From Hong Kong

Darren here in Hong Kong continuing to learn what God is doing in the area of teaching and education. I have been really blessed here listening to speakers like Gary Chapman and Phil Callaway to mention a couple. The speakers are good and just the reminder is good to continue to grow in the knowledge of Christ because this is what will impact the students. I think that so far this is the general message that I have received from this conference, your own personal relationship with Christ will determine how well you are impacting students.

Janna and the kids seem to be doing alright in my absence although it feels alittle long to have been an incomplete family for 3 weeks. I thank God each second for the wonderful family that He has blessed me with. I look forward to getting back there in a couple of days.

Happy thanksgiving to all my American friends out there, i hope that you sat and watched some NFL for me on thanksgiving day. I missed all the games but were following them on Yahoo stattracker.

My God continue to bless you all.

Janna will return Nov 23rd...

Janna will return Nov 23rd in the morning and I will depart Nov 24th. Quite the timing. Janna has had to stay in Singapore for longer than expected which has been a bit stressful on our family. The kids are doing great helping out and adjusting their schedules with all of the changes. Janna is wishing that she could come home sooner but it just has not worked out thus far. Continue to think of her as she tries to find things to do that are not too expensive and that she can really enjoy. I have been praying that this would just be a time of renewal for her as she can rest and think about other things besides always thinking about us.

I must say that for all the single parents out there, you job is enormous. My hat goes off to you. You become vulnerable always asking people to help you out. For example today is a half day for the students but the teachers are in meetings so I have to try to find a place for Jalen to go for the afternoon. All of these things just continue to add up after a while. I am very thankful that Janna is returning next Sunday.

Life continues to fly by as another birthday season has come and gone. I am the last in our family to have a birthday and it just continues to show me the importance of working for Christ. Because I feel like I just had my birthday, what have I done in the last year that has eternal consequences?? I sure hope something. So often we want to think of ourselves but I think that looking back on life we will regret thinking only of ourselves. So often I feel the best inside while thinking and doing things for others. May we strive to serve so that our lives here on earth have eternal value.

Janna in Singapore

Janna has now been in Singapore for 1 week and the kids and I are still alive and kicking. We all miss mom very much but we are doing alright.

It sounds as though Janna will be home this week which we are excited about. The friend that she went with came through surgery with no problems and then the next day slipped with her crutch and put all her weight on the foot. Sounds as though things are still progressing just fine. Please continue to pray for this whole situation.

This week I will be getting ready for the substitute teacher while I go to Hong Kong for a teacher conference.

This week I spoke in the high school chapel about living with the end in mind and using our talents and gifts to Glorify God. God has been working in my life with some of these very issues. My heart desires to use the talents for His Glory. Lord show me this week how I can do this.

Forgot

Oh yah one other thing that I wanted to comment on. Last week was Jalen's and Kaya's spirit week at school. For waky hair day we shaved Jalen's head and gave him a mohawk. It looked great and suited him but on Sunday he asked me if I could please shave the rest off so I did. He won first place in his class for the mohawk. Kaya really wanted us to shave her head too but we told her that her hair was too special. Janna made it so that it stood straight up.

Another day was character day and so Jalen and Kaya dressed up as two characters from Super Mario Galaxy. Jalen was a Luma and Kaya was princess Peach the princess that Mario tries to save. They were super cute. Again Jalen won in his class for his costume (This costume took Janna and I took hours to make the night before)

Other days were PJ day, clown day, and I forget the last one. All in all great time for the kids and crazy amounts of work for the parents. Now I know how you felt MOM.

Janna to Singapore

Yesterday Janna accompanied one of our friends to Singapore. She took off from Jayapura with boarding passes to Jakarta and then from then onto Singapore. While on the plane to Bali Janna thought "hey Darren always double checks things" so she did and realized that their bags were getting off at Bali. For some unknown reason the person at the Jayapura airport booked them to Jakarta and their bags to Bali. Only in Indonesia! Lucky that Janna caught that because otherwise there is a good chance that they would not have had their bags in Singapore.

But last night I got an email from Janna saying that they are there safely and TODAY is the doctors appointment. Singapore medical moves quick, unlike the western countries. So we are hoping that they will only be gone for one week. Just to make sure that everyone understands, Janna is not going to the doctor but her friend is. Janna is there to support and help out in any way that she can.

This means that the kids and I are on our own. This morning everything went great. We ate got dressed and I scrambled to get their lunches and things together. We have been without Janna now for 24hours and we are still surviving. Thanks for praying. Yesterday the kids and I had a great time relaxing and swimming at the local pool. God Bless!