Anticipation

What are you anticipating in the next few days, weeks, and the coming months? Are you counting the days and looking forward to a special event, a visitor, a project that is close to completion, a vacation, or time with family and friends?

As I (Bridget) smell the peach cobbler baking we’re anticipating celebrating Paul’s birthday with friends. In the days, weeks, and months ahead we’re looking forward to other events. Our church is baking cookies and giving them away when we go Christmas caroling.

The Sunday school kids made 300 cookies!

Sunday school kids caroling.

A friend is coming to visit and he’ll bring a mountain bike so Paul can start a new workout routine. I am going to start homeschooling four missionary kids and continue teaching Sunday school after the New Year. Hopefully by then the new cell tower 100 yards up the hill from the mission center will function. In February Darcy, a teacher from San Jose will begin volunteering with our mission. Then a mission team from Medford, Oregon is coming to help renovate a bridge in June.  Soon after that Debby, a teacher from Florida, will move to Costa Rica and join our mission. Maybe by then we will receive the permission needed to start a private Christian school and the funds to buy land and build it. We are anticipating a trip home in the fall for our son Lance and his fiancé Ericka’s wedding – they were engaged last summer. We have so many good things to look forward to.

Lance and Ericka's engagement.

Paul and I were talking about anticipation being a common theme of the Bible. We recently read the Old Testament book of Job and came away with a more profound awe of God’s control of creation and history as He brings about the completion of His plans. God always does what is right and just, so after Job was tested and found his confidence in God unchanged by difficult circumstances, God rewarded Job.  For many generations Israel anticipated the Messiah’s arrival because God gave a description of a coming Savior throughout the Old Testament. Then after hundreds of years of silence God sent His Son, Jesus as Savior of the world. When Mary and Joseph came to the temple to dedicate their eight-day old baby son to the Lord, an elderly priest and a widow recognized Jesus as that Savior. Now we are reading through Revelation, the last book of the Bible, and we, as followers of Jesus, are anticipating God fulfilling this part of His plan for the world. Compared to the list of things we are anticipating, there is nothing more exciting in life to look forward to than the second coming of Jesus!

The land for the school.

Please pray with us for the school about:

- Funds to buy property and construct buildings.

- Approval of zoning change for a piece of agricultural land then purchase.

- Build the facilities.

- Permission to open a school.

- Staff and families participating in the school.

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Bridget and Paul