Seeking

In the last two years , Husband and I have asked for your prayers as we have been training with the Institute for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship , AKA IBCD, to be better equiped to come alongside of others. IBCD training consists of watching online videos on different topics like the sufficiency of God's word in contrast to psychology, taking exams and interviewing with an elder. We are thankful that we have finished two out of three levels . The third consists of reading two books, writing a response paper on each, another interview and observation hours of counseling. Please continue praying for us as we work toward completing these steps by the end of the year, wisdom on whether to pursue formal certification with ACBC  next and faithfulness to apply what we are learning in our own hearts, relationships and church.   Also, we recently had the blessing of attending IBCD's annual conference and learned so much - over 600 attended! Below are a few of my own encourag...

Happy New Year of opportunity to experience and grow in the love and grace of Christ, beloved! Rick and I want to share our goals for 2026 and would love to hear any of yours :) Praise Reports: We were blessed to be able to attend a returning home celebration of two of our church's missionaries, after 28 years of service - their favorite part was encouraging others; My husband and I were able to visit one of his uncle's and two nieces that we are trying to build relationship with and see the schools, houses and baseball park he grew up with; I had the blessing of teaching through Titus 1:5-7 in our women's Bible study, and I was blown away by God's care to protect and provide for me/the church, through elders, especially mine;  We are plugging away at IBCD training and are about ready to take our exam for phase 2; and We continue cultivating relationships with our 2 young adult sons, family and friends.   Rick's old Baseball Park in Santa Ana, CA Prayer Requests  (t...

When Fall comes, I am reminded of the Fall of 2019. This was when my husband and I first visited Cornerstone, my grandmother who was like a mother passed away and I was in a situation that would cost me my job. It was one of the most trying seasons of my life. But God ...our second church visit was during the annual "Thanksgiving Service," and I was beyond blessed by the brethren praising the Lord, in the midst of loss and suffering . Six years later, I stand in awe of God's sovereign goodness to me, in spite of old and new sufferings. Below is some of what I shared at this year's service of thanks. I want to share three stories that show God's love to me, and why I am grateful to Him. In May, my husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We had a terrific two weeks enjoying France and one another. This is a testament to God's grace, because year 7 was far from enjoyable. It was hard and felt insurmountable. We had allowed various patterns of sin t...

Happy July, beloved! This month, Husband and I would like to share more details on our wedding anniversary trip to Cancun, Mexico and one on the horizon to Queretaro, Mexico, in hope to stimulate praise and prayer.  At the beginning of June, Husband and I had the blessing of traveling to 'la jungla' - the jungle in Cancun - to celebrate our 8th year of marriage (May23rd). One concept Husband has been learning at the Training Center , and I have been reaping the benefits of, is for the man to take the lead and ' get away with his wife' (Song of Solomon 7:11 ) . With uncertainty at work since January 31, fiscally, it seemed unwise to proceed with our travel plans. Below that, I did not want to go so far away for so long just the two of us. By God's sovereign grace, I received counsel from a sister that exhorted me to submit to and rejoice in my husband's leading and trust the Lord for the provision of emotions to follow. My heart continues to melt under the warmin...

Happy New Year, beloved! To start out the year, we want to highlight a missionary couple: Art & Emalou Norris, as told by Juanita Fike in, "The Hand of the Ancient One." They served the Navajo people faithfully at various reservations for 42 years as husband and wife (plus their time as singles, prior to marriage). This couple has spurred us on, and we pray their conviction, unity and humility spur you on, whether single or married, as you press on where the Lord has you to minister to those around you. If I can sum up this couple in one word, the word is: conviction. When sobered by the reality that many natives had died without hearing the gospel, Art prayed, " 'I can't do anything about those people, but as long as You [God] give me life, I'll do everything to make sure the present generation of Indians know about Jesus' " (3). On his way to Prairie Bible Institute at 23 years old, facing logistical "setbacks," he thought, "Unce...

In February, I attended a high-school parent appreciation dinner at our church. The Leader, Kumi, had students (including Zachary) write and read a eulogy for their parents. Kumi started this tradition several years back after attending a memorial service where a child spoke about their parent, and he thought if only the parent could have heard that during their life. Between January and April, we received the news of 7 deaths, and it has been sobering. As we have been, we want to encourage you to seize three opportunities before you today : 1) forgive one another, 2) redeem the time and 3) fulfill the greatest commandment.  "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity... forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:26-27, 32, NASB). The reality is we get angry and sin against one another. I have heard it said, once upset, the clock starts ticking, to "get over it....

This past month I had the blessing of two weeks off from work at CBU, since my job is active 10 months each year. With some of the time I was able to rest and reflect, quite a bit. For our update, we would like to share some pictures, praises and prayer requests.  Praise Reports: July 1, Husband, Zachary and I toured the Master's University, and Zachary said it was his favorite college tour, so far; he also enjoyed his first time eating sushi, and we had a great conversation (picture #1); July 4, Husband and I celebrated by taking "A," an international student athlete to the airport, before she went back home to Western Europe; I met her at work, and it was a gift befriending her; I gave her a copy of the "Gospel Primer" and pray the Lord continues drawing her to Himself (picture #2); Husband and I had the blessing of meeting up and sharing with two young couples that are courting; Husband and I were able to fellowship with a brother and another family for lunch...

"There [at Puteoli] we [Paul, prisoners and guard] found some brethren, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and thus* we came to Rome" (Acts 28:14, NASB; *see Acts 13-28 for Paul's rugged missionary life). Husband and I are back from our vision trip to Rome and would like to share about meeting the Italian theological Academy (ITA) missionary team, visiting the local church and assessing whether this could be where the Lord would have us relocate to serve. The ITA team consists of three main leaders (+3 associate professors in Genoa and Florence): Johnny Gravino (missionary), Cesare Albanessi (missionary) and Sebastian Mendez (ITA graduate now pastor). The Gravinos and Alabanessis are in Rome, and the Mendezes are in Messina which is near Sicily in the south. The academy serves to build the church by  training and equipping men to understand and properly divide the word (click here  for more info), with a goal to plant a church in Rome . ITA classes have ...