Moving Day Has Arrived... Sort of

Monday morning I'll be getting up at my usual time. I will be treating my day as a usual work day. The difference is that I won't be working at YD. I'll be working to move all of our stuff - or as much as possible - from one house to another. Our house will be closing on Friday, July 21. After that, the owner seems to have a problem with us being here while he's also living here. Rather narrow of him, in my opinion, but, there it is. We have to be gone. So God has blessed us with a beautiful 4-bedroom, 2.5 bath house in a nice part of town for us to rent on a temporary basis (Isn't that rather what renting implies... sort of?). It has a two car garage that will work great for storing all the stuff we really don't need to get out, and the house itself is huge. I want to publicly thank Gary Mann, our first landlord here, then our realtor, and now our landlord again, for such a great blessing of a deal. We are praying that we won't be in there for longer than a month or two, but are prepared for up to three months. After that, the rent will be going up, and I'll be getting a local job to pay the bills. But we believe God will provide before that.
So, if you don't hear from us over the next few days, you'll understand why. The boys are excited about the move, especially the idea of splitting up the bedrooms. Benjamin is still not going to sleep very well. Last night he was up past 10:00, long after the other three. He was up and in my bed at 5:30 this morning. I don't understand what the problem is, but we know he'll learn eventually. At least by doing it this way, we don't have to move the crib. That's going to mom and dad's storage unit.

Friendship update

Here's the link for a full article on deep friendships. Not much new here, but it's a bit more detailed, and you can actually read the information I was talking about earlier.

PS to Friends for Life

Today, during the first and second service at Grace (our home church), we said goodbye to two families in the church. More importantly, we said goodbye to two couples who have become friends during our years here. We know that they are making moves they need to, but it's still hard to say goodbye. Only time will tell if our relationships with them will stand the test of time like those with Branden and Shawna, etc. Still, I keep thinking that, even if we never see them again this side of eternity, we have made an impact on each others' lives. That can never be taken from us. May God bless Carl and Julie and Barry and Pam as you embark on the next chapters of your lives.

Friends for Life

"The average American now has just two close friends, a new study has found. One in four people say they have no close friends. Sociologists say we are becoming more isolated because of suburban migration, long work hours, and the growing amount of time spent on the Internet, iPods, and other electronic devices." Noted in "The Weekly" (July 7-14), as quoted from "USA Today."

First: the irony. I'm sitting at my computer, typing in this blog (and maybe one more entry before I'm done), while my wife sits in the living room reading a magazine or something. Hmmm...

About a month ago, some old friends from our Skagit Valley days invited us to their home in Carnation. It was going to be a reunion of the group of friends, along with a few new ones. We declined, planning on spending this weekend recuperating from the prior two weeks of craziness and ministry (see July 7 post below). As the weekend (Monday and Tuesday, really) came closer, though, and we realized that we would not only be recuperated enough, but wouldn't be having any job interviews on the immediate horizon, the thought started gnawing at our hearts. Added to this were the e-mails of sincere disappointment that we weren't going to be there, then more e-mails (not nagging, but sincere), asking us if we were sure we couldn't make it, could somebody do something to help, etc. In short, the message that came across was that we were wanted. These friends weren't just being polite. They sincerely wanted us there, and wanted to spend quality time with us. So, on Monday we packed our bags and headed to Conway to visit Sean and Cheryl. It was a great night of playing pinochle, eating, and sharing in a depth of relationship that we don't have with many. The next day, after a relaxing morning, we all headed to Carnation. We enjoyed quality time with Jay and Faith (now missionaries to Mexico), Branden and Shawna, and Rod and Zindra, along with meeting a few new friends. These are people that we have known for years. We don't see each other much any more, yet we continue to stay connected, recognizing the value of these long lasting relationships. These relationships are valuable, not only for the social aspect, but for their depth. We have truly been through the fire together in so many ways. We have walked through marital struggles together. We have challenged each other to go deeper with God, and struggled to do so ourselves. It was amazing.

On top of simply being content to be together, there were some other notables. Of the old friends, all of us have made a commitment to home school our kids, and we value our chidren tremendously. I will add, though, that I have only thrown one against the ceiling of Sean and Cheryl's home, despite rumors to the contrary. Sorry about that, Katie. There were at least fourteen children in that home, not including the children I didn't know. It was so cool to watch how our kids have grown up, if not together, at least making time to keep them connected.

These are valuable relationships, ones that I plan on keeping, even should we move out of state (and it looks like we will). While we appreciated some financial help this time to make it over, we plan on making it a point to continue coming to these get togethers. In a culture and time when the above quote is true, we are thankful to have these great friends, along with several others who are parts of different groups (Concrete, Moses Lake, ORU, etc.). Our closeness of relationships will ebb and flow due to distance and time, but the depth of relationship will only grow stronger with time as we pursue God together.

Before we ended the evening, Branden pulled everybody together, including those who didn't know us from Adam, and not only lead a prayer for us as we go on our new endeavor, but worked hard to invite everybody to take part in that prayer, whether they knew us or not. During his prayer, he made it clear that the impact we'd made in his heart was deeper than even Shari and I could have guessed. I was blessed, encouraged, and, most of all, humbled, that God had used me, and I had been oblivious. So, I say, "Thank you" to you, Branden and Shawna, Sean and Cheryl, Jay and Faith, and Rod and Zindra, for your love and care for Shari and I and our boys. Thank you for sticking with us. You are true friends that the world can never understand.

"By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35

Mt. Biking for Jesus

After a full week, including a four-day weekend to relax (not that I did the whole weekend), I think I've finally recovered from our wonderful mountain biking trip. Now I can tell those who read this all about it... or at least the highlights.

Our first day was rough. It wasn't the riding - we didn't do much. It was the disappointment in who didn't join us. Three of the six young men baled that first day. On the other hand, in retrospect, it was great just having the three guys we had. I fact, it may have been better. Still, at the moment, it was rough. Once we got going, though, the fun began. We picked up our mountain bikes at Arlbergs (thanks to them for a sweet rental deal) in Wenatchee. After setting up camp at the Lake Creek Campgrounds, we drove for over an hour to our first trailhead. Our goal - to make sure the snow was melted enough to get there. We were excited to find it was so. Not only did this mean we would get a better ride than our alternative, but it meant that a vast majority of the ride would be downhill instead of uphill.

The next day we got a late start, but it was all worth it. The ride down was a blast. There were plenty of switchbacks, jumps, and small whoop-de-doos. Around 2:00 we stopped for lunch, then headed off again. We got to cross some great creeks, especially during the second half of the trip. We made it to the bottom around 5:00, then drove up and got the suburban we had left at the trail head. Here are some quotes from my journal entry that night.
"The mosquitoes are atrocious! It reminds me of the 'Berenstein Bears Picnic.' If we had only remembered repellant."
"Everybody wiped out but me. Dave waited until we were a couple hundred yards from home, then went right over the top."

The next day, I got my turn. Because of our schedule, we rode uphill a ways, then rode down hill. As usual, Dave lead during the uphill. However, when we turned around to come down hill, it was easier for me to lead (having been eating everybody's dust for the past two days). So, I shot on down. It was beautiful to be able to just cruise and not wait for anybody. It was nice to have a clear view, w/o sucking up the dust of everybody in front of me. Unfortunately, I enjoyed both these things too much, and ended up not quite making a turn. I hit a stump and flew over the handlebars. Mike said it was a beautiful tuck and roll landing. My backpack took the brunt of the force, which was nice. Unfortunately, my tire was blown, so we had to take some extra time to patch that. I have the dubious distinction of being the only one to pop a tube on this trip. I went back to my proper (and safer) place at the rear with the first aid kit.

That night we traveled to Stonewater Ranch for our final evening with they guys. The next day, we joined a host of other groups, including one from Puyallup, to raft the Wenatchee River with YDA-WA. This was a great way to end a very hot trip - sometimes getting close to 100 degrees the last two days. The irony was that it was the only day that week (and since) that it was overcast. I don't think it got over 80, but maybe. The water was in the upper-30's and running fast and high. It was a great day for rafting. All but Craig ended up hitting the water at least once, though none did so in a rapid. Adam did a great job of guiding our boat and giving the guys a great time. Mike had been rafting in Utah before, but the other two had never been, nor had Dave, so it was a great experience for them all. I even tried to ride the bow (called a Rodeo) while they spun the boat around. That didn't last long - definitely less than the eight seconds expected from a cowboy. After the ride, this tired crew headed for home, and our own families and beds. What a week.

During the trip, Dave and I presented the Gospel using a model from Dare2Share ministries. We took the word "Gospel" and made it an acrostic. We started before we left, and had two sessions every day. While the guys could be distracted at times, they asked some great questions, reminding Dave and I just how Biblically ignorant and illiterate this generation is. Questions included,
"Was Adam the devil?"

"Who was the devil?"

"So, we're all going to hell?!"


These, and others like them, were great questions that lead to some fantastic opportunities that we hadn't planned. God simply opened doors for these guys to learn and grow. While Craig is a new believer, Mike and Brian both have never made a profession of faith. By the end of the trip, they had made some great strides towards a relationship with Christ. Most importantly, they recognized their need for Jesus, but also recognized the great cost involved. They are currently counting the cost and determining if they want to surrender their lives to Jesus, or continue down the road they're on.

Thank you to all who prayed for this trip. It was a huge success. I'm probably forgetting much, but hopefully this gives you a better idea of what God did. While I may not be able to run another trip with YD Adventures as a YD staff person, I look forward to using YD Adventures in the future... assuming I'm somewhere close enough to travel there. Either way, I believe God has put within me a desire to use His creation to communicate His goodness and mercy, and our need for Him, so I'll keep going there... wherever "there" is.

For more pictures of this trip, as well as Shari's (which I may blog about if Shari can get me more information on the trip), you can go to the MLYD photo site.