Finding Faith in the Battle

3 weeks ago the internet told us that an unborn baby's genitals were differentiated enough to tell gender. Anya danced around with joy, begged us to go to the ultrasound "right NOW!" and at dinner prayed, thanking God that the baby finally had private parts. Today, those private parts were none too private, and there's no doubt a little boy is on the way! At first I was too wraped up in excitement over having a boy and feeling little flecks of sadness over all the girl-dreams that would never be. But then I started watching the screen as the ultrasonographer was doing her training (and thus took twice as long). I took in the 4 chambers of the beating heart, the perfectly straight spine, the arm and leg bones just the right length, even the little bladder and two kidneys formed as they should be. We saw him swallow, kick, and flip over (to the irritation of the tech, who just wanted one good look at the entire spine!) With baby number 1, I soaked in the beauty of the u

Perhaps this will be a surpise to those of you who know me, but I am a veritable paradox of values (and my husband says 'Amen!'). I have an un-natural drive to be thrifty (do I hear cheap?), while at the same time longing for highest quality items which I will never be able to afford, nor would I ever allow myself to splurge on even if I could. All this to tell you I have a special bed. A single piece of furniture that finally blended my two selves...$1500, solid maple, 4-poster giant of a bed, purchased brand-new from Eddie Bauer home for $200. The irony is that in the 9 years and 4 houses that have passed since this monumental, crowning achievement of a purchase, it's never once actually fit well in our bedroom. We had become masters of re-arranging our lives to fit this bed into its rightful place of honor. In our last house, we even had to relegate it to the spare bedroom where it became our 3-year old's bed. And still it survived with not a scratch. Then came this

At age five, in East Africa, I became a believer. My name is Chad. My parents were missionaries to Uganda. I was among the first to come to faith in their 26 years of service with the IMB. As a missionary kid, I was deeply impacted by witnessing my parents’ ministry, by interacting with African friends, and by seeing lives transformed by faith in Jesus. Miriam, my wife, is also a missionary kid. She grew up in Ethiopia. We always wondered if God would call us back to the mission field, and so, committed ourselves to live life ready to answer that call. One night, browsing the IMB website, I learned of a need for Seminary teachers in Malawi. I read the job request to Miriam and, at once, we knew it was God’s call. As I finished reading, she said, “Let us go!” Now we and our three young children are moving to Malawi, often called “The Warm Heart of Africa.” There, I will join a team of missionaries and Baptist nationals to provide theological education to Malawian pastors and church plan