Boy oh Boy...

We went to the ultrasound this morning and...




... it's a boy! We're so thrilled. It was great to see our little 11 ounce baby kicking and moving. The dr. says everything is looking great. We're totally stoked!

Mom Stuff...

A few mommy items to share on this special day. Taya is at 20 weeks now, and she's now starting to show. Here's a picture to prove it:

We grilled on the barbecue tonight and after eating some yummy cheesecake for dessert she really felt the baby move. It's been so much fun to anticipate this baby's arrival and we can't believe we're half way there already!

On Tuesday morning we'll go to the doctor for a check-up and an ultrasound, where we hope to find out if we'll be having another little boy or our first little girl. We've placed a little survey at the top right-hand corner of this blog and you've only got two more days to place your votes.

We'll close this post by thanking our wonderful Moms for their constant love and encouragement. You've taught us so much, given so freely, loved so deeply, and passed along that incredible wisdom that God seems to supernaturally impart on Moms. This 3-minute clip really seemed to sum it all up:

We love you Mom!

FYI, This IS an emergency...

By now you've probably heard about the cyclone that hit the already poverty-stricken nation of Myanmar (formerly Burma). As if the rape and torture of innocent women and children, used as a weapon to strike fear into the citizens, wasn't enough. The wacko military dictators are refusing to acknowledge that there is a humanitarian crisis happening in their backyard. Early estimates are showing that the massive cyclone caused more than 20,000 deaths, 41,000 people are missing, and more than a million are without shelter and clean water (corpses are being thrown into the water, causing even greater contamination). Diseased and contaminated drinking water could possibly kill twice as many people than the cyclone did. It is an emergency. Yet as I watched the news today, I heard more about Hillary's shrinking superdelegates and the price of postage stamps going up by a penny.

If you were wondering how you can help, we suggest a ministry associated with our organization called GAiN. Global Aid Network is well-positioned and is already distributing food, purifying water, and developing emergency shelter from weather and mosquitoes. And they are doing all of it by equipping the local Christians to serve their neighbors. The people who have beaten down and persecuted, cut off from believers around the world, are now being equipped by other Christians to bring life and hope and healing in the midst of the depravity. I believe God is going to use this to spark a revival in Myanmar.

I love the compassionate heart that wrote this haunting song, "Tears of the Saints". In one line he's crying out "this is an Emergency!" and in the next he's hopeful that the children of God will surely reach out their hand to the broken.

FYI, this IS an emergency, but you can do something about it.

Doubt. Belief. Faith. Relief.

"I spent a long time trying to come to grips with my doubts when suddenly I realized that I had better come to grips with what I believe. I have since moved from the agony of questions that I cannot answer to the reality of answers that I cannot escape. It is a great relief." ~Tom Skinner

Birthday Bash à la Thomas the Train...

What a treat to get to celebrate Isaiah's 3rd birthday in our hometown! We had a few days in Lynden in between the two conferences in Bellevue, WA so we pulled off a fabulous birthday party at Taya's parents house. Most missionaries only get home once every four years, so for us it was pretty special to get back home to celebrate Isaiah's birthday with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Isaiah loves Thomas the Train right now, so Taya made him a cool cake and we had Thomas hats and noise makers. The only thing Isaiah really wanted to do for his birthday was to have "family band" sing praise songs together. Here's the worship set he selected: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, God Is So Good, Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee, and Come On Ring Those Bells (yes, the Christmas song). It was such a blast to sing together, eat cake, and visit. What a great birthday gift God gave us!

Isaiah at 3...

Height: 3ft. 5 ½ in.
Weight: 39 lbs.
Clothes Size: 4T
Shoe Size: 10

He Loves: music, singing (seems to always have a song on his heart) and family sing-a-longs, baths, rhyming words, making people laugh, blue M&Ms, airports & airplane rides, Thomas the Train, playing with "The Guys" (who consist of "Beeber", Ted, Ducky & Monkey), workouts with Dad, being our little helper and doing "special projects" around the house, reading books & being read to, anything with wheels, snuggling, big hugs & kisses, orange Gatorade, puzzles, "family couch time," having his ears rubbed

His Favorite...
Color: Blue (same as dad)
Food: "fur-sawn-yah" (lasagna), meatballs, string cheese, oranges, crackers, cheerios (still loves them and eats them every morning!), and of course, Ice Cream from Chick-fil-A (just like dad)
Songs: God is so Good and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Books: His children's Bible and anything about trucks, cars & trains
DVDs: If I Were a Digger and "Zoo Train" (a Little People claymation video of "Discovering Animals")

Funny Quirks: he likes to put himself to sleep by wrapping his blanket completely over his head, he likes to play in the dirt, but he doesn't like dirty hands or face (asks "can you clean it please?" even with just a few crumbs), eats realllllllly slow (after we've finished eating and cleaned up the dishes we often have to tell him that it's not talking or singing time, it's eating time), doesn't like his food mixed together (shepherds pie is not his favorite dinner), takes apart his sandwich and eats each food individually (bread, cheese, meat, tomatoes, lettuce), he loves to climb but he's still super scared of going down slides, stands & runs on his tiptoes.

He's got a pretty impressive vocabulary and he has a strong desire to know what letter goes with what words. He daily asks "Mommy, what starts with the letter ....?" and then he runs around rhyming some of the words over and over and over again: "that's the biggest green bean i ever seen!"

Character Traits: Isaiah has started to become very affectionate. He will come to us at random times and give us big bear hugs ("squishy hugs") & kisses and tell us that he loves us "very very much" (talk about melt your heart). Loves to hold our hands, snuggle and play with Mommy's hair.

He is sensitive and tenderhearted. It upsets him and he feels concern when other kids are crying, fussing or misbehaving.

Isaiah has a thankful heart. He will randomly come to us throughout the day and say, "Thank you for…." It is the sweetest thing and you can tell he really means it. Whoever said kids under five cannot feel gratitude is wrong.

We can't believe God has let us spend the last 3 years with this wonderful little boy. He is an absolute gift to us and we treasure every moment with him.

Thanks for stopping...

How many times do we drive past someone on the side of the road who is dealing with an empty fuel tank, dead battery, or flat tire? I was just thinking about some of the reasons we don't stop to help: maybe it's because we are too busy rushing to our final destination, or we don't want to get dirty, plus we've been warned about the dangers of talking with strangers, or maybe it's that we simply don't know much about vehicles and so we think it would be a waste to stop and have two people looking under the hood and scratching their heads about what to do (this is the category I often fall under).

So instead of stopping we offer a dose of drive-by help: words of wisdom like "that fool should have stopped to add more fuel before driving out into the country" or, "of all the places to break down, she picked a dangerous one and now she's putting the rest of us in danger..." Maybe rather than sarcasm we offer a little more spiritual help: "Lord, please keep that lady safe while she changes the tire in the rain" or "Thank You Lord for giving me a nice new vehicle that isn't prone to breakdowns like that pile of junk he drives". Finally, if we're not in a praying mood or not feeling particularly close to God we may simply wave or honk the horn as we drive by. Each of these is about the equivalent of a slap in the face if you're the one who is down on your knees in the mud trying to change a flat tire.

There is another option. Regardless of our lack of "know-how" in the automotive field, we could stop and wait with the stranded traveller. Rather than saying the prayer as we race by, we could stop and pray it with the brokedown driver and passengers. We may not know how to help, but slowing down long enough to say "I've had a flat tire before, if we both pitch in we'll get you back on the road in no time..." or "don't you worry about this, I know there have been times in my life where money has been too tight or I've been too busy to remember to get the fuel I needed for the journey. It may not fix the car, but it just might mend the person.

When Jesus was asked what it looks like to truly live, the simple and complicated answer was to Love God with all you've got and to love your neighbor like yourself. But then Jesus painted the picture of how we could do both at the same time by telling about the Good Samaritan. He said that when the good guy saw the broken down guy on the side of the road, "He took pity on him." and "He went to him..." If Jesus were a mathmetician he may have used the equation: Feeling + Going = Love your neighbor.

Last weekend we had the privilege of doing a Weekend to Remember conference in Bellevue, WA (our home area). We always love hearing the comments from guests who attend. Over the course of the weekend we hear many people share that they prayed to receive Christ at the conference (9 people this weekend!), or that this was the first time in years that they realized there was hope for their marriage. But one of the best comments we heard on Sunday was from a husband and wife who were walking out the door to leave after the conference was over when they stopped and walked back to our team and said "Thank You so much for coming here. We know that there are so many things that you could be doing, but it means so much to us that you came here for us."

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do." ~Edward Everett Hale

April Prayer Letter...

April 16, 2008

In just a few hours we’ll be travelling to the Northwest for two Weekend to Remember conferences in Bellevue, WA, but we wanted to quickly update you on two very exciting things that are happening in our lives right now….

On the Work Front:
A few weeks ago, Ross was asked if we would consider filling a new position at FamilyLife. The new job title is Personal Assistant to the founder and President of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey. This opportunity caught us somewhat by surprise, but we realize that it is a tremendous opportunity and we believe God will use it to prepare us as servant-leaders.

Not only is Dennis the host of the daily radio program, “FamilyLife Today,” a popular speaker and author of numerous books on marriage and family, and an advocate for the millions of orphans worldwide through FamilyLife’s “Hope for Orphans,” but he also gives directional leadership to the ministry at FamilyLife.

This new role has two parts: First, Ross will be serving Dennis by looking for ways to maximize the many opportunities for ministry that we’ve been blessed with. He will assist Dennis with developing presentations and messages, researching topics and ideas for use in speeches, books, radio programs, and seminars. In addition to that, he will manage Dennis’ travel and speaking schedule and will be interacting with other Christian leaders on behalf of Dennis. The other half of the job is the part that can’t really be defined. Many of the biggest opportunities and outreaches for FamilyLife start with just a tiny idea or a few sentences scribbled on a post-it note... Ross will be the one to take those little ideas and see if they can be cultivated into something really big. Although this part of the job is less defined, it’s one of the things that excites Ross the most!

This new role gives us an opportunity to serve in a huge way, but it’s a little anonymous so hopefully God will get all of the glory. We’re also excited to work with some of the top leaders in our ministry and leaders around the world, and we’re praying with faith that God will use this experience to launch us into new adventures down the road. Dennis told us that he only wants this job to last for a maximum of 2-3 years and then he wants to see us launched into something new with the training and experience we’ve received. We’re going to continue to surrender all of our hopes and plans to God and we are committing even now to go wherever He wants us.


On the Home Front:
We can’t hold our excitement any longer, so we’re just going to blurt it out: “Taya’s Pregnant!” Without a doubt this is the most exciting news in our lives right now. We’ve already had three doctors’ visits where we heard the heartbeat and saw an ultrasound with a healthy baby kicking and moving around. The baby’s growth is on track and we’re anticipating an October 6 due date.

It’s a challenge to even describe the joy and thankfulness we’re feeling right now. The children God has given to us have really served to grow our faith and reliance on Him. It’s probably best summed up by the verses in Romans 4:20-21: we have been “strengthened in our faith and give glory to God, being fully persuaded that God has the power to do what He promises.”

Please join is in praising God: *for the gift of this baby **and an exciting new job opportunity. Please keep praying: *for continued health for Taya and the baby, **a servant’s heart & a flexible spirit as Ross takes on his new role here at FamilyLife. ***We also appreciate your prayers for safety during wild weather. We live in “Tornado Alley” and over the last few weeks we’ve endured some intense storms with several tornadoes touching down within miles of our home.

We’re so thankful for your prayers on our behalf as well as your continual love and support. We thank God for you!

Puzzle Pics...

Isaiah LOVES his puzzles, and he's getting really good at putting them together (even faster than daddy can do them).

Plus, one more picture of Isaiah in his big-boy pants (when he's 18 he probably won't appreciate this one so much, but for now he thinks he looks pretty cool!).

What really matters...

Wow, it's been a while since we've gone 7 days without a blog post! We wish we could say we've spent the last 7 days relaxing and that we were nowhere near a computer or internet access... but in reality, this has been one of the busiest and craziest weeks we've had in a while.

A week ago Ross came home from a long day at work with the plan of playing with Isaiah for a couple of hours before packing up to head to Pittsburgh for a couple of days. About twenty minutes after we got Isaiah in bed we heard the alarm on our weather radio going off (when Isaiah hears it he says "are we all done with the beep-beep?"). Severe thunderstorms capable of producing a tornado were headed our way.

We switched gears from packing for Ross' trip to grabbing our most valuable items (Taya's scrapbooks), along with some bottled water, a bible, flashlight, and our trusty weather radio and we quickly converted our bathroom into a makeshift Tornado shelter. We grabbed Isaiah, surrounded ourselves with blankets and pillows, and spent the next several hours huddled in the bathtub with Isaiah's mattress over our heads, being serenaded by a combination of the wailing Tornado sirens, booming thunder, and crashing lightning.

It was so good for us. When the storm is raging all around, you quickly realize that your furniture and wardrobe are useless, your 401k and retirment savings are meaningless, and your plans for a nice vacation next summer are not really all that important. It completely refocused our perspective. To have our loving family huddled together in the bathtub singing "God is so good...God calms the storms...He's all I need", was such a good reminder of all that's really important. We are so blessed.

Several tornadoes did end up ripping right past our community, but never got close enough to damage to our house. We put Isaiah back to bed around 1:00am and then returned to packing for Ross' trip (not knowing if he would actually be able to get out of town). 3 hours later Ross was out the door for Pittsburgh where he had a quick but productive trip to meet with new volunteers for Western PA. Since he's returned, Isaiah has been sick twice, we've been hard at work getting ready for our trip to the Northwest next week, and we added a few more tornado warnings yesterday just for the fun of it. Now we can say it's been a whirlwind week, in more ways than one!

Here are a few pictures of the tornado damage just down the road from our house. Of course there are mobile homes, but also a mini-storage and car dealership. We couldn't get too close to the damage because the National Guard had it blocked off from all camera-toting lookie-loo's:

Wonderful?...

The other night we were in a store when a salesman came running up to us and immediately started the small talk by asking "what kind of work do you do here in Little Rock?" We get that question a lot and it's a great opportunity to share about God's plan for marriage and family and to offer a little hope and encouragement. The salesman offered the same reply that we often hear. "That must be very rewarding!" Yeah, I guess so. But the reality is that it's incredibly heart-breaking too.

Here's a glimpse at one of the reasons we do what we do. For half of the people who read this blog, this post won't be too shocking. You've probably personally experienced this pain. For the other half, I encourage you to let it sink in a little. We've grown accustomed to the news media spending the bulk of their time investigating the latest breaking news of Paris Hilton or Brittney Spears while the millions of starving refugees in Darfur are lucky to get a 30 second update once a week. We are so quick to turn our eyes away from reality because it's painful; yet not seeing it doesn't mean it ceases to exist.

One of my favorite bands growing up was a group called Everclear. The lead singer of the group had a tough childhood (parents divorce followed by extreme drug abuse and suicide attempts). So many of his songs give incredible insight into his childhood pain that he's still grappling with as a 40-year old grown-up.

Here's an example:

Did you notice the tear at the end of the song? Did you hear the words?

I don't believe you when you say everything will be wonderful someday
I don't wanna hear you say that I will understand someday
No, no, no, no
I don't wanna hear you say you both have grown in a different way
No, no, no, no
I don't wanna meet your friends and I don't wanna start over again
I just want my life to be the same, just like it used to be
Some days I hate everything
I hate everything
Everyone and everything
Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now...

Perhaps even more chilling than those lyrics are some of the comments posted by the more than 1 million people who have watched this video on YouTube. Here's what a few of them had to say after watching this clip:

Someone who identified themselves as MasterMagus1984 said; "I like the fact at 4:00 into the video he wipes a tear away too... the fact that it hurts him too makes it that much easier to identify with. I had a crappy life and this song is like twisting the knife in my heart, but I can't not listen to it."

A mom named candace2308 wrote: "this song makes me sad because my little girl said its one of her favorite songs :( "

Another mom, nautilus44, says: "I can totally relate, and unfortunately, now my kids get to relate too! The little girl reminds me of my youngest..."

"sucks when a song understands you better than your parents." ~illgoth

"this song makes me so sad =( its my childhood" ~haidarwazahra

"i've never met my dad, and i'm 13 years old.:DD" ~sportsbabe13

A girl who has the online name of sexy1013 wrote: "when u hear the word divorce it doesnt seem real. [you blame yourself] like you feel like "well maybe if i did this he/she wouldnt be so mad." my mom said it was never me or me sibilings fault. but it just feels like it."

fullmetaljacket2004 replied "...at least you've got parents i haven't seen my mom for three years. go cry emo kid."

"This is the story of my life." ~NICHOLSCO

"i feel like that every single day. i love this song." ~confusedeyes (her screen name probably says it all)

"i, for one, hate my parents" ~eemajcat

Lastly, NinjaWarrior0893 calls this the "theme song of my life."

A woman named Kara Bishop has developed an interesting website, postcardsfromsplitsville.com , where she has invited children of divorce to send in postcards depicting their feelings. Here are a few examples

Are you depressed yet? Are you angry? (At this point, I'm dripping tears all over the keyboard.) I believe this is something that grieves the heart of God. Jesus was known for His incredible love and concern for children. Not only did He pray for the children and speak a blessing over them, but He also gave a harsh warning (basically a death threat) to anyone who would cause a child to stumble.

But there is hope.

Our God isn't just some cruel judge spewing out death threats to those who have messed up. He offers solutions. Here's one of them: Isaiah 55:6-7 says "Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously."

The quotes, the video clip, the postcards... all of it paints such a bleak picture of hopelessness. But "it's in the darkest hours that the stars shine the brightest." That's why our attitude and example needs to be like the prophet Micah. In the midst of the mess his people had made, he challenged his brothers and sisters to turn from their selfish and sinful ways and to begin doing what is right, believing that God is faithful to forgive and restore.

In the face of a huge problem and terrible pain and suffering, Micah was able to say "..as for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light."

"The Lord will bring me into the light, and I will see his righteousness. Then my enemies will see that the Lord is on my side... “Yes,” says the Lord, “I will do mighty miracles for you... all the nations of the world will stand amazed at what the Lord will do for you... they will come out to meet the Lord our God. They will fear him greatly, trembling in terror at his presence."

"Where is another God like you? ...You delight in showing unfailing love. Once again you will have compassion on us. You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love..."

YES! There is hope for these kids, there is hope for their parents. That is why we do what we do! And I guess when you look at it from that perspective, it is incredibly rewarding.

Guys singing girls songs...

Sure, we all know and love Carrie Underwood's hit song "Jesus take the wheel". It's a great song with a great message. Even I (ross) love the song. But I won't sing along with it.

As a guy, there's just something un-manly about a song sung by a girl about a girl. The same thing goes for Shania Twain's "Man, I feel like a woman". Yes, it's catchy but it should never ever ever be sung by a man- it's just not right.

Anyways, a guy named Tim Hawkins has done the rest of us a favor by taking Carrie Underwood's well-known song and added a little testosterone. So now if I'm ever caught humming the tune and my manhood is questioned I can just rattle off a few lines of the new lyrics, flex my muscles, and know that my manliness is completely intact (and growing a little more each day). Thanks Mr. Hawkins; you're a great American. Enjoy the clip...

Easter Excitement...

Here's a peak at our unusual but fun Easter weekend... First, Isaiah has been super sick with the croup, so part way through the day we cancelled our childcare arrangements for Friday evening's Good Friday service at our church. We were sad, because they have been doing an excellent series on the book of Isaiah and we were looking forward to being challenged by the message and celebrating communion. So instead of going to church, we stayed home and gave Ross time to watch his NCAA tournament bracket fall to pieces:


Both of us took turns through the past few nights getting up with Isaiah to help him calm down as the croup has made him feel like he can't breathe. It's such a scary thing and we're sad that he's had to endure it. Now, all of us are completely exhausted.

Friday and Saturday Ross took advantage of the +75 degree weather to mow and fertilize the lawn and help a friend painting, and he's got the sunburn on his neck and forehead to prove it (a sunburn in March? that's uncommon even for a redhead). However, the pride of having a lawn that looks like it belongs in Lynden rather than Little Rock has taken a little of the sting out of the sunburn.

Sunday morning we woke up to a coughing and wheezing little boy which only served to confirm the fact that attending an Easter morning church service was definitely not an option. So we decided to make the best of it and ended up having a wonderful day praising Jesus and celebrating Easter as a family.

Isaiah helped Ross make hot-cross buns for breakfast: delicious!


Later, when we put Isaiah down for his nap, we watched a new movie from the makers of the "JESUS" film, called "Magdelena: released from shame." It was a brilliant movie, incredibly touching, and we immediately got excited about how it is being used to reach multitudes of people (especially women in the Middle East) with the gospel. There is one simple scene in the movie that really stands out as a way of summing up Jesus' great gift to us: after a woman is miraculously healed by Jesus, the crowd disperses and Jesus and His followers begin to walk away but she just stands there in the middle of the street saying "Thank You. Thank You. Thank You Jesus..." and then she turns around and follows Him.

You can find out more about the film here. We are so excited about this movie, that if you would promise to watch it yourself and then pass it along to someone else, we would love to send it to you for FREE. It is an excellent tool for sharing the truth about Jesus Christ with others and we would love to equip you with it.

When Isaiah woke up from his nap, we spent the rest of the afternoon doing an Easter Egg hunt with the Resurrection Eggs. Isaiah had a blast finding the eggs and we had fun sharing the true meaning of Easter with him (thanks in part to the Rez' Eggs and his favorite Easter storybook).

We wrapped up our day by making an excellent (and huge, for just the 3 of us) Ham Dinner with scalloped potatoes, glazed carrots, fresh rolls and a banana cream pie for dessert.

All in all, it turned out to be a great weekend, but without a doubt the biggest highlight for us came Sunday evening when called our family back home in Lynden to let them know that we are expecting a baby! Taya will be 13 weeks along on Tuesday and we're looking at an October 6 due date. We just had a check-up and the doctor says everything is looking great. We are absolutely overjoyed and we'll be sure to keep the blog posted with updates as they come. But for now, all we can say is "Thank You. Thank You. Thank You Jesus..."

Someday we'll miss this...

How's the weather?...

Today we had a high of 77 degrees and it has actually been really quite warm for the past week (except for the snow we had 6 days ago). Spring brings the strangest weather here in Arkansas and it's fascinating watching how the citizens react to it. Snow sends people into a panic. Actually, I should say the "threat of snow" sends people into a panic. A couple of weeks ago, there was a cold front moving in and they were predicting ice and maybe snow. The office was closed, people flooded Wal-Mart and Kroeger to snatch up the last of the milk and bread. Here's a picture of the Arkansas blizzard that created all of the chaos...

Looks pretty brutal, doesn't it? Needless to say, it was so quiet in the office that day, that I got about a week's worth of work done... plus my commute time was cut in half.

Snow is one thing that Little Rock just isn't really prepared for. On the other hand, we have thunderstorms that are bigger and louder and last longer than anything we've seen in Washington, and they don't seem to faze anyone around here.

We get many opportunities to watch the storms come and go. We actually enjoy them. So far Isaiah hasn't been scared by the thunder & lighting either! Here's a 60-second snapshot of the lightning, thunder (it was booming so loud that it set off car alarms), and penny-sized hail that pounded our house from 6pm to 4am last night. We love a good storm and this one was just amazing.

It makes the words from Chris Tomlin's excellent worship song "Indescribable" really come to life:

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name
You are amazing God
All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Incomparable, unchangeable
You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same
You are amazing God

Isn't it nice to know that no matter how unprepared we may feel for "life" and the storms that come with it, God is in complete and total control? There's only one person that knows how many hailstones (or "wittle snowballs" as Isaiah calls them) hit our house last night, and He doesn't work for the weather channel. He's the One we trust in the storm.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

The Black family LOVES the white stuff! So we were all so excited when we woke up on Tuesday morning to a tiny skiff of snow. There was enough of it to make two little snowmen (a daddy snowman and his little buddy snowman). We've made plenty of memories here in Arkansas and this was another great one, especially because it's such a rare thing here.

It's here...

Great News...My luggage arrived last night! After two and a half days it was so nice to finally brush my teeth again (just kidding).

Have you seen my bag?...

After two long delays, one mad-dash through the DFW airport, and getting stuck in a holding pattern over Dallas because of severe weather, I finally got back home from Vancouver, Canada late Sunday night. It was great to be a part of my cousins wedding and to see my extended family, but it was SO nice to get back home to Taya and Isaiah.

Now my only problem is that my luggage is still nowhere to be seen. It's easy enough to go one day without luggage, but after two days I'm starting to get a little antsy... I had purchased some "only found in Canada" gifts for Taya and Isaiah, and I was also looking forward to listening to a new cd from my cousin Joel Reimer.

As I stood in line with about 20 other people all filling out lost luggage claims at the Little Rock airport, the poor airline attendant kept apologizing for the delays and for how long it took before we even realized that the luggage just wasn't coming. I said, "it's okay- if it was between me or my bag making it safely back home, I'd rather it be me."

That brings to mind a few other favorite quotes on flying:

"All takeoff's are optional, but every landing is mandatory."

"It's better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here."

"Flying at night is the same as flying in the day, except you can't see anything."

"Every one already knows the definition of a 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away. But very few know the definition of a 'great landing.' It's one after which you can use the airplane another time."

Anyways, right now American Airlines says they have no clue where my bag is. If you happen to see it, please let me know. It looks kind of like one of these ones...

or maybe now it looks a little more like this one...

New familylife.com and Blog...

We recently found these two great quotes on marriage at FamilyLife's blog www.familylifeculturewatch.com :

The Championship Ring
"People are often enamored with my Super Bowl ring. But it's my wedding ring that I'm most proud of. And having a good marriage takes even more work than winning a Super Bowl."
- NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer

Reagan on Family
"There is no greater happiness for a man than approaching a door at the end of a day knowing someone on the other side of that door is waiting for the sound of his footsteps."- Ronald Reagan

Not only does FamilyLife have a great blog that is updated almost daily, but we have also completely re-designed and re-launched the website at www.familylife.com . We think it is one of the most helpful places to turn for excellent articles and broadcasts. For over thirty years FamilyLife has been using any platform available to offer practical tips, hope and encouragement for marriage and family... and it's just getting better. We're excited to be a part of such a great ministry.

February Prayer Letter...

February 25, 2008

Dear Friends,

February is always an exciting month at our house. Since we work at a marriage ministry it’s fitting that Valentines would be one of our favorite holidays. Of course Valentines Day is just one day, but at our house we call the entire month of February “Love Month.” We get excited to give each other little gifts and cards, and it’s always fun to reminisce about how God brought the two of us together and how He continues to write our love story.

However our enthusiasm doesn’t end there, because it seems like these past two months have given us so much more to be excited about. As we turned the calendar to the New Year and began planning out our year of ministry we felt a new surge of excitement for what lies ahead. God worked in mighty ways last year and He’s already laid out some amazing opportunities for ministry this year.

FamilyLife has been “buzzing” with activity! We’ve completed a successful launch of the all new FamilyLife.com website, finished training 65 Weekend to Remember® speaker teams, completed a week of training for over 500 volunteers, and prepared equipment and teams for 24 Weekend to Remember® events over the next three weeks! Whew!

The revised Weekend to Remember® is more powerful than ever. The messages have been sharpened and made more culturally relevant, there is more time for projects, and the conference ends at noon on Sunday with a tremendous challenge for couples to leave a legacy of godliness through their marriage.

Our family with a couple of our volunteer “Champions” who made a huge impact in the Philadelphia area this year Whether a marriage needs practical skills and a solid foundation for everyday living, a simple time of refreshment, or hope for the future… a Weekend to Remember® can provide what’s needed! We enclosed a flyer that lists upcoming spring conferences and we are so excited to be hosting the two events in Bellevue, WA this April 18-20 & April 25-27. We would love to see you there!


While the Weekend to Remember® is often a catalyst for major change in couples who attend, another tool that provides great long-term impact is the HomeBuilders® Couples Series. HomeBuilders® is the all-time bestselling Bible study curriculum on marriage and family, with over 20 different titles and topics ranging from resolving conflict to building teamwork, improving communication, and parenting. Each lesson allows couples to continue the conference experience in their own home where “life” really happens. It seems like so much of what is offered for marriage is “reactive” (DivorceCare, Celebrate Recovery, etc.). Although these programs are helpful, they are only available when trauma happens. That’s why we love HomeBuilders®. It takes a “proactive” approach to building your marriage and growing in your walk with God.

At each conference, Ross leads a couple of sessions on how couples can take these tools to not only strengthen their own marriage, but also to reach out to the marriages & families around them. Ross challenges them to step out in faith by inviting their friends & neighbors to attend a study, or to come alongside their church to develop a marriage ministry as an outreach to the community.

It’s always a highlight for us to spend time with couples who are eager to take what they are learning back to their communities. At our most recent conferences in Philadelphia, we had the opportunity to train 49 couples to be HomeBuilders® champions. If each of them would start a group, it would have an impact on over 500 people! That’s the kind of residual ministry that gets us excited. We met one sweet couple who thoroughly enjoyed the conference and they couldn’t wait to go home and start a HomeBuilders study. They said: “We felt like our marriage was in pretty good shape and were thinking we would just need an “oil-change”, but we ended up getting a “major overhaul.” We’ve both been convicted of some very important issues this weekend and we’re excited to go home and start a HomeBuilders group for our friends & we want to bring this to our church as well. Thank You!” ~Safety Manager, married 5 years


God also directed us to give away several free resources to couples who had been asking questions about HomeBuilders®. One of the ladies started crying and said “we had just been praying and telling God that we would love to start a HomeBuilders® group, but we just couldn’t afford to purchase the books, so He was going to have to provide in another way…” They immediately started making plans to host a small group study on an Air Force base. They want to strengthen the families who have been deployed in Iraq and are now returning home.

Join is in Praising God for: *Generous partners who gave extra financial gifts in December and January. Those gifts paid for our unexpected medical expenses and made up for our shortfall in monthly support. God provided all that we needed! **The opportunity to do head back “home” for two conferences in Bellevue, WA this April. We’re so thankful we’ve been give the opportunity to not only bring hope to the hopeless, but to also equip others to reach out in their community. It’s such a blessing to be doing this work and we know that we couldn’t do it without the support of our friends and family who faithfully support us through prayer and finances. Thank You!

“Changing the world…One Home at a Time.”

Survey Says...

We recently added a new blogger tool that lets us post survey's on the blog. Our first survey question was "My idea of the perfect Valentines Day is..." and here are some of the results:

50% of the voters chose a nice dinner out followed by a movie
25% selected a romantic dinner at home
0% picked ballroom dance lessons with a bunch of other love-birds
2 people thought spending the day apart (he goes golfing, she goes to the spa) was the best way to celebrate being together. If you tried that one at home, let me know how that worked for you... (but don't blame me for suggesting the idea)

For our Valentines Day, we decided to not fight the crowds and instead we spread it out over two evenings. On Thursday we made a fun dinner together at home (chicken alfredo pizza), traded gifts (Taya made a scrapbook of "the greatest love story ever told- ours"), and we both got a little teary-eyed as we read our mushy cards to each other. Then last night we went to a fun Brazilian Steakhouse where we enjoyed grown-up conversation for a few hours before going to see a movie. It was nice just to be out with each other. Our minivan isn't quite the same as the mustang, but we still love to pop in our old dating music and just drive and talk...

One highlight of V-day was just being together and thanking God for the great gifts of love He has given to us. The other highlight was when Isaiah & Ross gave Taya her gift and card, which had a bunch of "wittle" (little) candles scattered around it.

It all started with a simple question "can we roll the candles?" He thought it was the funnest thing ever and he laughed so hard that we thought he was going to throw up, he ended up getting the hiccups and couldn't get rid of them for a half hour. The following video clip is about 1 hour of giggles condensed down to 60 seconds.



We have celebrated some incredible valentines days- going to the symphony followed by a horse-drawn carriage ride through Victoria, a day at the spa downtown Seattle followed by a four-hour fondue dinner at the Melting Pot, etc. But now one of our favorite Valentines memories will forever be rolling candles across the desk with Isaiah.

Be sure to vote on the new survey each week.

I bet you can't see me...

It's been so busy that we haven't had much time to post anything over the last few days. We'll hope to have a Valentines day recap before the weekend is over. For now, just a couple of things that we never noticed when we lived in the Pacific Northwest, but are quite common here in Arkansas.

I believe this camoflouge Lazy-boy comes with a matching channel changer- as if you didn't already have a hard enough time finding the remote control...

I'm sure this one really fools the deer. I can just picture it now, "Bambi, is it just me, or did you notice that tree rolling towards us has a Nascar bumper sticker and it's left-hand turn signal has been blinking for the last mile... I don't like the looks of this."

I guess you can't blame the hunters for trying to make the hobby a little more comfortable, after all if you were a scrapbooker you would probably consider spending a few extra bucks on a better chair for your office right? I think that's the logic behind these items.

Something worth Supporting...

We love hearing about different ministries of compassion. I came across this today and thought it was something pretty exciting and inspiring. Martin Smith from Deliriou5? and the other artists mentioned here are at the top of our favorite music groups and it's exciting to see some of the long-time leaders of Contemporary Christian & Worship music coming together to make a difference. One of my favorite slogans/quotes is that "together we can do what none of us could do on our own", here's a bunch of creative people's idea of "together"...

COMPASSIONART HOSTS MULTIPLE GRAMMY, DOVE AWARD WINNING ARTISTS AT INTERNATIONAL SONGWRITER’S RETREAT JAN. 7-11 IN SCOTLAND, UK
Songs To Be Forever Donated To Help the Poorest of the Poor

Unprecedented Retreat Features, Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Chris Tomlin, Darlene Zschech, Matt and Beth Redman, Tim Hughes, Paul Baloche, Israel Houghton, Graham Kendrick, Andy Park, Stu Garrard and Martin Smith from Delirious?

(Littlehampton, England) December 3, 2007 – Compassionart is hosting internationally recognized songwriters Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Chris Tomlin, Darlene Zschech, Matt and Beth Redman, Tim Hughes, Paul Baloche, Israel Houghton, Graham Kendrick, Andy Park, Martin Smith and Stu Garrard (Delirious?), at a gathering in Perthshire, Scotland Jan. 7 – 11. 2008. The songwriters’ unprecedented goal is to collectively write 10-12 songs that will be given to the world not just to sing, but to raise money for the relief of suffering around the planet. Together these songwriters account for at least 42 million albums sold, 82 No. 1 songs, nine GRAMMY Awards, 110 Dove Awards, two Stellar Awards, two American Music Awards, and 98 current CCLI Top 500 songs sung by millions in churches around the world. Now, for the first time ever, the songwriters offer their time and talents with one voice to make a stand.

One hundred percent of the proceeds derived from the songs written at the Compassionart retreat will go directly to charity. One half of the monies will go to the songwriters’ charity of choice, and the other 50% will go to a charitable project agreed upon by all the songwriters involved.

“Over the last few years I have had the privilege of traveling to some of the poorest parts of the world and seeing first hand the plight of humanity,” says Martin Smith, Delirious? frontman and Compassionart founder who is organizing the retreat along with his wife, Anna. “As a song writer and a person with a microphone I made a promise to try and do something about it. What better than to call on my friends and do something together. To be people that can make a change rather than just singing about it.”

Remarkably, the songwriters, publishers, managers, copyright institutes and agents involved have all waived their rights and are donating their efforts on this project to Compassionart, a charity based in Littlehampton, England and dedicated to seeing works of art generate income for the poorest of the poor. And this is not a one-time offering or marketing ploy, but an ongoing effort for charity derived over the songs’ lifetimes.

“They have all waived their rights to see something historic happen- the music business coming together for something great, greater than any individual could achieve,” continues Smith.
The participating songwriters echo their enthusiasm for Compassionart and what it hopes to accomplish:

“...Isaiah 58 is the passage that I go to now more than any other, knowing that if we feed the poor, satisfy the needs of the oppressed and reach out to the downtrodden, the Lord will indeed make His face shine upon us.” ~Michael W. Smith

“I’m eagerly anticipating this time! Coming together for this time of writing with the purpose of helping the poor and oppressed is an honor. Whenever I’ve had a chance to be with orphans around the world, what many would call the least of the least, God makes it so clear to me that He has not forgotten them, that He is for them and calls them His dearly loved children. I’m praying that this time and collection of people that Martin and Anna Smith have helped call together will be greatly used by God for His glory. And I’m very hopeful that the songs He gives will draw attention to and help those desperately in need.” ~Steven Curtis Chapman

“...Who knows what God might do as we lay down our agendas and work together to write and create God inspired songs that beat with His heart for justice.” ~Tim Hughes

For more information on the Compassionart songwriter’s retreat, go to compassionart.co.uk

A hug for the King...

Recently, Taya and I had the opportunity to visit an orphanage with over 80 children under the age of 11, including 15 newborns. 80 kids without a family! It was absolutely heartbreaking... One of our co-workers asked: “I wonder if they even know what ‘family’ is?”


We have such great goals and dreams for our son, but we found ourselves surrounded by children who had been given-up, taken-away, abandoned, orphaned… What will happen with their lives? Will little Omar grow up to be a preacher or drug-dealer? Will precious little Avery grow up to be a prostitute or schoolteacher? Does anyone even care?


The orphanage seemed fairly well run, and we were pleasantly surprised at how healthy the kids are. We spent the whole day feeding and hugging newborn babies and playing with some of the older children who have such severe handicaps that they don’t even attend school. It was fun to just love on them a little.


As we left the orphanage, Taya and I talked about what we had experienced, and what it showed us about God. I mentioned to Taya that “sometimes it's kind of hard for me to grasp God being a “person” when we don’t see Him with our natural eyes, and it’s not like we can even give Him a hug or a high-five…” Wouldn’t it be easier to show our love to Jesus if we could see him?


But as we continued to wrestle with it, we remembered Jesus’ words to His friends. In Matthew 25:40 He talks about people who showed true friendship, compassion, and hospitality to people in need. Jesus tells them,

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these… you did for me.”

So, in a sense Jesus was saying “when you gave that little orphan Avery a hug, you gave it to me… when you gave Omar a high five, you were giving it to me. I know you want to hug me, so hug them. Those are my kids...”


I’ve read that Matthew 25 passage many times, but this was the first time I realized that there are actually two groups of people in it. Jesus calls one group “righteous”, which basically means “in right standing with God, approved or acceptable to Him”. Jesus welcomes that group to a new home with a special inheritance. But Jesus called the other group of people “cursed” - they’re headed for doom.


It’s as if He stood there with his arms wide open, and one group ran to Him and embraced Him, while the other group left Him hanging. But both people were given the same opportunity, I just hadn’t noticed it before. It kind of shows how vulnerable Jesus makes Himself for us too, He’s the one standing there with arms wide open, He’s the one who has made the first move. Now the choice is ours. I guess this hugging thing could be pretty serious business.