Be Imitators of God...Ephesians 5:1

God has shown me several things this month, through reading scripture or seeing the girls doing something and recalling scripture that relates to it. Adalyn was covered in bug bites earlier this month and Karis is covered in a heat rush now, yet I watch them choose joy in their circumstances rather than focusing in on their misery. I think Habakkuk 3:18 kind of sums that up: "...yet, I will rejoice in Lord, I will be joyful in God my savor." and I later read an article about choosing joy. It said that happiness is something you feel but joy is something that you do. You can either submit to the misery & bitterness or to the Holy Spirit and cultivate the fruit of the Spirit into your daily life. Other scriptures mentioned action phrases like: "shout for Joy", "sing for Joy", "cry for Joy". It was a fresh reminder of that choice, watching my girls covered in itchy and miserable bug bites or heat rash yet observing them pushing past the discomfort and being honestly joyful. I’ll quickly highlight some other points God drove home with me this month. Watching Karis choose “good over evil”. To be honest, obedience is a daily struggle for Karis and I suppose we can all add ourselves to that boat on some level. But there are moments when I see Karis try to decide whether she will obey or not and it’s so sweet when she looks at me, smiles, nods her head and says "obey". Her mind made up to be obedient and I thought of those moments when I read "Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good" - Romans 12:21. I think the absolute cutest moments though are watching Karis try to imitate Jeremy and me (espically Jeremy...such a daddy's girl). If Jeremy is leaning up against a wall with arms crossed and one foot over the other...Karis is there mimicking the same stance. If I have my sunglasses on in the truck, Karis wants her sunglass and the examples can just keep rolling. During those moments it makes me ask the question "How am I imitating Christ in my life today? How am I imitating God in my actions and reactions?" Anyways- I know that you really can't draw too many parallels to your children and your faith but God has used our girls to really challenge me in my walk with Him this month.

Jeremy's Adventure to the Mountains

Jeremy traveled to the Huanaco district of Peru with a team from New Life Baptist Church in Ashville, NC. He was helping out our team mate, David Olson, by driving one of the trucks with the team. Jeremy had a great time. It's rainy season there so everything was lush and green. So beautiful. Jeremy was very impressed with the few believers that are in the area and their hunger for God's word and desire to know more about Christ. Crystal and the girls went down to Lima with Jeremy and did doctors visits and stayed with Cameron while David & Jeremy were out with the team. We all had a great week but were happy to get back up to the jungle. Enjoy some of the pictures.

Update on Elias

Elias is now out of the high fever/headaches stage of Dengue. His blood platelet levels had dropped pretty low earlier this week and the doctors had talked about giving him a blood transfussion. However, Praise the Lord, his blood platelet levels have steadied out. He is now at home, released from the hospital. He is still too weak to work or do much more than rest in bed. Please continue to pray for his recovery. It will be a few more weeks until he is back on his feet and back to normal. Elias and his entire family are thankful for all prayers and emails.