Happy Birthday Luka!

January 16

We celebrated Luka’s 2nd birthday this week. What a special birthday to celebrate. We are so thankful he is here with us. Ten months ago we were in the hospital not knowing if Luka would live. Once again we give glory to God for his healing! Luka is a gift from God. His smile and happy voice fills our home and lives. How glad I am we can hold him in our arms today. I love watching him play contently with his cars or try to sing and dance. He always makes people feel loved. He gets excited whenever he sees someone he loves. We pray God continues to be with Luka and that Luka grow to know Jesus as his Savior. May he grow to be a man after God’s heart.

Luka just looked at me funny all day as I told him happy birthday. He knows how to sing happy birthday but is use to it being everyone elses birthdays and just didn’t get that it was his. We had a pizza party to celebrate Luka’s birthday with our family. Luka liked the presents (cars and a ball of course) so much he didn’t even eat his cake. But he did enjoy blowing out the candles. Yesterday we had our team over for a birthday picnic. Luka just smiled as everyone sang to him. The kids had a lot of fun playing together. Now, my baby is two. Ah, time is so precious. Happy Birthday Luka!

Tonight as we walked to our team prayer time Lydia and I were holding hands talking. She said she will come visit us in Uganda someday. I asked her what she meant. She said, “Well someday I may live in Michigan if God calls me to tell the lost people there about Jesus or Canada or Mexico or somewhere. Then I would have to come and visit you here.” I just smiled as I heard my seven year old daughter talk about being a missionary and going where God sends her. Isn’t faith beautiful?! It is simple. God speaks and you obey. I am so thankful Lydia’s heart is already heading in the right direction. We were also doing her spelling test this week and she looked at me with an excited toothless grin and said, “I love spelling tests. I like the challenge!” I just have to stop sometimes and enjoy the moment. Grace too. Every time you take her on the bike or in the car to town she sings the whole way. Sometimes they are made up songs I wish I could record. She is my traveling evangelist. Kids really do say the cutest things and we can easily mess the joy of it in our business. I don’t want to be to busy not to hear my kids. I want to treasure the moment.

I have just finished reading in Daniel and Hosea. I love when God teaches me through His Word. It makes me excited. Mind if I share?

Daniel 9 really spoke to me. Daniel knew God’s Word and so after 70 years in captivity he knew the time was coming to an end. So he prayed – a beautiful, heartfelt prayer of confession and asking God for mercy and help. He came to God on behalf of his people in humility and repented (even though he was not the sinner who caused them to be brought into captivity). He knew they deserved the punishment but also knew God is merciful. Verse 18 says, “We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy.”

Verse 20 Daniel also confessed his own sin. I think that is a key statement. You want God to hear and answer our prayers we had better first repent.

Wonder if God is listening to your prayers or answering? While Daniel was praying Gabriel came. “As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given.” (vs. 23) Awesome. To add to that he tells Daniel it is because he is highly esteemed. Imagine that, being highly esteemed by God! (Remember Daniel wasn’t perfect he had just confessed his sins.)

Daniel was a great leader used by God because he was an example of a true follower of God. He always did right (even when it meant his life), stood on the truth (even when his life was at stake), he prayed (again with his life on the line), confessed, and loved God more than life. That is why so many kings were touched by his life. Daniel is a godly leader I want to follow.

Hosea 4 was another chapter that challenged me. God brings a charge against Israel: they are unfaithful, there is no love, no knowledge of God, only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, adultery, and bloodshed. The land and people are wasting away. Their suffering is a result of their sinful behavior. It is a cause and effect relationship. I know not all suffering is a judgment of sin but some is the result of sin. I see it all around me in Soroti. Sin causes suffering. Worst of all it seems sometimes the innocent suffer the most. Sin affects others. It isn’t only in Soroti. When we are going through difficult times, suffering we need to humbly ask is there sin in my life that is causing this pain? Too often we blame everything and everyone else including God for allowing our troubles to happen. Maybe we should stop and look at ourselves first. It may just be our sins that have caused the hardship. As Grace asked the other day, “How can God be punish sin and forgive us?” (Pretty good for a five year old!) We have an amazing God who is both just and merciful. Thank you God.