Look What Josiah Can Do

Josiah drinks milk while holding his own bottle

Jojo is now able to hold a baby bottle or sippy cup and drink by himself. He can also move himself forward doing an "army crawl" kind of thing. We got a little fence-type enclosure in anticipation of him getting into crawling, and even now to prevent him from rolling all around the living room and possibly bumping into things!

School's in full swing at Biola again, and I'm teaching two classes on Mondays and Wednesdays this Fall.

I'll miss our church a lot as I'll be on the road almost every weekend from now until October. Please pray for our support situation, especially during these critical months when churches are finalizing thier budgets.

Praise God, too, for 4 churches that pledged monthly support and 3 churches that gave special gifts this month.

Watch for future updates from life on the road :-)

The Divine Alarm Clock

You know how some people talk about "divine appointments," where what appears to be a coincidence may be orchestrated by God? Well, something like that happened to me this morning. But it was more like a "divine alarm clock." Let me explain...

I was up with Jojo from about 1:30AM to almost 4:00AM this morning and so I was pretty sleepy when I got up this morning around 9 something and took a shower. Then, I got full dressed, shaved and ready for the day (which I normally don't do first thing in the morning on the weekends) and sat down at the PC to check my e-mail. I had totally forgotten I had a breakfast appointment this morning at 11AM. It was 10:30 and I got an e-mail from the person I was supposed to meet saying, "See you at 11!"

So with 30 minutes left, I went straight to my meeting at Starbucks and even got there early! I got to chat with a great guy I went to school with in the Philippines in 6th grade! His name is John D. Kim and he's been in a number of films, as well as my favorite TV show: Alias! His dad is still a missionary in the Philippines and interestingly, has also been called by God to train up OFWs for strategic ministries in closed countries. Pretty cool.

Thanks, God. For waking me up and reminding me about this morning's meeting!

Josiah is 5 Months Old

Playing in his Entertainment Center

Jojo turned 5 months old this Thursday! He can now easily turn himself over, bounce in his entertainment center, and baby talk...as well as "baby shout!" Also, he likes to copy our behaviors like drinking from a cup, using the phone and even typing on the laptop. Josiah reaches for anything he can get his hands on and tries to put it in his mouth.

Tonight, our good friends, Mike and Melissa, came over to babysit so Christine and I could go on a short date. What a blessing that was. Thanks, guys! We really enjoyed having dinner together and spending time just with each other---a rarity nowadays!

Jojo and Mama Hanging Out

Jojo and Mama Hanging Out

Here's a really cute picture I took of Christine and Josiah tonight. He's been getting really good at turning himself over on his front and his back! He's almost five months old.

Jojo and Papa Having Fun

Jojo and Papa having fun infront of the mirror

I've been watching Jojo a lot recently, since Christine had him by herself last weekend. We took this shot in the guest bathroom using our digital camera. The nice thing is that I can see the shot I'm taking of us since the camera's viewfinder is reflected in the mirror. He's getting a lot more responsive and fun to play with.

It's good to have these times amdist the day-to-day work on support-raising. It reminds me of priorities in life, that my family needs to come first, even before ministry. I've been trying to start out everyday by asking God, "What do you want me to do today?" If I accomplish those things, I should feel like I've done what I needed to that day.

I'm trying to intentionally "seek first His kingdom and righteousness," rather than worry about finances. God is in control. And as I draw closer to him and put Him first, I can trust He will take care of us and get us to the Philippines in His perfect time.

Back from Sacramento

Pastor JD & Ace at Discovery Church

I got in late last night from Sacramento. The church services at Discovery went really well and I got to meet a lot of nice people like Karen Marshal, who took me to church, lunch and then to the airport. She has two kids around my age.

The music was really loud and rocking during services 2 and 3---Guitars with heavy crunch distortion and soloing. The earlier, first service was their "unplugged" version and it was much quieter. It was interesting to see how the same material was altered from service to service, including the questions and answers of my onstage interview!

On the plane, I met a woman in her early 50s and a guy my age. We talked about politics, music and eventually, religion. The woman's father had just died. I suspected they weren't believers, although they said they came from Christian backgrounds. I was surpised when the guy asked if we could pray together for the woman and her family's loss. So we did. It was kind of cool to pray with strangers on the plane.

On the way home, the shuttle van hit something on the freeway and got a flat tire! Thank God for keeping us safe. We got off the freeway and the driver changed the tire in about 20 minutes. Then I finally got to come home to Christine and Jojo. It was so nice to be home.

I was so tierd last night. I was in transit for a long time yesterday and I needed a lot of sleep!