2 Corinthians 4:7-18

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹² So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

 ¹³ It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”^[b] Since we have that same spirit of^[c] faith, we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴ because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. ¹⁵ All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

 ¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

I've had the song "Trading My Sorrows" stuck in my head this morning. Last night was tough, sleep was elusive to say the least. Even though Kris set up motion sensors on the stairs and in the living room and kitchen that would ring a chime in our bedroom if triggered... even though we shut and locked all windows and doors and checked them twice, and left the light on over the stove, I still found myself unable to relax. We got into bed around 9pm and Kris suggested I read the Bible to us. I started reading Psalms. Kris was asleep by Psalm 20 and I stopped reading at Psalm 40, drawing some degree of comfort from King David's proclamation of God's greatness and easily relating to David's moments of sorrow and dispair. I think it was after 11pm when I finally fell asleep... every little noise made us jump up and investigate... that happened at least 3 times... the boys woke up at 5:45am and I gave up on sleeping after that... maybe I'll be able to catch a nap today while Kris is awake and the sun is out.

The boys have weathered all this amazingly well. I praise God that they are too small to really understand and feel the full brunt of what happened. Jonathan cried a bit when we explained that a bad man came into our house and took some of our stuff. He was sad for us and asked if the bad man would come back and take more things. We tried to reassure him that it was unlikely. Jonathan worried that the bad man might come back and take some of his toys. Aaron prayed, "Jesus, please let the bad man bring back our stuff." It's certainly humbling to realize our attachment to these "things"... some like Kris' camera, ipod, and my kindle were blessings to have, luxuries really that won't be quickly replaced, if at all... others like our smaller digital camera and at least one laptop (especially the laptop) have a greater bearing on our business and will need to be replaced ASAP. Thankfully we do have my desktop computer back at home in our storage unit so once we get home and get access to it (it's probably waaaaayyyy in the back as it was one of the first things we moved), all my data is there and it's a great machine that will enable Kris to do graphic design and more. We also gave my parents a decent laptop a few months ago and they've graciously offered to give it back to us, thanks so much Dad & Mom. So once we get home things can get back to normal pretty quickly, hopefully.

Still no reports from the software on Kris' computer. We haven't heard from the police either. We're going by the police station today to add my kindle to the list of things that were stolen. We're also going to check with pawn shops and computer shops to see if anyone sold some of our stuff and to see how much a decent laptop might cost.

Please be praying for our landlady, Ruth. She has been really shaken up by this and as far as we know she doesn't know Jesus. Her husband is gone during the week working on one of the islands. She lives downstairs with her 14 yr old daughter Monica and her male cousin. Last night we spent a long time talking with her and she said she felt horrible about the gate being left open and that her dog Shaggy (the one that would usually have been sleeping in the living room in the front part of the house, but was in her bedroom that night instead) had barked a few times but she'd just told him to shush. We reassured her that we didn't blame her at all. Her cousin had been staying in a room in the back of the house and last night he moved into the bedroom in the front of the house.. and she told us that she'd be checking on the dogs everytime they woke her up barking. She was shocked and said that they've been living in this house since 1998 and nothing like this has ever happened before.

We're still praying and discussing what our options are for this vacation... stay a few days, stay a couple weeks, stay the two months we planned? For me personally (being the scrapbooker that I am) I'm deeply sadded that we aren't able to take pictures of the things we see and do, regardless of how long we stay. I know I'll have the memories in my head, but it's just not the same.

We appreicate all your encoruagement and prayers and offers of support. It means so much. We feel very isolated and alone here, but knowing that you are all praying for us makes our hearts smile. Blessings and love to you!