changes.

dear anyone-who-has-enjoyed-reading-a pilgrim's project,

first of all, thank you.

secondly, as of today, the shutters will be fastened close around here for awhile.
matter of fact, i honestly don't know if i'll ever be back here, as yet.
i love to reflect and write about it, but may look to start anew when i start again... until i decide, you may find me at facebook.com/amy.lynne.tuttle (message me) or at fisheracademy.blogspot.com (leave a comment to find my e-mail addy). i've left a few random notes, 16 to be precise, just so you don't feel lonely if you've come for the first time from somewhere else.

if/when i begin again, i'll make sure to come back here with a link.

love and peace to you, until then...

:)

looking up.

the Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. (*)

in returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. (*)

afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed... (*)

we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself... but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. (*)

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (*)


look up, even if it's pouring down rain.

if i put my head down even for a second i'll fall flat on my face.
gotta keep looking up.
looking to jesus.

thankful today for:

wisdom.
rain.
coolness.




* (1) psalm 16:5, (2) isaiah 30:15, (3) 2 corinthians 4:10, (4) 2 corinthians 1:8-9, (5) 2 corinthians 1:4

new.

It's January 1 today, the first day of 2011.
The very first day in a brand new year.
Today, we begin again.

It's a clean crisp sheet with smooth edges, with no wrinkles or smudges.
Still fresh. Still new.
I like the thought of that, don't you?

: :

I started a new chapter of my life today. The very first page. I unstuck the seal, unwrapped the mylar, and pulled out a brand spanking new journal. It's green and it makes my heart leap a little and I'm feeling just a little bit giddy about it. The cover's still stiff, the binding's still tight and the pages are all blank.

: :

There is great encouragement in starting new. We know we'll make mistakes. We know that we'll have to erase and scratch that out and say sorry and start all over...

Isn't it so nice to know that we can start all over? Oh the deliciousness of an unopened book, an empty page, a fresh start, a brand new year. To steal a quote from a friend...

"Marilla, isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"

LM Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

 
Yes, Anne, it is very nice indeed.

: :

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14

image courtesy of michaelaw

that voice.

this voice is the one I'm listening for...

the one that speaks to fish, and to widows and their young men. the voice that commends great faith and great messengers. the one that says, 'your sins are forgiven.  go in peace.'

the voice that spoke to the fish who then vomited Jonah onto dry land.
the God who says, 'do not weep' and 'young man, I say to you, arise.'

a voice brimming with authority... a voice spilling over with tender compassion.

that voice.

"But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him,
for they know his voice."
John 10:2-4

I'm listening and waiting for the voice of my Beloved Shepherd.

He who says, she who has been forgiven much, loves much... and that's oh so true.


O Lord, it's so loud, there's so much noise.
So many voices vying for my attention.
Sometimes they drown out the quiet,
'your sins are forgiven, go in peace'.
But I'm sticking right behind You...
Help me to fine tune my hearing to
Your beautiful, winsome calling,
Your irrefutable commanding,
Your tenderest whispering,
Your voice saying my name.
Oh sweet Jesus, I long for the day,
when I'll sit at Your feet
and listen to Your voice. all. day. long.
Thank You for speaking to me today through Your Word.

{this is posted today at 66books}

truth.

truth is God's signature.

[read more here.]

remembering... fullness.

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 

and you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority.

Colossians 2:9-10

amazing cute.

I might be slightly biased but, I'm pretty sure they're the cutest bunch of kids I've ever seen... ;)

hungry.

"I have compassion on the crowd... if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way.  And some of them have come from far away."

Mark 8:2-3

...if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.

Isaiah 58:10-11

snapshot summary #41

Weekly  Wrap-up 
{A Snapshot Summary}

Monday - 10.11.10

[family day... I made our favorite special lunch: pot roast with vegetables... never mind that it was amazingly tough meat :) ]

Tuesday - 10.12.10

[When he heard that someone would be going out to kill lunch, after some time, Micah finally convinced one of them to lend him a gun (he had to agree to pay for the bullet). No one there thought that it was possible for the gringo to kill anything! Well. Little did they know who they were dealing with ;) the MIGHTY hunter.]

Wednesday - 10.13.10

[These people are some of the believers in the village, gathered in the church leader's house.  They all were quite enthralled watching Micah set up his tent inside the house.  This is a seriously momentous occasion as they'd probably never seen a tent before.]

Thursday - 10.14.10

[Between two of the villages, is this hot spring waterfall.  Micah usually takes advantage of stopping off here to take a mid-week shower. :) On the way there, they saw a huge river dolphin right next to their boat, had been hearing stories in every village of anaconda sightings in the area, so were feeling ever so slightly unsettled and jumpy...]

Friday - 10.15.10

[On a 45 minute jaunt through the jungle between villages the guys were enduring some serious humidity.In a nearby village Micah prayed for a lady who only 6 months ago had been shot by a trip wired shotgun on this same trail (they use this kind of trap to bring in game for food)... needless to say Micah didn't wander off for any potty breaks.]

Saturday - 10.16.10

[We welcomed our hero home this afternoon... and everyone's dying to hear all about his adventures!]

To play weekly show and tell along with me, find out more HERE.

treasure.

Why Asa, who did right and had a heart wholly God's, gave all the treasures that were left in the house of the Lord as well as all the treasures of the king's house to Ben-hadad king of Syria, is beyond me. Well, I guess if it's peace you're after... temporary peace, that is.

He gave away what was left of the treasure... all the tangible glory of the temple of Jerusalem. gone.

"These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ."
Colossians 2:17

He gave away gold and silver shadows. Just shadows.

The substance is in Christ.

Strange those riches we can both see and touch are shadows, and He whom we yet cannot see is the substance...

...the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:27

"I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you... that your hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is

Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures

of wisdom and knowledge."

God, help us to see, to remember that our treasure is YOU.
As Christ is in us, we lay hold of the only everlasting Treasure of true substance.

amy in peru

image by bubor

resolute.

Help me God, to be resolute.
Choosing not the easy route.
Fearing not that I might suffer,
To say with David, “I will not offer
burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
So that YOU might be my everything.

...linking up with Emily for Imperfect Prose

...photo courtesy of camuna

the River Trip diaries...

We're posting entries from Micah's journal over on the tuttle tribe site (our ministry blog) this week.
Please continue in prayer for the new and existing works along the river... that they would bear much fruit unto God.

(day one)  (day two) (day three) (day four) (day five)

...costly

How many times do I offer God that which costs me nothing?

the scanty leftovers of my time...

the skimpiest sum I can manage to fumble inconspicuously out of my pocket...

a begrudging, grumbling obedience...

service IF it is convenient, promisingly fruitful, or is particularly of a nature that others might well see...

O God, You don't force us to serve you, much less love You...
But now that we have come to know You, or rather to be known by You, through Your Son... We are no longer under law. How much more then ought our offerings be worth since we are now conscious of grace; grace that's free and yet so very very costly.

HELP US O GOD of our salvation,
for the glory of Your name;
deliver us, atone for our sins,
for your name's sake.
Psalm 79:9

God, it hurts to be exposed.
To realize how seldom I realize how great You are.

How many good things I try to keep to myself...
Forgive me.

You are worthy, for You have given extravagantly...


Give me a heart ready to be poured out before you.
To spend myself lavishly to bring You all the glory.

(post based on 2 Samuel 24:24)
photo courtesy of clix

[posted today at 66books]

remebering... perfect

He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

1 Peter 2:22-23

.| Wings |. image courtesy of clix

out of the depths

Joy.  It's that welling up feeling.

Underneath, somewhere unseen flows a bottomless reservoir.  Cool depths unfathomable filled with the assurance of salvation, hope of resurrection, a faithful God, unmerited favor, imputed righteousness, love unconditional, light unapproachable, knowledge of the Holy, forgiveness undeserved available to the repentant.

Every now and then, something moves me, things start to swell, erupting forth and I call that JOY. 

It's when the goodness just can't be contained.  It's that smile I can't keep from rising to the surface... or a heart gush... or a sudden outburst of song.  It's the knowing that the Father sees.  It's fellowship, even in suffering.
 
It's a swirl in the sunshine.  It's light shining through green.  It's that pinpoint of light at the end of a long dark tunnel... far away but no less visible.  It's the memory of brighter days.  It's the sweetness of His presence... despite the circumstances.


Sometimes joy courses on a wet trail down my cheek.  Sometimes it curls upward in the grin that won't wipe off.  Sometimes it makes my heart leap.

Joy. It's the overflow.

It can't be captured. Just let it gush.

staying home...

729. Thankful tonight for date night... even if the babysitter doesn't show and we're stuck at home.

:)

"Give thanks in all circumstances..."