Below is the blessing which was spoken over the congregation on July 10, 2011:

The Father’s Blessing

July
10, 2011

My child, I love you!
You are special. You are a gift from God. I bless you with the healing of all
wounds of rejection, neglect and any abuse that you have suffered. I bless you
with overflowing peace, the peace that only the Prince of Peace can give a
peace beyond comprehension. I bless you with success. I bless you with health
and strength of body, soul and spirit. I bless you with overflowing prosperity,
enabling you to be a blessing to others. I bless you with spiritual influence,
for you are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. You are like a
tree planted by rivers of water. You will prosper in all your ways. I bless you
with a depth of spiritual understanding and a close walk with your Lord. You
will not stumble or falter, for the Word of God will be a lamp to your feet and
a light to your path. I bless you with pure and edifying relationships in life.
You have favor with God and man. I bless you with abounding love. You will
minister God’s comforting grace to others. You are blessed, my child! You are
blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 (KJV)

If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe
and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the
LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

² And all these blessings shall
come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the
LORD thy God.

³ Blessed shalt thou be
in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

⁴ Blessed shall be the fruit
of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the
increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

⁵ Blessed shall be thy
basket and thy store.

⁶ Blessed shalt thou be
when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest
out.

⁷ The LORD shall cause thine
enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall
come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

⁸ The LORD shall command the
blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand
unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

⁹ The LORD shall establish thee an
holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the
commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.

¹⁰ And all people of the earth
shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be
afraid of thee.

¹¹ And the LORD shall make thee
plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle,
and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy
fathers to give thee.

¹² The LORD shall open unto thee
his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and
to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and
thou shalt not borrow.

¹³ And the LORD shall make thee the
head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be
beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which
I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

¹⁴ And thou shalt not go aside from
any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to
the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

As we were talking, the in-between of his comments to me about mercy was this question, “Why do you want mercy?” Although he never said it, I answered it to myself. I thought: I just want mercy to be one of my attributes like it was one of God’s attributes that he attributed to himself (Exodus 34.5-7). Then it hit me. Like a anvil on my head. A simple revelatory prayer from a place not associated with my heart or head – it came from my depths: “I want no adjectives ever attached to my name that have not been said about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

When have we recently realized that God is calling us to share in his character? What attribute of God do you desire? Have you welcomed him into that area of lack in your life expecting him to overflow you with his response? Give it a go. You might be amazed at the fruit of such reckless confidence.

“When I think about worship, I think about filling in all the space, because he went as far as he could to come to me, he’s done everything he could to get me and if there’s any space it’s because I created that space, it’s because I gave someone that place or some situation or something that place. So in worship, that’s a constant choice to remove the space and say ‘come fill in this space,’ so there’s nothing between us…”

- Steffany Frizzell, Worship Leader, Bethel Church, Redding, CA

For more awesome videos by some awesome guys, check out www.ignitermedia.com.

The word that I have held the most of all of the words after my “the,” is Greatheart. I guess in some ways as I heard those words spoken over myself, I did not completely understand what that word meant. What is a Greatheart? As I began to process what this idea was, or rather how I was to be a greatheart. I had a feeling it had to do with loving others, something that I’m trying to learn to be intentional about. So I leveled with God, and was like, “Okay God, I know, I know, it’s all about love, blah blah blah.” How trite right now for me to hear God saying that I am supposed to love more.

I think that I just allowed my disillusionment to prevent from further thoughts of greatheartedness. And of course was the random rant in my head about how Jesus must’ve had a great heart since he was moved with compassion by seeing the need. Scriptures even say that he was moved internally with compassion and was compelled by his own love. I don’t think I’m quite there yet, but I’ve had it occur a few times. Funny is that people were still calling me a “greatheart” even when I didn’t believe it for myself.

This week we had a special time of prayer at church, and as we were praying, God took me to Psalm 119:32. “I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart (or Hebrew says for you set my heart free)” (ESV). As I read this verse, I recalled 1 John about how obedience to love was the major commandment we are to live in. I began to see that God wanted me to be a greatheart by doing just that – love because He loved and because I’m loved. I do not have to attempt love, it will be the finish line of my living of my life in the intention of love. And the only way for God to do that was to set my heart free.

And let me tell you that I thought I was totally “freeing” up my heart as I watched God increase new friendships and then random growth of the small group. I believed my enlarged heart was for everyone else. And I thought I was getting it. Then a friend and I were talking and a simple sentence that they said undid me. They didn’t mean this sentence to injure me, but God was using it to expose my weakness.

In this place of thinking my heart was growing, it was artificial. I had allowed comparisons to others hinder me from freedom, from God setting me wild in a field of his commandments to love and enlarge my life. I didn’t trust God and what he said about me. I didn’t believe I was a greatheart. Instead I let my heart shrink. I listened to lies that I was insignificant and all I was being was a waste of time. God shined his light on my life and revealed that lie.

How can I walk in freedom unless I believe the truth, since only the truth sets me free. Today, I can say that my shrunken heart from last night’s battle grew 2 sizes today when I woke to hear the truth over my life. I am a Greatheart. Why? Because I was made to be like my Father and my Brother. Greatheart is their last name, and so it is mine.

Simultaneously, I have been entrenched in thinking about the Kingdom of God as my church has been studying the Sermon on the Mount. This Kingdom is not a far cry from the “aside” world of Narnia. All that to say, I’ve been thinking how Narnia did not just occur alongside of the Pevensie children’s world, but how it shaped who they were. It impacted them greatly uncovering more of themselves than they ever knew.

In The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe, Aslan the Lion encounters the Pevensie children. When he crowns them as kings and queens of his domain, he bequeaths not only a crown, but a name. Peter the Magnificent, Susan the Gentle, Edmund the Just, and Lucy the Valiant. I have been thinking a lot about these names. Especially because one day, while I was in my office, Jesus told me that my office worker was valiant, just like Lucy. So I looked up valiant so that I might have a greater understanding of what it was. To be valiant is to possess or to act with courage, determination, perseverance, bravery, and heroism. As I told my office worker, I believed she was valiant, she was on the verge of tears. I could tell that it was speaking beyond her ears. Instead, the Lord was affirming something she knew deeper than her mind.

That day, I ended up texting a few of my friends and asking them what was after the “the” in their name. As people started to think very deeply and give me many variegated responses; I asked them what they wanted to be known for, what would be the defining characteristic of their life. I first heard them respond with incredible answers. But then I thought, hmm, maybe instead I should be declaring what their “the” was over them, since we need each other to show us who we are. I took the challenge and found words to describe these friends like: Humble, Passionate, Effervescent, Gracious, Listener, Loving, and even Lion-hearted.

Then something happened very strange, they began to ask me what did I want to be known for. A couple of them even gave me their ideas for me. I was overwhelmed by what was said, all of the things were both meaningful and deeply true. Things that I had hoped others would see. Beyond me. The Christ in me.

We know that in Scripture we see God forming and making people who they were even before they were born. There is a God potential that maybe we have not seen or recognize. I am going to keep asking others, “Who do you say that I am?” So that, I can continue to recognize what is after the “the” for my life.

Here’s what they said: Jason the Greatheart, the Validator, the Relator, the Free, the Majestic and the Defender. I was both overwhelmed and encouraged.

from left to right: Laura, Anne, Luca, Allie, Carrie, & Eric

Year One: Complete
One year ago, today, our family stepped off an airplane and into a new life. We have restored a home, started learning a new language, adapted to a new culture, befriended our neighbors, become recognized through-out town, completed piles of government paperwork and waited in countless lines dealing with government officials. We could not have done it without the prayer and support from our church family and all the gracious help from the Scorziellos! This year has been a success!

We survived.

Italy is known as the “missionary graveyard.” The turnover rate for missionaries and missions agencies is one of the highest in the world!  In general, only 10% of missionaries return to Italy after their first term (2-years). So, we’re halfway to our first goal: survival.

Pray
Please, pray for us! Please, pray that Allison would be healed of JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis). Please, pray for provision for our needs. Please, pray that God would open doors and that we will have the wisdom to know when to step through them!

The Challenge
This is our challenge. This is what we are facing. Less than 1% of the Italian population is involved with an Evangelical Christian Church.  There are 286 missionaries in Italy with over 100,000 Italians practicing magic or the occult. That number (100,000) is more than three times the number of Catholic priests in Italy. Only about 1,500 of Italy’s 33,500 local communities have an established evangelical witness. We are the ONLY Christians in our town.

Keep In Touch
If you would like to keep in touch, you can follow Anne’s blog at theitaliandyes.com and subscribe to this monthly e-newsletter at the link below. Feel free to write us at ericdye[at]gmail.com, we would love to hear from you!

A few weeks ago, I was watching this show and I felt as if I heard God speak so clearly to me. I heard, “Family is the highest honor in my kingdom.” When that statement came into my head, I am not going to lie. I was overwhelmed. In fact, I sobbed. What happened to our perspective on our family?

Now obviously, we all come from variegated situations at home, some good, some not so good. However, when we become believers, there is a family that is much higher than the family we find on earth. We are not merely related by blood, but by Christ, who made us one with him, and with the Father.

I tripped across this verse in my daily reading the same week I heard God speak to me about family being the highest honor and it echoed that refrain. Genesis 13:8, “Then Abram said to Lot, ‘Let there be no strife between you and me…for we are kinspeople.’” The reverb of that verse haunts me still. We should not have contentious, fighting families.

I am not going to lie, my family history says that contentiousness is the only way to get what is yours. There are 3 boys in my family and we all want what we desire when we desire it. However, I realized something in both my case and in Lot’s situation. I already have everything. I have that relationship. We can both share what we have and put selfishness aside.

Maybe that is what family is: Unselfish people sharing their lives.

Last night we were in a joint worship service with three “streams” of church people. I was nervous that there might be some tension, but I knew that the realization of family would indeed be what changed the evening. And it did.

As we were singing “Where I Belong” by Cory Asbury, I sensed a stirring in my heart. I began to sing: “He is the vine and we are the branches.” We sang it for a few and another line came to me: “And its a great big tree, cause we’re all a family.” That is still ringing in my heart this morning.

We’re family. You are mine and I’m yours. And this tree started with men like Abram, who realized that family is always more important than your possessions. People matter, and people are the components of my family.