Strike a light
Something that no longer amazes me is God’s timing. I’m used to seeing Him intervene with perfect timing to inspire admiration. We’ve started studying the book of James for our Wednesday night groups. “God sends problems to test our faith and to strengthen it.” I recalled a time when our bike was stolen from outside while we were at a Bible study and the way God helped us to glorify His Name through the way we reacted. Peace reigning and trust being the underlying attitude in our hearts made for a good testimony to God’s faithfulness. 5 or so hours following this teaching on Wednesday, some thieves chose to steal two windows and a fancy doghouse that we’d just made for a single missionary’s dog. Upon discovery, I found myself starting to complain about the filthy condition of their hearts that they would do such a thing… and then caught myself. Well, once again, God tests my faith in this area of trusting that He is working things together for good. I felt like I scored a ‘B’, but not an ‘A+’. Thankfully, He loves me and will probably give a heap more opportunities for me to prove my love and trust. Good… I think. :)
We’ve had an interesting few weeks. I took a trip to L’vov with Shane and Kolya. Our young friend found himself in a pretty murky situation. He officially married a young lady from there and they planned a church wedding for two months later. Before they had that ceremony, the young lady decided that she didn’t want to continue to be married to Kolya. Boom! The first question to be answered was that of whether they were really married if the church ceremony hadn’t occurred. After talking with a number of Ukrainian pastors and again connecting with God’s heart in His Word, and talking with them, we recognized that they were indeed married. Therefore, to please the Lord, he should make every attempt to stay married. Our trip was a good one but not pleasant. It was fascinating to me to note that in a situation where horrible heart attitudes were in evidence, God was still glorified by people revering his Word and upholding it’s principles. Kolya is in Rzhyshchiv again and his wife still refuses to have anything to do with him. He is in a real good place of humility and repentance.
We came across this scene (to the left) on our way home… the men in the water are gathering the fish in nets in the little water left in this lake following the draining.
This coming week, we are going away for 5 meals, two nights, three lectures and some fun and games (including paintball) with hopefully about 20 students. Last time we did this, we had a superb time and were able to speak into the hearts and minds of guys, many of whom were touched by the Word of God. Once again, we are praying that the week-end affects the lives of the students to the end that they choose to love Him.
I passed this bloke on the way to work last week. I stopped the car to take a picture of the interesting set-up he had to brake the cart. He placed a piece of iron under the rear wheel of his cart when going downhill. It make a tremendous racket, but it braked the cart well. It stayed under the wheel because he had a chain attached to the cart. Very primitive and decently ingenious.
The kids are doing well. School is into week 4 of the new school year. Tonight, we have “Family Night” in our family. We have plans to go out for a picnic, then come home and make a “Thanksgiving Box”. I’m not sure yet what a Thanksgiving Box is. We have yet to figure it out. But it’s a project we can all work on and it will be fun. In Ukraine, we will have a day of thankfulness for God’s blessings in two weeks time. It is just crazy how good a god He is to love and serve and be accepted by. We are blessed among men… and women.
This last week, a friend came by and I mentioned to him that Jono was on his way to the marriage altar. The only picture of Jono I had was in our wedding photos. I took one look at Jono there and knew that he’d never recognize him from that photo! I call Jono ‘40’, and he keeps on correcting me. “Only 39.” :) We’ve changed a bit over the last score of years. It is interesting though… I look at us and don’t see 40-year-old men. The wrinkles and other facial lines are definitely there, though. Wisdom, here we come?
Talking about wisdom… I’m studying Russian again. Call it “touching up” my language skills… please. I sat down with Irina and was forcibly confronted by my poverty. There is so much more freedom I could have if I wanted it enough to study more. So… that’s what I’m doing… along with Pris and Jesse with Irina. She is a treasure.
And talking about wisdom again… If you fear you don’t have enough to endure or be strong through trials, ask God for some more. He delights in doling it out. (James got inspired and we are the beneficiaries. Chapter 1)
Oh! Marie had a Birthday party recently and I found a photo of her gift from the doctor: Not the prettiest bit of work I’ve seen, but the stitches were not like any I remember seeing before… they seemed like several thin cotton strands. They seemed to work ok. The ironic note here is that it happened in the last 5 seconds of ice skating before she was going to come off! More for the files of “interesting experiences”!
Well… thanks for checking in? We’re happy to hear from you if you want to drop us a note. With most people here, I feel a little like you are God and I’m praying. I talk a lot and in spite of not hearing a heap back, know that you are there and “listening”. It isn’t often you are compared to God, eh?
Signing out…