Encouragement from the Father of Modern Missions

I must admit that the days are getting harder here. School is busy, bills are coming, and a job seems further away than ever. I have spent this morning listening to Leviticus on audiobook (thankful to Dr. A for allowing our Bible reading to be a listening project as well), checking emails, and reading a biography on William Carey. The biography, Faithful Witness by Timothy George, has served as a great source of encouragement in the past days. Sometimes, we need to read of the strength of others to remind ourselves that we aren't the only ones dealing with hardships. I encourage each of you to read this biography. William Carey not only served as a great example for global mission work but also as an incredible example of a man living through struggles and glorifying God in everything. Here is a writing from Carey's journal following a hard time dealing with death, sickness, and isolation from his family and friends in India:

"This is indeed the valley of the shadow of death to me, except that my soul is much more insensible than John Bunyan's Pilgrim. O what would I give for a kind of sympathetic friend, such as I had in England, to whom I might open my heart! But I rejoice that I am here, notwithstanding; and God is here, who not only can have compassion, but is able to save to the uttermost." -Timothy George, Faithful Witness, 109

I pray that our hearts will be like Carey's: confident in our call to be in this place, confident in God's presence, and faith when fruit is unseen.

Blessings,
Steve

When Football is Unsatisfying, There's Always Baseball

Well, the Ole Miss football game just ended, so I thought I would do a post. After all, waking up at 9 AM to watch a loss to Vandy really leaves me in no mood to watch more football. Don't worry Ole Miss football, I will still wake up really early and stay up really late to watch you regardless of the season you are having. I just can't help it!

On higher notes, after a rather unsatisfying week of college and pro football, Laura and I had a great time this week at another sporting event!  Benefitting from an invitation by our neighbors, the Blackaby's, we went to our first SF Giants game last week as they took on the Dodgers. Unlike our favorite football teams, the Giants are wrapped in a vicious end-of-the-season stretch towards the playoffs. Needless to say, the crowd was energized and nervous as this was a must-win for the Giants (who are now ahead by 1 game in the division).

We arrived a few minutes before the game started with our free tickets (thanks to the many hook-ups that the Blackaby's seem to have) and begun to search for our section, in the 200's. Well, we found the first level then supposed it would be the next up so begun to walk up the stairs. The next level had closed doors so we climbed higher but the next level was 3. So we decided to ask the man at one of the closed doors and he told us to walk through the doors at the next level which happened to be the "Club Level". Yes, you guessed it, we had amazing seats to this intense game. As we arrived, Laura and I felt a little guilty as we haven't always been the biggest fans of MLB (with Laura not even knowing if the catcher was allowed to hit with the other batters....sorry, Laura, I told the world of your ignorance towards the game of baseball). We even had a little card to order food from our seats so that we wouldn't have to walk to the concession stand (and you BET we used the little card to get two chicken baskets and some Coke). We felt special! After 9 hard-fought innings, the Giants won and we had a great time at our first SF sporting experience. We will definitely have to find our way back to another game (if only we can find $140 laying around our apartment one day).

So, the lessons we learned from our Giants experience (because there is always a lesson to be learned):

1) Free tickets are ALWAYS worth taking.
2) While concessions stands cost about 100 times more than any other place, you can't resist buying their food.
3) Everyone wants to see a home run during their first game, and, most of the time, it comes from the other team.
4) Nothing else matters when you beat LA at any sport, especially baseball.
5) When football fails you, there is always another sport.

So, to all you Ole Miss fans out there, here are a few ways to find relief after another bad Saturday morning: pick yourself up, walk yourself home, and dust off your baseball mitt that you haven't used since you were in 5th grade. Baseball season is just around the corner!

Hanging in there,
Steve and Laura

La Casa

We have finally (sorry for being so late!) taken time to put up some pictures of the house. It's a small 500 square feet, but it's ours! And as Steve said before we got married "We can't help but to grow closer in such a tight space!"

Let us know what you think!

Love,

Laura

One Month in the Bay

It's hard to believe that tomorrow will mark our one month anniversary of being in Mill Valley!  I thought it would be appropriate to give you the one-month analysis of our lives here followed by a few prayer requests:

-Our home is officially unpacked!  There are ZERO boxes on our bedroom floor (which is a big accomplishment if you know Laura and me) and the curtains are up.  After weeks of unpacking (by us unpacking I mean Laura unpacked and I placed things where she told me to put them), we can finally call this place a home.  It's tiny, but it's ours.  As one of our neighbors told me the other day, "It's fun to see how people decorate their box around here."

-We have finished three full weeks of school and things are just getting busier.  Laura and I are working on reading (which doesn't get any less if you were wondering), papers, and lecture notes.  While school is busy and demanding, we are blown away by how much God is expanding our knowledge and understanding of the world around us.  Nothing changes your mindset like reading about Polycarp and William Carey!  If you don't know about these two folks, you should look them up.

-Laura has a couple of jobs, and I "might" have a job.  Laura is enjoying her jobs with children at a playground and babysitting a couple times a week.  While we are still praying that I would find a job that suits me, we know God is faithful and praise Him for allowing Laura to work.

-We are beginning to search through wedding pictures!  They are great (thanks to Mike and Shannon L)

-Lastly, we are constantly making new friends and meeting new people.  We praise God for so many awesome people here at the seminary and in the Bay area!


Now that you are fairly updated, here are some prayer requests for those thinking of us back home:

-Pray that Laura and I will not grow tired and complacent in ministry.  This is a huge problem for seminary students, and we hope to remain fresh and involved while learning.  We don't want to to just have knowledge poured in, we want to pour out while we are here.

-Pray that Laura and I will learn to manage time between school, work, and marriage.  This is important as we don't want to neglect marriage while we are here.  Once again, this is a huge problem in ministry.  We also want to put enough time into school to feel that we are really learning and growing.

-Pray that we will find a loving, support, multiplying community in a local church.  We have visited a few and love them all.  Pray for the right choice to be made in where we minister.

-Pray for me a job and that I will trust the Spirit in leading me to a job.

-Most importantly, pray that Laura and I will continue to grow more in love with eachother as well as the Lord each day.


We love you all and praise God for your support! 

In Christ,
Steve (and Laura in spirit)

Lifes Little Lessons: Budgeting

As you can tell from the title of this blog Steve and I are learning how to budget. It sounds like a fairly easy math problem A-B=C (A make some money, B the budgeted amount, C Money left over after.) Unfortunately as most of you know I've never been very good at math (I sweet talked my way into a C in Algebra) when they stick in all of those "unseen variables".

As a result we are taking some advice from Dave Ramsey. Our first step to success was made just two days ago with a trip to the ATM, a few magnets, and a few envelopes. Our plan, pay for everything in cash. I guess you could say it's working so far... but again it's only been two days. We will keep you posted on our success.

If any of you are budgeting masters we would love any advice you want to give us!