picture

He's already showing signs of being more coordinated than his dad. Maybe he will be able to play sports and not just run on the track team.

Encouraged by perseverance

This morning I was reading from the book of Ezra. It begins with King Cyrus sending the Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, this was prophesied by Isaiah before the people were even exiled. In chapters one through three the people are filled with excitement and anticipation as they begin the difficult work, However, it is not long before there is strong opposition. When King Cyrus was succeeded by Xerxes and Artexerxes the enemies of Judah lodged a complaint and basically had the work of rebuilding the temple forcibly shut down. It is not until Darius becomes king that the work can resume. This must have been a tough blow to the spirits and motivation of the Jews. They knew that God wanted them to rebuild the temple, and they had been waiting for years to see God's promises about the end of the exile come true. Then, just as things are rolling and starting to look hopeful, the opposition strikes hard.

I can relate. We hit the ground running one year ago as we began on the path Croatia and ministry. Support was coming in quickly, we were checking trainings and requirements off our "to do" list, and it looked like we would certainly be there for camp in 2009. I can not point to an enemy that is specifically working against us, but we have hit a serious slow down in the process. We are back to waiting to watching, just like the Jews in chapters four and five of Ezra. We do TRUST that God is in control, that He IS doing the work, and that He WILL complete His work. It took time, effort, patience, determination, and faith; the temple was rebuilt and later the city walls were rebuilt, too. God always comes through. We can trust Him.

Picture the Parents

When I brought the ol' camera to try and capture Rolland smiling, Erika commented about the number of pictures that are being taken of him compared to the number of pictures being taken of us. So, I thought I'd look for the most recent pictures of the parents.

Erika by herself (Jan 18, 2009)

Dave by himself (Dec 12, 2008)


Dave and Erika together (Nov 18, 2008)