Cactus Flower

Lots of Changed Hearts   We've now been in Sobradinho for 12 long years.  It seems we are finally seeing some fruit for our labors.  God is Good and the time is right.  We are thankful for several young men who have made salvation decisions this month.  Some of these are fellows we first met six years ago! A Son with a Heart for Service Greyson starting taking violin lessons while we were in the States in 2014.  Before that he played the keyboard and the recorder.  Over the past two years his talents have blossomed in direct proportion to his servitude in the church teaching recorder classes, practicing with special groups and organizing big events.  We are proud and happy to be a part of his life and work. A Son with a Heart after God's June and July of this year gave us the joy and privilege of seeing our oldest, William, and his sidekick, Kerri, here in Brazil for six weeks.  We traveled, we got lost, we ha...

Please go to the Prayer Letter tab at the top of the blog to stop by and read Byron's most recent note or click the blue link below! Cactus Flower: Byron's Prayer Letters Photos from our Children's Day event last month...

USA furlough, 2004 When my boys were small, my prayers were for things like colds and getting along with their brothers. I remember asking God that they all nap at the same time and go to sleep at a decent hour - Ah! and sleep all night long, please!  My prayer thoughts included transitions to American life and school while on furloughs and general safety while on the mission field.  Just simple things.  No snake bites, no tropical diseases, please.   safety prayer moment Now that two of my fellows are far from home and one is almost out of the nest, my prayers for each have changed just a little to things like - help them pay their bills, guide them with life choices, give them health so they won't have to pay for a doctor, keep them away from all those big temptations guys face in today's world, keep them safe.  For the longest time after William went to the States in 2015 I prayed that he wouldn't go hungry... Does he look hungry? Tod...

"It'll All Come Out in the Wash"  We've all heard the saying but have you ever really seen something fall apart after washing?  Imagine how you would feel after working for days and days on a sewing project just to have it "come apart at the seams" after a test washing!  At first I found myself literally coming apart at the seams.  But I've been through a lot over the past three years, so what's a little spilled milk!  I took a deep breathe after I pulled the little pirate quilt out of the washing machine and found many of the seams on the sailboat blocks open and coming apart.  It was distressing but I could fix it.  I looked for some advice here and there.  I prayed a little.  I got busy.   I could have thrown it in a corner and given up.  I could have ripped it all apart and started over, but sadly the some of the fabrics had shrunk from the washing experience and there just would have not been anything left.  So I h...

October 12 in Brazil is holiday called Children's Day.  It typically means that kids get out of school and get gifts from family and friends.  Teachers usually host a party or event at their schools beforehand or close to and frequently take classes on special fun field trips.  Our church hadn't done anything special on a grand scale for quite some time.  Our young people were interested and so they got to work. They organized a brand new to them skit based on the Wordless Book colors that someone had seen on Youtube!  The puppet people came up with a new story.  Several young ladies made some new song posters. One on the Sunday School classes sang a special song and some of our flute recorder students did a special presentation.  Prize bags were made ready and a snack was arranged.  Invitations were given out by door to door visits around the church and near areas where we have hosted neighborhood Bible clubs over the past year. Byron a...

The photo above has been on my refrigerator for the past three years.  It's Dalton and I ringing the old farm bell that had been at my Grandma Beckner's house for years and now stands at my mom and dad's.  It was my reminder to never give up hope.  It's slightly fading in the middle but there was always a ray of sunshine coming down from the top to the bottom. This past Sunday, September 25 at around 10:30 a.m.,  I received one of the most important calls of my life, and I almost missed it.  It was a FaceTime call and I didn't recognize the little bling bling sound.  I was in the process of putting my laptop to sleep to get to the kitchen.  Just as I was closing the lid, there was this little message line over the window that was opened to Facebook - message from Dalton... I opened the window and saw another message - missed call... We exchanged a couple of quick messages and he called back. Are you at home? Are you sitting down? I...

Not too long ago the ladies at church hosted a surprise baby shower for the young lady that was married just before Christmas.  She's not well off and doesn't have much.  She lives in a small house not much bigger than my living room.  As I considered what sort of message I wanted to pass on to her as this important moment, I began to think of what a mother really has to have before that baby comes home from the hospital. Byron and I didn't have too much when little William came home from the hospital in December of 1995.  We had been in Brazil for a year and had come with four Rubbermaid action packer boxes between us.  I had in those boxes the baby quilt I had made back in the States and two maternity dresses (just in case). My mother had been sending shoebox sized packages with onesies and assorted baby clothes all through my pregnancy.  The other missionary ladies had a baby shower for me.  We had a sturdy wooden crib donated that quite a f...