Thank you

I often pray at dinner, "Thank you God for all we have.  We recognize that everything we have comes from You."

For us, as missionaries, the temptation is to see our ministry partners as the source of our provision.  For those in "normal jobs," it may be easy to think of an employer or employment itself as the source of provision.  But when my head is clear and my heart is right, I realize that God is the source of every blessing.

So, our thanks goes to the Lord.

But it also goes to you and all of those who give to the Lord and His work.  Your heart yielded to His Spirit is generous.  Your desire to invest in His kingdom is a great encouragement.  He uses so many who invest in our family and our work to enable us to serve Him.

We do not feel alone.  In fact, your gifts reflect your concern for us, your heart for the Lord, and your desire to see people come to know Him.

So thank you.  I doubt my ability to ever convey how grateful we are to the Lord for you, and how grateful we are to you for your support as we walk by faith.

May you have a joyful Thanksgiving Day as you reflect on all that He has blessed you with as well.

With love and thanks,

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

        “Does anything bad happen with Cru?  Or with you?”

A friend and ministry financial supporter asked me this question last month.  I stared at him for a bit, thinking about how to answer that question.

Much of our work related to Human Resources has involved things I would not, and could not write in one of these letters.  Some of them are bad things that have happened in Cru with our staff.  Sometimes our staff mess up, and sometimes leaders mess up!

Our staff, like those you work with, are flawed people.  Even leaders I admire have deficiencies that can make them hard to work with!  I have deficiencies that make ME hard to work with!  We’ve experienced frustrating work relationships like that.

Sometimes we get frustrated with organizational dysfunction, and politics.   It can be hard to understand why there can seem to be a lack of accountability for some behaviors, or with how certain decisions are made.  Cru is not perfect, not even close! 

And our family? we have issues too.  The result is, there are times where things are just plain hard, and they stink!  So, yes, life is hard sometimes.  I know your life is hard sometimes too.  

I taught Sunday School this past Sunday and was encouraged by 1 Peter 5:10,  “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.”

In the context, the suffering was related to persecution, but I believe it’s true with many of the hard times in life…He will restore us, make us strong, firm, and steadfast.  There is hope!

Thank you for the support you have been to us through good times and hard times.  Your kindness and faithfulness are a great encouragement.

         With love and thanks,

A Puppy!

He loves his Mickey Mouse!

For 30 years we said no to a dog.  Too much travel, life was already too crazy, allergies, all kinds of reasons. 

But this summer, we changed our minds and in September we adopted a Vizsla puppy. Before he arrived, we had a referendum to choose the name, and “Brexit” won!  Here is the video Aubrey made about choosing the name and meeting him for the first time:

Oh my.  We are exhausted.  Yes, he is a lot of fun, but sleep comes at a premium now!

He’s potty trained already and Macy has trained him to sit, stay, shake, and lay down!   

He loves to run too!