Sincerely, Kristin

One night we invited our next-door neighbors to come over for dinner. We warned them ahead of time that it was going to be very “gringo” (North American-style). We started out by serving fresh-cut vegetables with onion dip as well as a bowl of chips and nachos. Next, we brought out the homemade pizzas that had just finished baking in the oven, microwave popcorn, and Coca-Cola. And then, to complete the meal, we brought out freshly-baked, homemade chocolate chip cookies.

My neighbor just looked at me and said, “This is so great, Kristin. You really made everything? Even the cookies? We usually don’t do that here. Everything is so good!” (more…)

I see it from here
You see it from there
It shines on you even as it shines on me
Same one for you as it is for me
We cannot be separated from it

It rises, it sets
Constant, never changing
Always there
We can count on it,
bask in it,
rest in it
Be guided by it

Sees everything and everyone–
all at the same time
Bigger and stronger than we can comprehend
More powerful than we can imagine

Yet, it is only a creation
Imagine its Creator…
(more…)

It is always hard to say goodbye to friends that are moving away. There’s that sinking feeling in your stomach, that knot that tells you that change is occurring; things won’t be the same. Well, for the last month or so, I’ve had that knot inside of me. (more…)

Hebrews 11:24,25 (NIV) And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…

Some accountability questions for you (and me!):

We can also praise the Lord together for answering our prayers (Prayer):

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I am so proud to be Max’s wife. He’s such a good man and godly leader for our family. With God’s help, he provides for us, gives us spiritual guidance, prays continually, studies God’s word, leads by example, listens, helps out around the house, spends time with the children, and even continues to take me out on dates (even if it has to be at the gas station café while waiting for our two older boys to finish soccer practice!).

Of course, there is that general pride I have of being his wife. But then other times, there comes a greater pride – a “that’s MY MAN!” kind of pride. Those times usually occur when he is in his element – he’s doing the thing that God has truly called him to do. For Max, that’s preaching.

Every time he preaches, I am mesmerized by how the Lord uses him in that way. God has given him such a gift with words and public speaking. During our years in the pastorate, I always felt the proudest of him when he was in front of the congregation doing what God called him to do.

But then came January 6, 2006 – the day I was forced into withdrawal. (more…)

Our dog, Buddy, loves to play. He waits for me and comes to me as soon as I open the door. Anticipation fills his eyes; his tail wags happily. He has no thought of yesterday – the fact that I forgot to feed him his dinner. It’s a new day. His faithfulness to me is still there, still as strong despite my mistreatment.

Kids want to play. They want to be hugged, loved, and cared for. They wait for me to stop for 5 minutes just to play a quick game. They run downstairs and beg me to see something ‘cool’ upstairs on the computer screen – they want me to experience it with them. (more…)

How often are we silent? Completely silent? No conversation. No reading. No brainstorming. No writing. No making of mental lists. No moving. No music. No sound.

This past year, one of my mentors suggested to me to just be silent before the Lord each day, even if it’s only 5 minutes to start with. To be completely honest, I can’t say I’ve followed that counsel every day, but on the days I do, I wonder why I don’t do it more often. What a peace that passes over me. What a reminder that He is right here with me – my best friend, my confidant, my life partner.

I find, many times, that even within a 5-minute span, my mind can easily start to wander. The children get loud, the daily list of things to do begins to develop in my mind, etc. It helps me, before I being my time of silence, to think of one characteristic of God (for example, ‘love’). When my mind begins to drift, I immediately refocus onto the word ‘love’. I whisper ‘love’ to myself or I say ‘love’ over and over in my mind until, once again, I am back in a state of silence, a state of listening for His still, small voice. (more…)

Hebrews 11:24,25 (NIV) And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…

Some of the conversational highlights for me this week were:

Thanks for sharing!

Here’s another link to an article and more photos: NY Times article

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I can’t even imagine. Sometimes we feel tremors – slight earthquakes- here in Santiago, averaging about 10-30 seconds (they say there is a tremor every day somewhere in Chile), but I can’t imagine feeling what they felt. Two full minutes. 11 aftershocks the following day. Hundreds of people dead, over a thousand wounded. People crying, screaming – running into the middle of the streets so that old buildings didn’t collapse upon them.

Living here, I do think about that sometimes. (more…)

Max and I needed to take a trip downtown (about a 15-minute van ride) to go to the International Police Station. Thankfully, the children did not need to come with us to this appointment, so our friend, Tia (Ms.) Margarita, came to the house to take care of them while we were gone.

Ever since we arrived in January 2006, we have been working on obtaining our permanent resident VISAs so that we can live here in Chile long-term. The process has included plenty of paperwork, appointments, interviews, fingerprints, photos and hours of sitting in waiting rooms. But, praise the Lord, we can go to pick up our cards next week!

I thought you might enjoy taking the ride with us so we made a little video as we traveled: (more…)

It was a beautiful, snowy, Sunday afternoon as Max and I walked across campus to the Cultural Life Center at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY. We were headed to listen to one of my favorite concerts – Handel’s Messiah.

We found two seats in the back row of the balcony next to our friends, Scott and Julia, and their four children. The lights dimmed. I took a long, slow, deep breath and prepared myself for the marvelous music to come. (more…)

Hebrews 11:24,25 (NIV) And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…

Some of the conversational highlights for me this week were:

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Two nights ago (Wednesday, 8/8) —

10:30pm Our next door neighbor, Paola, called. “Do you see it?”
10:40pm Our friend, (Pastor) Eduardo called. “Do you see it? Do you have it in your neighborhood? Everybody’s outside in the streets!”
11:00pm Max’s taxi driver asked, “Is this what it does in NY?”
11:15pm Adults outside, playing around, enjoying it

After over 50 years, the wait is over for our Chilean friends. (more…)

Last November, after 10 months of attending and assisting in Comunidad Vida, our newest city church plant, it was time for us to begin working with one of our other churches. During our last service at CV, they asked both Max and I, individually, to greet the church family. “Oh, man, you’ve got to be kidding!”, I thought. “Do you understand what you’re asking me to do??”

Max went first, thank the Lord. The whole time Max was talking, (more…)

From the time our children are born, the process of “letting go” begins. That process includes letting them cry it out, tumble before walking, work through the pains of playground teasing, fail a test for lack of studying, reap the consequences of being late for practice, or make tough decisions by themselves.

Angela (my sister-in-law) and I are, in different ways, taking another step in that process with our first-born boys, Michael and Addison.

Michael, our oldest nephew, is headed off to college as a freshman today. Addison, our oldest, has been taking entrance exams for a Chilean school that he may attend next year. (That’s kind of tough for this homeschooling mom! I have so enjoyed the individual time with him.)

Wow, how can it be? A mom has such mixed feelings about each step of letting go – feelings of happiness and pride…and, yes, feelings of sadness too.

Thank you, Lord, for the privilege of watching these boys grow in Your likeness. May they continue to grow closer to you every day and mature into godly men. Use them, use all of our children, for Your glory! May they be Your light in this dark world.

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

Your turn to share: What step of “letting go” have you had to take recently?