updates

Hi,

Haven't had a chance to blog lately. We had Thanksgiving at Merrick & Hannah's this year - their first Thanksgiving in their first home. It was a wonderful meal, & we had a great time with everyone, especially the Grandkids. Diefenbaughs were in North Bend this year for Thanksgiving, but they stopped by on their way down & back.

We are on vacation this week & are presently at the Diefenbaughs. I presented a German lesson to Kyler's 1st grade class at Veritas School in Newberg. We'll head up to Hillsboro to spend some time with Gracie, oh, & Merrick & Hannah too. Then on up to Sultan to the Haverlys. We' re celebrating Maleah's 7th birthday on Dec. 1 (real birthday is Dec. 5). She's having a ballet party at the dance studio in Monroe where she takes lessons.

Mariah has the lead role in her church's Christmas play: Hark the Herald Angel who Sang Off-key. (She's Hark.) Hopefully singing off-key is just acting, as she will be singing a solo in the school's Christmas program. All of the grandchildren are doing well & developing their God-given talents

All for today. Hope this day you become closer to the Lord.

Interesting thought from our church bulletin:

"We are a nation obsessed.

American culture is nothing more than a pastiche (hodgepodge) of fixations. We are obsessed with health. We are obsessed with pleasure. We are obsessed with speed. We are obsessed with efficiency. In simplest terms, we are obsessed by the desire to accelerate every element of our existence in a futile attempt to experience as much of life as we can in the shortest possible time. We have all entered a race to devour the largest volume of gratification before it kills us."

A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas
"The Amazing McNugget Diet (November 1996)
Chuck Klosterman IV

This evening we will go to our Bible study in Cottage Grove. As I mentioned before, we are studying Phillip Yancy's book on Prayer. Here's another good thought from the book:

"I realize that my image of God, more than anything else, determines my degree of honesty in prayer. Do I trust God with my naked self? Foolishly, I hide myself in fear that God will be displeased, though in fact the hiding may be what displeases God most. From my side, the wall seems like self-protection; from God's side it looks like lack of trust. In either case, the wall will keep us apart until I acknowledge my need and God's surpassing desire to meet it. When I finally approach God, in fear and trembling, I find not a tyrant, but a lover.

The apostle Paul prayed 'that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.' I doubt Paul prayed this prayer once only; for my part I have to pray it every day. The most important purpose of prayer may be to let our true selves be loved by God."

Hope you have a wonderful week!