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October 28, 2005
Wil's birthday report
It’s almost three weeks since we’ve done an update. Some of you have spotted the new photos on the website, the before and after shots of our home. These are already a bit out of date since I’ve finished making curtains for Wil’s room and for the family room since Dave took the photos. And no, everything doesn’t always look as neat as in the photos! Dave is very good at seeing that things are in order before getting out the camera.
Wil was 15 on Oct. 25th and now wants to know when he can get a learner's permit to learn to drive! We suggested he could drive when he can afford car insurance. That has taken the wind out of his sails at least temporarily! We’ve also said he can have a dog as a birthday gift, but we’re still looking for the right one. I’m sure I can’t handle a large puppy, yet Wil wants a dog with some life in him. Pray we’ll find the right one to love and welcome into the family. Wil had 7 friends over for an air-soft war last Friday evening. He and his friend James spent the afternoon building blinds to hide behind when shooting. Air-soft guns shoot small, round plastic pellets and our yard is now covered with these colorful ‘bullets.’ Only boys could enjoy shooting each other by the hour! They also managed to totally consume a two layer birthday cake. Since there were eight of them, Wil cut the cake into eight pieces. Dave and I didn’t even get a taste! Some of the boys spent the night, getting to sleep about midnight since they had a soccer game the next day. We thought that would be the last of the season, but they are in a tournament tomorrow and Saturday, so have had practices all week. They finished the season with three wins and two ties and lost the rest. That’s a huge improvement over the team’s first year when they lost every game! It’s also amazing that we had good weather for almost every game (though with rain coming down steadily right now and predicted for the next two days I think this tournament will be a mud bath).
I had another blood test in the middle of October and the results again are in the normal range. That’s good news! I’ll have the next CAT scan in mid November. What has been hardest to handle is the pain in my arms, especially the tendonitis in my left arm. I’ve lost a lot of range of motion due to the pain in moving it and am having to fight through the pain to regain range. With ice and Ibuprofen I’m making some progress, but it sure is slow. It’s hard even to move my arm enough to get dressed. But the lymphedema in the right arm isn’t bothering me as much, so that’s a help. I’m trying to do a lot more walking before winter rains make that more difficult. Just as rainy season is ending in the Philippines it’s starting here!
We’re having an open house on Sunday afternoon so that people from church can see how their prayers for us settling in have been answered. Many helped in the early stages of painting, etc. and haven’t seen the result. We have much to be thankful for, most of all our loving, wise, compassionate Heavenly Father.
Posted by David at 1:30 PM
October 10, 2005
God's Plans
Lampinen Prayer Bulletin
Dave & Karen Lampinen, 14300 SE Wiese Rd, Boring, OR 97009 Tel:(503)563-1146 Cell:(971) 322-8517
Dear Team, 9 October 2005
Life doesn’t always go as we plan, sometimes God takes over and pours blessings into our laps! Shortly after we wrote saying that we would be in Southern Oregon representing OMF at the end of September, we were told about a retreat for pastors and missionaries called SonScape. A retreat was being held north of Seattle from Sept. 27-Oct. 5, and the more we learned about SonScape, the more we felt it right to apply to attend. The focus of the week was on spiritual disciplines like solitude, silence, prayer, and meditation. We didn’t talk about those things, we practiced them! There were just two other couples attending, plus Larry and Barbara Magnuson from SonScape, and the couples hosting the event We had time to really rest, talk together as a couple, talk to and listen to the Lord, and receive wise counsel from the Magnusons. We were also pampered in ways none of us had ever before experienced: facials, massages, manicure and pedicure, horseback riding, sheets so soft they felt like silk, luxurious baths, incredible meals, warm, loving, generous care all reminded us just how lavish God’s love is for each of us. It’s hard to articulate just what a special privilege it was to be a part of that retreat. We went hoping the Lord would show us His plan for our future. Instead, He showed us that He loves us and wants to draw us close to Him, and to trust Him even when we can’t see the way ahead. I guess that’s what faith is, isn’t it? Trusting Him no matter what. We returned refreshed in body, soul, and spirit, determined to continue keeping Him in focus, drawing strength and hope from Him, and waiting to see who and what He wants to bring into our lives. Our purpose is to love and obey Him, wherever. I realized how much my identity had become an ‘OMF missionary in the Philippines’. And now that that identity has been taken away, at least temporarily, He has reminded me that who I really am is His child: ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven. No more, and no less.
Our prayer is that we will be able to continue to live daily in His presence and to minister to others out of the fullness and wisdom that He gives. At the moment our prayers are focused very much on two couples that we love dearly. One is Dave’s cousin Jody who will have surgery this week. The doctors think she may have colon and liver cancer. The other is Dorothea, a missionary from our church who has just learned that she has two different types of breast cancer. These women, their husbands, and families are hurting and trusting. Our hearts go out to them and we’d ask you to join us in praying for strength for them and wisdom for their doctors.
Our plan was to have Bob Lopez from PMA visit pastors in Portland while on a trip here in the US. Instead, God brought another Filipino pastor, Joy Tira, to Portland for graduate studies! He is the founder of the Filipino International Network (FIN) and is keen to help us organize a missions conference for Filipino churches in the Portland area. God’s plan, not ours.
We’re learning that having a child playing soccer is a time consuming activity for the whole family! Wil had three games this week, and three days of practice for a total of about 20 hours. He’d like to be warming the bench less and on the field more, but there too he’s learning important lessons about patience and teamwork.
Thank you for keeping us in your prayers as we go on learning to trust and obey.
Yours in Jesus, Dave and Karen
In order to grow in grace, we must spend a great deal of time in quiet solitude. Contact with others in society is not what causes the soul to grow most vigorously. In fact. One quiet hour of prayer will often yield greater results than many days spent in the company of others. It is in the desert that the dew is freshest and the air is the most pure. Andrew Bonar From Streams In The Desert, October 2.
Posted by David at 2:23 PM