Thursday, September 3, 2009

Maine wrapup 9/1/09

Greetings,
This past few weeks has been quite busy. As a family, we have done quite a bit of visiting with family, friends, and believers in all parts of Maine. We worked with Child Evangelism Fellowship, manning the story wagon at the Union Fair a couple days this past week. We had the honor of sharing the Gospel with children, parents, and some adults with special needs along with their caregivers. It is great to be able to share the love of Christ in public, a freedom not everyone has, and something taken for granted often. It is our duty and privilege to tell the Good News of Jesus and how to be reconciled to God to those who do not know.
On the home front, Sara has started the school year with the kids. Virginia is 6 and does her reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. She enjoys learning new words and practicing math skills.
Naomi is getting better with her words and finding new words all the time as she copies what seems like every word out of my mouth. Be careful little mouth what you say! Cute little girl whose hair is finally long enough to braid well.
Nathaniel is enjoying his last week in Maine. We will visit with some of his friends throughout the week. During the days, he is working on history, math, computer, map reading, social studies, and Bible study. We are going through "Living by the book" by Howard Hendricks. Great book, I hope it helps him and also me. We all need to dig deeper in God's Word and this book helps a lot to see all that is available when we thoroughly study and seek God's direction in all things.
Sara is now 15 week along in pregnancy. It is amazing to see what progress the baby is making. There are really cool charts and detailed weekly progress reports on many web sites. If you want to be wowed by God's creation, check it out sometime. Sara is still dealing with "morning(all day) sickness" but is in great spirit and happy to have a protruding bit of belly to show for all the work.
Mark is busy preparing many things for our trip to Kentucky, writing for "one anothering" and a dozen other projects that seem to be gaining momentum but still in need of much work. Mark has had the privilege of working with many brothers in Christ in evangelism, discipleship, and building up the body of Christ. What a privilege to serve our Lord and King!
We plan to leave Maine Sept. 8th, arrive in Bluffton, Ohio on the evening of the 9th, and head from there to Kentucky on the afternoon of the 12th. The saints of Bluegrass Bible Fellowship have told us that they are excited to greet us and will be having a welcome fellowship dinner for us. They truly are wonderful folks and we are blessed to be serving God in their midst. We have much to learn from them and hope to be fruitful for the Lord in many ways while in Kentucky.
I guess that is all for now, except a bit of news semi-related to us. The Humes family that we have been traveling with is headed a different direction. We still consider ourselves a team, but know that the Lord has led us to work separately for the time being. Justin and family have recently accepted the commission of team leaders for the GNOM 5 team. GNOM 5 will be traveling across the USA, bringing the Gospel to many homes and helping equip the church to share the hope we have in Jesus Christ.
It is a great responsibility and privilege for Justin to work alongside these young men. I think Justin is a great choice as he has a desire to see the Lord glorified though faithful servants. Justin is a good organizer, easy to talk to, and one that will prayerfully seek to help develop these young men as they grow closer to the Lord and serve God in this way(also my best friend). You can follow the GNOM 5 team by checking at www.uplook.org and click on "Gospel efforts"