The Tepera Times and Travels

Bonfire!!!!!

2009-11-06T10:29:00.009-05:00

Last night was the beginning of Homecoming for the Citadel family. To get things kicked off the athletic department hosted a bonfire on campus. There was a live band, Chubby Bunny contest and lots of heat. We had a great time handing out free homemade cookies and goofing off with cadets and friends. Saturday will be full with a parade, barracks open to visitors, and a big football game. Pray for the cadets as this will be a long weekend with so many activities.

We are also excited to be hosting Tiffany Bixel, a new staff lady who is currently raising support to go to Texas A&M. She has come down from her home of Ohio for a vision trip. This week she and Courtney have been working closely together in being on campus and meeting with cadets. Pray that God would continue to bless her support raising efforts so that she can reach the cadets at A&M soon.

Also pray for the cadets as the semester is coming to a close and there are many projects due and some big decisions coming up. Pray for our chaplain as he works with the administration on new expectations and regulations for ministries such as ours. God is doing great things here and we are glad to be a part of them. Courtney's bible study methods class is really taking off and the cadets are learning a lot. Discipleship is going well for us all. Hearts are definitely changing!

While we were glad to celebrate with the cadets and faculty last night it was with heavy hearts. Earlier that afternoon was the shooting at Ft. Hood, TX. I grew up not far from Ft. Hood and played their high school football team. Military Ministry does have a couple there that is on staff, the Homers. Continue to lift them up as they work with the chaplains and families on and around the base. Such tragic incidents remind us that this world is not the way it should be. Sin has hit us all and at times brings us low. Praise be to God for our hope in that day when peace reigns.

God bless,

- Keith

Jesus and a Snake

2009-10-16T15:06:00.003-04:00

Last weekend was our Fall Retreat. It was an all Citadel event at the Bonnie Doone plantation south of Charleston. The place was amazing. Live oaks that predate the civil war and lots of space away from the city. To get things started we played a game where everyone had to submit two or three things about themselves that no one knew. These facts were then read aloud to the crowd who had to try to determine who it was. Later in the weekend someone found and killed a copperhead snake. That's pretty excited but these are Citadel cadets. Someone else came along and skinned it. A skillet was borrowed and a fire was built. Snake was eaten. Good times! Scott Blom (our boss and campus director at TAMU) was the speaker. We had some great times learning about the Lord and what it looks like to be conformed to Christ. God did some great things in all of us who attended and definitely changed our focus for the campus.

The semester is winding down. We have only one more Friday Night Dinner after tonight. Then Parent's Weekend and finals soon after. Pray that we would finish up strong and the kingdom would continue to grow in and through us. Thanks for your prayers for the body.

Since May?!

2009-10-05T16:58:00.002-04:00

I'm ashamed it's been so long since we posted anything. There's so much that has happened we can't fit it all in here. We're on campus full-time. The cadets are awesome and we love our work. I think we would pay to be able to do this if we could. One of the consistent themes has been suffering. People keep asking about it and preachers keep preaching about it. I guess it's a pretty popular theme these days. We're learning a lot about it too.

Why do bad things happen to good people? We hear that a lot. The simple answer is there are no good people. While that may be true it doesn't help the person who is hurting. It doesn't encourage the person who's loved one is slowly dying of cancer. What about the suffering? God's timing is great and I just finished an awesome book by Greg Harris this summer. It's called "The Cup and The Glory". Find it. Read it. It's worth it. The point is that our example is Christ. He said we will suffer if we are his. He didn't say we need to suffer. Don't go out creating your own suffering to prove you're a Christian. God will take care of that. But we will suffer.

One of the main points is that God teaches us through suffering. Listen to "Praise you in this storm" by Casting Crowns. When we go through hard times, times of suffering, we are not alone. When the valley is darkest we see our home the clearest. We are not meant for this world. It is not our home. We have hope. We hold fast to the promise that the storms of life will break into the clearest of all days.

Second, look at our example. Christ suffered and so will we. We are his, united to him through his sacrifice on our behalf. But know this, Christ suffered what we could not suffer. The wrath of God was upon him that we might one day come into the glorious dawn of resurrection. Our God, our king, our savior suffered that which we cannot suffer so that one day we will not suffer. Praise be his name! I am not worthy of his grace!

When the questions about suffering come up find the difference between hard and bad. Just because something is hard doesn't mean it is also bad. There is a saying among Marine Corps infantry, "If it ain't raining, We ain't training." Sometimes I think God is a Marine. Not all hard things are bad. What are some of the hard things you did that have made you who you are? Praise God for his faithfulness at all times. That's just one of the things we're learning these days.

~Keith

Another box?

2009-05-11T12:32:00.003-04:00

Hey everybody! I wanted to take a minute to let you know that we made it down to Charleston ok! It took FOREVER to load the van, but once that was done we made the trip in good time with no incidents. And the van took much less time to unload than it did to load. Like, 4 hours compared to 2 days. But we're still unpacking boxes, and more boxes, and more boxes. It will probably take a few weeks to get them all clear, if for no other reason but that we have 1 bookshelf to contain about 1000lbs of books. Our old house had a nice built-in that they all lived on, so we're going to be doing some yard-saling this weekend. Other items of interest - the dog proved that jumping a chain link fence is no problem within 15 minutes of our arrival (he's back on his tie out until we can get an electric fence), and one of the cats demonstrated her fire-place climbing technique (we've got it blocked off now, and I'll be posting pictures of before and after the bath later). We don't have internet at our house now, so I'm posting from the library. For all those who asked, our new address is 110 Darlington Ave, Charleston, SC 29403. I'll post some pictures of the new pad once we get a little more settled. For now, thanks to the wonderful people who helped us move, and know that we miss you!

We're there!!!!

2009-04-09T13:06:00.002-04:00

So it's been a while since the last post. I promise the break wasn't that long. Things are going pretty well though. We need to raise some more support but the great thing is we have a contract going on our house! The closing date is May 15th!

Finally there's a light at the end of the tunnel. We have been working toward this and making plans for a long time now and God is bringing it to fruition. Have you ever taken a really deep breath? Yeah, it's like that.

Now we are working on finding a place to live down there and finishing our support. Those are details that will enable us to be on campus full-time now! Whoo-hoo! This summer will be a great opportunity to get some planing for the ministry done and lay some foundations. Pray for us as things come together and we transition. We are so excited and thankful for God's faithfulness!

A Break!

2009-03-23T12:50:00.003-04:00

Good afternoon! I'm holed up at Wake Forest Coffee Company today, studying for my online class. Keith is off skeet shooting with a buddy from church, and I find that I can concentrate longer when I'm off somewhere (even though I have a really hard time studying with the TV running or talk radio in the background. weird.). We had a pretty good weekend. We finally got our house on the MLS this past week, and we had our first two showings Saturday and Sunday! Exciting! Selling the house is turning out to be a much lengthier process than I ever imagined, so it feels great to be getting some traction on that front. One of the couples seemed particularly interested. I hope that all our hard work pays off soon. Keith and I are taking turns being nervous and antsy about it all, which for me has turned into compulsive cleaning (NOT like me at all). We have to keep the house super clean just in case someone wants to come by and see it, so when I get nervous I start cleaning. If you build it, they will come, right? Right? :) One of our potential buyers actually commented on how much cleaner our house was than everything else they'd looked at! If they only knew how it looks on a normal, slobby day ... So, be in prayer that we'll get a buyer soon! We're still the cheapest non-forclosure, non-mobile home in the area, so we're hoping it'll go fast. Well, I'd better get back to the books.

This post brought to you courtesy of Wake Forest Coffee Company's delicious White Chocolate Mocha, and their delightful free WiFi. And the letter Z.

Ups and Downs

2009-03-05T14:20:00.002-05:00

This has been about the craziest week either of us has ever had. Last weekend we had an open house to try to generate some offers. It rained like the dickens. The up side is that we did actually have a few people come out, 4. They seemed interested but nobody has called back with any offers.

Sunday we went to church then rushed home to do our final open house. That afternoon Courtney got a call that her uncle Andy had died suddenly. He had just arrived in West Virginia with his son Colton to go skiing. Nobody even knew what had happened at that point. She went to her aunt Amanda's house to try to help coordinate the house and pets while the family left immediately to pick up Colton from West Virginia. It was still cold and raining. She got home around dinner time and we settled in for the coming snow and to await more news in the morning.

I've been loosing the battle with a head cold for about a month and the weather was pretty rough so we both took some Nyquil before bed. 5 minutes later the phone rang. Kristen, Courtney's sister-in-law was headed to the hospital to deliver their baby. We got up and got dressed and packed up for a long wait at the hospital around 10:15pm. I told Courtney we needed to go if we were going to because it was beginning to snow. We were eager to go as the rest of the family was headed back from West Virginia. At 1:30 am they did an emergency C-section as Hannah was breach. After that everything was fine. She's a beautiful kid and mom and dad are doing well.

Tuesday was the wake for Andy Barringer. He was 47 years, a believer, married to Amanda for 20 years, the father of Colton, 14, and a 29 year veteran firefighter(assistant chief). We ended up spending the evening with Colton and taking care of the house. Wednesday was the funeral.

Andy was a heck of a man and he did a good job. If we are called to leave a mark on the world as Christians he did that in spades. The funeral procession was literally five miles long! There were representatives from a half dozen fire departments and the longest line of friends the funeral home had even seen. We know personally several people who came to know the Lord through Andy's witness and several more with whom he was actively sharing the good news. He served his family, his community and his Lord well. That's why I say he did a good job!

We'll miss Andy but we look forward to seeing him again soon and are confident he's doing better than we are right now. In the years to come we'll rejoice in getting to know and love Hannah. May she have a bigger impact than any of us and may we all live up to Andy's example.

Good News, Bad News

2009-02-09T13:37:00.003-05:00

This weekend was really hectic but good. I drove down to Charleston Friday morning so I could escort the cadets on an ROTC Leadership retreat. We had a great time and were blessed by some great teaching and challenges from Brig. Gen. Dick Abel. Cadets from the University of South Carolina were there also and we had a great time of fellowship and encouragement. Pray for the cadets as they digest the challenge to decide now, in the beginning of their careers, who will rule their lives. Pray that they would be bold in living out the gospel as they serve.

We are sorry to announce another cadet has attempted suicide today. This message from Jimmy was in my inbox after lunch :

"Apparently another cadet tried to commit suicide today. He failed
obviously and is in the hospital right now. Chaplain said his parents
are believers. I have no details and will pass on when they surface."

Pray for this cadet and his family as well as the rest of the corps and their families. Obviously there is great spiritual warfare on campus. You, through your prayers and support, have already impacted the lives of the cadets in the photo above. Be encouraged to continue the fight.

~ Keith

Cadets, My Dad, and Moving!

2009-01-28T17:27:00.004-05:00

Whoo-hoo! We had a great time in Charleston last weekend. The cadets are doing pretty good and the ministry is doing some great things with Tommy Nelson's Song of Solomon study. It was a long and tiring trip but well worth it.

We got home and were able to worship with our home church for the first time in what seemed forever with all the travelling. Pastor Rob Craig gave a great message about "The Ultimate Bailout". That afternoon I got a phone call that my Dad was in the hospital in pretty serious condition. He seems to be improving so we are continuing to pray for him and the family.

Yesterday God brought us new support that has allowed us to start the moving process! We still have support to raise but we can work on getting to Charleston long-term now! There is much to be prayed for there. We need to finish our support, find housing arrangements both here and there, and then start packing. This promises to be a challenging and stressful time but God is good to have brought us this far.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support thus for. It is building up and eternal weight of glory.

God bless

~Keith

Urgent Prayer!

2009-01-15T15:11:00.003-05:00

Somewhere around midnight last night a cadet at the Citadel commited suicide on campus. I don't know many details but have spoken with our team down there. It is hitting the campus pretty hard. The general tone is disillusionment to say the least. The campus chaplain called together all the campus ministers for a briefing and to encourage them. This is a tough time for the campus and for our team. There will be a lot of counseling and the big group bible study for our ministry is tonight.

Pray for the family of the cadet that took his own life.
Pray that other cadets would search out and find hope in this difficult time.
Pray that the staff of the Citadel and all the campus ministers would respond out of God's word and His love for the cadets.
Pray that God would use this to spark revival in the corps.
Pray that we would get there very soon to help cadets find hope.

Thanks for your support and your prayers. We will keep this updated as we learn more.

God bless,

~Keith

Taking a Deep Breath

2009-01-07T14:01:00.002-05:00

It's over. This has been one very busy Christmas season for us. There wasn't all that much travel but that just means you're available to do more locally. Christmas started on the 21st and ran pretty much nonstop until Jan. 3rd. It was a good time though. We got to see a lot of family including my mom who drove out from MO for a couple of days. We got to go to Christmas conference and spend some time with the cadets too. That was really exciting because it was the first time we have had cadets at the conference in 5 years! There was a lot of interest in the ministry from ROTC cadets from other schools too. It's been exciting to not only see God moving in these young volunteers but to be a part of it. We can't wait to get there and be working on campus full-time.

That being said, now I can take a breath while ramping up for the new year. Meetings are coming together and we're still raising support. Courtney has volunteered for that special punishment of school again. I know she likes it but I just don't understand. She is taking a J-term in linguistics and will be taking another class in the spring. Oh to be a good student. She will have a Ph. D. someday. This I promise. Can you say "Sugarmomma"?

That's us in a nutshell. We hope you have had a great Christmas and that God would richly bless you according to His riches in glory in 2009.

~Keith

The Lepers

2008-12-15T11:07:00.003-05:00

Keith is normally the serious one here, but I got this devotional in my email this morning and loved it so much I thought I'd share it with you. The guy that wrote it is minister to the business world, so it's written with that in mind, but most of what he writes has great application for life.

Why Sit Here and Die?

Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, "Why are we sitting here until we die?" II Kings 7:3

A story is told in II Kings of a crisis that fell on the nation of Israel after it was invaded by the King of Syria. This crisis created a famine that was so dire that a woman, out of desperation, ate her own child (II Kings 6:26-29). During this crisis, the prophet Elisha prophesied that God would restore the city, but because of unbelief, the officer of the king did not believe him.

Meanwhile, there were four leprous men who were at the entrance of the city gate, hungry and afraid to enter the city because of the famine. Lepers had a contagious skin disease that made them unclean according to Old Testament regulations. They were isolated from the population until they were healed (usually miraculously) or until they died. The only place these lepers could find food was at the Syrian camp, but they were afraid to go there because they might be killed by the Syrians. They realized that whether they stayed where they were, entered the city, or went where the Syrians were, they would die.

They mustered up their courage and took the path with the most chance for them to survive. They approached the outskirts of the Syrian camp. To their surprise, there was no one there. There was plenty of food and treasure, but no people. The Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and horses; the noise of a great army which caused them to flee. The Syrians thought that the king of Israel had hired the king of the Hittites and the Egyptians to attack them. After eating and getting their share of the treasure, the lepers went to the king of Israel to inform him about what had happened. This led the Israelites to plunder the tents of the Syrians, and the prophecy that was told by Elisha came to pass. The courage of the lepers and their refusal to die prematurely not only saved their lives, but made them heroes and saved the lives of others.

It can be easy to take a defeated posture during a crisis. With decreased revenues, unavailable credit lines, high interest, unemployment and the uncertainty of when all this will end, you may be tempted to throw in the towel. These are times when the entrepreneur should be most alert and ready for action. These are times of great risks and great rewards. Like the lepers, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Do not simply rely on what you see; trust in a God who can do more than you can hope, think, and even imagine. Trust in a God who can part the Red Sea, open blind eyes and raise the dead- a God who is still performing miracles in the life of the believer.

Do not sit there and die! Rather, with great courage, seek the Lord for wisdom and direction, adjust your plan to reflect the reality of the times, and like the lepers, press forward toward the direction where there is provision. Make those phone calls to prospective clients, send out those promotional materials, visit those customers, and call those creditors and vendors. What is the worst thing that could happen? Give it all you've got, and I guarantee you the Lord will meet you more than half-way. Who knows? Your success may lead to God using you to save the lives of others, or at least cause them to turn to the God who saves.

Copyright © 2008 Patrice Tsague ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Random Funny Story

2008-12-11T17:42:00.003-05:00

They were talking about embarrassing stories on the radio this evening so I thought I'd share one here.

In the summer of 1997 I was a young and tough Marine. Boot camp was grueling. I volunteered to be a machine gunner. At Security Force training I shot expert with the pistol. That summer found me on a high stress mission in Manama, Bahrain. There was a credible threat to our installation there so our platoon got the nod. I stood in the heat and humidity (it's usually around 100% on that island) for many many days and nights. My usual load was an M-16 with about 160 rounds, an M-9 pistol with about 45 rounds and body armor before it was "the in thing". Not only were we specially equipped with sub-machineguns and scoped rifles, we had some pretty advanced training. This was a thing to stick your chest out about. Life was tough but good. Heck, we were wearing desert cammies. The last Marines to do that were kicking the crap out of Sadaam.

The particular place we were responsible for guarding was a transient barracks out in town away from the main base. When we were there they were still working out the barrier plan. Most of the compound was ringed only with concrete filled barrels. Those barrels were outside my post this one evening when I was a little tired and a little bored. I'm not sure how many watches I had stood that week but it always wore you out. Here it was, late and hot, so I decided to mount the barrels and walk on top of them as I had seen others do before stepping from one barrel to the next.

The view was pretty good. It was a nice change. I knew the bad guys could see me and all my weapons, gear and ammo better. My chest was certainly swelled with pride and my chin sticking out when I missed the next barrel. Yup, this highly trained, combat loaded, proud to be in the line of danger Marine just ate it while on duty. I'm not sure if anybody saw me. You don't exactly go asking the locals, "Hey, did you see me fall on my face the other day? Yeah, I was the guy right there with all the guns and gear who went splat!" I just got up and did that nonchalant thing where you act like nothing happened while limping for some reason. There was a huge set of bruises on my inner thigh where it rode down the lip of the barrel. I have pictures of the bruises still. Those pictures terrified my squad leader who knew they could be used as evidence of hazing(which didn't happen).

All said, now I can laugh about it. I still don't talk about it but you and the other two people who read this are in the know.

Enjoy

-Keith

To the Ladies ...

2008-12-04T21:03:00.003-05:00

I want to pass along something fantastic that I found, to all you ladies out there. Guys ... well ... it's about clothes, so you can check out for now and come back later. I'll try to talk Keith into posting something sometime. Anyways ... I have been incredibly blessed by a blog that I stumbled onto recently. If you're like me, you struggle with the mirror and trying to figure out how to dress like an adult without being frumpy and dowdy. The first thing I found that encouraged me is Look and Feel, on Capessa. Start at the bottom with the first post and read to the top. Sal's got great tidbits in there I needed to hear, like:

"Clothes that used to fit are powerful personal symbols: They represent a body that you no longer have, and may never have again ... Suddenly, an innocent pair of jeans has become a device of self-inflicted emotional torture. How about this as an alternative: CHUCK THEM. Jeans that don't fit the woman you are today are of no use to you! Banish them, and allow only jeans that hug your wonderful curves and make you feel like a sultry screen siren to grace your dresser drawers"

Oh my word ... I never realized closet purging could be a step towards emotional stability :) But then I did clean out some stuff today that hasn't fit in 5 years and gave it to my neighbors, and I feel better about what I have left already! Fashion and minor spiritual warfare, all in one go :)

If you like what you read on Look and Feel, I also recommend Sal's blog Already Pretty. I'm reading it compulsively the past few weeks, and it's chock full of good fashion advice and good body image encouragement. Enjoy!

Note: There is some mild language and suggestions that I don't agree with ... as with all things, take it with a grain of salt.

Math Joke

2008-11-24T16:50:00.000-05:00

"An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar. The first one orders a beer. The second orders half a beer. The third, a quarter of a beer. The bartender says "You're all idiots", and pours two beers."

:)

Broccoli

2008-11-18T19:41:00.002-05:00

If you me (Courtney) for more than a few meals, you pretty quickly learn that I HATE most vegetables. I eat lettuce, fresh spinach, corn, cucumber, tomato sauce, salsa, and caramelized onions, and that's about it for that part of the food pyramid. Fruits I love, but the rest of the veggie world leaves a nasty metallic taste in my mouth that I can't stand. To say nothing of the texture of green beans. Ick.

Imagine my surprise when I was surfing the web the other day and came across a recipe for broccoli that almost had me licking my computer screen (the almost coming from the fact that in was actually a recipe for broccoli, which is high on my list of noxious veggies). So I decided to do an experiment. Because this was the best recipe by far I had ever seen for a veggie, I would try it, and if I still didn't like it, I would be well justified in rejecting the evil vegetable.

We tried it tonight and it was soooooo good. The basics are that you roast fresh broccoli with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper until it gets slightly caramelized, and then take it out and anoint it with Parmesan cheese, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Nummy!!! The roasted garlic and lemon really set off the texture and twang of the broccoli, which has always been an issue for me. Here's the link to the recipe
http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2008/11/the_best_brocco.html

Try it. If I liked it, you'll love it.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-03T14:56:00.004-05:00

I love decorating for holidays. I don't like to go overboard, but I think a little something here and there really helps you get into the spirit of the thing. Normally, we buy a pumpkin at the beginning of October for our front porch, and it lives there until the end of November (yes, it lasts that long!). This year, we decided to splurge and bought TWO pumpkins, so that we could carve one for Halloween. Didn't it turn out neat?
But now we're going to have to buy three pumpkins next year, because two people carving on one pumpkin doesn't work very well!
- Courtney

The Bucket List

2008-10-21T16:27:00.002-04:00

Have you ever had one of those "Ah-hah!" moments? Of course, everyone has. It's good to know I can be part of everyone once in a while. I had an "Ah-hah!" moment last week. I was listening to some guys talking about signs of the end times. The conversation naturally went to what signs there were and how we should be preparing/working.

There's a catch to that. I'm sure you've heard preachers or evangelists talk about how we should live like it's our last day everyday. Heck, Tim McGraw did a song about it. There's a lot of truth to that. We don't know when our last day is. God has not promised us tomorrow. We don't know when Christ will return. Somehow even Christ does not know.

The big thing that keeps hitting me is that Revelation says in Chapter 1 and Chapter 22 , "These are the things which must soon take place." That was almost 2000 years ago. If the word is true then these things are ready and waiting since at least then. They could happen at any moment.

Our challenge is to live out our bucket list every day. Christ has not guaranteed us tomorrow. Whether markets crash or soar they will not deter nor hasten the coming of the Lord. That is the nature of our hope in heaven. It is not here on earth. Live your bucket list today.

- Keith

Summertime

2008-09-08T12:51:00.005-04:00

So in honor of Labor Day last week we went for a ramble at the lake, Sorrell style. Which means that you pull off the road at a bridge and wander through the woods. The idea is to walk by the lake, but since you aren't following any marked trails, you end up spending a good bit of time detouring through the woods to get around steep banks, drunk fishermen, and fallen trees. And you stop whenever you get to a place with a good view of the lake and a good log to sit on. Bonus points awarded for the following: a beaver lodge, a beaver, an eagle, a snake, fern-y meadows, pushing over old rotten trees, seeing someone fall while skiing, and finding arrowheads. We took the dog with us this time, and he loved it. He's part Lab, so he's all about chasing anything you throw into the water. And I do mean anything!At one point he seemed so tired that we tried to stop throwing the stick. He ran back and forth between us, barking and jumping and trying to run off with the beach towel I had been sitting on until we threw it again :)

In other news, I made the world's best salsa this week. I mean it. Here's what I did:
5 tomatoes (seeded and chopped)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 jalepeno pepper (mostly seeded)
2 serrano peppers
3 garlic cloves
about 3 TB lime juice
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
salt to taste

and I pureed it all in the food processor. I'd put a picture in here for you, but it's all gone. I'll take picture when I make some more next week. I have to, because my tomato plant are getting ready to spawn one last time. Yay! Next year, I'm planting more tomatoes!Hope you're enjoying the last of summer!
Courtney

Provision and Hope

2008-08-11T09:48:00.003-04:00

I know I've been blogging a lot about God's provision lately. I don't mean to be too exclusive but it's a big thing and pretty important to all of us. A wonderful professor of mine introduced me to the Messianic Passover. It is the fullness of what we do in part when we participate in the Lord's Supper. There are some amazing things illustrated in there that should change how we look at every day. Follow this link for more information about the Messianic Passover.

When we memorialize the Lord's Supper we quote Matt 26:26. There are a couple of interesting points that we miss there. The bread he broke was flat bread, without yeast. It represented God's provision of manna in the wilderness. How does that matter to the believer? When Christ offered this bread to his disciples he was promising to be enough for today, one day. He is faithful to provide for us every day but only one day at a time. Christ is with us today and every today just as he was with the Israelites in the wilderness. He may not provide according to our taste or desire but how great his provision is! There are many more details about the passover matzah that apply as well. The bread that was broken was the center of three pieces of matzah held in one wrapping. The bread was pierced and striped. Check out the link above to learn more.

The other thing we do when we memorialize the Lord's Supper is to drink of the cup. We quote Matt 26:27-28. This was a special cup. The third cup of the Passover meal was the cup of redemption. It represented the blood of the Passover lamb until Christ identified it with himself. He was the last sacrifice. His blood covered the sins of his people. His blood fulfilled all the promises of Scripture. Do you see the significance of this for the believer? All the sacrifices of the Old Testament were to stay God's wrath until the coming of the Messiah. The purpose was to keep them until the day of the Lord(the day of judgment). Christ has promised us grace and hope in that day!

So when we partake of the Lord's Supper we are to remember two things. Christ has promised that he is our provision for every day. And that one day at a time. Why do we worry about tomorrow? Does our Father in heaven not provide for the birds of the air? Christ showed us that in the Passover. Then he promised That Day with the cup. There will be no sorrow in that day. There will be only rejoicing with our Lord! We will know Him fully. We will see Him with eyes that are not tarnished with sin. We will behold Him with minds that have no sin. That Day is promised to us.

Brothers and Sisters, revel in God's provision for this day and know that He will provide tomorrow. Then rest in That Day which He has secured for us by his blood.

-Keith

God's Funny

2008-07-22T16:14:00.004-04:00

Did you know God has a good sense of humor? It's fun when you look back on it. I got up around 5am this morning to go to a meeting about an hour away. It's a monthly meeting that I've been to many times. No, it's not one of those meetings. I'm pretty sure they don't even meet that early. I was early though, a week early. The meeting is the last Tuesday of the month. That would be next week. So what do we learn about God's sense of humor from this? A lot! The upshot is that I got to call my friend who couldn't make it this week and tell him that was okay because he can come next week. He was glad to hear he could come. He did pretty well at stifling the laugh too. I learned to check my calender the night before because I'm not as smart as you think I am...? What are you going to do? Make the best of it.

It was a good morning though. I got to have breakfast with a friend in Garner. We got to catch up and chow down on some IHOP. There's another lesson. Always give it some serious thought when somebody mentions IHOP. It's got that creepy cafeteria feel. The coffee's great though. I also learned they have french vanilla creamer there! That was in fact exciting. Then I got to get an insurance quote that helped fund cancer research and talk to another friend I haven't seen in a while. How often do those happen simultaneously? (How often do I spell simultaneously right on the first try?) God is good. I needed to talk to both of them because they were super encouraging. Sometimes it seems like raising support is my life. It's not.

Fellowship, and service. Those are the things we are to be about. While God is providing for us more than the birds of the air and the flowers of the field we are to be about Him and His work. No matter how things go with the economy or finances there's always opportunity to serve. We are blessed when we can go to our friends and neighbors and say, "But God is good." People always need to hear that. We need to hear that. Sometimes we need to hear us say it.

Thank you Lord for your grace and your sense of humor. It is hard to run after You sometimes. Sometimes I feel like it's harder than it should be. But it's worth it. Only let me not try Your patience too much. Open my eyes to your grace. Make me quick to speak the truths of your mercy. You are good Lord, and it's good to be Yours.

- Keith

"Wondering"

2008-07-04T10:16:00.003-04:00

The world seems particularly crazy these days. I heard on the radio that gas is expected to hit $7 per gallon in two years. Apparently there's a 24 month supply of housing in the suburb right next door to ours. The Dow is dropping like a rock and food prices are on the rise with too much rain in the midwest and none around here. I catch myself wondering how all of this adds up and how the timing will work out for our ministry. I say "wondering", I mean worrying. Our reimbursement rate for ministry mileage went up to keep up with the actual cost of fuel. On one hand that's great. On the other it will probably increase the amount of support we need to raise.

While I was "wondering" about this recently Matthew 6:25-34 went echoing through my head. I think it hit particularly hard because we have so many trees and birds in our yard. In fact I have been watching a pair of bluebirds raising 3 chicks for weeks now. They are almost ready to fly. We have also been diligently watering and pruning our heirloom roses. I see everyday, every time I look outside or walk out to the mail box, how true these verses are. Why do I "wonder"? God is still in the business of loving and providing.

When we read 6:16-24 we see that it's mostly about perspective. Verses 16-18 say to walk before the Lord with a contrite heart. Look to Him and His approval, not to men. Verses 19-21 say to store up eternal treasures. Everything here is sure to pass away. Verses 22-23 explain that when we know God's heart (see also Ps. 19:8b, 10-11) we can rightly discern value. Verse 24 warns us to be wholly committed to God.

In the midst of economic and even political turmoil we are to shrug our shoulders in a sense and say, "But God..." He is good! He will provide for all of us! We long for that day when there will be no more "wondering" but we will know in full what we understand in part now. We will continue to pray for you all. We will finish raising support. We will glorify our Father. God bless brothers and sisters!

-Keith

Ho Hum ...

2008-02-19T09:03:00.002-05:00

Look at this! Two posts in one month! Amazing, isn't it? I have to confess that the main reason I'm posting is because I'm bored. Keith and I have both picked up a little part time work over the past few weeks to help make ends meet. I'm doing some temp work, and right now I'm holding down the fort at a real estate office where everyone is gone to an awards banquet. So it's just me and the phones. It'll be a quiet day.

We went to a great marriage conference this past weekend. Our church did it's first ever, and it was really fun. They actually had a dance the first night (at a Baptist church too! what is the world coming to?), which was a blast. We need to get out and cut the rug more often. Then the next day they had one speaker that talked about the relationship between marriage and the gospel, and another that had really good practical stuff on dealing with problems in marriage. Then on Sunday our pastor finished it off with a great talk on the things that we should/should not have in our lives if we are married. If you'd be interested in hearing any of the talks, they have them online for free - www.northwake.com - check under Media.

Hope you had a good Valentines!

Is It Spring Yet?

2008-02-01T14:42:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you, but I'm dying for spring. If it's not going to snow, it shouldn't stay cold, right? We'll see what the groundhog says tomorrow. So what have we been up to since my last post? We went to Encounter07, Campus Crusade's big winter conference for college students. We were really disappointed because none of the cadets from the Citadel made it there. We were really looking forward to getting to spend time with them, but it didn't happen. Instead, we did get to spend time with some of the ROTC students from other campuses in the region. It was encouraging to hear what their experiences are. And the speakers and worship were great. They always are. It was an exhausting weekend though ... I'm not used to staying up that late any more!

After New Years was our wedding anniversary ... 4 whole years! It's amazing how time flies. Through the Christmas present of a gift certificate from my parents and a generous discount from the inn, we were able to stay at a nice bed and breakfast for a few days to celebrate. It was an awesome place. Check it out if you get the chance: Burke Manor Inn in Gibsonville, NC. It's owned by a really nice Christian couple, the inn is gorgeous, the food is good, and you get a private bathroom. What more can you ask? Even though we're spending pretty much 24 hours a day together these days, it was really nice to get away for a bit and really focus on our relationship. God is good :)

Since then we've been doing a lot of meetings. I'm so glad that things have picked up a bit. Not that we couldn't stand to have more, but we're making progress and that's exciting. We finally broke 33%, so now we can say we're in our 2nd third. That feels so much better. We've been visiting some of the local chapters of Christian Business Network. It's a pretty neat group, and the people at the meetings are quite nice. Beyond that, now we're just plugging along. Please pray that we would get more support soon, so that we can get on our way and down to the Citadel!

On a related note, please pray for our team leaders Jimmy and Jana. Their twins are due any day now. In addition to the whole two babies at once thing, they're moving into a new house and running the ministry. So they've got an awful lot on their hands right now. They could use all the praying they can get! Also, keep Angie in your prayers as well. She's raising support to join us as well.

Please drop us an email if there's anything we can be praying for you about!

Ack!

2007-12-17T11:51:00.000-05:00

So now the truth is out: I am awful at keeping up any kind of website/diary/journal. I love the idea of it, but for some reason around the third month, updating anything like that slips down the priority list to somewhere between "clean behind the refrigerator" and "reorganize your socks." And how do you catch up on two months worth of assorted odds and ends? Hmmmm. Well, support raising in the holiday season has been an interesting experience. Everyone is so busy with the holidays that they don't want to add anything to their schedules, and I can't really blame them. Around the third week of November everyone we called started saying "what does your schedule look like for January?" But the meetings we have had are good, and we've got plenty waiting for the new year! So I can't complain, especially because it's been easy to fill the time. I'm making most of our Christmas presents this year myself (funds being slim at best), so I've been able to work on that. I've also gotten a good bit of reading done. If you're looking for something good to read, I highly recommend "Shadowmarch" by Tad Williams, "Common Sense Economics" by James Gwartney, and "Out of the Silent Planet" and "Perelandra" by C.S. Lewis. Good stuff!

I'm also doing some holiday cooking. I've made some sugar cookies and I'm planning on making Keith's family recipe for Chex Mix for some people for Christmas. That's a hoot, because everyone in his family loves this Chex Mix, but when you mention it to them, they always say "you can't make that, it calls for a cup of bacon grease!" Which it does. So far I've found that you have to eat two packages of bacon to make 1 cup of grease. So you have to eat lots of fattening bacon to get the grease to make the fattening snack ... how's that for bad for you! But it's yummy, so what else do you do?

We're looking forward to the New Year. Since we've had a few months to recover from the big trips, I'm hoping that we'll get the chance to visit the Citadel again in January, Lord and finances willing. Hope you all have a good holiday and a happy New Year (my resolution is to do better at updating this page!)!

"Well, if we're going to be in GA, we're halfway to TX anyways ..."

2007-10-16T13:59:00.001-04:00

"... so we might as well go there too!" This sort of thinking can get you into a world of trouble, but that's what we've been up to the past few weeks! Our follow-up training in GA was great. It's so encouraging to know that we're not the only crazy people in the world. Perspective and all that. Plus, we had a free afternoon and got to go see the Georgia Aquarium. If you ever get the chance, you've got to go see it. They have 4 Beluga whales! Whales in an aquarium! It's just fantastic! To say nothing of all the really cool sharks and my personal favorite, the seals and otters. Then we headed to TX, because, hey, we're halfway there already! We got to visit with Keith's family, and the weekend we were there was the 100th anniversary of his great grandfather coming to America from Austria. So there was a huge family reunion with lots of food and people that neither of us had ever met before! Here's Keith's Aunt Janell and his nephew Blayne. Blayne doesn't always look like that, we had just fed him pizza. Keith has decided that it's his job as the evil uncle to make sure that Blayne drives his parents nuts :)
So we had lots of fun with them.

Now we're home and trying to get back on the ball again. We've got lots of meetings planned and we're really excited about hitting the ground running and getting some momentum up. And we're excited because I don't think we need to do anymore long road trips for a few months. Hurrah! Do please continue to keep the ministry at the Citadel in your prayers. Because the rest of the team is raising support as well, they've had to more or less pull off campus completely (no support means no paycheck, so we certainly understand that decision!). The Thursday night meeting is now student-led, and I'm not sure if they're still doing Friday night dinners or not. So please pray that they would get their support quickly so that they can get back to work, and that God would use this time when the cadets are leading themselves to grow them. This could be a great time of growth for the cadets as they have to step up and lead the ministry themselves. And of course, pray that we would be able to raise our support as quickly as possible so that we can get down there and help them!

Time Flies!

2007-09-29T12:24:00.001-04:00

Sorry it's been a while since I posted an update. We went out of town the first week of the month, to visit the ministry down in Charleston. It was really a great time. You get such a better perspective from seeing things firsthand. I am now in love with the area around the campus. All the old houses are SO cool, and the idea of getting one and fixing it up is appealing and scary. I've seen too many episodes of "Flip that House" and it's ilk. I can see myself being one of those people who thinks "this won't be hard" and then gets way in over their head. But maybe not. It will be interesting, because I think that's the only way we'll be able to afford a house in the area. The cadets were interesting too. Definitely a different breed, but a fun sort of crazy. It will be interesting to get to know them, especially the girls. And there are girls there. It seems just from what I saw that they're disproportionately involved in Cru (as in, more than I expected given the guy/girl ratio at the school). And there's going to be a pretty steep learning curve just figuring out who can/cant do what and their crazy schedule and rules and all. Should be interesting!

Despite how well things started out, the rest of the month has been weird. Taking that time off to travel threw us off our bearings with MPD. So we got home and didn't have any meeting scheduled for that week, and didn't really have a good plan for what to do next, and that's kinda how things stuck. It's amazing how when you're sitting around the house with nothing to do, you just get more stuck and more stuck and more stuck. Not that we didn't have a few good meetings over the past few weeks. Some of them were incredibly encouraging. But the oomph just wasn't there, and we felt overall very discouraged. I think that's why it's been forever since I wrote anything. I just haven't felt motivated, and haven't felt like anything that I could do would accomplish anything towards our goals. And I am still feeling like I'm teetering on the edge of that. We have had an encouraging week, at least, the most encouraging one this month. And I'm looking forward to going to follow up training tomorrow, and to seeing Keith's family in TX. But I'm afraid that going out of town is going to get us out of whack again.

It's a weird thing, because God has provided so well for us financially. Not that we haven't had some scary moments, especially the past week, but he has been faithful. I'm finally realizing that this is going to be a long process, even if it takes less time than they say it will. We're not halfway done. We're not even halfway to halfway. And it's just going to get harder as we network further and further away from our friends and family. I know that meetings and such are under the heading of God's provision as well, but I'm not sure how to take it when it seems like he's not providing. Somehow it's easier for me right now to trust him with money than with other people and time. Weird, huh?

So we're getting ready to head out of town. I'm glad to be getting out of the house for a good bit of time, to be seeing friends and new places. Maybe this will be a good fresh start.

One Month Down ...

2007-08-28T16:48:00.000-04:00

Hello again!

Well, we're one month into the support raising process, and I can already say that God is so much better than I ever imagined. It's amazing to watch his provision and his timing. We met our support goal for the month in under three weeks. Family and friends have given sacrificially, and there have been some crazy stories too. One person we never met before told us that God put it on their to give even though times were financially tough, and the next day we called, and they took it as a sign from God. Before another meeting, I prayed specifically for a certain amount that I knew was probably out of reach, if this person would even support us at all. When we walked in, the person within 15 minutes was writing us a check for the exact amount I prayed about. It's freaky stuff, but it reminds me that we're not the ones doing this, it's all God.

On top of all that, we should get to take a trip down to Charleston next week to visit with Jana and Jimmy (current Citadel staff) and see the campus. Through a strange coincidence, one of my little brother's friends from high school went to the Citadel and was involved in Crusade, and the family has a house down there. They've invited us to come down and visit, which is great because otherwise we probably wouldn't have gotten to down there until next month or later. God is good!

In other news, our computers are back up and running again, with shiny new operating systems! That's great, except that we're both spending way to much time playing computer games now. I am addicted to Bloons and Civilization III. :) Gotta have some fun in your free time! Also, I am tickled because not only did my roses survive the summer without me, but with a little bit of care, they're blooming again! I may kill alot of other plants, but my roses are happy ... go figure.

Please continue to pray that we would be diligent in raising support, that God would raise up contacts and supporters for us, and that our attitudes in all this would remain focused on Christ. Be sure to let us know if there is anything we can pray for you!

Home Again, Home Again

2007-08-15T09:17:00.001-04:00

We've been home for about 2 weeks now. God has been so good. The cats and dog and house all survived the summer without us in good condition (though one of the cats gained about 5 lbs ... which is a good bit when he was about 10 lbs to start with! He's on a diet now.). We've been able to jump into support raising without much trouble at all, and God has really blessed it. We've had lots of meetings and everyone is so encouraging and so positive about what we're doing. It's so great to get to share what God is doing with people. We had a bad moment the other day when the computer that had all of our contact stuff on it crashed, but we got it back up and working again within a few hours. One big thing you can be praying for us is that people would give us referrals. We're running pretty thin on contacts, and the only way we're going to get enough support to make it is if people we know are willing to introduce us to people they know. Please pray that that would happen! Thank you so much for your prayers. This is a wild ride, but it's been so good so far, and I know that it's the result of fervent prayers on our behalf.

Heading Home ... and Elsewhere

2007-07-30T13:31:00.001-04:00

Hi!

It is so hard to beleive that the summer is almost over! This has been fun, stressful, and stretching in so many ways. But God is good, over it all. We're at Keith's mom's house right now. We finished up in Fort Collins Thursday of last week, packed up, and headed out. Before we left though, we got closure on an interesting opportunity. We weren't all that thrilled with the original placement we got a month ago. The people and place were great, but the type of ministry just didn't seem to fit well, and we didn't have a peace about it. God used that to open the door for us to consider other options. We did alot of thinking and talking and praying, and finally right before we left we were given the green light to make a change. So as of now, we are part of Campus Crusade's Military Ministry (rather than the Campus Ministry). But we'll still be working on a campus! The military colleges are under the jurisdiciton of the Military Ministry, not the Campus Ministry. So as soon as we get support raised, we'll be reporting to the Citadel, in South Carolina! It's really exciting how God opened this door. It's everything that excited us about campus ministry, with the added bonus of the military twist, which appeals to both of us. Add to that that we get to live in Charleston, and we'll have a super cool team, and it gets really exciting. God is good! The only thing that still worries me is being that far away from home, but it's no futher away than our original placement (4.5 hrs), and Debbie, my mother in law, assures me that people will still come to visit :) So that's the excitement of the week. Now we're spending a few days relaxing and reconnecting at Keith's mom's, and we'll be heading home tomorrow night. Its gonna be so good to be home and catch up with people again!

The Yellow Bellied Marmot in it's Natural Habitat ... and other Adventures

2007-07-18T10:57:00.000-04:00

Hi again!

Sorry it's been so long since the last post. They've been keeping us busy, and for some reason when I go to the computer lab, I can never remember to take the camera with me! So here's some of the adventures from the past few weeks:

This is our Life Group, at the Fourth of July. We had a cookout and watched the fireworks. I also played Bocchi ball for the first time. It was fun (kinda like mini-golf). The most important thing we learned was not to throw the ball too close to the gutter!
L to R: Shannon and Mark (Headquarters and Faculty Ministry, respectively), Mary and Jason (Eastern Kentucky University), Chad and Kelly and munchkins (Kansas State), and us!

Habitat Day! Our LifeGroup signed up to go work on a Habitat for Humanity house together. I've never done that before, and it was a lot of fun. I can now use a table saw, a nail gun, and put up siding! Keith put up a wall and part of the porch.

Rocky Mountain National Park - We have fallen in love with RMNP!!! We've been twice in the past two weeks. The best part is the Ridge Road, which goes up into the alpine areas of the park, way above the tree line. We went glacier gliding, and got incredibly close to a yellow-bellied marmot, which is a very cute critter.

So now we're done with New Staff Training. We're real staff now! They gave us a nice commencement dinner and everything.

L to R: Bart and Rachel (Charlotte Catalytic), Angie, Janna, and Jimmy (Citadel)

The General Staff Conference has started, and everybody and their mother is here from all over the US. We've heard some great speakers, and we're enjoying the change of pace. I can't wait to get home to my own bed though!

Placement!

2007-06-25T18:59:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

This past week has been pretty good. For training, we did the first of two weeks of Bible courses, namely, Bible Study Methods and Doctrine Survey. Its been neat, and not too hard (not that we're really stressing over it!). And we've continued having fun with all the neat people that are here. There are lots of people who play Settlers of Catan, and we've even had the opportunity to play Cities and Knights once! I won :) We picked up a pair of bicycles Saturday. Fort Collins is very bike friendly, with bike lanes on most streets. We were able to find a nice cheap pair to ride to class, which is about 3 miles away. So I biked 6 miles today! Sooner or later, we'll be in pretty good shape if we keep this up. I don't have a picture of the bikes yet, but I'll put one up when I get one.

So here's the stressful part about this week. We received our placement assignment yesterday. We originally wanted NCSU, and we had some pretty darn good reasons for thinking we would get placed there. But apparently the need for new staff is greater elsewhere. We were placed with the UpState South Carolina Catalytic team. Here's what that means. On a normal staffed campus, the staff pretty much run the show. They make alot of decisions for the movement, and they only deal with their campus. On a catalytic team, you're assigned to an area instead of a particular campus. In that area, there are lots of smaller colleges that have student lead movements. The students do most of the leading on their individual campuses, and you disciple the leaders and give direction to the movements. It's alot more hands-off. We'll specifically be working in the Greenville-Spartanburg area of SC. Overall, it's not as bad as it could be. We could have been put in KY, which would be really far from parents and friends. This is still far away, but at least it's not as far. We really don't know what to think about the catalytic ministry. What I've put here is all that I know about it! It is supposed to be very different than working a staffed campus, and most people who aren't guarded about it say that it's much harder. So that's where we'll be for at least the next two years. On a more positive note, the director of the team and his wife are supposed to be really cool people, as are at least one of the other couples on our team. Legend has it that the director has 4 kids, and he delivered one of them himself (but not on purpose)! Anyone like that has to be cool, right?

So that's what we know right now. When we get more details about our placement, or have any more fun adventures, I'll post again!

Courtney

First Week

2007-06-18T18:49:00.001-04:00

We're here in Colorado, and I've decided today that I never want a laptop! The one I'm using right now is driving me nuts! But now my pictures are finally all in order and I can give you an update. We made it through my brother's wedding and to Colorado ok. Driving through the night saves you time, but it's no fun, especially in Kansas and eastern Colorado where the exits are an hour apart and the gas stations usually aren't open at night! We had a few worried moments because of that, but we made it with the help of a 5 lb tub of cheesy poofs. It's amazing how chewing on something can help keep you awake :)

Our first week here in CO has been eventful. We're living in a dorm room, but we did happen to get the corner room in the building, so we have this suite-type affair with three rooms. Here's our pushed together twin beds:The training itself until today has mainly been speakers, talking about life in ministry and what Crusade stands for and all that jazz. The fun stuff has been outside of that. We have made friends with lots of lovely people from all over the US. Here's a picture of some of them: left to right: Louie, Becky, Kate, Nick, and myself

This is us climbing Mt. Horsetooth, which is near campus. Climbing mountains is always fun after the fact :) But we did have a neat adventure! We got separated from the rest of the group and met up with Mike and Wendy:At the top of the mountain, they wandered off (having a personal moment, we figured). Then they came back and asked us to act as witnesses to their marriage! Apparently in CO you can just sort of declare yourself married as long as you have witnesses, and that's what they were doing! Pretty cool, huh?

So now we're in the Bible training part of our time here. We have class all morning and homework all afternoon :P That'll be for the next two weeks. Big fun will be this Sunday (24th). That's when we find out what campus we get! Pray for us as we talk to the placement people between now and then. That will probably be my next big post. That's it for now!

- Courtney

Hi Everybody!

2007-06-06T16:38:00.000-04:00

I kept saying I was gonna do it ... and I did! This is our official blog / newsletter / updater. And just in time! We're staying at my parent's house right now, getting ready to head to training Saturday. Pray for us as we travel, and for family stuff (my little brother's getting married Saturday before we leave ... chaos ensues).
- Courtney