“Winter” Update 2019

Hi Everyone,

Wow, it has been a while since I published an update on here (October…), so here goes!

I had surgery at the end of October, and so far I am feeling much better. My children can now tackle me without searing pain radiating through the middle of my body! Yay! I can also eat pizza again, which is definitely something to be thankful for.

We passed “Old Testament Prophets” and “Soteriology” (The Doctrine of Salvation) with mostly good grades. I know this is not the most exciting of news, so I’m hoping to post some of our favorite projects for the classes we have taken, to make all of this feel more… relevant.

This winter we worked on surviving the snowstorms and downsizing for our upcoming move to Texas! Yes, we are moving in the next month or so, and I am right in the middle of getting rid of stuff and packing. It is sometimes boring, sometimes fun, oddly emotional, and the worst part is DONE! Also if you would like craft supplies (jewelry, scrapbook, yarn, fabric, etc.), or uh, other stuff… Let me know!

We are currently taking: BE107 – Hebrews, General Epistles, & Revelation ST103 – Angelology, Anthropology (Humanity), and Hamartiology (Sin) PM105 – Christian Life and Witness

So far they are going well. We have finished a research paper on Hebrews, an in-depth study of Romans 6, and a paper explaining the holiness of God without theological jargon. It has been difficult but fun, and Rett and I are enjoying having conversations about what we are learning.

Book Recommendations:

For anyone interested in reading, the following have been my favorite books that we have had to read for class.(If you read any of the books let me know what you got out of them! I would love to hear your opinions. )

Dwell: Life with God for the World by Barry D. Jones (A professor at DTS)

This book is about integrating the “spiritual growth” mindset common to local pastors with the outgoing “mission-minded” thinking common to missionaries. It is written with an engaging voice, which makes this rather easy to read. I would recommend the book to anyone looking for some new thoughts on how to living the Great Commission locally, while also cultivating habits of spending time “dwell”-ing with God and growing spiritually.

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Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation by James K.A. Smith.

This book is written primarily by a Christian educator to people who work in Christian education, but the topic has implications for the rest of us too. I would say that the book is about how the cultural practices in which we bodily participate, can shape our desires. The author writes with an engaging and sometimes entertaining tone, though sometimes the way in which Smith describes ordinary activities may make one uncomfortable. I must say though that I did appreciate this discomfort, as it encouraged me to really think about the things I participate in, like shopping, and how they can unconsciously point my desires in a direction other than God.

Kids:

The kids are doing well. They are enjoying school and are happy that it is warm enough to spend more time outside, even if it is kind of wet. We are working on learning how to take more time doing art projects and hope to actually watercolor some sketches we did a few weeks ago… Ryan is currently into dinosaurs and all things archeology, and CC is into unicorns, cats, and all things pink.

Prayer Requests:

We are sending out a “regular” prayer email now! Unfortunately, I haven’t updated it in a while as it would have been three paragraphs of the word “snow.” Now that some of the snow is melting, I plan to begin regularly sending prayer emails again, hopefully with non-snow-related requests. If you would be willing to commit to pray for us, you can sign up to join our prayer team in the column to the right under “Join the Prayer Team.” Thanks for your support!

In the meantime, please pray that we would have the wisdom to focus only on what we should be doing today. It is so easy to get caught up in the overhead view and miss the things that are important right here and now. We need to remember to “… not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Thanks for reading!