i am deeply loved

yesterday and today i have been overwhelmed by love from three and four year olds. it has been so lovely to be instantly loved and have a playmate for a few hours. yesterday was my most favorite when we visited some of dan's family. i first met emily at christmas (i was overwhelmed by all the italian family so i sat on the couch and emily snuggled up with me), and i hoped she would love me again when we saw her and she did! my favorite line was, "hey mom, me and mary and this guy (dan) are playing nice!" her mom then reminded her that dan is her relative! :) i love it! i love small people in my life- they are the ones that i am dreading saying goodbye to.

-mary

storms to rainbows

colorado of course has some breath-taking landscape but the thing that we got most excited about were the storms. fortunately for us this summer was a wet one and we watched storm after storm roll in. we saw amazing lightening, heard thunder that shook us, hail on 4 occasions and the most beautiful and bright rainbows i have ever seen. the picture below doesn't do it justice but you can try to imagine.

Faith to be Stong

this is my theme song for goodbyes- thank you andrew peterson.

Give us faith to be strong
Father, we are so weak
Our bodies are fragile and weary
As we stagger and stumble to walk where you lead
Give us faith to be strong

Give us faith to be strong
Give us strength to be faithful
This life is not long, but it's hard
Give us grace to go on
Make us willing and able
Lord, give us faith to be strong

Give us peace when we're torn
Mend us up when we break
This flesh can be wounded and shaking
When there's much too much trouble for one heart to take
Give us peace when we're torn

Give us faith to be strong
Give us strength to be faithful
This life is not long, but it's hard
Give us grace to go on
Make us willing and able
Lord, give us faith to be strong

Give us hearts to find hope
Father, we cannot see
How the sorrow we feel can bring freedom
And as hard as we try, Lord, it's hard to believe
So, give us hearts to find hope

Give us faith to be strong
Give us strength to be faithful
This life is not long, but it's hard
Give us grace to go on
Make us willing and able
Lord, give us faith to be strong
Give us peace when we're torn
Give us faith, faith to be strong

4th of july

it has been a long time since i have celebrated the 4th of july in the us. for some reason i found myself getting really excited as i read about the festivities that were planned in the small towns around MTI. dan and i caught the end of a long parade in monument and then walked around the vendors of a small street fair. one of the people we were with commented that small town america is where you find the american spirit you think about on days like this. and it was true. i really enjoyed walking around seeing people in all sorts of red, white, and blue.
later in the evening we went to the other town to watch the big fireworks show! again it was fun to be surrounded by the people who call this place home. and the fireworks were great! :) we got to stand right under them, shivering and enjoying every minute. so thanks small towns around me! it was a wonderful last 4th of july for awhile.

-mary

pictures from CO

pikes peak!

palmer lake reservoir











new friends!

at the top of a mountain with cory and tim

Garden of the Gods

Giving

A fellow missionary-in-training at MTI (preparing to go to France) had a video series on "transformational giving," and last week a few of us watched some or all of it over several evenings. I was frankly skeptical...I've seen a number of resources aimed at getting more donors and most of them seemed too slick and materialstic for me to make any use of. This guy was less slick than average (how's that for a compliment?) and his message was completely unlike any other I've heard before. Here's the main point: most fundraising focuses on the need to raise money, i.e., "it's getting close to the end of the year, and we really need your gift to keep this wonderful ministry alive..." But that kind of giving doesn't really do anything for the donor, and, besides, that doesn't match anything in the Bible.

So what's the alternative, according to this guy? He pointed out that when the rich young ruler asked Jesus what to do with his nearly-perfect life, Jesus didn't tell him how much the disciples could use his support....instead he pointed out a way for him to grow spiritually, through radical charity. So, supposedly, the point is not meeting your needs but encouraging people to live lives more characterized by giving than receiving.

I may be butchering this concept, but it was pretty impressive on the big screen. The idea of never "selling myself" again is tantalizing...not to mention ministry to donors. Ideas?

On a different note, I flew to Tampa on Friday for Shane and Helen's wedding, only to fly back on Saturday. Ouch. But the wedding was beautiful and I'm glad I went. Would have been better with Mary, but at least it was just one night apart.
-Dan

we are good at many things...

but i am not sure if blogging is one of them. for those of you who actually read our blog i must apologize. we have been pretty busy- experiencing many new things. i may have to blog about them separately or this one will be very random and long.
i'll start with MTI. we have spent the last two weeks (and will spend 3 more) just outside of colorado springs. since dan already went through both training programs- he spent his days outside working on the landscaping. i sat in PILAT- Program In Language Acquisition Techniques. we filled our days with thinking about how to go about learning a new language when we arrive in the countries we are going to, practicing the thousands of sounds that are not in the english language (did you know we only have 44 sounds?!), practicing some of the techniques we should use when we arrive by learning various languages (for me it was russian), and various other things that will help us as we learn to communicate in a new way. i really enjoyed this training. i was pretty intimidated by the whole idea before i started and very intimidated by the idea of learning shona in a few months. now i feel very equipped to learn shona. and i am excited about it! :)
i also found a new game that i love to play! mexican train domino's. i have stayed up far too late a few nights playing - but it was always worth the loss of sleep for the fellowship!
dan, of course, won the hearts of many little people, which helped us build relationships with their parents. missions is bittersweet for the missionary and those close to them. it is a constant stream of building relationships and then saying goodbye. it was hard not to cry today just watching people say goodbye and when it came time for me to say goodbye it just got harder. and at the same time it is absolutely beautiful! we are all going out- all over the world- to share Christ. wow!
ok that's all for now. more to come

-mary