Congratulations Graduate

Another milestone - Amy has officially graduated from high school and she has the diploma to prove it! We're so proud of her accomplishments; we look forward to great things as she enters nursing school in the fall.

"Commit your way to the Lord", the Scripture says. That's just what she is doing as she pursues a career that helps others through their illnesses and hurts. May God bless her endeavors.

We'll celebrate her achievements with a small party this weekend with family and friends. The weather should hold up well. If I can find the camera patch cord, I'll upload photos.

The Living Cross

We hope you all experienced the blessing of the Resurrection. Our family participated in the 22nd annual Living Cross at our church. Over 8,000 visited the event and 70 decisions were made during the 8 presentations. "What a blessing!" said one of our fellow vocalists.

One of the things I learned from the Living Cross was the fact that Christ came to die alone so that we may never live without Him. " This truth was reinforced as a fellow singer nearly fainted right next to me. I grabbed him and helped him get down to the lobby where a paramedic worked on him till an ambulance arrived. Thankfully he will be OK but I was determined to stay with him until help arrived. The Lord promises to be with us forever. "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." One of the most comforting passages of Scripture is found in Romans 8:38 ".... nothing will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Can you fully grasp the extent that Jesus Christ went in order to bring life to you?

May we live daily with the profundity of this truth.

Scarce Commodoties

There is a principle in economics: People have infinite needs and wants and they draw from limited resources. There is scarce supply. We proved this principle last night when we asked the boys to go brush their teeth. They turned on the tap and nothing came out! Why was there no water? I checked the fuses to make sure the well pump was receiving electricity. I looked all over the house for the cause but couldn't figure it out. After putting the boys to bed we talked about all the possible causes. Did the boys turn on the outside faucet and leave it on? That turned out to be the case. And then we prayed that the pump had not burned out from continually sucking dirt.
This morning I as awoke from praying for the Lord to replenish our water supply, I had these thoughts:
1. In John 4 Jesus told a woman that the water she drew from would not satisfy her thirst. but the water that he gives would be eternally fulfilling. It's a supply that will never run dry.
2. The Scripture also states that the Lord will satisfy all your needs according to his glorious riches. (see the supply and demand working here?)
3. Jesus also taught us to pray "give us today our daily bread". Interestingly I prayed this with the boys last night before bedtime. We must pray believing that God cares about our needs and He will provide what we need for the moment. Someone once stated that God will supply our needs, not our greeds.

This morning we have water. I don't know how restored our water supply is, but we will have enough for today. For this we must give thanks. Therefore we can have confidence that God will supply gainful employment, enough funds to pay our necessities. And even when we have lean times, we can experience the security of knowing that God's unlimited supply of his love and grace is ours.

Children of the World

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to see the "Children of the World" International Children's Choir, sponsored by World Hope. These exciting, dynamic and energetic children from Uganda, Philippines, and Nepal have been soicially and economically deprived. Some have lost their parents to disease, polluted wter, tribal warfare, even AIDS. Some of their parents simply could not afford to take care of them. But despite theier tragic circumstances, they have the love of God in their hearts. They are children of hope because someone reached out to them and rescued them. They have been sponsored by people in America and now have good food, clothing, shelter and are receiving an education. They are learning everyday about God's great mercy and grace. And they have a wonderful message to bring in song! Go to www.worldhelp.net and find out where they will be performing next. You won't want to miss it. All through their worship performance, I had to wipe the tears from my eyes. I kept thinking to myself, they could be my children! My boys had been abandoned but were rescued and brought to an orphanage. The God allowed us to bring them to their forever home in America.

Please take a look and think of sponsoring a child or in the least, allow the Lord to bless and touch your heart for the children of the world. So many can live if they only had clean water. $15 can supply water to one person for a very long time!
The blessing will be yours

World Records

Well folks, while 1oo,000,000,000 people in America are experiencing blizzard conditions across the East, effectivly paralyzing all of the East's major cities, we are snuggled closely in a warm home. Our children have not attended school for over a week (mostly due to black ice). Tomorrow we have a two hour delay. So many are without power in their homes. We only lost power for 16 hours last Friday evening. But we're used to that stuff. We're amazed at the figures - Philadelphia has more snow in these two past storms than the past two years combined. Whitte out conditions make the White House nearly invisible. No one knows where to put all of the snow. In Maine every town designated an area to transport snow. All these folk need to do is push it into the Patomac or the East River.

Look at the photos of our children's snowman creations. They even made one snowman lying down. We sent copies to our local news station but haven't seen anything yet.

Job creation still remains a big issue not only for our country but for our family. Please pray that God will provide what we really need. I don't recall if I mentioned that Holly is planning to return to school to gain skills as a CNA.

How about that stimulus money! Have you seen any of it yet? I heard one alarming report' because of the stimulus, every family in America will be 100,000 in debt.

Hope to hear from some of you.

The Blizzard of 2010

This morning we are staying in as Virginia is being hammered with heavy snow. As I write, 17 million Americans are experiencing this storm across the nation. Our governor has issued a state of emergency. That's all the tv stations are talking about. The boys already went out to play and shovel in the yard. Steven's still out there playing in it! Holly threw some bird seed on the back porch railing. The red cardinals stand out in stark contrast to the weather. Amy's ministry team was supposed to go to a juvenile detention center but that was closed. Roger's recording project with the choir has been postponed to Sunday but no one knows how the roads will be whent he storm ends. In the last storm, the only one to plow our road was a farmer with his tractor and a small blade.
May the Lord keep you all safe from all the storms you encounter.

A collection of musings

Experts say that January 25 is the day in the calendar year when most people are depressed. Perhaps it's due to the lack of sunshine or snow 0n the ground. Or it may be from all the bills that are coming to your mailbox in the aftermath of the Christmas shopping. I know it has been a difficult month for us. Our cars had to go into the shop recently. In order for both vehicles to pass inspection, they needed repairs that cost about $200 each.

This morning when I walked Samuel down to the bus, the sun was just peaking over the hill but as we descended toward the street the sun was obscured by that same hill. But I know that very soon the sun will reemerge. In fact, it hadn't left. I was the one who moved. So, when you wake up gloomy and depressed, know that the sun is about to rise.

Recently the Shriners mailed us free tickets to see the circus in Roanoke. The boys had never been to a circus. In fact, Steven was afraid that he would have to touch a lion. We assured him that he wouldn't have to be near the animals. We even checked out books and videos from the library abou the circus so he could understnad what will happen there. So, I hope to have some photos of "the big top" in the next blog session.

School for Roger and Amy is in full swing and we have lots of projects, field experiences and exams to complete. Holly plans to go to school in March. She will pursue a CNA certification.

Last night the president gave his state of the union address. As a result of his first year in office, our deficit has climbed so quickly that it is estimated that every family owes $100,000. I'm not sure who the bailout is helping. Have you seen any of this money? Jobless rates climbed from 6 to 10% (That figure is probably higher because it only represents only those who are on unemployment compensation, not those who 'gave up looking' or who were self-employed.) Terrorist activities continue and those who are captured are receiving the same rights as American citizens while detained. His plan is for government to control more sectors of our economy, including our health care instead of empowering the States to assume more control over these issues. Frankly, I feel that the States are more in touch with the people than is the federal government.

After saying all of this, please understand that America's democratic system is still much better than other systems in the world. Simply travel outside of America and you will gain a greater appreciation for the red, white, and blue.

Outside our kitchen window, the birds flock to the yard to enjoy their morning breakfast of bird seed. The cardinal, blue jay, nuthatch, finch, and chickadee are regular visitors. A few weeks ago we saw some robins. Does this mean spring is on the way? Not according to our latest weather forecast. We're expecting a minimum of six inches of snow this weekend! Sadly, this means our church choir has to postpone a recording session with Lari Goss (Dove award winning producer and orchestrator). But we need not be discouraged because the sun is shining outside today.

One more musing: In preparation for the recording contract our choir has been working diligently twice a week to perform the music flawlessly. We have been doing our best to memorize the words. One particular song spoke to my heart yesterday.

"Suspended above the world that He made, and below His home in the sky;
God in flesh came down to man and man raised Him up to die.
And there on the tree the destiny of ev'ry fallen man,
Was held by nails driven through his sinless feet and hands.

* Somewhere between heaven and earth
stood a symbol of grace,Not based on our worth;
It was there he endured what we deserved
For a cross held the hope of the world,
Somewhere between heaven and earth

Somewhere between time and space, somewhere between judgment and grace'
He became the sin that He'd never known; And for that moment He was left alone
(repeat last paragraph)

Let this be your mediation for today. Christ did it all to purchase our salvation from sin and a relationship with the God who loves us. God bless you all