Update

We wanted to make sure you all have our current contact information:

9015 Bethel Road
Rickreall OR 97371
503.835.0445
griffithsgang@gmail.com

We are settling into our new home, just up the road from the missionary house we stayed in when we first arrived here.  It is a newly built 3-bedroom with beautiful views to the east and west.  We are so thankful for the family we are renting from and for the opportunity to rent from them.  If you'd like to see a photo tour of the house, come check out Gwen's FaceBook page.

Tim is busy working on increasing name recognition of Village Missions and finding donors for Village Missions.  This month he has a 12-day trip to Kansas City, Topeka, and Dallas, Texas.  It has been neat to see how God has worked out timing for appointments, both with current contact and with new contacts.  Tim will be able to stay with a handful of friends along the way and meet many new potential supporters.  Yesterday we found out that the pastor of the church Tim will be at the first Sunday (April 14) is related to someone we knew from InFaith (American Missionary Fellowship) and that Tim recently ran into.

Please pray for the ministry of Village Missions, and for Tim as he strives to help Village Missions.  We also would appreciate your prayers as Gwen and the kids work to finish out the school year.

January-February 2013 TAGG Team Monthly Update

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.