We Made It

That’s right,we finally made it here to Chisinau, Moldova. Our trip started Christmas night as we left home at about 8:30, stayed in a hotel in Irving (I was able to get between 3-4 hours of sleep) and was at the airport by 5:30 a.m. on the 26th. Three flights later, the layover in D.C. at Dulles will be memorable, and we finally arrived in Chisinau at 12:00 on Dec 27th (with all of our luggage and all of our people). We are going to be staying at the IMB House for the next couple of days, then we’ll be off to Soroca, Moldova. Tomorrow we are going to the Transnistria area of Moldova (we’ll get a taste of what the old Soviet Union was like while visiting here) to visit with 260 orphans. Hope they’ll be happy to see us; we are taking them bananas, Kit Kat bars and cookies for each one of these kids. We bought way too many bananas tonight (guess you can’t trust the produce guy at Metro) so the orphans that we see later this week in Visoca will no only get new beds but will get bananas daily (bananas are a big treat here). I am looking forward to seeing how God will use us this week. Go has put us all here for an important reason, so I ask that you take time to pray for this team as we reach out to these special needs orphans in Slobozia and in Visoca later this week. More to come tomorrow. I should even have pics…

Dan McBride

The Journey Begins

Well, we made it; 3 planes and 24 hours later we're in Moldova. What a fabulous team God has assembled for this trip. We've already made several memories during our layover in Dulles in Washington D.C. and were amazed by the ease with which we made it through the airport in Munich. We are settled in the IMB Mission house and are excited about our unique oppportunity to get to travel to the Transnistria area of Moldova tomorrow to visit with 260 orphans there. I'm always amazed how God can bring people from all different walks of life and even different countries together and can create such harmony. It is a beautiful thing to be able to serve with these gifted and talented folks in this precious country. If you're reading this blog, take time to pray for this team as we reach out to these special needs orphans in Slobozia and in Visoca later this week. I know great things are going to come out of this jouuney and I pray our lives and the lives of these needy children will be impacted for all time. God bless!

Christmas - It is 4 Days Away! Don't Miss It!

Due to a plethora of crazy schedules and siblings living across country from one another, my family decided to celebrate Christmas early this year. Two weeks I ago I flew to Texas and the whole gang was there. We did everything like we have always done-family get-togethers, amazing food, gift exchanges, family drama, and everything else you could imagine. It felt nice. It was Christmas. Not long after all the gifts were opened and everything was cleaned up I realized that although the family gatherings were over, the presents had all been given, and it had even felt like Christmas, Christmas had not yet happened. This was a big moment for me. In fact, it kept me quiet for a few days. Realizing that Christmas day was not over and we still had time to celebrate and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas made me VERY excited! It hit me in a way that I am not sure has ever happened to me. Maybe that is a bad thing? I took it as great! I was beginning to realize that I could say that Christmas is not about the presents or the traditions, but reality is Christmas has become something to me that includes both.

I came back to Nashville and began to reflect on the time I had just spent with my family. I began to think about the Christmas story. I could really sit down with my Bible and think through these accounts now that I have a little extra time. It's really amazing what you can do when you are no longer facing the pressures of the perfect gift and baking the perfect dish for the party! Anyway, I became very reflective. I thought about how all throughout Scripture there have been people who were waiting in great expectation for the coming of the Messiah. I also thought about how all throughout history and even today how few people have actually realized he has already come as a child in a manger and died on the cross for our sins. I thought about how easy it is to greatly expect something and still miss it. 

The birth of Christ is not just exciting. It changes everything! 

 Doing Christmas differently this year has been huge for me. I am not saying that this is the only way to fully experience Christmas. In fact, I am sure others do it well all the time. However, for me, I feel like it has saved me from missing an opportunity to truly reflect and to experience Christmas in a significant way. It has given me the opportunity to step away from the traditions and the gifts and choose my response to Christ and His coming. You see I believe that when we look back on our lives one of our biggest regrets will be when we do not choose to love people well. I think it will have little to do with the gifts we bought (or did not). We will be most satisfied by the moments when we chose to love the way the Lord has loved us. That love is complex and simple. It most definitely includes grace and it requires patience. This love makes a choice to be consistent and unconditional. It does not often look all nice and pretty. It is a love that we cannot come up with on our own. That is what makes it so incredible! Christmas itself is a huge example of the love that God has for us! It is also an unbelievable opportunity for us to show that love to others!

My challenge to myself (and to you) is that you not miss Christmas! Give the gifts and spend time with friends and family, but do not miss the opportunity you have to understand better the love you have been given through Christ and, as a result, love people well! 

Merry Christmas!

Last Minute Shopping - For Men!

ATTENTION MEN:
Sweet Sleep knows Christmas shopping can be stressful and most of us wait until the last minute. We want to help you. And the best part is, when we help you, you will be helping others!

• Sweet Sleep is excited to announce that we will have our retail store open to MEN only on Wednesday, December 21st for a special shopping opportunity in which we will help you pick out the perfect gift for that special person in your life. Stop by from 4pm-6pm on December 21st to take advantage of this unique (and painless) shopping experience.

And the best part is we will have stylists on hand to help you pick out the perfect gift. How easy is that!

• We have an amazing selection of handmade jewelry from Uganda that every woman will love. Each piece is unique and comes with the story of how the jewelry was crafted in Uganda.
• We also have hand sewn scarves from fashionABLE. We couldn’t keep these on the shelf last week during our open house. Thanks to fashionABLE, Sweet Sleep is the only place in Brentwood that you can hand pick these scarves in person.
We also have items for all family members such as t-shirts, hats, running shirts and much more. Lots of great stocking stuffers available!

*WE WILL ALSO BE GIVING AWAY A PAIR OF TITANS CLUB LEVEL TICKETS AND A PARKING PASS TO SATURDAY’S LAST HOME GAME VS. JACKSONVILLE AT THE OPEN HOUSE*


Our office is located in Brentwood off of Old Hickory Blvd and Franklin Pike in the Mazatlan Restaurant building beside the post office. Our address is 116 Wilson Pike Circle Suite 100, Brentwood, TN 37027.
For those unable to make the open house, you can shop at our Sweet Sleep On-Line Store.
Sweet Sleep accepts cash, check, and all major credit cards and a portion of the sale price is tax-deductible.

What Moment Are You Living In?

Today is December 13^th. I think. For me though, it might as well December 20^th or January 4^th or August 26^th. And I say that because I have found myself more often than not these days thinking ahead and not in just hours, but days, weeks and months. Do you ever find yourself waking up on a Friday and already dreading a Monday? Or worried about a situation that might happen next month? I know I am guilty of this and it reveals a big flaw in my spiritual life. If I am constantly living in the future, than I lose sight of the present. And when I lose sight of the present, I am left with little time to worship and praise God for this day he has given me and how lucky I am spend another day fulfilling the call he has me here on earth for.

I was reminded of this a few weeks ago upon learning about a terrible tragedy involving a man from Hendersonville who was well known throughout the community. He was young, just married and headed to work one morning when he was tragically killed in a car accident due to heavy fog on the interstate. In a split second, lives were changed forever.

The future suddenly became irrelevant.

Far too often I wake up and take for granted the day I’m given. I hurry through breakfast, find out where in the world Matt Lauer is, try to squeeze in a “quiet time” and head off for a day that comes and goes in a flash. And each day I rarely stop to take the time to thank God for the breath he has given me. My nature is to worry about things down the road that I have absolutely zero , zilch, nada control over. I think I do. But in reality, I no more have control over the next 30 minutes let alone the next 30 days.

But occasionally, I do make it a point to stop to thank God for the present. I thank him that he has given me another day at a wonderful job that I love. I thank him for my wonderful family that I am blessed to be a part of. I thank him for friends that I can spend hours laughing with on a 12^th South patio or spend a Saturday with serving others. And on the days in which I do this, I am filled with such a comforting peace that it makes the days worries seem quite insignificant.

I love this line from author Francois Fenelon where he says, “To live in both peace and vitality, we’re invited to trust God and simply let his will unfold. That way, we go through each day in a spirit of worship, not being concerned whether we will have answers to our every question. Above all, live in the present moment and God will give you all the grace you need.”

This particular moment is all we need. It’s my prayer we would all stop and remember that each and every day.

“Heavenly father, help me to prayerfully receive whatever comes today. Let me see through your eyes what is really happening, with mind and heart fully open to your Holy Spirit.”

No Need to Worry!

Clear, moonlit nights are the best.  The ones where the stars look so close and vivid you could almost reach out and touch them.  The ones where you can see virtually every valley and mountain on the moon.  The ones where the light from the moon seems as bright as a street light when walking down the driveway.

I don’t often take the time to sit and just think about how small I really am in the grand scheme of the universe that God created.  Francis Chan, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA has a video that details just how vast and expansive the universe really is.  When I stop and consider that an all powerful God who created not only the earth, but the moon, the sun, the stars, the galaxy and thousands of other galaxies, loves me more than anything and wants desperately to have a relationship with me, I am stunned.  

One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11, which says “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future”.  Think about that for a second.  The God of the universe, maker of all heaven and earth, has plans for ME.  He is concerned about ME.  He knows me and loves me without condition, so much so that he sent his son to die on the cross for my sins so that I could have a way to be with Him in eternity.

Why then do I worry about the trivial day to day things that tend to make me frustrated or upset?  Why do I worry about where I will be five or ten years from now?  Sure, it’s okay to make plans and to be aware of daily responsibilities – we all are tasked with that – but it’s the worrying, fretting and anxiousness that I often feel that I need to lay down at the feet of Christ.  God is sovereign and in control.  Nothing happens anywhere, anytime that He does not know about or allow.  Whatever I may be worrying about at any given time is no match for the sovereign maker of the universe.  

So, the next time you find yourself looking into the night sky, looking for the Big Dipper or noticing how close Venus looks, think about this:  the maker of all of this loves you and cares for you.  He holds you in his hands and has plans for you.  No need to worry!

- Tim Pereira

Sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see...

One of the things I have been learning a lot about is faith. It's a hard word to learn because you can only learn as much as you allow yourself to actually have. If you are living by faith, you know a lot about what faith is and what it requires. If you are not living by faith, you have a good textbook answer that will be followed up with a lot of tough life situations that will teach you the hard way. Life has been teaching me many things about this word. It's teaching me that it has been awhile since I have had to truly have faith. The further you step away from the details of my life the more it appears that I am living by faith. However, the closer you zero in to me and my day-to-day life you would find that it's been awhile. I'm also learning that we often look at faith as something we have and do in a singular moment. We notice it when we have to make a big decision and are facing transition. We realize it when we see controversy and have to make a stand. However, we all know that once we make a big decision the journey is not over. We continue in a faith journey long after the "big moments" of faith. Faith is not about a singular moment. It's consistently making decisions of obedience.

Hebrews is an incredible book when it comes to studying faith. I was reading chapters 11, 12, and 13 recently and several things stood out as powerful to me as I am learning about faith from life.

First, the definition of faith "is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1)." We do not have "faith" in order to get results. We have faith that God will do what He says He will do. Faith is being sure of that. Faith is being obedient because of that.

Hebrews 11 is often described as the "Faith Hall of Fame." The hall of fame is not an exhaustive list of those who have lived by faith. In fact, I believe there were certainly others in Scripture (and even in our lives) that have lived by much faith. Hebrews 11 is a beautiful display of the fruit of faith! The stories and people we read about were chosen with divine intention. We need to know that when we as believers live a life of faith we reap many things.

Verse 4 - "and by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead."

Verse 6 - "and without faith it is impossible to please God."

Verse 7 - "became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."

When we live a life of faith we reap the fruit of faith.

Hebrews also shows us the reality that faith is a long term commitment. Hebrews 11:39 says, "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised." These people are in the "Faith Hall of Fame" because they were sure of what they hoped for and certain of what they did not see.

So what do we do with this?

We are faithful in our lives. It is not that we live a life absent of faith. The problem is where we choose to put our faith. The scary thing is that we are far too often way more faithful to ourselves than we are to our God. I do not believe we always do this intentionally. In fact, I feel like I often do so with the intention that my agenda is pleasing to the Lord. The reality is that Hebrews 11:6 is truth. We cannot please the Lord without faith. Our agendas can stop us from doing the very thing we have set out to do!

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and PERFECTER OF OUR FAITH." Perfecter of our faith! That's how we can become perfect in our faith. It's not possible for us to do this on our own. It's Christ in our lives every day working to make us more like Himself. We go through hardship and welcome discipline because these are the things that all us to share in holiness (12:10) and that produce "a harvest of righteousness and peace (12:11)."

Faith in God is what we are called to by Scripture. Through faith God creates kingdom. These are the things that ultimately matter. These are the things that will stand eternally. "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28).'"

I have no way of knowing where this post finds you. I do know that it is a truth that challenges me especially during this holiday season. My prayer is that we will daily learn to be faithful and that as a result we will "be thankful and worship God acceptably!"

Big and Dangerous Prayers

Are you ever surprised at what God does? Like you, I pray. I pray a lot. And those prayers are mostly centered on me asking God to do something. I pray for him to show up, to reveal himself, to provide wisdom and discernment or just to provide “things”. And since I’ve been at Sweet Sleep, I’ve seen those prayers multiply as we partner with others to provide a bed for every head, a task which seems quite often insurmountable. But I pray anyway. And what I’ve found is that a majority of the time, God shows up and answers those prayers.

And I’m shocked.

I rarely pause to reflect on why I’m surprised. I just am. And then I thank God for answering that prayer and send up another one. And then I’m shocked when he answers the next one. With my words I profess to have faith that God answers all prayers. But more often than not, I am surprised when he does.

I was reading recently in Mark about Jesus and his time with the disciples in the weeks leading up to his crucifixion. In Mark 11:12, we find Jesus and the disciples leaving Bethany. Jesus was hungry. He saw a fig tree in the distance and went to find out if it had any fruit. It did not as it was not the season for figs. He then said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

The next morning, the disciples were leaving and as they went along, they saw the same fig tree withered from the roots. Peter then said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

Did you see that? Exclamation points. I don’t know about you, but I only use exclamation points when I’m REALLY excited or surprised. Peter, a disciple who had seen Jesus perform countless miracles, was surprised that what Jesus had commanded came true.

Peter was shocked.

As I read this, I was surprised at Peter’s reaction. My response was, Peter, how can you of all people be surprised when Jesus does what he said he was going to do. Did you not trust him or believe that what he commanded would happen? Then I realized that all too often, I’m just like Peter.

Jesus responded to Peter’s surprised reaction in verse 22, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, go throw yourself in to the sea, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Wow. I’m often guilty of praying prayers to God then having an attitude of not really believing if what I pray matters to God or will be answered. But here in Mark, Jesus commands that we believe in the power of His word and might. And when he does answer those prayers, we shouldn’t be surprised or shocked at the outcome, for he has already told us that he can move mountains, wither fig trees, heal the sick and on and on.

So pray big prayers or as Jen says quite often, dangerous prayers.

Just don’t be surprised when God answers them.

Sweet Sleep - Moldova - Prayer Need

Sweet Sleep Prayer Warriors!

Below you will find the text of an email from Valeriu Ghiletchi that we recently received. Val is the former Bishop of the Baptist Union of Moldova---with whom Sweet Sleep has had a partnership with since 2006. He is now a member of Parliament and, as a Christian and an orphan advocate, his seat holds an important place in the future of the country. Additionally, there’s a Nashville connection. His oldest son, Stas, graduated this past May from Belmont and returned to Moldova this summer to marry and live. His second son, Eugen, is currently a student at Belmont. Both are good friends of ours.

Please be in prayer as directed below…

Dear friends,

For more than two years, our country does not have an elected President. The political, economic and social context of the world is not very encouraging. Arab countries are shaken by Islamic revolutions. The United States and the European Union are facing a major economic crisis with consequences difficult to predict.

In this context, political instability caused by the absence of the President makes our country more vulnerable to the problems faced by the whole international community. On November 18th 2011, the Moldovan Parliament is set to elect the President. The risk of not electing the President is quite high, because until now there was no candidate to register, although the deadline for registration is November 14th.The prophet Hosea speaks of a similar situation as a judgement of God: "For the children of Israel will remain a long time without a king ..." (Hosea 3:4).

Therefore, realizing that everything is in the Lord's hands, I urge you to pray for the election of the President of the Republic of Moldova, that MPs have political responsibility and discernment to vote for a candidate which will bring the country to the normal path and that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and dignity. (1Tim. 2:1-3, Eph. 6:18).

Serving Him together,

Valeriu Ghiletchi