T.G.I.F. (Thank God It's February!)

David: "And now to you, Angela, for a look at January on location in Paisley."

Angela: "Thank you, David. This month’s top story: Family of 5 survives 31 days of wrestling with God and each other! "

We had a lot of time on our hands, cooped up inside with roller coaster emotions and a lot of questions for God. I don’t even want to think about how much worse it would have been had some of you not been praying for us!

We look back on our first family school and see a lot of positive and a lot of negative. Not bad for a first try, and we are grateful for the 2 families who came and participated as guinea pigs for us. One family wants to come back to help staff the next one. The other did a lot of growing and maturing as a new Christian in a single mom role.

Another American family with the same calling is coming March 1st to come alongside us for the next school, so we are excited about having a bigger team to lighten the load. We also want the next one to look very different in order to reduce as much stress as possible and to do a better job discipling families for a life of missions. Word has gotten around, and we are getting many requests for student applications. Fortunately, the next school is 8 months away, giving us time to recover and better prepare. During this time, the Skaines, our staff teammates, are also committed to see us eventually settled in France, and we are considering another foray over the channel during 40 Days of Fasting and Prayer for France this spring.

And now a word from our sponsor – Heinz Baked Beans!

"Have any of you connected the Scots with baked beans -like the Irish with corned beef and cabbage?"

"Isn’t that an American food," you ask?

Surprise! Not only is it a major part of the traditional full English breakfast, (complementing your bacon, sausage and eggs) but it is also a popular light supper, spooned over toast with a side of french fries. Go on and have it for lunch as well! Indulge in a convenient frozen pizza with a baked bean topping from your freezer aisle! And start your babies off right with a jar of ‘Baked beans and bacon…’ at 4 months! Baked Beans: Are they part of your unbalanced diet?"

Angela: "Welcome back! We continue with our saga, leaving Stanely House behind and focusing on what goes on behind closed doors at 31 Limecraigs…

Here is what we are praising God for:

Rachel has started formal violin lessons with a wonderful Scottish gentlemen who comes to the house weekly. She is very motivated to progress quickly and it is a joy to listen to her practice without our nagging.
The children join us in our bed most mornings before breakfast for a family devotional time. We are reading through the very comprehensive and well-written Children’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos, that I enjoyed as a child. We start with a song, and end with prayer time for the day. Highly recommended by the parents and children!
Finding a church to attend that we really love, and having 2 lunch invitations and the pastor visit, within the first month!
No TV! I just got a revelation that TV and videos keep my kids "entertained and distracted by the world and what it values." 8 months later, I am thrilled to report that they do not know about or want the latest toy, play together lovingly and creatively most of the time (with a 7 yr. age span,) and consider reading a good book together the highlight of their day! We are now big fans of the prolific British children’s author, Dick King-Smith. You might know him as the author of Babe, The Sheep Pig. His series about a little girl named Sophie has been Noah’s biggest reason to conquer new words!
Some of you may know that it costs $150/yr. to legally watch basic TV (not cable!). (It’s called a "TV license," and quite accurately in our estimation; you ought to prove you’re a responsible citizen before using it due to all the porn!) Gov. officials are very suspicious of those who claim they don’t have a TV, so we’ve received our notice that an inspector will come to the house to verify. Stay tuned for the blow-by-blow next month!

And now our greatest struggles, i.e. prayer requests:

A.’s plagues: headaches and PMS, have heightened in severity on the mission field. The enemy knows how to keep me down – pray for the will to fight back!
Being together in a small space 21 hr. out of 24 everyday has made D. and A. less tolerant of each other. We are fighting this one on all fronts, but the hardest is saying, "No" to our fleshly desires and reactions, in order to treat each other with honor. (As an addendum, that Angela will cultivate more friends to unload on and get out of the house to have "girl fun" with.
Angela confronting her weaknesses in people skills and overcoming the fear of conflict, rejection, persecution, while deepening her dependence on God.

We close today’s program with these last two items:

A man with a family worship ministry on the Internet wanted some ideas from his newsletter readers, and I just sent him some ideas that we tried and liked during our school. God continues to give me creative ways to bring families together in worship. Here’s one for some of you to try out and give me feedback on!

Play the ABC word game as family worship: Person #1: "I worship God because He is Amazing." Person #2: "I worship God because He is Amazing and Beautiful!" etc.

I Thess. 1:16 in The Message Version reads: "So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech."

We are standing on this verse – pray it out on our behalf!

Love, Angela