Memories from our time in Georgia...

Our hike to the highest peak in GA:

Live Camel Cargo Delivery

Today we were walking along the coast and enjoyed watching the dangling camels. Enjoy!

I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water....

Yesterday, for almost 24 hours it  rained. It has not rained in this desert place for 9 months.  This is the third rain since our arrival. The Lord reminded me this morning as I sat at the dining room table in the quiet of the dark, listening to the rain:

Isaiah 41:17-20  ⁷ When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.  ¹⁸ I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.  ¹⁹ I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together,  ²⁰ that men may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it. 

May we all live our lives so that it is evident that the Lord has done it!

Below you can see some of the flooding and the task of keeping it off of the back patio.   

   

Traditions and Transitioning

What a joy and a responsibility it is to pass on to the next generation the wonders of our God!!

Traditions can be a way through which we demonstrate to our kids the things of the LORD. With traditions we can bring significance and give meaning to the celebrations throughout the year. Traditions can help to establish the focus as we celebrate birthdays, Easter, Christmas and other holidays. Traditions create a sense of security, expectation, and celebration! Traditions allow for memories to be made and help them to not be forgotten.

But O how hard it can be to have tradition... especially when transitioning!

For almost a year now we have been in transition. Moving from one place to another we have had to forgo some of the traditions we had tried to establish over the first years of marriage and parenthood. What had been "normal" was no longer available because of living in a new place and with new people.

So what have we done.

We started a new tradition of a Pancake Thanksgiving Breakfast, beginning the day by celebrating God and each other, taking turns to thank the LORD for what He has done in each person around the table and giving thanks to Him for who He is.

Together we finger painted our advent wreath. This year it is a rainbow color to represent the promises of God and to help us to celebrate His promises revealed in Christ as we read through the story of redemption. We long to be reminded and strengthened Christmas season as we remember that through all the transitioning we can continue to experience God as faithful to all the promises He has made. We long to have the same heart as Abraham :

20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." 23 But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Romans 4:20-25 (ESV)

So as you enjoy either old traditions or make new ones this year, remember the promises of God and grow strong in your faith, believing that it is Christ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.   

Byes to Blueberry Blessing

Today we watched Blueberry Blessing as she drove off to be a blessing to other families who need a car while stateside. We praise God for the many many miles we have driven together as a family in this car with almost no trouble. We pray that the LORD will continue to provide many more safe miles for other families and live up to the name we gave her... BLESSING.

TO: Blueberry Blessings' New Family
FROM: Thomas

We love Blueberry Blessing.
Please be careful with Blueberry.
Please don't crash into her!
I pray that you would take care of Blueberry.
Please keep sharing Blueberry Blessing.
I hope you know Jesus because you have to know Jesus if you want to go to heaven.
We love Blueberry Blessing and we want you to take care of her while we are away.
Pray for me too. We love you and we want you to take care of her for us.
Thanks.
Thomas

Language Learning Lessons....

There are a lot of sounds that are “weird”. English uses about 40 sounds. These are what I “know”. English has one “d” sound. The language we will be learning has 4 “d” sounds and none of them are like our “d”! Most languages say a “p” and “t” without breathing out. Try to see if you can do that! It takes work! Try an a “f” or a “v” without touching your teeth to your lips. Weird, huh?

You have to learn a language like you learned your first one! Children do not speak for the first year or so. They just listen! They point at things. They hear it over and over and over and over again. All I want to do is SPEAK. All I want to do is READ. I need to learn to LISTEN first. I need to listen as I pick up things, point at things, as I move, as I am DOING. I am a visual person. I tend to want to learn by looking at words. I should look at OBJECTS and ACTIONS! How many times do babies hear things before they start to speak? They learn from REPETITION. I will also. I have to become like a CHILD. Humbling, huh?

Language learning is like owning your own business. You can't blame it on a teacher, a language school, a language helper, or supervisor. You take full responsibility. I will be the one who determines what I will learn in class everyday with my language helper. I will determine where I will go in the community and which projects I will complete.

My teacher said “Language should first be treated as a toy to play with before taking it apart.” Please pray that our will have fun learning our language. Pray that it will be a joy... by God's grace.

Language learning is relational! Pray that we would build great relationships with our language learning. Pray that we will show that we are like Jesus. He left all the glories of heaven and became a child! (Phil. 2, John 1:14) We do not exist to be serve but to serve and give away our lives for Jesus.