Now that we've been in California for a year, I am beginning to understand the connection between discouragement and cloudy days. Cloudy days never bothered me when we lived in Washington, where cloudy days were the norm. That's what it must be like for sinners who are lost in sin: they don't know what it is like to have the Son shine all the time on their lives, so their sin doesn't bother them.

You never know what you will encounter in ministry, working with people. I visited with a transvestite man today, who tried to justify the lifestyle that he had chosen with Bible, by saying that he is a modern-day Nazarite, and that he felt pure enough to do the service of the temple.

I also met a woman today who believed that she had the protection of God on her life, because the shadow of the crosses of three different neighborhood churches fell on her house. She then told me that she does not believe in Christianity, though, but rather follows the spirits of three goats that she sees and listens to from time to time. "It's nothing bad, though," she said, "because I've followed them for a long time, and I am old now, and nothing bad has happened to me even though I worship goats. I'm not dead yet."

Fellow Christians, we live in a mission field in the good ol' USA. Please pray for these people. Get out and witness to those around you. You will find folks who are trapped in superstition. You will find folks who use the Bible to justify sin. And, if we are not careful to heed sound doctrine that is preached in the local church, we will find ourselves in superstition, using our Bibles to justify our own apathy. Let's be salt and light.

- Bro. Jared

Child 1, whining: "Papa, he took my flashlight RIGHT out of my hand and left me in the dark, and it's REALLY dark!"

Papa: (calls Child 2)

Child 2, without waiting to be interrogated (oh, and also whining): "But I had a REALLY good reason for taking the light... (goes on for three, Dickens- size volumes)"

Papa: "The bottom line is, if you steal something, no matter the reason, you don't get to keep it. Give him back his flashlight."

Child 2: "Yes, Sir" (proceeds to seemingly obey)

Papa (watching closely): "Give him the BATTERIES, too!" (Child 2 proceeds to give him the batteries.)

Papa (turns to Momma): "Do you ever feel like we're living in a soap opera?"

Momma: "Wait, you mean we're not?..."

Praise the Lord for his provision and protection tonight as He delivered us from two snakes when our car broke down and we had to walk home a couple miles in the dark. As an added bonus, we got to see just about every constellation in a beautiful night sky, and a parade of satellites passing through.

It was a great time of growth as a family as we learned to trust the Lord and watch out for each other. I especially appreciated one son repeatedly express thankfulness for his brother (something with which he struggles) after that brother saved him from the first rattlesnake.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

God blesses specific prayer. He just gave us everything that we asked Him for in a new house, and a price we can afford to pay for rent. Now I'm a little terrified; was He just answering our prayer, or did He give it to us because He has a great sense of humor, and now we have 'what we always wanted..."? Time will tell. But for now, we are moving onto a farm right in the middle of the people that God has called us to, and we are excited for the new adventure that awaits!

Thank you for praying, Friends, and please don't stop.

In the van, driving home today from running some errands, Enoch and Ezra were sitting in the far back seat, and Enoch called up to me, "Papa, for a pet, may we buy an owl?"

I told him, "No," and explained that most people have cats or dogs for pets but that Mama and Papa have allergies to cat and dog hair and so we can't get them either. 

"How about a fish?" asked Enoch. 

So Krysta and I leaned together and whispered about the pros and cons of giving our four boys the responsibility of a pet fish. After a few exchanges, Krysta whispered to me, "You know they will stop feeding it and it will die, and I'm not sure I'm ready to work through their little emotions when that happens."

I was about to whisper back that it might be different with boys, when the boys broke the silence from the back seat, proving my point for me. 

Enoch: "Then, after we've had the fish for awhile, we can cook it and eat it!"

Ezra: "Yeah! We could have a fish sandwich!"

My boys, watching the deer out the dining room window this morning:

Son 1: "I wouldn't want to eat a deer, because they eat GRASS!"

Son 2: "People do eat deer, but they take the grass out first, so it's okay."