Monday was the 39th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in America. For almost 40 years we have allowed this horrific practice.  It’s not at all unlike God to have my read-the-bible-through reading in Job 10 on Tuesday.  Job 10 gives even more clarity and perspective to Psalm 139.  Read what Job says to God in the middle of his reply to one of his well-meaning “comforters”:

Your hands fashioned and made me,

and now you have destroyed me altogether.

Remember that you have made me like clay;

and will you return me to the dust?

Did you not pour me out like milk

and curdle me like cheese?

You clothed me with skin and flesh,

and knit me together with bones and sinews.

You have granted me life and steadfast love,

and your care has preserved my spirit.

“Why did you bring me out from the womb?

Would that I had died before any eye had seen me

and were as though I had not been,

carried from the womb to the grave.

Job 10:8-12, 18-19 (ESV)

Wow.  What a passage on life.  Notice Job’s use of personal pronouns. The one’s he uses for life outside of the womb are intricately connected with the ones he uses for life inside the womb.  But the real money comes in verse 18, just three lines from the bottom of the quote above.  He states, “Would that I had died before any eye had seen me.” That “before” is a big before.  He’s saying that he was alive in the womb.  Alive before anyone had seen him. Death in the womb is death of life.

Thank you for writing those God-breathed words Job. And thank you, God, for creating and loving us the way You do.  May we fight with every breath to protect everyone You have created.

Brian

Look at us.  Great minds must think alike.  We totally dressed this way on accident.  Unless Sonya had something to do with it. Hmm.

Anyway, that’s not why I’m writing.  No, not at all. Right now we (Lynwood) are being challenged in many ways by the Lord.  One of those is to live a more inviting lifestyle toward the lost and unchurched.  To stop being afraid and get to know them intentionally to share the gospel.  This is gonna lead to some pretty cool, challenging stuff.  But right now the task is simple: invite people to a service on February 5 where the gospel is gonna be shared.  Sounds easy, right?  So why isn’t it that easy?  I mean anyone can do it.  Right?  Right.  And let me tell you about someone who does it.

Brotey.  My little man.  My best buddy.  He does it. Over Christmas break, my parents took us to The Olive Garden.  Brotey got chicken strips.  Yes, chicken strips at The Olive Garden. But, again, that’s beside the point. My mom told us later that Brotey asked her if he would go to jail if he asked our servers where they went to church.  Of course, she told him that he wouldn’t.  Without hesitation he asked both of them if they went to church and, when they responded in the affirmative, where they went to church.  I was so proud.

A few weeks later, we took the kids to Applebee’s.  Brotey immediately asked us to ask our server where she went to church.  We agreed but apparently didn’t get it done fast enough.  As she lowered Brotey’s food over his shoulder he asked her and probed until he got an answer!  And he made it look so easy!

Then, we find out that he’s been reading the bible to one of his friends during recess at school. I can’t begin to describe how that makes me feel. He has always had a heart for the lost.  He’s always concerned for friends, family, or anyone he sees on T.V. Literally, I can’t tell you how many times he has asked us if a particular person on T.V. loves Jesus.

So, Brotey can do it. We can too.  Come on Lynwood.  Let’s get to it.  And if you go to another church, get to it as well!

Brian

I mean, at a general glance, how can you complain about him?  He follows God when God calls.  Even when he doesn’t know where he’ll end up. And he’s blessed.  Things, people, money.  He’s got ‘em all.

But, at the first sign of trouble, watch out! A famine hits so Abram packs up heads to Egypt for help.  Mistake one. Then, he gets nervous about his beautiful wife (apparently old pharaoh was rounding up the beauties for himself) and tells them that she is his sister.  A half truth since she was his half sister, but also his wife. Mistake two. Spoiler alert: this won’t be the only time Abram tells that lie.

So, where does he mess up?  He doesn’t stop to ask God what to do.  He doesn’t stop to think that the God of the universe might know better what to do or can provide for and protect him. So, when trouble hits, he “knows what to do.”  And Abram does what he thinks is best.

Me too.

How many times have I done that? Trouble hits and before I stop and take time to seek God’s face I’m off trying to fix it. Or should I say messing it up more.

So Abram and me, we’re com padre’s.  Members of a club that I’m pretty sure has many members. They just don’t stand up and announce it, not with words anyway. So, I’m trying to learn this lesson now, while there’s no emergency or trouble.  Seek God.  When all is well.  Seek God.  When trouble hits.  Seek God.  When I don’t know what to do.  Seek God.

Anyone else trying to learn this or is it just me?

Brian

I can say that this has been challenging year personally.  If you follow this blog at all, you know what I’m talking about.  But I can also say that this has been one of the best years.  We serve a great body of believers.  They have loved us so much.  They have taken care of us.  They have responded to our leadership and challenged us to be better at what we do.  We love leading worship with them and serving our great Savior together.  We look forward to many more years.

My family stayed in Alabama that week to oversee the packing and loading.  It was tough.  But my first choir rehearsal was definitely the highlight of the week.  It was so exciting.

One year has passed, but our excitement is just as alive as ever.

We love you Lynwood!

Brian

I am really struggling not leading worship right now.  How can I not sing to my God?  That’s what He created me to do.  I am trusting Him with my voice.  He’s knows what’s up.

Kate and Ellie woke up from their naps in bad moods.  I mean bad moods.  Then I was glad I wasn’t leading worship  because we didn’t make it before the service started!  They were so tired and hungry on the way home and we were out of diapers.  So thankful that Taco Bell is on the way to Schnuck’s.

It’s 5 days until Saturday.  I miss my best friend and my mate.

But there were some bright moments in the day.  Kate after the morning service:

Brotey enjoying chocolate milk at our friends house:

Lunch with friends, complete with magic tricks and balloon animals.  And, of course, a call from Sonya.

I was so good to hear her voice.  They started the camp yesterday and their most intense week of ministry.  175 kids, 24/7 until the day they leave, which is this coming Friday!!!  Pray for Holly Johnson, a friend of ours not the trip.  She is sick with a stomach virus or a parasite.  Sonya is taking care of her as well as a really good doctor.  She has medicine and is getting better.  But, like I said, this is a really intense week.  Pray for healing, pray for strength, pray for stamina, and above all, pray for God to move.

Can’t wait to hear about all that God does.

Brian

The days are running together now.  Wednesday is always a long day.  This Wednesday started with an hour of dropping kids off.  I never imagined it would take me that long!  But there is so much to do.  And I am so thankful all of our friends who are helping with the kids.  And the food!  We have no lack.  Thank you all.

At the end of Wednesday, our preschool minister took Ellie and Kate home with her.  They put Ellie’s hair in pig tails:

When they got home, her husband told Ellie that they don’t run in the house.  She said, “seriously?”

Thursday, one of our college student friends kept the kids at home.  They baked cupcakes!

That night, Kate prayed that Sonya would get home safely and that I would be able to drink coffee.  What a sweetie.

Friday is my day off so it’s the day to get things done.  Like getting Brotey fitted for his tux in an upcoming wedding and shopping.  He was really into it.

That night we had creative quesadilla night.  We put the left over ingredients from the pizza night into quesadillas.  They were pretty good.

Victoria really pushed the envelope by making pasta and creating a cheesy pasta taco.  She hopes to have a cooking show someday called “Better Than Yuck.”

Then we watched movies in the basement and camped out down there.

This morning I made chocolate chip pancakes.

Everyone except Kate thought they were great. I’m just glad that I didn’t burn any.

I put peanut butter, syrup, and chocolate syrup on mine.

Then, Ellie did her own makeup.

Everyone is doing well, but we really miss Sonya.  We’ve heard from her several times.  They start the children’s camp tomorrow.  So, please pray for strength, stamina, and health for the team.  They’ve already met some of the kids and built some relationships.  It is going to be a great week.  Pray for God to move in the lives of many.  The fields are white for the harvest.

Brian

Day 2

Ellie is “calling” Sonya a lot on her play phone. And she also asks, “Where’s mommy?” all the time. We say, “Africa” and she says “Oh.”

We’ve been blessed with some amazing friends who are helping so much this week. Each Saturday night the kids are staying with someone who then brings them to church on Sunday. Keeps them from having to get there so early with me and me from having to get them ready before the break of dawn! That made Sunday so much easier. Again, we are so blessed. We did discover, though, that Ellie can now climb out of her pack-n-play. Not sure what to do about that.

We ate at some friend’s house for lunch yesterday. While there, we told Ellie that she couldn’t jump on the exercise trampoline without shoes. So she walked right over to the fridge, grabbed a magnet shaped like a flipflop and tried to put it on. When it didn’t fit, she said, “It doesn’t fit.” and went about her business.

Day 3

Then, last night was crazy with Ellie. She was up forever and climbed out of her crib for the first time. Really not sure what to do about that. Any suggestions?

Today, we had Kate’s first rheumatology visit. The appointment was a 9am in St. Louis. We had to be there at 8:30. It’s 2 hours away. Once again, a precious soul took Ellie at 6:30. The rest of us headed up for the visit. The visit went well. It will still take another three weeks to diagnose her symptoms as arthritis, but if that’s what it is and it stays in the one knee, that will be a blessing. Much easier to treat.

I was reminded again of how bad I am at this Mr. Mom thing when Kate asked if we had any snacks on the trip. Of course we had no snacks. Mommy packs those!

After the visit we went to the science center and hung out for my birthday. We had a blast. It was so special.

I don’t guess I’ve ever gotten to spend time like that with our four older ones. In the middle of it all, we went to the Macaroni Grill for lunch. They treated me so special. They even snuck around and told the waitress that it was my birthday. Of course I could see what they were doing which made it all the more fun. They brought me the Ghirardelli chocolate cake. It was amazing! The cake is in a bowl and comes with a little bowl of chocolate dipping sauce and a blob of whipped cream with toffy and chocolate bits in it. A-ma-zing. It looks a little something like this:

But the best part of that day: Sonya called. I can’t tell you how incredible it felt to talk to her. I miss her so much. But I am so glad that she is there doing what she is doing. That God is going to use her the way He is. Still, I’m counting the days until she returns.

At the end of the day, they put four candles in a cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to me. It was a very special version.

All in all, it was a great day. A very special birthday. Only thing that would have made it better? Sonya here, of course!

Day 4

Everyone slept good through night so I felt a little better. Sarah Dodge kept the kids at the house and they all had a blast. While she was there she made homemade pizza for our dinner! It rocked! I mean really. It was good. The older kids went swimming with some friends while Ellie and I spent some one-on-one time. It was really nice. We sang “Ring Around the Rosie” and hit the ground more times than I care to remember. But her laugh and the phrase “Do it again, Daddy!” are all worth it.

Still, counting the days until August 6.

Brian

From there, Nairobi!

I’m so proud of her. She was nervous about flying. But today, God gave her excitement. She was nervous about leaving us for 2 weeks, but God has provided so much love and help from our Lynwood family. She is awesome and I know that God is going to do tremendous things through her this week. I know that He’s going to do great things in her as well.

It’s hard sitting here tonight without her on the couch beside me. This would be our coffee time. Then we’d get ready for bed and turn in early because Sunday is an early morning. And I’ll miss her so much during worship tomorrow (especially since I can’t sing right now, post to come later). But I’m so glad she went. She heard God’s call and answered as she should have – obediently! I can’t wait to hear all about it. And I’m so thankful for the example she is to our kids. True courage not the lack of fear, but doing the right thing even when you are scared. That’s my girl. Courageous.

She’s also being a mentor to this sweet girl from Gadsden:

She’s my favorite person in the world.  Sonya, that is!  No disrespect to Holly.  She’s sweet too.

We all miss you, Sonya. I love you more than I can say.

Brian

Oh, and Bozeman was there to see them off as well.

Anyway, that’s what happened last week.  When we had to go to St. Louis with Kate there was one more day of VBS left to go.  Sonya and I were doing the music.  So what did they do?  They asked the kids to lead.  Our Victoria sang while Emma joined a few others to lead the motions.  I can’t tell you how proud I am of them.  Just wish I had a video or some pics.

And, I haven’t written a post about this yet, but Victoria has been writing songs.  Good songs.  I started working with her last week to chord one of them and make sure it fits rhythmically.  I’ll record it as soon as I can and post it.

Yeah, “a child shall lead them” is from Isaiah 11:6.  I googled it just so I’d know.  And now you do too.

You’re welcome.

Brian