Happy Birthday, Jesus

Matt. 2:11, "After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary, His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh".

Merry Christmas!

There's no place like HOME!

After a long day of traveling due to bus and roadway delays, we sat at the bus station for 5-1/2 hours before our bus came, we finally arrived home. We enjoyed ourselves in San Juan Del Sur, but it sure is different than what we are used too. We got through the border on Saturday, only to find out from another couple on Monday who were staying in our same hotel, that someone had been murdered there at the border crossing on Sunday. When asked what to do with the body they were told to put it in the trash and it would be burned later. Thank you to anyone who prayed for us as we traveled. As you can see, your prayers are very important to our family and God allowed us more importantly than "delays" to travel with safety!

Words...

Sometimes it's hard to the find the words to say. Blessed would be a good one, but I never want to use that word flippantly on this blog. When I say it, I mean it in a BIG way. Blessed...it is then, but it was even so much more than that! Filled, encouraged, thankful are just a few. Thank you for ministering to us this weekend at Hickory Grove Greg, Kelly and Gordon. You all blessed us in ways words cannot even express!

An answered prayer.

In our December newsletter that went out about a week and a half ago or so, I had mentioned a prayer request for our passports (Ken & I have ours, but we applied for Heather, Kyle and Jordan's). We were just asking for prayer that they would be processed in a timely fashion and that we would receive the kids original birth certificates back without a problem since if there was one, two of the kids birth certificates are out of New York State! On Christmas Eve we received their passports in the mail and their birth certificates were enclosed. We did not pay extra to have the "expedited" service, but we received them exactly three weeks from when we applied for them! We were told they would return in six weeks, about the middle of January, which would have been absolutely fine, we just hoped that we wouldn't have any long, extended delays in processing. Thank you to all of you who did pray for that need! We greatly appreciate it and we are so thankful to have the passports earlier than expected!

Rain

Taking a break from sorting, to sit here at my desk and "hear" the rain as it taps the window pane. It seems like it has been so very long since we have had a good rain like the one we are experiencing now. I have not posted recently because I didn't want to bore you to death! Not a lot has changed since the last post. Oh! By the way, to the five or six people who regularly read this blog and to the two that actually ever post comments, "your checks are in the mail". Well, back to going through some things, throwing things, but I had to pause for just a few short minutes and enjoy the sound of the rain, and to thank God for allowing us to have some!
Edited to say: I am not throwing things...I am throwing things out, though. Just thought I might clarify that :)

A little gift or reminder from God

I've been feeling like the weekend would never get here! It's been a long week. Heather has had strep throat. Kyle has had pink eye. I have some things in my mind that are kind of "hanging over my head" with regard to missions work. Just when I feel a little "weary", God sends some "energy" my way! 13th Floor came to the Grove last night! Probably no one knows this except Ken and the kids...my dream has always been to go to Africa! Now you know it too! I've always had a desire to visit the Sudan and minister to the children there. I feel like I at least went to Africa last night in worship and spirit. Just a little God gift! African music reminded me of the Costa Rican music, very upbeat! Someone said to me last night, "I know you were all into this tonight"! Actually though, I love old traditional hymns, contemporary worship, bluegrass, gospel. For me, it's not so much about the music or the style. It's about the words written. Last night they did have worship music. We sang the song, "Here I am to Worship". These words, "..and I'll never know how much it cost, to see my sins upon the cross"...moved me to tears. Can we ever really comprehend the cost that was paid for us? The love of a Father to give His only Son. The agony suffered by His child, as He watched. My mind can't grasp it.