Thanksgiving

This year there is a lot for which our family can be thankful.

House Sale

We finally sold our house!! We are now residing a few blocks away with a much lower cost of living. We know many people have gone much longer than 5 months without selling their houses so we’re thankful God provided buyers for us. We’re also grateful that God gave us someplace to live only a few blocks away.

(Looks pretty good empty)

Abigail.

Every day it seems Abi is learning a couple new words. She is even starting to use short sentences like “I kean (clean) it” as she wipes a cloth in circles on the coffee table.

Her intelligence, which amazes me every day, is not what I’m most grateful for this year however. I’m most grateful for her joy. I love to come home from work, step in the front door, and see her smiling face running toward me to greet me with a hug and a kiss. She truly lives up to her name’s meaning, “my father’s joy.”

(Abi's "Elmo Shoes")

(Decorating the Christmas Tree)

Another Child.

Amanda is now almost halfway through her pregnancy. Yesterday, Amanda’s sonogram told us that our little baby is going to be a girl, which means her name will be Anna Grace. Her due date is April 15th. I’m grateful and excited for the opportunity to create another Daddy’s girl.

(Amanda 14 weeks pregnant... she is now almost 20 weeks pregnant)

Family.

There is nothing like the comfort and connection of family during the holidays. I’m grateful for this gracious gift of God .... for both the earthly family to which we are born and the spiritual family given to us in Christ, the Church.

(Halloween at Chipotle with the family)

You.

Finally I’m thankful to God for you, who pray, give, and encourage. We could not do what we do without you. You are God’s gracious enabling provision for us, our family, and our ministry.

I pray that during this season you also take time to remember and thank God for His good gifts.

Let There Be Silence

Before Jesus chose the twelve disciples, Luke (6:12) tells us that Jesus spent the entire night in solitude. Right after he fed the five-thousand in Matthew 14, Jesus “went up into the hills by himself; and in Mark 6, Jesus taught his disciples to “come away by yourselves to a lonely place” after doing some very intensive ministry. It is rarely noticed how often Jesus retreated into silence and solitude.

One of my desires is to see the Church love this under-appreciated spiritual discipline. I agree with what Thomas Merton says in The Way of the Heart that solitude is “the furnace of transformation.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book called Life Together. Though it is primarily a book about community, he dedicates an entire chapter to what he calls “the day alone.” He writes (read this quote carefully), “Let him who cannot be alone beware of community ... and let him who is not in community beware of being alone ... Each by itself has profound pitfalls and perils. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair.”

This month, our YMI students spent a week at Youthfront Camp South for “Solitude Week.” During most of the semester, our students learn the value of community (the day together). During solitude week, our YMI students learn the value of “the day alone.”

Any time not spent in silence, they spent processing their experience. Our hope is that the taste of silence and solitude will allow them to truly grow in their ability to see and hear Christ; and the taste will create an ever present hunger for communion with the Father. We pray this hunger will then be transmitted into the the larger body of believers to experience its benefit.

Abi's Update

I LOVE FALL!! This month I visited the Ozarks with Me-ma, Mommy, and some of my friends; I got to play in the leaves; and I helped decorate our Christmas tree! This week, I saw my new little sister, Anna, on TV at the doctor’s office. I can’t wait!!

November Prayer

Family. We are so excited about having another daughter. Pray for Amanda and her pregnancy. Pray there will not be any complications, and God’s manifest presence will be near to us.

YMI. The end of YMI is only a few weeks away. Pray our students will continue to grow and learn from the things they read, the people with whom they interact, and the time they spend in prayer. Pray they will stay focused and consistent until the end of the program.

Our Move. We have now moved out of our house. Amanda is so efficient at unpacking and organizing that we are already almost finished moving in. However, pray for the last bits of cleaning and organizing. Also, pray that there would be rest in the middle of the work.

Holiday Season. The holiday season is usually a combination of fun and stress. Pray for good reconnection, God-centered rejoicing, and ever-present peace.