Christmas Letter

December 19, 2011

Dear Family, Friends and Prayer Partners,

We want to wish you a Merry Christmas!!!!

Family

Christina and Andrew:  The Gard’s have moved to Florida where Andrew is the Dean of Student Ministries at South Eastern University.  Christina remained behind for a while to finish her residency at Good Samaritan Hospital and the semester teaching at NU.  Last week she taught her last class, finished her residency, completed her Masters Degree and moved to join Andrew in Lakeland.

Charity, Robby, Lincoln and Fynlee:  The Hipp’s are such a beautiful family, Lincoln will be three years old in February and Fynlee will be one in April.  Robby is Director of Operations at InnovexGolf.  They are amazing parents and of course, our grandchildren are amazing too.

Charlene and Ben:  The Callahan’s are working hard in Fairbanks. Charlene is the Assistant Vice President and Ben opened a construction office.  They are both successful, busy and continually are on the go.  Recently they toured the East Coast in an RV including Boston, NYC, Philly and DC.

Recently all three couples celebrated Thanksgiving in New York together attended shows and attended attractions, including the Macy’s Parade. We are proud of them all and so grateful to God for the blessing and grace on each one of them.

 

Our News

This past year we have applied and received appointment as Missionary Associates, attended Missions school this summer in Springfield, Missouri.  Polly itinerated for 7 weeks in Alaska this past summer and then had gall bladder surgery in September, while I have visited some churches in Washington.  We both have transferred our credentials to the Northwest Ministry Network.  I have completed 21 credits in Grad School thus far and will go time and a half in January.  Additionally, I completed a course last winter and received as a Life Coach certification.

Polly and I have moved again, we are now in Kirkland, Washington and are still settling in.  Polly is working at Northwest University (NU) as the Executive Assistant to the President. I am starting my second year of graduate studies, so the move puts us much closer to the university.

We covet your prayers as we seek God’s continued direction and provision. We will have news more news in our spring letter about upcoming ministry and a trip to Asia. We will only send updates occasionally, if you are interested in collaborating or having projects and/or needs, please let us know.

Yours in the Father’s Service,

Robert and Polly Anne Reasner

 

Website:  www.Starfishing.org

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Blog:  http://starfishinginc.wordpress.com/

Christmas Thoughts: The Day After Christmas.

Twas the Day after Christmas

 

It is the day after Christmas, and here I sit with a house full of paper, and a cat full of tinsel. There are gifts to return, gifts to absorb, gifts that have been re-gifted and may be once more.  There are bills to be paid and work to catch up; having a holiday can surely disrupt!

 

I head to the office to catch up on work and I think of the sounds and phrases I’ve  heard. “We over spent! We over ate! We over indulged, and stayed up too late!”  I wonder as we head into the coming new year if our priorities are somehow …askew. Perhaps just maybe, we.ve missed it.

 

We really are the “have” generation. It shows in combat shopping, credit card overload and lines to get the latest toy that will be shelved within weeks.  Save up for something and work hard to afford it is becoming a foreign concept.

 

Like many of you, I grew up in a time where there were discussions about one gift and then a few socks and underwear were thrown in to reinforce the fall school clothes purchases that were what we got for Christmas.  We were taught to take care of our clothes because they were not going to be replaced.

 

Somewhere, we as a country began to believe that everyone has a right to everything that they want, when they want it. Men, who make millions of dollars while ruining their businesses, keep their bonuses, but taxpayers pay for the business.  Working people cannot afford health care, but people who are not working get it free, and it is the working person who pays for it.

 

I am so grateful for help going to those who are in need. However, I must admit I do get irritated about paying for people who receive from the “system” and then grumble about it, or protest over it.  The truly needy I have encountered show gratitude and tend to help the person next to them even with what little they have.  Others?  Well…Maybe it is time to be reminded again that a gift, in whatever form it shows up, is an act of generosity on someone else’s part.

 

 

Perhaps as we head into 2012, words and phrases like frugal, save for it, and earn it, should be recovered.  Just maybe we should stop from time to time to be grateful for all we are given.  The Bible teaches us that Godliness with contentment is great gain, and that gratitude produces joy.  Have a joyous New Year!

 

First published, Dec 2008, in the Kenai Peninsula Clarion, Kenai Alaska.

 

August Newsletter

Our Mission and Vision Vid.

This Unique Relationship. By Robert Reasner

This Unique Relationship.
By ROBERT REASNER

Someone wrote; “As long as you are only willing to imitate you will never be an original.” It is interesting to me that God has indicated he sees us as unique. He is not trying to create religious clones but rather has called us into a dynamic relationship in which he celebrates our individuality.

In Jeremiah he declares; I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. In Isaiah He says that He calls us by name and in Zephaniah He says that He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
These are personalized statements.
God chose numerous metaphors to describe how he wants to relate to us. He describes Himself as our Father, elsewhere as our Bridegroom, again as a Lord and Master, as a Savior, a King and a Friend. Each of these pictures represent a level of relationship that is different form the others.
Lost at sea the person that rescues you is a savior. You are grateful, you are excited, and you have been saved. That is what Jesus did for us, He saved us, and that is a gateway to a completely new world. A world where we find the God of life and the God who wants to know us.
A God who longs to know you as a bridegroom knows the bride, A God who wants you to know him so well that you can call him Father. Jesus even declared that he would no longer call us servants but he would call us friends.
This God died to get to know you. He said: I know everything about you! –Ps 139:1 I know when you sit down and when you rise up –Ps 139:2 I am familiar with all your ways –Ps 139:3 Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. –Mt 10:29-31 For you were made in My image – Gen 1:27 In Me you live and move and have your being. – Acts 17:28 For you are My offspring – Acts 17:28 I knew you even before you were conceived. – Jer. 1:4-5 I chose you when I planned creation. – Eph 1:11-12 You were not a mistake. – Ps 139:15-16 For all your days are written in my book. Ps 139:15-16 I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. – Acts 17:26
Space does not allow us to go on.
I like to think I was a good dad. The good news is my daughters think so to. My three girls are my success and I would do anything for them. If they called today, I would be on my way. I would die for them. Its simple, I love them.
But my love is nothing compared to what God reveals about His feelings for you.
He is The God who knows you and Loves you.

Robert Reasner

7 Reasons Why You Should Never Go on a Short-Term Mission Trip
by David Armstrong

1. It will distort your perception of the world! Seeing it through the plastic lenses of our society is sufficient. They may be distorted, but you are used to them! Don’t needlessly mess yourself up.

2. You could get sick or robbed! It’s dangerous out there! Some places have a crime rate almost as high as our inner cities.

3. It will make you harder to live with! The way you view life and even your likes and dislikes are liable to change. Your friends and family probably won’t understand or appreciate your sudden changes.

4. Afterwards you will feel awkward at some of the jokes and comments you currently enjoy. They will not seem as funny when you have seen life from the other side.

5. You will experience sadness you haven’t felt before. After you see real suffering, you won’t pay much attention to your complaining about how hard you’ve got it. You are even liable to feel guilty and uncomfortable about the nice things in your house and the food on your table. Stay home and stay comfortable!

6. You might lead someone to the Lord. I know that is a laudable goal, but it tends to cause excitement and further interest in Christian Service.

7. You could feel a pull toward going overseas again—for the adventure, of course. The problem is that you could slowly, subtly get sucked into thinking about being a missionary!

My advice? Stay home and stay comfortable!

It is too late for me—but there is still hope for you! So keep praying for both me and yourself!

More then you want to know, The Khmer Rouge!, As America looked the other way!! Over 2 million die!

The tragedy of Cambodia. I have prayed through Tuol Sleng, and the Killing Fields. I have see eveything in this video personally!

Changing times! Did You Know