Him We Proclaim

          Things have been going well on Chestnut St. I had a my weekend class trip last weekend, and my last class trip is this weekend. Last Sunday we actually got to go climbing outdoors--a nice surprise for the February trips. No such luck this weekend though. Patrick is taking a step or two here and there, but still lacks the confidence to stand alone for any period of time, even though he is capable. Maggie and I, on the other hand, sometimes forget that we aren't capable of standing on our own. There seems to be a constant temptation to start worrying about the future and take matters into our own hands. And a frightening forgetfulness to commit those things to prayer. God is gracious. Pray for us in this.             I think I've really come to appreciate Oxford. When we moved here I dreaded being in the flat country and farm lands. I had concluded that I was either a city person or a backwoods person. Something in betwee...

We currently have 9.95% of our support raised to go to Costa Rica. We're getting much closer, and trying to see this as an encouraging fact instead of still having 90% left to raise (just writing this is discouraging). Patrick and Maggie playing in Michigan Snow While the reality has set in that Costa Rica is much farther away than we wish, we see how God is using this extended time (well at least it feels extended with our original expectations) to better prepare us. First, we're constantly having to trust that this is where God has lead us. Being so assured of His leading, we expected the funds to come in quickly for us to be able to leave. This has not been the case, but we still know the youth group is where God wants us to serve. The waiting has exercised our faith muscles. Though it's taking longer than expected, we will not lose heart because if God wants us there, we'll be there! To echo the growth in trust, we're having to trust God to be the Pro...

Patrick with Aunt Cristina Patrick trying out his new tunnel Patrick isn't going to have any issues opening his first b-day presents "No wonder mommy and daddy take so many road trips. Driving is fun!" Patrick with his Great Gemo (Maggie's grandmother) Patrick isn't in this one-- we went climbing for a date! Patrick really liked ribs Patrick cracks up at such random things

One of the youth groupers wrote a blog post that gives a snapshot into some of the inner turmoil of a TCK (Third Culture Kid): Costa Ricans !!! yeah, lately i've been thinking if i'm really a Costa Rican, how do i look my culture ??? do i love it ???or  i just say..." well, what you gonna do ??" lately i've wonder if i really love my culture or my country ??.... i don't really know, i haven't been in a posicion where i have had to leave my country, and i really don't know how will i react when the moment happens, am i gonna cry ?? while i was abscent, i thought about all of this, and i started to compare the american culture, do i love it ?? and suddenly a big smile on my face !!!!!!!! when i just think about it.... i smile... its something i don't do with Costa Rica... but while i was gone i could marvel with God's creation, seing all the beautiful mountains in the morning, seeing a beautiful waterful, and just looking at all the flowers, th...

Think of a time in your life when you worked hard at something and were recognized for it. Maybe your employer noticed your work and said something like, "Jim is our best worker", or, "Sally is very dependable". Maybe you even got that incomprehensible idea known as a raise! Or maybe you walked away from the semester with a 4.0 GPA. (although, I would have been elated with a 3.anything!) You know that feeling you get where you take pride in your work. It feels good to look back on hard work and see results. Even if the work itself was miserable at the time, somehow, it was worth it. Today I taught both of my Beginner's Rock Climbing classes. I have 19 undergrad students in each class for eight weeks. Today we continued to learn about knots, setting up a belay system, and practicing their belay techniques, etc. Both classes went really  well--unexpectedly well. After the classes I was checking the Climbing Team email (another part of my job) while I was waiti...

Patrick's first time playing in the snow I was able to go to Vietnam in 2008 for two weeks with a group from Moody. One of my favorite parts of the trip was the role prayer played. Considering most southern Vietnamese didn't speak English, we would take the opportunity to pray out loud as we walked the streets, ran into challenging situations, and praise God for the work of our Vietnamese brothers and sisters. That trip really conditioned me to take everything and turn it to prayer. Recently God is growing me again in the area of prayer, and it's been awesome! I started reading a book on Spiritual Disciplines and it used the analogy of a gym: "You can't expect to go to the gym and expect to come out a body builder unless it is something you are constantly working towards." So with God's help, I've been "exercising" myself in prayer.  It's been really neat to see how prayer is one of God's way on enabling us to join His work. ...

Today's blog post was not written by us, but by a student leader in the AMCA youth group. Where would I be without the AMCA International Youth Group?   I don't quite know the answer to that question, but it wouldn't be here and now.  Granted, I would probably still be on the mission field with my parents, I would still be at the same school, but would I be the same person inside?  Would I have the same understanding of my faith and what it means to have a relationship with God if it hadn't been for AMCA Youth Group?  Perhaps.  God does great things and goes to great lengths to reach out to us.  I feel strongly, however, and always tell people that I would not be where I am today in my Christian walk without AMCA IYG.  That is because AMCA is different from any other Youth Group I have ever been a part of.  Allow me to explain.  I grew up on the mission field. As you can imagine, I've always gone to church, always heard about Jesus, knew...