Huzzah!

Ten days ago...

We had below zero weather and lots of snow on the ground!

Today...

68 deg. F. and all the snow is melted off after a week of warm weather!

Spring has sprung! G used Martha Stewart's cupcake recipe with toasted coconut nest and fondant eggs that G invented.

Legos and Eyeglasses

NEW GLASSES!

I am sorry, Amy, you are doomed to myopia like the rest of us.  It is only a matter of time.  Enjoy your freedom from glasses while you have it!

Our third child picked up her first pair of glasses today.  She is in fourth grade and was living with a completely near-sighted left eye for who knows how long!  We all picked up new glasses this week, too, except the youngest, of course.

The children's Christmas Vacation has been a very fulfilling experience of lego-building and other forms of creativity and expression.  My oldest prepared supper tonight with a bit of help from Mom.  We also had a bright, sunny day today with a high of about 8 degrees Fahrenheit.  I truly enjoy Minnesota Winters for the sheer fact that the bitter cold weather brings with it plenty of sunshine.  I would take that over 33 degrees and overcast plus fog like we had in Eastern Europe any day.

A Beautiful Snow

The beautiful snow-covered trees in our town.

This winter has been lovely in Minnesota.  We have had light snow and pretty cold temps.  A couple of nights ago we had heavy snow that amounted to about eight inches on the ground and the canceling of school yesterday. Because I love the Psalms so much and think about the Bible often, these verses come to mind whenever it snows:

 He sends out His command to the earth;His word runs very swiftly.¹⁶ He gives snow like wool;He scatters the frost like ashes;¹⁷ He casts out His hail like morsels;Who can stand before His cold?¹⁸ He sends out His word and melts them;He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow. Psalm 147:15-18

I am picturing the Almighty God commanding the weather.  Whatever He says it happens.  His word is powerful and very effective.

I think also about the word of God that is going out throughout the world even today. I think about all my friends who are sharing the Good News about Jesus: Tracy and Zhenya in Kyrgyzstan, Pastor Vlad and his family in Priluki, the faithful missionaries I visited in Chad last year, the McNamees in Chernihiv, and my faithful friends at ICS Bangkok where I taught art classes for two years in the 1990s. I think about the Bible that is being translated into other languages.  My brother-in-law, Marcos, is still working on the Gospel of Luke to be used in the Bilala language version of the Jesus Film and in other materials.  I am thinking about the faithful servants who are using their intellect and physical strength to pour over words and meanings in order to communicate the Bible in the heart language of native peoples.  I love these missionaries, and I praise God for the word that is going forth.

I am also thinking about those who are suffering because of their faith in Jesus and for believing the precious promises of God's word.  Our friend, Saeed in prison in Iran, who loves his family, the people of Iran, and most of all, Jesus.  He is paying a severe price for his love.  In another place, my dearest friend, Tracy, is laying in a hospital tonight in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for appendicitis.  They performed surgery to remove the appendix, and she is doing okay right now.  But we pray that no infection will come because the hospitals are not known to be very reliable and sanitary. I thank God for her and for all the workers there, who faithfully proclaim God's word, despite persecution and physical problems.

I believe that God's word will accomplish all that He desires for it.  He says it, and it happens.  God is faithful and true, and faith is being formed in hearts through the proclamation of this word and the power of the Father who draws people unto Jesus, by His grace and for His glory.

May the Word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His power.