What’s happened...

This has been an interesting month - but hey, if God's involved, well, I guess it's like that.

• Worship times - Angela and I began our summer, twice-a-week, worship times at church. We're being more intentional to make this a time that we do together and that we're basing on singing/praying the scriptures instead of singing already-written songs. This is not a statement against written songs. Rather it is an attempt to:
• • Further learn what it means to pray/sing the scriptures and explore their depth
  • Push our own creative envelopes with respect to music and lyrics by letting the Word "speak for itself" and following where that leads us
  • Break out of the "led-song-service" mold where we too easily fall into the "led"/"leader" dichotomy instead of coming together in a way where everyone contributes to the worship experience - leaning into the Lord and expressing oneself as God leads
• The "scattering" of our youth - a real sign I believe. The youth of our spiritual family here have taken off for: The States, Armenia, China, Peru, England, Honduras, and we still have one in Mexico. Some of these are short-term trips, some are for a year or more. I think the "sowing" of the next generation into the nations is beginning to happen and I believe it portends, among other things, a coming influx here of people from different nations. Other than our daughter already in the States, this has not affected us directly this summer. Nonetheless, I feel a part of it and part of our worship/intercession times have been to cover these precious kids and to release them in to the destiny that God is revealing to them.
• Renovation - The just-purchased church building has had a steady trickle of work at finishing the rooms on the floor of our meeting room and the elevator installation work (large-job-#1 in the overall building renovation) should begin this coming month. Our school was not able to secure a EuroTeam team this summer, but several of the teachers and other staff members (including Angela) have been tackling some rather significant repair projects to make things better for this coming (and subsequent) years. Also some of the larger projects already started by the EuroTeam teams, will be carried forward by one of the parents who is starting his own contracting service. All this makes me feel like I'm right on track with some major computer updates this summer to make our infrastructure more up-to-date and manageable.

What’s coming...

• Renovation - These same renovation projects are all still in process and certainly the ones that involved the school must be completed by the end of August. Please pray for safety in the physical renovation work. Pray for the outside workers that come to work on the church that they would be impacted by the Spirit of the Lord while working there. Please pray that I would have skill and understanding (Exodus 36:1-2) in my computer work this summer. It's gone well, but there are still significant hurdles that must be overcome in the next 3 weeks to make it all ready for the coming school year.
• Worship - I really think that what Angela and I are doing right now is crucial for what God wants to do with worship and intercession here and how we will be involved. I was reading in my Bible today - I have been feeling really distracted and dry spiritually - and I felt like Isaiah 54:2 really spoke to me. I think that we're in the process of "lengthening the cords of our tent" with intentionally working on our music and how we conduct these worship times. To me that's a horizontal expansion, but we need the other part. If our "tent" is getting bigger, then our "tent pegs" need to get stronger. To me that speaks of simultaneously putting our roots down deeper with the Lord so that the "tent expansion" stretch us to the breaking point. Please pray for our intimacy with each other and with the Lord and that our worship would overflow from full hearts and not be solely based on skill and experience.
• Anniversary - 25 years of marriage this month! Thanks to a generous gift this month, we can celebrate with a bit more style than we're accustomed to. Thank you Lord! Please pray for another 25 years of ever-increasing intimacy and destiny!
• Back to School - Yeah I know, it's still summer! It's just that all three of our kids are starting a significant year this fall: Rachel - her senior year in university. Noah - his senior year in High School. Olivia - starting French high school (10th grade). For Olivia it's starting a new chapter and for Rachel and Noah it's finishing strong. Please pray Hebrews 12:1-3 for Rachel, Noah and Olivia.

Grace and peace to you!

David