Love Brightly

Here we are in front of the CSU mascot ram statue on campus.

Keith Johnson, director and organizer of the seminary classes, wrote an article about the music of the gospel. He said to imagine a young man sitting in a chair listening to his ipod play music through headphones. He taps his foot, snaps his fingers, and juts his chin with the beat of the music. Keith then had us imagine a deaf guy walking into the room, and out of curiosity, he picks up an ipod, puts on the headphones and begins performing the same actions. The deaf man taps his foot, snaps his fingers, and eventually even learns to jut his chin in synchronization. Keith asked us, “If you are an outside observer and walk into the room, what do you see? Two people apparently doing the same thing, listening to the same thing. But is there a difference? Absolutely.” Keith continued, “The first guy hears the music and his actions are a natural response…being deaf, the second guy is merely imitating. He is not listening to anything. There is an important spiritual parallel here…” M...

We've been settled in Ft. Collins, CO for a little over a week now.  Our praises include that the girls are sleeping well, have adjusted to the time zone and caught up on lack of sleep from our travels, and no one has been sick!  The children's program will start next week, so please say a prayer for all the kids that illness wouldn't be spread and that parents would be aware when their kid is getting sick so they can keep them out of the program for the day. We managed to fit all the necessary objects in our car for the summer.  We minimized with a system that gave each person one suitcase, and one container (we have 4 rubbermaid drawers about 1 foot high, 2 feet long, and 18 in. wide).  It was quite a challenge since we had to bring everything but furniture, and I was really stressed about what to choose and what life would be like here for the summer. But now that we're here, it's actually really enjoyable.  I have been cooking meals using one pot and 2 cookie s...

We are so excited because not only are we having a boy, but also God has provided the rest of our funding for our summer, and a new crib (well, new-to-us-crib).  We are so thankful to everyone who sacrificially donated to fund our summer assignment! We are now able to leave with peace of mind of all our needs being met!  We are prepping the car for our two-day journey, and I'm feeling a little less stressed about fitting everything in.  Unlike other summer housing we've had, this one does not come with sheets, towels, pots & pans, plates & silverware, etc.  We obviously cannot fit our entire kitchen in the back of our car, so I'm trying to simplify and think through creative cooking methods.  It does have a microwave.  Even still, the stress of packing is nothing compared to being under-funded, so we feel so blessed and prepared for the summer! The new crib is a little perk too because the crib we have is "janky"--our term for functional, but almost junky....

Cross-shaped pancakes for Easter Hug in the Bluebonnets Easter Dresses Because of my morning sickness (which is now over--hooray!) I've been a little behind in posting pictures of the girls.  Here are a couple from Easter, and in the Bluebonnets (which are sparse because our family got sick AGAIN, and we missed the peak of the Bluebonnet season).  Please pray for our health, as this is the sickest we've been in ages (nothing serious, thankfully, but just little viruses and such that keep us home-bound and keep us from fully-functioning).  This semester, we've only made it to church as a whole family about once a month because of sickness.  Karl and I have taken turns w/ one child in arm while the opposite has been sick.  As I type this, I'm running a fever again.  My doctor told me that my immune system is weakened during the beginning of pregnancy so that my body will not "fight off" the baby. :) I'm at week 17 today, and hoping for an immune boost soon! ...

We have been encouraged this last week with the response to our financial need for the summer!  Another thanks to those who have contributed! We are still about $1400 short of our goal, and are praying for it to come in before we leave the first week of June.  Any amount, big or small, will help.  You can make a donation at the link (top left) titled "Give to Our Ministry".

excerpt from article: "What Happens After Big Break?" A few years ago, I noticed another man reading his Bible in Starbucks and we struck up a conversation. Turns out he was the pastor of a growing near-by church. He asked me what I did and, when I told him that I worked with Campus Crusade for Christ, he said, “I owe my life to Campus Crusade! 20 years ago I was about as far away from God as I could be. I was on spring break at Daytona Beach. My girlfriend and I were sitting on the beach, pretty drunk, when two guys came up to us and began to talk about life and God. Amazingly, it made sense, and I prayed right there accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Those guys then called some Campus Crusade staff on my campus back in Maryland. When I got back to school, those staff showed up at my dorm and took me thru basic follow-up. I can?t imagine where I?d be if those Campus Crusaders hadn?t had the guts to come up to a lost guy on the beach and tell him the truth. Thank you!”