Updated Contact Information

As we prepare to move to Dallas, Oregon, we wanted to update you with our contact information.  We'll be living in a temporary "missionary house" for the first few months.  We are so thankful to God for providing this home for us, and for the Domes family who has made this home open to us.

After January 1, our address will be 8380 Bethel Road, Rickreal OR 97371.  Our email address (griffithsgang@gmail.com) and Gwen's cell phone (785.443.2460) will continue to be a working number.

We covet your prayers as we head south to Florida for vacation, then home to pack the moving truck, and then on to Oregon.  We'll keep you updated!

TAGG Team on the Move!

This fall, Tim was asked to consider a position with Village Missions.  We spent quite a big of time praying over the decision and trying to figure out what God wanted us to do...with the end result that we will be moving to Dallas, Oregon, to work for Village Missions at the first of the year!  We are sad to leave behind the friends and relationships we have built over the past two years, but excited for this new venture.  

Tim will be the Director of Stewardship, with both administrative duties and direct involvement with the 220 rural Village Missions churches in the United States and Canada.  He will organize and coordinate events and programs that support the rural churches (fundraising events, programs where a larger church can "adopt" a small rural church), work on publications (I get to help with this!), work to increase recognition of Village Missions, and whatever else he can do to support the rural churches.

We're so excited to be entering this new phase in our lives, and we covet your prayers as we travel (4 days minimum) out to Oregon with our family and belongings.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Mmm.  Sunday afternoons in the fall are for good things like this dip, popcorn, apples, and the like. The beauty of this recipe is that it's more of a guideline, so amounts can be adapted according to how much of each item you have on hand.

1 10-oz. bag frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2/3 c. sour cream
1 c. cream cheese
1/3 c. mayo or Miracle Whip
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1 1/2 c. (or more) mozzarella
1 loaf french bread or a good baguette, sliced (and toasted, if desired)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray.  Mix first seven ingredients together until well incorporated.  Transfer to casserole dish and bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes, until bubbly.

You can sprinkle another 1/2 cup of mozzarella over the top for the last ten minutes of baking.

Here Comes Fall!

All through the 100+ degree days we had this summer, I longed for fall.  I'm not a big fan of heat (although I was thankful that our heat was not accompanied by humidity), and often remember the cool climate of Laramie in a manner that could be described as wistful.  So every time I stepped out of my front door into a day that felt like an oven, I looked forward to the cooler days of fall.

It seems they have arrived!  As I type, the window near me is open and cool morning air is blowing in to my house.  Sure, I'll still have to shut up all the windows and turn on the air conditioner at some point, but this evening it will be cool enough to take a walk or putter in the garden for a while.

And of course, with fall come all sorts of good things.  We've started on our school year, and the kids seem to be enjoying that.  The garden is producing all sorts of good things to eat and preserve.  And the calendar at Shepherd's Staff is filling up.  We've got some great events planned for this fall (you can visit www.shepherdstaff.org or find Shepherd's Staff, Inc. on FaceBook to check them out).

There's something about this time of year that is energizing to me.  Instead of wishing I could just lie on the floor until the weather gets cooler, I'm excited to go pick zucchini and tomatoes from the garden.  Evenings are filled with lesson plans and design work instead of longing looks at the current novel.

And yes, I am aware that fall doesn't officially start until September 20-somethingth, so maybe this is Indian summer (or just late summer) that I am celebrating, but I don't care.  I'm just glad it's here.

Every Year Is Busier...And The Cracks Get Bigger

I keep remembering the first year we were here.  No one new us yet, we hadn't committed to many activities, and life was quiet.  We had time to invite people over, to head to the pool two or three times a week, and my (Gwen's) office duties didn't seem to present much of a problem.

Two years later, it's a different story.  We've been to the pool a total of four times, haven't done much entertaining at all, and it seems like it is all I can do to get the bare minimum done at the office and still keep our own home from the brink of chaos.

It's always been a family goal to be involved with the community, so we attend many community events.  This year the kids participated in 4-H and the county fair for the first time, and that was quite the experience!  We also now work almost year-round on the Christian Workers Conference, so that's back on our plates.  I'm also going to be teaching piano lessons one evening a week in Colby.

And all of these are good activities...but I've been feeling pretty full lately.  As I look to the beginning of the school year, I keep trying to figure out how to juggle things so that everything will fit.  I know that the "big" things need to be prioritized:  things like school and meaningful time with the kids, and that the smaller things should be fitted in around the big things (instead of letting myself fill up my life with less important things and then trying to figure out how to do the big things)...but how does that really work in a practical manner?

How do we find the balance between family and work, structure and not-so-structured, me-time and family-time?  And what about the things that are sure to fall through the cracks?  Some of those things will have my name on them, and I don't want to be associated with missed deadlines or poor workmanship.  But the truth is, there's too much work here for Tim and me to handle even if we work 24/7.  So how do we figure out which things to let slide and which ones to concentrate on?

So...keep us in your prayers:

• There's a big need for more missionary-supported staff to join the team at Shepherd's Staff.  Pray that God will lead these people to us in His perfect timing.
• Pray for strength, encouragement, endurance.  Pray that we will give our best to whatever we do.
• Pray for wisdom as we strive to make the right choices, give the right things priority.

Are You Like Nico?

I've been reading through John recently, and for the past few days have sort of camped in John 3.  There's so much here:  Jesus' meeting with Nicodemus, everyone's favorite verse (John 3:16), John the Baptist's views.  But the thing that stuck in my mind is verse ten.

Jesus has been meeting with Nicodemus, and for every concept Jesus tries to get across, Nico has more questions.  Finally, Jesus seems to get exasperated.  "You are Israel's teacher, and do you not understand these things?"  Do you hear the frustration there?

Nico has spent years studying God's word.  Of all people, he should recognize the fulfillment of all of the prophecies, God's true answer to the problem of sin.  And yet, when the answer is literally staring him in the face, he can't seem to get his head around it.  He has the best resources and the best teaching, but can't understand, even when Jesus puts things in the most simple terms.

So I've spent the week wondering if I'm like Nico.  I'm in ministry--in a position to help others understand God's sovereign plan.  I have access to so many study aids and online Bible commentaries and thick books explaining concepts that it would make your head swim.  But do I really get it?  Am I able to take those concepts and translate them into practical Christian life?

The section about Nico ends with verse twenty-one:  "But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."  It's my prayer this week that I will live by the truth, and that others will see Christ shining through me, that I won't miss the obvious truth, that I will be able to apply the truth to my actions.

Quiet Times

The kids (all three of them!) are in Nebraska this week, attending camp and visiting Tim's parents.  It's a weird sort of quiet here.  Things stay where I put them, entire TV shows get watched without interruption, projects are being completed. But there's also less laughter, fewer entertaining comments, no piano lessons being plunked out in the living room.  After the hustle of the first two crazy weeks of June (VBS at our church and then Creative Arts Camp), this feels like going from 100 mph to 10.

Jesalynn is attending Camp Rock this week.  It was neat for me to realize that I was eight, as she is, when I went for my first summer there.  I have been praying all week that she would have fun, that God would work in her heart during this time.

Did you know that Tim also attended Camp Rock from the time he was eight, and that he came to know Christ as Savior there?  We also met at Camp Rock, served as summer missionaries the summer we got married, and you might remember that our first full-time ministry point was--you guessed it--Camp Rock.  This organization has made such an impact in our lives.  We grew as campers, as staff--even leaving the ministry was a time of learning to rely on God's plan instead of our own.
And now our children (Tyson heads out there next week) are bringing it all full circle.

I was sad that I didn't get to be a part of this camping experience with them.  Due to our schedule, they road out to Nebraska with Tim's parents and will return with them at the end of next week.  I had hoped to get to be a part of the drop-off or pick-up process, and it was hard to let go of that.  But it's been a good week--relaxing, productive, quiet--and I will be so excited to see them at the end of next week.
Speaking of which, Tyson will turn 10 on July 1.

Where has that time gone?

I feel like we are doing a good job of enjoying the moments with our kids, not pushing for them to grow up but rather experiencing each stage to the fullest; but it still feels like the time is flying too fast.  I see glimpses of a young man in my little boy's face.  I hear a young woman sometimes in Jesalynn's turn of phrase.  I listen to Natasha pray with a maturity that belies her five years.  And I want to hold on, to remember all of these little things, to be able to pull them back out and relive those moments even when the kids are grown.  That's the reason for my xanga blog (www.xanga.com/gwennieg).  I look forward to reading that with the kids someday, laughing over the quirky little things they did.

Well, I'm getting rambly, and it's probably time to get some things done this morning.  Thanks for listening.

It used to be so hard for me to drag myself out of bed anytime before 8 am.  Even after the kids came, getting up was a struggle.  And then we moved to Laramie.  I don't know what made the difference, but I found myself wide awake sometime between 5:30 and 6:30 most mornings.  Sometimes I would lay in bed and pray, other times I would get up and head to the rec center for a workout.

Now that we're in Kansas, I try to get out and walk in those early mornings.  I head east out of town and sometimes Jesalynn comes with me.  If she's along, she chatters about whatever is on her mind and heart, and I listen.  I'm not a big talker that early in the morning.

If Jesalynn isn't along, I pray and think.   I love walking this time of morning.  The wheat fields are just starting to turn, the birds sing, and usually the wind is quiet.  So I'll walk into the sun, and it's always a good reminder of God's glory--so amazing that no one can truly see it.  But when I turn around to head back home, I discover this beautiful landscape.  When I was facing the sun, the colors were washed out in comparison to the rising sun, but with the sun behind me the greens are brighter, the shadows deeper.

And this week, heading back to town, I was thinking about life.  Sometimes as we're living the actual experience we don't get a clear picture of what's really happening, how everything works together.  But when we're past that point and we look back, we see the whole picture.  The shadows and the low spots add depth, while the parts the sun shines upon add highlights.  What appeared to be a random smattering of little wildflowers turns out to be an entire field.

There have been so many times in our lives when we couldn't see the whole picture.  We didn't want to leave Camp Rock.  We couldn't understand why God called us from Laramie--especially to Kansas!  We've seen kids who seemed to be following God whole heartedly turn and run away from Him.  But it is encouraging to know that God can see the entire journey--what we have already traveled and what we have left before us.  He is in control--He has it all planned out--and it will be beautiful when He is finished!

Pushing, Pulling, Leading, Drawing

I was thinking about the responsibility we as parents bear in showing Christ to our children.  When they are little, we can carry (take?) them to the feet of Jesus--telling them about Him, taking them to church, praying with them.  (And I'm not saying we "get them saved"--I'm just saying we show them the way, to the best of our ability.)

But as they get older, we have less and less "control" (for lack of a better word) in leading our children to a knowledge of Christ.  Yes, we continue to model and show them, but we cannot push them into Jesus' arms.  In fact, pushing them there will probably push them away from Christ.

We have to lead by example, model the joys of a life in Christ, and trust God to draw them in His timing.

Does that even make sense?  It sounded so eloquent when I was thinking about it, less so when I started typing.  Push back...tell me what you think.

I'm Followin' Jesus!

I've been pondering a lot lately the concept of honoring God--the ramifications, the process.  How do you honor God when you aren't sure what He wants in a given situation?  Is anything you do okay, as long as you're trying to honor God when you do it?

I cannot tell you the frustration we feel sometimes, feeling that we have a clear calling to serve God at Shepherd's Staff, and yet feeling that we have to fight every step of the way toward fulfilling that calling.  It has been amazing to see groups here at Shepherd's Staff--men's group who are intentionally seeking to develop godly manhood, youth retreats where young people learn how to answer the hard questions about their faith, opportunities for fathers to date their daughters.

At the same time, there is much resistance to growth at Shepherd's Staff.  We feel and see Satan working to divide staff, to bring doubt into our lives, to stop God's work here in Rexford.

So...will you pray for us over the course of the next few weeks?  Pray that God will be honored by our thoughts, words and actions.  Pray that others will see God's light shining through the ministry of Shepherd's Staff.  Thanks.

Little Bits

Tim is in LaGrange this week, speaking to students at Frontier School of the Bible about ministry and ministry opportunities at Shepherd's Staff.  One unexpected blessing for him was the number of students there that we have worked with in past ministries.  Last night he talked with a young man we knew during our time in Laramie; today he chatted with students that had attended Camp Rock and encouraged a young lady that we know because of our time at Shepherd's Staff.  It is always neat to see how God connects different parts of our lives.

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I wanted to share a couple of snippets from our lives...things that have been running through my head but haven't made it to paper or screen.  The kids are finishing their Awana year next week and we are so proud of each of them.  Nattie completed her Cubbies book, Jesalynn finished her last Sparks book and did the review, and Tyson is working on the last section of his T&T book.  His assignment was to choose one of the question and answer sets he studied throughout the year, find "backup" verses, and tell how this applied to his life.  I want to share some of his words with you:

"The answer I chose is "I need to know that God wants me to honor Him.  To honor God means to love and adore Him.  If you honor God, you do the things that He tells you to do...Some things you could do to honor God are you can honor your parents.  You could do what He says every day.  Or you could clean your church every week.  Anything you do with love for God is honoring God...One way this answer goes to work in my life is that when I honor Him I feel good.  As you honor God more you get closer with God, making your relationship with Him stronger."

It is so rewarding to see one of our children expressing his growing relationship with Christ!

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For the past few years we have prayed with the kids every night before bed, and on Sundays we specifically pray for their "someday husband" or "someday wife".  As I pray with the girls, I ask God to be drawing that special person to Himself, to develop him into someone that can lead, protect, and provide for each girl.  Tim prays with Tyson for his future wife, and I often hear Tyson close with "...and help me to be the man of God that You want me to be."

It has struck me that they may not understand everything that we are praying for them, but I hope that they will internalize these characteristics that they will be to search for or incorporate as adults.  Parenting is such a process--so many things we do today won't truly come to fruition until years from now.

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Lastly, we're coming up on the end of our second full year of ministry with Shepherd's Staff.  The last two years have been rewarding, challenging, difficult, encouraging, and so much more!  Thank you for being a part of our ministry through your prayers, support, and friendship.  We couldn't do it without you!

Did I mention that we went on vacation?  It was lovely.  Lots of sleeping in and lazing about, too much eating out, and random forays into education:  museums, a salt mine, etc.  Oh--and 3 or 4 days spent with Gwen's sister.

Of course, we had to come home eventually.  And then we promptly left again, this time for a Fine Arts Festival for homeschoolers, held in Garden City.  Tyson and Jesalynn each did well with their piano solos, bible recitations and poetry recitations.

We learned Friday that Tim's Grandpa Pulver had passed away, so we found ourselves in the car again, headed for Minnesota.  We're back home, and while I plan not to leave again any time soon, Tim will be heading to Fremont on Sunday to be with his dad during a prostate surgery on Monday.

On another note, I love how the family of God looks out for its members.  A friend from Laramie sent me a "heads up" email a while back, asking me to be on the lookout for a new family in Colby.  Two of the kids ended up on my AWANA team last night, and I got to meet the mom.  I'm excited to be able to get to know a family with kids our age, who probably share our values.  It's something we've been praying about for a while.  Hopefully we can be an encouragement to this family as they adjust to small-town life.

Relaxing...

We made it through the Christian Workers Conference! It was held Saturday, March 3 at Heartland Christian School. God brought about 150 people (including workshop leaders and volunteers) to the conference. Our goal for the conference is to connect rural congregations with resources and training, and I really feel like we accomplished this goal. We've had many positive comments from attendees--that they took back information and technique that they would be able to use right away.

This week our family is relaxing a bit. We've been in to the office to do some work, but we are also spending time with the kids and just trying to catch up. On Monday we'll take a week and a half for vacation--something we're all looking forward to!

Adapting

One of the reasons we homeschool is the flexibility of schedule it allows us. There are times when we travel, either because of work or due to the time we can carve out for family. And there are times where work causes us to be crazy busy, and homeschooling gives us the flexibility to ease back on school work for that period of time, then amp it back up when the busy time is over.

This is one of those busy times. The Christian Workers Conference is two weeks from yesterday, and things are getting a little crazy around here. Honestly, I feel pretty good about the schooling that is getting done. I'm so proud of how much more independent work the kids are doing on their own. Tyson is fourth grade this year, and Jesalynn is second grade. Tyson is able to do math and grammar and spelling entirely on his own, and Jesalynn recently asked to start working more independently on her grammar.

As thrilled as I am to see them growing and changing, I'm still eager to get through this time period and get my routine back! I think the kids handle the change in schedule better than I do.

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Also, don't forget to check out Shepherd's Staff's newly redesigned website: www.shepherdstaff.org. Dave Faltermier did a great job on this project, and we are so very thankful for his help.

Good morning, friends! It's Monday morning--time to start the week! Do you have a song in your heart? Are you sharing your thoughts with God?

We had a snowstorm over the weekend--not quite what was expected but enough that the Gideons cancelled their monthly meeting. They will be back on Saturday to hold their membership drive, so we're praying for good weekend weather.

Tim got to get his snowblower out and clear the streets in front of the Shepherd's Staff buildings and the Rexford Community Church. He enjoys serving the community in that way.

This weekend we'll be serving Teens for Christ (TFC). In previous years they met at Shepherd's Staff almost every month, but the effectiveness of that mode of operation had begun to wear off. This school year they tried something different, trying to reach more kids and find a way to compete with sports and activities schedule. In February, they've chosen to hold their meeting at Shepherd's Staff again, and we're excited to be serving them. We'll fry around 100 hamburgers, make a ton of homemade milkshakes, make a bunch of fries, and generally enjoy them.

Saturday will be a busy day, since before we start to prepare for TFC we have to head to Colby and make almost 1000 pizzas with our 4-H club. Tyson and Jesalynn each sold around 25 pizzas; we were pretty proud of them! This was a first selling experience for them, and they only had about a week to sell. They worked pretty hard at it!

Well, it's time to head out into the day. The song in my heart right now is "This Is the Day" and the thoughts I'm sharing with God have to do with the Christian Workers Conference (less than a month away!) and a prayer for good friends for my children.

Wherever I Am To Be Content

We're in Kansas City this week. Natasha had an appointment to see a new orthopedic surgeon (it's hard to even remember any more the months she spent first in a body cast and then wearing her brace) and we scheduled it to coincide with a trade show that Tim is working through Northwest Kansas Travel Council.

The appointment went well. Natasha's x-rays looked good, and we do not have to return for three years. What a praise--her hip continues to function and develop well.

We are staying with the wonderful Malone family in Kansas City. Robert has come to Shepherd's Staff as a pheasant hunter twice now, and he and Tim have begun to build a relationship. I have to tell you, the Malone home is amazing. We feel like we are staying in a motel. The kids even got to watch a movie in 3-D last night. But I do struggle. When surrounded by a setting that is such a step up from where we are, it is hard to stay content with my own situation. So while I love being here, I have to constantly work on being aware that what God has given to someone else isn't necessarily what He will give to me, that I do not "deserve" to have a huge house (and don't want to clean one!)...that my journey to contentment has a long way to go!

We'll head home tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to being home and staying home for a while. Thanks for your prayers.

We celebrated Natasha's fifth birthday yesterday. It's hard to believe that our youngest is five years old--no longer even preschool age, really. She's learning to read and asking to play the piano and picking up new skills all the time.

Of course, if Natasha is five, then Jesalynn is eight and Tyson is nine, and that seems altogether too old, too. My own approaching 33rd birthday, on the other hand, seems a little surreal. I have a few months to get used to the idea, though--unlike Tim, who celebrates his next milestone at the end of January.

On a ministry note, we picked up the posters and programs for the Christian Workers Conference (to be held March 3 in Colby, KS). It feels good to have the design work for this behind us; but now we have to get the 1300 programs and 300 posters into the hands of churches and people who are interested in attending.

This weekend we'll be hosting a group of college ministry leaders from Celebration Church in Hays and a group of middle schoolers and junior highers who will be wrapping up their Catechism for the year. On Monday we'll serve dinner to members of the Thomas County Community Foundation.

Then next week we'll be off to Kansas City for a check up for Natasha (to make sure her hip is still developing correctly) and for Tim to work a trade show. It's turning out to be a busy month, and we sure appreciate your prayers for us and the ministry.