theTREIFactor

Before leaving Colorado Springs, some very good friends of our (Wendell & Stephanie) gave us a NewLife worship CD for the road trip.  One of the songs on it is titled "Dry Bones" and is based on the story Valley of Dry Bones out of Ezekiel 37.  Listening to the words really got me thinking and desiring a deeper and more intimate relationship with God. The prophet Ezekiel has a vision that he is standing over a valley filled with dry bones (skeletons).  God tells Ezekiel to speak the Word of the Lord over them.  When he does, the bones come together and rise.  A lot of the teaching on this passage highlights the need for the Holy Spirit in our lives.  The dry bones represent people living without being plugged into God's power source. This past year has been an incredible spiritual journey for me.  Every time I relied on God to work out a glitch--He came through.  Every time He did, I trusted Him more.  I will take time later to share the stories, but I can tell yo

(I tried to publish this before Christmas, while we were traveling.  Apparently I had some difficulty with the connection and it never made it.) We've been on the road for just over two weeks now and we're on the last stretch to Raleigh, North Carolina.  Weather has been outstanding for the most part.  It is December and really the only place that we've seen snow is St. Peter, Minnesota!  While it hasn't been completely dry, it has been warmer than expected. It has been such a joy spending time (even if it was a few hours) with family along the way.  We discovered that the Wood Duck migrates to Venezuela in January--so we'll be sure to keep a look out for Bennett!  We took a tour of an urban hydroponics facility (The Iron Street Farm) in Chicago as well as a "small" (12 acre) green house in upstate New York (H2Gro, Youngstown).  We were able to get some ideas we may be able to use at Samuel's House.  We are even more excited to get to Costa Rica to

It's been a whirl-wind last couple of weeks.  We were able to spend about 10 days with some of Mike's immediate family in northern Minnesota (Fargo/Moorhead) over Thanksgiving.  The temperatures were low for what I'm used to, but pretty warm for them! Pastor Jim Ray from Vally Christian Church was gracious to give us time to show a promotional video for Samuel's House and share a few minutes with his congregation about our heart for missions.  We were so blessed by the warm reception and an inspiring message about Giving. Then it was back to Colorado for the final pack up and another speaking engagement.  This time, we were at New Hope Community Church in Golden thanks to an invite from Pastor Justin Atchley.  I don't know why, but I'm always amazed at how real and authentic relationships are changing communities around the world.  We are grateful Pastor Justin turned over the entire sunday school and service times to us--allowing the church to get to know u