It's Been Awhile . . .

Hello, All. It has been awhile since my last post. Mary Ann and I were talking recently about how this season has been so busy it feels like our traditional November/December busy time, which we always think will end after December is over . . . what's that this new generation of people type, LOL (laugh out loud)?

I hope to blog a little more regularly in the future. I truly enjoy being able to share thoughts and things that God shows me. I miss the interaction with you readers, and I value what you have to say and share back.

We have had some really wonderful times in this last month. Mary Ann and I wrapped up coaching softball at the school Bethany used to attend. We will miss those kids. We started out with 52 signed up on the team (6th, 7th, and 8th-graders), and for most of the season the two of us worked with around 45 kids. It was really crazy, but fun, and a wonderful chance to shine some light and impact some lives. We went to the eighth-grade graduation at the school last night and we were blessed to realize that of the 22 (I think) kids who graduated, we had worked with probably 3/4 of them between Youth Group or softball or both.

One of the highlights of the last couple of weeks for our girls has been our acquisition of five chickens which we hope to starting getting fresh eggs from this fall. Within an hour of getting them I think that the girls had almost all of them named and held! It is fun to watch them running around, and today Mary Ann and the girls have begun the process of letting them out of their large pen and in to a part of the yard during the day. Maybe we'll finally see victory over the earwigs that torment our garden!

We had a really nice end of year party with our homeschool group on Monday, and next week they hold their promotion ceremony. It is hard to believe that we have finished our first year of homeschooling, but we are so glad that we did it and we intend to continue it next year. It was, at times, very hard for Mary Ann, but she did an amazing job and we are seeing such fruit from it! I can't explain the joy of teaching Bethany history, beginning with Creation, and knowing that she is getting a solid, truthful world view from the start! To be able to have lunch with your girls, and to read stories of missionaries with them during school, is a tremendous privilege. We are very blessed with the ability to do what we do, and to have still remained active with the school and kids in our area as well. This Friday is our "official" last day of school for Bethany and Abigail, and Bethany got a new bike and Abigail a new swim float to celebrate it and begin summer!

I am very excited about a study of the Kingdom of God (Heaven) that I believe God is leading me in for my personal study time. I believe that it will be shared one day in the near future with our fellowship, and that it has the potential to radically change how some of us see the world and our purpose and God's message. The Kingdom of God is really the message John the Baptist, and Jesus, and later Paul preached. Salvation was the entrance, but it was the Kingdom they preached. There is a sense that the Kingdom is already here, and a sense in which it is still coming, and that dynamic in-between place we live in makes for a very exciting place for us to be in. I believe that it is only in a Kingdom context that we can truly understand Lordship and purpose and the fact that we have a tremendous calling beyond just getting saved and then waiting for the rapture. We are representatives of a Kingdom at war with another kingdom, and whether or not we recognize it we are in the thick of it. I will keep you posted on how this develops, but I would truly treasure your prayers for me as I go through my study.Until the next post, God bless all of you, and please stay in touch. I value you and hearing from you. It is a wonderful encouragement to me.