Thanksgiving and November . . .

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, hardly seems possible. Vickie, my lovely wife, who is currently in school learning how to become a pastry chef, treated us to homemade biscuits with homemade butter in addition to the large traditional meal. Needless to say, it was wonderful, nay, miraculous, a little bit of heaven on earth. She will be a very, very, very good chef!

The kids are doing well, thank God. Amazingly Joseph is now as tall (and will no doubt soon exceed) Hannah in height. Joe is only twelve, going on 35, and will be a very tall young man. It is with not a little pride that I acknowledge that all of my children will likely be taller than both mom and me, not a remarkable achievement considering our own diminutive stature!

School continues to be a challenge for me, my only current consolation being that the semester ends in three weeks! Joy! Although, this means, too, that finals are rapidly approaching. More time for stress and study! I know that the end goal is certainly going to be worth all of this effort, time, and money. Until then, I plod on, class-by-class . . .

We have begun a new outreach, a medical mission focused on helping the local downtrodden and disadvantaged. The ministry is called Rapha (the Hebrew word for "healing" or "mending"). We conducted our first outreach in October. As seen in the attached photo, it was a lot of fun and we saw 31 people. The young man sitting at the table with me is Aaron, who is currently training to become Medical Assistant. I think he'll make a good one. This all is a humble start, but exciting nonetheless. Our next outreach is tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

God bless you! Keep the faith!

Yom Kippur - The Day of Atonement

So, it's been a long time since my last blog post. I have no excuse to offer. Having said that, school has become nearly all consuming, with upper-level science classes taking most of my time.

Vickie and I are launching a medical missionary outreach to the local indigent population, offering free health screenings and literature about healthy living while giving each person an opportunity to receive prayer and the Gospel of Y'shua (Jesus). We are really excited about this ministry and how God will use it according to His will. It's called "Rapha", Hebrew for "healing". We appreciate prayer for this budding ministry!

Tonight, at sundown, marks the beginning of the sacred Jewish Holiday of Yom Kippur or The Day of Atonement. It was only on this day that the High Priest was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place in the Temple of God in ancient Jerusalem and stand before the Ark of the Covenant to offer a sacrifice atoning first for his sins and the sins of his family, then for all of the House of Israel. Today, this sacred time is often marked with fasting and prayer. I love this holiday, as it forever reminds me of the sacrifice of Y'shua, shedding His blood so that my sins and the sins of my people might be forgiven and, through His sacrifice, we all may have access to the Most Holy Place of God's Presence. A miracle!

God bless and minister to you all, dear readers. I'm back on my blog and, with God's help, will be more faithful in communicating! Time will tell.

Meanwhile, keep the faith!

Yes, we are still alive . . .

It is nearly impossible to believe that I haven't blogged since January, here it being the sunset of April but, alas, it is true. It is not possible to bring you up to date on all of the events that have happened. Suffice it to say that the Spring semester is nearly over here and, like my fellow students, I am very glad that this is the case! My relief will be short lived, however, as I have to take two chemistry classes during the summer. It's ok, really. I love me some chemistry!

The family and I had quite a scare here this past Friday as a tornado touched down about half a mile from our little home. Seven people and a very large dog were huddled in a very small closet for about 30 minutes while we heard the sirens going off outside. It was with incredible earnestness that we prayed for God's protection for us and the rest of the people in our town. Thankfully, no one died here, a true answer to our prayers, though as a community we did sustain some significant damage. We all have a greater appreciation for God and the incredible grace with which He grants us life every day.

Benjamin, our ten year old, now wants to become a meteorologist!

School finals are in three weeks. I appreciate prayers for the success of all of us students as we struggle with tests and deadlines!

I'll (do better to) keep you posted...

Update on Hannah

We visited Hannah's doctor here in Oklahoma and things are not going as well as we had hoped. Her seizures are returning both in frequency and intensity. Her current dosage of anti-seizure medication is quite large and, hence, our options for treatment are becoming increasingly limited. The doctor said we could try her out on another drug (the odds of this helping her at about 5%), we could implant a device into her chest and brain called a VNS (those odds are at 5%-15%), we could do another surgery (don't even want to think about that one), or we can alter her diet (45%-65%). So next month she has to go in to get evaluated for being put on a special medical diet that, according to some doctors at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, may help reduce her incident of seizures.

We continue to appreciate your prayers as we walk this road with Hannah. God bless and minister to you all!

I'll keep you posted.