March 15th, 2011
Living He loved me,
Dying He saved me,
Buried He carried
my sins far a way.
Rising He justified
freely forever,
One day He’s
coming, oh glorious day.
Dear Friends and Family,
We sure hope this Easter greeting finds you reflecting among your friends and
family; rejoicing that we all serve a risen and living Savior. He is risen
indeed!
Both Kim and I realize this is a long overdue Lewis Lines and we’re sorry for
the huge gap between communications. With this only being our second furlough
we certainly don’t have a whole lot to compare it to, however, we have looked
at each other numerous times and commented to the fact of how much this
particular ‘home assignment’ was just what the doctor ordered. Not only has it
been a ‘fairy tale’ school year for the kids with opportunities and adventures
that we could only have dreamed of, it’s been a wonderful chance for Kim and me
to revive (how do you get it all into one word? lol). You could plug in just
about any word that best describes all the encouragement we’ve received, the
rejuvenation of our bodies and spirits, the love and support we’ve felt and the
fantastic memories we’ve been able to make while living here in Cedarville, OH.
We definitely couldn’t have done it without your faithful prayers and
sacrificial support – even though we’re living here in the US and not back in the jungles of Cambodia
(that’s coming up, though and we’re excited).
Back in February, we were given the fantastic opportunity to fly out to sunny
southern California (any hint of homesickness
there? wink,wink) and share with many of you, all that the Lord had allowed us
to be involved with while in Cambodia this last term. You wouldn’t believe how
refreshing that was to recount all that the Lord had done; the adventures that
we’d lived through (some barely survived) and all that was accomplished.
Several times it became evident that God was re-igniting the flame in our
hearts that had, quite frankly, all but died out without us realizing it. It
was super scary to get behind the pulpit again. “What?” you may ask. Well, it’s
hard to explain but having not had that kind of opportunity for 6 years, I
guess I was a little rusty. Ha! Imagine Kim’s ‘horror’ (lol) when she found out
that she’d be sharing with possibly hundreds of women at their weekly bible
study. I was told several times she did a fantastic job and everyone was
thrilled to finally meet Logan
as well. Not only was the reunion with our ‘church family’ extra sweet but we
made a ton of new friends who are willing to pray and partner up with us. We
were given 10 fabulous days and loved every minute of it. Logan
experienced the chill and thrill of playing in the Pacific
Ocean for the first time and both Kim and I enjoyed some flavors
of food that had been sorely missed i.e. Albertos. Kim’s folks stayed with our
older five at the house here in Cedarville and that was a blessing beyond
measure to be given that peace of mind while so far apart.
I do know that my comment above, about the ‘fairy tale’ school year our kids
are experiencing, has caused some of you to want more details and rightly so.
First off, you have to understand that our children have never experienced the
variety and diversity of opportunities that schools here in America offer e.g.
activities, organized athletics, field trips, drama programs to name a few.
Sure, they’ve accumulated a whole different set of experiences having grown up
in Cambodia, many of which might be envied by some, however, it has thrilled
Kim and my hearts to see our children thrive and watch them experience a ‘slice
of Americana’. Jordan stood
out in her performance of Eve in the production, “Meet Me in St. Louis”. The play was a huge success and
every seat was sold for every performance. Jordan had so much fun and to see
her beaming face after every show was simply priceless. At about the same time,
Jordan
applied for a barista position at the local coffee shop and to everyone’s
(literally) surprise, she got the job. She was simply stunning the night of her
Senior Prom, as well. She’s witnessed the Lord’s provisions personally and it
thrills our hearts to see her adjusting so well (and now that she’s got her
driver’s license, watch out!) With her acceptance to Cedarville University, Jordan
is now preparing to step off onto another big adventure.
Colton, Hailey and Austin have been busy making memories of
their own. Many of you will remember that Colton
was born with club feet and even though he’s had a couple surgeries that allow
him to walk and play it’s always been the doctor’s prognosis that he’d never
play sports or be athletic. Well, you can imagine our surprise when Colton announced that he
wanted to play basketball for the fifth grade team. He did a fantastic job and
even started several of the games even though he’d never played basketball.
Sometimes he’d be begging me to take him to the college’s gym at 8:30pm just
for 20 minutes of shooting baskets. It was so much fun to watch him and even
though there were some evenings his feet were too sore to stand on you could
tell he loved the game. Hailey announced that she wanted to be a cheerleader.
Really? Yup – so she and a friend spent hours in the garage learning the cheers
and memorizing all the moves. Sure enough, she made the 8th grade
squad and traveled with the 8th grade basketball team and cheered
for all her games. The whole family would show up to support Hailey’s
cheerleading squad. Another highlight for Hailey was her middle school trip to Washington, DC.
What a fantastic opportunity to see our nation’s capitol and be on an adventure
with her friends and peers. Currently, Hailey is practicing for the role she
won in the middle school’s production of “Divine Stella Divine” and we’ll have
to let you know how that turns out later in the year. Not to be outdone by his
siblings, Austin
came home from school one day saying that he had just attended the tennis team
meeting and wanted to play. With Austin
never holding a tennis racquet before, I was sort of mystified as to how this
all might play out. He is a natural athlete so we went and bought a racquet and
headed over to the University’s gym to ‘whack’ some balls. I must say, he’s
blown me away. With only 7 spots on the varsity team, Austin has been able to challenge and
consistently beat the #7 player and is now playing varsity tennis. And guess
who the assistant coach is? Yep, yours truly – simply because I played my
sophomore year in high school and have access to a wealth of internet
information. Ha! Austin
loves to play and Kim is his biggest fan - attending all of his matches and
giving him the parental support that his coach can’t. lol
Of course we can’t forget Logan and Cody, can we? Logan is taking part in both physical therapy
and speech therapy sessions. Kim really felt strongly that Logan was facing some deficits due to the
hardship his mother and he faced during pregnancy and just before her death.
Sure enough, at 4 Logan
was tested at about the level of a 2 year old. Since then he’s progressed
dramatically and the gap is closing fast, which is fantastic news. Logan sure loves his
biggest brother and screams out, “Coooodyyyy” whenever Cody walks through the
door. Cody has done so well with this semester’s work load and his grades have
made us so proud. His involvement with Air Force ROTC has certainly kept him
busy but he seems to thrive on it all. He’s even managed to join a ‘secret’
group called the Arnold Society (Dad, if I told you…I’d have to kill youJ) and loves every minute of it even
though the stress of it all worries his mother a lot. Cody wants to lead men
and women and be a visible witness for the Lord in all he does. He’s been
notified that next year he’ll be a discipleship leader for his dorm. You can
pray for Cody that he’ll remain healthy, strong and alert through finals week.
Cody has another request and that is that he would like to work during the
summer – if you know of an opportunity we would love to hear from you, however,
please pray that God would provide a job for Cody.
There you have it – quite a ‘fairy tale’ year to say the least. We just thank
God for His faithfulness and goodness, having lead us to this tiny community
and for all these wonderful experiences. Our schedule is filling up as we make
plans for the summer. Initially, we’ll be traveling east to New Jersey to visit some of you and then
make our way back out West for the rest of the summer. We want to physically
reconnect with as many of you as humanly possible and hopefully that will
happen this summer or next fall. We would be extremely grateful for your
prayers concerning the following items: 1 – Strong finishing for all five kids
as the school year draws to a close. 2 – God’s traveling mercies for this
summer as we crisscross the US.
3 – God’s continued provision for all the expenses we are facing in the near
and not too distant future. 4 – For all that needs to get done so that we can
return to Cambodia
in December of this year.
Thank-you so much for your gracious love and care for our family and ministry,
both in prayer, encouragement and financial support. We rejoice with you during
this time when we remember what Jesus had to endure in order to ‘snatch’ us
from death and to give us life eternal.
Lots of love,
Ralph, Kim, Cody, Jordan,
Austin, Hailey, Colton
and Logan
