The Intentional Life

 As has started to feel the norm around here, we are saying good-bye to yet another family who we have come to count as some of our dearest friends.  Owen and Kaine trying to find "jungle people" We first got to know the Muellers when they moved to our area to work at Gateway Woods.  Their Kaine was just a few months old and I was weeks away from having Owen.  Madeline and Layla Within the next two years we also started working at Gateway and enjoyed having the Muellers as our neighbors on campus. Halle and Hannah They left Gateway in 2011 to pursue training with New Tribes Missions.  And now, after 4+ years of training, they are headed to Papua New Guinea. It had become our custom to make sure we had a get together each time they were in the area during their training breaks.  A little over a week ago we got together for our last one....for awhile.   One final picture! (with the addition of Meron, far right) Each ...

It's Monday. More specifically, it's the Monday after Christmas. The day, and all it's celebration, is now in the rear view mirror, and I can't help but feel a bit deflated. There is all this build up and then it's gone. The anticipation of family time and coziness and delicious food and then it's over. I guess all good things must come to an end. Or do they? If we think about the real reason we celebrate - the birth of our King - what was it like 3 days after for Mary? For the shepherds? I can imagine them, back out in the field, talking over the experience with awe as they continued their watch over the sheep. And Mary, no doubt in the middle of a late night feeding, in quiet contemplation, a smile on her lips as she reminisced the past few days. For them, the celebration was not over. It was just beginning. May we not see this as the end of a season, but truly the beginning.     Be not content this Babe to know Nor st...

 For the last 4 years we have taken the money that we would have paid for Christmas cards, pictures, and postage and put that money towards a charity.  For the last three years that money has gone to World Vision to buy a goat and few chickens for a family in poverty. This year our money went to Zambia.  Our friends Erik and Carrie live and work there.  They were looking to raise funds to help put tin roofs on the houses of families in the local village close to where they live.  Most houses have cardboard and piecemeal tin for roofs, which of course does not hold back the 3 feet of rain they get over their rainy season. If you would like to help them out as well, go to this link: https://www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate/special-projects-donation-page/?project_choice=13 So instead of a picture in the mail with a happy holiday greeting, you get this update. And a picture quickly taken this past summer when I said “everyone get over here, I want a p...

You may remember a few posts back where I mentioned my friends Erik and Carrie , who live in Zambia, and were looking to raise funds to roof houses for local women and their children.  Before They were hoping to get enough money to be able to buy tin to cover 8 houses . Well, they got that.  And more. They currently have enough funds for over 50 homes!  After 50 Zambian families who will have a decent roof, one that is not made out of cardboard that falls apart in the 3+ inches of rain. Check out their blog for more details. And thank you to all who answered the call and gave!

Noise. We are surrounded by it. Distraction. So easily at our fingertips. We say we want to be less busy, less hectic. But then what would we do with that time?  It's that time of year where schedules seem even fuller and every conversation is smattered with talk of who is doing what, and when, and what still has to be done. We now live in a world where you can find out in seconds what the latest news is.  In our town and around the world. Lest we forget, the greatest News didn't come by newscast.  Wasn't printed in the morning paper, or posted on popular blogs. The greatest News came quietly.  No fanfare, minus the choir concert for a few lonely shepherds. No doubt Bethlehem was abustle with people (no room in the Inn!) and many were talking about where they had to be (Census!) and what still had to be done (prepare for Sabbath!).  They missed the great News that night, too.  Consumed in their own worlds, unaware that the God tha...

 Bunt You Right Now!  By: Hannah As I was browsing through my folders of family pictures I have save on our computer, I came across some, uh, artwork.  I think what really makes it are the unique titles that go along with them. Looks like we have a few budding artists...anyone want one for their living room wall?  Cars driving for Mom By: Hannah    Jellyfish By: Hannah  Rainbows of Colors by: Madeline  Smiley face by: Hannah  Something is wrong here By: Owen The fox By: Hannah

 November. A month marked by Thanksgiving. A lead up into the month long holiday of December. Sometimes I think you are overlooked.  A month to be endured until Turkey Day on the last Thursday of your month. But I love you for that. A month of thanks-giving. Because no matter what this world looks like, and where your situation currently is, there is still hope in Jesus. And unfortunately that can sometimes get lost in what we make the big picture of life. Make thankfulness your offering to God  and keep the vows you made to the Most High Then call on the Lord when you are in trouble and He will rescue you and you will give Him glory.  Psalm 50:14-15 And now we are rolling into December, where we celebrate a month of that Hope that is Promised. But first, a pause of thanks.   Took our kids to experience a concert for the first time.  Chris Tomlin and Rend Collective.  It was an awesome night of worship.  Owen made it a...

I don't know too many people personally that have gone to war for me. Although I do have some family members who have served in the armed forces. Cousins. Uncles. Grandpa. My dad. I think that is that one that strikes me the most.  Even though my dad didn't know me yet as he signed up to go fight a war. To leave family and security behind. To trade it for nightmarish reminders and medical affliction that still plague him today. I don't know all the reasons behind why he signed up.  But I believe he was wanting to see freedom for others who did not have it.  Freedom that he enjoyed here in America. He went, along with many, many others to fight a controversial war. I don't know many details.  As one could guess, my dad doesn't share too many of the stories of his time oversees in uniform.  But that's OK.  I've seen him suffer physically over the last 30+ years to know that all things were not pleasant. My dad was expos...

 Our good friends in Zambia, Erik and Carrie, work closely with single mothers on their strawberry farm that they run.  Yesterday, they put out a plea for help.  To help these women have decent roofs over their heads and their childrens'.   Below is portions on their request: "Boss, can I have this piece of plastic?"  "Sir, are you going to use that cardboard box?" I can tell rainy season is right around the corner.  Every year, the ladies on the farm start patching up their roofs for rainy season.  And every year, I give them what the farm can spare so they can stay dry.  In the 4-5 months of rainy season, our area of Zambia will get OVER 3 FEET of rain.  We need it to get through the other months of hot, dry weather.  But, it presents some pretty big challenges for our workers. In addition to the natural  increase in malaria in rainy season, they deal with wet houses.  Their roofs are a collection of tin sheets, a...