From: David Jones [david.jones@lbfc.org]
Sent: Wed 10/22/2003
Subject:Keeping up with the Joneses

October 22, 2003

Greetings to our friends at LBFC:

Greetings from the land of many colors and falling leaves! Emily and I forgot what autumn looks and feels like, but we are getting a good review. The countryside is absolutely beautiful (and I get plenty of time to look at it as I commute-when it's daylight!).

Emily and I have seen the pace of our lives increase over the past month. Emily has had some big projects to complete and I have been spending extra time working on projects at school that I have wanted to do for some time. This has been a season of growth for both of us. We feel that God is definitely grooming us for future ministry while we minister where we are at. We have been meeting with the high school youth at our place on Sunday nights. The middle school and high school used to meet together, but both groups needed a time where they could get serious about the Scriptures. We are currently working our way through the "Roaring Lambs" study, a study based on the book Roaring Lambs by Bob Briner. Please pray for the youth. Apathy is an oft-used tool of Satan in this culture, and what these kids need to realize is that they have a great purpose in life and there is a battle to fight and an adventure to live! Hopefully, we all are going to our Creator to align our lives with His plans.

I have some good news, though it may be too early to share it. The other day I received a telephone call from the department chair at Cabrillo. She told me that I have been selected to go to "Train the Trainers" for the Pacesetter curriculum (for those who don't know, Pacesetter is the College Board curriculum that LBUSD is adopting and which is spreading across the nation). The training will be held in Chicago in March and then I will spend as much of my summer as I want traveling across the country to train other teachers how to teach the program. This was something I have wanted to do, but I figured that it would take years to get to this stage, if at all. God has really challenged me in my attitude toward work and my coworkers, reminding me to strive for excellence and to be a man of God in the workplace. Indeed, He is blessing that ministry and I feel that I am growing more as a person and as a professional than ever before.

Lately I have been meditating on Romans 4:20-21: "Yet he (Abraham) did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised." Truly, God has been faithful to provide for Emily and me. He has not made life easy by any means, but He has provided in ways we couldn't have conceived. We are now thinking about the next step in our lives. What happens when Emily is finished with her program? We know that many of you are praying about our next move, and we thank you. We also ask that you would be specific in your prayers. Please ask God to bring us to the place where we clearly see Him working and join Him in that work. We currently feel that we are in that place, and we want to be alert in the coming months.

Some of this letter will seem to be a repeat in the next section that I wrote a few weeks ago, but I wanted to add some more details and it has taken some time to do so.

Trusting in His promises,

Dave and Emily