Archive for June, 2009
Pray for Emily
June 16th, 2009 | 2 Comments | Posted in » Prayer Requests
My sister asked me to share a bit here about her friend, Emily, who is in deep need of prayer right now, as she and her family are facing difficulties most of us can’t imagine.
You see, last Monday, Emily was 20 weeks pregnant, and she and her family were anxiously awaiting the arrival of a baby. That day, those dreams came crashing down… she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia severe enough to necessitate emergency induction of labor and delivery, and the baby did not survive. Now, while still grieving the loss of her child, she is fighting the after-effects of the condition.
There’s nothing any of us can say to Emily to make things better somehow… I certainly don’t have words of my own that are adequate to bring comfort. But I am reminded of God’s word given to us in Philippians 4:5-7:
The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The Lord God, maker of the universe, Creator of all things, Savior to all who call upon Jesus’ name… He is near to you, Emily.
To everyone who reads this? Please pray for Emily and her family. God’s comfort and healing is clearly needed!
Man Creates “Monster”…
June 13th, 2009 | Comments Off | Posted in » In the News..., Just For Fun...
You’ve gotta check this article out… apparently a North Carolina State student created a “monster” from construction barrels and placed it alongside a highway. He was charged with larceny over the incident.
I’ll say this… if creativity and sheer hilarity counted in the guy’s defense, he’d be acquitted for sure…
Gardening Fun…
June 9th, 2009 | 3 Comments | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
Last week, we finally got around to putting in our garden. It’s the first one we’ve had since we’ve been in St. Joseph, and the first one our kids have had a chance to help with. As you can see from the photos below, they had a blast!
Aside from the simple joy of playing in the dirt (definitely one of the big attractions for the kids!), this exercise is a great learning opportunity for them. They’ve now experienced first-hand how much work goes into making something grow… the installation of the garden itself (digging up sod, building the garden box, filling it with dirt), preparing the soil (spreading manure for fertilizer, mixing it into the soil, raking everything so the soil is loose and ready to plant), planting, watering, and… well, waiting for the harvest. And of course there’s the follow-up care from now until then.
But aside from that, the REALLY cool thing about this gardening stuff is how it presents great opportunities for Nancy and I to continually teach our kids, via object lessons, of the things of God. Of course there’s the parable of the sower… how people with receptive hearts (of good soil) receive and accept the gospel, producing a harvest of spiritual growth. Obviously that’s something we want to encourage in our kids. But beyond that, there are other lessons: our total dependence on God (we can’t MAKE anything grow outside of his provision), the immense amount of work that God puts into us to help us grow (much as we put a tremendous amount of work into our garden), patience (God grows things according to His timing, so we’ve got to learn to wait on Him), among others.
So it’s a good thing all around. Family fun… many teaching opportunities… and at the end? Fresh-grown vegetables!
And who knows… maybe as an added bonus we’ll be able to get Jeffrey and Jenna to eat some of what we’ve grown. They do struggle with vegetables! 
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