simply grateful

Each November/December I make a personal spiritual plan for the coming year.  I decided to focus my attention for 2016 in the Psalms and read books that would help me connect more intimately with God. If I had to pick one to recommend, it would be “The Great Omission”.  I have listed them here from 1-11, in the order I would recommend them.  If you have already read any of these would love to hear your feedback in the comments below!  -dp The Great Omission - Get this and read it.  End of story.  https://www.amazon.com/Great-Omission-Reclaiming-Essential-Discipleship/dp/0062311751/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482004343&sr=8-1&keywords=the+great+omission 2. 10 Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health - This is a great book to assess where you are Spiritually and it doesn't let you off the hook with things like church attendance but asks “are you” and “do you” questions.  I knew it was going to step on my toes when I read the ...

We thought after all the post-election stress in the States with the Presidential election, a mindless silly video might just be the respite you need!  Sorry we are a little late in posting it to the blog, but feel free to come back and watch it when any other stress arises in your life!

Well, we finally finished our chicken coop on November 11.  There was a slight delay because of a back surgery in the midst of the building program.  But it is completed and our 10 chickens are leaving us 9 or 10 eggs each day.  The kids are loving taking turns getting the eggs each morning and we are trying to find creative new ways for cooking eggs.  While we have been away for medical care the guards have enjoyed the free eggs!  Here are a few pics from before the coop was finished. Here are a few more of the coop after it was completed.  Elijah's favorite part is the pulley system we installed for opening and closing the door.  

Heather was able to travel back to Texas to see her little sister get married.  The rest of us stayed in Lusaka while we waited for her to return.  The kids did a little video to encourage Jayme and Nick as they started their life together.  We thought you might enjoy it too!  (Sorry the quality isn't great, blogspot limits the size of video!)

Let me start by saying that Heather is an incredibly gracious and giving person and our latest adventure just adds to that reputation.  I (David) wanted chickens but Heather was less than enthusiastic about it.  She even vocalized that she was less than enthusiastic about it in her normal sweet way.  But she knew that I really wanted to try raising chickens for eggs so she relented.  As she told a mutual friend at a recent meeting, "When you see the ship has set sail, you just go ahead and go along for the ride."   Don't get me wrong, had she said emphatically that she didn't want chickens, there would be no chickens.  But she knows that I'm always up for an adventure so when a Peace Corp volunteer mentioned that she was going to be buying some hens... well it was just like blowing on a hot ember... BOOM! It was happening!   So, with Heather away at a meeting last week the kids and I started the process of building a chicken coop.  I though...

Msoro is a small town, a little better than 4 hours from where we live. It is “on the way” to absolutely nowhere.  The only visitors Msoro receives are those who intentionally go there.  Suffice it to say, it’s remote.  When you imagine Africa… mud huts, thatched roofs, girls walking with buckets of water on their heads, you are imagining Msoro. It was small, but with a bit of charm. Of course, being the only mazungu (white man) that had visited in some time, I was quite the attraction.  This is one of the riverbeds we had to cross to get the Msoro.  When the rains come we are not able the river fills with water preventing us access to them about 8 months during the year.   On Saturday, a group of four pastors and myself traveled to Msoro to offer encouragement to the pastor of this congregation as well as do some teachings on what it means to be a church member.  Although I had talked to the pastor, Thembo, on the phone, I had never met h...

It's a big day in the Petro household as Karissa chose to follow Christ.  She has been asking questions about becoming Christian for months and after much discussion felt like she finally understood the decision she was making.  What a day of rejoicing it is here!     

In November we headed to Texas to spend time with family and friends there.  Since we were only there for a month we spoke every weekend and a couple times during the week at different churches.  Our first stop was in Alabama to speak at a church and visit with friends.   When we were passing through Mississippi we called this friend and she was available to meet us for lunch.  We met Kasey in Botswana back in 2011 when she was there doing mission work.  She also was the one who gave Makayla her passion for soccer!   We were beyond ready to get to Texas and see family.  We arrived late and settled into a mission house in the DFW area.   Of course, the second night we were there we had to go to Babes Chicken Dinner House.  Wow.   Then we headed down to Abilene to see Heather's parents and speak at partnering church FBC Buffalo Gap.  GrandMary and Papa Jim took us to Abuelos, our favorite Mexican food place...