I Wish

From lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Into the Woods....

Cinderella sings:  I wish...more than anything...more than life...more than jewels....I wish to go to the festival!

Jack sings:  I wish...more than life...more than anything...more than the moon...I wish my cow would give us some milk.

Baker and his wife sing:  I wish...more than the moon...more than life...more than riches...more than anything...I wish we had a child...I want a child.

Jack's mother sings:  I wish...I wish my son were not a fool.

I wish my house was not a mess. I wish the cow was full of milk. I wish the walls were full of gold-- I wish a lot of things..

Little Red Riding Hood joins in: I wish.. It's not for me, It's for my granny in the woods. A loaf of bread, please-- To bring my poor old hungry Granny in the woods.. [Insistent] Just a loaf of bread, please..

Yesterday I rented the movie "Into the Woods" and

watched it with my two youngest daughters. I heard a

review of this movie on NPR four years ago and have wanted

to see it ever since. They raved about it. My only experience

with the show was as a college student on our campus stage

with some friends as actors in the production. At the time,

the dark second act really disappointed me, but now 25 years

later, the whole show was very understandable and good

art! Simply put, the characters each had a desire common to

humanity, their dreams came true by the end of the first

act, but during the second act everything went awry.

A good piece of art, the story exposes what we all want

as humans and are willing to sacrifice in order to get, sometimes

even worshipping idols to obtain what we want. In the

end, do the obtaining of our deepest desires make us live

"happily ever after"? Most often the reality of our selfishness

and the uncontrollable forces in our lives make a mess of our

dreams. Do watch this movie, especially if you love musicals.

Big Day

I am sitting in the van on an overcast, drizzly wet morning an hour from home.  Ethan is in Bloomington, MN teaching immigrant church pastors the Gospel of Mark.  Peter John is test riding a Kawasaki moto in hopes of owning his first motorcycle. The younger girls are home doing their chores (hopefully). We dropped off my oldest daughter at a barn north of Z-town. She has been taking her leased horse, Amber, to a Perelli horse clinic in Milaca this weekend with her riding instructor.  This day is especially important because it is Gretchen’s 18th birthday!

My daughter becomes an official adult today.  I trust God has a uniquely designed plan for this special young lady.

On to Asia

When we set out to train pastors, Asia was always in my mind.  One night long before Ethan was working overseas as a trainer, a dream captured my attention.  A young Asian woman travelled miles through a hot desert past obstacles.  Hot and thirsty, she pressed on and into the mountains.  She became so weary, her shirt was torn and her back sun-scorched.  Collapsing on a wooden chair next to a small desk, the youth arrived in a classroom full of church leaders listening intently to God's word as it was carefully expounded and instructed by my husband.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."  Matthew 6:6

Through years of uncertainty, waiting, working, studying, and, yes, faithfully training church leaders overseas, God has finally brought Ethan to a place full of young believers in Asia hungry for doctrine.  These church leaders will travel from the capital city and also from remote areas to study the redemptive history within Scripture.  Ethan along with two other teachers will teach TLI's non-formal curriculum for Biblical Theology (a personal favorite class of his).  The trip within this sparsely populated country will last twelve days.  The students are first generation believers and ready to receive all that God's word would bless them with these days.  PRAY!