Poor Toby. His birthday is the day after Christmas and even though I tried my best, I’m sure he has often felt his birthday was overshadowed by all of the Merry Christmas going on. How could he not? And now I have posted birthday greetings for Lara, but missed mentioning his on-line (he did get the traditional phone call, card and gift, mind you!)

So, belated though it might be…….

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOBY We Love You!

……now let’s see, who’s next?

Homemade Cookies. Fudge. Bags and bags of candy. Hot chocolate mix. More Candy. More Cookies. Lots and lots of goodies arrive at Teen Challenge over the Christmas holidays, sent by parents and grandparent of the students. But let me tell you about one box that arrived for one of the 1st platoon boys with Happy New Year wishes for the staff and students.
It came from NYC – overnight UPS. Inside the box were 2 large bags of cooked rice, 2 large bags of red beans and rice, 4 containers of what looked like baked beans but with some added goodies, a pork roast and a bag of gravy. (Oh, and a couple bags of mini-chocolate bars!). The food arrived still a little frozen, so we put it right in the fridge and figured out what day we could serve it. Gary & I were “on” for New Year’s Day, so it seemed the perfect chance to serve this food that had traveled so far and had come with such love. But since we weren’t exactly sure how it all “fit together” we called the son in to act as our guest chef. As would be the case with most 14 year olds, he really had no idea how it “fit together”, but he offered what advice he could and was pleased to be part of the process. Since I had to add some rice to the dishes, I asked him to give it a taste, since I really had no idea what it was supposed to taste like (not being an expert in red beans and rice!). Little did I know it is against regulations for the cadets to taste any food before it has been served, so he refused (very politely, of course!). After much persuasion and assurances that he would not be written up, he finally took a spoonful of the rice. One taste and with his eyes closed, a smile spread across his face.

“It tastes like home.”

So thanks, Mom and Dad, for sending that little bit of home. And for letting us share it with 40 other young men who were longing for “home”.
****************************************************************

---

All the “boys” are back from their Christmas break, we’ve said good-bye to our Sower friends who were here in December, and ten new Sower couples have arrived for January. Should be an exciting month – especially if Gary gets to start some of the A/C –Heating work.

And if tomorrow’s Monday – it must be spaghetti and meat sauce day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LARA
We Love You!

I guess we all do it – make those resolutions. At least we give some thought to things we would like to do better or do less or do more or not do at all. Here are a couple I’ve thought about….

• Move more – Eat less. Last night I took care of that ice cream in the freezer, so at least THAT temptation is over! (it was pretty good!)
• Read More – Read Better. A couple of books have been on my nightstand just a little too long – True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer and The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges remain while the fun fiction RV There Yet by Diann Hunt (how could I resist!) was read in just a couple of days. Hmmm. Gotta work on that one.
• Stay connected – not just by journaling here at rvthereyet.org, but by staying in touch by email, snail mail or phone. Life on the road makes staying in touch just a little bit tougher.
• And then there’s the ever present……
  End up west of the Mississippi by the end of 2008. Right.

To close out my thoughts about the coming year, I’d like to share a prayer from a devotional book – Life as a Vapor by John Piper.

Lord, grant that we will love Christ above all things. And may we spend our pilgrim life learning to love this world les and heaven more. Put us out of taste with the delicacies of the devil, and give us a liking for the solid joys of Christ. Guard us from the allurements of the lodging of this journey, and fix our eyes on the end. And so, Father, make us useful to this world, loving, helping, serving here, while leading people up to God.
In Jesus Name,
Amen