Saturday, June 17, 2017

Of Age... Kaleb's 18 and

Kaleb turned 18 on Thursday! We had a little sundae party with a few of his friends. The group who showed up was diverse and interesting, each with a unique place in Kaleb's life. This was a much smaller group than helped him celebrate his graduation, but a sort of cross-section: Kaleb's youth pastor who has been a great mentor to him, a guy he works with, a kid he disciples, a new friend, a couple others. It struck me again how God has blessed Kaleb with community-- just the community he needs to grow, learn, and reach out. People who care about him and people he cares about. And my mother's heart was full with the knowledge that God does all things well, and sometimes He allows us to see the good things He is doing!

Garry has been working on developing training lately, which is a stretch when you are developing it for others to teach. It's a unique challenge to inspire others to teach what you'd naturally teach, in an environment that is both busy and structured. Yet God has provided great resources and wisdom, and we are excited about how God is going to use this as He continues to unfold it.

Much of what we do has to do with context, and this week Garry felt that when he had lunch with one of the students. This young man will be in town for a while, but not in training with Moody next year. He wants to be sure that he can continue to interact with Garry, to ask questions and gain perspective, even if he moves out of the circle where they normally interact. Of course! While we are thankful for the unique context Moody provides, we love investing with people who want to learn.

Kevin has just finished his first 2 weeks in China, and God has been so good to him. He is learning a ton, having crazy experiences, and living in a very foreign world. Yet we see whispers of God at work around him. We know God is at work in him, preparing him for whatever the next steps may be for him. He also mentioned that he has never been anywhere that there was so little sign of religion at any level-- in decorations, church buildings, or any other advertising. But he was invited to join another team member tomorrow as he live-streams a service. Wow, God.

These days we are also preparing for our trip to Manitoba this summer. We will be gone about a month, and look forward to seeing many of you. This will feel like a very quick trip as our month includes driving back and forth, a week at camp, and a week in Ohio doing an aviation audit.

We are excited about what God is doing and what He is preparing to do. So thankful to be on the journey and see it unfold!


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