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| My flowers have finally blossomed! Living examples of God's continued work despite circumstances. |
Dear Friends and Family,
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| March |
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| April |
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| May |
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| June |
We hope you joyously celebrated Christ's victory over sin and death in April. This, of course, is the greatest and daily celebration of the Christian life. In March, We also celebrated Megan and Nathaniel's birthdays. Nathaniel is 15 months old now! He no longer nurses, he sleeps in his own room, has 9 teeth (and counting!) and he continues to delight us with his happy, expressive, and curious personality. Benjamin and Megan both enjoy how his companionship is becoming more interactive.
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| First Camping Trip of 2020 (in Mom's backyard). |
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| First Houlton Dairy Ice Cream of 2020 (a big success with the Little One). |
Covid-19 seems only to have brought minor changes to our everyday lives, though the emotional affects are much larger. Thankfully, Benjamin is considered an "essential worker." He has also been accepted to Veritas Bible College as a full-time, online student for this fall semester. This is an answer to prayer and he has already begun part-time summer classes. This does mean that he is much busier now, though, and means we will have to make some changes as a family starting in August. Specifically, once Benjamin begins full-time classes, he will no longer be able to work full-time; so, we have been asking God for direction concerning housing and work this next year. We are considering ways to lessen expenses and/or generate more income. During the past few months we have been temporarily disappointed to see some doors close, but we are confident that God's timing and leading are perfect!
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| LOVED playing games with these boys when it was snowy out. |
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| So happy to be able to go outside with my neices! |
The amount of babysitting Megan does has fluctuated quite a lot during this time, due to the changing availability of schools and daycares. During days when she is not babysitting, it has been very nice to be able to go outside (we haven't seen any snow since May). Megan has also earned a TEFL certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) which will enable her to apply to teach English to foreign students online, and is trying to jumpstart some freelance editing and proofreading through UpWork. We keep knocking on doors and praying that God will open the one He wants us to walk through at the appointed time.
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| First Haystack Hike of 2020 (with sister Rebeccah). |
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| First Outdoor Picnic of 2020 (not counting the one we took when there was still ice in the river!). |
The studies we were hosting in our home ended just before "social distancing." Benjamin has not ceased his study and teaching though! Attached, below, is one of the devotionals he shared on Facebook at the beginning of the corona quarantining. Benjamin has also prepared a sermon on Deuteronomy that he has permission to deliver at our church when services are back in stride. Currently, we have been primarily been meeting for "drive-through" services.
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| SOOO thankful for the friends that we have been able to spend time with over the past few months. They have been a life ring and have also been tutoring us in music, adding to our family hobbies. |
We have really enjoyed spending time together as a family this spring. Our new hobby is biking around neighboring towns on the weekends! Nathaniel enjoys being towed behind in his trailer and slows Benjamin down enough so that Megan can keep up. :) On June 2nd we celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary! In some ways, it seems that it can't have been two years already. On the other hand, we are amazed at the amount of spiritual and personal growth that we have seen in each other and in our marriage! We are so thankful to God for joining us together in marriage and for all that He is teaching us through it and where He is bringing us together.
Please Pray with us:
1) That God would clearly guide us in a united direction for this coming school year.
2) That we would be willing to do anything that God asks of us and to serve in the ways that He shows us.
3) That God would bless, guide, correct and heal our families! The biggest stress these past few months has been the sin, medical, housing and relational struggles that have arisen on both sides of our family.
Thank you for your prayers!
We pray that this update finds you all healthy and well. We pray that your church and family has unity and strength at this time and that you are experiencing the peace and sovereignty of our Lord.
(Don't forget to check out Benjamin's article below, if you haven't already seen it on FB.)
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| "Nathaniel, meet Pollen." |
Blessings,
Benjamin, Megan & Nathaniel McEndarfer
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A Response to COVID-19 (A Call for Christians):
I know for certain that no one on social media is unaware of the situation that we as a country are in. Everyone has been affected in some way due to this Coronavirus that is going around. Today I wanted to give a different look at the situation and a call for Christians. First let’s ask a few questions concerning our being Christians and where we have our hope, trust and security. As Christians where is our hope? Are we to live in fear? Who is in control of ALL life and where is our Home?
The answers to these questions can be found in the place that all truth is found - the Word of God. Where is our hope? Our Hope is always in the LORD; he is our hope and peace. As David said in Psa. 39:7, “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.” And in Romans 15:13 we find that the Spirit indwelling us gives us the power to have this hope: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” So, our hope is not that we don’t get sick during this pandemic but in the Lord Himself.
Who is in Control of all life? We can look at the Scriptures again for this answer. Psa. 135:6, “Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.” And again, in Job and Isaiah we see that the Lord is in complete control. Job 12:9, “Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” Isa.45:7 “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.” It is the Lord who is in control of our life and all life. Even Jesus said, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Mat. 6:27). God is in complete control of all circumstances no matter how hard or contagious they seem.
Now for the last question: Where is our home? Again, the Word of God answers this as well. It is said of Abraham in Hebrews 11:10, ”For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.“ And again in Hebrews 11:13: “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth, For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.” As Christians this home is not our dwelling place. We seek after a greater dwelling place; we seek after a kingdom that will last forever. Jesus is the one who prepares this place for us. John 14:1, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
An important question to ask then is what should our response be to the current circumstances? As Christians our response should be different than the world’s. If we are responding the same as the world then we are missing something important - we are missing the fact that our Hope is in the Lord, we are missing the fact that it is God who is in Control and we are missing the fact that this world is perishing and is not our home.
But that does not answer the question. To answer this question, again we need to look at the Word of God. We first need to obey those in authority over us, for it is God who puts them in charge – Rom. 13:1, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” Now, to clarify, if the governing authorities were asking us to do something contrary to the Word of God then we would obey the Word of God before the authorities. We also know that we are not to be anxious or fearful during this time: Mat. 6:34, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” And in 2 Tim. 1:7, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” God has made it clear that our response needs to be one that is different than the world: one that shows we have Hope, one that shows we understand that it is God who is in control, one that is not full of fear, and a response that shows that this world - as much as we enjoy it - is not our home, rather, our Home is with Christ. This needs to be our response during this time.
Now for the call for Christians. Again, I believe the Word of God has this call. Heb 10:23, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” We live in such an amazing time where we can gather without physically being near each other, where we can stir one another up without seeing a person face to face. So, as we continue to go about our week, let us hold fast to our faith, let us consider how to stir up one another and let us encourage each other. Php. 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
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