Warmest of Christmas Greetings.

How we enjoy the pictures and Christmas letters that come this time of year!! We thought it was time we reciprocated a bit. Don’t have a current picture of the family, but if I did this is what it would look like.

(Or at the least the grandchildren part.)

Picture three GIANT young men seated in a row.  Luke, 22; Josh, 20; and Zach (the tallest) 17 at least 6’4.  Seated on their laps are two little girls. Sophia, 3 and Lily 2.

The boys are Lori and Scott Lambert’s offspring. The girls are our “ miracle” adopted babies to proud parents, Beth and Jon Lamar.

To elaborate a bit, Luke is full steam ahead at ASU studying International Law, working as a waiter at an upscale steak house, called The Keg in Gilbert.

Josh is taking a hiatus from ASU, studying electrical engineering to spend a semester at Disney Imagineering in Orlando.  It’s a long held dream of his.  http://corporate.disney.go.com/careers/who_imagineering.html

Zach is recovering from shoulder surgery, an injury from basketball which has been his passion. He’s also no slouch when it comes to academics, like his brothers.

Sophia is our brown haired, brown eyed girl (looks like Beth) and Lily, the strawberry blond, with blue eyes looks more like Jon.

They are a reminder that God answers prayers far beyond what we can think or imagine.  When we’re with them, they make us feel young again, as when our two girls were little.  But only briefly.   After a couple hours, we again feel our age  and thankful that we aren’t on fulltime duty. 

We cherish the times we can spent with the boys, usually one at a time, and not often with their busy lives.

Lori’s back in school, midway through getting credential in Occupational Therapy while Scott brings home the bacon from General Dynamics. Beth, in addition to being Mom, helps run their photography business, Lamar Studios, in Gilbert.  http://www.lamarstudios.com/

Dallas and Nancy

A Week In Bailey, Colorado

Dear friends,

We just returned from a week at Snow Ridge Summer Project which is
sponsored by Campus Crusade for kids from the inner city of Denver, Colorado. Chuck Schwaninger, Camp Director, is using our book, Can You Hear Me Now? to train a team in Discovery Evangelism. Chuck incorporates Discovery Listening as a tool for building relationship with these kids. This team will then equip thirty college students who will serve as counselors for up to 200 kids from Denver's inner city. There is a need for scholarship funds for about 60 kids. Staff and the college counselors have all raised their support. It's the kids who need our help.

We were so impressed with this ministry, we wanted to give you an opportunity to take part. They have 130 kids enrolled and room for 60 more if the funds come in. All the funds go to campers. Listen to the video clip to get the story.

http://urbancampscholarships.com (right click)




Thanks for listening.

Nancy and Dallas

The Importance of an Anchor

I recently read the following quote from our book, "Can You Hear Me Now?" and thought how much I needed the reminder to anchor in Christ in the daily storms of my life. Here's the quote.

"When you throw an anchor overboard it goes straight to the bottom and secures the ship to the ocean floor. Surface winds and waves may threaten to carry the ship away. Currents may tug and pull the vessel this way and that, but a strong anchor secures the ship and ensures the safety of everyone on board

Likewise the storms of life tear at Christian relationships and desire to destroy the home, the church, and drown the occupants. Dallas and I have experienced many such storms in our lives. But when we anchor in Christ, we are rooted and grounded in the safety of God's love and assurance of His presence. In our own power, we cannot live the Christian life, let alone listen to an angry partner, a disgruntled church member, a hysterical child, and irritating neighbor,or a pompous and disrespectful boss. Apart from Christ living through us, we are at the mercy of the moods of those around us, including our own.

After thirty years of counseling, we have also learned an extremely important lesson. Unless God shows up in the counseling room, not much will change in the long-term view of a person's life. However, we have grown increasingly aware of God's continual presence. The Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of those who have trusted Christ as Savior. Out of the provision of his grace, the Lord not only saved us but he has made his home within us. We appropriate the power and energy of his presence and trust him to continually fill and surround us with his presence. Anchoring is our acknowledgment of this unseen reality. It is trusting Christ to animate and energize our lives. "

Reading the above, I realize anew that trusting Christ is a daily, hourly decision. I really needed to be reminded of this when we recently spent a week at a Christian camp in Bailey, Colorado.
Bailey is 9,000 ft. and there were lots of stairs to climb so I huffed and puffed a lot and waited for my heart to stop pounding like a jack hammer. But God was faithful to energize and animate the many opportunities to listen and to share. What a precious group of young people. Even the 50 year old's seem like young people to us these days.