“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.”
— Lamentations
There’s no better way to start this than with that verse from Lamentations. We could write our own book of lamentations too and we wouldn’t need to try that hard. But the focus of that verse is the steadfast LOVE of the Lord. Because it’s steadfast, we have hope, even when the stuff of life is not hope-full.
Bethany came down with a bad case of Flu-A while we were traveling west to help represent https://ethnos360.org at the large, student-focused missions conference, URBANA. We got as far as Springfield, Missouri to see friends on the way when Bethany came down with this virus and we were advised to make our way home. So instead of flying on to Phoenix, we changed and canceled flights and made our way back home on Sunday.
Bethany started some prescriptions and was making slow improvement until a nasty complication we are familiar with took hold. She’s got a salivary-gland infection which causes a ton of pain and swelling in the jaw area on both sides of her face. And after 24 hours on antibiotics for it, the pain is only worse and we’re in the ER as I type this (I’m becoming something of a war-time or battlefront correspondent it seems) ready to ring in the new year of 2026 potentially in the hospital.
Yet, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
Ending the Year on a ___note (fill in the blank)
So, here we are ending the year on a ____ note. Low, sad, painful, sick—take your pick. But we call to mind the truth that we trust has formed a bedrock in our lives for times like this and keep choosing to believe that it’s true.
I told a friend that the voices of doubt, cynicism, ambivalence, and anger are all loud and easy to hear, but the voice of the truth—the voice I want to hear—is oftentimes the quietest and requires concentration to hear. That may be the case, and I’m straining my ears to hear it and stay fixed on it.
As we end the year, pray for us friends! We’re experiencing short-term pain, lack, and need mixed with long-term joy, comfort, peace, and confidence. Sometimes it’s hard to hold all of that, and we need you to pray for us as we do that.
End of the Year Hopes and Prayer Requests
Before we go, I do want to share with you that we HOPE to be able to share more about the things we did in 2025 and what we’re looking forward to in 2026. There are big, exciting things in both categories, but things like Bethany’s current illness temper our excitement and even at times our hope that we can do these things.
So pray for us in that, that the Lord would allow health to not limit us as much as it has recently.
And please pray that the Lord would provide for our financial needs. We are still facing debt from the past few years’ medical and household challenges, and our monthly financial support is not equal to those needs. Our biggest need is for more regular monthly supporters, though we’re able to make ends meet oftentimes by one-time or infrequent gifts.
We are in this ministry, with our lives fully invested because of the support we have from you. Don’t let go of the ropes, OK? Hold tight with us and ask the Lord to show up more and more in all the ways we trust Him to.
PS: We just took family photos and have new prayer cards. If you would like one, let us know in an email or a message
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