A neighbor missionary kid learns from our oldest daughter, Anni. (2002)
Leading by Doing
A few days ago, we found ourselves remembering Christmases in the Amazon — the dust roads, the laughter in the alleys, the contradictions of poverty outside our door, and the haven of joy God carved inside our home.
Two things our girls always had: Good books and good company.
They shared stories the way some kids share candy. They cared for people, asked questions, and treated neighbours as if kindness were a normal household utility. And in those moments, I remembered why healthy churches and living transparently matter so deeply: Families teach families how to think differently about the world, themselves, and God.
Twelve Books and a Couch Full of Readers
Emma’s Memory
One year, thanks to leftover homeschool funds and the kindness of friends, each of us kids could choose twelve to fifteen brand-new books. Anything we wanted.
I spent months on Amazon reading the back cover of every fantasy novel ever written. My browser tabs multiplied like rabbits. I curated, eliminated, repented of my eliminations, and curated again. At last, my list was perfect.
On Christmas morning, those books came wrapped. Unwrapping them felt almost sacred — the weight, the smell of ink, the covers I had studied so long on a screen now real in my hands.
And then we read.
The house went quiet. Each of us claimed a couch or corner, stacked our treasures beside us, and vanished into other worlds. Olivia devoured her stack within a week, then began ours, eventually advising us which of our own books we should read first.
Bella, who couldn’t read yet, lay on the couch and cried because she couldn’t join us. We made her computer password “Iluv2read.” Within a year, she was as lost in stories as the rest of us.
Those books gave us worlds. And even though missionary kids say goodbye more than most, we always had each other. And when we had stories and each other, we had abundance.
Olivia, Anni, Emma, and Bella, during a few days’ vacation in 2003.
The Word Made Paper
“In the beginning was the Word…”(Jn 1:1a).
Before there were pages, there were people. Before parchment, there were promises. Before ink, there was intimacy.
God didn’t begin His story with a book. He began with relationships, Walking with Adam in the cool of the garden, Calling Abraham under foreign stars, Wrestling Jacob through the night.
He wove Himself into our world through stories told around fires, Through songs that rose from shepherd fields and temple courts, Through prophets who carried His heartbeat in battered scrolls. Bit by bit, the Word took shape on parchment — law, lament, wisdom, warning, hope.
And then, when the time was right, The Author stepped into His own narrative. Not as a monarch wrapped in silk, But as a child wrapped in the poverty of a young couple from a forgotten village.
He came not to dictate, but to dwell. Not to impress, but to embrace. The Word became flesh long before the Word became literature.
And still today, He speaks.
I think of those quiet Christmas afternoons — four kids curled up with books, disappearing into worlds yet somehow more together than ever. That’s the power of story. It shapes us, softens us, gathers us, reforms us from the inside out.
Scripture is not simply information — it is formation. It is God’s self-revelation in narrative and poem, Command and compassion, Woven through a thousand years of human voices and one perfect human life.
This Christmas, perhaps the gift isn’t something you unwrap, But Someone who has already unwrapped Himself to you, In story, in Scripture, in Jesus.
What part of His story is He inviting you to walk into this season?
Getting ready for the church Christmas party in 2003. Later, when I would ask icebreaker questions in small groups, I heard comments that this was the best party they had ever attended.
Meditate on a Psalm
If you would like to build your faith, try slow reading, which repairs the soul.
A Suggested Meditation Method for Psalm 33
1. Begin by asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the meaning of the text to you.
2. First read verse 11 (the immovable center of the Psalm).
3. Then read verses 10 and 12 (the purple ones). These two verses illuminate each other.
4. Return to verse 11, like a chorus. Reflect on how they all fit together.
5. Next, read verses 7–9 and 13–15, and then go back to verse 11. Notice the flow of thought between them.
6. Then read verses 6 and 16–17, again followed by verse 11. Take your time. Savor the contrast and the movement.
7. Throughout, try to stay with the thread of thought in the text. Let the Psalm set the pace.
8. Continue working through the remaining layers, always adding verse 11 at the end. This centers your meditation.
9. Now mix it up. Start from the bottom and work upward: Read verse 12, then 10, then 11. Try different combinations.
10. After you’ve worked through all five layers in both directions, pause and notice: How do you feel?
Reflection Question
Did your faith that God is firmly in control — and actively working out His plan — increase?
Deanna’s Journey to Healing
Deanna will continue future-proofing treatments until well into May. She feels reasonably well — just weak. Her strength may take a couple of years to rebuild, but God is meeting her daily.
We often remember our homeschooling years — K through 12, all four girls at home, and with Heritage Christian Online School (HCOS) through their high school years. We’d do it again in a heartbeat. Those years are among the great joys of our lives.
Bella and Emma painted a festive scene on the cafeteria window at the Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Center, pro bono.
We’re deeply grateful for all the people who make the Abbotsford Cancer Centre and the BC medical system possible. Last year, God used them to save our premature twins, who spent over sixty days in intensive care. This year, He used them to save Deanna from aggressive cancer. Today, she is cancer-free.
Prayer Requests
For Deanna’s complete recovery
The successful sale of the mission property in Marabá, freeing us to travel more
Whether or not we should go to Portugal on another survey/prayer trip in March 2026
Christmas for the poor. Often, this season deepens sadness over those who are missing, and it widens the gap between the haves and the have-nots. May God give us all eyes to see the lonely, the grieving, and the overlooked — that Christmas would become a season of presence, not performance.
A Word from Creation
I took this photo at Mill Lake this week and touched it up on my computer.
The Storyteller’s Blessing
May the Storyteller Himself Turn the pages of your heart this week.
May He draw you into the places Where peace waits, Where courage grows, Where hope whispers your name.
And when you open your Bible, May you find
Not ink, but Presence. Not instruction, but invitation. Not a rulebook, but a Father
Writing you into His love.
Partnering in the Work
We each play a part in the Great Commission. Some plant churches in marginalized communities. Some help leaders grow and work together. Some sustain the mission through prayer and giving.
When we do our part—whatever it is—it just feels right.
