Eric's Thoughts

Probably my greatest heartfelt desire is to know God. I ask myself what can I do to know Christ? Paul considers everything a loss compared to knowing God [Philippians 3:8] and Jesus prays for believers, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” [John 17:3] But how does someone get to know God? What does the Bible say about the process?

The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. [Matthew 22:36-40] For several months now I believe I have swapped these two commandments. I have made the first and greatest commandment to love my neighbor as myself. I have given into the American tendency towards busyness and simply doing a lot. I have put my job to love the kids in my care as my first priority. I spend half my waking hours discipling/parenting youth and trying to teach them to obey everything Christ commanded [Matthew 28] but the other half of those hours are not spent focusing on loving God with all my heart. Not even close.

There is a certain aspect of love for others and obedience to Christian commands that translate as love for God and knowing Him better so this seems to be working in my favor. See the verses below:

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love...My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. [John 15:10, 12]

If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. [John 14:23]

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. [Mark 8:35]

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
[Matthew 25:37-40]

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. [John 12:26]

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. [James 1:27]

There are certainly many other verses which mention what we should do as Christians. Romans 12 is a whole chapter about such actions. But as we return to the summary of the law and the prophets we see the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. It does not say to divide half of that love to give to your neighbor. Scripture says I should, “Fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith” [Hebrews 12:2] It seems I should focus all my energy and love on God and trust that as I do that, the desire to love my neighbor, speak to him about the gospel, and disciple the fatherless will emerge. Below are more verses which mention the pursuit of God:

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. [Hebrews 11:6]

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. [Jeremiah 29:13]

Come near to God and he will come near to you. [James 4:8]
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. [Psalm 37:4]

Bethany and I have made sacrifices (they feel like great sacrifices) to try to live our lives to know God by tackling a daunting Christian “To-Do” list. But in this we have certainly had moments when we loose sight of God and just get caught up in all the horizontal work which needs to get done to build God's kingdom. I find myself becoming impatient and frustrated. I end up focusing all my energy on doing things for God and then I sit back like Jonah and say, “Okay God, now do your part” instead of humbly waiting on an infinitely wise and loving God, who is in absolute control. My attitude towards God is “I'm doing what you said to do, so let me see the fruit you promised.” Again my American mentality shows up because I want instant results. I want to see instant fruit from my work. I don't want to have to wait to find out if God is going to bless my efforts. I don't trust Him to work all things out for the good of those who love Him. I need to humbly say before God, “I will walk in obedience and do my part because YOU have a plan and I will wait and trust to see what YOU will do in YOUR infinite wisdom and goodness.” My impatience for results shows I have a lack of trust in God. I have wanted to put myself at God's level and at times in God's shoes and at times on His throne. I need to let the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Lamb Who Was Slain sit in power and wisdom on His throne.

As I continue to look at scripture and the example Jesus laid for us, I see Jesus leaving the crowds to pursue his Father in prayer [Luke 5:15-17]. I do not withdraw from crowds to pray, instead I repeatedly forfeit time in prayer to attend to people. The curtain is torn because of Christ's blood so that we may enter the Holy of Holies [Hebrews 10]. I spend time going out and about telling others about the greatness of the Holy of Holies but I forget what it is like to rest there in His majesty.

I believe a renewed emphasis on prayer will help me remember my place before God. It is recorded that Jesus did not focus all his time on horizontal goals for the people around him. He did only what the Father would have him do and what he saw the Father doing [John 5:19]. Part of this I believe was Jesus' focus on prayer. When he didn't want to go to the cross he went to the Father in prayer [Matthew 26:36]. When he was about to choose the twelve disciples he went to the Father in prayer [Luke 6:12]. The disciples waited and prayed after Jesus ascended to heaven so they could be clothed with power from the Holy Spirit [Acts 1,2]. The verses below also highlight a focus on prayer:

Hebrews 5:7
During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

Mark 1:35
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Matthew 19:13
Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them.

Luke 5:15-17
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Luke 6:12
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them.

Luke 9:28
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.

Luke 18:1
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Ephesians 6: 18-20
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Colossians 4:2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 2:8
I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

James 5:13-18
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Jude 1:20
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

Luke 11:13
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

Before each respite and 120 hour marathon of ministry and discipleship begins I think Bethany and I need to make the continuous and conscience effort to come before our Heavenly Father in dialogue with Him. We are guilty of practicing self sufficiency and we are guilty of focusing too much on the work to be done rather than on resting in His care and love for us. Here are some further quotes highlighting the importance of prayer:

"It is in the field of prayer that life's critical battles are lost or won. We must conquer all our circumstances there. We must first of all bring them there. We must survey them there. We must master them there. In prayer we bring our spiritual enemies into the Presence of God and we fight them there. Have you tried that? Or have you been satisfied to meet and fight your foes in the open spaces of the world?" J. H. Jowett

"Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister. Pray, then my dear brother; pray, pray, pray." Edward Payson

"Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!" Andrew Murray

Prayers: Our job seems to emphasize our spiritual workload and Christian “To-Do list” so much that we have neglected to put the first commandment first. Bethany and I need to orient our life, schedule and priorities to love our God with all our heart, all our soul, and mind. I believe a focus on coming before our Father in prayer will help us do this. Please pray for us in this.

Praises: I have brought this to the attention of my care group and they continue to provide strength, revelation, love, encouragement, and focus to keep Bethany and I on track! Despite my impatience, God has shown Himself to be faithful to us over and over again.

Halo Costumes

On our most recent break Bethany and I set out to create some cool Halloween costumes. Long story short we spent too much time on the costumes but they turned out pretty well. We created full body suits of armor from Halo, the video game, and went as the Master Chief. The suits were created with cardboard, gorilla glue, brass fasteners, and paint. There is a lot of help online for anyone who wants to build Halo Spartan Armor.

We got the cardboard at a local McDonald's. It was a lot of work cutting and gluing! It took us 3 days!

Bethany's excitement about the project came in waves. I think she is mostly worried in this picture.

Here we are starting to get more optimistic about our Halloween appearance. Only painting is left to do!

At least we won first prize in the costume contest and now have Halo costumes for keeps. We were able to fit all the armor in one box and put it in storage.

Light in Darkness

Eric smiling about his new found love for sushi!

I found out recently I really enjoy sushi! Sorry Dad! Especially the California rolls with crab, avacado, cucumber, and teriyaki sauce. And now onto the GAP front:

Last weekend was a difficult and stressful time at Splash 2. I was sick, had two babies to take care of and was my first time doing respite at this house. My wife and I went to bed crying on one night and not happy on another night. We were crying out to God to get us through to our next break. But in the middle of this I got to talk to one of the teenage boys. As soon as I came over this teenage boy brought me into his room to show me where he had stashed some condoms and talked to me about how he wants to be a gangster. God provided for me the opportunity to share with him about how sex, girls, drugs, and selfish living is empty... but Jesus Christ is the one who truly gives life. By the look on his face it seemed he heard what I was saying.

Then the next day we had a check in while my wife took some kids to the football game because I was sick. While they were gone I got to share the gospel with the new girl. She ended up looking up videos on YouTube about God changing peoples lives, people being raised from the dead, and Jesus Christ's forgiveness of sin. After each video she would say, "Wow, that is cool." She has continued to have some good conversations with the hosue parents. While I was sharing with her another girl who was home at the time said, "You are not a Christian? I love Jesus!" I can only imagine this is God working through the house parents. My wife also got to share the gospel with the two other boys.

I want to end with this verse from Colossians 1:6. "All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth."

Prayers: We need God to give us His perspective again and again to go through trials to build His kingdom and reach out to these rough kids! Otherwise we will not make the sacrifices. This job can be very hard.

Praises: God provided chances to share about Him and the gospel this week. And my wife was led by the Holy Spirit to share as well! Pray for God to open the eyes of these kids to the truth.

Pork Chop Bloopers

Eric and I have enjoyed a very relaxing 4 days in between respites. It has been a great chance to recover and be together while we prepare for our upcoming schedule. It seems like it's been a while since we were just able to hang out together every day and not have a million errands and things we're trying to get done. We did a little apartment decorating, ate ice cream, watched movies, and I finished part of my scrapbook while Eric played video games. If only the weather would cool off more so we could go enjoy some outdoor activities. That will come later.....

One of my favorite things to do for Eric when we are home is make yummy dinners for him and make the table look nice like at a restaurant. I had not done this for a while so on Saturday night we got some pork chops out of the freezer and I looked up a Rachel Ray recipe under the "Romantic Dinners" heading to find something that sounded adventerous and yummy. The people that had just stayed in our apartment left us some strawberries and asparagus so I was hoping to find something that would put these components to use. Sure enough! There was a recipe for pork chops with strawberries and I could just make the asparagus on the side. We agreed that it sounded unique and possibly tasty. The following picture shows the result of our meal of "Columbus Pork Chops", asparagus, and bread.

Eric was very pleased with this meal! We thought it was very yummy. I will post the recipe on our recipe blog if anyone is interested. It's very easy to make!

Unfortunately, we had one little blooper with the pork chops. After dinner when we were cleaning up I started cooking the last two pork chops so we could have them for left overs the next day. You start the process by searing them in the skillet and then putting the whole skillet in the oven for 10 minutes. I put them in the oven and forgot to set a timer! We started watching a movie and then just went to bed. I woke up the next morning to a funny smell and realized that I never took the pork chops out of the oven! The following picture shows the result:

Fortunately, my nice big skillet is not ruined and nothing caught on fire! Thank you, Jesus!

Praises: We have had a great couple days off and we have had a much easier month so far than September was. We are also coming up on a big break and the Adler parents are visiting which is very exciting for us! We have also been able to see how God has used us to bless the people we are working for and with. We are thankful to be working with awesome co-workers! One couple even bought us a Coldstone gift card to show their appreciation for us.

Prayers: We are about to spend 5 days at the toughest house in GAP. The parents are new to us this summer and all of the kids are new to us this summer as well. All of the kids are struggling with behaviors and this house is frequently visited by the cops. There is also a set of twin 1 year old girls who will be keeping us on our toes and possibly prolonging our desires for our own children. (Well....possibly.)

Please also pray for a set of house parents who just said good-bye to two little boys who have been in their care for 3 years. They were adopted into a permanent home leaving behind their long relationship with these parents as well as their 13 year old sister who is up for separate adoption. It is a bitter sweet time for them.

We miss and love you all!

GAP and the Gospel

Recently the director of GAP Ministries was gracious enough to get together with me. It always helps me to meet with him because then I can get more of the bigger picture of what God is doing with the ministry than what it sometimes appears God is not doing with a child. The main thing I wanted to talk to him about was the ministry's view on the gospel. Our meeting was quite interesting with a lot of bible stories and interpretation thrown around. I think this comes from working for a ministry where multiple denominations are coming together to accomplish a common purpose. He was also trying to make a biblical case for relational evangelism over proclamation evangelism. I have no problem with this but I think it is a kind of tricky case to make because you are trying to biblically say, “There always needs to be or should be a relationship before the gospel is preached.”

This past year God has been beginning to put a desire on my heart for the gospel message. I remember being given the opportunity to be the “speaker” one weekend for a youth retreat. I got the opportunity to give two talks. The first talk I was able to do on faith and God. I was able to speak from the heart about what God was teaching me about faith. The second night I was appropriately supposed to talk about Christ, which I did, but this message was flat and foreign to me for some reason. I realized I was not living day by day with a very real understanding of what Christ accomplished on the cross. That has been changing for me recently.

Last year while ministering on a college campus a freshmen friend of mine pulled me aside one day and quoted the following scripture to me from 1 Corinthians 1.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.”

He went onto explain that we can talk to a pagan about the evidence of morality, God's action in history, and creationist science but the gospel will always be foolishness to those whose eyes God does not open. But for those whose eyes God does open the opposite happens – the foolish message becomes the power of God unto salvation. Since then I have become ever increasingly interested in telling people the things listed below. These are essentially the main points of the gospel. See Acts 2:22-38 to read about Peter presenting the gospel message or take a walk down the “Romans Road”.

• God is Holy and lives in unapproachable light. [1 Timothy 6:16]
• We all are sinners. [Romans 3:23]
• God cannot be with sin. [Adam and Eve]
• Jesus takes our penalty of sin [Cross] and then gives us His perfect righteousness. [Colossians 1:22]
• Once our sin is taken away he gives us the Holy Spirit to be our counselor and guide. [Acts 2:38]

Now my desire is to see God use the gospel to change lives-- not great moral teachings or good loving friends. The bible says the gospel is the power of God for salvation [Romans 1:16] and that the gospel grows and bears fruit [Colossians 1:6]. Not only that but it seems the proclamation and appropriation of the gospel is commanded [Mark 8:35, Mark 16:16, Matthew 28]. So I guess if you feel unable to preach the gospel to anyone else, preach it to yourself until it changes you. A good lead into a gospel discussion is the question, “Do you think you are good enough to get into heaven?”

So the result of my discussion with the founder of GAP was that he was very willing to let me preach and teach about the gospel but he doesn't want it to prevent me from doing my job for the state well. I should try to prevent having the gospel be a reason kids are blowing up in my house and case workers are calling me. I guess there are drawbacks from being state funded but I don't foresee this being a problem especially if I am simply trying to be faithful.

Prayers: Bethany and I are still in a tough place where part of us wants to leave our job and have more time for each other and friends. I also want to stay in a place where I am growing in “losing my life for the sake of the gospel” and make these sacrifices to see God change these kids lives. The only way Bethany and I can stay in this job is by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us and the kids to make our desires more for God then for ourselves. So we ask you to pray towards that end. Pray that Bethany and I would be like Paul and really find contentment in all circumstances and joy in our trials. Pray that God would provide in every way to sustain us and praise Him. Otherwise it is only a matter of time until we move on. Pray also for us as we start at a new house this week with 11 kids! We are once again intimidated and will try to press into the Lord for strength.

Praises: Eric had a good meeting with the founder. We both had good times hanging out with friends from small group this break.

Snack Thieves and the Gospel

Bethany and I have not blogged in a while so here is an update on the various arenas of our lives from beautiful Tucson.

Recently at two houses we have found kids sneaking treats and have had the privilege of determining what other tasty treats they would miss out on as a consequence for their greed. One culprit stole two packages of Sponge Bob Square Pants fruit snacks and the other was more ambitious taking a box of fruit roll ups, several packs of gushers, pop tarts and multiple beverages. As you can imagine, we are saddened when kids eat poorly because they think that is the one area where they can have control in their lives.

I have continued to be able to use the technology skills I developed last year at Lamprey Networks to contribute to the efficiency and professional appearance of GAP Ministries. I have created an internal website and have continued to patch up computers. Every once in a while my computer work even results in some extra cash.

House parents have begun to be able to use our new expanded apartment to relax and it seems to be serving the tired parents well. For this month it looks like Bethany and I may recoup the cost of the extra room.

Bethany and I have discovered startling ignorance displayed on the official paperwork of the Arizona Department of Economic Security. Here in the desert of Tucson I wear two types of clothes everyday: t-shirts and shorts, neither of which you will see displayed on the paperwork below. I imagine this paperwork has been used to record the belongings of thousands and thousands of children. If I recorded the clothing I bring to each house on this sheet it would appear I only have underpants and shoes. And if the Department of Economic Security is recording that the children of Arizona are all running around in underwear, then I expect a larger clothing budget for them.

Praise Report: God has provided opportunities for Bethany and I to share the gospel with our kids this month and to see fruit! So thank you for all of you who are praying. The past respite Bethany and I explained the gospel to two children and on their own accord they wrote about Christ taking away their sin the next day. The white paper below says, “God's the one and only holy person. God is the one who has created us and sent himself … he died on the cross to take away all of our sins.” This was written the day after we shared the gospel with no prompting!
I also got to talk to a young girl who was willfully choosing to sin while calling herself a Christian. I talked to her about why a Christian would stop sinning. I informed her that there was one major difference between myself and her. I said, “I do not choose sin over and over because I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me which makes all those sins you are so interested in pale and meaningless compared to God's love for me and my desire to do what God wants. I want to not walk in sin because my love for God is greater than my love for myself.” It was neat to see this young lady who was so intent on doing what she wanted stop and ponder those words. I only pray God makes His word effective.

Prayers: We are about to embark on our largest respite yet with 11 kids awaiting our arrival this evening. We are tired from the past 3 respites and are struggling to find the energy for the kids and for each other. A lot of energy gets zapped because of the kids arguing and the level of drama that happens in the house with the pre-teen girls. If anyone has suggestions on how to deal with teen girl drama, please send us your ideas!

Goodwill Is Fully Awesome

Eric and I frequently visit our local Goodwill when we are need of an item that we think we could get used for a great deal. A few pieces of our furniture have come from there as well as halloween costumes and some of Eric's clothes. Today we visited because we decided to get a flat screen monitor to set up a desktop in our new apartment. We had seen one at Goodwill before but didn't have a chance to test it to see if it worked. It did work and it cost us $85.00. Come to find out, it's a $400 monitor! http://http//www.chicagocomputersupply.com/sosd17lcdmor.html

The next thing we looked for was a suit jacket for Eric because he is ushering at a friend's wedding this weekend and needs to have a jacket for the event. I was doubtful about this find because they all seemed to be XL or XXL. When I brought Eric over to show him the jackets, however, he put the first one on that I showed him and it fit perfectly! It also is a perfect match for his one pair of dress pants so we were excited to pay $7 for a suit jacket.

After this exciting find, I decided to go on a hunt to get him some new jeans because his have ripped. He tried on the first pair I gave him which looked great in my opinion and we both liked them a lot. I then decided to find him a polo shirt to go with his cool new jeans. He likes bright colors so we picked a green one. The jeans and polo shirt were also $7 each. Not bad! We came home and I cut his hair and then took some pictures. I think he looks pretty darn good!

Thank you Jesus that we did not have to pay $80 for a new suit jacket and we found a great monitor for our apartment.

Hotel Reinhold

Chris and I did the heavy man work but only I was sore the next day. I think it was because he wore a superman t-shirt and maybe because he is a little more manly. But it is probably just the shirt.

Moving was a lot of work and something Bethany and I were unsure if we really wanted to accomplish... but now we have officially upgraded from a one bedroom apartment to two bedrooms. We are so grateful to God for the people who came and helped us move. Most of the work was done by our pregnant friends and their husbands! Moving is such a more enjoyable experience when done with friends then when we moved our meager possessions in alone one year ago.

Here is a video showing the emptiness followed by the fullness.

We decided to move into a two bedroom apartment because of friends in GAP ministries who were paying hundreds of dollars to stay at hotels and eat at restaurants during their respite. We have worked out a deal with some house parents so they will donate to our housing costs and we will provide a place for them to stay on respite. The part of the house Bethany and I are excited about is twofold. We are excited about having a room for our instruments and computers. It also is nice to have a little more space to put stuff.

There is nothing better than cheerful help. I think Amy is holding a dozen items.

Bethany and Jenae finishing up some yummy pulled pork for lunch.

Check out this shelf. See if you can figure out how it is organized.

Praises: We were so grateful for everyone who came to help!

The Moving Begins

Today we packed. Tomorrow, with the help of many people and a truck, we will move to a new and bigger apartment.

July Happenings

After having a lot of fun traveling in June and then celebrating Eric's birthday, we settled back down into our regular work routine in the first part of July. We are very thankful to have been able to attend our church with the kids and set up our respite schedule so that we could attend our small group every week this month! It did mean, however, that we ended up working 4 respites in a row with only a day in between! On Wednesday we finished and were totally wiped!

During our days off in between work we were able to relax a bit as well as make a special purchase and figure out plans to move into a two bedroom apartment in our same complex. As you can see below, we found an 88-key digital piano on Craigslist and when we went to try it out, I was hooked almost right away. It will be great for practicing and keeping my skill level up. It also doesn't take up that much space and is light for transporting.

We also went to a Tucson Toros baseball game thanks to some friends who won the tickets and couldn't go. We didn't know that it was going to be $1 beer night so it was a little crazy and also very hot. Poor Eric didn't feel very good for most of the game so I think I enjoyed it more than him. We left before it was over but I loved watching a live game. I think our next sporting event will probably be this Sunday when the Yankees and the Red Sox play but we will watch it in an air conditioned restaurant with more beverage variety.

Our last news for July is that we are moving into a two bedroom apartment in our same complex on Saturday. The space will be nice but our main motivation is that the GAP couples don't always have a place to go with their families when they are on break and a few couples have really enjoyed using our apartment for the 5 days. Having another room will make it more practical for couples with kids and at least 2 couples have agreed to help us with rent because of our willingness to let them stay. We are sad to leave our nice quiet spot and view in the back of the complex but it's exciting to plan for more space and we will have a room for the computers and keyboard separate from our bedroom. Come visit and stay with us at Hotel Reinhold!

Praises: We have an opportunity to bless the people we work with by offering them a place to stay. We are thankful for God's provision of a good keyboard. We survived 4 weeks of respite in a row and now have 2 weeks off!

Prayers: Pray for the kids and parents as they transition back into school. Today was the first day for the kids down here. Pray that our move will go quickly and smoothly. Pray that we will be able to use our time off to invest in our developing friendships in our church and that we will be wise with our time and money as we set up a new place to live.

Happy Birthday, Eric!

Tuesday was Eric's birthday but we worked until 5:30 and then went to enjoy dinner with some friends. On Wednesday we had a small celebration with his favorite ice cream from Coldstone. I bought him a pair of our very own ice cream dishes shaped like cones. He also has a poster coming in the mail with a dragon on it.


Thank you to all of you who were praying for our last respite. We made it through with 9 kids and no major incidents or problems. It was hot for sure but they have a pool at the house which we enjoyed. If God lays it on your heart you could pray for two teenage girls at Splash 1 who got into a fight with each other at a different group home and have now ended up living in GAP together. Eric talked to one of the girls a little bit about forgiveness and reconciliation. Both girls want to go back to living with their moms but they need to be succesful where they are at so pray for their situation and for wisdom for their house parents.

Another major point of prayer for us right now is the idea of buying a house. One of our friends at church prompted us to think about the idea based on where we are financially and where the housing market is. This would obviously be a huge decision so pray for us to think wisely about it and to be led to the right people who could help us out.

Prayers: We are headed to our 2nd respite of the month this afternoon with another 9 kids. As always, we appreciate your prayers and recognize that we are totally reliant on God's grace to carry us through the task before us. Pray for opportunities to build God's kingdom and for the Holy Spirit's guidance and power for the task.

Praises: Eric was able to have Bible bedtime stories and share the gospel each night with four boys at the house we were at. He also got to share about forgiveness with a girl who is angry and bitter about life and other people. At church on Sunday we listened to a sermon about the servanthood of Christ based on John 13 and how His sacrifice makes it possible for us to serve in even the dirtiest or most humbling places. This truth cut through to me and carried me through the rest of the week of washing dishes and cleaning up after kids messes.

New House - 10 Kids

Bethany and I are heading into another week of respite and feeling intimidated. We are at a new house and there could be as many as 10 kids and 1 kid who has a parole officer! Needless to say we ask you to approach the throne of our Father in heaven to lift us up. We need wisdom. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us, sustain us, and teach us when and what to say. We need to know how to be Godly parents and let the Lord's love shine through us. We pray for God to reach out to these kids with his love and use us. Pray for us not to just see the intimidation of new relationships, crazy kids, and negative influences. But pray for us to trust the work God can do, ask Him to do it, and walk forward in hope and obedience. Most of all pray for us to be reminded and know more about the truth of the gospel so we could live out these hard situations with gratitude to our savior and a message of hope for those we are in contact with.

Your prayers make all the difference. Thank you for praying for us.

Praises: God helped me to fix a computer I was working on for probably 12 hours!

Precious Moments

On Father's Day we were working at a house and we took the kids to church with us. They created Father's Day cards in their Sunday School classes. Here is the one that Eric received from a 7 year old boy that we work with regularly. So precious!

We have lived in Arizona for almost a year and last night for the first time we saw a real live moving tarantula in the parking lot of our apartment complex. Yuck!


My wonderful husband bought me some daisys to brighten up our kitchen table. It makes it cheery inside where we spend most of our time because it's too hot to go out!

Vancouver, B.C.

Last year when we were planning our wedding and honeymoon, I thought it would be great to go to Vancouver, B.C. because I had heard that it was so beautiful there with fun outdoor activities. The cost, however, seemed higher than our budget would allow so instead we chose the east coast of Canada and went to Nova Scotia. That's when this blog began! God, in His wisdom and generosity, knew that we would get the chance to go to Vancouver to celebrate our first anniversary instead and so this year we once again found ourselves in Canada at the end of June only this time it was on the opposite coast.

We flew up to Vancouver via the graciousness of Eric's parents. His dad had a business meeting up there and then rented a vacation home for a few days. Check out his companies website here. Eric's mom and older brother, Dan, also joined us for the stay. Our activities included roller blading around a beautiful park overlooking the ocean, kayaking up a fjiord, taking a ferry ride, walking through beautiful woods and hiking to the top of a mountain in the snow while wearing t-shirts and shorts. As you can see from the pictures below, Vancouver is one of the most beautiful places in the world, especially if you like to be outside. Our weather was perfect and every day was full of adventure. It was a great way to mark one year of marriage and it was cool how the activities we did reminded us of the same things we did on our honeymoon, including celebrating Canada Day! (To refresh yourself on our honeymoon, refer to the beginning of this blog).

We are very grateful to Eric's parents for giving us such a great vacation!

Celebrating our anniversary with fine seafood.

At a place called "Skookumchuck" which means "strong water".

Kayaking around the fjords. Double kayaks are called "divorce boats".

Ladies and Gentleman, I present the Dragon Fruit!

Canadians don't have Homeland security. They just have this scary bird that can see into your soul.

The family looking tough in our kayak skirts.

My older brother Dan gave a beautiful toast and prayer to our marriage.

The moment Dan was done my dad changed the subject to urinals which gave all of us a little chuckle.

We were on a budget in Vancouver because things there were quite expensize. The Canadians taught us that when you pay half as much you get half as much.

This was the view rewarded to us after a hike through the snow and swarms of bugs. (That's why I have my hood on.)

Technologic

If you have a device which you want to have on the internet but it is a huge hassle to plug into your router because it is in a different room, then this article is for you!

Technologic is the name of a very cool song. Look it up on YouTube. I call this blog Technologic because more and more do I seem to be the technology geek in GAP. I guess my father's blood runs in my veins because I am fascinated with solving computer problems. God bless my wife for putting up with me while I am hacking away at computer problems.

So I am writing this post because open source software (Unix) has broken into my life once again in a wonderful way. Open source software is programming that utalitarian super nerds somewhere out there in cyberspace decide to create and give away for FREE! Some examples of open source software are: OpenOffice, Firefox, and Thunderbird. Unix is code that everyone is required to share freely. Is there really anywhere else in the world that people just create things and give them away for free? Thanks to this open source unix firmware I have figured out how to do something so cool with a wireless Linksys router that I am compelled to share.

I installed DD-WRT firmware on a WRT54G.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/

This firmware allowed me to use my router (instead of my laptop) to connect to local wireless internet signal being broadcast at my apartment complex. Once I connected my DD-WRT router to the local broadcast it redistributed the internet signal through the hardwire ports in the back and wirelessly! This is useful if you have wireless internet upstairs and a desktop or X-Box downstairs which does not have wireless capabilities. This is also useful if you live in an apartment where free internet is being broadcast and you want to have it in your apartment.

Let me tell you how it works. DD-WRT firmware is unix based software which gives ordinary routers extra special features. First visit this website and see if you have a router which in on the list of approved devices.

Then go to the “Tutorials” section of the website and follow the instructions. There is a lot you can do with this firmware! Read up on it and see if there is any extra functionality you wish your router could do. Happy routing!

Note: If you install open source firmware on your router the manufacturer will not cover it with support or warrenties.

Grand Canyon

Bethany and I got to visit one of the seven natural wonders of the world for the first time, the Grand Canyon. Upon arriving at our lovely bed and breakfast, with serious emphasis on the breakfast. Our host, Casey, cooked a mad awesome breakfast which included strawberry crepes! But seriously folks, if all you have to do is provide a bed and a breakfast, why not do both well? Casey did both well. We stayed in Williams, AZ which also happened to have some cool Cowboys.

The first night Casey told us how to get to the canyon and what time the sun would be setting. We headed out for our first look at the massive crack in the earth. There were clouds that evening so sunset wasn't that spectacular over the west view of the canyon but our first sights of the natural wonder took our breaths away. It is simply stunning to see! The next day we took lots of pictures along the south rim and then ventured down for about 1.5 miles before we turned around, passing mules and many hardcore hikers. That barely gave us a taste of what it's like to hike the whole thing. We definitely want to go back and maybe try to make the 2 day hike to the hidden Havasu Falls. There is no road that leads to the falls and it is on an Indian reservation. Anyone up for a trip to one of the most photographed water falls in the US?

There is an amazing tourist town set up on the edge of the Grand Canyon with people visiting from all over the world. We ate at a restaurant (the food wasn't special, really it wasn't. I had turkey and cheese on wonder bread for more money than your average all-you-can-eat buffet) but we had a very respectful Chinese waiter who would bow every time he came by our table. I opened the door for an elderly couple and they responded, “Merci” sadly my French failed me and I simply smiled and bowed like my Chinese waiter had taught me. As we walked around the park we noticed that dozens of nationalities seemed to be represented. We saw Germans, Chinese, French, Hindus, Mexicans, and heard plenty of languages being spoken I simply did not recognize.

Bethany and I watched a 30 minute IMAX presentation of the Grand Canyon which was wonderful and awe inspiring. Multilingual translations were provided via headphones to those in need. The movie ended with a quote similar to this, “The transcendent beauty of the canyon causes humans to inwardly rise towards the infinite divine and reach for each other in bonds of peace.” This quote makes everyone feel included except atheists. Pictures really do not do the canyon justice (play the video clip and you will hear my wife's testimony). Even after visiting the canyon for two days and watching a movie about it we still felt we had just scratched the surface of this awesome canyon. It did make our thoughts travel upwards to the creative power of our heavenly Father.