Friday, June 19, 2009
Lily's third birthday
Lily had her third birthday on June 11. Here are some pictures from her birthday party on June 14. The theme was "My Little Pony":
Friday, June 05, 2009
Emily standing
Emily can stand up unassisted all by herself now. She is 10 months. She should be walking before too long. Here is a picture of her...
And another one from the same day...
Sisters
Here's a cute picture of Lily and Emily taken this week. Emily is 10 months and Lily is a week shy of 3 years old...
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Prayer letter - June 3, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Dear friends,
Well, summer is pretty much upon us. We appreciate your prayers for us through the summer months, which will include our church camp this week, our major annual training in Servant Partners next month, and both of our daughters’ birthdays. Read on for more details!...
Global Urban Training School begins July 18
Our annual training for new Servant Partners’ staff, the Global Urban Training School (GUTS) begins July 18 – 26 here in the Los Angeles area, then continues in Manila, the Philippines for 5 more weeks. Preparations are well underway for this major training event. PLEASE PRAY for me as I am doing most of the preparations, as well as doing some of the teaching at GUTS. We plan to have eight new staff members in the training, plus six children. (Two married couples are among our new staff, with three children to each married couple.) PLEASE BE PRAYING for our eight new staff members who will attend GUTS next month: Jed, Mel, Tim, Philippa, Amy, Laura, Andrew, and Nate. They are all raising funds for the training this month, as well as doing some reading and writing assignments in preparation for GUTS, so PLEASE PRAY that God would provide for them financially in a challenging economy, and prepare them mentally and spiritually over these next six weeks until GUTS begins! I also appreciate your prayers for my own preparations, including the various teachings I am preparing for the training school.
Fountain of Life Church Camp
Our church in Long Beach has its annual camp this weekend, June 5-7. We will be focusing on Luke 10 and deepening in our church’s vision and life together as a family of faith. The two previous camps were very powerful times of deepening in relationships with one another and convictions and values from God’s word together as a community. PLEASE PRAY that God blesses us all this weekend!
The New Friars
In my last prayer letter, I asked you to pray for our trip to San Francisco last month for an annual gathering of the leaders of several ministries that focus on incarnational mission among the urban poor. Our whole family had such a fabulous time. It was refreshing to be among and strengthen our relationship with other like-minded friends. Mini got to participate in all the discussions because childcare was provided, which was so refreshing for Mini, and the childcare was so excellent that Lily asked if she could stay in San Francisco when it was all over! A major focus of the discussions was a writing project that all of our various ministries would collaborate on together. So, Lord willing, we hope to publish a book in 2010 that includes voices and stories from all of our various ministries of the things that God has done, and what God has taught us, as we have lived and ministered among the poor. We pray that it will be an encouragement to many in the Church whom God is calling into mission among the world’s most vulnerable, and I welcome your prayers as well for those who are working on this project. (I personally am not one of the authors – others in SP will contribute.)
Family Update
Lily is almost 3 years old! Her birthday is June 11. Emily is 10 months and on the verge of learning to walk. You can see updated pictures of them on our blog, if you like.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our family. We are grateful to be able to share our pilgrimage with you, and are always happy to hear from you! Every blessing to you this summer!
For the joy set before us,
Dave, Mini, Lily, and Emily
A quote to ponder:
Vulnerability means to be hurt over and over again without seeking to love less, but more. Divine love is sheer vulnerability—sheer openness to giving … Being vulnerable means loving one another as Christ loved us. If we did not have to forgive people, we would have no way of manifesting God’s forgiveness toward us. People who injure us are doing us a great favor because they are providing us with the opportunity of passing on the mercy that we have received. By showing mercy, we increase the mercy we receive. The best way to receive divine love is to give it away, and the more we pass on, the more we increase our capacity to receive. (Thomas Keating, The Heart of the World: An Introduction to Contemplative Christianity)
Dear friends,
Well, summer is pretty much upon us. We appreciate your prayers for us through the summer months, which will include our church camp this week, our major annual training in Servant Partners next month, and both of our daughters’ birthdays. Read on for more details!...
Global Urban Training School begins July 18
Our annual training for new Servant Partners’ staff, the Global Urban Training School (GUTS) begins July 18 – 26 here in the Los Angeles area, then continues in Manila, the Philippines for 5 more weeks. Preparations are well underway for this major training event. PLEASE PRAY for me as I am doing most of the preparations, as well as doing some of the teaching at GUTS. We plan to have eight new staff members in the training, plus six children. (Two married couples are among our new staff, with three children to each married couple.) PLEASE BE PRAYING for our eight new staff members who will attend GUTS next month: Jed, Mel, Tim, Philippa, Amy, Laura, Andrew, and Nate. They are all raising funds for the training this month, as well as doing some reading and writing assignments in preparation for GUTS, so PLEASE PRAY that God would provide for them financially in a challenging economy, and prepare them mentally and spiritually over these next six weeks until GUTS begins! I also appreciate your prayers for my own preparations, including the various teachings I am preparing for the training school.
Fountain of Life Church Camp
Our church in Long Beach has its annual camp this weekend, June 5-7. We will be focusing on Luke 10 and deepening in our church’s vision and life together as a family of faith. The two previous camps were very powerful times of deepening in relationships with one another and convictions and values from God’s word together as a community. PLEASE PRAY that God blesses us all this weekend!
The New Friars
In my last prayer letter, I asked you to pray for our trip to San Francisco last month for an annual gathering of the leaders of several ministries that focus on incarnational mission among the urban poor. Our whole family had such a fabulous time. It was refreshing to be among and strengthen our relationship with other like-minded friends. Mini got to participate in all the discussions because childcare was provided, which was so refreshing for Mini, and the childcare was so excellent that Lily asked if she could stay in San Francisco when it was all over! A major focus of the discussions was a writing project that all of our various ministries would collaborate on together. So, Lord willing, we hope to publish a book in 2010 that includes voices and stories from all of our various ministries of the things that God has done, and what God has taught us, as we have lived and ministered among the poor. We pray that it will be an encouragement to many in the Church whom God is calling into mission among the world’s most vulnerable, and I welcome your prayers as well for those who are working on this project. (I personally am not one of the authors – others in SP will contribute.)
Family Update
Lily is almost 3 years old! Her birthday is June 11. Emily is 10 months and on the verge of learning to walk. You can see updated pictures of them on our blog, if you like.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our family. We are grateful to be able to share our pilgrimage with you, and are always happy to hear from you! Every blessing to you this summer!
For the joy set before us,
Dave, Mini, Lily, and Emily
A quote to ponder:
Vulnerability means to be hurt over and over again without seeking to love less, but more. Divine love is sheer vulnerability—sheer openness to giving … Being vulnerable means loving one another as Christ loved us. If we did not have to forgive people, we would have no way of manifesting God’s forgiveness toward us. People who injure us are doing us a great favor because they are providing us with the opportunity of passing on the mercy that we have received. By showing mercy, we increase the mercy we receive. The best way to receive divine love is to give it away, and the more we pass on, the more we increase our capacity to receive. (Thomas Keating, The Heart of the World: An Introduction to Contemplative Christianity)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Prayer letter - April 28, 2009
April 28, 2009
Dear friends,
After 21 years of writing prayer letters, I have finally decided to give them a name: “The Palmers’ Pilgrimage” (which is also the name of our blog). If you want to know why I chose “The Palmers’ Pilgrimage,” then read this next section. If not, you can skip to the following one!
Why I’m calling these letters “The Palmers’ Pilgrimage”
The origin of the name “Palmer” dates back to the Middle Ages in England. It refers to a person who goes on a pilgrimage to a “holy place,” such as the city of Jerusalem. Medieval Christian pilgrims who traveled to Jerusalem were given a palm branch as they entered the city, hearkening back to Jesus’ triumphal entry (see John 12: 12-13). They were then called "palmers" in reference to their palm branch.
I appreciate the associations between palmers and pilgrims, because, of course, the Christian life of faith is commonly referred to as a pilgrimage, a journey through this world to our heavenly home. John Bunyan’s book Pilgrim’s Progress is, of course, the classic example. There are a number of passages in Scripture from which this concept of God’s people as pilgrims comes – we are strangers and exiles on this earth, sojourners who are on the way to our true homeland, for which we eagerly long:
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11, KJV)By faith he (Abraham) went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, … for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. (Hebrews 11: 9-10, ESV)These all died in faith, … having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11: 13-16, ESV)
These texts have been very significant to me throughout my adult life. I long to live my life “for the joy set before me,” with my eyes fixed on Jesus, as a pilgrim and sojourner on this earth. I hope that naming these prayer letters “The Palmers’ Pilgrimage” will remind me and others of the journey of faith we are all on to the better country, the city that has foundations.
Lisa B. update
In my last two prayer letters I have asked for prayers for Lisa B., a Servant Partners intern who became paralyzed from the neck down on March 13. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for her. She is in physical therapy and is gradually regaining some mobility. She can now move her arm some, and wiggle one of her toes. She can eat and breathe on her own. She is now in a motorized wheelchair which she controls by moving her head. So she is making gradual progress. She feels that God has spoken to her that she will be fully healed, but also that she will need to be patient and wait for it to happen. Her doctors are estimating anywhere from 6 months to 2 years of physical therapy for a complete recovery. Of course, God may heal her faster than that. Please pray that God would give her and her husband Eric patience and strength to persevere through this difficult time. We have been requested to pray along the lines of Psalm 27:13-14 for both Lisa and Eric.
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!
Family Update
Mini and I celebrated our sixth anniversary two days ago, April 26! I am so thankful for my wife and family. The kids are doing fine. Emily is 9 months “old” today. She is crawling everywhere, exploring the world, and learning to stand. You can see pictures of Emily and Lily on our blog.
The New Friars
Next week our family will travel up to San Francisco for 4 days to attend an annual gathering of the leaders of multiple ministries that focus on incarnational mission among the urban poor. I request your prayers for our travels and for these meetings, May 4 - 7.
Scott Bessenecker is one of the leaders who plans to be present at these meetings. If you’d like to learn more about what next week’s meetings will be about, and what incarnational urban poor ministries like Servant Partners are all about, then I highly recommend and encourage you to read Scott’s excellent book, The New Friars (InterVarsity Press, 2006). Scott describes five characteristics that today’s missions among the world’s poor have in common with monastic orders and other friends of the poor throughout the history of the Church. He profiles several of our Servant Partners staff in the book. It is a very inspiring read which powerfully conveys many of the convictions, values, and passions that many of us in incarnational urban poor ministry share. I commend it to you and would love to hear any comments you may have on The New Friars.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our family. We are grateful to be able to share our pilgrimage with you, and are always happy to hear from you!
For the joy set before us,
Dave, Mini, Lily, and Emily
Dear friends,
After 21 years of writing prayer letters, I have finally decided to give them a name: “The Palmers’ Pilgrimage” (which is also the name of our blog). If you want to know why I chose “The Palmers’ Pilgrimage,” then read this next section. If not, you can skip to the following one!
Why I’m calling these letters “The Palmers’ Pilgrimage”
The origin of the name “Palmer” dates back to the Middle Ages in England. It refers to a person who goes on a pilgrimage to a “holy place,” such as the city of Jerusalem. Medieval Christian pilgrims who traveled to Jerusalem were given a palm branch as they entered the city, hearkening back to Jesus’ triumphal entry (see John 12: 12-13). They were then called "palmers" in reference to their palm branch.
I appreciate the associations between palmers and pilgrims, because, of course, the Christian life of faith is commonly referred to as a pilgrimage, a journey through this world to our heavenly home. John Bunyan’s book Pilgrim’s Progress is, of course, the classic example. There are a number of passages in Scripture from which this concept of God’s people as pilgrims comes – we are strangers and exiles on this earth, sojourners who are on the way to our true homeland, for which we eagerly long:
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11, KJV)By faith he (Abraham) went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, … for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. (Hebrews 11: 9-10, ESV)These all died in faith, … having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11: 13-16, ESV)
These texts have been very significant to me throughout my adult life. I long to live my life “for the joy set before me,” with my eyes fixed on Jesus, as a pilgrim and sojourner on this earth. I hope that naming these prayer letters “The Palmers’ Pilgrimage” will remind me and others of the journey of faith we are all on to the better country, the city that has foundations.
Lisa B. update
In my last two prayer letters I have asked for prayers for Lisa B., a Servant Partners intern who became paralyzed from the neck down on March 13. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for her. She is in physical therapy and is gradually regaining some mobility. She can now move her arm some, and wiggle one of her toes. She can eat and breathe on her own. She is now in a motorized wheelchair which she controls by moving her head. So she is making gradual progress. She feels that God has spoken to her that she will be fully healed, but also that she will need to be patient and wait for it to happen. Her doctors are estimating anywhere from 6 months to 2 years of physical therapy for a complete recovery. Of course, God may heal her faster than that. Please pray that God would give her and her husband Eric patience and strength to persevere through this difficult time. We have been requested to pray along the lines of Psalm 27:13-14 for both Lisa and Eric.
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!
Family Update
Mini and I celebrated our sixth anniversary two days ago, April 26! I am so thankful for my wife and family. The kids are doing fine. Emily is 9 months “old” today. She is crawling everywhere, exploring the world, and learning to stand. You can see pictures of Emily and Lily on our blog.
The New Friars
Next week our family will travel up to San Francisco for 4 days to attend an annual gathering of the leaders of multiple ministries that focus on incarnational mission among the urban poor. I request your prayers for our travels and for these meetings, May 4 - 7.
Scott Bessenecker is one of the leaders who plans to be present at these meetings. If you’d like to learn more about what next week’s meetings will be about, and what incarnational urban poor ministries like Servant Partners are all about, then I highly recommend and encourage you to read Scott’s excellent book, The New Friars (InterVarsity Press, 2006). Scott describes five characteristics that today’s missions among the world’s poor have in common with monastic orders and other friends of the poor throughout the history of the Church. He profiles several of our Servant Partners staff in the book. It is a very inspiring read which powerfully conveys many of the convictions, values, and passions that many of us in incarnational urban poor ministry share. I commend it to you and would love to hear any comments you may have on The New Friars.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our family. We are grateful to be able to share our pilgrimage with you, and are always happy to hear from you!
For the joy set before us,
Dave, Mini, Lily, and Emily
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Emily stands up
Still a few days shy of 9 months old, Emily can pull herself up and stand on her feet, as long as she is holding onto something with at least one hand.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Lily Mermaid
OK, this was NOT coached or prompted! :^) Lily was stepping into Ariel's fins all by herself after watching "The Little Mermaid" DVD a few times, and it was so sweet we just had to record it!
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