Today Audra, Todd and I had a chance to go back to Fairyland Elementary School (the school where I taught from 1994-1999) to talk about Peru–the girls are on a girl scout field trip. Knowing it is a public school, we were very careful about not proselytizing or talking a lot about our faith. It was a lot of fun and very exhausting, talking to five classes total about the country and culture of Peru. In the presentations we asked the kids what they knew about the country, then (spelling out the name of the country) talked about the People, Environment, Religion, and What U can do to help the people of Peru. The students seemed to be receptive (at least as much as could be expected the last Tuesday of the school year).

Kia, Aylis’ and Todd finished up school last Friday. They are glad to be out of school, but not as glad to be saying good-bye to their friends. They got a lot of addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses to keep in touch. I asked Aylis’ if she wanted to write an MK (Missionary Kids) Newsletter. She said (and I quote), “hmmm…maybe.” I think it’d be cool, but what do I know…I’m just a dad!

It’s getting closer and closer to the time we have to say goodbye to the church that has been so much a part of our lives for the past six years. Sunday, June 10, is the final Sunday I will be leading worship at the church. I’ve been thinking about the service a lot lately, trying to figure out what to say. I don’t know, but I might post my final message to this blog… “hmmm…maybe!”

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers. To God be the glory.

Grace and peace to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I often start letters, e-mails, and worship services with those words. I like them. Paul wrote them a lot. I don’t always agree with Paul, but on this thing, he had it right. That’s a great way to start…asking God to give one another grace and peace. I didn’t really think about the impact of those words until I hear back from someone who says, “Thank you so much for such encouraging words…” What words? I think. Oh, yeah…grace and peace.

I like to say those words. I need to hear them right now. Let me be honest. I’m a bit stressed right now. There is a lot going on in our lives. The kids are finishing up school over the next few weeks, the girls have a dance recital. On top of the busyness of being a family, we are also selling our houses and our stuff getting ready to move. We are tying up loose ends here at the church, and–perhaps hardest of all–getting ready to say goodbye to the people I’ve served as pastor and as a member of the community over the past six years. It has been a blessing being here, but–as someone told me yesterday after church–change is good. Yeah, but it’s not always easy, is it? On top of all that we are scheduling speaking engagements around the state and country. We can’t go to the mission field until we raise our support. We are getting a lot of attaboys and attagirls, but those alone don’t get us there. We need financial backing. It’ll happen. I know it will.

These few weeks are teaching us to trust in God more and more. We are learning to take things out of our hands and place them in God’s…not so we can sit back and wait…but so God can have room to work. God is still expecting us to do our part. We still need to call and e-mail and all those things. We still need to get out there and talk about the great things God wants to do through us with the people in Peru. It’s not going to happen all by itself, but God needs to have a little more rein. We need to get out of the way.

Hey, Ash, God is saying to me now, Grace and peace to you. Stop trying to do it all by yourself. You can’t. You need me to help you.

Thanks, God. I need to be reminded of that every once in a while.

To God be the glory.