40 till 40

Forty is a special number in the Bible, although its exact meaning isn't ever made perfectly clear. A quick walk through the Bible shows us:

Noah—40 days and 40 nights of rain.

Moses—his whole life went by 40 year increments--starting with being 40 when he fled from Pharaoh and started a new life, then also on Mount Sinai.

Israel—ate manna for 40 years while wandering in the desert.

Spies that Moses sent out—in Canaan for 40 days.

Elijah—in the wilderness for 40 days.

Jonah—warned Nineveh they had 40 days to repent.

Jesus—fasted and was tempted for 40 days in the wilderness, appeared for 40 days after His resurrection.

In 40 days is my 40th birthday, and I plan on taking these days between now and then to prepare. One of my dear friends, (who shall remain nameless so as not to incriminate her!) turned 19 this year (see what I mean? 19!! Sheesh!) and she did something special each day to celebrate--one day for each year, giving her 19 days of celebration. Boy, have I got it good! According to my young, imaginative friend, I have 40 days to celebrate and I plan on celebrating by preparing so God can use me as He wants. I want to be available and ready for whatever this 40th year holds for me, and I'm willing to put in some extra preparation.

Patterings will be celebrating by putting a spotlight on missions and then giving away birthday gifts on my birthday, which is November 12th. So, stay tuned because Missions Matter! I'll post updates of my celebration as the days go by.

Okay, so here's the details of my 40th birthday giveaway. Because missions has played such a big role in my life, and especially because missions is so incredibly important, I want to spend time in these next 40 days thinking about that ministry. I've been wanting to reread a few of my favorite missions stories, and this is the perfect time to do that. I'll be reading and posting about those books. Also, I have a few surprises up my sleeve, but you'll have to stay tuned for those (because they're not 'finalized' yet). *wink*

To help me celebrate, and to enter your name into the hat, simply blog about a missions book you've read, or even missionaries you know or have heard speak about their ministry. If you haven't read a missions book—hey, there's plenty of time to read one and blog about it before November 12th!

If you do not have a blog but would like to join in, use the 'Email Me' button on the right and send me your post and I will post it—either here or on another site especially for Missions Matter! So now, everyone can join in! And please do—missions is such an important aspect of the body of God, and there are so many personal stories out there, let's pull them out and tell others about them!

Gifts! For each blog you post (or send for me to post), come here and leave the url in a comment and I'll stick your name in the hat once for each blog post. And yes, multiple submissions are more than welcome! IF you tell someone about this giveaway, and they blog about missions and leave their url, your name gets thrown in an extra time—just make sure they tell me who referred them here! ;)

So, what are the gifts? So far, two of the books that have had a big impact on my life: By Searching and Green Leaf in Drought both by Isobel Kuhn. They are diamonds! Like diamonds, they're small, but they pack a punch. There may be more gifts, I'm not sure yet, but those two at least—and I'll be blogging about those in the next 40 days.

I love hearing about how missionaries have impacted other's lives, and I truly believe they should get more hugs than they do. We may not be able to get our arms around them physically at this moment, but we can send them cyber hugs and pray for them. Let's do it!

Don't forget:

Blog giveaway on November 12th!
Missions Matter!

To enter the giveaway, blog about a missions book, missionaries, a missions trip, or how missions has impacted your life. Then come here and leave your name and the url to that specific post. Multiple entries are possible (and welcome) that way! I'm looking forward to these posts! Thanks for helping me celebrate!

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