Friday, January 18, 2019

Holidays and a New Year

A whole month has passed since my last post. Christmas and New Year's were a busy time for my family. We celebrated Christmas with my sister and her family. I was surprised that even though I live in Maine, we did not have a white Christmas. Several of my siblings and I carried on the family tradition of quoting Luke 2:1-7. I hope we never forget to do this, and I hope that the next generation continues it.

After arriving home from my sister's in Iowa, I had one week to create scenes for our Christmas play, get the final script worked out... Although it was a simple, narrated program, with the kids walking on and off for each scene, the people seemed to really enjoy it. Hopefully next year we will have plenty of time for the kids to learn some of the parts, and we can create some more scenes.

We rang in the New Year with a night of games with our church people. It was a fun time of men versus women competitions. Afterwards, Mom, Dad, and I watched the ball drop in NY. It was a rainy night, so we did not have to worry about fireworks going off all night. New Year's Day, we watched the Old Orchard Beach Lobster Dip, basically a polar bear challenge, from our balcony. This is not something I will ever put on my bucket list.

Since December 1, we have been renting a nice apartment right on the coast. In the winter, the price of rentals goes down to affordable. It is a blessing to wake up every morning and see the beauty of the ocean. The colors change depending on the weather, and when it is warm enough, a walk along the beach ends up being a shell collecting trip.

This week, my sister and her family stayed with us for four days while her husband went to a church planting conference at Heartland Baptist College. I was able to take my nieces and nephew walking a few days, and my sister and I took a long walk as well. Mom and I drove three hours round trip to help drop them off. Tomorrow we will hopefully get back to a somewhat normal schedule.

We are prepping for a winter storm, and depending on the amount of snow, we may have to cancel church on Sunday. Pray for safety for all who will be affected by this storm. Pray that the contacts we make while soulwinning will come to church the next service we have.

We have had a number of visitors in church over the last few months. Some have returned, and a few families have joined. Pray that God will continue to bring the people He wants to build His church. We are working on several new programs for the kids ministry, including a puppet program. We also plan to start a couple of new classes. Pray for the spiritual growth of our church as well as the physical. Please pray for a new bus ministry push that God will provide workers and riders. There are several other needs for ministry leaders... for our church.

Just before Christmas, I sent out an email to several Christian colleges asking for the opportunity to present my missions ministry to their students. I have not heard back from any of them, so please pray that God will open the door for me to encourage more people to do what I do in helping missionary families.

My parents and I are hoping to make a visit to the ministry I helped in Puerto Rico. This is also my sending church. Please pray for good ticket prices and good weather when we go.

Prayer requests:

My sister Janna-pituitary tumor
Cousin Mycah- 5 mos. old getting ready for second scheduled heart surgery after a long series of infections which have postponed the surgery.