A Calm in the Storm

These last few weeks have been trying ones. I (Lane) have been really stressed about various things. You know how sometimes it seems like everything falls at once? Like when it rains, it pours? Well it hardly ever rains here in the Sonoran Desert, but these last few weeks have seemed like a steady downpour in some ways.
There have been a number of things come up that need my attention and it just sometimes seems overwhelming. On top of that it, I feel like I am getting stretched thin in regard to dealing with people. That is me being brutally honest. Dealing with imaturity over and over again just plain ol gets tiring sometimes. Also Sheri continues to struggle with her health. She has been doing alright (no more pain associated to the stone they removed from her bile duct) but she still deals with frequent bouts of muscle ache in her shoulders, arms and legs and a heavy tiredness. These bouts last for a day or 2 and happen every week or so. The doctors are trying to get to the bottom of it. We are off to a new doctor this coming Monday.
This blog entry is not a whining session, although it may seem like it so far. You might be wondering what the picture above has to do with everything I have been saying so far!
Well this past week God gave us a break in the "storm". We escaped for a day to San Carlos (a beach town about an hour and a half from where we live). I had to pay my car insurance there and it was a good reason to take the family, take a break from home schooling and just rest on the beach! So the picture of the kids above is them playing on a sand dune right beside the ocean (the water is behind me when I took the pic). We just layed on a blanket and ate some munchies and the kids had a blast building sand castles! We then went out for lunch at a taco stand and then back to a different beach for family devotions. It was so good to read His word and just breath in His emensity looking out over the ocean! The kids finished our time by throwing rocks at jelly fish!

Psalm 23:1-3 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

This verse truly came alive to us this week! God is good and He knows just when we need a "calm in the storm".

Pray for Miguel

This past Sunday our friend Miguel Angel moved out into his own place. He had been staying with us for the last 3 months. Miguel is a New Believer in Jesus and Lane has been discipling him. It is wonderful to see the steps of faith that Miguel is taking and seeing his new faith grow.
Those of you who follow our news letters may recognize the picture of Miguel, perhaps you have been praying for him as well. Miguel is waiting for a kidney transplant as neither of his kidneys are functioning. He is in a tough spot being unable to work any job that comes along due to his health condition. He can work, but it needs to be the right job, and not a physical job.

Miguel has been making good decisions lately and we pray that those good decisions continue now that he is on his own. His house is on the other side of the city so we won't see him as often now that is for sure. The enemy will certainly take every opportunity to tempt him and there will be more opportunities now that he is living on his own. We pray that his new found faith would continue to grow and that he would be able to continue to have wisdom to leave behind the negative influences that have impacted him in the past.

Please join us in praying for a job for Miguel, for a kidney transplant, but most of all that God would continue to grow Miguel into a wise and passionate follower of Jesus!