Magical Moms Day

Please Pray — Growing!

Dear friends and family,

For our family, 2012 has been kind of a weird year so far. First with Olivia being sick for several weeks, and then last week we traveled to Missouri for the funeral of my grandfather. We definitely miss him, but we celebrate that he is now with Christ, and that he now has a new body. Thank you for all of your prayers for us.

The ministry side of life continues to go very, very well. The Jubilee church plant is growing in both maturity and number. As a matter of fact, on Sunday we had our largest attendance ever for a normal Sunday. Even after just finishing adding extra space to our rental facility, we had no more room. It was just terrific!

That reminds me, please continue to pray for the Jubilee building project. By God’s goodness and provision, we have a paid-for piece of land, and now we are beginning the process of support-gathering with Jubilee and with our Stateside supporters for the construction of a new facility. We are excited and hopeful about all that God is doing and will continue to do!

Also, please be praying for me and Lindsay as we are taking on some additional leadership responsibilities in the church. With our small (cell) groups ministry growing, we will be now leading a small group pastors’ meeting on Monday nights in our house.

Please pray for continued growth in the church, and ask God to continue to provide all that is needed to sustain that growth!

We praise God for you! And we eagerly anticipate His answers to your prayers for us!

Un abrazo fuerte,
–Luke

PS — the photo is from Sunday with a packed house

Dear Papa

Papa,

I recently told one of your stories in a sermon here in our church in Mexico. You know the one where you were playing baseball, on your way to the Big Leagues, and while fielding a ground ball, the smoke from your cigarette got in your eyes, causing you to mis-throw to first.

I love that story. I’d love it even if it wasn’t about my grandpa. I love how God seized a moment and spoke to you, and all at once you knew that weren’t supposed to be on that ball field in the first place. God had other plans for you. Most of all, I love that you listened.

I was thinking about that story the other day while reading Genesis. Lots of times when we read the Bible I think that we’re overly amazed or overly dumbfounded by  people’s responses to God’s calling on them. It’s like we don’t recognize that people still continue to either answer God in amazing ways or deny Him in dumbfounding ways. Like with Abraham, for example, when God called him to leave his people and his family and to go somewhere he’d never been, we think, “Wow! What faith!” when we read that he simply did what God said.

Well, how about a young baseball player, moving up in the sport, becoming recognized… how about a guy like that being called off the baseball field and into the ministry field? What if a guy like that, hearing the call of God, said “yes,” took off his hat and glove, and followed God somewhere he had never been? That, too, would be amazing, right?

Me, my cousins, my aunts and uncles, my parents, my kids, all of us — we all, in one way or another, are products of that moment when you said “yes” to God. When you took seriously His call, when you trusted that preaching was more important than pitching, a new legacy was born. And here I sit, your grandson, writing you this letter, as part of that chain of events that God set in motion when you said “yes.”

I wonder, did you ever have a moment of doubt about following God instead of your athletic talent? I wonder, if as a young man, you ever thought, “Why the heck did I leave the ball field?” Because now, in light of the fruit that God has produced in you, it seems ridiculous to think that maybe baseball would have been the better choice.

I mean, look at what God has accomplished! His Word carried on the feet of your kids and grandkids and great grandkids. That little, critical moment on a baseball field continues to resonate — quite literally — through multiple generations and to ends of the earth.

I love you, Papa. I’m honored, proud, humbled, and just plain overwhelmed with thanksgiving to be a part of the legacy that God began in you.

I send my hugs, love, and prayers to you and Nana.

Love your oldest and still handsomest grandson,

Luke

…

(The preceding is a letter to my grandfather. I sent it to him shortly before he passed away.)

Eli’s birthday candle

Eli’s 2nd

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Liv without training wheels

Please Pray – Praise For Anniversary And Olivia

Dear faithful prayer partners,

First, thank you so much for your prayers for us over the past couple of weeks. Olivia is better everyday, and we’ve now past a week with no HSP symptoms at all. She’ll be spending a few more days in Memphis with doctors close, with a plan to return to Pachuca on Monday. Join us in praising God for His answers and provision for us!

Also, last month, I asked you to pray for the Jubilee church plant’s fifth anniversary. Here in Mexico, it is common for an anniversary Sunday to be the biggest celebration of the year, more than Christmas or Easter.

This year, we had a terrific turnout: 230 people joined us for the celebration! We prayed and learned together. We sang and ate together. We praised God together for all He’s accomplished and yet to accomplish on our behalf. You can learn more on the Impacto website where we have also posted lots and lots of photos of the event. While you are on the site, be sure to also say a prayer for the newest believers that have been baptized into Christ!

Please continue to pray for us, our church, and all the ministry that God is doing through this project in Pachuca!

We love you and appreciate your prayerful support of us!

Un abrazo fuerte,
–Luke

PS: the photo is me with our guest speaker for the anniversary celebration, Victor de Leon

Olivia update

After the good news from the recent test results, the endoscopy, and Olivia’s feeling better, we have made tentative plans for Lindsay and the kids’ return to Pachuca in a little over a week. That way the doctors have some additional time to monitor Olivia. I plan to go to Memphis toward the end of this week, because I can’t wait another week or two to see them. If all continues in the good direction as it has been going, we will all return to Pachuca on April 9.

We love and appreciate you all and your steadfast prayers for us!

Olivia update – blood test and biopsy results

Today we received all of the results for Olivia’s blood work, a couple of days earlier than we expected. Everything looks good, no kidney issues, no allergies or anything. Also, the biopsy reports came back today — also clean and healthy!

Thank you for your prayers! God continues to answer them!

Olivia continues to improve!

Olivia continues to improve! She’s had a great day. Today she’s done some school work, eaten well, and has been happily playing! This continues to confirm the diagnosis, and means hopefully that the HSP gradually subsiding.

We’ll have some more blood test results back on Friday, and we’re praying that they confirm that there are no kidney complications. Apparently, we’ll need to do ongoing blood work for a while to make sure that everything remains stable, even as she returns to normal.

Thanks for praying!