In Remembrance of Me

March 29, 2013

“And he took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.” -Luke 22:19 Last night our family had the Passover Seder (a shortened and modified version). It was a little late, but fit nicely with […]

Shadowing Jude

January 26, 2013

The best way I have found to slow Jude down while on a walk through our village is to make him wear shoes. 🙂 Only while his feet are constrained to civilized attire will he actually WALK with me (as opposed to run) as we visit our friends here. Life is like that for Jude-full […]

Growing Along with Each Other

December 29, 2012

I try to never work out. I think I am allergic to physical activity. Anytime I exert energy, I break out in sweat and my heart starts racing, not to mention I feel out of breath. Afterwards, the next day, my muscles feel sore. Recently, however, I got my hands on some professional jump ropes […]

A Very Good Place to Start

August 31, 2012

Maria was right. The beginning is a very good place to start. “Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do” were the first musical notes the Vontrap family children needed to master to become the talented group of singers they would later become. In the classic film The Sound of Music, Maria knew that before […]

These Are A Few of My Favorite Truths

August 9, 2012

When you walk into our home, the first thing that might catch your eye is the large painting that greets you upon your entrance. Beth painted it several months ago and it serves not only as decoration for an otherwise boring wall, but as a vital reminder to us about what is most important in […]

Great(er) Expectations

April 24, 2012

Beth and I enjoyed some small talk with our premarital counselors Todd & Ruth Ann. We were still a couple of months away from our wedding, and each session of premarital counseling brought us closer and closer to the big day. We had asked them to do our counseling since we had observed their marriage […]

Normal.

January 22, 2012

I’m sitting at our table clicking away on my laptop and I just watched two of our neighbors walk by carrying huge branches on their shoulders slung with dozens of coconuts. Yes it’s true, life here is “different.” We’ve shared a lot about the differences of our lives now that we live in a village […]

Earning Grace

September 27, 2011

A few years ago a friend and I were at a missions conference when we got into a discussion about the “right” way to eat bananas. I laughed at first, but after hearing his arguments, I became convinced that he was on to something. The first thing he shared with me was how bananas grow […]

Iris, Our Strong Little Flower

July 6, 2011

As most of you know, our wonderful daughter Iris (Hebrew, meaning “flower”) has finally made her entrance into the world! Every day we are filled with praise to the Lord for her life and feel incredibly blessed. We wanted to share with you a little more detail about how Iris was born to give more glory to […]

Family, Friends & Goals

May 29, 2011

Wow. We have already been home for a month and a half. For sure, it has flown by! Our last few weeks have been met with an endless supply of encouragement from guests visiting our home, mostly missionaries preparing to leave for the field or fresh off the field on home assignment like Beth & […]