A couple months of Furlough ...

I recently realized that it felt like a long time since either Laura or I had posted on this blog, so I decided we needed to start posting on here again.

Laura and I have been back in the USA for a couple of months now, and we have had some great opportunities to spend time with family and friends, including several out-of-state trips. God has really blessed our interactions with those who are near and dear to our hearts over the summer months, and we are feeling refreshed from those times.

At this point, we are in the middle of an intense training process as we prepare for our return to the Philippines in early January. We have really been blessed by the class, and we have been learning some awesome tools that will help us to better share our ministry testimony and stories with people who are interested in and care about what we are doing. The training class ends on Thursday, August 30. If you feel God's leading, please feel free to pray for us as we continue this class, and finish it up in a little over a week.

So, that is a really small nutshell of what we have been up to recently. If you want to hear more details, feel free to email us (or call or facebook us). If you click on our picture up in the top corner of the blog page, you will see a link that allows you to email us.

I'm including a month-old photo of Laura, who is now into her 5th month of pregnancy.

Beautiful Sky

from Laura
I love it when the sky is beautiful. Here in Manila, we have been having some beautiful skies lately. As we left campus this afternoon, there was a stack of clouds above the downtown skyscrapers, with gold and white and bright blue and glowing orange streaking the sky around. As we drove into our subdivision, facing the other way, there was a rainbow over our neighborhood! It wasn't a complete arch, but the colors were brilliant, and it even had an echo off to the side. The tragedy was that our camera wasn't in the car. And, even worse, when we hurried inside and got the camera and came back out... the rainbow had gone. I was sad. But the light was still that kind of reflecting light that makes everything beautiful. I had to take a few pictures. I'm sorry I don't have rainbow pictures for you, but at least maybe these will let you enjoy a bit of beautiful Manila sky with us.

A Note from Home

from Laura

This week has been a LONG week. I’ve had something to do every day after school, and it’s mostly been something draining. Wednesday and Thursday evenings, we had something to do after the stuff after school, so we didn’t get home until past 9:00 either night. (Given that we’re generally getting ready for bed by 9 or so, these were late nights after long days.) Wednesday’s evening activity turned into the worst Manila evening we’ve had in quite a while. We reached Friday drained in every way.

This was scary to me. I can teach when exhausted, though it’s no fun—I’ve done it before. But Friday afternoon (today) was the first of several meetings that will stretch me in faith and ministry. There is a group of girls who have been struggling with a number of interpersonal clashes. The counselors and chaplains decided to put together some time for this group to name their problems, learn some conflict resolution skills, and pursue a new level of peace with one another. Because I know almost all of the girls and have had good relationships with them, I am one of the adults helping with this process. This is a big deal. These meetings have potential for much good within this group, but, as with anything about interpersonal clashes, it’s complicated and tricky, and things can go south with frightening ease. I am out of my depth, in terms of training. This will stretch me, and it was NOT something I wanted to do when I was drained. So, scary.

I was distracted most of the day, and praying rather desperately with every other thought. In the afternoon, I got my sub plans in order and left my classroom nice and early. On my way to the meeting room, I passed the mailboxes and, out of habit, I looked in ours. And look! An envelope! I laughed—because this is God all over. It was a card from a community group at our sending church, Elk Grove Baptist Church. They just wanted us to know they were praying for us “today.” For us, and our ministry, and those precious children. “Be encouraged,” they said. J So I was.

The meeting went well. I didn’t have much to do with that, though I did my part. I know Who was doing the work. Through His Body in multiple locations, praying and writing and talking and listening, God started a process that can bring healing to students, as they keep letting Him in to work. Please pray for those girls, whom God loves so much.

Thank you, EGBC home, for sending us into our work today. Thank you for letting God use your prayers and your words in your handwriting to lift us up.