Macedonian giving

Wow! Sorry it’s been so (too!) long since we’ve updated this page. We’ve been enjoying the relative calm of 2 ½ weeks at home. Kim’s been catching up with household stuff she needs to get done and I’ve been trying to stay healthy and gain strength walking on the walker, etc. Actually trying to gain weight in preparation for more treatments which is something I’ve never had as a goal before. It’s actually kind of nice! It’s nice to have a reason to enjoy a milkshake daily!

We continue to enjoy the many blessings we’re receiving from the many wonderful people God has placed in our lives. The students and staff at Apollo literally overwhelmed us by having a dress down day recently in order to collect money to help us out. Going from my love of the Cincinnati Reds, students and staff paid to dress down in casual red colored clothing. My supervisor, Natalie, brought the outcome to Kim and I along with a picture of the staff dressed in red in my classroom and brought us to tears. What a joy it is to see God working in so many ways! Other blessings of heartfelt entries in cards and letters along with numerous Scripture verses from so many of you have ministered to us in wonderful ways. It reminds me of Paul’s commendation of the Macedonian churches in 2 Cor 8:1-5:

8:1 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: 2 that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. 3 For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, 4 imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. 5 And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.

Another thing God has worked on to both Kim and I through this trial is being on the receiving end of ministry. Kim and I share the trait of being private kind of people and while, I believe, God doesn’t want us to always be spouting off every little thing going on in our lives to others, we’ve been convicted of the fact that we’ve erred on the other end of the spectrum – being so private as to try to squelch the ministry opportunities God has provided to others in opportunities to minister to us. We’re both working on opening up our lives more and more to others – in fact this blog is an example of that – and welcoming the gifts others have in ministering to us. In the passage from 2 Cor above, I put myself in Paul’s position and think what a wonderful blessing the Macedonia giving was to him! I can’t imagine the encouragement that incredible giving ("beyond their ability" in verse 3) was to Paul and his crew during the trying times they faced in ministry. Kim and I are enjoying that same form of encouragement through the ministry of so many of you to us. You are not only ministering to us, you are teaching us many wonderful godly truths through your actions and we are very appreciative of it.

We head back up to Cleveland for 3 days of treatments this Monday through Wednesday (the 5th through the 7th).

In Christ’s love,

Rob