Who is He?

It has been an amazing semester at NTBI, studying through many of the New Testament epistles (letters), including Hebrews, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, 1st and 2nd Peter, and several more!

One of the things that has impressed us the most is the reminder and exhortation by the instructors to keep this question in mind and heart as we study the Word, "Who is He?" We are not here primarily to learn facts and gain knowledge (yes, that is definitely included!), but what is the heart of our God? That we would KNOW Him... that we would know HIM. It is a relationship with a "Person". This same concept must be forefront with tribal Church planting in view. It is not merely a 'message' that we are taking, but we are taking the person of Christ Jesus to souls that have not had any other opportunity to hear of Him!

And so, we press on studying the Word, getting to know our Almighty God and Redeemer!

Our Junior semester just ended on Thursday, and a couple hours after classes, we caught the Amtrak train to Chicago, where we spent the night at an airport hotel. At 10.15am Friday, our plane landed in Seattle, and we were warmly greeted by "Grandpa, Grandma, and Mama Mina." We will be here for about a month, enjoying family and getting together with various friends, as well as worshiping and fellowshipping with our Church bodies here in Seattle.

After NTBI? We have our sights set on New Tribes Mission's Missionary Training Center (MTC) for next August. If you're interested in hearing more about that, or would like to consider partnering with us in taking the Gospel to the unreached, please contact us!

Lastly, if you'd like to receive our newsletter and e-newsletters, please contact us with your address and/or email address.

It is our prayer for you that you also will seek to know HIM more, even as we look back in wonder and thanksgiving at His birth some 2000 years ago, which 'paved the way' for His death and resurrection on our behalf. He was punished, He died, for our sins. And He was raised to life that we also may have eternal life, and walk in newness of life today! Indeed- Glory to God in the highest!

~The Martinez Family

ps--- Jocellyn is walking!!
And there's no stopping her now!

But now...

Romans 3.21 begins with two very important words: "But now"

After the apostle Paul spends three chapters explaining the total (and I mean TOTAL) depravity of all mankind (yes, sadly, ALL), it's as though God Himself lifts up our burdened head and looks deeply into our hopeless, helpless eyes and says, "BUT NOW... (do you SEE what I have provided for you?)"

This is the hope of the gospel.
This is not 'just some spiritual thing.'
This is our life and breath. Our purpose for living. Our joy. The only thing WORTH living for! Jesus!
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3.21-24)


We are entering into our third week studying the book of Romans, with several more weeks to go! This week we will also finish up 2 Corinthians, to be followed next week by Family Relationships. Noe is additionally keeping busy with his Missions in Church History class, which ends next week. His new 8am class will be Angelology. We are enjoying our classes thoroughly, and greatly, greatly appreciate all of the instructors and staff here at NTBI. In case you are not aware, they are U.S.-based NTM missionaries. Many of them have served overseas in various capacities, and all are here now with the same heart for the unreached, and encouraging us toward that goal. When I say "us" (encouraging us), I directly mean the students here at NTBI, but in the larger picture, I mean the Church as a whole. After all, there is a reason why Jesus gave that Great Commission in all 4 gospels and again in Acts. There was a huge task to be fulfilled. Now, 2000 years later, much of that task still remains. For each of "us" (you, me, ....), the choice is not IF I will be involved, but HOW I will be involved. Three simple ideas might be relayed: 1) Pray, 2) Give, 3) Go. Each supporting ligament and limb and muscle and eye (etc) is a significant part of the Body. Let us work together to fulfill that Great Commission, if indeed we believe it is great! So the question to ponder today: "HOW am I being actively involved in taking the Gospel to the unreached?" (Or do I have something else eternal that I am living for?) (What unreached 'neighbors' do I have the capacity to reach?)

In other areas of life, Noe is playing indoor men's soccer this year (futsal), and greatly enjoying learning the ropes in that. I am playing volleyball, and might possibly be improving a little. I have also jumped majorly out of my comfort zone this year. Noe and I are heading up the Married Social Committee this year, planning monthly events for all of the student married couples (and sometimes staff). I also developed a system for married ladies to call when they need meals cooked for them during a time of illness. It has proved helpful, and beneficial for relationship building among the 25 married student ladies.

It would be safe to say that Naya is now potty-trained! Night-time is not 100%, but she is SUPER proud to go to "Hallway" (she still calls Child-care 'Hallway') in her 'big-girl panties'! Jocellyn is ready to walk any day now... she can walk with a push-toy, and loves to sit one one foot and one knee and bounce. She pulls herself up to standing as much as she can in a day.

Noe killed his first deer a couple weeks ago- turned out to be Bambi... but we've been enjoying the meat! :) As a friend recently put it, he's turned from surfing to hunting... He has really enjoyed hunting over the last year, and we hope he'll bring in another deer soon. He's also staying somewhat involved with golfing, fishing and archery. I continue to enjoy cooking and exploring world cuisine, reading when possible, and I find joy in working out a Chopin Nocturne or two just about every night before bed.

If you are reading our blog, please send us an email sometime and let us know that you've been here, and how we can uphold you in prayer. We think of our friends and family fondly.

~The Martinez family

Rest?

Well, we just finished our 4-week Hebrews class, in which we studied the concept of "rest" as mentioned in the epistle. That kind of rest refers to abiding in Christ/living our lives with Him at the center, if you will. by trusting and obeying Him and His Word, as well as living in the confidence of the hope He has given us in His promises, we can indeed 'enter that rest' for our lives as Christians AND experience His 'inexpressible and glorious' joy!!

The rest I was questioning in the subject line was the more basic, physical aspect of rest. Not sleeping. We're getting along fine in that area. But as we are now entering our 5th week of our second year here at NTBI, we are indeed finding ourselves busier than ever!

To clarify again for some folks, Noe and I are BOTH students. That means we both are studying the Word, and we both have a significant homework load. The difference is that Noe is a full-time student (16 credit hours each semester), and I am a part-time student (10 credit hours each semester). Hope that helps! :) We both finished up our Hebrews class, which started out the semester. Noe also finished his James/Jude class (that was not one of my classes. you can refer to past blogs for a sample of our daily schedule).

Beginning today, Noe started his 8am class- "Missions in Church History." We also began our 9-10 week Romans class, and 2 Corinthians. We have a hefty homework load, but we are SO looking forward to studying all of this!

If it's not too obvious a statement, I'd like to mention that our #1 prayer request is for priorities/time management. Our two little girls are very charming and very active. We want to raise them lovingly, in the fear and wisdom of the Lord. We also recognize the great honor and blessing it is to be here at NTBI, and that we only have 1 more year to study the Word here. It is important to give that its proper place as well. Additionally, Noe is youth pastoring at a church in Tekonsha, Michigan. That takes a chunk of quality time and energy as well. For me, I also have the blessing to continue learning how to maintain a home (sounds like Fiddler on the Roof here...) (cooking, cleaning, bathing children, etc. etc.). SO, LOTS of elements to life right now, ALL of which we love, and we want to be above reproach in all things, making the most of our time for His glory. Please pray for us!

Please also pray for us this year that our relationships will grow in love and Truth. Our marriage, our parenting, our new Church family here, the Body of Christ here at NTBI (students and staff), and also very importantly our family and Church family (friends) back home in the Pacific Northwest.

OTHER/LIGHTER NOTES:

-Naya is just about finished potty-training! She hasn't worn a diaper in over 2 weeks, and we're thrilled!
-Jocellyn is 'cruising' now, standing up and sometimes daring to take a step or two to the side. She has at least  8 teeth now.

-Naya also celebrated her 3rd BIRTHDAY on September 9th! Happy birthday!! :) We had lots of friends come by our apartment for bunuelos and cupcakes. It was grand. :)

-We really enjoyed the Summer Training Program in early August (that we referred to in our previous blog). We spend 10 days studying the Biblical concepts of "Need", "Provision", and others. Basically, God exposes our need (of Him, of redemption) through His Word and by the Holy Spirit. The provision for that need comes from HIM! How glorious is that?! We spent 5 of those 10 days at a camp about 45 minutes from the world's 6th most beautiful lake- Higgins Lake. It was indeed VERY beautiful! We had a wonderful time of fellowship with the other 40 or so people. What was it all for? Noe is a student leader this year, which means he has about 15 students for whom he is responsible to oversee their work detail (every student does 3 hrs of work in and around the school to keep it clean and maintained). Some of the training during this 10 days was specifically with leadership in mind.

Until next time,
The Martinez Family

Video

I've put together a short video with some pictures of our trip to Michigan, our first year, and the direction we are headed. Enjoy!

Back in Jackson

As I anticipated in the last blog entry, the activities in Seattle did indeed slow just a bit. It was a tough 6.5 weeks for Noe (and for us, but more for him) to be apart from us. Harder for him because he was out here in Michigan working and coming home to a very quiet apartment, whereas we were surrounded by family and friends, having a blast! But we sure did miss him too! Below, I will detail the rest of our time in Seattle. But in brief... I drove out to the airport around midnight on July 9th to pick up Noe, whose plane had been delayed 2 hours. We had a very happy reunion, followed by a jam-packed (why do we say this?) 1.5 weeks of visiting family, friends, and developing relationships at two Churches here whom we consider our home Churches. We had the blessing of sharing about our current status and plans with both Churches.

First time bathing together!

We arrived back to NTBI around midnight on July 20th, and quite promptly were able to begin moving into our new apartment! The family that was here has moved down to Missouri to begin their training at the Missionary Training Center (MTC). Lord-willing, that will be us a year from now! Wow! Our new apartment has two bedrooms (yes, the girls are learning to sleep in the same room!), an office, a private full bathroom with a washer/dryer (that we purchased from that family), running water (!) in the kitchen, WINDOWS in the spacious living room, a dining area, and a dishwasher that we also obtained from that family. Noe and I have never had a dishwasher... as I use it almost daily, I am in awe of how greatly I under-estimated the "wonderfulness" (as I put it yesterday) of the dishwasher-- it really does save a lot of time and energy (especially when you love to cook, as I do)! We will post pictures of the new apartment as soon as we are settled. We're close to that point.

We also have a few more hours of cleaning to do in the old apartment. We try and snag those moments when the girls are napping to do some scrubbing. We are very thankful that we didn't have a drastic deadline for when that apartment needed to be finished, as the new family won't arrive until sometime in mid-August, probably. That has allowed us to 'relax' a little in the midst of the move, and simply enjoy this time before the grind begins.

Ahh, here we go- the grind! No, we're not dreading it, but it was a fitting word for the upcoming scheduled days.
On August 11th, we will join several other students and staff for 10 days of intensive Student Leadership training. The details are somewhat vague at this point, but we we do know is that it will be a wonderful 10 days of Bible studies, and seeing God work in our own lives as we anticipate the opportunity to serve others this coming year. Part of that 10 days includes a 4 or 5 day camping trip.

The student training ends on August 21st. We will have the 22nd to rest, and then registration begins on the 23rd. Before we know it, classes will begin, which we are VERY much looking forward to! Naya will be delighted to go to "Hallway" (Child Care) again! And Jocellyn... our little firecracker! She will enjoy interacting with the other babies, right? Yeah, what do you really say about a baby? :) (of course, you get those moms who say "my 4-month-old baby loves the color purple! she refuses to wear anything else!" ok.... really?!?!?!? haha)

We will update you again in August, probably once school has started up. We'll share about the student leadership training, and our class schedule. Please keep us in your prayers, that we will enter this school year refreshed and ready to learn from the LORD. Pray also for the 92 or so freshmen that are coming in, including some families. Please also pray for us as we continue with our Partnership Development (building relationships with our Churches, friends, and of course, family), and that He will provide for all of our needs, as He always has! If you'd like to know how you can partner with us as we continue on this journey, feel free to contact us. "Like it or not", you are just as much a part of this process of taking the Gospel to the unreached as we are! The Body of Christ is intricately connected in every way. This is not the Martinez' taking the Gospel out while you sit on your couch. You play just as big a role, in whatever capacity you're able and willing to.

We hope for the opportunity to visit Seattle for our Christmas break. If not, we look forward to next summer!

NOW, for a detailed account of the rest of our time in Seattle! Thank you for reading our blogs. We love reading your comments, or hearing from you by email or phone.... it really encourages us to hear from you! Oh-- and in case you were wondering, it is an average of 80-85 degrees here in the summer, and very humid. We get strong thunderstorms every few days, and the occasional tornado warning. We love the 4 distinct, beautiful seasons here! We hope to get out into His creation more this year to take it all in! We also hope to visit Niagara Falls before we leave Michigan, as it is only about 6 hours from here!

With our love,
Noe, Lisa, Adannaya (turns 3 in September) and Jocellyn (9 months on August 2nd, crawling, and with 4 teeth!)

On our way back to MI. farewell WA.

--------------------------------------------
(this is VERY long and detailed... don't feel pressured to read it!)

Seattle! I left off in mid-June, when I had visited several graduation parties. One of those beautiful young ladies is heading off to a Christian university in August to pursue a degree in Children's Ministry! Glory to God!
Father's Day! It was such a joy to be in Seattle WITH my dad on Father's Day! over the last 7 years, it was quite hit-and-miss, since we lived in Oregon for 5 of those years, and MI for one.
On the 21st of June, I enjoyed a tradition of joining my dad for lunch near his office. Special memories!
On the 22nd, it was such a joy to meet my friend ("sister") for a picnic and play-time at Lincoln Park! she and their 4 children rode the ferry over from Port Orchard to spend a few hours with us. her oldest, Sam, was one of our ring-bearers. It was a blessing to catch up with her after such a long time.

On the 23rd, the girls and I spent the day with my mom. I believe this is the day we headed out to Edmonds to a cute kids store called "Kinderbritches". we enjoyed window shopping through the town, and we had a lovely outdoor lunch by the waterfront. The girls and I went to Marina's house for dinner that night, along with other Martinez families.

The 24th was a busy day for me- happily so! I took the girls to spend the day at Marina's house, and I first had coffee with Janis Lemert, and a wonderful chat! Later on, I met with Hannah Sasaki, and loved hearing about her heart for the Lord, her plans for the future, etc... what a beautiful young lady she is! I first met Hannah when she was an infant, babysat her over the years, taught her piano, and now she is close to graduating high school! What a joy she is! In the evening, I took the girls to my mom's house for dinner and bedtime, and I had the pleasure of taking Tiffany Hatheway out for dinner, to say 'congrats' on her high school graduation. We discovered that the Mayflower of China restaurant on Southcenter Pkwy has the most wonderful Chinese food.... the reviews were accurate! :) We ended up driving around for an hour or two afterward, just chatting, and ultimately finding an open Starbucks. :)

On the 25th, my mom took the girls and I to U. Village, where we window-shopped, and enjoyed "Great Grandma Hippy" joining us for lunch at Pallino's.
Saturday, my parents went with us to the Woodland Park Zoo! we powered our way through the zoo, and accomplished seeing the WHOLE thing. crazy... it was a great time! No butterfly exhibit though... Naya would love that.
On Sunday, I had the honor of playing piano at Grace. It was wonderful to be there! My parents were gracious to take the girls all morning, including taking them to Boulevard, and then home for lunch and naps. After the service, I headed to a barbeque in honor of Ken and Cathy Reimer. It was wonderful to reconnect with them, and learn about their ministry, and their upcoming final 3 years in Zambia. I had met their daughter Megan growing up, when they would come home for furloughs.

On the 28th, the girls and I spent a lovely day with Marina, and Tuesday was just a relaxing, quiet day at home (just the girls and I). On Wednesday, I dropped off the girls at Marina's, and enjoyed a quiet day alone, visiting the mall. I believe that day I also randomly met a couple friends for lunch at the mall.
On Thursday, the girls and I drove to Tacoma, where we met my good friend Autumn for a few hours of catching up. It was wonderful to see her! Her husband returns from deployment in Iraq in just a few weeks! That night, my parents took the girls, and I drove down to Tacoma again to have dinner with Jason and Chelsea at the Spaghetti Factory. Yum! Great to be with them! :)

Friday morning, July 2nd, my parents, myself, and the girls drove down to Lincoln City, OR for a wonderful week of R&R! We had a lovely, quiet, sunny week with Bruce & Lynda Russell, and Steve & Eloise Hockett. The girls were very easy-going, and I felt quite refreshed, as I always do after a week down there! That took us to July 8th. That morning, we had a yummy breakfast at the Wildflower Grill on our way out of L.C., and drove up to Cannon Beach for a day! We had the pleasure of staying with Harold and Cathy, who were so gracious to host all 5 of us for the night! I had the joy of seeing several friends in CB, and it was lovely to walk from midtown to downtown, remembering so much of a great 5 years!

Then the 9th... drove back to Seattle, and picked up Noe that night!
As tired as he was, we didn't have any time to 'waste'. Saturday morning, we slept in, then got busy preparing a couple presentations for Grace on Sunday. That afternoon, we went to Marina's house and he got to see all the family, as we had dinner together! After a wonderful morning at Grace on Sunday, we enjoyed our traditional dim sum lunch at Ocean City in Chinatown! That evening, I surprised Noe with a date to hear Steve Tyrell at Jazz Alley. It was such a lovely evening for the two of us! :)

On Monday morning, we visited my dad's office, then headed out to North Seattle to have lunch with the Great Grandmas. In the evening, Noe joined my dad and Jason for a Round Table Pizza dinner and discussion through Boulevard. I joined Chelsea and my mom for dinner at the Bluwater Bistro on Lake Union, including the wonderful "Tollhouse Magic" dessert- a fresh Tollhouse cookie baked to order in a cast-iron skillet! Mmmm... Marina was gracious to take the girls for that evening.
We spent the entirety of Tuesday the 13th with the Martinez family, including a wonderful Pupusa dinner!
On the 14th, we left the girls with Marina, and Noe and I enjoyed the day together, including lunch at Geno's, Bubble Tea, and dinner at Pho Tai in Burien. Mmm!! Culinary delights! :) That night, my parents kept the girls for dinner and bedtime, and we headed over to Aarron Aramburu's for dessert and a movie. Fun times!

On the 15th, haha, I honestly can't remember what we did during the day! Hmm... I think Marina had the girls, Noe did some things on his own, including working on an outdoor project for my dad. That evening, though, we had put together a picnic at Lincoln Park with some dear friends from Grace. It turned out to be a LOVELY evening, both with Friends and with great weather! :)




On Friday, Marina babysat the girls in the afternoon/evening, and my parents took us out to an elegant dinner at Ponti, where we enjoyed sitting on the porch and eating a lovely meal. After bringing the girls home and putting them to bed, I drove off to spend time with a good friend, Susan, and Noe spent some quality time with Chayo and others.
Saturday was a relatively relaxing day. We slept in, and then went out to dim sum AGAIN (yay!), with Tony & Mary Beth Aramburu, and Matt and Aria Davis. We had the pleasure of seeing the Davis' new house as well. We're so happy for them! We had a late dinner with my parents.

Sunday the 18th, it was an honor for us to share at Boulevard, and connect with more people there, including seeing a friend I grew up with- Laura Santie, who also has a huge heart for the Lord! We drove over to Grace afterward to meet Drayton and Janis Lemert, whom we had lunch with. That evening was our '2nd Annual Roe-Martinez family dinner'- we called it our "Farewell Again" dinner. :) Almost the whole family came, which was just delightful! As wonderful as this day was, it was also the real beginning of the goodbye's.
Monday morning, I got to spend a couple hours with Tiffany again, which was great! We spent much of Monday packing, had tacos for lunch at Marina's (!), then took the kids and met Jason and Chelsea for dinner at Famous Dave's at Southcenter.

And that brought us to the 20th, when my parents took us to the airport in the morning, and we had an uneventful trip back to Michigan.
PHEW!! Did you make it to the end of that? Remember, I wrote it for my own documentation, really... But I hope you enjoyed it. :) You can see we were ridiculously busy during our time in Seattle! It was such a blessing! Hard to say goodbye to Friends and loved ones. But glad to be back in Michigan, and eager to see all that the Lord has in store for us in this next year.

Two Places at Once!

No, not a miracle... but our family is currently in two places at once. Noe is in Jackson (MI) working - we are very thankful for two employment positions! He is working a part-time retail job, but also enjoying ministering to a precious group of youth in a nearby Church.
The girls and I flew out to Seattle nearly two weeks ago to visit our families and our Church families. Noe will have the pleasure of joining us on July 9th! Can't wait!! It is difficult to be apart for such a long time (and no, I'm not attempting to draw any comparison to you, sweet military wives! Don't know how you do it!). Especially for Noe as he is working, while we are out here having a blast with relatives and friends.

Classes ended mid-May, and another group of graduates is headed off to the Missionary Training Center, as well as other wonderful opportunities to serve the Lord! We will return to Jackson on July 20th, and quite promptly move into an apartment with running water and a private bathroom- and windows (ahh, daylight!)! We are looking forward to this marvelous blessing! On August 11th, we will 'officially' re-unite with a group of students and staff for some training and Bible study (we have the opportunity to serve others more specifically during this next year of school). Classes begin somewhere around August 23rd.

NOTE: The next few paragraphs are a very detailed summary of our activities the last 2 weeks. Feel free to skip!

The girls and I (Lisa) have been thoroughly enjoying our time in Seattle. We've been 'busy' doing fun things and visiting family since the day we arrived. The girls did a great job on the planes, by the way (on Wed. May 26th). Going through security with only 2 hands was the hardest, most stressful part of the journey. After that, it was essentially "a breeze." We were met most lovingly at Sea-Tac by my parents and Noe's mom (Marina). Naya recognized them through the open sliding doors and ran to greet them. :) Marina joined us at my parents' house (where we're staying) for dinner and a little catching up. We spent all afternoon Thursday at Marina's house, where we also got to see Celia, Noe's sister, and their 3-year-old daughter Sophia. Naya and Sophia had fun playing throughout the next week. Had dinner with the Santanas! On Friday morning, we girls went out to have lunch with Great Grandma Roe and Great Grandma Higbee (who is now officially "Great Grandma Hippie." That night, my parents and I took Naya and Jocellyn to the Bellevue Kids Quest Museum- Naya had a blast with all the hands-on activities! On Saturday, Chelsea came up to spend the day. Due to the threat of rain, we scratched the zoo plan and went to the Seattle Aquarium, which Naya loved! Then we enjoyed a relaxing evening at home, after a stop in at Chocolopolis for THE best hot chocolate. :) on Sunday, it was enjoyable to worship at Boulevard Park Pres. Church, and reconnect with some of the folks there.

On Monday the 31st, we picked up Marina and went to the Mariner's game (also saw some friends from Grace there!). Turned out, of course, to be Griffey's last night before retiring. Umm.... I think it's better that way. :P Tuesday, we visited one of my mom's friends who will be moving soon. Naya enjoyed playing with some new friends that day, and then seeing her cousin Caleb play in his high school band concert. On Thursday, we had dinner at Chayo and Marely's house, and Naya got to spend some play time with Daniel and Josiah (whom she calls "Josi-acah". Friday, after a short trip to the U. Village with Grandma, I took the girls down to Olympia to have dinner and fellowship with Jason and Chelsea! SO great to see Jason! Naya loved playing with Tia Chelsea, and got to know 'Naimo (their cat) a little better. :) Saturday was my grandma's piano recital (for her students), followed by the traditional dinner at Louie's Chinese Restaurant. Fun to see Uncle Scott, Uncle Dave and Aunt Robin. And Sunday, I had the privilege to play piano for my dad again at Boulevard. We also hit some graduation open houses on Saturday and Sunday. Can't believe that kids I babysat are grown up and headed off into the world! It doesn't make me feel old, in case you felt like pointing and laughing at my own young age.... but it does indicate to me that time is indeed moving. :)

I anticipate a significant slow-down in our activities now... it's been quite the whirlwind, as you can see, of visiting families and 'doing' things! There are many more things we'd love to do while we're here. But having some down time is good too. :) Before we know it, we'll be back in the grind.

My Current Thoughtful Rambling:
I've been thinking lately about the word: COMFORT.  I think I definitely fall in within the ranks of people who want comfort. We like our comfort zones. I am wanting to address that in my life; to not be mastered by that desire. I don't think God says "If you're following Me, I want you to be UNcomfortable!" But He does let us know in His Word that following Him demands sacrifice- it demands giving up rights and letting go of self. (Matthew 16.24) Being teachable. Ok--- this is an area where I think I would have surpassed the apostle Paul as "the worst of sinners." (do we all have one of those areas??!) Anyway, being teachable, open-minded to Truth, willing to be corrected, etc. This boils down to abiding in Christ. To wanting more and more of Him. A longing to imitate Him as we are exhorted to in Scripture. To plunge ourselves wholly into His Word. If all believers were like-minded in this endeavor, just imagine.....!

We, as believers, are ALL in this together! We all ought to be actively about the will of God. What is that? To "go and make disciples of all nations..."  Let us RUN this race together! Or is there some greater prize here on earth we'd rather win? :)

Run, Church, Run! :) The Bridegroom will come shortly.

Yes Indeed, He IS Risen!

Jesus said that if His disciples did not praise Him, then the very stones would cry out. One of my thoughts in response to that is, "How embarrassing would that be!?!?" Shameful, and embarrassing.  But what a word stating that God's creation cannot help but sing His praise! After all, what do you think of when you hear the wind, or see the waves breaking on those glorious Oregon coast beaches, or witness thousands of leaves swirling down from the branches in the fall, or the sweet song of birds in the springtime, or a fiery red and radiant orange sunset? I think these things provide us the same opportunity to speak of what we have 'tasted and seen' of His goodness, just as when people ask "why are you so happy today?" What is our response? "Oh, I'm just having a good day!" "The world is spinning perfectly today!" "I'm just happy."
Really!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!
(Trust me, I have definitely wasted this opportunity on more than one occasion.) But let us drift away from such "nonsense" (dare I say!), and welcome the urgency of the Gospel- our only true purpose here on this earth! "Let us make the most of every opportunity."

Well, that was just a thought for today.

We've been enjoying a "relaxing" week of Spring break! Last Friday, we went out to Lake Michigan (Warren Dunes State Park) for the first time. it was absolutely lovely! Not to mention about 80 degrees!

On Sunday night, Noe and I hosted a Messianic Passover Seder with 4 other couples. (We put the children to bed and began the celebration at about 8.00pm.) It was a wonderful time of fellowship, reflection, eating, and singing. What an incredible joy to be looking BACK on the Messiah who has COME! The Passover Lamb HAS been sacrificed! The Lamb of God who HAS taken away the sins of the world! It was also neat to have included in the prayers a prayer for the nation of Israel who has yet to receive Him. (we know from Scripture that only a small remnant of them will receive Him in the future.)
[And yes... I did make a roast leg of lamb which did turn out pretty good!...]
Also, the woman in the picture who is pregnant went into labor just after our Seder, and they had their first baby boy on Tuesday! I blame it on the horseradish... :P

The rest of break, we essentially just relaxed and gradually did our reading that's due next week. We did a little bit of spring cleaning... and unfortunately a cold has been going around our family again, particularly poor little Jocellyn who also developed a minor double ear infection. But we are all on the mend!

On Monday we jump back into classes- Noe is taking the Bible Basis of Missions, and we are both studying Acts.

Looking forward to our last month of studies this semester.

Keep us in prayer for our summer plans, as they are currently waaay up in the air. :) We would absolutely like to spend time in Seattle with family and Church family. But employment and finances are a huge factor.

With love,
the Martinez family

p.s.--- to see VIDEOS of the girls, open my previous blog entry, and click on the video link. then you can view "More from nlmart", and it will show you a whole list of video clips of the girls. Some are older, but I just finished posting a few recent ones. Enjoy!

Oh Poo...

Sorry for the title...
Today I had the surprisingly (??) unpleasant experience of emptying poop out of a toddler potty. On second thought, I do believe that calls for an exclamation mark, or several. (!!!!!!) Yes, Naya officially "took a dump" in her little toilet this afternoon! :) We were hoping that she'd pee, but she definitely exceeded our expectations. (Poor little girl was traumatized though, as evidenced by her wailing as she stood in her room rocking back and forth, unable to rejoice in her triumph!) She was promptly rewarded with chocolate, and we praised her for a good 5 minutes! Now she is off to dreamland... We are proud parents, and will tell you in person once we've removed the obligatory nose-plugs. ;)
Click on the link below (the underlined statement) to see a little Youtube clip of Naya. :)
Recent Naya Footage

From Jocellyn's little corner, she is just recovering from having a fever over the weekend. We're thankful she had no other alarming symptoms, as Noe had all the symptoms (minus the diagnosis) of strep throat. He is finishing up a round of antibiotics, and is back to the grind, having only missed Friday's classes.

I have just barely avoided such maladies, and am enjoying, along with Noe, our classes this semester: We just finished a class on the Prophets, which began the first week of this semester (in January). I believe it was a 6-week course, during which we read through all the prophets, except for Daniel, in their entirety. We have a much better understanding of what those books meant to the nation of Israel at that time. (This is obviously very important for believers as we draw out personal applications here and there... those are absolutely fine so long as we hold up the original context as well... and yes, this includes the beloved Jeremiah 29.11.) Now we are well into our class on the Life of Christ. This is a 40-hour class (we are about 27 or so hours in), and very thorough historically and culturally (with much help from our textbook and a few other supplemental readings). I can't tell you how unbelievably refreshing it is to read through and study the Gospels... as believers, we ought to do this regularly! Or to rephrase that- as DISCIPLES of Christ, as we ought to be, we need to dive in and abide, abide, abide! For indeed, as our instructor mentioned, there are many born-again believers who are not disciples. Being a disciple is also a choice. Christ Himself has said, "If you hold to my teaching, you will be my disciples." -John 8.31 (8.30-32)

In a couple weeks, we will begin our class on the book of Acts, followed a month later by 1 Corinthians. That will take us to the end of the semester. And this has taken me to some points of prayer, if you are willing.

~Please thank the LORD with us for His marvelous Word!

~Please pray that as we look ahead to the summer (employment, housing, travel needs), that He will provide according to His will for us.

~Please pray for good health, as well as endurance and joy to complete the rest of this semester's classes. May we truly be enamored with His Word, and may He teach us to walk and live in His ways, guided by the Holy Spirit.


With all our love,
Noe, Lisa, Adannaya & Jocellyn

PS- Naya turns 2 1/2 tomorrow, March 9th! And Jocellyn just turned 4 months old on March 2nd!

Oh, the Places We've Gone

actually, we haven't really gone that many places. But being that i haven't written an entry since Thanksgiving, it's time for a little catch-up.

Just a couple weeks after Thanksgiving, our freshman semester ended, and we flew out to Seattle for 3.5 weeks to visit our families and some friends over the Christmas break. Naya was very excited about flying on the airplane, which "go so fast!!" Unfortunately we lost her Shnuggly Bear on the Seattle-bound flight and had no luck recovering it at Sea-Tac the next day. But Tia Chelsea and Tio Jason gave Naya a brand new Shnuggly Bear for Christmas. :)

Jason and Chelsea were one of the many family 'units' we had the pleasure of seeing and dining with. I believe we had dinner with EVERY family unit except for the Gobles (who couldn't make the trip out from Prosser this year). In fact, almost every single night of our trip had us at someone else's house. We are so thankful for good friends and family! It was a joy for us to re-connect and establish more connection with our brothers and sisters in Christ, as we visited Boulevard Park and Grace.

On Christmas Eve, some of the Martinez family got together to make the traditional 200 or so tamales, and we thoroughly enjoyed devouring them that evening! On Christmas day, we visited much of the Roe side of the family. We also enjoyed spending time with Tony & Mary Beth Aramburu on New Years' Eve.

On the 5th, my best girl friend Alanna and their new baby Eli came up to Seattle for a 3-day visit. It was SO great to see her after 2 years. Eli is absolutely adorable... I've rarely seen a baby who smiles so much! :)

We're so thankful for the time we had to visit friends and family in Seattle, and we look forward to continuing that in the summer, Lord-willing! Our 'plan' would be to drive straight across in as few days as (sanely) possible...yes, that means I will be learning to drive stick-shift. Yikes! School is out in mid-May, so we'd arrive before the end of May. Noe is hoping that his boss in Seattle will still be able to hire him back on, as he had mentioned before. We would return to Jackson at least a week before school starts.

Our sophomore semester began the second week of January (we returned on January 8th, and classes began the following Wednesday). Our first semester took us entirely through the Old Testament up to the Prophets. So our first class here was the Prophets, which we have been studying for a month now. I tell you, there is SOOOO much more understanding of these books with a good grasp of Old Testament History! Our thoughts have even been challenged on passages that we'd grown up hearing about... namely, those passages that seem to be talking about Satan, and even one or two prophetic statements that we thought were related to the Messiah that perhaps are not... i have one word: hermeneutics. :) ok two--- Context. Anyway, some of these have been most interesting to look at. Noe has also taken a Theology class, and is currently in Anthropology/Hamartiology (i don't take these because they are at 8am... wives/mothers are only required to take 10 and 11am classes, as child care does not begin until 9am). A week ago, we began our first New Testament class- The Life of Christ! It is almost culture shock to be in the New Testament again! :) One of the most profound realizations for me has been this: we should not think of the New Testament as a sudden change in thinking, or an entirely different work from the Old Testament. rather, it is a continuation of events, and is most intimately tied to the Old Testament History, particularly of Israel, but also as the Messiah was coming (has come now, of course) to be a light to the Gentiles as well.

we're "dreadfully" busy with homework these days, and time is much more consumed with two children... but we're thoroughly enjoying our studies, really working on our time as a couple and as a family, and continuing to develop friendships here at NTBI, and also in our Church body here.

please continue in prayer for us!

with lots of love,

the Martinez family