Touchdown, Kan-sas City!

The picture you see here is Daddy and Jake playing tackle football in the common area of our townhouse complex. Over the past year, Jake has decided that he is a big Kansas City Chiefs fan (just like Daddy, coincidentally), and he wears Chiefs t-shirts, likes to play tackle football, loves anything with the Chiefs logo on it, and randomly yells things like, "Go Chiefs!" and recently "Touchdown, Kan-sas City!" (for those of your not familiar with Chiefs football, that is the Chiefs' radio announcer's signature phrase). Anyway, he is a Chief-aholic, so any LINKS churches that wonder what Jake would like, anything to do with the Chiefs would be a safe bet. :)

We missed writing last week because we were at a spiritual retreat for missionaries working in the Africa Regional Office. It was a nice time to take a step back from the pace and pressures of the office and just to refocus on why we are here and what God wants to do in our lives. The place we went to was a remote, peaceful location in the Drakensburg mountains, about a 5 hour drive from Johannesburg. It was a nice little break to do not much else but spend time in prayer and reflection on the Lord.

Work has been busy, but good. We both have felt like we have actually been accomplishing some things lately, which is always nice encouragement to keep going! Jake has been doing well in school, although we are looking for a different school right now, as the one we have him in is just not meeting his needs. On the home front, things are good and we cannot believe that in less than 3 months we will have a 4 year old in our midst! On that note...

Jake's Quote of the Week

"I am the king of nothing!"

(Jake had been running around earlier in the day saying, "I am the King of Peace", which he had heard at school. Mommy corrected him in the ensuing theological discussion, and you can see how it went.)

Praises and Prayer Requests

We praise God that he brought us closer to him this past week at the retreat. It was more fun and more beneficial than we expected it would be, and we didn't find ourselves as far behind as we had feared when we returned to the office.

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

-- Lindiwe, the little girl that we play with at the orphanage, as she undergoes tests in a couple of weeks for a life-threatening illness

-- The search for a new school for Jake

--Unspoken request

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake