do I need? There are people suffering all of this world. Most likely, the thieves are among those. Who was I to feel jaded. I have the greatest gift of all. Once again God showed me a portion of the grand design of his plan.
4. The last biggest thing I have drawn from this experience is that just when life seems to be going ok, God "prunes" us. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. The Father is the Gardner who tends to pruning the brances so they bring forth good fruit. When we were reading over this tonight at church in John 16, it hit me. Pruning is never fun. It is often painful and hard. Thomas and I were discussing this on the way to church, and then to read and study it was amazing. I am so blessed and encouraged that the Father is still pruning me, even through things like this, and drawing me closer to him. What an amazing relationship.
All this to say, yeah our car got broken into and it sort of stinks, BUT I have learned so much through it. God is alive in this city. He is present and working. Pray for me as I pray for the thieves and we continue to fulfill his purpose for our lives here.
Love to you all.
Heather
On Thursday night this week, Rob was coming home from hanging out with some friends, when he noticed that something was weird about our car. It had been parked outside the apartment for a few days without us using it. This is pretty normal for us because we have an awesome public transit system in the city. However, when I last used the car, I forgot to bring the faceplate (the front of our stereo system which has all the buttons on it and detaches) inside with me. Big mistake in the city. This is why when Rob arrived home that night, he came home to find the front passenger side window in too many pieces to count and the entire stereo system no where to be found.
I was really upset by this experience. I had never been so violated by the people who live around me. Also, I felt guilty for leaving the faceplate in the car. I was not sure what to feel. At first I cried. Then I was angry, but I could not figure out who exactly to be angry with...myself for leaving the faceplate in the car, the thieves although I will never know their identities, or God. I mean honestly, isn't he supposed to protect us while doing his work in this city? This is where I had to stop and think through all these jumbled emotions. This is hard to do. It is hard to learn from something so awful. However, when I let my anger cool and took some time to let God speak to me, this is what he showed me...
1. Through an enlightening conversation with a fellow Christian in the city, Suzanne, I learned that the people that would do this kind of thing are the reasons we are here. They are lost, hurting, helpless without Jesus. How could I have been mad at them? Suzanne reminded me that I should actually pray for them. Man, that was intense. I was in the middle of crying while vacuuming up broken glass, and God used her to show me the beginnings of his will in this...he began to "break" a Glass of his own. When I was so angry and hurt, he used the situation to remind me of his love in my life and my purpose to make it known in others lives. Wow.
2. Life in a city where people have not made Christ to center of their lives can be challenging. One of these struggles revolves around things. Material things. When I saw that broken window and stereo gone, I immediately asked Rob "How does God expect us to drive students and all the other things we do if we can't keep the car together?" However, I realized that this attitude was entirely selfish and once again, God broke some Glass of his own. He showed me that he loves us and that this was not of his hands, but that he did have something to teach me. We don't need a stereo to drive students. We do need a window, but God provided that at a minimal cost from a local junkyard. Once again, when I was mad at him, God provided. And he pursues us. He gets the bigger picture. He sees an opportunity to break and teach a Glass while all I could see was broken glass.
3. In light of my recent acceptance to the India program, I have no idea how I even cried over this situation. I have Jesus, what more do I need? There are people suffering all of this world. Most likely, the thieves are among those. Who was I to feel jaded. I have the greatest gift of all. Once again God showed me a portion of the grand design of his plan.
4. The last biggest thing I have drawn from this experience is that just when life seems to be going ok, God "prunes" us. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. The Father is the Gardner who tends to pruning the brances so they bring forth good fruit. When we were reading over this tonight at church in John 16, it hit me. Pruning is never fun. It is often painful and hard. Thomas and I were discussing this on the way to church, and then to read and study it was amazing. I am so blessed and encouraged that the Father is still pruning me, even through things like this, and drawing me closer to him. What an amazing relationship.
All this to say, yeah our car got broken into and it sort of stinks, BUT I have learned so much through it. God is alive in this city. He is present and working. Pray for me as I pray for the thieves and we continue to fulfill his purpose for our lives here.
Love to you all.
Heather
Monday, November 10, 2008
Mondays...and India. :)
Hello all my loyal readers.
I am so excited to announce that we have a new plan for Monday nights from here on out. Starting next week, we will be hosting a small discussion group in our home. We are so excited to have a night set, but honestly, we have no idea what to expect. We are going to just start inviting people to talk and see what happens. We want to this to be a time of open conversation on spiritual issues. We want to share the love of Jesus in a non-threatening way. That's not as easy as it may sound in a place like Boston. You'd be surprised. However, we are jumping into this with high hopes. We have Jesus with us though, so we are praying expectantly for his blessings to abound.
In another new development, I am officially going to India next semester. The entire semester will be dedicated to the India program. I will be in Boston for January, February and half of March. I will spend 6 weeks, the last part of March and pretty much all of April, in India working with the GPACT program and the Deshpande foundation. I will be involved in several community development projects. The program is through Northeastern, but for the Glass family, the implications are so much bigger. We are earnestly praying for the doors that may be opened through this trip to have an impact for the kingdom in India. We are so excited and in prayer every day for prepared heart and mind.
Please, please join us in praying for both of these developments. We are so excited to see the ways that God is going to move through these situations.
I must go to class now, but I leave you all with my love and many hugs. :)
I am so excited to announce that we have a new plan for Monday nights from here on out. Starting next week, we will be hosting a small discussion group in our home. We are so excited to have a night set, but honestly, we have no idea what to expect. We are going to just start inviting people to talk and see what happens. We want to this to be a time of open conversation on spiritual issues. We want to share the love of Jesus in a non-threatening way. That's not as easy as it may sound in a place like Boston. You'd be surprised. However, we are jumping into this with high hopes. We have Jesus with us though, so we are praying expectantly for his blessings to abound.
In another new development, I am officially going to India next semester. The entire semester will be dedicated to the India program. I will be in Boston for January, February and half of March. I will spend 6 weeks, the last part of March and pretty much all of April, in India working with the GPACT program and the Deshpande foundation. I will be involved in several community development projects. The program is through Northeastern, but for the Glass family, the implications are so much bigger. We are earnestly praying for the doors that may be opened through this trip to have an impact for the kingdom in India. We are so excited and in prayer every day for prepared heart and mind.
Please, please join us in praying for both of these developments. We are so excited to see the ways that God is going to move through these situations.
I must go to class now, but I leave you all with my love and many hugs. :)
Monday, November 3, 2008
FUSION
So the FUSION conference was pretty much as amazing as it gets. The conference, for those of you not familiar with it, is geared towards college students and young adults. It is basically an entire weekend of people from all over New England and Canada coming together to worship Christ. The setting for this year was the beautiful shores of the Boston harbor. Although it was pretty windy and cold, the view from the beach was still spectacular.
The speaker at the conference was a man named David Bryant. He is the most adorable man in the world, and he has an amazing passion for seeing the kingdom of God expanded. He brought us all free books, which was a plus for my new library :). The name of his book is "Christ is All!". Get it. You will love it. He brought us a powerful and challenging message in four parts over the weekend based on the title of his book, Christ is All! It was amazing to hear this man, who is far more educated and well read and Bible literate than I may ever even hope to be, claim the name of God in front of a crowd of New England young believers. It packed a punch. It also challenged us in our daily lives. To think about life in terms of Christ's supremacy is a tough, but encouraging, thing to walk towards. It was a moving experience in all of our personal journeys.
We were fortunate enough to meet many amazing people. My community group/small discussion group was by far amazing and exactly what I needed. God has been amazingly faithful at placing the right people in my life at exactly the right time. A young couple named Erin and Patrick were my inspiration of the weekend. Their faith, which I could see without even any words, will forever resonate in my mind. I am so thankful for their testimony of being a young married couple on fire for God's kingdom.
Keep praying as we work to put what David taught us into practice. I leave you with one thought from David...don't just make Jesus the center of your life, make Him the circumference...He is all...He is in control and he is supreme.
Love until next time.
The speaker at the conference was a man named David Bryant. He is the most adorable man in the world, and he has an amazing passion for seeing the kingdom of God expanded. He brought us all free books, which was a plus for my new library :). The name of his book is "Christ is All!". Get it. You will love it. He brought us a powerful and challenging message in four parts over the weekend based on the title of his book, Christ is All! It was amazing to hear this man, who is far more educated and well read and Bible literate than I may ever even hope to be, claim the name of God in front of a crowd of New England young believers. It packed a punch. It also challenged us in our daily lives. To think about life in terms of Christ's supremacy is a tough, but encouraging, thing to walk towards. It was a moving experience in all of our personal journeys.
We were fortunate enough to meet many amazing people. My community group/small discussion group was by far amazing and exactly what I needed. God has been amazingly faithful at placing the right people in my life at exactly the right time. A young couple named Erin and Patrick were my inspiration of the weekend. Their faith, which I could see without even any words, will forever resonate in my mind. I am so thankful for their testimony of being a young married couple on fire for God's kingdom.
Keep praying as we work to put what David taught us into practice. I leave you with one thought from David...don't just make Jesus the center of your life, make Him the circumference...He is all...He is in control and he is supreme.
Love until next time.
Friday, October 24, 2008
The 198 Hillside Pot-Luck
We hosted our first "building event" last night. It was such a HUGE answer to prayer. We actually didn't think anyone was going to come because we didn't receive any RSVPs. So we (meaning Rob :) made chile and got some soda with ice ready just in case, but I think we were both very much assuming it was going to turn into a date night instead. However, we were in for a big surprise.
The dinner was supposed to start at 7pm. At 7:15, with no RSVPs and just the two of us, we were kind of just hanging around the apartment when suddenly, there was a knock on the door. :) First, we both jumped, then we smiled at each other and hurried to the door. Standing there was our neighbor Tom from #1. He was letting us know that he and his girlfriend, Rachel, really wanted to come, but had a bunch of stuff to do. We told him that there was no expectation on how long they should stay, and that they could totally just come and get a warm dinner and head out. This was fine with us, as we just wanted to at least open our home and show them Christ's love. Tom went back down to check with Rachel. In the meantime, there was another knock on the door. This time, it was Miriam from #3. She brought her friend, also named Rachel :). They brought brownies and sat and ate with us. Tom and Rachel ended coming back up from downstairs too! Also, when answering the door for Tom the first time, we met our neighbors directly across the hall. They were busy last night, but open to doing it again another time.
It is amazing how stepping out in faith and following God can truly lead to answers to prayer. We have been praying for some doors to open in our building, and last night, God opened three. We will continue to be in prayer for these relationships and we need you all to join us. Big things are set to happen in this city, and we are excited to be a part of the unfolding of God's amazing plan.
The dinner was supposed to start at 7pm. At 7:15, with no RSVPs and just the two of us, we were kind of just hanging around the apartment when suddenly, there was a knock on the door. :) First, we both jumped, then we smiled at each other and hurried to the door. Standing there was our neighbor Tom from #1. He was letting us know that he and his girlfriend, Rachel, really wanted to come, but had a bunch of stuff to do. We told him that there was no expectation on how long they should stay, and that they could totally just come and get a warm dinner and head out. This was fine with us, as we just wanted to at least open our home and show them Christ's love. Tom went back down to check with Rachel. In the meantime, there was another knock on the door. This time, it was Miriam from #3. She brought her friend, also named Rachel :). They brought brownies and sat and ate with us. Tom and Rachel ended coming back up from downstairs too! Also, when answering the door for Tom the first time, we met our neighbors directly across the hall. They were busy last night, but open to doing it again another time.
It is amazing how stepping out in faith and following God can truly lead to answers to prayer. We have been praying for some doors to open in our building, and last night, God opened three. We will continue to be in prayer for these relationships and we need you all to join us. Big things are set to happen in this city, and we are excited to be a part of the unfolding of God's amazing plan.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
God's hand at work...
These pictures are from our lovely camping trip to VT this past weekend. It was beautiful. The leaves were all sorts of vibrant reds and yellows and oranges. God really blessed us in allowing us to take up a group of 20 students! We were able to have some amazing campfire conversations, trail hiking conversations and just plain out tent bonding. I'm not sure how much talking the guys do before going to sleep, but if you've ever stayed the night in a tent with a bunch of girls, you know how it goes. :) We were blessed with gorgeous weather, although it got quite chilly at night. Please continue to pray for relationships started on this trip to continue to flourish back here in the city.This Sunday morning is our quarterly breakfast. Rob and I are hosting the event at our house this time. The purpose of the breakfast is to evaluate our progress as a community. We are hoping for some real honest thoughts and for good conversation towards progress. Pray for this time. Pray that the leaders in our community would have the right words to say and that our members would be confident in making suggestions.
Our apartment building has been very interesting lately. This place is extremely diverse. However, God has opened some doors and allowed us to make some new friends. We are very excited for what God has in store for this place. We are in the beginning stages of planning a possible potluck dinner to make some more connections.
Please continue to pray for our community as we seek to grow. Please pray for our building. Pray that God will continue to open doors for interactions. Pray that people will be receptive to talking with us. Pray for us as we have also been seeking to reach out to other couples.
Life is busy. School is in the thick of an intense semester, we both have amazing responsibilities at work, and the ministry is growing. Pray for us as and our marriage. Pray that God remains the center. We know that he is good and will continue to bless us.
Thank you so much. We love you all! :)
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