One Week

The small calendar dial on my watch says “17.”

It’s hard to believe that exactly 7 days from tomorrow the first students of Youthfront Mission Institute will arrive!

The emotions within my soul (our souls) right now are rather tumultuous. On one hand, I am so excited for YMI to be here. There is a thrill in launching something new, and we are confident the experience could potentially be life altering for the students attending.

On the other hand, I am incredibly anxious and fearful. The fear of all the things which could go wrong and the tremendous amount of work that must still happen before the students arrive is very easily overwhelming.

What do I preach to myself in these moments of stressful anxiety and excitement? Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus;” and Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Ever since I was little, my parents would quote these verses to me and remind me to trust God in everything I do and turn over all my worries to Him. It’s amazing that these same verses still give me so much comfort and confidence today.

This week, as I think about YMI, I am reminded to trust God. Whatever the future holds, we can be confident that it is held by One who is absolutely sovereign. Nothing is without meaning; nothing is without purpose; and it will all be to His glory.

Pray for us, that we will walk confidently, diligently, and without fear towards whatever God has for us this semester. Pray that the glory of God’s grace would be magnificently known among us.

Grace and Peace to you.

On our newsletter I wrote that this was our first self-portrait. I was recently informed by my wife that we had one a while back... oops... This is a picture from our fun at the zoo in Minneapolis.


We set Abi up on the ledge to look at the lions through the glass.

August Prayer Requests

· Family — Make sure you check out our blog! We recently put up pictures and a short video of Abigail’s first try at eating solid food (more like mushy food), and some pictures of our recent trip to Minneapolis. They are so much fun! As YMI arrives, pray that we will be good parents for Abi while balancing our time with the students around us. Also, pray we would have hearts that find full satisfaction in the love of Christ and are unaffected by temptations to be people pleasing.

· Camp — The summer ended really well with the Cabin Leaders. I was amazed at how many people talked about how life changing their summers were. Pray, as they go back to school, that they’re hearts for ministering to people would remain active during the school year.

· YMI — (Youthfront Mission Institute) The beginning of the fall semester is only 1 week away! Pray for final mission trip details to come together, schedule finalization, a solid list of work projects, and local ministry opportunities. Pray that curriculum material would arrive and that it would be ready. Pray that our team would be unified, cooperative, and loving towards each other. Also, pray that our hearts would be resting firmly in the peace of God, ready and eager to pour our lives into students. Finally, pray that the last amount of support would come in for the students who will be attending.

Abi's first cereal

Abigail loved her first chance to get some cereal. She had so much fun! She chomped down the whole 1/4 cup we had made and was happy the entire time.


Abigail kept grabbing at our hands and spoon as we were feeding her. It was as if she wanted to do it herself.


We took a little bit of video on my digital camera of Abi's first cereal.

Our Trip to Ames and Minneapolis

Recently our little family took a trip to visit family, friends, and supporters in Ames and Minneapolis. We have been wanting to go back to Minneapolis for a visit since we left a year ago. Minneapolis has so many things we love.... diversity, a great church, lots of free stuff, and caring close friends.... and Ames is right on the way!(Amanda's home town) We enjoyed ourselves so much! Here are a few pictures from our family adventure.


During our stop in Ames, Abigail went to her first ever Iowa state fair! Here is Abi and Mommy next to the famous "butter cow." (which is apparently made entirely out of butter)


Of course we had to take a picture of Abi next to an Iowa corn stalk. This one is just her size.


One of the great things about Minneapolis is all the things to do. We had a little down time after church on Sunday so we went to the FREE Como Park zoo and conservatory.


Abigail and I are looking at the sea lions in the water below us.


Abigail likes to hang out on my shoulders. Apparently being so high made her feel like a giraffe (notice the tongue).


These are some of the women who work with the women's ministry at Bethlehem. They were so happy to meet the newest girl in the Philgreen family.

Another camp memory for Abi

Abi loves her jump and go!