The Reconciliation of All Things

Noah went to Philadelphia with mommy to visit family. He had lots of fun with Grandpa Smith and Uncle Josh. It was his first time on a see-saw.  

Noah also saw Nana Smith and Great-Grandma White.  

Noah also saw Great-Grandma Smith . 

Dear Friends, you've probably received this as an email already, but here it is again for those who aren't on our email list. We’d like to update you again where God has brought us this past year and where He is leading us. The Past Year Our son Noah was born on January 4 th ! We praise God for saving Noah’s life after he stopped breathing as a newborn. He is now a healthy and energetic nine month old. God is indeed good! Ben has one year of seminary under his belt! It has been a refreshing time for both of us learning from the godly leaders at CIU. Ben also participated in a mission trip to Portugal in June with our local church (he was asked to preach at two churches—in Portuguese!) Becky has been working as a nurse on the weekend nights and enjoying her time at home with Noah. We have begun a missionary candidacy training program at our local church—it has been very insightful and helpful for us as we see...

My mom (Nana Smith) came to help take care of Noah over the weekend while I rested from knee surgery. They both had so much fun together. We are so thankful she could come!!

Noah is 9 months now and such a joy in our lives. He is at the 95% for height and weight and just keeps getting bigger, stronger and faster. We our so thankful for our son, who keeps us always smiling! 

After much discussion we have finally decided to name our kitty "Bela", which means beautiful in Portuguese. She and Noah love to chase after eachother. She is a wonderful addition to our family.

 

This week had promised to be a busy one. In the midst of it all, I have been praying that God would open the door and give me an opportunity to share the gospel with someone today. Today my wife (Becky) had arthroscopic knee surgery at the hospital. I had shared with her and asked her to pray that there would be someone I could share the gospel with while I was in the waiting room and she was in surgery. As soon as I sat down in the very large, open waiting room, I realized I should have sat “over there”, closer to two guys chatting. I was so uncomfortable in my seat, I felt the Holy Spirit simply convicting me to get up and go over there with them to start a conversation. I felt the fear building up in my heart, in my mind. I tried to ignore, even deny the Holy Spirit’s conviction. I pulled out my Old Testament survey textbook to read for class…I didn’t catch one single word that my eyes read over. Finally, I heard the older of the two fellows open some sort of booklet and...