Cultivating Life

On Childhood's End

2012-01-25T12:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, while doing the dishes I wanted to listen to something a little more substantial than the usual Pandora stations I often put on (Edward Sharp & the Magnetic Zeros have done me well lately), and so I browsed through the different options I had available and settled on NPR's Youth Radio. Here I found a LOT of interesting snippets of things produced by, reflected on, and commentated about by, you guessed it, people within what we in GYFM are calling the 10/30 window, the unreached group of people between ten and thirty years of age.

I had a great time listening through many of the different programs, all about 5 minutes long, and was struck by the broad spectrum of issues there are to explore within this meta-culture. Just searching for the word 'adolescent' on their webpage brought up dozens of articles coving literary engagement, teen weight-loss surgery, sleep deficits, transgender convictions, juvenile antidepressants, and even the rising use of cholesterol drugs in children. However, what struck me the most was that while often observed and solicited, those within the 10/30 window are only rarely engaged; while they yet need to be so very direly!

While it is truly all well and good to explore what their interests are, where their challenges lie, and how they process their experiences, who is there to work with or even mentore them? To challenge them in their personal and spiritual development? To walk with them through their pain, shout with them in their anger, and jump up and down with them in their joys and success? Listen to the show I've linked to below. How will you follow the call to "proclaim [God's] might to another generation, [his] power to all those to come" (Psalm 71:18)? Please pour your heart out in prayer for those who will, and already are, rising up behind us, and consider whether you might support Lindsey and I in the work we are doing in the 10/30 window with GYFM.

Youth Radio Commentators On Childhood's End

When one door closes, another opens. The transformation from childhood to adulthood is no different. Youth Radio Contributors share these thoughts on bidding adieu to childhood.

- Drew

Harold Bloom and Common Grace

2012-01-16T06:10:00.001-08:00

This morning I am looking out over the half frozen over Severn river and reading Harold Bloom's reflections on "The Art of Reading Poetry," the introduction to his collection of "The Greatest Poems of the English Language." Sitting here sipping on a slowly cooling cup of coffee, I am struck by several things. First, by the delight it is to revel in the artistry of the way God's nearly cloudless sky is yet transformed into a profoundly subtle shade of pink with the rising of his sun. Incredible! What lessons of his tender greatness we should draw from not only this artfully gentle fracturing of light, but also from the ways that mankind is universally drawn up in his tracks to, even if only for a moment, stand in wondering appreciation of it.

Second, the intricate ways that he has equipped mankind with the ability follow in his footsteps by both crafting and appreciating our own creations; truly this must be one of the most privileged aspects of being made in his own image. We often take this as the height of man's glory, and yet only rarely is it recognized and affirmed as signature of our author.

Finally, as the title of Dr. Bloom's introduction names, the appropriate observation of and engagement in another's creation is an art itself, and thus requires skill, intentionality, and effort. While the finest artists (both man and God) pour themselves selflessly out into the production of their works, it stands to reason that the observers (as we all cannot help but be), bear a responsibility to, while caught in fascination by what we have encountered, extend the effort to praise and be moved by the skill of the artist.

- Drew

*The photo of the Severn above, while taken on a summer's evening, still somehow bears rather similar coloration to what I observed this morning.

The 10/30 Window

2012-01-11T11:12:00.000-08:00

After writing in and having his thoughts printed in WORLD magazine, Jonathan Taylor, a team mate of ours, inspired one of the journalists at the publication to dig a little deeper. As such, this month both Jonathan and our team leader, Eric Larsen, were interviewed by World Magazine about the "10/30 window" (the people between the ages of ten and thirty who now comprise over 50% of the globe's population), touching on issues of extended adolescence, generational divisions, and the globalization of youth culture. It's pretty neat to not only see the field we are working in gain recognition, but it is especially exciting to have the privilege of being a voice in the conversations about how to work in it well!

Take a moment to check out the article, The Other Unreached People Group, and tell us what you think about it. What do you think about the category of the "10/30 window?" Is this a helpful way to frame a people group?

The Promised One Has Come

2011-12-24T12:51:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite parts of the Christmas story in Luke is when Jesus is presented to Simeon in the temple. A man who was promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he saw the Christ. Simeon blessed Jesus and cried out to God saying,

"Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."

Luke 2:29-32

Joy to the World, the promised Savior and redeemer of all people has come!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Time Keeps Ticking Away

2011-12-23T11:32:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had a continuace thought bounce around in your head for a while, but you can never really put your finger on what it is? I have been experiencing this feeling recently, and it wasn't till today that I was able to really name what it is, and gain some perspective about it. I wrestle with the concept of time, and how there never seems to be enough of it. I always remember as a child hearing my dad say, "Well when you get older time just starts flying." Well he was right and I don't like it very much. I am always late, and I always think I can get ready in less time then I actually can. I get excited when it is 8:00 a.m. and I think it is so early and before I know it it is 11. Sometimes it just feels like the days fly by, and I find myself grumbling about how it is almost over. I often feel like this when Drew and I get to spend the day together. I cherish every single moment that I get to spend with Drew, and always feel sad when our day together has to end. Needless to say, I don't like this way of thinking.

I don't enjoy these feelings of sadness or anxiousness about time. I long to see everyday as a gift and opportunity to see God's work in creation, my life, and the lives of others. To see each day as another opportunity to serve him and continue to spread his redemption. I don't want to keep looking back or looking forward in a spirit of fear, but I would rather seize the opportunity that is in front of me with a spirit of joy and thankfulness.

Time is not my enemy!

I was reading a post today by Margie Haack that was originally published in Ransom Fellowship's newsletter, but posted on Art House America. Here is what I read that helped me gain a little perspective.

" In The Good Works Reader Thomas Oden writes about the Lord’s Prayer and the larger meaning of receiving our daily bread: “Ultimately the bread we most pray for is the clarity and truthfulness of our own purpose and destiny.” That is what I crave, I’m hungry to understand my purpose, to believe that human finiteness is okay, and to know and believe when God made us to live in dailyness He said, “It is good.” I’d like to live with a certain clarity that though the day inevitably comes with suffering, it’s still good, and I would like to gratefully receive that day with all its shuffling and waiting as a gift."

She later says,

"f I am busy considering either my body or time as enemies, then I have succumbed to a limited perspective informed by my senses and, more subtly, by cultural pressures that determine whether we are good, successful, disciplined, worthy people — thanks to iCalendar, diet, and proper exercise. Both body and time are gifts that enable me to serve God in holiness and righteousness “before Him (embodied) all our days.” That means being contented with 24-hour days — where God says it’s good to live — from babyhood to the end of life."

God has ordained all my days before me, and he is called me to live faithfully in them!

-Lindsey

Image from: farm6.static.flickr.com

A Book Review

2011-12-15T11:28:00.000-08:00

Our friend Wes Vander Lugt has written an excellent review on the book The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry by Andrew Root and Kendra Creasy. One of the goals of GYFM is to help youth pastors think more deeply and theologically about ministry to young people. As Wes states, the Theological Turn in Youth Ministry is a great help in asking good questions and starting the conversation on how to have a theology of youth ministry, and then how that theology is practically played out. Check out the review!

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The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry (IVP, 2011) is not your average youth ministry book. Rather than a pragmatic manual, Andrew Root (professor of youth and family ministry at Luther Seminary) and Kendra Creasy Dean (professor of youth, church and culture at Princeton Theological Seminary) have put together an engaging work of practical theology. As such, the goal of this book is to resource and re-imagine youth ministry as Christopraxis oriented toward existential and eschatological horizons.

Youth ministers might think they can escape theology, but this is impossible. Every ministry is enacted theology and every theology is ministerial. The goal of practical theology is to make more intentional connections between theological reflection and ministerial action, which continually inform one another. Root explains theology as the process of attending to God’s revelation and ever-changing contexts, letting God’s revelation answer the questions arising from our encounters with particular people and situations. In addition, Dean notes that the youth themselves are intuitive theologians, and by doing ministry with youth, we can craft theology and ministry attentive to their actual needs and desires.

Theology constructed with youth, as Root articulates, is theology that begins by acknowledging and articulating the crisis of reality, and then recognizing God’s act and being within it. Youth ministry as practical theology takes seriously the mix and tangle of real life (the apologetic element), while always situating these complexities within the overall biblical drama (the kerygmatic element). The relational-social dimension of ministry should never be separated from the biblical-theological element. Because of this, youth ministers should not presume that theology always provides simple answers to questions arising out of complex relationships and situations. In fact, a robust theology of God’s presence and absence allows ministers, along with young people, to be patient with honest yearning and to persevere with the suffering while rejoicing with the healed.
While the first half of the book is a deep exploration of theological themes, the second half unfolds how ministry practices might be affected by this theology, whether conversations about sin, sexual issues, summer camps, nature trips, short-term missions, and mentoring relationships. In fact, it is in these practical issues that the pay-off of practical theology is most clearly seen and where it is easiest to register and articulate my agreement and disagreement with the proposals.

For example, I wholeheartedly resonate with Root’s concern to orient mission trips away from accomplishment and toward accompaniment, focusing more on being with and partnering with one’s hosts rather than doing something for them. Seen in this light, the purpose of a mission trip is learn more about God’s kingdom and to build relationship with Christians around the world rather than accomplishing something that makes us feel good but maybe does more harm than good. In addition, I applaud Dean’s identification of desire as the foundation of spirituality, and her insistence that youth ministry cannot divorce sexuality from spirituality. The ongoing challenge of the youth minister is to affirm the structure of desire while providing pastoral guidance regarding the direction and expression of desire, and this requires us to expel “the corset of modern rationalism.”

At other points, however, the practical suggestions reveal my disagreement with the authors’ theology. For instance, by identifying evil as nothingness and sin as flirting with death and non-being, I think Root makes conversations about sin more convoluted than they need to be. Much more helpful, in my opinion, is describing sin as Cornelius Plantinga does—“not the way things are supposed to be”—which includes both the objective brokenness of the world and our complicity in breaking it. In addition, because of his strong Barthian theology, Root claims that nature is inert and does not reveal God in his beauty and grandeur. On the contrary, a stronger view of general revelation and a more robust theology of creation leads me to believe that no element of creation is inert and every creature is a full participant in the drama of creation and re-creation. As a result, outdoor trips are a time to experience longings and brokenness, but they are also a time to encounter God. Furthermore, while I agree that a youth minister should be a “captain of the company of companion doubters,” I disagree that “Christianity has nothing to do with certainty.” It is true that Christianity does not offer hard, rationalistic certainty, but there remains, as Newbigin maintained, a “proper confidence” rooted in the reality of Christ’s resurrection and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. “Faith seeking understanding” can dispel some doubts while learning to live with others. Finally, while it is necessary to keep theology and ministry rooted to the “crisis” of reality, our starting point and ultimate point of reference needs to be the abundance of God in Christ and his creation. Even though Root maintains that theology and ministry should always maintain a tragic and comedic element, his theology and practice tips toward the tragic. “Healing is wonderful, but it’s weird” is a tragic perspective; a comic perspective claims that although wonderful healing may be sporadic, it’s actually the way things should be.
Even though I disagree with the authors’ theology at times, overall I am encouraged by this “theological turn in youth ministry.” The best youth ministry arises from and leads to robust theology. As my theological critiques reveal, however, there will always be “theologies” of youth ministry rather than “a theology” of youth ministry. Divergent theologies result from different conclusions regarding what God has communicated in Scripture and creation, different conversations partners within the Christian tradition, and doing ministry in different contexts. Consequently, if the theological turn in youth ministry is going to spread and mature, youth ministers intentionally need to bring their theology into conversation with other theological traditions. The goal is not to blend all theologies into a nebulous amalgam, but to realize how our own sin, cultural situation, and human finiteness have blinded us to some aspects of God’s truth, goodness, and beauty. The theological turn in youth ministry, therefore, is also the global turn in youth ministry, because the collective reflection of the global church serves as a corrective to particularly theological and ministerial deficit disorders. It is exciting that Root and Dean were courageous enough to begin these theological conversations, and it is even more exciting that this is only the beginning.

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After serving in youth ministry in Mexico and the USA, Wes now ministers to young people in St. Andrew’s, Scotland, where he is a PhD candidate in Theology, Imagination and the Arts. Check out his blog at: http://theatricaltheology.wordpress.com/

How Good

2011-12-06T07:13:00.000-08:00

The ever so brief Psalm 133 describes how good it is when brothers live "in unity." This weekend Lindsey and I attended a team meeting back in Missouri, and we got a tast of the goodness that the psalmist describes. It was wonderful! In the past few months many of us on the team have been through a number of painful and trying circumstances, and this meeting provided a beautiful opportunity to band together. We spent good times speaking, listening, and praying with one another, offering grace and encouragement, and generally shoring each other up to return the work we are all engaged in. It was wonderful.

Lindsey and I in particular have faced some difficult challenges this last month, and the counsel and encouragement that we have received from friends in St. Louis, here in Annapolis, and on our GYFM team has been invaluable. This weekend came as a wonderful reminder that we are not alone, that we have dear friends and supporters who love us deeply, and are excited to step in and offer us the care we need. Thank you all so much for being there for us. We love you - thank you for supporting us in both our professional work and in our personal lives.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity!

It is like the precious oil on the head,

running down on the beard,

on the beard of Aaron,

running down on the collar of his robes!

It is like the dew of Hermon,

which falls on the mountains of Zion!

For there the LORD has commanded the blessing,

life forevermore.

(Psalm 133 ESV)

- Drew

Wow, What an Amazing Prayer!

2011-11-22T19:32:00.000-08:00

Ephesians 1:16-20

"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places."

I read this this afternoon and was struck and encouraged by three of the things that Paul prays for for the church in Ephesus.

-That they may know what the hope is to which God has called them.

-What the riches are of his glorious inheritance in the saints

-What is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe. A power so great that it raised Christ from the dead.

These are such great reminders of who we are in Christ and the blessings of being united to him. I pray that my eyes would be enlightened to these truths everyday!

-Lindsey

Asia/Pacific Area Retreat 2011!

2011-11-21T10:30:00.000-08:00

The Malaysia trip was pretty incredible. With this trip we finally completed our circuit of the globe and have spent time with the students from all of the areas MTW is in. What a privilege! This retreat had about 50-60 students, and it was awesome to get to know them and their different contexts. As the students came in there was a degree of hesitation, each of them wanting to test the waters to see how the group would feel. Some dove right in, some held back, and some were determined to be unimpressed - one student even walked in saying "so raise your hand if you think being here is lame." However, as the week went by, it was beautiful to see how everyone gelled as a group. By the time the week was over even the student who polled the lameness of the group was heard walking out the door saying, "look dad, I got all the phone numbers of my new friends!"

Twice throughout the week we took time to pray out loud together, and each time the most commonly repeated prayer was "thank you for this youth group." This might be a common thing here in the US, but for these student scattered over a dozen countries throughout the East, to be a member of a cohesive group is a unique and profound experience. This connection and unity they felt is a major piece of work we are doing, and hearing them voice their gratefulness in this way was a huge encouragement and blessing.

The small group times, which are the heart of our time with the students, can sometimes prove challenging as it can take some time to open up, but even in these it was exciting to see how quickly the students grasped the opportunity to engage. One of the things we were most excited about was the ability to connect with several students who will soon be coming back to the US for university. It was AWESOME to hear how excited they all were to know that we would be here waiting for them, especially those that will wind up in Chattanooga at Covenant College!

Drew's small group

Lindsey's small group

The whole group!

On the final evening of the Asia/Pacific Area Retreat, after we had said all our goodbyes, we walked out the doors of the youth room and saw written on the windows in the humid Malaysian condensation, “In 4 years! 4 now, Bye!”

Four years is far, far too long.

Thank you so much for all of the prayers while we were there and since we have come back. Please continue to pray that our support would be raised quickly so that our team can begin to shrink those four years.

A Wedding and LOTS of Family Time!

2011-11-17T08:32:00.000-08:00

After Malaysia I caught a terrible cold that had me out for about two weeks. After getting over the cold we hit the ground running with our jobs and support raising. Drew had the privelage of meeting with our friend David Diaso who is a fellow MTW missionary. He is very experienced at raising support and we found a lot of encouragement from him.

On November 5th Drew's brother Chase married his beautiful bride Cait. It was a wonderful celebration. Drew had the privilege of officiating the wedding. Cait asked all of the sister-in-laws to be honorary bridesmaids so all of the family was able to participate. We had a blast spending time with our family laughing, sitting around the fire making smores and drinking warm tea, and visiting Gettysburg PA for a day!

We are working on a post to show more of our experience in Malaysia as well as working on our November update. Here are a lot of pictures to show you what we have been up to!

So beautiful!

I love this photo!

So thankful to have such wonderful sister-in-laws!

Drew and his niece Lucy hiding from Grandpa

All the Wilkins Men!

Beautiful Gettysburg

It was such a beautiful day

In a conversation with Abe Lincoln, Abe stole Drew's hat!

2011-11-16T07:33:00.000-08:00

Our Team

2011-10-23T12:33:00.000-07:00

One of the things that we love about the area retreat is working with such a wonderful team of youth leaders. It is a blessing to come together and watch all of our gifts compliment each others. It is awesome to be encouraged by one another, and to see how much we really do need each other as we work to serve. Drew and I always feel so sad at the end of the retreat not only because of having to say goodbye to the students that we have built relationships with, but also having to say goodbye to many of our dear friends who are on the team but live in different parts of the U.S. This past week was filled with lots of laughter and memories!

And Back Again.

2011-10-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

Well we finally made it back from the Asia/Pacific Area Retreat! We had a wonderful time getting to know the different MTW families, and it was a joy to work with all the volunteers and teammates that make these trips possible. It was AMAZING!

Over the next few days we will fill in with more specific information about what we did there and how it all went over, but for now I'll just toss up a few pictures to give a small taste of the adventures we had.

The view from a Detroit Airport window, reflected in the coolest fountain in the world!

Sunrise over one of the buildings on the hotel campus in the Malay forest.

Students during a youth meeting

Some amazing flowers on the hotel campus

Linds and me in front of Singapore's famous Merlion!

Sunday morning worship with all the missionary families

Me on the flight back over the Pacific

It was an awesome trip, and we have been extremely encouraged by the relationships we built and the responses we received from the families we worked with. Thanks so much for all your prayers during these last two weeks - we are very much aware that though Linds and I are able to be the ones on the ground, the work that is being done is an extension of your love for these students as well. Thanks again for keeping up with us and supporting us in this ministry!

-Drew

On to Singapore!

2011-10-14T16:51:00.001-07:00

I have been leading worship this week and have really enjoyed hearing the voices of all the leaders and MK's singing praises to our King. Yesterday we took some time to pray out loud as a group and lift up words of praise to God. We heard multiple students praise God for "this youth group!" These words are particularly significant to us because for many of these students this week is their one opportunity to be around leaders and other students who "get them." The uniqueness of this event is something that can add a lot of pressure and insecurity for some students - however, we have already heard several turn-arounds from students here with us who came in expecting to not fit in and to be treated poorly but who have expressed to their parents how much they are loving their time here. One mother last night approached us with tears in here eyes talking about how dark many of the challenges of their location have been, and how much it has meant to her that she can see her son laughing and feeling included! We were so excited to hear these things and really do praise God for what he is doing through our team, and how we are able to love and encourage these students this week.

Yesterday during worship Drew and I had a chance to share a testimony about how God has been working in our life. It's always a joy to take time to reflect on what the Lord has been teaching us and then to be able to share that with others. Two of our other teammates shared as well.

Last night we had a retreat wide line dancing party. It was so much fun! There was lots of laughter and more connection to students. It's amazing how some young people will allow themselves to be silly when they see adults running around acting crazy! This is definitely one of my favorite parts of the retreat!

Today we all have a day off and many of us are going to explore Singapore. We have to drive over the border out of Malaysia and into Singapore so you know what that means, more stamps in our passports! :)

We are really looking forward to taking some time soon load up a bunch of our picture so that we can post them on here to share with all of you!

Many of you have contacted us letting us know that you are praying for us and we so appreciate it! God is answering prayers!

-Lindsey

Today It Begins!

2011-10-11T16:59:00.000-07:00

This morning all the families will be trickling into the resort, and we are feeling the all the anxiety and excitement that goes with it! Tonight we host the Open House in the youth area we've set up, in which all the students and their families are invited to come by to hang out, get to see a little of who we are and what we'll be doing, and even get to see a little of who they are as a group! It's easy to think about this as though all the students already know each other and have pre-existing relationships, but in fact because they all live in different countries around the continent, they are all coming into this pretty new themselves! Please pray for us today that

- we would be able to easily remember lots of names and faces

- that the whole group would be able to gel pretty easily

- that we the leaders would be able to create a safe, fun, and welcoming environment

- that the students would be ready to invest in the time as well.

Thanks guys!

-Drew

So Far So Good

2011-10-10T16:23:00.001-07:00

We did it! As we climbed off the final airplane after 27 hours of travel and noted how swollen our ankles were it finally began to dawn on us that we are really here on the other side of the globe and that this event that Linds and I look forward to every year has finally come: the Area Retreat! For us, this is almost better than Christmas :)

We love these retreats for many reasons, and in the last day or so that we've been here we've already experienced many of them. We love our team - it is always a privilege to be able to work with like-minded people who are able to complement each others' gifts and abilities without any jockeying to the spotlight but with a delight to put others first. We love tasting a new culture - experiencing the different nuances of how life works and what values and priorities are held always reflects God's creativity uniquely, and by getting to know his creation in a new light we also get to know the Creator in a new light as well. We love our tasks - the opportunity to help design and build a youth ministry experience during this week draws out much of our own creativity (just wait till we post the videos we are making for this year)! We love all of the people that work for this organization - the opportunity to meet together with so many amazing men and women who are using the gifts and lives that God has given them is always so humbling and encouraging. When we are here it is a wonderful reminder that even if it isn't always making headline news, God is working constantly and powerfully through his people in his world.

But most of all, we are excited about meeting all of the students! Only a couple have arrived so far, but over the next few days the families are going to come pouring in, and on Wednesday we will get to start meeting them all face to face, playing games together, getting to know one another, meeting in small groups, worshiping together, and simply just plain ol' hanging out together. We love it, we are so excited, and we are incredibly thankful for all you who are praying for us while we are here and who have helped make it possible for us to come. Please pray for us today as we begin meeting as a whole team (the first time in person) and planning what the week will look like.

Thank you!

-Drew

An Illustration of Hope

2011-10-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

This morning I taught a lesson on the hope of redemption. I set the stage for the conversation with a movie clip from the Shawshank Redemption. What a powerful movie! I showed the part where Andy receives books, records, and a grant to provide a library for the inmates. He puts on one of the records and hears music for the first time in 6 years. It brings him so much joy that he can't help but share it with the other inmates in the prison even though he will get punished for it. As he blasts the beautiful sounds of a woman singing in Italian the other inmates stop what they are doing. The sound of the music captivates them and as one of the other characters says, "It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cave and made those walls dissolve away. And for the briefest of moments every last man at Shawshank felt free" It's such a powerful scene as all of the men stop in their tracks allowing the music to take them to a place that they had not been in a long time.

Later Andy is talking to his friends about his little stunt with the music after he is released from isolation. Even after two weeks in the hole Andy has a joy and peace about him. Andy expresses that the music was with him even as he spent time in isolation, but his friends don't get what he is talking about. Andy explains what the music does for him, it reminds him that there is something outside of the walls of the prison. The the sound of the music brought him hope and allowed him to hope for something more then his present circumstances.

What an awesome illustration of how the beauty around us gives us hope and reminds us of God and his promises to one day make all things right. It reminds us that there is a Creator whose has blessed us. It reminds us that there is something inside all of us that longs for so much more then sin and brokenness because we have been made in God's image.

I am currently sitting at Starbucks looking outside the window while I write this post. I see beautiful yellow pansies outside, my empty mug next to me that contained a delicious Americano, the empty chair of my dear friend who was here with me just hanging out, the great music playing in my ear, and the clock showing me that in just a few hours I will be able to hug my husband again once he gets off work! I am so thankful for the beauty around me that reminds me of the hope that I have in Christ!

-Lindsey

August/September Update!

2011-09-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

On October 8th, we face twenty-seven hours of travel, including one thirteen hour flight, only to dive into the midst of 50 adolescent students from all over Asia and the Pacific Islands. Clearly, we are gonna need your prayers!

But before we get to into that, we moved to Maryland! Mid August we sold off much of our furniture, clothes, and junk, loaded up a mostly functional Budget truck, and booked for eighteen hours across 5 state lines to arrive in Annapolis, MD. We chose to move out here because this is where Drew grew up, and because it is here that we believe we will have the greatest networks to draw from as we continue to build our support team to work with Mission to the World's (MTW) the Global Youth and Family Ministry (GYFM).

And now back to the adventure! Come mid October, we will be traveling to Malaysia. Why are we going there, you ask? Because that is where MTW is hosting the Asia / Pacific Area Retreat. These Area Retreats function as MTW's version of hospitality, and are held every four years for each continent, giving all the missionaries throughout the regions a bit of a break from their work to relax as a family, attend seminars, and generally pursue some mental, relational, and spiritual health. Each year GYFM brings a team of youth workers from around the U.S. to put on a program (picture: crazy games, worship, hilarious video skits, and a time of talking aout God's word), but most importantly to spend time with students in small groups building relationships and encouraging MKs. This will eventually be a huge part of our job once we are fully funded, but for now we have the privilege of volunteering! Please pray for us as we go!

Raising support feels like a daunting task, but an exciting one nonetheless. We continually trust in God's care and provision for us, and we are thrilled to see the ways that this is being manifested through you! We believe that each person is called to live missionally in this world bringing the gospel of reconcilliation to those who are hurting. We know that all of you have ways that you are spreading God's kingdom already, and we would like to invite you to prayerfully consider supporting us as members of GYFM as another way to further God's kingdom! By supporting us monthly through financial giving and/or through prayer you enable us to be the hands and feet that personally bring love and care to missionary kids around the world as well as to bring training to global and domestic pastors on how to reach the next generation! We would ask you to consider giving a monthly gift of $50, $75, $100 or more. We need your partnership in this! There are many ways that you can give!

MTW has online giving. Go to www.mtw.org or you can mail a check to MTW PO Box 116284 Atlanta, GA 30368. Please include our names and our account number 18294 in the memo line.

We love you! Thanks so much for keeping up with us as we launch this endeavor together!

- Drew & Lindsey

God's Provision

2011-09-21T11:46:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we met with the missions committee at our church. We were really excited to share with them our vision for our ministry with GYFM and express to them how they can partner with us! Many of the people on this committee remember Drew as one of those "crazy Wilkins boys, " so it was fun for him to go in and see familiar faces of people that have loved him and his family for many years! As we sat in the board room waiting for the meeting to start we were surprised when another familiar face walked into the meeting. It was another missionary who is part of MTW coming to share what he and his family are up to while they are on home mission assignment since our church supports them. This was God's provision for us because we knew this missionary and had even ministered to his sons at an area retreat that we attended a few years ago. Drew was his oldest son's small group leader. So as we sat and explained our ministry our friend was able to express to the committee how important our ministry is and how impacted his own children have been by it. We could not have asked for anything more! He was so supportive of us and we found encouragement from hearing what he had to say. We think the committee really caught the vision and now we continue to pray that they would like to join us! God truly does provide and I love how it is often in unexpected ways!

-Lindsey

Sorry For Our Absence

2011-09-17T07:28:00.001-07:00

It is often very hard to understand what God is doing. All of our previous posts before this one talked about how thankful we were for God's provision of a place and a home for us here in Annapolis. It's amazing how quickly I was able to lose sight of that thankfulness when our apartment started making me sick due to allergies and we came to the conclusion that we had to move. I have felt discouraged, frustrated, and overwhelmed many times these last 10 days. I have found myself saying, "It's all going to be OK and God has a plan," to "This makes no sense and I am so tired of this and just want to move back to St. Louis" In the end all of this is not really that big of a deal, but sometimes it has felt like a huge mountain standing in the way of our plans. So we are in the process of moving everything that we had settled into the apartment back into Drew's parents home and working to make a place for ourselves here. We still have lots to be thankful for, but still wrestling through all the changes. So God's plans were different then ours so we keep pouring out our hearts to him, resting in him, and trusting that one day our support will be raised. I was encouraged this morning by David's words in Psalm 61:6-8:

"He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us."

-Lindsey

Post-Scholastic Life?

2011-09-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

When you are in school there is always the thought that one day, one sweet day, all our studies will be done. It is especially tempting during the last few years of school to let that glorious day of graduation be the day of 'arrival,' of having 'made it,' of being 'done' with learning. We have certainly felt tempted by those thoughts and have even given into them at times, but now that we have moved our tassels and received our hoods we are beginning to feel just how wrong we were. The surprise for us has not so much been that there is still more to learn, but rather how much we miss being pushed to learn it.

So what do we do? Well, we are learning that we are just going to have to sit our butts down dive back into books again. There are no more book lists, nor more required readings, and not even any more particularized fields of study that we are restricted to. Linds and I were talking about it this morning, and we decided that we need to constantly anchor ourselves in thoughts that will stretch us, grow us, and mature us, and so to begin this we are going to go back to some of the books that laid the foundation for what we believe is true and right about God, Man, Creation, and the relationships between them all. The photo below depicts some of books that have formed or are currently forming us, and that we are thinking through and reflecting on.

They are:

- Michael Williams, Far As the Curse is Found

- Dan Allender, The Wounded Heart

- Vigen Guroian, Tending the Heart of Virtue

- James Herriot, All Creatures Great and Small

- Christopher Wright, The Mission of the People of God

- Kathryn Stockett, The Help

- J. K. Rowlings, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

(The chair in the above is an Ekornes chair, and if you have

never sat in one then your butt has never truly rested)

What books and thoughts have helped to form you and your approach towards life? How do you find yourself living out of these ideas in the everyday?

We are excited to revisit our past literary loves and future discoveries as we go along, and we'd love to interact with you about yours as well!

- Drew

Thankful

2011-08-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

Mondays are our days off and we have declared them our Sabbath since both of us have to work on Sunday. We spent the day discovering parts of the area that we live in and trying to find a place for breakfast since most of Annapolis is still without power. The only coffee shop near our house that is open looked like a tornado went through it. I guess in the midst of natural disaster coffee is still a priority in most people's books. Well let's be honest it is a priority in mine. While we were driving around we saw this sign in a restaurant window:

In the afternoon we went for a 6 mile run/walk on this new favorite route near our house. As we were walking I was brought to tears out of thankfulness for how God has provided for us. We live in such a beautiful location and it is truly by God's grace and provision that we have this spot. We prayed for a place to live in Annapolis while we support raise and the Lord provided. Here are a few snap shots of the views that we get while we exercise in the neighborhood down the street from ours.

The view is spectacular and we found ourselves thanking the Lord for the beauty that surrounds us. The houses in the neighborhood are also beautiful and we always enjoy dreaming about what it would be like to live in one and own a sailboat! It makes for fun conversation while we run or walk.

Here is one of my favorite spots along the road,

I was really excited to drink from this today! :) Thank you kind neighbors!
-Lindsey

The Move!

2011-08-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

So we made it! On the 14th of this month we packed off and/or packed up all our worldly belongs, hopped into a somewhat questionable Budget truck, and made the long drive East. It wasn't exactly a breeze, but the car didn't fall off the trailer, we avoided all collisions despite the malfunctioning tail lights and dash lights, the cat peed ONLY in the litter box during the drive, and we managed not to hydroplane off the Blue Ridge Mountains as we weathered a monsoon in the dark night of WV! Seriously, the trip was pretty rough, and we will certainly be thinking twice before we use Budget or accept "sure, we just checked 'em and all the lights are working fine" from any rental agent. But with a little help from a number of good friends, we were able to unpack the van, stash all our stuff in various basements, and begin the process of transitioning to a new address, a new context, and a new season of life.

(We even managed to make it through the exuberance of my dad upon our arrival back in MD. Yeah...he's weird, but we love him anyway)

And so we are here. Linds is getting into the groove at the church she is working at, I am getting the swing of things at my new Trader Joe's location, and life is slowly falling into place. It's fun to explore all the old haunts of Annapolis and see many old friends (they were all young friends when I left), and get to relearn the nautical culture that is so deeply seated into the veins of the city. We like it here, and we are beginning to get rather excited about the opportunity to make this our home base to being our efforts at building a team of supporters to help initiate our work with the Global Youth and Family Ministry.

We have spent the first week crashed at my parents' house up near the headwaters of the Severn River, and I don't think we'll ever get tired of the view. Each picture we took was only the best until another two minutes of sunset added more color - truly glorious!

And so it begins! We've got a lot to accomplish while we are here and we are now beginning to start strategizing ways that we can engage the challenge of support raising well, but as we are committed to keeping our readers in the loop, we need your prayers to make it all possible. The biggest "next step" for us at the moment is a trip we have scheduled this October to help host the adolescent side of things for MTW's Asia/Pacific Area Retreat in Malaysia. It's a pretty large project and we need a lot of help to get it going, but we have been fully satisfied in God's provision for us every step of the way so far and excited to follow through to see the next steps he has for this trip as well. We'll be filling in more details about this trip in the near future, and we are excited to explore ways that you all can partner with us to bring it all together!

Thanks for keeping up with us in all this, we are thrilled to have you be a part of our lives as we walk together the paths that God has laid out before us!

Much love from Annapolis!

- Drew

The Team!

2011-08-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

So last night, for the first time, we had a Global Youth and Family Ministry team meeting! Linds and I have been volunteering and then officially working with GYFM since the spring of 2009, and since then the ranks have been doing nothing but growing. It was so exciting to be able to look down the table and see so many people that we are so excited to be working with. The term "dream team" comes to mind very often as we continue getting to know one another and spending time learning each other's personalities. Linds and I feel incredibly blessed to be able to be part of such a skilled and invested team, God has blessed us very richly! I think the word "Stoked" is probably the best way to describe our feelings.

In this picture we have:

- Global Youth & Family Ministry Team leaders Eric & Rebecca Larsen and family

- Global Youth & Family Institute Guru John & Saras Chung and family

- Ministry Assistant and TCK Ninja Ruthanne Burch

- New Team Members Jonathan and Katherine Taylor and family

- Future Asia/Pacific representatives (in Nagoya, Japan) Brooks & Riva Cain

- Future Latin America representatives (in Bogota, Columbia) Andrew & Laura Kate Lupton and family

- Future College & University representatives (in Chattanooga, TN) Drew & Lindsey Wilkins - That's US!

This is a lot of team mates, and there are even more being added to the list! We're making headway with this GYFM thing, and if you couldn't tell, we are SOOOOO excited about it! Thanks so much to all of you who are partnering with us through your friendship, encouragement, financial support, and prayers as we keep pressing forward. We love you!

- Drew

An Escape from Routine

2011-08-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

Well let's be honest this summer has been anything but routine, but that's what summers are for, right? Drew and I escaped a few weeks ago to spend some time together, reflect on the last four years of seminary, six of marriage, and what the future might have for us. It was wonderful to get away. We turned off our phones and left the computer at home. We even unplugged the clock in the room we stayed in. It was awesome! We stayed at a really cute and relaxing B&B in Augusta, MO called the Apple Gate Inn. Augusta, MO is a little town right off the Katy trail and it is surrounded by vineyards in the middle of Missouri wine country.

Grapes ready to be picked!

Our B&B that was built in the late 1800's

Augusta is such a cute and quaint little town.

Some of the highlights of the trip were playing an entire game of monopoly - which I am not sure if anyone has ever done that before ever. I (Lindsey) beat Drew and definitely landed on Park Place three times. We also visited a few wineries and had a great time sitting on our deck enjoying the peace and quiet and reflecting together. We were celebrating our 6th anniversary a little early, and continue to fall more and more in love with each passing year! Here are a few more pictures from our time.

Drew of course could not let any of the brie go to waste and we only had one more piece of bread.

Wine on the back deck at a winery overlooking beautiful green hills and fields

Drew insisted on stopping at the Daniel Boone Memorial/grave site

On our way to the wine! :)

Yummy quiche

Those cinnamon towers were AMAZING!

A little ice tea on the deck

An unattended fruit/veggie stand outside a store. Take your veggies and leave your money in the jar.

We highly recommend an escape from your normal routine!

-Lindsey

A Familiar Passage

2011-08-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

This morning Drew and I were reading Psalm 23 over Drew's famous apple cinnamon oatmeal and coffee (our favorite breakfast) and after reading it we both had similar thoughts as we started to discuss it. We both agreed that in our own hearts it is easy to dismiss this psalm because it is so familiar. So in light of that we stopped and looked a little deeper into it, and both found some comfort and encouragement from it. The original audience would have understood this psalm so well due to the culture that they lived in and the roll that shepherds played. I on the other hand have not been around too many shepherds or sheep, but the imagery is still beautiful. The commentary in my ESV Study Bible says, "This hymn is usually classified as a psalm of confidence in the Lord's care." This is where I found my encouragement. The imagery of green pastures and calm water welcomes rest. He blesses his sheep with restoration of their souls. A friend recently reminded me that sanctification doesn't always mean struggle or hardship, but it can mean receiving gentleness, patience, kindness, and blessing from the Lord. This psalm is a wonderful reminder of that.

This psalm reminded me today that the Lord cares for me and I can find complete confidence in this care. I also learned that there is always more and more to glean from scripture, even from those all too familiar passages! :)

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

forever.

Picture found Here

-Lindsey

Empty Spaces in the Carpet and Towers of Books

2011-07-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

Drew and I have been very busy preparing for our move. This past week we sold our dresser, futon, 2 bed side tables, a coffee table, side table, and our TV stand. We also sold Drew's '94 honda accord which is a miracle! Ok, we didn't sell it, but our friend Dave did! The car would not pass inspection so we had to sell it is as is. Our friend Dave LOVES to sell cars on craigslist and is apparently good at it because it sold within three days of being posted. This morning Drew and I were praying together at the table and asking the Lord to provide a buyer for the car as well as praising him that all of our other furniture sold. As we finished praying my cell phone rang and Dave called to tell us that he sold it to the perfect buyer! PRAISE THE LORD!!! We are now a one car family.

As I watched the furniture that we sold leave our house I felt a little bit of sadness with each piece and with each new empty space in the carpet. Side note, without fail Mia (our cat) loves to lay in the new empty carpet space...she is so weird! I felt sad to watch the coffee table leave this morning since it was one of the first pieces of furniture that we bought when we were married. I know it's necessary for it to go and there will be plenty more coffee tables in my life, but I think I am having moments of sadness as all this change is taking place. We continue to trust in God as he leads us to this next phase! God has also graciously provided all the money that we need to move!

We currently have stacks of books piled in the living room in order to make a spreadsheet so we can know what books are in what boxes over these next two years. Are we nerds?? I think so!

Oh, and I was able to take a peek at the upcoming class offerings at Covenant for next year and I definitely looked at all the books for each class to see which ones are new. For the ones that I haven't read I added them to my Amazon Wish List. I am a nerd! I might have to have Drew buy me new pencils at the end of August even though I won't be going back to school. BIC #2 0.5mm mechanical of course! :)

Lindsey

Our Christian Beliefs

2011-07-18T22:00:00.001-07:00

A quote by D.A. Carson from his book How Long, O Lord. This is an excellent book on the struggle to understand suffering and evil in the world. This quote, in particular, reflects how our Christian beliefs should transform us. I find much encouragement and challenge from these words.

"It is to say that, in addition to holding that Christian beliefs are true and consistent, the Christian, to find comfort in them, must learn how to use them. Christian beliefs are not to be stacked in the warehouse of the mind; they are to be handled and applied to the challenges of life and discipleship. Otherwise they are incapable of bringing comfort and stability, godliness and courage, humility and joy, holiness and faith."

-Lindsey

Pools, Friends, and Iced Animal Cookies

2011-07-18T14:51:00.001-07:00

I still smell like sunscreen from my day at the pool and it is delightful. Today was the first day of the summer that I have spent an extended amount of time at the pool, so long that I reapplied sunscreen like three times.

I went with a dear friend and her adorable two kids. Apparently, I am pretty cool since her daughter wanted me to catch her when she jumped off the side of the pool rather then her momma! Katie and I did a hand stand competition, but her son picked his momma over me. I just don't get it, I was sure I was way better then her. :) It was so refreshing to catch up with Katie and enjoy the sun. Katie and I have been friends for like forever. It's such a blessing to hang out with a friend who you don't have to start at the beginning...you know, they just know you!

We treated ourselves to the Archway iced animal cookies with sprinkles. They like melt in your mouth and you can't help but eating and eating them. There is NOTHING good for you in them, but OH man are they good!

Ahhh, Summer!

-Lindsey

A Graduation Celebration

2011-07-13T19:51:00.000-07:00

Our graduation weekend was such a blast so I thought I would share with you what we did and some picture collages. We had such a wonderful time celebrating all the work that we accomplished in seminary! Being the planner that I am I spent a lot of time putting together plans for many family and friends to arrive to celebrate with us. I may or may not have printed off itineraries for everyone. I wanted to make sure that everyone felt comfortable and welcomed into our life even though we were not able to host everyone in our home. Thankfully, we had 2 different family friends who opened up their home and hosted most of Drew's family and my family. We had many fun St. Louis events planned like the zoo, city museum, and lunch in the loop.

Drew and I had the privilege of giving our testimony at the baccalaureate service on Thursday night, and it was such a blessing to be able to testify with our friends and before our friends about God's faithfulness in our lives throughout seminary! Here are some pics from the evening of baccalaureate. Oh yeah, the after party was at the Scottish Arms for some delicious drinks!

Graduation evening was so much fun! Though I laugh at the fact that I spent so much time looking for a graduation dress for the special occasion and it didn't matter because I was in my robes the whole time...oh well! And WOW are those robes hot! It was so fun to be able to walk across the stage twice. I was really nervous the first time, but felt much more at ease when it came time for the second walk. Drew and I were able to walk together and be hooded together for the counseling degree, and I loved being able to cheer for my husband as he received his Mdiv. It was awesome to look over and see Drew's brothers standing up and cheering for us and waving light sabers as our names were called. It made us both feel very special!

On Saturday we had a HUGE open house party and again we felt so loved by all the people that came to celebrate with us and showered us with love and gifts. We also made ice cream out of liquid nitrogen. Oh, we know how to party! After the party we went out to Schlafly Bottleworks for dinner.

Most of our friends and family left on Sunday, but Drew's brother Kip and his wife Beth and our niece Lucy were able to stay for three extra days. We had such a blast with them exploring St. Louis, playing games, laughing, and talking about life! It was so much fun to hang out with Lucy and get to know her better. I would say we have the cutest niece in the world!

It was a wonderful graduation celebration and we felt so loved and celebrated the whole weekend!

I will leave you with Drew's favorite picture from the weekend. I think it represents well our success in seminary. Let's be honest I did get better grades then him! :)

-Lindsey

Dating again...but still each other!

2011-07-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

One thing that Linds and I are learning right now is that as life takes on different degrees of hustle and bustle it is important to be able to appropriately match it with varying degrees of intentional time together. For example, while deep in the quagmire of a busy school year, I could be at job #1 from 5-12:30 AM, at class from 1-2:30 PM, and at job #2 from 3-6:30 PM, and then grab a redbox movie and some flowers and consider the bleary-eyed evening our date-night. At the time, it worked, well it kind of had to work. Being intentional about our time is an easy thing to do if it is a necessity, but it seems to get so much more difficult to master when the days are not all piling on top of each other. Now that we are liberated from the necessity of that kind of crazy schedule one of the things that we are wrestling with is how to still invest in each other appropriately.

As the summer has kicked in we have found that we are still tending to pack the weeks full of all kinds of things, still thinking that a half-asleep late-night movie will cut it as a way to keep the romance alive. The fun events we go to we go to with others, and when we go out to dinners we are often doubling up with friends. This is not enough.

Yesterday, we changed things up a bit. It wasn't anything too fancy, our budget doesn't allow for too much of that, but it was fun and it was nice and it was just the two of us. We went out to a nice dinner (thank you, graduation gift cards!), took a long walk through a new park we found, and then went out to a simple movie. It was pretty awesome, and it was just what we needed. I am happy to be learning this lesson, and I am excited to be able to keep practicing over the next weeks, months, and years.

- Drew

Why "Cultivating Life?"

2011-07-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

The inspiration for this little ol' blog came from the book "Culture Making" by Andy Crouch. Did you know that you are involved in making culture everyday?

"Culture is what we make of the world. Culture is, first of all the name for our relentless, restless, human effort to take the world as it's given to us and make something else (pg. 23)," and "The only way to change culture is to make more of it" (pg. 67).

I think a great example of this right now is the Slow Food Movement. A culture of fast and convenient food was created, and as a response to this fast food, the slow food movement was introduced. More people have jumped on the band wagon of shopping at local markets and eating at restaurants that cook with only local foods. A group of people looked at a piece of the culture and with relentless effort have worked to change this.

Adam and Eve made culture. They were placed in the garden and given the creation around them to make something of it.

Genesis 2:15

"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."

We have to use our imagination for this and dream about what Adam did with the materials that God had given him. The same is true for us today. Everyday you walk into your kitchen, look in your refrigerator, and create something for dinner. You then set the table, pour the wine, and maybe light a candle or two. You, my friend, are creating culture. You are displaying to those around you what you value, love, and adore.

Drew and I have felt challenged by these ideas. Crouch uses the word "cultivate" many times in his book and I really like this word. It reflects being active and makes me think of tilling the soil in a garden. This is what we want our life and ministry to look like. A constant tilling of the soil that is in front of us; seeing the creation that God has put before us, and engaging the process of making something with it. How Drew and I interact as husband and wife, the kind of foods that we buy, how we take care of our bodies, the way we read books and reflect on how they change us, the way we view our emotional health, the way we treat our neighbors. This is our life and the creation around us is God's gift to us. We want to cultivate it well. The reality of this life is that because of mankind's sin, there are weeds in the soil. We want to cultivate the healthy life offered by Christ in the soil that is before us by helping to bring redemption to all things - i.e. creating a culture!

Crouch says in speaking about Adam and Eve, "Without this gracious carving out of space, they would never be able to fulfill their destiny as divine image-bearers; without the gift of a garden protected from the full wild wonder of the teeming earth and waters, they would be overwhelmed. God's first and best gift to humanity is culture, the realm in which human beings themselves will be the cultivators and creators, ultimately contributing to the cosmic purposes of the Cultivator and Creator of the natural world" (pg. 110).

So, again we invite you to join us as we document our adventures of cultivating and creating this life before us and doing it all to the glory and honor of the Great Cultivator and Creator!

- Lindsey

P.S. One final irresistible quote!

"In the kingdom of God a new kinds of life and a new kind of culture becomes possible - not by abandoning the old but by transforming it. Even the cross, the worst that culture can do, is transformed into a sign of the kingdom of God - the realm of forgiveness, mercy, love and indestructible life" (pg. 146).

And We're Back!

2011-07-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

And we're off! We've finished out one major life stage with our education at Covenant Theological Seminary, and we are pretty excited to be able to embark on the next stages as well. With the start of the summer has come many things for us from cramming in final meetings with good friends to figuring out plans for Drew to get through the ordination process. One of the big things that we've had on our lists is to put together a little bit more of a vision of what we want to do with this blog. Clearly we've slacked off a little bit with the close of the semester and the craziness of opening the summer, but it's time to get back on track.

For starters, since we are going to be doing a large amount of support team building as we come on with Mission to the World, we want this to be a place where friends, family, and supporters can keep up with us and stay informed of what we are doing, where we are going, and what different events are happening with our ministry. We'll still be sending out regular updates through email and other mediums, but we'd like this to be kind of the mortar between the bricks of our communications.

Second, since what we'll be doing with working with students within missionary families around the globe, we want to explore and reflect on the multifarious cultures that we engage, but especially the one culture that is common amongst us all, the good ol' US of A. We would love the privilege of hearing your voices chime in on these as well.

Thirdly, we want to stay actively engaged in finding and engaging resources that further the work of bringing the truth of the story of Christianity to bear in everyday life. We're hoping to post some of our musings, questions, reflections, and even reviews about different books, tools, and programs we come across so that we can trade thoughts with all of you as well!

Finally, this is our life, and as the title of this blog states, we are working hard to cultivate it well. We are excited to use this as a journal of who we are and the adventures God brings us through. We'll be uploading pictures, recording our joys, mourning our sorrows, and simply offering one more way that the rest of you can peek into the madness that is the family of Drew & Lindsey Wilkins.

We appreciate all of you and would love for you to follow our blog on a regular basis! We covet your prayers as we begin this new stage of life!

Drew and Lindsey

Crossing the Finish Line

2011-05-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well if you have not heard already Drew and I have completed our seminary career as of today! To be honest, I can't believe it is over. After I finished my last paper I cried. Certainly tears of joy, but also tears of sadness. Drew, on the other hand, treated himself to a Chick-fila milk shake, and I came home this afternoon and found him dancing around the house in his graduation robe. I am sure he is sad deep down inside. HA!

This season of life has been so difficult, but yet so wonderful. It's going to take me a little while to realize that I no longer have to study, read, or write a paper. This journey has been a true blessing and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to study at Covenant. I am sure that more reflections on graduation and post-graduation will be posted later. Drew and I have dreams about this blog, and as we launch into the next season of support raising you will hopefully be seeing a lot more activity on here!

Please rejoice with us as we celebrate all that the Lord has done in our lives in these four years, and what he has for us in the future! Praise God from Whom ALL Blessings FLOW!!

Lindsey

Water Dating

2011-04-14T17:45:00.001-07:00

One of the first things that I was told by a school representative once Linds and I were accepted at our seminary was that the education we will receive will go well beyond the curriculum of our classes. In fact, this has proven to be true in most every element of life as we have floundered our way through the last four years of scholastic endeavor! Linds and I frequently talk about this as we have reflected on how we have been grown and stretched while here, and one of the things we keep returning to are the creative ways we've found to keep dating each other in the midst of all the madness. We were having one such conversations today, and Linds brought up one of our very lowest points that, thought it really was quite low, has brought us countless smiles as we look back on it.

We were feeling every bit of the "extras" of our seminary education: we were tired, had a long, long week with several late nights, were both overwhelmed by homework, had no money, and hadn't had more than 15 seconds alone together in what seemed like weeks. Desperate for a little bit of reconnection, I slyly slipped out of the pile of books I was buried behind, snatched a couple wine glasses, sidled on up to my girl and smoothly said "hey baby, wanna go on a water date?" *insert extra-groovy smile here* "what in the world are you talking about?" *insert get-the-heck-out-of-my-business gimace here* she said coyly. "Babe!" I said with a wink, "you, me, these two glasses decaf, ultra-purified, fat free, Missouri Artesian City water, what more could you ask for?!" Completely won over by my romantically persuasive powers, she quickly said "you got it, Hot Stuff!" and we fell in love all over again sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch, surrounded by school books and papers, lovingly sipping some truly delightful water.

...And then we got back to work again.

-Drew

Novels, yay or nay?

2011-03-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a confession, I don't like to read novels. I know, I know, you are probably thinking...Whhhaaattt?? Well, it is true. Many have tried to understand this mystery about me, and it has yet to be solved. No, I haven't even read The Chronicles of Narnia or Harry Potter much to my husband's chagrin. I would so much rather pick up a book on theology than a story, but I am working to be a little bit more balanced on this issue. My love for theology books will probably never change, but I do want to learn to love stories more. Drew's new theory is that I like stories that are about real life. I loved reading Marley and Me and over Christmas break this year I read The Help, and I loved both of these books! So in an attempt to be better balanced I picked up a book at the library yesterday called Home to Woefield by Susan Juby. I read a little before bed last night and this is how the story starts:

"I don't know about you, but for me there came that moment during every visit to the farmers' market when I wanted more. I wanted to be the one standing behind the folding table, a truck of organic produce at my back, displaying my heirloom of tomatoes and baby potatoes. I want to be the one handing over glossy sheaves of swiss chard at a reasonable price and talking knowledgeably about my mushroom patch. The one looking cold and somewhat chapped about the face and hands, yet more alive than anyone else in unfashionable rubber boots and dirty pants."

If Drew's theory is right then I will enjoy this book, because I have wanted to be exactly what she describes. Though, MY poka dotted rubber boots are pretty cute!

We will see if I devour this book or if it sits on my bed side stand collecting dust and late fees because I have forgotten to return it on time.

-Lindsey

More Then the Birds

2011-03-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

I was browsing through Comment Magazine online (if you haven't checked out this magazine then you definitely should) and I came across this painting by Teresa Carter. I really love the verse that the painting is based on..

Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

What a beautiful reminder that God cares even for the tiniest birds by providing for them. His love and care for his children is even greater!

We have been stressed. We feel like we are riding a bike up hill and our legs are getting tired. I often find myself worrying how I will possibly get everything accomplished. The article, this painting, and most of all this passage reminds me that I can live a life of trusting in God and his care for me, rather then a life of worry.

I have a ring that my mom gave me when I was in high school that has a verse similar to Matthew 6:26 enscribed in greek. The verse on the ring is Matthew 10:31, "So don't be afraid, for you are worth more than many sparrows." I often wear this ring on days when I my feet are dragging, and I need the tangible reminder that God's grace and care will get me through. It is a wonderful reminder to me of who I MUST lean on! I know that life is always going to have its challenges, and I am thankful that even in the midst of them I know that God is watching over me, providing all that I need, and I do not need to be afraid.

Check out the article and the artist.

-Linds

The Need for Something Cheery!

2011-03-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

Are you feeling the winter blues? I sure am! I went out to my car early this morning to meet a friend for breakfast and felt angry at the frost that was on my car. I am ready for my dinky $.99 scraper from Wal-Mart to get lost inside my car because it is has been so long since I have had to use it. Spring just can't get here fast enough! I often look at the flower pics that we have on our computer to add a little cheer to my day! I thought I would share some of my favorite pics!

A field full of blue bells at a park near our house. Can't wait to see these again this year

A close-up of the blue bells

Some pretty flowers in our friends yard

Some flowers that Drew picked for me while he was in India

A tulip tree with the backdrop of the beautiful blue sky

A really amazing flower that we found on a bike ride

Hope this post helped to cheer you up and scoot away the winter blues at least for the few minutes that it took you to look at the pictures!! Have a great day!

Oh, here is a fun quote I found that expressed how I feel-

The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size. ~Gertrude S. Wister

-Lindsey

Responding to Rilke

2011-02-28T09:55:00.001-08:00

God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.

Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don't let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.

-Rainer Maria Rilke. Translation: Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows, published in Comment, Spring, 2011

Lindsey pointed this poem out to me a few mornings ago, and I couldn't keep the tears from my eyes as I read it; it captures much awareness of the brokenness of life, the boldness of God's call, the struggle for faithfulness, and the desperation for the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises.

I was so touched by Rilke's words that I took a little time to read about his life, and what I found there both shocked and intrigued me. The picture I've selected here (artist unknown) is the most flattering I could find, and the raw solemnity his face holds on all the others belays the abuse he faced and the challenges he encountered (really, do an image search of his name and see what I mean). Walking in the circles of Freud, Nietzsche, Tolstoy, Rodin, and many others, Rilke's mind was steeped in many of the people that have asked some of the most bold and challenging questions of our time. While some might shy away from these types of interactions, for Rilke, the beauty of God's character emerges in his work is all the brighter for it. What a delight!

I find myself simultaneously inspired, humbled, and emboldened by his words.

It has been fun to hear from people about the words Linds and I have recorded on this blog, not to mention all the locations around the globe that people have been looking from, but regardless of location, vocation, race, gender, or even religious conviction, Rilke's words call for response:

...go to the limits of your longing.

For me and Linds, this has taken us through several states, four years of furthered education in multiple fields, an intimidating foray into trans-cultural youth ministry, many profound struggles, even more grand joys, and always an ever-deepening conviction to pursue faithfulness beyond security.

Will you "go to the limits of your longing"? If you were to try, where would it take you? It you are going already, how has it grown you? Seriously, if you've got a minute or two to post, we'd love to hear.

-Drew

Self-Love...A Thing to Ponder

2011-02-22T18:05:00.000-08:00

What was your reaction after you read the title of this post? Did you cringe a little at the idea of loving yourself? The other day while reading Biblical Christian Ethics by Dr. David Jones I got to the chapter on self-love, and was really intrigued by the discussion.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31

Until reading this part of the book the other day I had never pondered what it means to love myself. Even just writing that sounds kind of weird. Whenever I have read this verse in the past I have only thought about the loving your neighbor part, and never considered what it means to love my neighbor as I love myself.

If you found yourself cringing when you read that I wonder if it is because we are commanded in Scripture to deny ourselves (Luke 9:23), to look to the interest of others and not ourselves (Phil, 2:2-4), and to not be self-seeking (Romans 2:8). Yes! All of these things are true, but so is Jesus' command to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Maybe you cringed because you thought, "Why should I love myself when I can't stop sinning against my children, spouse, or friends" or when you look at yourself you think "I am stupid, I don't like my body, or I don't like the way I interact with others." Sadly, I think this is our automatic response. Yes, we are sinners and because of our brokenness and the brokenness of the world we live in we all have beliefs about ourselves that are skewed due to our personal stories and the struggles we have experienced. These things are real, and something to work through as we all continue to understand this idea more. Rather then self-love we often have self-hatred.

Jones calls loving self a moral obligation, and his view is based on a perspective originally voiced by St. Augustine. As human beings we have been made in the image of God. Therefore when we look at ourselves we are called to love the creature that God has made, and care for it as well. We as humans are called to care for our bodies, emotions, minds, and hearts. It becomes an ethical issue because how can we really love our neighbors and care for them if we don't know how to care or love ourselves?

Do you see yourself through the eyes of God? This idea of self-love is one that could so easily drive a person to self-righteousness or selfishness, but this is not what God has in mind. I will let Jones' words end this post. As the title says this is something worth pondering, and bringing before the Lord as we learn more of what He means to love him, love ourselves, and love our neighbors.

"It should be noted that the Augustinian ground for self-love has a moral imperative is derived not from the second great commandment, though that confirms it, but from the commandment to love God, who himself desires what is in our best interest...given the Biblical frame of reference in which the goal is the glory of God and the norm is the will of God, the idea of self-regarding duties is not problematic. We belong to God and are responsible to him for the preservation of our life, chastity, property, and good name, as well as that of others. It is a theocentric self-regard that is assigned paradigmatic value in the commandment to love our neighbor as ourself."

-Lindsey

Flaking Out

2011-02-01T21:50:00.000-08:00

So the weather guy was promising us a blizzard today. Surprisingly, he was kinda right. We actually have been given a huge ice-storm that has given my work an hour delay in the morning and canceled school for two days in a row. Yippee, right? Yeah, kinda. The storm was enough to get us a few snow-days, but the 12 inches of snow we were supposed to get on top was reduced to 1; though we got all the benefits of the blizzard, we didn't actually get the snow.

While this shouldn't have mattered to us in any kind of huge way, it did. In fact, as we watched the cowardly news casters speak of their relief at the receding clouds we plummeted into sadness and even felt a little depressed. I'm serious too, we actually felt sad and pretty down in the dumps. It was kinda crazy how much the little kid inside came out in both us. We were promised snow, and darn it, we wanted it!

Anyway, snow or no, we did end up getting to spend the day wrapped up in blankets inside reading, playing games, and watching TV. It was good day all in all, but I really would have loved some snow.

Don't toy with my emotions, Weatherman, don't toy with my emotions.

The photo is from a REAL snow-day back in '08. That one wasn't messin' around.

-Drew

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

2011-01-27T16:28:00.001-08:00

I think one of my favorite parts about God's creation is snow. It is so much fun to watch it fall from the sky, and not to mention that each little snowflake has been uniquely designed by God himself. Amazing! I think my love for snow really developed when we lived in Colorado. Drew and I would take the lift to the top of the mountain and find parts that had untouched powder. Oh, it was so awesome! There was something so magical about cutting through the fresh powder in between trees. I would look at all the snow and just smile at God's creativity. How is it possible for frozen water to be so much fun?

Snowboarding at Copper Mountain

I haven't even told you how much I love snow days! Last week we had a snow day, and Drew and I went sledding with a bunch of friends at Art Hill in Forest Park. It was a blast. Here are some pictures from our adventures.

So many people come out to Art Hill. It's awesome to see strangers laughing and enjoying each other over sledding in the snow!

Drew and me about to be pushed. Not sure why I had to go in front. Drew's legs are so long.

Drew and 7 other guys about to go down the hill...It was awesome!

Then it was the girl's turn! Imagine all of us screaming down a huge hill. I think we lost a few on the way down.

snow angel time

What do you love to do when it snows? All of you east coast people who just got hit with a blizzard how have you spent your snow days?

-Lindsey

New Directions

2011-01-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened over the last couple weeks. In addition to cramming in a number of condensed Jan-Term classes, we spent a number of days working with MTW in Atlanta, GA to hammer down a few new thoughts about how and where we are going to fit into the organization. Linds and I had a pretty good idea of the where all the pieces were going to settle, and we were really excited about it! The week was a pretty exciting one, we got to make some pretty good friends while we were there, we had the opportunity to get to know some of the more experienced missionaries with MTW, and we got blasted by an ice storm that froze us into the hotel the whole week (Atlanta has only 8 snowplows. Yeah, 8) - the picture above is a piece of ice I peeled off of a holly leaf.

However, at the end of the week, we sat down with some of the other planners, but we didn't get the news we were expecting. Don't get me wrong here, we are still on board with Mission to the World and with the Global Youth and Family Ministry, but some of the directions that Linds and I were expecting to take did not quite work out. It was a hard conclusion to be met with, and to be honest we were really caught off guard by it. While it doesn't really change much about the ministry itself, it does change a lot about the ways Linds and I were expecting to engage it.

When I was a kid, I recall standing in the basement with my Dad talking about something that had to do with understanding God's plans. I don't really remember why I was asking him about that, but I do remember his response. He told the that as far as he could figure out, the best way to discern God's will is to look around at the opportunities you have in front of you, choose which one looks best to you, and then pray saying, "God, I've chosen what I think is best here, and I am going to pursue it with all my heart. If this is what you have for me, please bless my efforts, but if it is not, please close the door and point me in a new direction."

God closed the door for us on this particular plan. However, though it was rather confusing in the moment, the more we have reflected on it, the better we've felt about the situation. First of all we trust that the Lord knows what we need and desires to care for us! We trust the people who made the decisions, we see the wisdom in their reasoning, we felt very cared for by those who made the decision, and we have felt even further affirmed in our call to next generational cross cultural ministry. It is hard to shift tracks, but as we are beginning to explore some of the other doors that have remained open, we are also beginning to catch other visions of ways we can continue to serve. Again, though we might not have arrived at them ourselves, we trust the new directions we have been given, and we are excited to see where God will lead.

Please pray for us for wisdom, discernment, and patience as we begin to formulate new directions.

-Drew

A Quick Mental Devotion

2011-01-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

Devotion; the act of devoting, giving over, doing in honor of, accomplishing something for someone or something else. Devotions. What an interesting concept. We have no problem doing "spiritual" devotions, commonly understood as reading the Bible and spending time in prayer, and I think this is truly a good thing. However, I wonder to think of the possibilities of expanding our categories a little bit here. Though such reading and prayer certainly do much to enrich our spirituality, would this simple action perhaps better be termed an intellectual devotion? After all, in studying we are primarily opening our mind to God. Sure these devotions augment one's spirituality, but the primary action that is being done is intellectual study. I do not mean this in such a way as to limit the concept, but simply to categorize it. Once categorized, there is much room left for other devotions as well; surely we are not encapsulated by our intellect. As such, here is an extremely short list of other facets that could be enriched by being practiced devotionally. Besides the above-renamed intellectual devotions, there could be:

-physical devotions with our exercise
-interpersonal devotions with our relationships
-intrapersonal devotions with our own knowledge of self
-vocational devotions in or occupation
-spiritual devotions in our meditation
-artistic devotions in our creativity
-culinary devotions in our meal contents and preparation
-marital devotions in engagement of their spouse
-reflective devotions in our contemplations
-aesthetic devotions in our designs

Here, even a quick search from a concordance demands more of us than the common understanding of devotions can give...especially if you don't skip over the OT sections (see Joshua 6:21)! How greatly this impacts how we are to understand what it means for us to be devoted to God!

What in our lives do we devote to God? How much more of ourselves we have to offer to God?

Devotion.

What will you devote to God? How will you be devoted to him?

-Drew

unable to identify statue's maker. Photograph by Fred_T of Flickr.

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him

2010-12-22T09:27:00.000-08:00

The other day I was singing O Come All Ye Faithful during church and began to ask myself what does it mean for me to adore Christ?

Did it look different for the shepherds and the wise men to adore Christ when they traveled to see him in a manager then it does for me to adore him almost 2000 years later?

Webster defines adore three ways:

1. to worship or honor as a deity or as divine

2. to regard with loving admiration and devotion

3. to be very fond of

I think I really love the line "Oh come let us adore him" because each word has a specific meaning that is truthful!

Come: This invokes action. We are invited through the grace of God to join in the worship of Christ. This word also shows that living for Christ and worshiping him involves us being active rather then stagnant.

Let Us: Being a Christian is not about an individual being alone in their worship and study of Scripture. We are all a covenant family that is called to care for one another and worship him together. At the service on Christmas Eve, stop singing for a minute and listen to the rest of the congregation. Then imagine if it was just you in the congregation singing. There is so much beauty in all the voices gathered together bringing praise, honor, and glory to Christ.

Adore Him: I think I love this phrase because it calls for deep relational love. My husband has told me many times that he adores me, but the love my husband has for me is only a glimpse of the love that Christ has for us. It is because of this love that we can adore HIM! I think Webster's definition was right and adoring Christ encompasses all of those definitions. Adoring Christ doesn't just have to happen at church or during the Christmas season, but it can happen throughout all of life!

-Linds

Painting by a Dutch painter named Matthias Stomer

His Faithfulness is Good!

2010-12-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago my facebook status said "I wish I had built an ebenezer during all of my years of finals weeks to remind me that I made it through." One friend reminded me that I am that ebenezer because I am standing strong even after all of those horrible weeks of finals. I remember in college my friends and I would pray that Jesus would return that night so we wouldn't have to take our finals. I guess the Lord wanted us to learn something from our experiences and that is why Jesus hasn't returned yet! :) Well I am sure there are more reasons then just that.

Well I made it! God is faithful and I feel so blessed to be now standing on the other side of this fall's semester. Both Drew and I have grown so much this year during our counseling internship! I have learned and am continuing to learn so much about myself and my own story.

After our last day we took some time to stop and pray thanking God for helping us to make it through. We blogged about our anxieties before the semester started here, and it is awesome to look back and see his faithfulness.

To celebrate Drew and I will be spending a lot of time resting over Christmas break and celebrating another way the Lord has been faithful, by sending his Son Jesus as a baby to live and ultimately die to pay the penalty for our sins.

I am excited about the possibility of a white Christmas, baking Christmas cookies, playing games, reading books by our Christmas tree that is pictured above, seeing Christmas lights, and hanging out with friends!

"For to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

-Linds

Togetherness-ness!

2010-12-19T21:42:00.000-08:00

So tonight Linds and I met with our small group of couples from our church, and it was awesome. I've been a part of a number of attempts to "make big church feel small" in the past, and with more or less consistency, it just hasn't worked. I am a big goofy guy. I am loud. I like to play and laugh hard. As such, I often feel the need to monitor or censor myself in public groups because, if I am not careful, I can often wind up being "that guy." "That guy" who always speaks up, always has the joke, always has an answer, always prays, always entertains, etc. I don't want to be that guy; it isn't fun and he doesn't have many friends, he's too different to really fit well. But tonight's group was different. We've been meeting with just a few couples for about a year now, and we've just started to expand with a few more joining us. I can't really put my finger on it, but it just works. I realized as we drove away tonight that I didn't have even one thought about questioning my actions with this group: I haven't left a group feeling that way in ages. I was comfortable, and that sometimes feels like a very rare thing. I may still be the tallest penguin in the group, but it's nice to have people to huddle with

-Drew

Real Life Fiction

2010-12-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'll admit it: I'm reading the Twilight series. I like to justify my actions by attributing them to a commitment to staying up to date with teenage interests, or simple investment in the rising contemporary culture, but while these thoughts are true, the fact of the matter is that once you get past all the "smoldering," the story is actually pretty fun. I started the first book as a distraction from all the heavy school reading I had to do, and now I'm on the third, Eclipse. I love reading because if you've resisted having your imagination dulled by the dullness of the remaining strands of modernity and the absurdness of the currently reigning postmodernity, then you can quietly leave your own world for a while and enter into the life of the story. When these stories work as escapes for me from the rigors of work or school it can often be hard for me to come back to real life once again. However, this has been becoming less and less the case with the books I read lately.

A few months ago, after a year or so of hearing people croon on and on about the movie Avatar and the overwhelming beauty of Pandora, Linds and I broke down and watched it. It was very entertaining, and the world the movie created was fun, but as I watched I was reminded of a quote from ol' Clive Staples Lewis that said something like "If we ever saw how glorious we really are as creations of God, we would be tempted to bow down and worship humanity" (can anyone help me with a reference here?). While it is good and right to get caught up in our imaginations in the colors of Pandora, the intensity in Forks, WA, the clarity and passion of Middle Earth, all those adventures from a long time ago in that galaxy far, far away, our enjoyment of each of these worlds should point us back with wondrous eyes to the people we are and glory of the creation around us.

It would certainly be more exciting if Linds were a vampire/werewolf, if we were being watched by the Volturi, and pursued who knows what else, but the excitements of that life and the intensity of that relationship have been helping me to open my eyes more to the adventures of my own life and the intricate passions I share with Lindsey. As Tolkien once said, "A good story is just the truth writ large," and as I read more stories I am finding myself delighting more and more in the truth of the story God has set ME in.

The woods over my back deck have no vampires in them, and I don't pop-corn into a mammoth wolf when I get mad, but even the bark of the trees is beautiful enough to spark entire worlds in the mind of the careful observer, and the passion I feel for my bride could inspire epic sagas that could even do naught but shadow the truth they strive to reflect.

I do love fiction, but fiction inspires an even deeper love for the True story that God has set me in - not to mention the characters that go with it!

"If you want people to hear the truth, tell them. If you want them to know the truth, tell them a story." - Eudora Welty

- Drew

Zechariah

2010-12-09T16:10:00.000-08:00

I've been spending a lot of time reading in Luke lately; I've been camped out in chapter one for a while now. This has not been out of any kind of intense super-study or anything like that, it's just that it's a pretty fascinating piece of Jesus' story. I have found myself fascinated with his aunt and uncle, Zechariah and Elizabeth, John the Baptists' parents.

I started in verse 57 today, with the birth and naming of of John. It is amazing to see how committed they both are at this point to trusting the angelic news that Zechariah originally doubted! Because Zechariah can't speak yet, the naming of the child falls on Elizabeth, and she stubbornly sticks to "John," just as Gabriel instructed. Finally bearing a child after so many years of barrenness must have been one of the most powerful signs of God's movement that either of them could have imagined. However, as their reactions demonstrate in the story that unfolds, their primary joy was in what these signs pointed to: the fact that God was coming! If their son was set aside to prepare the way, then the promised Messiah was on the verge of arrival! God's immediate faithfulness in their pregnancy, as mind blowing as it was, was but a sign of the imminent covenant fulfillment promised from the very beginning.

For Elizabeth, her first words to Mary when she visits in 1:39-56 are exclamations of joy at the one Mary carries, delighting in her own pregnancy in the way it reflects the glory of Mary's! For Zechariah, the moment that he regains his speech, he launches into a prophetic psalm about not who his son is (that takes a very minor role), but about who his son will be announcing! Incredible! What hope this sparked for them as they saw not only God's faithfulness in their own lives, but his faithfulness in all of his creation's life. All this is beautifully illustrated in the culmination of his psalm:

And you, child [John], will be called the prophet of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord [Jesus] to prepare his ways,

to give knowledge of Salvation to his people

in the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace.

- Luke 1:76-79

Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, as we delight in the gifts that God gives us, we should also delight in these blessings as signs of his eternal faithfulness in working his story of redemption in all of creation!

-Drew

A Quote

2010-12-01T19:54:00.000-08:00

Some creative cookie decorating at our house!

Creativity is... seeing something that doesn't exist already. You need to find out how you can bring it into being and that way be a playmate with God.

-Michele Shea

I heard this quote tonight at the Christmas women's gathering at my church. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and a time to enjoy the arts. There was some art displayed, a sweet lady (who happens to be an artist) gave some thoughts on using our creativity for the glory of the Lord, and then we all had the privilege of listening to "Vocal Spectrum" an AMAZING acapella quartet! You should check them out!

I absolutely LOVE the quote at the top! What beautiful imagery of being a playmate with God. Creating something beautiful and bearing the image of the ULTIMATE CREATOR! It is only through his grace that we have the ability to use the gifts that he has blessed us with and work with him to bring beauty into the world around us! I love it! The speaker tonight encouraged us to use our creative gifts in whatever capacity that that might mean for us.

It causes me to dream of all the creative things that I love. Singing, setting a beautiful table and serving a meal to loved ones, scrap-booking, singing (I really love this one), creating centerpieces, taking old furniture and making it into something beautiful, keeping my house clean so that it is a warm place to relax, writing notes to friends, and so many more!

The next creative thing that I am looking forward to is decorating for Christmas at my house, and decorating for the Christmas Banquet for the Seminary this Friday! I am helping with centerpieces and designing the programs!

What do you love to do? How do you use your creativity to bring beauty to your space, your relationships, and the world around you?

P.S. Want to watch something really creative? Check this out!

-Lindsey

Happy Thanksgiving Again!

2010-11-25T10:41:00.000-08:00

I used to hate cold rainy days. A lot. Lindsey has always loved them, and I never really understood why. A couple years ago Linds pointed out that she loves them so much because it feels like there has been a big blanket pulled over the sky, and so we have to stay indoors and stay wrapped up in blankets too. This made a lot of sense to me, and since then I have also grown to look forward to soggy grey days.

This morning as we were rolling out of bed, looking out the window it was all grey, there was a slow drizzle, and we knew that there was nowhere we had to go until the late afternoon, and even then our only responsibility would be to eat copious amounts of delectable food. Dare I say it? Yes, this is the perfect fall day, and it is only right that it should be an official day of intentionally thanking God for all the things he has given us. A few items from my list, in no particular order:

1. Pies. All of them.

2. My bride, with whom I continue to learn more about the depths of friendship and the blessings it brings than I have ever thought imagined. Our friendship stands as the solid base out of which our love grows, and the longer we are together, the more I look forward to being around her. Her passion for adventure, delight in creation, and excellence in learning and live are inspiring and humbling to me. I only grow more intrigued by of her thoughts, smile, and voice!

3. The beauty of creation around us, and how even a frigidly soaked tree trunk, darkened by the slow fall of the morning rain, can detail the attention and intention with which God designed this world for us.

4. My cat, Mia, who has more personality than I ever would have expected.

5. The healthy relationships that working with the Global Youth and Family Ministry has brought me with friends, family, students, and even those in authority over me. I have learned so much from these, and I am excited to see how God will keep growing me in these.

6. The privilege of living far away, and the joy of hosting friends and family when they visit and enter into the life we've built.

7. The opportunity to learn what it means counsel others well, as well as to be counseled myself. Learning these skills in relationships has been like seeing a new color, or discovering a new flavor to me! They not only open to me their own new aspects of life, but the skills learned there are bountifully enriching all the other aspects as well.

-Drew

Turkey, Stuffing, and Pie

2010-11-24T16:29:00.000-08:00

This afternoon was the beginning of Thanksgiving break! We are so excited to have some time off of school, and to spend it with Chase who is Drew's brother. We wish we could have joined the rest of the Wilkins family in Hawaii for Thanksgiving, but unfortunately timing and money kept us here in St. Louis.

Thanksgiving is such a fun holiday. I bravely ventured out to the grocery store around 5 p.m. today to buy some items. It was neat to see so many people buying food to prepare to celebrate with friends and family.

When Thanksgiving comes it causes all of us to reflect on what we are thankful for. Here are a few things that came to my mind:

1. God's unending mercy and grace!

2. My sweet husband who works so hard and NEVER complains. His schedule is so full between work, school, and seeing clients. I am thankful for how he takes care of our family, and continues to follow God's calling to becoming a pastor.

3. My warm and cozy apartment. I find so much relief and rest whenever I walk in the door. Now I just can't wait to put up our Christmas tree!

4. The blessing that it has been to study at Seminary learning about God and his work in this world. The Lord has sustained us and also sanctified us so much since starting Seminary. I am looking forward to celebrating his faithfulness at graduation in MAY!

5. The amazing adventures that we have been able to go on since we have been married.

6. The adventure that we are about to embark on as we continue the process of raising support and working as missionaries with MTW. God has been so faithful and continues to guide our steps!

Of course there are a million other things that I am thankful for. The older I get the more I realize how important the simple prayer of thanking God for our food is. Every good and perfect gift is from the Lord, and without his mercy and grace I would have nothing.

Looking forward to joining friends for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I am making mashed potatoes for the feast! :) I am really looking forward to some apple pie too!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

The picture is the Turducken that Drew and I made last year.

-Lindsey

Browsing Through The Periodicals

2010-11-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon! I have tendency to get distracted when I think about sitting down to write a paper that I am NOT very excited about. So this morning my distraction led me into the Current Periodical Room in the library at school. As I was browsing through I saw titles like: Toronto Journal of Theology, Mission Frontiers, Presbyterian Heritage, and The Journal of Youth Ministry. This is just a sampling of a few of the titles; oh how I wish I had more time!

I found my way down to the journals about theology and psychology and my eyes were drawn to this particular title. The Journal of Psychology and Theology with an article titled, Evaluating the Impact of Transition Seminars on Missionary Kids' Depression Anxiety, Stress, and Well-Being. BINGO! Drew and I have done a significant amount of research regarding the topic of caring for MKs as they transition back to the states. Unfortunately not a lot has been written, and even in this article the researchers agree that more research needs to be done!

I won't bore you with all of the psychological research jargin (though I confess I find it fascinating!). I was extremely encouraged by the research that was done. I know we have defined before what a Third Culture Kid (TCK) is, but I will remind you again just in case you forgot.

"A TCK is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents' culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the TCK's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar backgrounds (other TCKs)" (Pollock and Van Reken, 2001).

We have seen this first hand working with TCKs. They have an extraordinary gift of crossing cultures, interacting with others who are different from themselves, and looking at life from a more global perspective. However, there is also a lot of struggle with growing up in this way. The research done in this study was to see whether an MK Transition Seminar that helps TCKs adjust to life back in the states changes their level of anxiety, depression, and stress, and psychological well being.

The findings are incredible and I think very affirming of the ministry that The Global Youth and Family Ministry is embarking on.

35 recent high school graduates from schools overseas who were attending re-entry conferences in two different locations in the U.S. were tested. The mean age of the participants was 18.11 years. This sampling of students actually represents 28.6% of the total population of students that attended these two conferences.

Two different psychological tests were completed before the conference and after to gather quantitative info. (Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales-21(DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), and (Psychological General Well Being Index (PGWBI; Dupuy, 1984).

Like I said above the results are amazing. Are you ready??

For the first test (DASS)-

43% of participants were experiencing levels of anxiety and depression pre-conference and

66% were experiencing levels of stress.

After the conference it was reported that levels of anxiety and depression dropped to 20% and the number of participants experiencing stress dropped to 14%

For the second test (PGWBI)-

Pre-conference 43% reported moderate or severe distress to their psychological well-being

Post-conference this number dropped to 17%

After the conference there was a 57% increase in psychological well being!!!

I know that was a lot of numbers and hopefully you were able to hang in there! At the conference TCKs participated in small group discussions led by a therapist, individual counseling, gender specific discussions led by a fellow TCK, social activities that helped TCKs feel more comfortable in cultural activities, and psycho-educational conversations in a large group setting. They were given opportunities to share their stories and therapists used narrative therapy as a technique during counseling sessions. One of the biggest things that the researchers found was helpful was providing space for the TCKs to connect to other TCKs!

TCKs connecting to other TCKs is so important. This was the purpose for our trip to Mexico in October. MTW also provides their own re-entry conference that Drew and I will be able to participate in in the future.

The life of a TCK can have a lot of joy, but also a lot of pain. Drew and I are excited to do our best to enter the world of TCKs and help them as they fight through the struggle, and wrestle with how the Lord will use them to further his kingdom.

We would love for you to join us in this fight. Please pray about supporting us with a monthly donation. You can find information through our website www.gyfm.org or www.mtw.org. Our support account number is 18294.

Thanks for hanging in there through the research portions of this post. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to raise support to work in this ministry that is so important to the next generation!

Source:

Davis, P., Headley, K., Bazemore, T., Cervo, J., Sickinger, P., Windham, M., & Rehfuss, M. (2010). Evaluating Impact of Transition Seminars on Missionary Kids' Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Well-Being. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 38 (3), 186-194.

-Lindsey

Update!

2010-11-14T21:16:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have been crazy ones for us Wilkins. We've felt like we've been running around wild without taking near the time we'd like to do important things like, say, updating our blog! Even the last two months or so have carried so much that we would still like to reflect on here. We've been able to attend the MTW's Latin America Area Retreat to serve ~65 students scattered over dozens of countries, we attended a Halloween party as "A Dark and Stormy Night" (look to the right), went to the Global Missions Conference in Chattanooga, TN, we've discussed future potentials for living overseas, we've been plowing ahead through our numerous classes and assignments at the seminary, we've continued our jobs, and we've even seen clips of seagulls tap-dancing earthworms to the surface of the soil! Like I said, it's been a busy last couple of weeks.

Throughout each of these things God has given us a lot to think on and reflect over, and we are excited to be able to continue to bring those thoughts and ideas here to the blog as well! Thanks for bearing with us as we have been delayed in discussing them here.

However, as I've been running since 4am, many of those thoughts will have to come in the near, though slightly delayed, future. There will be much more to come!

- Drew

Radical-"What part of the Gospel is optional?"

2010-10-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

This blog post is going to consist of some raw thoughts. Thoughts that I have been wrestling with for the last couple of years while being in Seminary. Thoughts that often scare me because they mean sacrifice, but nonetheless important things to wrestle with.

I started thinking about these things again because I just started reading the book Radical-Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream. I am reading it along with the staff at the counseling center that I am interning at this year. We are using it to better understand the clients that we see and helping us to continue knowing how to push back the affects of the fall as we walk through the process of therapy with them. I am excited, but felt nervous after reading this line in the book.

"You and I can choose to continue with business as usual in the Christian life and in the church as a whole, enjoying the success based on the standards defined by the culture around us. Or we can take an honest look at the Jesus of the Bible and dare to ask what the consequences might be if we really believed him and really obeyed him" (pg. 3).

The thought that I have wrestled with for a long time is that being a Christian and following Christ is not "safe." Following Christ calls us to something radical. The standards of the american dream call us to work our way to the top, but Scripture calls us to to intentionally step to the bottom, becoming less so others can become greater. The message we often hear is that we need to overcome our enemies, Scripture calls us to love them. Living for Christ means sacrifice, struggle, pain, service, and so many other things. I often wonder if my commitment to Christ involves these things. I am expecting this book to continue to form my thoughts and challenge my own faith.

The author of this book invites the reader on a journey of more questions then answers. I think my wrestling will continue to be a journey as well. I hope to continue to reflect on this book as I work my way through it.

Luke 9:23

"And he said to all, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

Lindsey

A Few of my Favs...right now anyway

2010-10-26T11:46:00.001-07:00

If you like to exert all your energy at the gym, but don't want to fill up with Gatorade that has sugar and artificial color and ingredients then try this awesome water! So glad that someone finally came up with this idea!

A great snack! Some people might mistake it for rawhide, but don't be fooled. It is simply banana. No additives! :) (This is also my favorite Trader Joe's worker)

The fall has finally arrived and so has some of Trader Joe's holiday items. Stock up on this awesome tea. Enjoy it with a dash of milk and some honey or sugar and cozy up next to a fire place with a blanket!

Enjoy!

I was not paid for this brief advertisement just wanted all of my friends to enjoy them too!

What are some of your favorite items from Trader Joe's or any other grocery store?

Lindsey

A Music Recommendation

2010-10-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

If you have never listened to Sandra McCracken well then you are missing out! This is her new album and it is incredible! Such encouraging lyrics set to beautiful music. My favorite song on the album is "Justice Will Roll Down." You can listen to the whole album on grooveshark.com or download some at noisetrade.com

Here is a link to listen to" Justice Will Roll Down." I think that you will find it encouraging!

http://www.newoldhymns.com/in-feast-or-fallow/justice-will-roll-down/

Latin America Area Retreat

2010-10-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

A week ago today we got home from our trip to Mexico where we had the opportunity to serve all of the missionary kids whose parents are serving in Latin America. It was a really great trip and gave us a small glimpse of what our job will be like once we graduate and have all of our support raised. Some of Drew's roles included teaching three times from the book of 1 Peter, working on videos, leading a small group, emceeing many of the games and other events, and hanging out with students whenever possible. I also led a small group of Jr. high girls, helped to lead most of the games, helped with worship, and enjoyed riding the waves with my small group girls. We had such a great time serving all the students as well as serving with 24 other amazing youth workers from around the U.S.. We are so thankful for this opportunity, and for the beautiful place that we were able to be at for the retreat. It was so neat to see the missionaries enjoy this retreat and use the time to connect with their families, other missionaries, and be refreshed by God's Word. We are thankful for many supporters that helped to make this trip possible for us. Enjoy some of the pics!

All the wonderful leaders!

One of the fountains in the lobby of the hotel

small group

The whole gang

The beautiful water

During one of our large group meetings

There were peacocks and other animals roaming around the resort.

Luchadors (Drew and Brooks)

One tradition during these retreats is to make video skits. The luchador theme was a huge part of the videos. Check them out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnurCT1aeJk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jahhwuA0Xug&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0O4GQBmvR8

Some thoughts on love...

2010-10-18T17:15:00.000-07:00

I remember laying on my floor when I was young listening to the "New Kids on the Block," and being swept away with thoughts of the cutest one on the block. I think it was Joey, but then again I was so fickle it could have changed weekly. Like any young girl I dreamed about the day that my prince would come and sweep me off of my feet. If you ask any of my friends from high school and even college I longed for that day, and used to throw dating books across the room out of frustration. It was like the man of my dreams just could not show up soon enough. But God's timing was perfect, and unexpectedly brought Drew into my life.

I started thinking about these things while I was driving today and listening to Taylor Swifts song "Love Story." Since I work in youth ministry I am constantly intrigued by the music that young girls are listening to and the message that it sends them about, love, men, relationships, sex, and their bodies. This song is really catchy and the climax comes at the end when Romeo gets on his knee to ask Juliet for her hand. They can finally run away together and escape the problems of the world. Even as a happily married woman of 5 years I got chills at the end of the song because there is a God given desire to be known, loved, and sought after in all human beings. This is why so many love songs are written. God has designed us and made us to be in relationship.

The thing I struggle with is the message that the love songs send. Just like me sitting in my room on my "New Kids on the Block" sleeping bag listening to love songs and dreaming of my prince there is definitely something to be affirmed in everyone (and in this case young girls) desires to fall in love. I think there is also a call in all of our interactions with media to look to what Scripture says about what love, marriage, and relationships should look like. There is a message to affirm in Taylor Swift's lyrics. But the false message that it sends is that meeting prince charming takes way all of your problems.

I think part of my job as a leader of young girls is to engage in conversations regarding love and marriage. Helping them to know how to affirm the desires that God has given them, but also pointing them to Jesus who fulfills those desires completely. But by God's grace and design he has made us to be in relationship with others and it is privilege to love and to be loved. I believe that in youth ministry one of the greatest ministries that my husband and I can have is modeling to young people what it means for a husband and wife to love and serve each other according to God's design. Certainly we are not perfect in this endeavor, but we see it as so important and encourage others to do the same.

I will be the first one to admit how much I love to watch romantic comedies and listen to love songs, but think it is important to engage young people and our own hearts in the messages that this media sends.

One of my favs!

I am thankful for my husband who continues to sweep me off my of feet everyday! Going back to the title of Taylor's song I finally got my love story and it was more then I had EVER dreamed! Love is not like the movies, but it also doesn't have to stop after you hit the 5, 10, 15, 20 year mark either. Loving and pursuing each other in marriage is one of the most beautiful things that God has ever designed!

P.S. Pictures and reflections from our trip to Mexico coming soon.

Reflections on the Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer

2010-09-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

It was easy for me to connect deeply with the content of Schaeffer’s letters. There were a number of elements that stood out to me in it, the first of which was the response he took towards the struggle in his involvement with the spiritual coldness of the separatist movement. He says, “I really feel lighter than I have for years. I do not know what this all means in my relationship with the movement, but I have come to this conclusion – that, God willing, I do not want to lose this joy that I have before the Lord” (p. 33). This “True Spirituality” that he later poured into his book of the same title seemed to characterize him from then on. This joy Schaeffer describes in his walk with God is one that is only borne through learning to live well in the face of adversity. We often want to simply fight against the hardships in life and decry the pain they bring - however we must not give in to such temptations. The fruit of joining in the sufferings of Christ, even while in ministry, always yields such glorious joy that it cannot be discounted. This is a point I feel I can always learn more from.

Secondly, the way the Schaeffer depended on God for their finances was incredible! To not actively seek to raise support for what they did, but to wait patiently on God instead was something that sticks firmly in my mind. As Linds and I are currently engaged in the support raising process for our work with Mission to the World the query quoted from Amy Carmichael was particularly inspiring: “Why not ask God to make those who love Him want to help the little children whom He loves, instead of asking help from those who perhaps don’t love him” (p.79). It is hard to imagine living this way practically. Having to wait, trusting in God’s provision when I have not specifically asked for it from any particular individual or organization is something that I struggle to imagine. Even though we have only begun our support raising efforts, the burden of this seems so heavy. Waiting on God’s providence even in the anxious moments is something Linds and I are beginning to learn much more of.

Finally, it was amazing to see the theme of dependence on prayer woven so thoroughly throughout the decades of his letter writing. This was not so much a point of intentional discussion in his letters, but was instead a peripheral atmosphere that all of his words seemed to swim within. Often the letters opened by recording that Schaeffer had already been praying for the recipients and finish with a request that his readers be praying for him as well. The heavy consciousness of their dependency on Christ’s work in response to their prayers seemed to be the driving force behind all of their interactions. It was a blessing and encouragement to see this played out over the Schaeffers' many years of personal correspondences.

In these areas in particular and many others as well, The Letters of Francis Schaeffer did much to provide an inspiring example of what it means to be a person of meekness, boldly committed to the God’s Word, passionate for God’s Truth, and, regardless of who they are, sincerely delighting in the people God has made. The example of Francis Schaeffer's passions is well displayed in his statement that his "joy is in seeing many who have such little hope come to the place of not only of being saved for eternity, but of being more human in the present life” (p. 103, italics mine).

-Drew

A Devotion (I know it's long, but I hope it's encouraging)

2010-09-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

The other day I was in charge of giving the devotion for the student council meeting at Seminary. This is my second year serving on the council in an elected position. My official position is the women's rep. and I really enjoy the meetings and the collaborative work that goes on between the council and the staff. Ok, that is not the point of this post, but now you know a little more about me! What I really want to share with you is the devotion that I gave. I have found myself thinking a lot about 2 Corinthians 5:16-21,

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

I spoke a little about what it means to be a "new creation" according to the passage. Once a person excepts Christ as their Savior their lives change in the eternal sense. They are no longer called by the name Sinner, but are rather given a new name, Redeemed! The old order of life has passed because, through their union with Christ, they now have the ability to not sin and to live to glorify Christ in all that they do. But if I am honest with myself I don't feel like a new creation very often. I still feel plagued by the brokenness of this world. I still sin against those I love all of the time. I feel pain and experience sickness. BUT, the passage says that we are new creations and it is telling the truth. However, though our newness has been initiated, we still wait to be made completely new. We live in a tension right now between the 'Already' (redemption has come because of Christ's death on the cross) and the 'Not Yet' (though we can see affects of his redemption we won't see the completion of it until he returns). So we wait and we live in this tension. But even in this we live with hope!

The second part of the passage reminds us of our calling as Christians. To bring this message of reconciliation to the world. As I was reflecting on this passage I began to question that, while often we work really hard to bring the message of reconciliation to others, do we ever bring it to ourselves? My pastor recently gave an illustration about a women who faced domestic abuse. She was finally moved to a safe place, but one day the knock on the door came. The abuser had returned, and she was tempted to yet again to open the door and let him in. This was used to illustrate how we often respond when sin knocks on our heart. As I was listening I realized that this not only means the sins that we do, but the sins that have been done to us; the sins that have hurt us and caused us to feel shame, the sins that have caused us to tell ourselves over and over again that we are not worthy of love, that we are stupid, that we are ugly, or that we are responsible. We need the message of reconciliation when we are tempted to believe those lies. We need to shut the door to the continuing patterns that we find ourselves in. The message of reconciliation is one that we need to remind ourselves of everyday as well as we interact with a world that is need of the reconciling Savior.

Lindsey

My Grandpa

2010-09-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

I found this picture the other day of my grandpa and me! I just love it so much and it reminded me of all the great times that we had when I was little. He would always stay up late and watch Nick at Nite, and I loved to watch it with him. He had about a bijillion green acres episodes recorded on VHS, haha! During his late night TV watching he would of course always make a snack and sometimes it included BBQ potato chips dipped in BBQ sauce. I always thought that was hilarious! He was famous for putting his coffee in the microwave and then forgetting about it. It was not surprising to open up the microwave hours later to see his cold coffee still in there. He used to play school with me and we would always argue about who would be the teacher (he never wanted to be the teacher :)) I really loved him a lot and I am thankful for this picture to remind me of all the sweet memories.

A Change in the Journey

2010-09-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

Our pastor gave an illustration this past Sunday that resonated so much with my heart. He began by asking if any of us have ever driven through Kansas in route to Colorado with the longing to see the majesty of huge mountains in the distance. I was reminded of the tiring and long hours in the car, only being kept awake by the rumble strips, as we continued our trek from St. Louis back to Colorado when we were first married. Our pastor had the congregation laughing as he described the painful hopelessness that you begin to feel while in Kansas surrounded by corn and cows. You begin to believe that you will NEVER see the mountains.

BUT then the journey changes. All of a sudden you get a glimpse of the majesty. You see the jutting of rocks into the blue sky and the journey once again becomes hopeful. His words during the sermon were

"Mountains in the distance change the journey!"

How amazing and true! How often we lose hope in the midst of our own sinfulness, the sinfulness in the world, and the sin that is committed against us. But the grace of God gives us hope and as the passage in the sermon reminded us we have the ability (through the grace of God) to say no to sin and yes to life!

Titus 2:11-14

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹²It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Worship this past Sunday was a glimpse of the mountains. It was so refreshing for me to hear the Word of God preached and to worship with other believers. We also enjoyed dinner and great conversation with friends this week. I would say that the Lord blessed me this past week with a view of the mountains to remind me of his amazing grace!

-Linds

Reflections on Henri J.M. Nouwen's In the Name of Jesus

2010-09-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

It didn’t take long for me to get sucked into this book. That’s not to say it was a pleasant read, rather it was an interesting combination of unpleasantly, yet compellingly, true. My heart resonated pretty closely with Nouwen’s portrayal of his life orientation. He had accomplished many things, worked extremely hard, and even found himself working in Boston on the beautiful campus of Harvard as a priest in their divinity school! In this he does not present some image of himself being prideful or arrogant in his position, he simply hadn’t been too stretched in his experiences. That said, his work at L’Arch, a home for mentally handicapped adults, opened him up to so much more, and his words in this book have opened me as well.

I struggled to understand what he meant about not seeking relevance. I work in youth ministry, and with students, if you are not relevant then you are nothing - at least so I thought. Then Nouwen broke my heart. He says that his experience at L’Arch forced him to “let go of my relevant self - the self that can do things, show things, prove things, build things - and forced me to reclaim that unadorned self in which I am completely vulnerable, open to receive and give love regardless of any accomplishments” (p. 28). Wow, I still find myself reeling and even wincing a little as I type that. There is a part of me that doesn't like it. There is beloved sin at risk in admitting it, but I don’t think this way. I can think of a thousand “but"s to insert, and even more correctives about what it actually takes to cross over into youth culture, but those are all simply stylistic points and miss the foundational idea entirely. As Nouwen says in the conclusion of his first chapter, “The leaders of the future will be those who dare to claim their irrelevance in the contemporary world as a divine vocation that allows them to enter into a deep solidarity with the anguish underlying all the glitter of success, and to bring the light of Jesus there” (p. 35). Wow.

Advice

2010-09-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

I recently was given some advice from my supervisor on how to take care for myself this year. The advice that was given to me was that in the midst of seeing a lot of pain and brokenness I need to take time to see beauty. I need to expose my eyes, ears, nose, and heart to beauty to be refreshed! This is one my passions and in many ways the reason for this blog. As I have said many times on this blog, but feel like I can never say enough, there is beauty in the midst of brokenness everywhere because of what Christ accomplished on the cross. In referring to human beings Francis Schaeffer used the term "glorious ruins." All of creation lives in the tension of being beautiful and broken. The broken part is going to be clearly in front of me as I work as a counselor. Therefore beauty is what I long to see and even hope to cultivate as I work to spread Christ's redemption to all of life.

Drew surprised me with these sunflowers the other day. Aren't they beautiful? I love the circular design in the middle of them and the bright burst of color that they add to the table. We usually study at our dining room table so this is the perfect spot for a little bit of beauty. Here is a picture of an early morning reading time. The sunflowers had not entered the picture yet, but you get the gist.

(good coffee is definitely a beautiful thing)

I am excited to keep exploring ways to be intentional at seeking out beauty. I think this weekend we are going to an art fair in the streets of Clayton! I hope you enjoy your weekend and take time to see beauty!

-Linds

Psalm 139

2010-09-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

This last Sunday Tony, the Sr. High Youth Pastor at our church, preached the sermon. His passage was Hebrews 4:12-13,

(12) For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (13) And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

In a class I am taking this year entitled Pastoral Theology, the culminating assignment is to identify what you believe to be the sin in your life which has the most potential to undo your ministry, and write a 10 page paper discussing what Scripture says about it, how you experience it, and how you are going to resist it. We are also to seek out trusted friends to help give us insight into this, so that we aren't limited to only our own perspective. Hebrews 4:13 suddenly felt all the more real as Tony preached from it.

Tony used as scene from the movie Saving Private Ryan as an illustration. In the scene there is a Nazi soldier and an American soldier fighting in a room at the top of a stairwell with only bayonets as their weapons - the American is losing. At the bottom of the flight of stairs there is another American soldier who still has a gun. He can hear the fight above him, but he stands with his weapon in his arms, too afraid for his own safety to risk entering into the fray and use his gun.

Tony pointed out that Hebrews tells us that Scripture is our weapon, sin is our enemy, and we are often too scared of being cut open and exposed to enter in and use it well. However, he stated, the parallel ends there - the difference being that, while most weapons bring death through their wounds, Scripture, like a scalpel in the hands of a skilled surgeon, cuts through and brings life. With each slice, though you are left exposed to the very core before our Creator and Judge, Scripture serves to cut out the sin, and put you back together again.

To be honest, this is a pretty intimidating project. I have had graduates warn me about it since I first began here. However, as the author of Hebrews (and Tony) reminds us, we use God's Word to cut to the heart of our sin, expose it to our Redeemer, and then be brought back to further health once again. Pray that I would not shy away from using Scripture to evaluate my life and heart. Pray that I would not only be further exposed to the sin in my life, but to the grace of my Saviour as well. Please pray for me as I engage this and many other difficult assignments this semester.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Test me, and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

(Psalm 139:23-24)

- Drew

Chicago-The Windy City!

2010-09-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

An evening view of Michigan Avenue.

The city from Navy Pier

THE BEAN!!!!

The elevator in our lovely hotel!

City

More city

I hope you have enjoyed a little taste of Chicago this week. It really is an amazing city, and Drew and I hope to visit again.

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend!

-Linds

Flowers and Skyscrapers

2010-08-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

We had a great time on our trip to Chicago to celebrate our five year anniversary. We had a blast exploring the city and we walked so much on Saturday that I had blisters on the bottom of my feet.

We wanted to share with you throughout this week some of our favorite pictures. Drew finds so much delight in walking around with the camera and capturing the small and big things around us. I like this shot in particular because of the angle of the flowers with the huge skyscrapers in the background. There is definitely beauty in both settings.

Linds

Sailing Anyone?

2010-08-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

Sailboats on Lake Michigan from our trip to Chicago. Looks inviting doesn't it?

Guide Me Oh Thou Great Jehovah

2010-08-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share this song with you. It has been ministering to my heart these past couple of days, and brings tears to my eyes because of the promises of God that are so beautifully put to song.

Here are the lyrics (From the RUF hymnal):

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,

Pilgrim through this barren land.

I am weak, but Thou art mighty;

Hold me with Thy powerful hand.

Bread of heaven,

Feed me now and evermore;

Bread of heaven,

Feed me now and evermore.

2. Open now the crystal fountain,

Whence the healing stream doth flow;

Let the fire and cloudy pillar

Lead me all my journey through.

Strong Deliverer,

Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.

Strong Deliverer,

Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.

3. When I tread the verge of Jordan,

Bid my anxious fears subside;

Death of deaths, and hell's destruction,

Land me safe on Canaan's side.

Songs of praises, I will ever give to Thee;

Songs of praises, I will ever give to Thee.

Ending

Land me safe on Canaan's side

Bid my anxious fears, bid my anxious fear

Land me safe on Canaan's side

Bid my anxious fears, bid my anxious fears, goodbye

I could not figure out how to link the song to our blog, but you can download it off itunes for $.99.

In the lyrics I hear a plea, a prayer, and anticipation. As the people of God we are constantly crying

out for guidance from the Lord. We are weak and he is mighty and he is the one that leads us through this journey.

The anticipation part is my favorite, because of what I have been facing lately. The promise that we will land safe

on Canaan's side and there will be no more death or destruction. We will be able to say goodbye

to all of our anxious fears because through Christ ALL THINGS will be made new! I hope this song

gives you encouragement today as you face the brokenness and pain of this world, but face it with hope

because God's promises are TRUE!

-Linds

Entering Into Worship

2010-08-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

When you walk through the doors of a church, what are you proceeding in to do? As I reflect on my thoughts as I have grown and matured in my walk with God and engagement in his Church, I recall often thinking that true worship was the sense of personal fulfillment and reassurance in my relationship with God that one feels in singing glorious hymns and being moved and stirred by the sermon. I think it is for the most part the paradigm that I operated out of for the majority of my life. Another way to put it would be that I believed the purpose of going to worship was to receive something from the alter - to be "refilled to be able to face the rest of the week."

There have been innumerable occasions where all I wanted to do was make it through till Sunday, so that I could see my friends, could sing the songs that enliven my heart, and hear the Word preached that invigorates my spirit. This is not a bad thing by a long shot. However, over the last few months, I have begun to see that while it is a good thing, it is neither the whole thing nor the best thing. The issue lies in that this perspective on worship leaves the worshiper to come in merely a passive manor. This is good in that in everything, we acknowledge God to be the one who moves us and directs us, who fills us and completes us, and even who grows us and matures us. But, acting as a passive receptacle, while important in the act of worship, is only the secondary reason I walk through the doors on a Sunday morning.

The primary reason for man to worship is to BRING something to the alter. The only thing that separates us from the rest of creation is our ability to turn our experiences around into praise. As Westminster (via Piper's interpretation) likes to put it, our chief end is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. That said, we go to church in order to bring our praise to him! We sing our songs so that we might express the passions of our heart, directing the heart liberating words to the Lord who made us and set us in his story! We sit and listen to his Word preached so that first of all we might present to him our hearts humbled and bowed in deference to his will. It is then, and only then, that we are able to act as receptacles. Entering into true worship is the act of bringing to God our hearts and lives humbled to his will, praising his glorious character, and then standing ready to further engage his creation!

Drew

Thus It Begins.

2010-08-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

Today stands as the last day of summer for all of us Covenant students. It's very interesting to be sitting on the cusp of our final year here. It's intimidating because we are cramming so much into the next nine months that it almost feels insurmountable; it is exciting because of all the opportunities that it holds; it is sad because of all that we will leave behind as we finish; it is joyful because it marks the beginning of the end of a personal challenge and because it marks the dawn of a new stage of our life.

We are both extremely excited about the classes that we will be taking, the privilege of stepping gently into our client's lives, and even the structured schedule that we can live around (the above calendar represents only the weekly recurring events). But it's also going to be a whole lot of very hard work. To be completely honest, we are pretty nervous about the upcoming challenge. Not nervous like an ant looking up at a teenager through a microscope, but nervous like a freshly vacationed runner returning home to his waiting training grounds: it's going to hurt. Please pray for us as we step back into the life of school again. Pray for endurance to stay on task even when it's painful. Pray that our attention spans would be flexible enough to make it through all our books. Pray that our memories would be sharp. Pray that our minds would be creative to engage our papers well. Pray that our physical health would not let us down. Pray that our fingers would be nimble as we page through all the research. And most of all, pray that our hearts would not be so distracted by the labor to forget the tasks we are training for.

We love you guys, and we need your prayers and support so much as we enter once again into the melee of scholastic battle! Over the next few months we'll be updating this blog with not only our thoughts and reflections on the adventures we experience, but on our current needs and prayer requests as well. It has been impressed upon us that as missionaries we have to establish a broad base of support. We are continuing to learn that this not only means keeping you all updated on our thoughts and experiences, but on our needs and weaknesses as well. The fact is, we need you. Will you please help to build us a foundation of prayer?

In His Grasp,

- Drew

Five Years

2010-08-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

Five years ago today, Linds and I were married! A LOT has happened over those last five years, and it has been the greatest of adventures to be able to walk through it all together. We have climbed mountains and snowboarded down them, we have started in new ministries and have moved away to others, we have invested locally and worked globally, we have launched into four masters degree and discovered the value of experience, we have toured big European cities and strolled dirt paths in Latin America, we have escaped to the rural and we have exploded into the urban. Throughout it all we have had some incredible experiences, some glorious fights, and more than our share of a joyful friendship. It's been five years and I love my bride more than ever. Right now we're exploring Chicago, and the next couple of days we have here promise even more adventure. These five years have been the best of my life, and I can't begin to express how excited I am about all those we have ahead of us!

- Drew

Be Strong and Courageous

2010-08-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9.

The book of Joshua is one of Drew's favorite books of the Bible. My husband is a very passionate man and his passion is revealed when he talks about the book of Joshua. If you have ever been in any of his youth groups you will know what I mean. This passage has become one of my favorites and it came to my mind yesterday morning while I was walking in the neighborhood. I usually have a hard time praying or thinking about anything else when I am exercising, but yesterday it was different. I found this verse going through my head as I was thinking about this upcoming year in school. It is going to be crazy crazy CRAZY busy, overwhelming, and stressful. As Drew and I will both be finishing up our degrees, doing our internship for counseling (15-20 hours a week), working part-time jobs, and raising support. Not to mention grocery shopping, homework, laundry, homework, marriage, homework, friendships, oh and homework!

Whenever Drew teaches on this passage he always points out that God is commanding the Israelites to be strong and courageous. He is not patting them on the back and giving them a warm word of encouragement, but he is commanding them! God had shown himself faithful to his people through the exodus and through the desert, and he is now telling them to continue to be strong because he will continue to be with them as they go into the promise land. What a beautiful part of God's story!

I am not about to fight armies in order to gain land, but I am about to embark on a year of new experiences, busyness, brokenness, and stress. The Lord has been so faithful to Drew and me in these past three years of seminary, and yesterday I heard his reminder as I walked that he is commanding me to be strong and courageous for HE will be with me wherever I go! He has called me to these tasks, and I need to enter his will with joy, knowing that his promises are good!

I wish it was easier to remember these things during those moments of freak out!

A Brief Reminder

2010-08-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

A few days ago a batch of new mulch was laid down at the base of the trees around our apartment complex. That night, once the sun went down, life began to emerge. As I was heading out to work that day I noticed the mulch, but I also noticed the dozens and dozens of little mushrooms that had grown up in it over the few hours of night. When I came back home again that afternoon, the mulch bare and all the mushrooms had perished in the heat of the sun.

Those little mushrooms did not have much time, but they grew to their fullest beauty as quickly as they could before the heat of the day overcame them. For all I know, besides Lindsey, I could have been the only one to ever notice those mushrooms. They certainly weren't able to spore off any more mushrooms, and I can only assume that their very brief life was simply the unintended result of the damp and dark climate of mulch storage practices. However, In the few moments that they did have, they grew strong, they stood beautifully, and even if for no one's benefit but their creator's, they did their utmost to accomplish the purpose for which he designed them. God appreciated their beauty. God appreciated their efforts. God was glorified in their life.

For all of us who have toiled in what feels like meaningless work, who have been scorched by the heat of would-be providers, and who continue to press forward with his design for as long as God enables, be encouraged. God sees and God knows, and he is always glorified when his creation lives out the purpose he designed them for.

-Drew

Another Take on Aging

2010-08-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

For a class that I will be taking this fall I have been reading Anthony A. Hoekema's The Bible and the Future. In his chapter on physical death he makes a brief yet poignant comment that "The older we get, the more it grieves us that we keep on falling short of doing the will of God. One feels something of the weight of this burden when he reads Paul's words in Romans 8:32, 'And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.'"

This struck me because, though I am accustomed to viewing the world around me as "groaning" under the longitudinal effects of man's mismanagement and the fall as a whole, I have never considered my own physicality in this way. Though a decline in physical prowess is a commonly lamented theme amongst older generations, I have only ever heard it referenced as a personal frustration. Hoekema's statement forces his readers to consider the negative effects of aging in light of the commission God has given his people (to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it), such that we see our physical decline as lamentable not only because of the ways that it limits our own abilities, but also because of the ways it hinders us from carrying out the duty he has given us.

Perhaps another application of this thought could be the importance for caring well for our bodies and doing our best to push back the negative effects of aging. If we view our gradual physical decline as a stumbling block in our pursuit of living out God's design, then shouldn't we be much more intentional about the food we eat and the exercise we engage in? Once again this shows how much the things we are tempted to view as limitations (such as diets, eating plans, exercise, studies, etc.) can actually be launching pads towards the fullness of life that God originally designed us for.

Additionally, I believe this thought of the negative effects of aging causing us to fall short of God's design for us, and the "groaning" that we experience along with the rest of creation for the renewal of all things should push us towards instilling those who come behind us with the passion to press forward as well. As the Psalmist writes in Psalm 71:17-18, O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come."

Reading Hoekema's quote, I am excited to become aware of another area of my life that I can apply myself to the exciting task of chasing after the call of God's design, and am also even further affirmed of the importance of intentional next generational ministry!

-Drew

The Farmer's Market

2010-08-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

Drew and I love to support our local farmers and really see the importance of buying local and fresh produce. I was listening to an interview recently with Barbara Kingsolver on NPR who recently wrote the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I have read some of this book and really appreciate her knowledge about the ethics of food and her commitment to eating local foods. She was so committed that she uprooted her family from Arizona to move to a farm in the Appalachians and live off the land for a year. One of her main points in the beginning of the book is how much fossil fuel we burn in shipping our foods. In this interview she mentioned that lots of people give up meat due to ethical reasons, but she has given up bananas. It really made me think about how much fuel is used to ship bananas to the U.S.. I really appreciated her point!

We wanted to give you a glimpse at the beauty of the produce, flowers, and people that were at the Farmer's Market. We had a great time and look forward to the day when we have more money and time to shop there every week.

Shalom

2010-07-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those moments where all the worries of the day have passed, a feeling of safety sets in, an enjoyment of your surroundings, and a taste of fullness of life sweep over you and you realize that you just had a glimpse into heaven? A taste of Shalom? A look into what life will be like when all things will be made new and there will be no more suffering, heartache, or injury? I had one of these moments last week and I have been reflecting on it since. It was during an outdoor concert where Erin Bode was singing. She is a wonderful musician with a beautiful voice. Drew and I had packed a picnic and met some friends at the concert. We enjoyed our wine, cheese, grapes, and chicken salad and talked about life. We were able to see a lot of other familiar faces at the concert too. There was a moment after the food had been put away and I was pleasantly full that I was leaning against Drew's legs. I felt all the stress that I have felt disappear and I was caught up in all of the beautiful activity around me. Children were dancing, music was playing, I was near good friends and the love of my life, good food and drink had just been enjoyed, and the background noise of worry just faded. I had a glimpse of shalom. God has given us so many good gifts and so often in my vision they are clouded by brokenness, busyness, anxiety, worry, and doubt. But not this night! The Lord blessed me with a picture of future glory!

I am currently reading Dan Allenders' book To Be Told which is about understanding our own story and how the Lord reveals himself through our story. I have been blessed so much by Dan's wisdom. I know in my own story I have experienced the "shattering of shalom" and as I work through my own story I get glimpses of God's redemption in my life. His promises are true that one day all things will be made new, but right now we are also blessed to be able to experience glimpses of the glory that is to come!

-Lindsey

Always Be Prepared

2010-07-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

for emergency youth ministry needs. As youth leaders we often laugh at the things that end up in our cars. There are definitely ketchup stains on our back seat from the numerous fast food runs before a youth events, missing carpet squares for the floor, scary mystery scents, and an enormous Sam's Club sized Altoids tin in the glove compartment! We opened up our trunk recently and this is what we found.

And the journey begins...

1. Air-ZOOKA (capable of rocketing powerful bullets of air over 150 ft.)

2. One full grown man-sized Eeyore suit.

3. One carbon copy of yourself in puppet form.

4. One multi-purpose ground cover/butt insulator (blanket).

5. Tools for instant competition!

6. Deadly Weaponry, in this case a Blowdart Gun.

7. Raphael (Raph), for whom the famous painter was named,

and his arch nemesis, the Rubber Chicken.

It's amazing what can accumulate in those dark spaces of your car when left unattended! I must admit though, as we sorted through all this stuff I was rather proud of each item we unearthed. So what is the most exciting thing you've found in your trunk?

-Drew

For Your Eating Pleasure

2010-07-21T11:32:00.001-07:00

We love sweet potatoes at the Wilkins' household! They are so good for you too! Last night we made sweet potato pancakes and we thought we would share the recipe with all of you! Drew was the actual creator of this recipe. He took pieces from some other recipes online and then added a few of his own twists. They were delicious!!!

2 sweet potatoes

1 onion

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

rosemary to taste

1 egg

Put pan to medium heat until olive oil is shimmering then add sliced onion and saute until caramelized. Add brown sugar to the onion and saute for 2 more minutes. Remove onion from the heat. Shred the 2 medium sweet potatoes and add onion mixture, rosemary, and egg to the potatoes. Mix together. In greased pan scoop out 1/2-1 cup of mixture and flatten into pancake size. Cook for several minutes until brown and crispy and do the same on the other side.

Enjoy! We paired them with scrambled eggs and homemade blueberry muffins!

-Drew and Linds

Mia the fetching cat!

2010-07-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

Our cat Mia is pretty amazing! She fetches, comes when we call her name, and greets us at the door. We love her a lot and are pretty impressed with her fetching skills. Enjoy the video!

1000 Kisses

2010-07-16T19:53:00.001-07:00

Just thought I would share one of my favorite albums. I just never get tired of it! The sound of her voice, the emotion of her lyrics, and the beauty of the acoustic guitar is just amazing!

-Lindsey

Learning to Trust Through Illness

2010-07-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

Since I have been sick for a majority of the summer I have been reflecting on my feelings of frustration about sickness and what this teaches me about my own heart and my need to feel in control. I was reminded of an article I read a few years ago in ByFaith Magazine about how to pray well for the sick in our congregations. I have seen my own sin pretty clearly these last couple of weeks and was brought to tears the other day with the realization that I am not very good at trusting in God. Being sick means having to rely on someone else. With all of the things that we have had to do with Jr. High Camp, a summer class, and support raising I have been so stressed trying to make sure everything is perfect. I would often prefer to trust in my own abilities rather then trusting in the Lord. The Lord has been using this sickness to remind me that he is good, faithful, and most of all trustworthy.

Here is an excerpt from the article that I found to be really encouraging and I recommend reading the whole thing! This excerpt reminds all of us of what we can learn through illness.

"God meets us in sickness, and we experience new dynamics through that meeting. Sickness can force us to stop and face ourselves, to stop and find the Lord. We discover sins we’ve been too busy to notice: neglectfulness, irritability, indifference, self-indulgence, unbelief, joylessness, worries, complaining, drivenness in work, trust in our own health and ability. As our need for Jesus’ mercies is quickened, our delight in God deepens. We will develop fruit of the Spirit that can develop no other way than by suffering well: endurance of faith, hope and joy that transcend circumstances, mature character, richer knowledge of the love of God, living for God not self, the humility of weakness, the ability to help others who suffer."

http://byfaithonline.com/page/ordinary-life/praying-beyond-the-sick-list

-Lindsey

On the Road

2010-07-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

It has been surprisingly hard to keep up with this blog the last couple of weeks. On July 2nd we turned in our papers to complete our summer class and hopped on an airplane to begin our journey of raising support.

Our first stop was in Annapolis, Maryland which is where Drew's family lives. We were able to have meetings with two churches, speak in three services on Sunday morning, teach Sunday School, and host a BBQ. We were so encouraged with people's response about our ministry with GYFM and left feeling like we made some great contacts. It looks like we might be returning to Annapolis in September to speak with one of the churches again! Praise the Lord! We were also able to enjoy the Fourth of July watching the fireworks from the boat in downtown Annapolis.

Our next stop was Richmond Virginia to meet with another missions committee. This meeting was so encouraging and we enjoyed dinner with friends in downtown Richmond at Bottoms Up. We were also blessed by the hospitality of a family from the church. As we talk to people about the ministry that we are planning to do we have been so amazed at how each person has a passion for a different part of God's kingdom. This particular couple has a love for Scotland and it was a joy to talk about our passions together. The next day we met with a woman who has been working with Third Culture Kids for years and we gained a lot of wisdom and insight from our meeting with her.

The pizza at Bottom's Up was great and so was the company. Thanks Jenna and Tim for your support and care for us!

On our way to Suffolk, VA after Richmond we stopped in Williamsburg for a few hours. It was a hot and tiring few hours for sure! Here we are in front of the Old Capitol Building!

After Williamsburg we drove down to spend a few days with Lindsey's college friend Hayden and her family. Hayden has just come off the field herself so she has been very encouraging to us. We were welcomed into the Hill's home with open arms and had a great time relaxing for a few days. On Thursday we decided to go to Virginia beach to enjoy the sun and waves. It was definitely relaxing but we are sure feeling it now. We were both terribly sunburned and are still feeling the pain!

We are currently sitting in a Caribou Coffee in Cary, NC. This area has a lot of meaning to both of us because we fell in love in Cary! In 2004 we interned at Peace Presbyterian Church with their youth ministry. Even though the summer was only ten weeks long the people at Peace became like family, and we are so excited to be back to visit and share with everyone about our work with GYFM! A family has graciously offered to host two desserts for us and we have a number of meals with different families and friends! We will also be speaking at church and teaching Sunday School. Despite the sunburn Drew will be keeping his tradition of 6 a.m. mountain biking with a good friend tomorrow morning.

Please continue to pray for us on this last leg of our trip. The Lord has been so faithful so far and we truly feel that we are gaining a family of supporters who are interested in partnering with us as we reach the nations and the next generation through GYFM!

We are now on the search for:

Drew and Linds

Modern Day Wonka

2010-06-27T18:50:00.000-07:00

"Hello, I'm Brian Pelletier, the chocolatier!" And that's how our tour through the wonderful creations of the Ka-Ka-O Chocolate shop (http://www.kakaochocolate.com) began. Besides a few of the necessities that aren't grown in the United States, Brian does his best to use organic, locally grown ingredients in his chocolates, and we were excited to see the ways that he even works to rotate his products according to what crops are in season. This kind of intentionality with food is something that Linds and I have been really excited to start supporting with our own purchases, and Ka Ka O is a great example of a company that does it well. We went with the small-group that we've been a part of for the last year as a send off to one couple that is moving away to another state. It was awesome. Here is just a small sampling of the confectionary genius we were able to experience:

First was the Chai Truffle. It was a milk chocolate truffle with a little bit of cinnamon sprinkled on top of it. It had flavors of ginger, anise, and cardamum, and was fantastic. The cinnamon on top really pulled the flavors together!

Next on the menu was the mint truffle with a candied lemon peel placed on top. The mint flavor comes from real mint leaves that were grown locally, and the candied peel was a creation of Brian's wife. The combination of the two were fantastic!

To follow that up we were served a super dark chocolate truffle with "smoked sea salt" on top. The salt itself was actually black on the chocolate and the whole thing had a flavor that tasted "like the smell of bonfire smoke on your clothes the next morning." Yes, that is a little weird to say, but it was surprisingly accurate and even more surprisingly delicious!

There were many more amazing items that we got to dip into and each was more delicious than that which came before it. We had a wonderful time getting to talk with Brian about what he does and the passion that he has behind it all. We found a superior product and are glad to have been able to experience the joys of food done well!

Taking Off Your Mask

2010-06-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on some literature for our ministry with GYFM. We leave on Friday for our first support raising trip and there is still a lot of work to do in order to prepare. I was searching for different images to add to the brochure and I came across this picture.

Wow, I think this picture describes well the life of a Third Culture Kid!

-Lindsey

Deeply Rooted

2010-06-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

Psalm 119:11-16

"I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word."

I have been on a journey in the last year of having a deeper love and understanding of the law of God. I read this morning Psalm 119 in it's entirety and I was struck by its beauty. Reading the law has in the past felt like oppression, but reading it this morning I understood how the law is truly a delight. The heart of the Psalmist is reflected so clearly through the beauty of the poetry. The Psalmist loves the Lord and desires to live in such a way that reflects this love. There is a clear picture throughout the Psalm of what it means to live righteously before a holy God which is contrasted with those who do not seek to live righteously. I found myself confessing a lot and praying that the attitude of my heart would reflect the words of Psalm 119. After reading it I glanced at a devotional by Calvin called Heart Aflame.

"Among scholars, those whose knowledge is confined to books, if they have not the book always before them, readily discover their ignorance; in like manner, if we do not imbibe the doctrine of God, and are well acquainted with it, Satan will easily surprise and entangle us in his meshes. Our true safeguard, then, lies not in a slender knowledge of his law, or in a careless perusal of it, but in hiding it deeply in our hearts. Here we are reminded, that however men may be convinced of their own wisdom, they are destitute of all right judgement, except as far as they have God as their teacher."

I really appreciated the analogy of the scholar. Knowing the Lord is deeper then head knowledge, but must run deep in our hearts. My prayer is that the affections of my heart would be for the Lord and his word, and that my study of his word would not simply stay in my mind but would be rooted deep into my heart and lived out through my hands.

-Lindsey

A Few Resolutions

2010-06-22T04:43:00.000-07:00

Linds and I have both been down and out lately because we've been pretty sick (hence our lack of posts and updates. sorry!). Unfortunately Linds is still feeling pretty low, but I started to feel better again a few days ago. In order to help jump-start my system and get back into the swing of things I went out for a good run on Sunday. The jump-start worked, and while I was out I was struck by a number of things about my life and physicality.

I have always taken a back seat with my body, and have never really pushed myself to live intentionally healthily. It's a hard thing to do, but it's the hard things in life that remind me of the way God has been faithful to me in the past as well as to all the people who have gone before me. It's this looking back that gives me the strength to continue pushing forward. I've often used my high metabolism as an excuse to not try hard: I'm not overweight, so eating well and working out are things I don't need to do. Or so I thought. But why? I'm learning that stewarding my body should not be merely in reaction against unhealthiness, it should be the foundational standard. I haven't given too much thought to working to glorify God with my body, and if I am going to claim a holistic understanding of the Gospel then I need to apply it to my whole self. Lindsey does a wonderful job at modeling this well and I am excited to stop following idly along and actively join her in it.

By the end of my run all of these thoughts cultivated into a few resolutions:

- no more constant munching at Trader Joe's

- adapting to eating better portions at meals

- turning extra hunger I may feel in the process towards prayer

-researching healthy standards and expectations for my size and weight

- working out minimally twice a week, and to the best of my ability, more

- gain 10 pounds of muscle

- become not only an encouragement to Linds in her pursuits of a mature physicality, but a participant as well.

The time is overdue for me to invest my life in these ways. I am excited to reform my less-than-healthy perspectives and dive into a fuller understanding of what it means to live well in all of God's creation.

A Taste of David Arms

2010-06-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

God's Story

Hydrangeas

Innocence

The Feeling of Forgiveness

The Last Supper

The Provider

Some of my favorites from David Arms. You should check out his website!

http://www.davidarms.com/

All Things New

2010-06-16T21:12:00.001-07:00

I won't ever claim to be the most talented poet to walk the earth, but it is fun to occasionally experiment with different forms of expression. That said, in thinking a lot about a favorite passage of mine, Rev. 21:1-5, I wrote out the following verses and chorus. I originally put it together as an assignment for a class last semester, but the more time I've spent thinking about it the more I've enjoyed playing with an expression of my response to the text. I wrote the words to fit in with the tune of Indelible Grace’s O Come and Mourn, by Sandra McCracken, but I don't think the tune is really necessary to understand the song itself.

Being at Covenant has really made paying attention to the story of Scripture come to the forefront of my understanding of Christ's work and the gospel as a whole. It's amazing how much our understanding of God's end goal in his creation overflows into how we are to live out lives right now!

The groom’s face brightens with delight,

His wayward bride he has pursued.

God’s dwelling place is now with man,

“Behold, I’m making all things new.”

...

O Sin, your reign comes crashing down!

In this bold grace Death’s death is true:

The former things have passed away,

“Behold, I’m making all things new.”

...

Death’s dark effects have seized our hearts

Its goal, life’s beauty to undo

But listen to the Savior’s cry,

“Behold, I’m making all things new.

...

When loss brings us to emptiness

And sharply cuts our spirits through

In Him our mourning is no more

“Behold, I’m making all things new.”

...

O Sin, your reign comes crashing down!

In this bold grace Death’s death is true:

The former things have passed away,

“Behold, I’m making all things new.”

...

The tears that fill our flowing eyes

Will disappear like morning dew

His hand will wipe them each away,

“Behold, I’m making all things new.”

...

The ache of sickness felt throughout,

Pain’s ill effects that oft ensue

Can’t weaken His redeeming love,

“Behold, I’m making all things new.”

O Sin, your reign comes crashing down!

In this bold grace Death’s death is true:

The former things have passed away,

“Behold, I’m making all things new.”

In writing this song, I attempted to follow the general flow of the passage, starting with the image of a wedding, and then progressing through the subjects of death, mourning, crying, and pain. I then tried to synthesize it all in the chorus by emphasizing the theme of the text, “the former things have passed away...Behold, I’m making all things new.”

-Drew

Physicality

2010-06-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

A long time ago I found myself thinking thoughts like, "wow I am a person." I never really shared with anyone these thoughts until I was married to Drew because it just sounded so weird to say out loud. Of course I am a person! Why is that such a big deal? The real question behind this thought was "what does it mean to be a person and have a physical body?" What I came to realize after starting Seminary is that so much of how I understood Christianity was focused simply on identity and knowledge, and that God didn't really care so much about the physical. This is not a Christian way of thinking, but more of a Platonic way of thinking. It is amazing how much Plato's thought has affected our Christian worldview. I don't think that this dichotomy was something that was taught to me specifically, I think it was simply implied by a lack of discussion about our physicality. A saying that I often hear in my counseling classes is that, "though we are good at taking the pieces apart to study them in depth, we often forget to put the whole person back together again."

I am about to start my counseling internship within the next month and half, and I will be sitting with a lot of different clients who have faced and are continuing to experience brokenness in their lives. The brokenness is not just isolated to the emotional or psychological, but it also affects the physical. We are whole people and often how we take care of our physical bodies tells a lot about where we are emotionally. Our bodies and our whole physical being is absolutely something that the Lord cares about. He made our bodies and promises that when the story of Scripture is complete and he comes back to make all things new, our bodies will be made new again as well. I believe that we need to have a better theology of physicality and listen more to what our bodies need. God has given them to us to enjoy and glorify him: we can run, play tennis, ski, sing, dance, touch, have sex, climb a tree, heal, sleep, eat, and drink. These are all wonderful things that we could not do without our bodies.

Jesus himself has a physical body. When Adam and Eve fell in the garden they were suddenly aware of their sin and even it's affects on their physicality, they covered themselves with fig leaves and hid. The entrance of sin through Adam and Eve caused the whole person to be broken. We all experience shame because of our bodies, but the redemption of Christ provides healing for the whole person. The incarnation and resurrection is proof that the whole person is important to God and will be redeemed when his kingdom is brought in it's fullness. Until then we have the opportunity to continue pushing back the affects of sin on our physical body and look forward to the day when our bodies will be made new!

the ZONE

2010-06-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

We made it! Camp turned out to be incredible. We were hoping to have 150 people attend, and all in all we ended up having just over 200! In addition, we had two new youth pastors come to visit for the day so that they could get an idea of what it would be like for them to join in with us next year. What a blessing! I have to admit that it was a little scary to lead a whole camp together, but it is exciting to follow where God seems to be leading us and have things play out so smoothly. Praise the Lord!

Highlights:

(1) pummeling a middle schooler dressed in a Dumbledoor-esque robe in a pillow fight in the parking lot at 1:00am with his own pillow,

(2) sending one of my favorite prof.'s daughter soaring 10ft into the air off of the Blob on the lake,

(3) tossing a puppet under a high powered lawnmower,

(4) riding the "Camp Director" golf cart obscenely short distances instead of walking,

(5) leading Minute to Win it competitions that almost invariably failed to work,

(6) the ability to enable the youth pastors to spend more time being with their students rather then worrying about the next event,

(7) watching God answer prayers all week, from the weather to group unity to students coming to know Christ, and

(8) doing it all while working side by side with Linds. It was a great week.

The biggest challenge of the week was not having our own youth group. It was really hard. It made me really miss all my kids from our past churches. If any of you happen to breeze through this blog, I miss you a lot and continue to pray for you.

- Drew

A Bigger Perspective

2010-06-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

Drew and I are currently directing the ZONE camp, so that is why we have been a little absent in posting. We have been running around trying to keep everyone on schedule, answering questions, hanging out with students, and encouraging the leaders. Drew is also speaking every night on what it means to live in the story, mainly focusing on Hebrews 12:1-4a. It is all going really well so far. The kids are having a blast and it is such a blessing to watch youth leaders investing in their students. We are so thankful to have the privilege to serve a long side other people who love youth ministry!

This morning I gave the devotional during our leaders meeting. Something that Drew and I have talked a lot about during our years in youth ministry is the importance of having a bigger perspective on what God is doing. I think this is especially important in youth ministry because the fruits of your labor are not always evident. As a leader you crave the affirmation that what you are saying and doing is actually getting through, but sadly that affirmation is not always there. I wanted to encourage the leaders this morning that the work they are doing is awesome, but remembering the bigger story of what God is doing in this world is an important part of their ministry. We looked at Ephesians 3:14-21 which is Paul's prayer for the Ephesians. Paul's prayer reflects that he gets the bigger picture of who is really in control. Paul has all the positive credentials and was even commissioned by Jesus himself to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, but Paul understands that it is ultimately God who will change people's hearts and lives.

Ephesians 3:19-21

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

The Spirit is at work this week and though we may not see the results today or even tomorrow the Lord is in control! I am so excited to be a part of the larger story of what God is doing in these students lives and it is a privilege to walk along side young people as they navigate their years of adolescents.

What is summer camp without the BLOB???

The Beauty of Redemption

2010-06-04T15:44:00.001-07:00

I have been watching the show 9 by design on Bravo for the last two days and have felt a little inspired by some of the awesome and creative design they do in homes. One thing I really love to do is find old furniture and turn it into something beautiful. I especially love old doors and windows. I find so much enjoyment in bringing beauty to something old and broken. Creating a beautiful and welcoming space in our home is something I believe is part of bearing God's image and continuing to spread the story of redemption. The story of redemption is about bringing beauty to brokenness. God created things to be good and the fall caused everything to be broken. Christ's death has brought redemption to the broken things, and not just to human beings but to all of creation. Bringing beauty into my home and to all of life is part of furthering the story! N.T. Wright in Surprised by Hope says this,

"It is, I believe, part of being made in God's image that we are ourselves creators or at least procreators. The extraordinary ability to bring forth new life, supremely of course through begetting children but in millions of other ways as well, is central to the mandate the human race receives in Genesis 1 and 2. To make sense of and celebrate a beautiful world through the production of artifacts that are themselves beautiful is part of the call to be stewards of creation, as was Adam;s naming of the animals. Genuine art is thus itself a response to the beauty of creation, which itself is a pointer to the beauty of God."

Here are a few of my favorite pieces of beauty in our house!

Do you have any pieces of beauty in your home that are particularly your favorite?

What are some ways that you see beauty in the midst of brokenness?

Doodling

2010-06-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

Linds and I are working as the directors for a Jr. High camp this summer called THE ZONE. The camp will host six churches from three different denominations in the St. Louis area, totaling approximately 170 attendees. It's really exciting to be able to serve the community in this way and to be able to foster unity in the local Church body!

One of the perks of being the director of the camp is that I also get to teach five times over the week. Today I was able to spend a few good hours sitting at a table in a Starbucks in downtown Clayton working on my talks. Sometimes it can take me a little while to get my head in the game and think in such a way that makes all the tools I've learned in four semesters of preaching classes a help rather than an obstacle, and today was no exception. After a while I finally had to stop systematizing biblical information and start refocusing on the various elements that go into the Jr. High life. The above image is result of my refocusing, and I was surprised to see how helpful it was to redirect my efforts towards a little doodling. It's hard to shift perspectives to see things from an adolescent point of view, but it can often be one of the most important things to do in preparation for a ministry event. It is vital to remember that Scripture does more than simply declare statements of fact: it brings truth to life. In each instance of God's revelation to his people he communicates in ways that they would understand: cultic sacrifices and civil laws in Canaan, poetic movements in the prophets, human flesh in the gospels, and all this while using the common languages of his people's culture! The importance of such contextualization cannot be underestimated, especially in the training of the next generation of God's people! One of the biggest lessons I've learned in Youth Ministry is the importance of being able to step into their world and see life from their point of view. What matters to them? Why would they care about this? What would make them interested in this? Where do they hurt? What do they need to hear? What are they able to hear? How are they able to hear it?

Please pray for me as I put together the talks for the week, and for both of us as we put the finishing touches on THE ZONE!

The places we have been

2010-05-31T21:22:00.000-07:00

Delhi, India

The Himalayas in Mussorie, India

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Colorado at Copper Mountain

Sevilla, Spain

Oaxaca, Mexico

Mexico City, Mexico

Drew and I love to travel and with our job working with missionary kids we will be traveling a lot. We thought we would share with you some of the places we have been in the last couple of years. We are looking forward to traveling some this summer for support raising and then to Mexico in October.

Do you like to travel? What are some of the coolest places that you have been?