Updates
It has been awhile since I’ve posted. Many have been coming to my site through searches for Margaret Romph. For up-to-date information on Margaret’s progress, please go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/margaretromph. Her family greatly appreciates all prayers and words of encouragement.
The first month of 2009 is wrapping up this weekend. It has been a good month with lots of progress and much to do. Most of my time is work/ministry related. We are gearing up for three international mission trips this summer and this month has been informational meetings and nailing down as many details as possible. Trips to Kenya, Lithuania and Dominican Republic will all be in June and I’ll be hitting two of three – Kenya and Lithuania. I cannot wait to return and introduce new people to these incredible places and people. We have some great partnerships in these places and we are blessed from them.
I also preached this past Sunday – something I always enjoy. I preached on I Kings 3:16-28 – the story of King Solomon and the two mothers. I wanted to pay particular attention to the grieving mom whose son died. There are important lessons to learn from her about the effect of pain in our lives and how we react as a result of that pain. It was a long desire of mine to give voice to her pain which is largely ignored as the focus goes to the account of Solomon’s wisdom. You can listen to the sermon here.
In other news – I have a new work laptop which I LOVE!! So fast. So clean.

On Friday evening, one of my youth girls, Erin, was involved in a car accident – along with her grandma and her little sister, Margaret. Erin broke her hand in the wreck and her grandma has some bruising from the seatbelt and I’m sure both are quite sore today from the impact. Along with these physical injuries, they are hurting emotionally. Margaret, who is just 5 years old, is in very critical condition.
Just interesting to have such diversity in my mailbox related to children around the world. A great way to start off 2009! I’ve sponsored a boy in Rwanda for a few years now. His name is Sylvain and he is a handsome young man. I haven’t had a lot of personal communication with him but as he gets older and he is able to better communicate, I am sure that will change. In the meantime, I send cards and special mailings that World Vision sends to me to personalize and send to Sylvain. I wish there was a way to help more children that are suffering in Rwanda but at least I’m making a difference to Sylvain. The community that Sylvain is in has suffered food shortages due to the financial crisis. You can make a difference as well by checking out
.