Spooky and Phantom

We have finally posted some recent pictures on Flickr. Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnadouglass/sets/

Recently, Slick quipped, "…and the girls challenge us to our inner core," which struck me as probably the most intensely personal way God is working in our own hearts. Because the girls mimic us we often get a picture of how God might feel! So God is forming our very stubborn inner cores by giving us beautiful, wonderful little girls who inherited all the stubbornness of heart of their parents. Now to form that stubbornness into steadfastness of faith and perseverance. To this end, we’d appreciate both your prayers and practical advice!

We are pleased to report God responded to your prayers about our involvement in the chapel on Misawa Airbase as some of the ministry leaders invited us to provide a teaching time on leading effective small groups. The half-day seminar went exceptionally well and we are thankful the Lord allowed us to be part of His success! Which leads us now to pray that the participants would take their next step in the ministries and groups in which they are involved and apply what they learned.

We were also asked us to lead a weekly small group from Feb-May. And are hoping answers found in Scripture to The God Questions (Grider & Seed) would dispel some of the hindrances people have in deepening their faith and understanding of God and His Word. We have questions too and it will be fun to explore Scripture’s answers with some great folks. We’ve also been gently knocking on doors to see which will open: visiting with various folks to see who is interested in going deeper and to discern whose hearts God is stirring. Please bring each of these individuals (and the four who we currently meet with) before the throne, that God would reward their commitment and time in the Word, as well as give us discretion and discernment in our discussions.

And to top it off, among the mounds of snow in the nearby mountains, we find that we cannot thank God enough for allowing us to experience such beauty and placing us in a situation where we can enjoy such simple, pure fun together as a family. His love is indeed extravagant!

Zoe skis at Okunakiyama beneath blue skies that punctuate "snow bands", stormy clouds beneath which visibility drops to near zero and snow falls sideways.