Saturday, May 09, 2009

Happy Mother's Day

To all of you moms out there: Happy Mother's Day!

Friday, May 08, 2009

Happy Birthday!



Daniel turned six years old on April 18th, 2009 and Grace turned five years old on May 8th, 2009. We had a nice time of celebrating each birthday. Daniel's party was bigger and held down at the church, whereas Grace's was more low-key and held at home. Maybe next year some of you could come down and celebrate with us?

Sunday, May 03, 2009

John the Baptizer

Today we continued on in our journey through the gospel according to Mark. What an adventure it has been so far; and we have ten whole chapters to go! What a blessing it was for us to assemble together as a family of faith and worship the One True God, through His Son Jesus Christ.
After having a time of praise through prayer and singing, along came a time to praise God through the reading of His Word. Our main text was Mark 6:14-29 and along with that we also read Matthew 11:1-11. What an encouragement it was to read about the faithfulness of God in and through the life of John the Baptizer. Even though this guy did not have "His Best Life Now" during his days on the Earth, we can definitely see that he was blessed by God. Obviously there were times when he felt lonely, defeated, and didn't have all the answers. But what he did have was an unwavering trust in the Living God. He knew what he had been sent to do. He had completed his mission. He was faithful to the end. We as a body of believers were encouraged, exhorted, and confronted by the example of John. May we through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit be faithful to the end of the task(s) that the Lord has given to us. I am sure that moments after his beheading John heard "well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord." At that moment of his death, he truly began to experience "His Best Life Now". Press on brothers and sisters until the end. The finish line may or not be in sight, but the important thing is that we are in the race and each of us has been given a mission to accomplish for the glory of God. Be strong in the Lord! Be a hero (or heroine) of the faith!

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Friday, May 01, 2009

Labor Day

Today feels like a Saturday. Why? The streets are relatively empty and the town is really quiet. Normally there is a lot of vehicle and foot traffic in front of our house, but not today.
Today is Labor Day here in Chile. It seems a little weird to celebrate Labor Day in May, and not in the end of August or the beginning of September. But that's what happens when you live south of the Equator. Fall is in full force, today is cold and rainy. Winter is on the way. Hopefully it will be a mild, fairly dry winter. We will see.
We all have reason to celebrate Labor Day. Whether one works outside the home or not, everyone does some kind of work. The important thing is that we do whatever we do for the glory of God. (1st Corinthians 10:31) And remember that we must redeem the time (Ephesians 5:16), recognizing that our work done for the Lord is not done in vain. (1st Corinthians 15:58)
So Godspeed and Happy Labor Day!