Happy New Year!

Last Year & The New Year
Bye bye 2008! Welcome t0 2009!
Last year saw God greatly at work in our life. We have been blessed with:
1. a deeper love and appreciation for God and one another
2. a sponsoring congregation that is generous, loving, and very globally focused
3. a home in Beijing complete with a great ministry team, wonderful church family, and a bunch of good Chinese teachers at our school
4. more personal discipline in reading, praying, and studying God's Word
5. increasing understanding of our families' relationship to us and one another.

This year we are praying God continues to bless us in all these ways and more, so that we can continue to bless others with His abundant love!

Yesterday
We went to our Chinese classes, ate at home for breakfast and lunch, then went to the restaurant where we have worship for our New Year's Eve Party. We didn't stay, we were falling asleep at 9pm, still tired from our travels to Shiyan. We met with people nearly all day every day in Shiyan. The emotions, energy, and spiritual connections and disconnections were incredible. We came home from the party and went directly to bed at no later than 10:30pm. I didn't wake up until 7:40am. That is the longest I have slept since I was sick and slept for a few days.

The Daily Bible - Genesis 1-3
I am now beginning The Daily Bible - F. LaGard Smith's work on a guided chronological reading of the Word of God. I have read through this at least once before, with a few other attempts in between.

I am amazed at how everything came together at the beginning of time. God spoke and there it was, the world. I can't believe that so many people don't want to believe that an all powerful God can speak this world into existence, but instead they want God to be required to use millions and billions of years. There are of course arguments for both sides, I have read and heard many. The difficulties with evolution are overwhelming, while the difficulty with God speaking the world into being are also present, it boils down to faith. Believing God is real, true, and so is His Word, changes so much in this argument... yet there are many Christians buying into the evolutionary model. I highly recommend these online resources.

This is my journal, a place for personal accountability, and a tool for witnessing to others. I am always open to telling others about the blessings I have received.

Boundaries in Marriage
Jaime read this book in 2008 or 2007. I skimmed it, read a 1/4 of it, but got interrupted. So now, I'll have another go and record my impressions here. I do enjoy the material and the challenge to always improve my relationships, especially our marital relationship. The rewards definitely compensate and outweigh the work we put in. I love synchronicity and synergism.

Prayer
Thank you God for the blessings of this past year! Grant us your continued favor in 2009, let us lift you up to the people of China and the world as we enjoy growing in our friendship and partnership with you!