I Am Still Here

Well, it has certainly been awhile. Sorry. I found myself getting so busy, that when I did have a few minutes to get online, I just didn't feel in the "blogging" mood. Does one need to be in a blogging mood to blog? Good question. Dunno. Just got back inside from hanging out with the neighbour kids. They seemed quite entertained with me doing a few flips and stuff on the front lawn. I am fortunate I didn't hurt anything... not having done gymnastics in a long while. Thankfully, my only souvenirs from the last hour seem to be an abundance of mosquito bites... (aren't they supposed to leave in the fall?). lol ¡No problemas!

Well, God is continuing to teach me lots of awesome stuff... like how to manage my schedule. Or perhaps... teaching me that I really am not good at managing my schedule on my own. Thank the Lord I have an evening finally that I can relax a bit and do some more much-needed reading and studying of Spanish. Wow. I am really going to have to get on the ball if I am going to be fluent by January. Going to a Spanish church once a week has been a blessing, but I find my studies are quite a bit behind where they need to be. The young adults at our church had a coffee house last night - it went great! We brought a jazz band in to Timothy's in Mississauga, and did poetry... twas very cool. I pray that the Lord would use our generation to invade every part of society with the love and grace and mercy and truth of Jesus Christ! God is doing great things in stirring the young adults in my city here... but perhaps more on that in another post. :)

Here is a missions update for everyone: we have not yet found a house for January in the Dominican. The plan is to find a place to rent for a couple months while we scout out the area for some land where we can perhaps build our own house. Won't that be fun! :) I think a triangular-shaped block home would be really cool. We have been thinking about how to stay in touch via internet where we will be (in the Nagua area, two hours east of Puerto Plata). I looked into satellite. That is a non-starter. US$7.00 per Megabyte. Ouch. They do have cell phone internet cards... that may work out. But even if we don't find something suitable, I'm sure there is an internet line somewhere within a little drive of us. But all in all, the preparations are going well, albeit slowly. But please keep me in your prayers.

I just finished reading a book called "The Dangerous Duty of Delight" by John Piper loaned to me by my buddy Dan, who is himself heading out to Tanzania for missions work in January, praise the Lord!! Yes, the book was excellent. Describing how the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. Awesome! To delight in the Lord and who He is. That He is to be what we passionately long for always. He is our perfect satisfaction. Amen, amen! May the Lord fill our hearts with a new and fresh, desperate longing for Him, that continues to grow in strength every day. May we delight in His Word and meditate on it day and night. May our food be to do the will of Him who created us and called us to do His work!

Let me leave you with some scripture that has touched my heart for many years. It is talking about King Josiah, a good Jewish King - King of Judah. His son was wicked (to whom this word is being addressed), but Josiah pleased God. It is amazing what God says about what it means to know Him:

'Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?' declares the Lord.
-Jeremiah 22:15-16