They say that in Southern California May and June are dreary months. I thought I was escaping this when I moved home from Paris, but apparently not! As "May gray" comes to a close and "June gloom" approaches, our calendar seems to be filled with graduation parties, birthday events and school functions. Needless to say, the gloom certainly does not have us down as we have plenty of reasons to celebrate this month, as well as much time to spend with friends.
Recently Bryce and I escaped for a date in La Jolla (thank you, mom and dad) to celebrate his completion of many long, tedious papers for school. It was so good to spend time together at a nice table overlooking the ocean, talking about life and our summer goals. We are both excited for the quickly approaching summer.
Bryce, in particular, is excited because finals will soon be over! He has done a wonderful job diligently studying, and his finals will be over this coming Wednesday. Please keep him in your prayers as he hits the books hard this week. :)
Bryce will be interning at our church, New Life Presbyterian, this summer, beginning in June, and will be able to use his gifts to serve not only our church, but other churches in the area. He will be allowed to preach, and both of us will be able to help start the college and career ministry. We are pumped! Often times this semester we have expressed how much we miss being in full-time ministry, so this is a perfect opportunity to dive in!
We will celebrate his
birthday this Monday out by the pool with lots of friends... Happy 27th Bryce!!
As for me, Lisa, I'm happy to say that my last day of teaching was this past Friday. The kids at Santa Fe Christian have finals next week, and then school will be out for th
e summer. Though I have loved being a new teacher this semester, it will be nice to have time to relax for awhile. I'm looking forward to spending time with friends and investing in our church ministry with Bryce.
mrs. waller's class...
We've also enjoyed training for the half marathon we will run in July. Every Saturday we drive to a different beach or some place new to run our "long runs." This has been extremely enjoyable and allowed us to experience new parts of Southern California. The race will begin in Napa Valley and end in Sonoma Valley:www.runcarneros.com In the midst of our busy schedules, we have learned much from pushing ourselves physically to achieve what we did not think we could. Coach Norman Dale of the Hoosiers basketball team once said,
"My practices are not designed for your enjoyment."
We read this every day as it hangs on our fridge next to our training schedule. However, we have found that the training process is incredibly enjoyable, and the physical lessons we learn pale in comparison to the spiritual lessons. It is a vivid picture of what Paul states in Philippians 3:14: "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus, " or better yet what he tells the Corinthians: " Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize"(1 Corinthians 9:24). Of course, our real prize is not a medal or free t-shirt, but the incredible gift of our Savior Jesus Christ, and finally seeing Him face to face."Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:25-27).
