September 2007, school and moving

Dear Family, 

 

As swimsuits are replaced with school uniforms and lazy summer days become scheduled classes, I have a transition of my own to share.  For the last six months I have been living with two other missionaries, Renee Groff and Rebecca Barr.  We have loved living together and truly made a house into a home.  That home is going to experience a change in occupancy; Rebecca and I are moving in order for Renee to prepare for her upcoming wedding (September 29 is the big day).  Once she is married, her husband Reggie will move in and the newlyweds will continue to man the lighthouse on the corner of Curran and Culhane.   

 

Rebecca and I began to prepare our new home in late June with the help of many work groups.  We have moved all our stuff in, yet most of it is still in boxes.  We have hosted a handful of guests and are excited for our guest room to be filled by family and friends throughout the year.  Our new home is within walking distance from Frederick Douglass Christian School, where Rebecca is the second-grade teacher, and where my office is located.   

 

We painted, sanded, taped, mudded, sanded some more, tore out carpet, and refinished a banister.  This banister is beautiful.  Under about seventy layers of paint there is wood and there are ridges that would have never been seen, had we not removed the paint.  How sad is that?  The exterior of some objects mask the inner and original beauty that they were created to have.  

 

I have been finding time and time again that I forget about my intended purpose.  Most days I need to get rid of all the “paint” I have acquired--pride, false humility, selfishness, discontentment, materialism, and tiredness among others.  I need to shed these layers and receive from the Lord “garments of splendor” (Isaiah 52:1), “robes of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10), “a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:3).  Just as the banister needed to be stripped of its gunk, so do I.  Just as the banister needed a fresh coat of varnish and paint, I need to live the purpose Christ has for me - to glorify and worship Him forever in all I do.  

Being clothed in His likeness allows me to do that. 

 

Please pray for Rebecca and me as we unpack, for Renee as she weds, and school as it begins.  This list is not long, but it is of the utmost importance.  Those of you who pray, your prayers are felt and cherished.