teaching the DTS

I just finished teaching in the DTS this afternoon. We had 10 and a
half hours of class over 3 days (a week shortened by the Memorial Day
long weekend).

The class was 8 amazing students strong (having been just cut in half
as the Around the World team left this past weekend). I had a great
time with them!

We went through the story of the Bible, and discussed and practiced
meditation, Hebrew poetry, and inductive study.

I was grateful for the chance to invest into this bunch in this way,
hopefully fueling a lifetime of engaging with the Word and walking
with Him.

a long weekend

Today marks the end of the winter's Snowboarders' DTS. Forty-some
will graduate today. They all got back from outreach in Mexico,
Panama, and Thailand last week, and spent the week here debriefing and
preparing to leave.

Also, this morning Anna flew to Minnesota for a good friend's
wedding. So this will be a loooong weekend for me!

I'm gearing up for teaching in the spring DTS next week. I'll be
teaching on Bible Study. I hope to give the students a overview of
the story of the Bible, and hopefully whet their appetite for diving
into the Scriptures so as to engage with Christ and be transformed by
him.

Pray for us, that Anna will have an amazing weekend with her friends,
and that my prep and teaching will go super well.

brent

Bible and emotion

Yesterday I and a couple friends had ourselves a brainstorm session for some teaching that we'll be doing during the School of Biblical Foundations this summer on the poetic books of the Old Testament.

We talked about how to engage with the emotion with which the Bible was written. And we talked about how the poetry, especially in the Psalms, helps us express ourselves to God.

Here's a cool video from Amena Brown, a spoken word poet, that I think captures some of the emotion and passion of the Word.

that new car smell...

Last weekend my (Brent's) parents and my sister Bethany came down to visit. We had a great time with them!

And they also brought gifts... My grandparents donated their car to us, so my family drove it down when they came. Needless to say, after driving a 1987 Volvo for several years, this 2004 Impala was a huge upgrade, we're super thankful!

Today we got to take a nice Impala endorsement shot, and played around with it a bit (above). The world just seems to be a brighter place... (sigh) :o)

May update

hey friends,

Hope you're all doing well. We're really enjoying the spring here, it's been warming up, and everything's green, so spring is really in the air!

Last week was an exciting and busy one for us, as some close friends got married. Anna was coordinating all the details of the wedding, so we had a lot going on! This spring she's also mentoring a small group of girls who are in our School of Leadership and Ministry (Phase II), and is enjoying that.

I've been getting ready for this summer's Bible study school (SBF) that I'll be leading, doing a lot of speaker and student communication. In a couple weeks I'll be teaching a week on Bible study in the DTS.

The big highlight of each week for me has been taking a group of students to hang out at a nearby nursing home. We've been getting to know the people there, and each week the students have a blast playing games, singing songs, and loving these often-neglected people. So much fun!

We've been enjoying get outside and being active more these days as well. I recently joined an outdoor soccer team, where I've been getting to know my teammates, and am being whipped in shape!

Please pray that Anna would be able to invest well into her small group girls. Also pray that my Bible study week with the DTS would be impactful, and that we'd get more students for Bible study school this summer.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support!

***above is a photo of the Phase II and students and staff in Boulder

a fun wedding, and a lot of work

Last Thursday our two good friends, Jonah and Merel, got married. Their wedding was a lot of fun. Merel's Dutch and Jonah's American, so we enjoyed the Dutch influences during the wedding.

Their special day also made for a lot of work for us. Anna was the key coordinator of all the details of the day, from lunch for the family and wedding party right through to the end of the reception. You should have seen all her checklists! I was also the emcee for the ceremony and reception. Needless to say, we had a lot going on that day (and in the days before)! But we had a great time, and wedding went off really well, and Jonah and Merel especially had a really great time.