Molly's New Blog!

A couple of months ago, we were thrilled to find out that Molly, the young woman that my husband and I are mentoring through shared life, was accepted to Adventures in Missions' "First Year Missionary" program in South Africa/Swaziland. She will spend nine months with a team in southern Africa experiencing intentional discipleship in ministry and missions.

As part of the preparation process, AIM sets up each participant with their own blog site and gives them specific assignments to complete before the trip begins. Once on the field, the participants use their blogs to keep friends and supporters updated with prayer requests, stories and pictures.

You can visit Molly's site here. She has already blogged about her expectations of the trip, her calling to missions, and the reality of life for orphans in Swaziland.

Here's a snippet from her bio:

I have felt for the past couple years that God might be calling me to Africa, and more specifically He has begun to break my heart for Swaziland. When I found the First Year Missionary Program, I learned that I could serve in Swaziland and be mentored into my future in missions. This program was exactly what I had been looking for. So now, I have begun the journey and look forward to what God has for me next.

Please feel free to visit Molly's blog and leave a comment of encouragement!

The Year in Pictures: 2008

January


When our JHers left the classroom and made a real difference in our neighbors' lives, they made "Love Your Neighbor" one of the best Sunday School classes we've ever done.

February


Oh Pizza Pucks, how I miss you. I'm so glad I got to enjoy you one last time, before the last shop that sells you closed its doors. Without you, the world seems a little sadder.

March


These five girls on my New Orleans team learned valuable lessons over the spring break mission trip about love, community, support, and prayer. They inspire me, and I am still learning from them.

April


It took us a while, but we finally found "our place" in the area: Napa Valley. Close enough for a day trip, but far enough away to feel like a whole different world. This picture is the garden at Copia (they actually use ingredients from their garden for the food in their restaurant!) I can't wait to get back!

May


We enjoyed our first camping trip with the Bonus; showing off our favorite sights in Yosemite as well as exhaustedly scrambling to the top of Yosemite Falls, one of the ten highest in the world (this pic is proof we made it to the top!).

June


We cheered on Molly as she crossed the stage at graduation. Two weeks later we cheered as she crossed a hospital room on her own two legs; praising God for the miraculous recovery from a (temporarily) paralyzing fall.

July


After 2 1/2 years of prayer, God blessed us by allowing us to bring a team back to work with our Guatemalan family in Lake Atitlan. (and yes, that's Molly right there with us!)

August


We were thrilled to join our friends the Berrys for a weekend getaway to a cabin in Lake Tahoe. One of my favorite parts of that trip was this hike down to Emerald Bay.

September


I tried my hand at wedding photography, and though I found it more challenging than expected, I really enjoyed the day. I'm so glad I could support my friends by helping them to capture special memories!

October


October saw the return of one of our favorite annual traditions: candy poker night!

November


As part of our annual 30 Hour Famine event, our students not only raised $3000 to send to World Vision, but gathered 200 pounds of food for the Monument Crisis Center, a local food bank.

December


Fellowship means celebration: here we are enjoying a Christmas party with the small group we joined last September. We've been so blessed by the friendships of these other young couples over the past three months.

As I look back over the highlights of these past twelve months, it's easy to see certain themes emerge: ministry, travel, and friends. I am so grateful to God for all the gifts and opportunities He's given me. I am thankful for the special people who have brought joy and meaning into my life. And I look ahead with wonder, with anticipation for what God will bring my way in 2009.

Reading the Good Book

With the end of the year in sight, I have been reinvigorated to finish my "through the Bible in a year (or 3)" plan.

I started in Genesis in January 2006, and have been working my way from left to right, cover to cover, with the desire to read and understand the entirety of God's word in context.

I've taken breaks here and there to move around and study a topic in greater detail, or meditate on scriptures relating to life events, but I always come back to the silk ribbon and renew its progress.

The cover to cover method has been valuable for me to spend time in scripture passages that I may not have come across through a sermon or a devotional. I like knowing that I've read everything in the Bible (hmm, if only I could remember everything I've read!).

This will be the second time I've completed the reading from cover to cover. The first time through, I read the NIV Life Application commentary alongside the relevant scriptures, which also took me three years (I enjoyed the extra information, but ultimately found that the extra weight of the Bible discouraged me from taking it with me anywhere).

So, how shall I spend my daily quiet times in January 2009? I've got a couple different options in mind.

One is the "One Year Bible", which is based on the idea of (surprise) reading through the entire Bible in a year. What I like about this Bible, is that it automatically divies up the reading for each day, so that instead of reading a huge chunk in one place, you read a bit from the Old Testament, a bit from the new, and a Psalm (Hopefully this would keep me from getting bogged down in long passages of similar content).

Another option is a topical daily devotional. Yet another would be to do an in-depth study of Romans, and pick something else once I'm done with that. Ultimately, my goal is to continue learning about God's will in my life through His word, and to grow in obedience and maturity.

How do you choose your Bible devotional / study material? Do you follow some sort of a plan, or the pick and flip method?

It's a Wonderful Life

I'm so excited to see our very own Lauren Galvin starring in "It's a Wonderful Life", presented by Contra Costa Christian Theatre.

The show will run Dec. 12-21 at the Del Valle Theatre in Walnut Creek.

You can get your tickets here.

A Family Thanksgiving Photo-Blog

What makes for a great Thanksgiving weekend?

A pretty table



A thankful heart



Time with my Hubby



High School Buddies



Sweethearts



A Minnesotan's first-time trip to In'N'Out



Laughter



Steaming hot apple cider



My parents



Pie



A real Christmas tree



Watching USC trample Notre Dame



Preachin'



Color!



My hubby's family



Thanks to God for these special memories!

Max's Thoughts on World Hunger and Poverty

The following is a note from one of our students, a young man in the 10th grade named Max. He is being challenged to really live out his faith in a meaningful way. This is exactly why we do things like the 30 Hour Famine:

So recently (as in since the 30 hour famine at my church), I've been thinking a lot about world hunger and poverty. I feel like I'm finally beginning to comprehend what's really going on everywhere in the world...except here. Because like every year when we're preparing for the 30 hour famine, we just hear over and over "kids die every day of hunger" and "other countries are divided into classes and it's so unfair" and stuff like that. But for some reason, it has really made me think a lot recently.

Like it's just so hypocritical how I can stuff myself on Thanksgiving and say I'm a Christian. Aren't we as Christians supposed to feed the hungry, not just live in our bubble to please ourselves? And I'm just satisfying myself and going beyond what I need in order to be full just because I can. And like every day, I'll look through the cupboards for something to eat, and I'm not even hungry. And whatever I see I usually turn down because "I don't feel like having it right now". If people in, I don't know, Swaziland had all the variety that I had, they would be ecstatic. I just take it all for granted.

And grocery stores. I don't think I realize that I have so much because I'm so used to it. Do I ever wonder when my next meal will come? Do I ever question if the grocery store will be out of food next time I go there?

26,000 children die each day of hunger. That's a child dying every 3 seconds 24/7. And that doesnt't include adults or teenagers. How can I not be thinking about that constantly? Why am I not weeping for those children? Why don't I do something about it?

And just watching television disgusts me. There are all these advertisements for cars and crap like that. So many people around the world couldn't afford that no matter how they tried. And I'm worried that I won't be able to use one of our two cars when I get my license.

And I never wonder how we're going to pay for all our expenses. I know that the money comes from the two and a half solid jobs that my parents have. And we have tons of money leftover for so much extra. What do we mean when we say "money will be tight this month"? We can't go out to eat for a month? So many people around the world live on an incredible amount less than us. What if we just cut some more stuff out? It's so unfair how children in Africa have to go work in the fields at the age of 5. And many girls become prostitutes at 8 or 9 just so they can make money to live. Then that just helps spread HIV.

Then I start thinking: Why was I born in America, the richest country ever? It was only by chance that I happened to be born here. Only 300 million people live here. There were like 200 other countries I could have been born into. I don't think I realize how lucky I am.

So I encourage you guys to think about and pray for the rest of the world. Because we DO live in a big, sheltered bubble. And there's so much bad stuff that we don't even know about in the rest of the world. Realize that we are very blessed indeed and that God will expect us to use the situations he's given us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and tell others about Jesus.

30 Hour Famine Report

As reported in the Oakleaf:

Two weeks ago, 45 junior high and high school students went without food for 30 hours to raise money to fight world hunger, and to fast and pray on behalf of the hungry. During the fast, students engaged in service projects, played games, worshipped through song, and even got in some ballroom dancing!

Including the individual donations collected by students, the Sunday bake sale ran by our junior highers, and the "Get Off My Lawn" fundraiser our high school students came up with, Fair Oaks students raised approximately $2000 that will go to World Vision, the foremost Christian relief agency in the world today.


Our primary service project was a trip to Love-A-Child, a shelter for homeless women and their children in Bay Point. We piled out of our van caravan and were immediately put to work. Within minutes, kids were mixing concrete, painting walls, consolidating and stacking ceramic tiles, and shoveling gravel. Students also cooked and served lunch to the ladies and their kids, all while not eating themselves.


In the latter hours of the fast, students went out into the neighborhood surrounding the church in teams to collect food donations for the Monument Crisis Center. In little over an hour, they gathered three huge boxes full of food.

Students broke the fast with a feast of marinated chicken, tortillas, beans and rice.

Special thanks are due to the many adults who supported our students through donations, prayer, and volunteering their time during our 30 Hour Famine event.