The Gift of Gifts

As we celebrate this Advent season, we have been meditating on what Christ's coming really meant, and what it means for us today.

O Source of all Good,

What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts, thine own dear Son, begotten, not created, my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute, his self-emptying incomprehensible, his infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp. Herein is wonder of wonders: he came below to raise me above, was born like me that I might become like him. Herein is love; when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace, to raise me to himself. Herein is power; when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created. Herein is wisdom; when I was undone, with no will to return to him, and no intellect to devise recovery, he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost, as man to die my death, to shed satisfying blood on my behalf, to work out a perfect righteousness for me. O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds, and enlarge my mind; let me hear good tidings of great joy, and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore, my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose, my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father; place me with ox, ass, camel, goat, to look with them upon my Redeemer's face, and in him account myself delivered from sin; let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart, embrace him with undying faith, exulting that he is mine and I am his. In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.

The valley of vision

Football Anyone?

Our boys are fans. They read the sports section of the paper everyday and have become Patriots' fans, which they are thrilled that they have done so well in the past. To their dismay, Tom Brady was injured and Matt Cassel took his place. (Lots of good things come out of USC. Go Trojans!) They have been rather pleased with his performance and many a conversation has centered on him. Our little princess is privy to these conversations, but is rather ignorant of what they actually mean.

The children were visiting with a friend named Matt, who lives in a high rise apartment recently. Trying to be "in" the conversation, her comment was, "I am going to Matt's castle."

Squanto

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with 25 people bustin' at the seams-the house and our clothes! It was especially fun to celebrate in Massachusetts where the original Thanksgiving happened. We have been studying early American History and have actually WALKED at Plimoth and various other places which has made the boys incredibly excited about history.

As our guests arrived for Thanksgiving, our youngest son greeted them at the door wearing an Indian costume that I bought 2 years ago for him. He was quite a sight, bustin' at the seams (before the turkey dinner) with his quad-zilla thighs. One of our friend commented on his appropriate attire and he answered, "Well, SOMEONE needed to be Squanto!"

If you haven't read the story of Squanto and seen God's hand of sovereignty, it is well worth the read! Our son was quite moved. http://www.eschatologytoday.net/newsviewer.php?id=13

Meany

We are good at studying culture and learning the who's and why's and what-cha-ma-call-its. We are good at becoming part of the culture. "When in Rome"...Part of it is in the job description so we can live the culture and understand why the people respond to life like they do. It is a big part of loving our neighbors.

However, we have found that we were being mean. We have become mean drivers, saying things under our breath about the pedestrians that jumped out from between 2 parked cars (when the cross walk is 2 steps away) that we are obligated to stop for unless we want to be charged with vehicular homicide. Or the pedestrian that crosses in the crosswalk against the light, when our light is green. We have also been short tempered with eachother. We realized that we are not being full of the light of Christ and wonder how we will reach the culture with the Gospel if we are being chamelians in this particular characteristic. We are working on "believing the best" in folks. Maybe they are really cold like the rest of us and are trying to hurry to cross the street and get warm!?

Please Pray

We have added some newspaper articles about things that pertain to our beloved neighborhood. Please be mindful as you read that these are real people that our Lord cares about. As we dwell on these things and try to sort out the violence that seems overwhelming, we are reminded that we hold the answer to these issues and we are asked to participate in the solutions, caring about individuals one by one. Loving God first, then our neighbor. We'd like to remind you too, that our neighborhood isn't all about violence, gangs and crime. That is really a small percent of the 280,000 souls that reside here. The "rest of us" are living, working and playing in this place.

Shawmut

Remember this song? "I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men if you follow me."

In the beginning, Boston wasn't called Boston. Native Americans called it Shawmut because it had springs and waters full of fish. In the Indians' language, Shawmut meant "living waters" or "living fountains".

We find this to be very curious. And we find Boston full of opportunities to fish for men: to tell them of the TRUE living water found only in Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 49
"8 This is what the LORD says: "In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you: I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
9 to say to the captives, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!' "They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up.

John 4:10
"Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.'"

Super Service Saturday

We had 3 venues for serving in Dorchester yesterday. The boys did a neighborhood cleanup on a very long street. Leave it to them to make it fun! They were rewarded points for the kind of trash they found. Our middle child won-he found the most noteworthy trash.

On another note, we continue to see the need for Christians in the city that are willing to make a difference and stick it out in hard times. As the boys were cleaning up, they also witnessed a drug exchange and were taught to "keep their eyes on their shoes." We are thankful for God's on-going protection in our family, but also for the life lessons we are able to teach the children, like why people are involved in drugs, how we should respond, which leads us to pray for our neighborhood and neighbors. It has been incredible to see their compassionate hearts, instead of hearts of hard judgement

BRRRRRRR!

It's officially cold. I had to scrape the frost off the car this morning to take our 7th grader to school. My neighbor didn't have any frost on her car. She jokingly told me I had parked the car the wrong way. Maybe we need some trees...We are trying to keep warm. There is a lot involved in this process. We have closed up certain parts of the house and are using ceramic heaters. The issue is that we have oil heat which is very expensive, so we are all chipping in our chattering teeth to make due. Night time has us all bundled under down, in between flannel. Day time has us drinking hot drinks all day and using those microwavable heating pads to keep warm. We actually feel very spirited wearing around our UGA heating pad or cute wearing around the fuzzy dog heating pad. Maybe it will be a new fashion statement. I am telling myself that we can keep learning-our brains are well insulated and they are not frozen. It is only going to get colder! And from an time efficiency standpoint, it takes so long to get dressed-and dress eveyone else! Where, oh, where, do I find the time to deal with the cold?!

A new fast food restaurant

On our way to a retreat in "New Hamster", we stopped for dinner at a restaurant. Our little princess calls it, "Undies". Can you guess the name?

I am witnessing a great deal from her spending so much time with her brothers. The jokes that normally our boys only do and laugh at are now including a high tittering from the little one. Like, "Madeline (her doll) pooted!" On another note, she is developing such sweet relationships with her brothers, when they aren't armpit tooting and burping the alphabet.

Growing up

As we were sitting at the dinner table the other night, we were informed by our middle child that he could now "juke". Instead of plowing through and over the top of the other "players" (namely, his brothers) while carrying a football, he is "jukin'" them. We are excited to see more things they will learn as a result of living in Dorchester!

Birthday Chaos!

Our baby has turned 4. I suppose I will always call her the baby, even though our days of diapers and pack-n-plays are gone. Our outside planned party turned to the inside as we began counting days of rain prior to and on her party day. Parenthood is all about being flexible!

As we reflect on the gift that she is, I stand in awe of His plan and goodness. She is a blessing. She is spirited. She is joy. She loves to learn and to lead. She draws us to our knees as we ask the Lord to soften her heart and bring her into a relationship with himself. She is a covenant child. God planned her to be in our family from the foundation of the earth. Utterly amazing!

Sweet Teaching Moment

The boys have been memorizing Psalm 8 for school:

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

While I was reading aloud about the solar system to our youngest son, he asked me how the moon got there and stays in place. A smile spread over my face as we said Psalm 8 aloud together and he was able to draw the TRUTH from the Word. What could be more beautiful?

Learning Curve

Whew! It has been a crazy few weeks. We are learning about having homework for the first time, time management and how to eeek out a few spare moments of quiet into a continually hectic day. Our oldest child LOVES her new school and we are just as crazy about it, although we thought we had lost her to the books for good, until we decided on teaching some organizational tools. We are learning to find a balance between school, family, fun/free time and alone time. Personally, I have never had this challenge quite to this level and am learning to trust the Lord to meet me in those little spare moments. I had a friend once tell me to sing songs that are appropriate for moments of repetitive chores like, "What can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus", when I am doing the dishes. That is just beautiful! The other 4 children are homeschooling and cruising right along. The first 2 weeks, they have done so well and fell right back into their routine of getting their work done.

I Wondered

I wondered if the kids would get to play in the fire hydrant since we are in the city. It reminds me of Sesame Street. Here, the kids are at a Life is Good festival in Boston Common.

Gardening

Since we have been unable to move into our house, we have found great joy hanging out in the backyard, meeting our neighbors and cleaning up the yard. The first 2, we have been able to do with ease...the last one has proven a challenge since we do not know the difference between a plant and a weed. If you have any great tips on gardening in New England, please share!

Was This Your Envelope?

After the USPS had it's way with this yellow giving envelope, this was all that was left.  We attempted to get finger prints, but we could not find a match.  If you happened to have sent a donation for our church plant, and it doesn't clear in a timely manner,  you'll know what happen to it--the USPS "Dog" ate it.  

She Won!

Our eldest entered a literary contest at the local library. She needed to read 3 books and write an essay on her favorite book. SHE WON! The winner's prize? 3 tickets to see the Red Sox!

Now that we are becoming Red Sox fans (especially with free tickets), we are reading up on the trivia. The Bambino is Babe Ruth. Early in his career he played for the Boston Red Sox. In 1920 Boston sold him to the New York Yankees for $125,000. Since then, the Boston Red Socks , until 2004, had never won another World Series. Red Sox fans had called this run of bad luck the Curse of the Bambino. Now, the curse is broken! Did we tell you they won in 2007 as well?

The question of the day is, which family members will get to go?

Need

One of our children is struggling with anger. The slightest comment, touch, attitude will set him off. If confronted, he will become more angry and hide himself. As we confronted him with this issue, he said, "I can't help it. I can't control it." As we continued the conversation, we shared with him how mommy and daddy sin like this as well and pointed him to the cross showing him THIS is why Jesus died. WE can't get rid of our sin-whatever it is: anger, idolatry, people-pleasing, but Jesus has done away with it. This is why we NEED Jesus. The comments that followed: "if only I had more friends", "if only we were in our house", "if only people were always nice to me"... What a reminder to us that instead of running to our Savior, who has ALREADY died for our sins, we continue to look in the garbage for other things, thinking they will satisfy and make us happy, only to find out they are trash that will never bring contentment. May we run to our wonderful Savior, who willingly gave his life with us on his mind.

Green Spaces

We have been pleasantly surprised to see Green Spaces all over the city. I still am a Seattle girl at heart and can really get into recycling and composting. These green spaces have previously been anything from abandoned lots to run down parks. Some of the farmer's markets even take WIC and food stamps. In fact, there was an article in the July issue of Cooking Light telling of one such place:

"Growing up in Hyde Park, an inner-city Boston neighorhood, (this is the neighborhood where our eldest child will be going to school) Brian Judge never tasted an apricot. In fact, before joining EarthWorks Boston, a nonprofit group dedicated to reclaiming neglected urban space, he'd never even seen one. Now, three years later, apricots have become at-work perks for the high school junior..."

Another fun outing we did as a family was to a grass roots community garden in Roxbury where some of our friends from church have labored. The garden was started and continues to be maintained by the folks in the neighborhood and they use it for events now. We attended a BBQ with full entertainment of a band and were able to meet some of the neighborhood people.

The Sausage Lady

In much the same manner as Dan had a relationship with the "Bo-po" (Boston Police), the rest of us were enjoying a leisurely weekend afternoon at Costco. As you may know, the weekends are great at Costco, because you can eat a full meal getting "tasters". As we approached the sausage section of the store, we could smell the sausages cooking away. The children were eager to have this bite-sized sample, so we headed to the display. As they stood there, sweetly smiling at the woman, she lit into them in several shocking ways while she was chewing on her own sample. I was floored and needless to say, could not come up with a quick one-liner, but gave her a very good shifty eyed look. As we walked away, she continued to slander our sweet children and their mother to those around her. I walked around the store in a daze, trying to figure out what to do because it would NOT be good for the children to see their mother in a brawl over sausage samples. The manager ended up hearing the story and gave the children mouthfuls of M n M's. They left satisfied. I was still stewing. Later, Dan shared his Bo-po story in his sermon and how he realized he was just as vile and ugly and in need of Jesus as the policeman who was having a bad day. On the way home from church, our middle child said, "I liked Daddy's sermon today. It reminded me of the Sausage Lady." Which led me to confess my ugly heart for this woman who may not know Jesus and was badly in need of a nap.

Dan's Run-in with the Law

Today, I had a couple of run-ins with some of Boston’s Finest.  After our weekly church-wide early morning prayer meeting, I was taking one of our members home when I was pulled over for a supposedly “expired license plate.”  I say “supposedly” because the date on the plate clearly reads Feb. ’09 just as my registration does as well.  I think being pulled over had more to do with the fact that I have tinted windows and an out of state plate.  After making sure our papers were in order, he let us go on our way.  After dropping my friend off at his house, I found myself in an unfamiliar neighborhood on a one-way street.  At the end of the street, there were construction cones blocking the road.  One of Boston PD’s finest stood guard over the cones.  I rolled down my window, and asked the fine officer if there was a way to get around this.  He then looked at me, and began to cuss me up one side and down the other.  He called me a number of names that I haven’t been called in a long, long time.  After picking my jaw up off the floorboard of my car, I felt compelled to say, “Somebody is having a bad day!”  But instead of leaving it at that, I just felt even more compelled to yell back at him that I wasn’t from here so give me a break, and that someone was pretty stupid for blocking a one-way street without putting up any signs, and that he might want to find something better to do than guard a bunch of construction cones, and maybe I wasn’t the dumb, stupid $$@@#@&%$^ because I wasn’t the one guarding construction cones.  I kind of felt better, until he began walking towards me with his hand on his gun saying something that sounded like “I’ll pull your @#$@%$$ out of that car…”  I backed the car up as fast as I could, going about 35 MPH in reverse heading the wrong way down a one-way Boston street expecting to hear gun shots at any moment.  I’ve had guns pulled on me before, but last time it was gang members.  You expect that.  The good news is that the cop was on foot, and Georgia doesn’t require front license plates.  After my getaway, I spent a good portion of the day totally frustrated, angry, ticked, wanting to call the mayor, the paper or something.  My anger turned into frustration and hopelessness.  Is there any hope for a guy like that?  Is there any hope for a city with cops like that?  What in the world has God done bringing my family and me to a place where there is no hope for change?  It wasn’t until about 3pm that it hit me that I probably needed to confess my sin of anger and desire for revenge against this guy.  Not only that, but I needed to forgive this guy, and in my heart love him.  Jesus did tell us that we were to love our enemies and bless those who curse us.  And then the Spirit spoke to me, “How about your sin Big Boy (that’s what the Spirit calls me when its conviction time)?  How about your hopelessness and unbelief?”  The Spirit reminded me that I was being changed, and if God can work in my heart and change me, then there was hope for all of Boston.  Then I was reminded of the verses that I’m preaching on this Sunday, Ephesians 3:20-21.  Its Paul’s beautiful doxology, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen.”  Because this is who our God is there is hope for me, and those who curse me.  There is hope for our neighborhood and our beloved city.  But I’m afraid that my use of “hope” leaves a sense of doubt, that maybe God will work, or maybe He won’t.  But I’m convinced that our hope is a certain hope because not only is God able to do immeasurably more, but indeed He is willing.

Rocket Science Meets Football

Dan was meeting some new folks on the 4th of July. One of these folks works for NASA and is an actual rocket scientist! Dan said, "I played football at Georgia".

3 Cheers

Mrs. Mallard
Very Urban kids in the wading pool!
On the Esplande with the "Pru" in the back
Frog Pond at Boston Common
Walden Pond is FREEZING!

The State House
Mmmm...Canoli and Lobster Tail at Mike's Pastry in the North End
The Mayflower II
Duck Tours-for Fenway Franny
Make Way for Ducklings in the City Gardens

New "Hamster"

Let's give it up for those kids! They are champs! They are troopers! They have been so flexible. We were reminiscing about the places we have lived in the last few years-from 23 acres in rural Jackson County, to eclectic, sweet Athens in a subdivision, and now they have officially been urbanized in Boston with backpacks, strollers, T passes, wading pools, listening to the panhandlers sing songs, and playing in the fire hydrant! We really don't think they have given it much thought. Partly because we have kept them so busy, but partly because they just love doing life and experiencing new things. We have had several fun "out of the city" days like a day at a campground with some other families in New "Hampster", Walden Pond, and a secret garden hike in Hingham. It has been a huge blessing to see the Lord carry our children through this move and to see Him work in their lives. (sorry for the sideways pictures!)

Community Boating

Our two oldest children were able to participate in a wonderful program on the Charles River for $1! They both passed the first week of lessons and are able to take out a small sailboat by themselves on a green flag day, as well as kayak. The next test is for a Helmsman. Then they can take out boats on red flag days. One of the children is struggling with this and not wanting to become a Helmsman. Fear.

May this be his prayer as well as ours:

O Lord of the Oceans, My little bark sails on a restless sea, Grant that Jesus may sit at the helm and steer me safely; Suffer no adverse currents to divert my heavenward course; Let not my faith be wrecked amid storms and shoals; Bring me to harbour with flying pennants, hull unbreached, cargo unspoiled. I ask great things, expect great things, shall receive great things. I venture on thee wholly, fully, my wind, sunshine, anchor, defence. The voyage is long, the waves high, the storms pitiless, but my helm is held steady, thy Word secures safe passage, thy grace wafts me onward, my haven is guaranteed. This day will bring me nearer hme, Grant me holy consistency in every transaction, my peace flowing as a running tide, my righteousness as every chasing wave. Help me to live circumspectly, with skill to convert every care into prayer, Halo my path with gentleness and love, smooth every asperity of temper; let me not forget how easy it is to occasion grief; may I strive to bind up every wound, and pour oil on all troubled waters. May the world this day be happier and better because I live. Let my mast before me be the Savior's cross, and every oncoming wave the fountain in his side. Help me, protect me in the moving sea until I reach the shore of unceasing praise. -The Valley of Vision

Our Neighborhood

We made it! We are officially in Dorchester and it has been wonderful. Dan has been ordained and will be preaching his first sermon this evening. (eventually, these will be podcasted for your listening enjoyment!) We are thrilled to have a place called home and Dan is thrilled to have a flock. We have done the tourist thing, entertained lovely out of town company, found the grocery store and met many wonderful neighbors. We even had dinner with Mayor Menino at our local restaurant as it was being awarded Boston's best new restaurant-well, he was there when we were.

We have "interviewed" several people from Dorchester on what life is like here. "E" is excited to see children on our street. She has been in the neighborhood for 23 years. "A" says Dot's biggest problem is trash. (Dan has taken to running around the park by our house and picks up trash in the mornings) "M" loves our neighborhood and says it is a hidden jewel in Dot. "R" is leary of the gentrifiers. "C" would never leave Dot, but says the violence is getting worse again. "AL" says there is nothing for kids to do except get into trouble. When she grew up here, there were all kinds of programs, but now there is nothing she can afford and there is no sense of community.

We look forward to many more encounters with our neighbors, showing and telling them about the Love of Christ. We pray that the Lord will make His Presence known and bring his Kingdom to bear on Dot.

Send Me

Our oldest son has written a song. We'd like to share the lyrics with you. We are reminded that when the Lord calls us, he calls our children as well. Moving to Boston is part of their story as much as it is ours.

I walk through your churches and I walk through your temples
I walk through your holy place.
I hear all the priests and I hear all the people say:
Send me, oh send me, cause here I am.
Send me, oh send me somewhere in this land.
Send me, oh send me, Oh Lord of all.
Send me, oh send me, cause you make the call.

I hear the bells ringing, I hear people singing on your holy day.
I hear people rejoicing and praising and wanting to say:
Send me, oh send me, cause here I am.
Send me, oh send me somewhere in this land.
Send me, oh send me, Oh Lord of all.
Send me, oh send me, cause you make the call.

I see blind men, I see old beggars who don't know your Holy Name.
That makes me sad and that makes me mad.
That makes me want to say:
Send me, oh send me, cause here I am.
Send me, oh send me somewhere in this land.
Send me, oh send me, Oh Lord of all.
Send me, oh send me, cause you make the call.

Ebenezer

You may be wondering what we are doing behind a pile of stones with a duct taped cross. This has become a family tradition on the night before we move.

1 Samuel 7:12 "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far has the Lord helped us.'"

We gathered stones and each person had the floor to tell of all the great things God did while we were in Athens. The first one to share was our middle child saying, "I am thankful that God gave us Rebecca." Rebecca is included in the photo with us. She is a wonderful long time friend and like family to us that we "coincidentally" met up with again in Athens. We will miss her greatly (until she moves to Boston-our plan for her life). The rest of the sharing was a list too long to write, but all of our friends were named, the pets, our home, food, Redeemer, Sunday school teachers, a job, daddy finishing seminary, our family growing close...

God has been so good to us and it is good to have Ebenezers in our lives so we can look back and see his faithfulness, even in the midst of suffering and hardships. We are thankful.

details

Down to the kitty cat. That is what kind of God we serve. He has taken care of all the details in getting us moved! We had a very cool cat, named Tinker, until about one hour ago. Tinker is a Maine Coon cat and is mostly outdoors. She is a phenomenal hunter and lets us know when she needs to go in or out. We were very concerned with how she might adjust to the North and checked in with quite a few professional. The more we asked, the more we heard that indoor/outdoor cats usually don't adjust very well to moves. They will either run away or get a little kooky. We thought that wouldn't be fair to her, so we started to pray for a family to love her. Yesterday, a family in our neighborhood met her and today they took her home. She literally will live 1 block away and be loved by a little 1 year old and 5 year old. By the way, their parents are in full time ministry as well. Hmmmm...coincidence?

Boxes

It has been pure obedience to pack. Don't get me wrong, we are very excited about our upcoming move, but the boxes are a real pain.

We have learned several great lessons in the midst of this:

We do live temporarily-this place is not our home and we long for our Heavenly home where we will never have to pack or unpack again. It is already prepared for us!

Don't think about all we have to do: say good-bye to friends, pack, change addresses, set up utilities, talk with movers, pack, clean, feed the children, pack...just do the next thing! We only know what we have to do today. None of us knows the future. Be faithful today-do your work faithfully, thoroughly, honestly, and gratefully. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (Colossians 3:23-24)

"My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus"(Philippians 4:19)

Sometimes unpacking can feel like Christmas. Maybe the boxes will look like this:

Out with a Bang

Let's start this by saying, our littlest one has a fondness for Curious George and loves to read his books. As we were saying our 2nd to last good-byes at church, Michelle was holding our little angel. She simply reached out and pulled-I mean, smart little three year old to be able to read the directions! Within minutes, the church cleared and the firemen showed up in 3 trucks wearing full gear on a 110 degree day. Her 10 year old brother was mortified because he gets embarrassed so easily. She did say she was sorry.

Our Neighborhood

Visual Aids

We thought we'd give you a few visual aids so you would remember to pray for us: polka dots (or as Dan's mom affectionately calls them, "poker dots") Birkenstocks, ducks, and now Boston Terriers. We have heard that this breed of dog is also known as Boston Terrors. See for yourself...

by my Spirit

“The true secret to all ministry is spiritual power. It is not man’s genius, or man’s intellect, or man’s energy; but simply the power of the Spirit of the God of the Gospel. ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts (Zech.iv.6) It is well for all ministers (and believers) to bear this ever in mind. It will sustain the heart and give constant freshness to their ministry (and lives). A ministry which flows from abiding dependence upon the Holy Spirit can never become barren. If a man is drawing on his own resources, he will soon run dry. It matters not what his powers may be, or how extensive his reading, or how vast his stores of information; if the Holy Spirit be not the spring and power of his ministry, it must, sooner or later, lose its freshness and its effectiveness. How important then, that all who minister (and live) in the gospel…should lean continually and exclusively on the power of the Holy Spirit. He knows what souls need, and He can supply it. But he must be trusted and used. It will not do to lean partly on self and partly on the Spirit.” C H Macintosh, Notes on the Book of Numbers, 1861

The Graduate

May we present our very own Masters of Divinity Graduate.

Make Way for Ducklings

This has got to be one of our all time favorite books. Soon, we will get to rub shoulders with the ducks that made the book famous in Boston. I think what is so endearing about this book is the way the whole city is accommodating to a family of ducklings-10 to be exact. They are fed peanuts from the tourists on the famous swan boats, and traffic is stopped to allow them to cross the busy Boston streets on their way back from the Charles River to the Public Gardens. What could be better?
Our prayer is that the people of Boston would be just as accommodating to their neighbors-to those who are “unable to fly”. We pray that we would set off at a proud waddle and the church would waddle beside us as we share the Good News of Christ-“He that knew no sin, became sin for us, so we could become the righteousness of God.” But our prayer is different from Mrs. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard set off with the idea that the people of Boston would just have to make way! Our prayer is that others would not simply make way for us, but rather that they would join in our waddle.

Always room for more

We'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the Rogers' tribe. Meet Bella "Rosie" Ella. She is a 3 year old cocker spaniel that has stolen our hearts and made the giggling around our home unceasing. What a delight! She is a blessing!

trivia

Did you know this style of Birkenstocks is called "the Boston"?

Fare Thee Well

We had a very sweet send off party complete with a very creative DOT cake. We will miss our Athens friends, but we know it is not good-bye, just see y'all later!

confusing

All things to all people

The Rev

Dan did it! He passed ordination. He will have the official ceremony in Boston after we move, but you can still call him "The Rev Rogers", in the meantime. Of course, "Pastor Dan" works as well, or for those of you who go way back, he still answers to "Disco".

Thank you for all your prayers for Dan and our family. We know we have been lifted up.

Graced Again

“This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness; not health, but healing; not being but becoming; not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it. The process is not yet finished, but it is going on. This is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.” Martin Luther, “Defense and Explanation of All the Articles”

We have found an incredible web page. Check it out and sign up at: http://www.gracedagain.com.

Cheers

Where everybody knows your name.

We are headed to Boston tomorrow for Dan to go before the floor of Presbytery and be examined orally. This is the last step for ordination in the PCA. It has been a long road-Dan started seminary in 2000. That would be 8 years, 2 children, 5 moves, 4 pets, 8 puppies, 9 cars, same wife ago. We are so thankful for all of you that have faithfully been our friends and tracked with us through the years. Cheers to you!