Okay -- I finally decided it was time to post again. Not sure what my problem is -- maybe that it is easier to read than it is to write.  :) I faithfully read the entries every day when they come up -- sorry.  Here are the quick highlights of the past month and few days.  I learned several important life lessons as I sat at home -- when I didn't get to go to Belarus.  Some were fun to learn -- one was hard to learn.  You don't get the full story but here is the quick synopsis -  1.  It is very easy to deceive yourself.  God made me do some hard looking at myself and I had to admit the truth about where my heart was as I sat at home while not being in Belarus.  2.  It is important to learn that ministry that happens when you are not face to face is just as important as face to face ministry. I have a whole new appreciation for my supporters.  3.  We were given an awesome task when we were given the job to communicate the heart of God to a people who do not know him.  If you want to know more about how I learned those lessons -- just ask -- I'll be glad to explain.

Interesting note on God's grace -- He knew I'd be miserable at home in the states -- if I was completely healthy while the rest of the team was in Belarus so for those 20 days I basically had no voice.  And when it became rather "interesting how my voice would not come back" I made the observation to a my friend Janice, "God will probably give me my voice back when the guys are done teaching in Belarus."  He did almost to the minute.  I still smile at God's grace -- and how he cares about the little details of our hearts.

We have a new dog -- her name is Maddie.  We have her because I spent way to many days home by myself missing Sadie so I started looking a Humane Society for dogs in shelters. And I found one! She looks alot like Sadie -- was 8 months old and is a black lab/bordercollie or australian shepherd mix.  So she is going to be a medium size dog.  She is very fun -- but she is teaching me that I am not the greatest dog trainer in the world.  It was so easy to train Sadie -- she had a heart that just wanted to please. Tell her once and she would do it every time because she wanted to please you.  Maddie -- kind of wants to please -- but she has this small rebels streak that says, "I think I need to think about it!"  But we are gaining and I'm learning as she is learning.  My God lesson that I've learned from her is this:

I've been working on teaching her to come when I call -- important life lesson for a dog. :)  Anyways, she has this distraction problem -- when she wants to come she comes -- when she is on the hunt for a smell -- only when she is done. :)  So I took her to the park so we could work on this important life skill.  I put her on a very long lead that allowed her to wander far from me - I would call her and most of the time she would ignore me and then I would start pulling on her lead and then with reluctance she would come.  Well, after about a half hour of this -- I became convinced this training technique was not working -- so I took a risk and took the long lead off and let her go.  She ran and ran and ran in huge circles around me.  I didn't think I was ever going to catch her again.  Out of desperation I started running away from her calling her name as I ran -- and when I looked back -- she had stopped in her tracks and then took off on a dead run after me so I leaned down, held out a treat, whistled and called her name -- she came at a dead run and almost leaped in my arms.  We did it over and over again -- I would run --she would come running when I called and we'd have a celebration!  The God lesson -- God could keep forcing us to come but he really just wants to give us freedom to run and enjoy life and then come when he calls and leap into his arms with enthusiasm.  :)  But just like me -- I know that is true about God - but Maddie and I have to keep going to the park to reinforce the truth -- "that coming when I call is a good thing."  I'm grateful for the God lessons I'm learning from her.

Oh and Abbie and Hannah this is for you -- the new trick that she learned just yesterday is -- I can threw a ball at her and she can catch it.  It's pretty cute.

I knew I should have posted last week.  But alas I didn't so I'm stuck with a dilemna -- do I share the good God stuff or the sad heart stuff first.  So...I go with the truth in both situations -  God is full of mercy and grace.

Last time I wrote my frozen shoulder was very frozen -- and bothering me a great deal. I was approaching the point of thinking that going to Belarus was going to be a very painful experience or it wasn't even going to be a possibility. And then God stepped in -- I won't go into all the details -- but God provided me with an incredibly neat Christian orthepedic surgery who moved very quickly on January 10th to do a procedure called shoulder manipulation -- basically they knocked me out and forced my arm to move all the places it hadn't moved for the past two months.  It was a bit sore when I woke up in the recovery room. :)  I went back in for my two week followup today and they were amazed at how well I was doing -- I have regained almost all of my range of motion and the pain is really not bad at all.  There were  so many ways that God was and is all over this deal -- I was told when I started this whole deal with my shoulder that if I had the manipulation I would have to have therapy for at least 6 weeks :) but God is in the healing business and the doctor gave me the all clear to go -- with stern emphasis on being very faithful about my exercises while I'm gone.  I certainly do not want to go back to where I was and I most definitely want the full use of my arm back -- so I will follow his advice.  I'm very thankful.

Now on to the sad heart stuff -- on Sunday I had to say goodbye to Sadie.  It was an awful weekend.  I never would have dreamed last Tuesday night that tonight I would be sitting here writing that she had died.  It actually went so fast -- we took her to the vet on Wednesday -- we left hopeful that we were on the right path to helping her feel better and then... Friday happened -- and she was obviously so miserable that we began to consider that we needed to have her put to sleep -- Friday night was bad -- but Saturday morning I simply could not make the phone call to make the appointment -- Saturday was spent trying to keep her comfortable and "be with her" -- Saturday night was more awful -- and then at 12:30 Sunday afternoon we decided that it was time to say goodbye to the best dog in the world.  It was purely and totally yucky and horrible -- and very, very sad.  Janice and I have shed lots of tears -- the house feels horribly empty -- and we miss her presence.  I miss her unconditional love -- the fact she provided me with most of my significant touches for the day -- the hugs she provided -- the fact that at night as I laid down to sleep -- I didn't feel alone because Sadie was there -- and in the morning she was there again -- leaning in for her morning hug -- sharing moments at the kitchen counter as I made the coffee as she waited for her morning medicine -- watching her excitement that it was time to go to work again -- walking in the door after being gone at night and having her greet me with love -- and it goes on and on...  She was a very faithful friend -- and she taught me so much about God's unconditional love -- and so much about the value of just being there with quiet love and acceptance.  Sunday morning -- as she was struggling to breath -- I was reading to her from Randy Alcorns book -- Heaven. I know  -- that was probably wierd -- but hey -- in the face of even your dog's death -- turning to the hope we have in Christ is a good thing.   Not sure she understood but it helped me -- and in Sadie's death I now have a better understanding of the amazing work of God's redemption.  This is a portion of what I read to Sadie that morning --

"Eugene Peterson captures the universal implications of Christ's redemption when he paraphrase Colossians 1:18-20 in The Message, "He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone.
19 So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding.
20 Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross."

The power of Christ's resurrection is enough not only to remake us, but to remake every inch of the univers -- mountains, rivers, plants, animals, stars, nebulae, quasars, and galaxies.  Christ's redemptive work extends resurrection to the far reaches of the universe.  This is a stunning affirmation of God's greatness. It should move our hearts to wonder and praise. "

So in the midst of great sadness -- lots of tears and a heart that feels the emptiness of the absence of Sadie's presence -- I find myself filled with wonder and praise at the magnitude of Christ's redemption that happened at his resurrection and what that means when God promised in his word - "In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13) I'm not saying Sadie will be on the "new earth" but when God recreates it and populates it again with animals -- I'm sure it will have the perfect version of Sadie -- because she was really close to perfect. I'm grateful that God use her to teach me so much about him -- and I miss her.   

Happy New Year all!  Just came back from Anna Leigh Quaring's 1st birthday party. It was fun and amazing that she is one already.

Well, the new year has started -- and that means that my week of vacation is coming to an end.  It was good to have "most" of the family home -- and I loved having my sister and brother-in-law stay with me -- it was all just very nice -- except for the sore shoulder part.  Oh well, I'm developing sympathy for people who live with chronic pain.  I've decided I'm a wimp - I want to stay positive and happy but then as my shoulder gets sorer during the day -- I get grumpier and less inclined to want to do much.  It has been an interesting experience -- got a coristone shot in it last week -- which I think helped some -- but certainly wasn't a miracle cure. :)  The doctor told me it was going to take patience, perservance and prayer -- so it's a good time to practice James 1. 

But on a positive note -- my visa came for my trip to Belarus and we bought our plane tickets so off to Belarus we go on Jan. 28th.  Started going over my teaching stuff and am revamping how I teach the harmony of the gospels part.  I will have at most only 4 girls so I'm wanting to use the time to help the girls discover what normally I would just tell them.  Usually I would have this all done by this time but I'm a bit behind -- still don't enjoy time on the computer much.  It just hurts to type on it -- it is so bizarre.  Enough whining!

But now it time to get back into TFC world -- to do what God called us to do with teens.  I'm glad for the down time the last couple of weeks -- God knew exactly when I needed it.