Thinking about February, the one word that comes to mind is “excitement.” This month has been full of blessings from the Lord that have built excitement in our hearts as we look forward. One thing that is exciting for sure is that the days are getting longer, which means winter is leaving, and summer is approaching. This allows for more opportunities to be outdoors and enjoy nature! For all that winter brings, it is nice not to have to spend fifteen minutes prepping your kids to go outside  We thank God for the natural blessing that his creation gives and give him the glory for sustaining it all.

Ministry

The Lord has been so faithful to us through the youth ministry. We have a steady stream of students that come week in and out. New high school students are coming, which is always a blessing to see growth. The pre-teen group is growing like wildfire. Two weeks ago, for Sunday school, we had nearly 100 students (from elementary to high school) in Sunday school! I have heard it said that a sign of a healthy church could sometime be seen from the children. Whether that is true or not, God has blessed this church with more families and kids in the last two months, which is very exciting

Here in Finland, the students don’t necessarily have a Spring break. They have a winter break, which is different from the Christmas break. The winter break was from February 20th through 24th. We ended up taking the students bowling. It was a great turnout with 25 students! This was a great time to gather and do something outside our regular routine. We have our Spring events coming up, and we are stoked to see what the Lord does through those events.

Our boy's Saturday bible study is one of the highlights of my week. We have grown together as a brotherhood over the last year and the fruit of it is a blessing. These guys pursue those who are left out or not that "cool" in our group and school. They are on mission to give their friends and peers Jesus. They show up weekly to hear God’s word and grow together. I am just grateful for these dudes. Continue to pray that the Lord would develop them into men to love and fight for God’s truth and people!

We started our sports ministry outreach this month. We had a few non-Christian students come and experience our youth group through sports. The students heard a devotion from Psalms 1 and were prayed over. The cool thing was that many people around us stopped to listen to what was happening. It was a great start, and we look forward to this monthly meeting.  

Family

My family got to take our first vacation together with Heidi’s family since starting the job here in Finland. We went skiing in Northern Finland. Spending quality time on the slopes and recuperate to continue the good work in Finland was a blessing. 

Heidi and I started the process of adoption. We were both excited about this in the States, and that excitement has continued here in Finland. It is a long process, and we are at the very beginning stages. The adoption may take place in South Africa. It will likely be a 3 to 5-year process. Please pray that God’s hand will be in it. Pray also for whomever that new member of the family might be. 

A great answer to prayer is that Heidi has grown close to another mom at the church. They meet almost weekly and push each other to the Lord. It is  great to see this happen, and we pray for more meaningful friendships within the church.

Noah and I have taken up a small hobby together: snowboarding. Neither of us knows what we are doing, but it is fun to learn it together. 

As mentioned earlier, the days are getting longer; the sun is out but still cold. One of the things that Houstonians do not have to worry about is brushing snow off their car. Many times, I have set myself to arrive on time to an event, to realize that I did not factor in the care of my vehicle. You often must let the car warm, brush the snow off, and scrape the ice off the windows. This takes time and puts you behind if it's not considered.