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| My hubby is in California for 4 days so I guess I will have to do the posting. ;) He is attending the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) Conference in San Diego. This morning at 11 PST he will be presenting a paper. Please be praying for him. I've been thinking a great deal this week about bearing one another's burdens. About 9 weeks ago a little girl entered all of our lives and people all over the map have not ceased to interceded for "Baby Aubrey" as my Esther calls her. Then this past Thursday (What is it about Thursday afternoons?) we received news of incredible loss for two dear,dear families. Although they are in Italy far,far away our hearts ache for them. Day and night they are on our minds and in our prayers. People all over the world are hurting for them,sending them their condolences and some of these brothers and sisters in Christ hardly know those who grieve. The family of God is an incredible thing. Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Is.41:10 Lord, uphold these that we carry in our hearts. | | |
| After a very full weekend of special church services and special guests--5 additional college students joined our family, we immediately moved on to the next major event--Ana's mission trip. The last of our Easter guests departed at 7 P.M. Sunday night. Paul and Anastasia left for church at 5:45 A.M. Monday morning. There the missions team hopped on a bus that took them to Chicago where they flew to El Paso, TX. From there they traveled by van across the border to Guadalupe, Mexico and Rancho3M. A team of 30 youth and 13 adults from our church went to serve the children and staff of the orphanage. We are so excited for Anastasia. It's her first mission trip, her first real cross-cultural experience, and her first time on a plane. She'll be gone just a week, but she'll be stretched and she'll grow and the Lord will do wonderful things in her and through her. There is nothing better than being in the midst of the work of the Lord. | | |
| It was a whirlwind 24 hours, but wonderful none the less. Abbi and Wesley arrived home last night on the 6:32 Metra and headed back to Wheaton by the same train at 6:49 this evening. We celebrated Calvin and Ana's bithdays with dinner last night and enjoyed our family's traditional Purim meal at 2:30 this afternoon. (We were a few weeks late for Purim.) Abbi was home with 2 Wheaton chums for their President's Day long weekend while Wesley toured with his college choir in GA, NC, SC, and TN. Then last week Wesley spent spring break here in Kenosha and Abbi was hosted by a dear college friend in NC. But this weekend we were all together for the first time since Christmas break and it was a jolly time. I was up in our bedroom last night just before dinner and the listening to NOISE coming from the kitchen and diningroom. It sounded like a party in progress and I realized that even with just our immediate family, we always have enough for a party. | | |
| I've been reading a great piece of historical fiction to the kids. The setting of the story is the murder of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury and a mystery surrounding a medieval monastery. Daily Paul and I are looking things up in dictionaries, encyclopedias, and on the internet as each chapter brings terms and concepts that I 'm unfamiliar with. What is fun are the connections the novel has with our family. I knew that Theobald of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury was supposed to be some distant relative of mine. He was a patron of Becket and at Theobald's death, Becket became archbishop. Part of solving the story's mystery involves old manuscripts, something near and dear to the Brown family as Paul's brother is in England working with biblical manuscripts. I love learning as a family. | | |
| It is quiet in the house with only 8 of us. That may seem strange, but compared to the 19 that were with us for several days it is a dramatic difference. Thanksgiving was filled with laughter, reminiscing, hugs, the unexpected, and sometimes just plain "zooieness." There were many memory making moments, but the one that stands out in my mind was during our Thursday night sharing time. We all gathered in our living room lit by the fire in the fireplace and candles. Most of us shared something - a scripture, a song, a reflection, etc. Our oldest read a hymn, one that has become special to her as of late - "Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus." It has been a difficult semester for her, but in the midst of the trials her dependance upon her Savior has grown and that has truly blessed me. | | |
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