Hide "them" under a bushel?

Jesus tells us clearly that His followers are the light of the world. In not these exact words, He tells us to light our lamps and cover them up would be ridiculous and wrong.

Parenting, I have found, is a practical but difficult application of this principle. How does hiding our light under a bushel relate to parenting? I'm glad you asked!

Our daughters, as followers of Jesus, are also "the light of the world." Paul spoke to the Philippians like his beloved children when he encouraged them to "be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world."

So what gives us the right as parents to withhold opportunities from these vibrant "lights" who are burning with a passion to be Christ' royal ambassadors? Isn't this what we should be preparing them for from Day 1? Shouldn't we be longing for these moments when they too choose to go and shine their light to a dark and needy world?

Yes we should. Easier said than done.

Yesterday was one of those "moments". Hannah and Katelyn were two of 10 high school girls selected to represent their school on a community service mission to northern Tanzania, an east African country. They have been counting the days down and yesterday, at 3 p.m., we launched our two oldest "shining arrows" to be lights in Africa.

We received a phone call from our school Principal around 11:30 p.m. that the girls had arrived safely in Tanzania. But I noticed this morning, even though it was Saturday, that I didn't have the best night sleep last night. :-)

The girls will be gone for 11 days. Their itinerary includes: playing with children at an orphanage, visiting recipient families of cows donated by the school, digging foundations and preparing concrete blocks for the building of a new classroom for a local school, painting classrooms, preparing lessons and activities for local children. On the last two days they will be treated to an overnight camping trip and guided safaris to enjoy the African wildlife and scenery.

This isn't their first excursion to another country. We've launched our shining arrows before on three short-term trips to Peru. But every time they go it is a step of faith to not hide our lights under a bushel!

Please pray for Hannah and Katelyn to shine brightly on this trip. The focus of this school-sponsored trip is different than the ones they have taken before, but we are praying for the same result - that our daughters will "appear as lights in the world" and they will let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

And the winner is...

All dressed up and definitely some place to go! The annual Sports Banquet to be exact. Here are Katelyn, Betsy, and Hannah looking NOT like they just ran a race or played a game!



We are nearing the end of our first school year in Dubai. Our school year exceeded our expectations in many ways but in particular in the area of sports. Although they have played volleyball before, this is their first year to compete in many sports like Soccer, Basketball and Track.

A couple of weeks ago, our girls took home some awards at the Annual Sports Banquet. Betsy won the "Most Improved Player" award on her Basketball team, Katelyn took home the "Most Improved Player" award in Track, and Hannah took home the Most Valuable Player award in volleyball AND the overall "Outstanding Athlete of the Year" award.

Needless to day, we were very proud of each of our girls for not only their hard work and dedication but especially for being good team players and exhibiting a Christ-like attitude to their teammates and opponents.

And the winner is....God gets more glory! We praise Him for helping our daughters not only survive their first year but to thrive!