Getting A Bit Behind.

All right. Where do I start?

Rachael and I have been doing really well. Life has slowed down since the Summer, which is a huge blessing as well as a relief. We are finally able to see people we haven't seen all Summer long, meet with potential donors, spend more time in God's word, and just finally get life situated again.

Our Summer caused us to become a bit discouraged and even agitated due to the lack of response we got from family and friends, but I think we just got too over-our-heads and gave the whole situation to God instead of trying to control the matter at hand ourselves. We know He will provide... in His time.

Rachael's been busy getting in contact with friends and family back home, and we've been hearing wonderful responses from people we kind of weren't expecting. The combination of that and random people from work have been a huge encouragement! It made us wonder if our Summer was just a testing period for us to realize that the LORD is in control. Whether that's the case or not, Rachael and I are feeling so much better mentally and spiritually.

We are prepping up to go back to Colorado Springs for our last training session this coming Saturday (October 4, 2008), and the material we have received for preparation has been powerful, to say the least. One study is simply on Romans 14, with a title boldly called, "The Romans 14 Issue." hehe. Anyways, the "issue" brought to attention that is simply in the biblical text is that there are truly gray areas in our beliefs that we can't force down one-another's throats. Paul speaks of food in the text; eating everything or eating some things. Paul encourages the Roman church to respect the decision of everyone, whether you eat anything or only eat vegatables. To not pass judgment because someone's ideals are different than yours.

Verse 16 says, "Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil." After investigating my own life, I reflected on the times where I know I allowed my good to be spoken of as evil, due to my reactions and the words I used. I've truly lost friends, hurt family members, developed hatred and judgment due to my insensitivity. After this study, I've realize how wrong I really am some time. Not wrong in what I believe, but wrong in how I express that belief. As a fellow believer, I strongly encourage anyone willing to meditate on that Romans 14 passage and just allow God to speak to you.

I wanted to end this note with a smile, so I was going to post a picture of Honey, our dog. But unfortunately, Rachael took the camera with her, so I'll leave you with this...


This is a picture taken by my friend Norio during the Sakura-blossoming season in his hometown of Nagano. When he sent this to me, I thought he was lying when he said he took it, but when he expressed the beauty of the area while there, you could not even begin to deny what he saw... and what you are looking at.