Family Update

There is a reason we call him among other names..."big face"




Julie taught David to read last fall and he has really taken off and is doing so well. Since then Jonathan has wanted to learn and Julie told him she would teach him this fall. He did not want to wait. Between his own initiative and David's tutoring, Jonathan is teaching himself to read and is doing quite well. Here is a picture of a very common occurrence in our home...the boys combing over a nature book and memorizing all of the zoological information inside as David helps Jonathan read and access the "vital" information on the pages.


Our three little ones hanging out in the rocking chair.


Little girl is starting to grow up...adorable indeed!


Climbing the neighbor's tree. We love our neighborhood!!!

Reality Check

Ever since joining the Marines at 18, running has been a part of my life. Although never a great runner, I have been a strong runner and have loved the challenge of competing against my fellow Marines at the various levels of physical training we would be required to do. In order to excel at my Physical Fitness Tests, which were considered in my promotions, I would go out and run on my own. Some of my favorite runs were the hard runs up various hills, and specifically a hill called "KT or Kansas Tower" on the Marine base in Hawaii. This was the highest point on the base, not counting the rifle range, and from it you can see much of the windward side of Oahu. This hill would separate the runners from the pretenders by seeing who could make it up the whole way without stopping? I loved this hill and I loved the challenge of getting to the top without stopping. I loved the challenge of racing against the guys in my unit to be the first to the top and I sometimes was. It definitely fueled my competitive fire.

Here is the view from the ocean...


And here is the view from Kansas Tower looking out over the golf course into the Pacific Ocean. (I don't know the gentlemen in the picture, sorry...)


Well, that was 12 years ago, and here in St. Louis I am beginning to face the reality that everyone faces as they grow older. I have mapped out a 3 mile run here in South Hampton where I live that starts at my house and goes out and around Francis Park and then back to our home. I have now run the course four times and I still have not been able to complete the 3 mile run without stopping, yet...

I will get to the point soon when this run is really no problem. However that day has not yet come and it is definitely taking longer than it ever has before. Tonight, talking to Julie I realized I am getting older. Being 34 is different than being 24. Although in my mind I am still that 20 year old Marine running up Kansas Tower, my body is telling me something different. I must be patient and allow my 34 year old body to adjust and adapt to what I am asking of it. This is a hard reality to accept.

One of the things I do love about running is the pain and discomfort is causes me, as strange as that sounds. I find that when I am hurting and uncomfortable I am much more focused and fervent in my conversation with God. Recently my prayer has been, "Oh God, please give me self control the next time I want to stuff my face with dessert and help me to remember the price I am paying now for that dessert I just had and the one in the near future." But as this fades and running gets easier, I hope and plan to pray for my sharpness of mind and spirit and also for the neighborhoods and the streets that I am running. Julie and I really want to bloom where God plants us, and we want to be a blessing as God has blessed us.

Physical exercise has always been helpful and a beneficial component of my spiritual life. Moreover, Francis park is such a beautiful park to run around and the neighborhoods of South Hampton are beautiful neighborhoods. We really are blessed here on Gresham and want to live life to the fullest today. Even as we look to buying a home in the near future, we do not do so without considering God's desire for us here. We love being neighbors and learning to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is the second greatest commandment after all, right? That was my prayer tonight as I closed up my run, "Father, teach me to love as You love." That is who we are as Christians and followers of Jesus Christ. We are God's ambassadors of love. In spite of my pain and discomfort from the run, this truth was the greater reality check.

Our New Home...For Now

It is Saturday evening and we are getting ready for our second Sunday here in St. Louis. Tomorrow Julie and I will be interviewed by Matt Herndon (the Lead Pastor at Rooftop) during both services. In the meantime, we are getting settled into our new home and really enjoying life here in the city of St. Louis. Our house is small for a family of 7, but we are managing okay. We love our neighbors and the street we live on. The houses are beautiful and I have walked up to the local hardware store multiple times with the boys in the 10 days we have been here.

A fellow Rooftopper Hudson stopped over earlier this week and took some pictures of our family and our home.





Here is a shot of our back yard and the alley that runs behind it...

...it is small, but the kids manage well and unlike our home in Grand Rapids, we have a finished basement for them to play in.

Our new home...

Life on the River (the Mississippis River if you weren't sure)

It is almost midnight Saturday morning and I am finally able to get away to the office/building to do some work and get caught up with my correspondence. Update from the last week:

Sunday - Had a great crew of friends and neighbors, our brothers and sisters in Christ, show up to help out with the loading of the truck. Got everything packed up and slept on the dining room floor of our empty home, our last night at 512 E. Main St. in Caledonia. We spent 8 years in that home, had 5 children there, and had a ton of life experiences. It was great to reflect with Julie about God's faithfulness during those years.

Monday - Woke up and finally got my Uhaul trailer on the third attempt. Filled the trailer, said good bye to the home and drove an hour south to our friends home near South Haven to stay a couple nights.

Tuesday - Our dear friends Brant and Mary came out with their boys (Dawson, Braydon, and Hutch) and spent the afternoon and evening with us.

Wednesday - Packed up the Uhaul again, said good bye to our friends and began the drive to St. Louis at 9:30 am Central Standard Time. We made decent time with the boys cheering when we crossed from Michigan into Indiana and again when we crossed from Indiana into Illinois. I remember being young and how cool it was to drive from one state to the next. At 6 pm about 30 minutes outside St. Louis, the Mississippi, and the Missouri state line...Caroline "gave back" her sandwich from lunch along with remnants of the huge bowl of BLUE MOON ice cream from the night before. Combine this with the red coloring from the drink she drank some of and well... Luckily we were only 1 mile from a rest stop on I-70 in southern Illinois and pulled in there to clean her and the van before continuing...so there I was in this dungeonesque janitor's closet scrubbing out the colorful stains in Caroline's clothes and her car seat. Finally, we hit the road, grabbed a bite to eat (except for Caroline) and were welcomed by my fellow staff members at Rooftop and their beautiful families. That night we again slept on the floor, this time in our new home, waiting for our stuff to arrive the next day.

Thursday - The trailer is delivered, but the house we are staying in needs to be inspected by the city first and so we have to wait until 3 pm to begin unloading. Rooftoppers begin showing up around 3 (thanks Bonnie and Jason) and more and more show up throughout the evening. Eventually, we have more people than we can give stuff to and the trailer is cleared in no time. Meanwhile, some guys are putting together the crib, some ladies are helping Julie organize the kitchen, and others are helping organize the many items sent to the garage for temporary storage. Julie and I were so blessed by our new church community and friends as we were blessed by our church community and friends which we left in Grand Rapids. The bonds of our faith in Christ are strong and endure whatever location you may find yourself. Thursday night we slept in our own bed and loved it!!!

Friday - Today we returned the small trailer to Uhaul. They came and towed away the large trailer. I had my first official Rooftop meeting over lunch up in Clayton, which is the finance district of St. Louis if you didn't already know that. I spent most the rest of the day helping unpack at home and spending time with Julie and the kids. Then after everyone went to bed I headed off to the church building and my new office to start getting caught on my admin, correspondence, and begin planning the days and weeks to come.

Who would have thought 5 weeks ago that we would sell our home, find a month to month rental, have a baby, move our family, and be ready to go May 1st here at Rooftop Community Church. God's grace has been felt and is deeply appreciated by our family. We look forward to relying more and more on God's grace as we continue building our life here and the relationships which are so vital to our lives and the building of the kingdom of God here in St. Louis. I am so thankful to God for His faithfulness after 2 1/2 years of waiting on him, and trusting that He in His time would lead us exactly where He wanted us to go.

Moving Day

It is 11:30 pm, I am exhausted and should be sleeping, and yet...I am sitting in a van outside our local coffee shop where I can still get internet access since our modem was accidently paced up and is in a small box somewhere in our 27 foot trailer of stuff. Selah is with me since she was having a hard time sleeping and keeping Julie and I awake as we tried to sleep on our one remaining matress in the middle of our dining room. I want to write more and I will this week...there is so much to refelct on:



-leaving the home we have spent almost 8 years in and all that house has meant and been to us

-leaving our dear friends and neighbors who are WONDERFUL and such a blessing to us and our family

-excited about moving to St. Louis and beginning our life and ministry there with the Rooftoppers


Tomorrow we begin our journey south. Two nights at a friends cottage in Grand Junction, an hour south of Grand Rapids. Wednesday morning we drive to St. Louis and stay the night somewhere (to be determined), and Thursday we hope our stuff is delivered to our new home as we unload it and begin life in St. Louis.

P.S. For those of you following along I apologize for infrequent posts lately. We have been very busy and I do not know how often we will have internet access this next week. I hope this catches you up and I look forward to sharing more soon.

Weekend in St. Louis - 12 Days...

It is Wednesday and I am getting ready to hit the road to St. Louis early on Friday morning. I am driving down to drop off our car, look for a home to rent for several months, and take care of some business at Rooftop. I also plan on attending a cool Trivia Night event that the church is hosting on Friday evening, and then fly back to Grand Rapids on Saturday evening. As I have noted previously, our transition to Rooftop has gone quite well with the home selling in 4 days, Selah being born nearly weeks earlier than her due date of 4/21, and a bunch of other stuff that has been very complimentary to a quick and smooth transition to St. Louis.

Well, in the past 24 hours our two best leads for a home to rent are looking less probable as one reported a serious interest in purchasing their home and the other telling us of a long term rental inquiry which would be much better for them as well. We understand and are happy for these former Rooftoppers and their recent good fortune. The Zilkies however are still looking for a place to stay...

We are leaving our home in Caledonia on Monday (4/27) 12 days from today. We will live out of suitcases while staying locally at a friends cottage for a couple of days and then driving together to St. Louis on Wednesday (4/29) or Thursday (4/30), meeting up with our stuff the end of that week.

This weekend will be a great time as I love road trips, am thrilled to get to spend more time with our new church community, and the challenge of finding a short term rental house in a short time is also somewhat exciting. However, I would welcome your prayers for my travels, Julie and the kids as they are without me for a couple of days, and finding the right house in the right location which will help us connect all the more quickly with our new church family as well as keep me close to home during this challenging time of transition. Thank you in advance for your continued prayers and support!!!