I'm Back!

Hey. Everyone. It's been a while since I posted here. So here is my attempt to update you. I don't know if anyone ever reads this though.

Well the last two years a lot happened. I worked in WI at Timberlee were I meet my now husband Ben Vanderzyden. After a year at Timberlee I moved to Alliance Redwoods inCA.

I am teaching Outdoor education to 5 and 6th grade students. I also run zip lines, big swings and low ropes. It's super rewarding.

On June 16, 2012 I married Ben Vanderzyden at Camp Timberlee! I loved it! We then did a road trip to CA for the honeymoon.

Ben and I live at Alliance Redwoods. He is now the Ropes Director and I am still teaching.

This summer I will be co-leading the IJM Freedom tour and starting a garden.

I know that since I started working in Camping Ministry I have fallen of the grid. I hope that I will be able to connect back with my friends. If you are reading this please comment on what you are up to these days. Have a great day!

WOW!   I still have this Blog!!
New blog update coming in 2 days!

Glorify God. That's it!

My life is to glorify God. That's the point. There is no other resin for living. Just Glorify God. So. If I wind up living adventures with Him and never have anyone to go on these adventures with God And I then it is to glorify God. If God does have some one to go on adventure with. (in other words get married. ) that marriage would be to glorify God. Look in the bible God arranged Jacob and Rachel. Joseph and Mary. Hosea and Gomer. And most all others ones. Not all Of these examples are the romantic notion that as Americans were raised with. Like Beauty and the beast. Snow white sleeping beauty or even Peter Pan. ( even though Peter Pan was the best of all the fairy tails ). Real life is not like this. Sorry. So. In the end its all to glorify God. That is quite the adventure !!!


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Turn off the light! I can see too much!

Oct 15 2010


Today I was thinking and remembering three speakers that I have heard the past few mounts. They will seem to have conveniently been on the same flight all going to different destinations. All three told the same story. They were on a plane and heard a little girl say, “Mommy, Mommy turn off the light I can see to much!”

This must have been something that God wanted me hear. Since these three people do not know each other and probably were not traveling together.

Turn off the light!
I can see too much!

See. Seeing. It’s easy to look back and see what I have missed. So often I find myself walking forward only looking at my feet. I really don’t what to trip over something making a fool of myself. I only see what is directly affecting me. What is only directly around me. Only me. Me. I miss all that surrounds me.

In our culture we are encouraged to look out for ourselves. We are consumed with the questions of how can I get ahead? What will I get out of this? How will it benefit me? Will I get hurt because of this? I find myself going through life just looking out for myself. If I don’t like an answer to these questions then that’s it. I will stop. God has so much more planned for us. If we just look around.

Look up! Look up! Oh how I desire to walk no RUN! Looking up. Looking around. To truly see those around me. There is so much around. Happening. Suffering. Starvation. Over indulgence. Understanding . Love. Hate. Life. Death.

Jesus teaches to Love your neighbor as yourself. I believe that God demands us to look up. Look around. Start to observing what is around. I must look around to see who are the people that I live with. Enter into their life journey. Find out what they believe and how they live their life. Try to understand what they live for!

Just think of all the things God could possibly do through you! The possibilities are endless because God is endless!! God saved us so He could do good works through us! Oh man. That is just so amazing to think about!

This I guarantee will be messy and most likely I will get hurt. But finding a way to love those around me is how we can truly enter life.

I must look up and truly see what is around and not ignore it. God demands it. What does looking up look like.

Pray. Listen. Do
Listen to God. Talk to God. Do.

You can skip the middle part if you what. In fact.
Listen to God. Do.

So often, after God tells me to do something. I then talk myself out of it. I find myself reasoning with myself and telling God that it is best that I don’t do it. Whatever it was I was supposed to do. Fear is the driving force behind this.

Fear is what causes me/ us to shut the lights off. To look at my feet. To focus only on me.

Do not be afraid. If God is with you, who can be against you? That’s huge.
Do what you need to do to keep the light on. To keep looking up and focusing on those around you/me.

Do not be afraid to Do what God wants you to do. If God wants you to do it. God will supply what you need to do. Don’t be afraid. Pray for those around you. Be happy. Be sad. Mourn. Live. With those around you. see

I must also remember to let others see me also. So often I spend my time getting to know people I forget to let others know me. I heard a saying the other day that reminded me of this. “You can only be loved by the amount that you let people know you.” I don’t know how said this but I think they are up to something. I don’t what to be hurt again so I will try to spend my time talking to people about themselves and theological issues. This can be a roadblock in letting people know me. Consequently blocking what God can do through me. That’s something I am working on.

Ransom!!!

Ransom!! Will you choose to accept it?

1 Peter 1:17-21

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
---- ---- ---- ---- ----


The blood of Christ is our Ransom. God paid our ransom. It is common that we look at 1 Peter and think about what we may do to ransom a loved one. What would we do if we received a ransom note stating that someone had our loved one and we had to pay a price to get him or her back. What would we do?

But lets flip it.

Lets imagine we are the ones that have been taken captive. We are the ones in prison. Others are controlling the way we live, think, and believe. What type of captive would you be? Will you try everything we can to get free? Or are you the ones that would begin to get comfortable with our captors? This is a strange scenario but it does happen. Stockholm syndrome the captive starts to like where they are and eventually help the captives cause. Do we truly understand that we are in captivity? We are under the captivity of sin.


Sin separates us from God. We need to be ransomed. You need to be perched!

Purchased not with things that will parish like silver or gold. I know silver and gold are precious to us but not to God. He purchased us with something of eternal value, Jesus Blood! He purchased us so we could truly be free!

Will you dare to accept it? To accept Jesus ransom. To be truly free!

tree

after the ride...

I have a dream. I want this. I want to help people realize that they are more then just a lump of flesh. The are able to accomplish much more then what they believe they can. I want to challenge people to see more then there own idea of the world. I want people to dare to love. Love more, love more deeply for people they know, people they don’t know, and for creation. Love with out bounders. To love the one that is Love!

With God all things are possible!!

Down to the list.

I won't call it a bucked list. Because that was a lame movie. The old guys just realized they did not live thier life and set off to do some stuff. I am more of a fan of the movie Second Hand Lions. Those two old guys lived their life!

• Own a small gardened and sell food at a farmers market. ( a green house even) And it would be cool to have school groups come. Have an education part of the small farm. I would be just fine if it was an urban farm. (I think that would be way cool). If I could live in the city.
• Be alive
• Show others what it is to be alive.
• Ride my bike
• Become an outdoor educator. / Adventure leader
• Go to seminary? If I can get in. hehe if they let me in
• Be a youth pastor
• Travel :experience new places.
• Have a strong Jesus community. That is highly involved with the surrounding community.
• live some place other then in the US longer then 2 years.
• Peace core
• Pay off my student loans bla
• Buy my one car.
• Own land some day. For that large garden.
• Do what God wants me to do. Even if it is not any of this.
• Climb a 20 thousand foot mountain!!
• Start a gorilla garden. I think I will this spring. Hhehehe


Ok umm. This is random what else should I think of.

New Location - WI

New Location - WI from Lisa Ralph on Vimeo.

map 4

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Map 3

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Map 2 WY - WA

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Map 1

TX - WY


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last day

Going from Lisa Ralph on Vimeo.

my prayer

My prayer

Well, God, if I live a few years on this earth and have to give up “comfort” it’s ok. And if I can’t get to always feel like I’m in charge or even that I know what I’m doing, I’m ok. And if I get persecuted for being who you call me to be, and people get downright nasty, It’s ok. And if I Never get to live out the “American Dream” and have an impeccable husband, and impeccable house, and impeccable minivan, and impeccable kids, I’m ok. And if I spend my whole life in weird shadows in unglamorous places and never really get recognized, it’s ok.. If I don’t do the traditional “ministry” and fit into a typical position, it’s ok.

But God, please be with me, Please be behind me and in me and through me. Let me at least know that you are guiding me, and that you will see me through. When men fail me, and they will I want you God. May I run to you and into your arms and throw myself at you day in and day out. May you really really be my solace, my strength, my strong tower and my comforter, my guide, my Lord, my love, my joy.

God, when it’s all said and done and my life has been poured out unto completion – may you be glorified! May it be a sweet smelling offering to you and my you say, “Well done good and faithful servant. Now come and enter my rest.”

This is my prayer.

Coming Through the Dark Night of the Soul

Coming Through the Dark Night of the Soul

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Being Single with Intentionality

Being Single with Intentionality

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The Road

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
and i must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
- J.R.R. Tolkien

sometimes we need friends to remind us that we have toes

At work a few weeks ago, I realized something. I was preparing samples of dirt when I realized the significance of Jesus waking on water. Now, I know, this story is totally over done at church. On any given Sunday, some pastor at some church in the country is preaching on this. Nothing I am about to say is original or new. It’s just that I realized it.

Matthew 14: 22-34
Jesus Walks on the Water
22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat was already a considerable distance[a] from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. 27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29"Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" 32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." 34When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret.


Now when Jesus shows up all the disciples start freaking out but only one wants to walk out and meet Jesus. We some times have to go out of our comfort zones and go. Go someplace that may not make since or even be safe. But we have to go. Jesus is out there.

But my realization was what happened when Peter was on the water. Trucken’ toward Jesus and took his eyes off Jesus. He began to sink!

I have realized that I’ve taken a step out of that boat named metaphor and are too fair out to turn back. I start to panic and bam I am in the water, not going toward Jesus. And boy to I sink fast.

Some times I forget the amazing journey God has called me to be on. And I sink like a rock. Right down to the bottom. I just can’t see what is in front of me. A friend told me a yesterday that sometimes we need friends to remind us that we have toes. And yes my friend is right. We need to be reminded sometimes that the road we are on is worth it. It may not seem so in the right now but it will be in the end.

I spent an amazing week-ish in Denver with Erin M last week! Here is my last video blog update. I so have to move to Denver, CO by June. That would be sweet!

Denver, CO : Two from Lisa Ralph on Vimeo.