Put Your Heart Into It

I have found God talking to me in a few different places this week, a song from a movie, quotes from a novel and even a heart & stroke flyer! The heart and stroke flyer has been lying around our house for a while now and I found myself dwelling on the motto on the back--“Put your heart into it.” So often in life we tend to go through the motions doing the right things because we are supposed to (or maybe only because they have become routine) and we lose out on the heart or the joy of what we are doing. Don’t get me wrong I believe that sometimes we need to persevere in order to grow and I think that routine is very important.


But there are other times when we need to stop and reflect on what we are doing in order to find God’s direction or to ask Him for “open heart surgery” that we might find a new heart for the work that we are being called to do. There are some jobs that I have no problem putting my heart into and there are others that are a real struggle. Then there are seasons of our lives that pass with remarkable ease, while others seem like an unending uphill battle. My prayer for you (and for me too) is that with whatever season you may be going through or job that you may be facing that you would allow God to help you put your heart into it by finding His heart in it.

Dave's Update

Last Friday, I mailed off three assignments to a prof at Tyndale Seminary, completing another seminary course. Most of my time in Canada has been taken up with courses as I work towards the completion of a master’s degree. Time is running out however since I have to finish what I’m doing by the end of 2012. To that end I hope to put together a thesis proposal for next month. I would like to do something in the area of training pastors and leadership development for my thesis since much of what I hope to be doing in the next few years will be in this area. I’ve already been involved in doing this both at the bible school; in our church in Niger and in retreats but still have lots of room for growth.

We are starting to consider return flights to Niger for sometime in July. We are struggling because the most direct flight is so much more expensive but the alternatives involve more than one stopover and changing airlines in European airports. Please pray that we would have wisdom in making the best use of our resources and time, and also that I would be able to put together a proposal that would not only satisfy my academic requirements but would be useful for our future ministry.

Exciting News!

We praise God for the way that churches have come forward to support us and the new Ministry Centre Project. It has been really encouraging (not to mention humbling) to see the way that God has put things into motion for this and here is another exciting opportunity for individuals that are interested in being involved.

We have had a donor come to us that would like to give up to $10,000 in matching gifts for the building of the Ministry Centre in Niger. Here is a great opportunity to have your gift go a little further than you would expect. Individuals that would like to be a part of this can contact us either by e-mail, or by commenting on this blog.

Thanks to everyone who helped to make our holidays special, the boys especially enjoyed using the gifts given to them by a number of the churches we visited just prior to going away. We are so blessed to know you and to have you as part of our team.

Responses to a Bad Day

Ever have one of “those” days? You know the kind. Your favourite pair of jeans rip. You try a new fitness class and can’t get your feet to move in the right direction at the right time. You think the cold your son has been harboring has finally caught up to you. Someone shows up for a meeting you forgot you had arranged.Your vision starts to go funny and you contact the eye doctor only to find out that you are probably about to have a migraine. How do you respond to that? My natural response is to start to feel sorry for myself, which just makes me more miserable with myself and everyone else around me –a very slippery slope.


I found myself there this week and caught myself just as I was about to start feeling sorry for myself. I remembered reading in my morning devotional that we need to remember that trials can be a gift from God because that is when the most growth occurs in our lives. So I reluctantly turned to God and asked for forgiveness for my attitude and an opportunity to have a glimpse of what good He might be using this for. I am still not sure I see the good, but I guess not all prayers get answered the way we want. I realize that what some of you are facing today far out ways my bad day and I pray that God will meet you in your difficulty and give you peace. For the rest of you I pray that two left feet is the worst that your day will hold.

Please pray that I will get my voice back before tomorrow might when we are supposed to be presenting at a banquet and that I will be healthy for our vacation next week. Pray also for Dave as he has been really struggling to get his papers written before we go away so that he can have a good vacation and not have work hanging over his head. Pray that Cole and Ben are able to have a really good break, they really need it!

Oh, that also means that there probably won’t be a blog next week while we are away.

Thoughts from Habakkuk

“Look at the nations and watch—

and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,

even if you were told.” Hab. 1:5

I was struck by this verse this morning when we did family devotions. It made me wonder if part of our problem today isn’t that we don’t take the time to see God’s hand at work in our lives, or that we are too caught up in ourselves to notice when God is working, or maybe we just don’t expect God to work in miraculous or wonderful ways any more. But then I realized that I was taking the verse out of context because the chapter seems to suggest that the amazing work that God is doing is using the Babylonians?? It is hardly what the average Jewish reader would have been wanting or looking for. They wouldn’t believe it because they would never consider that God would use their enemies in such a way. Is it possible that God might be doing something similar today. I look back at the world events of 2011 and I am amazed at what has happened in so many different places around the globe, both economically& politically. Even things like the crazy weather that we have had this winter where Asia and Europe are having the cold that would normally be in Canada and we are experiencing such warm temperatures. It makes me wonder what God is doing or how it all works. It is a really good thing that He is in control and knows the big picture, because I know that I couldn’t begin to handle it.

Please pray for Dave as he tries to write papers for his latest course. He lost his glasses yesterday and is working with his older ones (a little scratched from their time in Niger, but at least it is better than nothing). Special thanks to the folks at Harrowsmith for the offering they took for the new Ministry Centre.