time out

Life goes on......



I like the fact that devon and i are continuing to walk together in the mornings. It's not a long walk, but it's important and something that we have been doing together on a regular basis.



I've come to take these walks for granted because they have become routine.



This morning, I was thinking about Gail back at the hospital and their was some grief and pain and then God took me sovereignly by the hand and showed me how our lives have been ordained before the beginning of time and how He made it possible for us to be here in HMB for 9 years being family. I again saw how loving he is and how he has taken care of us every step of the way and will contnue to do so.



Devon is a senior in high school now and enjoying school. He is taking the following classes:

Us Government

Mass Media

Weight Lifting

Workability

English

Independent Study



He gets to give announcements to the entire school on TV once a week a LOVES it. He's such a ham.



He's enjoying watching football these days and is a huge niners fan. We went to a recent niner/green bay game and he went crazy. Where did that come from???



Devon will, after two years hiatus begin BSF on September 30th. This year it is on the Life of Moses. I'm thrilled that he has an opportunity to do this again as it was great the three years that he did it earlier, studying the Minor Prophets, Acts and Genesis.



He is enjoying time with friends that seem to always like to come to our place. So we always have guys over. This weekend, we are inviting some girls over for a hoops activity and a barbque for some hang time.



He is also part of a team ministry to some elderly residents here in Half Moon Bay. Our sunday school class helps with this once a month ministry. Devon recently gave his testimony. If you want to hear it, you can go the Mariners Community Church Half Moon Bay website and go to the podcast on August 24th.

His testimony goes back to our days living in Anaheim when Devon accepted Christ at the Harvest Festival when he was about 5 years old. It's rich, and classic Devon. If you listen in, you'll get some laughs too.



Devon and I were all set this summer to go to Redwood Christian camp with family and friends, but the Lord had other plans for us as we went with our church high school group to work with the Navajo on their reservation in Arizona.



What follows is a snippet from our time there.

Elsie, the matriarch of the Navajo family gazed at the horizon as approaching storm headed toward us, and said, "It won't rain here."

"It will rain over there", pointing to her left, then pointing to the right, she said, "It will rain over there, but it won't rain here."

It poured down rain for two days in that parched, thirsty desert. The cisterns underground that catch the rain water off the roof were filled to overflowing. Wow. There were pools of water everywhere.

It reminded me of Psalm 84.

This 'interruption' in our work gave way to going under cover with our Navajo friends, the Codys and we talked and laughed and spent time together.

We all knew, that God was up to something way beyonod our limited comprehension. I knew that God was speaking to my barrenness and desert wasteland of my own soul.

He couldn't have ever spoken more loudly than he did that day.

Our three day sojourn with 4 adults and 9 teens onto the Navajo reservation 30 miles east of Flagstaff, became walk of healing in the midst of great sorrow, for they had lost the martriarch of their family Betty, 6 months before we came to the Rez.

They were not sure if they were going to let us come because of their grief.

The very first day of work with the Cody family brought a sense of what our trip was going to be about as the patriarch of the family, Johnny Ray and I sat on a log taking a short break. He told me that he had lost his wife earlier in the year. I shared briefly about my loss as well.....

What flowed out of this was a wonderful three sojourn with the Codys through their grief. Indeed there were Streams in the Desert.

May these streams continue to flow into your hearts as the Lord who provides.

Love,

Jon and Devon