Catching Up

Wow! It's been a while since I last posted. Let me first say thank you for your kind words of encouragement and faithful prayers. We continue to be amazed at how incredibly supportive you are! Your words so often literally breathe life into our day and give us the strength and courage to stare down one more dark moment of discouragement.

Your prayers... well, as James says, they are accomplishing great things. I just wrote to a friend and told him that we are so grateful that we don't have to know what it's like to walk thru this valley without constant prayer support from people like him... and for that matter, like you all. The book of Revelation paints a beautiful picture of prayer... it says that the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before [Jesus] the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song...

The worship scene before the throne of the God of heaven includes the prayers of the saints, kept in precious golden bowls. And those prayers are like incense, a sweet aroma to the God who, as the psalmist says, listens intently to our cries for help. What a picture! Our prayers don't go unnoticed. They don't fall on deaf ears. They don't just fade away. They aren't forgotten. They aren't discarded or recycled. No, they are preserved and brought by heaven's worshippers to Jesus.

Maybe we will actually see our prayers one day. Maybe it's all just symbolic. Whatever the case, know that your prayers are precious to God, precious to us, and eternal in significance. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

On another note...

We spent last Wednesday thru Sunday in Michigan with Nicol's family and we had a great time. It was kinda busy... ok, more like non-stop, or so it seemed. We were there for a benefit concert for Laban Ministries International (Nicol's parents' ministry in Congo, Africa). Selah did a full concert and everyone in the family participated in some way. It was an incredible night! $38,000 was given to the ministry by those in attendance and another $60,000 was given by Selah to the ministry from money that they had been collecting during concerts over the past 2 years. Almost $100,000 in one evening! The money will go to normal, everyday operating expenses and, believe it or not, while it is a tremendous amount of money, it will not last all that long. Laban supports upwards of 400 people in Congo, has 3 Bible schools, a radio station, and a medical dispensary, does regular evangelism trips, and more... each of which requires a significant amount of money. There are also several new ventures on the front burner, which will of course require new sources of funding. If you're not familiar with the ministry, click on the link above and check it out!

One highlight of the weekend was going to the Michigan-Michigan St. football game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. It was my first time there and it was AWESOME. Todd, Nicol's brother, shares season tickets with a couple of friends of his and last weekend was his turn in the rotation. It was actually a total surprise for me. I thought he and Angie were going... actually, that WAS their plan. So on Saturday morning I made a run to Dunkin Donuts and when I got back to the Smith's house I was greeted at the door by Todd, who had a big smile on his face. I thought that was somewhat strange... not that he was smiling, but that he was smiling so widely and just because I walked thru the door. But whatever. So I had a cup of coffee for Angie and he told me to go give it to her, which I did. I walked into the living room and everyone started talking about some sort of problem with me watching football that afternoon... I had already made it clear earlier that morning that I was planning to stay at the house and watch games while everyone else went out and did their thing. Nicol's dad said there was a problem with the TV and there was all kinds of chatter going on and I was thinking, "No problem, I'll just head back to the hotel and watch games there." And that's when Angie said, "Hey Greg, wouldn't you rather just go the the Michigan game with Todd?" or something like that. Truth be told, I can't really remember what she said, all I can remember is watching her pull a ticket out of her pocket and hold it up in the air. Her grin and the shiny gold "M" at the top of the ticket was all I needed to know that she was serious and that I was going to my first Big Ten football game! It was a great time. Thanks Todd. Thanks Ang. And thanks Jack... you are too generous! (That's an inside joke for Nicol's younger brother!)

An update on the house...

There was a showing last week and our realtor is hosting an open house today for local realtors. So we continue to wait, and wait...

Blessings to you all. And thanks again for your thoughts and prayers! You are loved!