One year complete/One year to go

It has been an awesome semester, an awesome year at school, and an awesome year for our family!
This semester was very hands-on, with a lot of work bending metal and making cool projects (see pictures below), taking apart struts and other hydraulic components, rigging flight controls, and treating corrosion.

The highlight has to be the very end, when Erin and the kids came to see the airplanes and hang out with me for the afternoon after finals were over.  Elsie just had to see the 'band-aid' I put on the airplane (left and below).  We hopped into several airplanes and let her and Sammy pretend to fly.  Elsie was scared when we sat in the newest addition to the school's fleet: the former Detroit Piston's (basketball team) DC-9.  She felt like she was so high up while sitting up in the flight deck.  So what does she do next?... She points to the older DC-9 in our hanger and wants to look at the tail section, which is up three flights of scaffolding with little to no guarded rails on the sides!  Apparently, this is not scary, but sitting cozy in the flight deck on cushy seats and tons of buttons is just too much.

After finals were completely done, we took the kids to a water park in town and had a blast!  The internship with the Fargo Jet Center begins on Monday, May 20th.  It looks like it will be a very hands-on internship as well.  We are so blessed by all the open doors we see God unfolding before us.  Thank you for praying for us and thinking about our family as we continue pursuing the call God has placed on our hearts!  We are looking forward to a fun summer close to family, and hope you will all be able to enjoy quality time with your friends and family.

 Elsie beginning to get scared...

 Elsie running out the back of the plane...

Elsie climbed next to the top of this scaffolding (with me guiding her.  No big deal apparently.



















In just one year, we hope to be showing up in Idaho for our big interview with Mission Aviation Fellowship! We are excited to arrive at that point, but we are also enjoying where God has us here and now.

Bless you all in Christ!

Here are some more pictures of some the fun projects in sheet metal...

 This is a curved piece with three different bended supports attached (the outer two are common rivets and the center are countersunk or flush)

 This is called a pulley bracket, and it is an actual part from a Boeing 727.  This combines pretty much everything we learned in the class, and was a lot of fun to make!

This was just an extra fun project that I worked on outside of class.  It's a spark plug holder, which will come in handy down the road when working on engines.

Maintenance Internship!!!

                                             

God has blessed us and answered prayer for a tremendous opportunity as a maintenance intern with the Fargo Jet Center!  During the internship, I will work alongside other professional mechanics on a wide variety of aircraft and be able to apply the education from this last year into a real-world setting.  Fargo Jet Center has an outstanding reputation in the region, and even the world, for high quality maintenance.  They work with everything from corporate jets, to local commercial operators, to aircraft in their flight school, and several private owners of small aircraft.  This is really a huge honor!

Did I mention that we know some people (Erin's folks) who live right across the street too!  God is so good!  We want to thank everyone who continues to pray for us as we follow the path laid before us.  We hope you are all enjoying a warm spring (warm... as in NOT 35 degrees like us)!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

 Elsie runs to the door to greet me after getting done with school for the day!  As I run to meet her from the other side of the door, I can hardly wait.  She struggles to open our front door, (which sticks due to a tight fit), and after a little help, the door opens and I see what I have been waiting for since I started the day 12 hours and 15 minutes before.  Elsie is smiling and laughing, with stories flying out of her about nearly everything that happened during the day, questions about my day, questions about whether I want to play with her... I stop to make sure she is still stopping to take a breath every now and then.  Then I look at Sammy, who is also smiling big and making his best efforts to say "da-da-da-da" and crawling like a race car in my direction.  I give each of them a warm embrace and spend quality time catching up with all that I missed, then it's time to share a meal at supper together.  This is what life is all about folks!  When I was flying with the airlines, I would only get this kind of greeting once a week.  I was missing out!

Our average day is like most in this phase of life: busy!  I was challenged in a recent sermon to evaluate my love for God and others.  I realized that the lens I look through on most days is more of a task-completion lens... what needs to be done, what do I need to prepare for next, what can I do to get ahead and stay on top of things... wrong lens.  While all of that is important, and still needs to be addressed in every day life, it falls short of truly living.   This mindset is an easy trap to fall into. It leads to more doing and planning, more stress and worry - while producing less reliance on God, less rest, less peace, and less joy.  As Paul so eloquently described, "And I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. (I Corinthians 12: 30- 13:1-3)  In this letter to the Corinthian church, on the subject of worship, love is Paul's answer to our greatest means of genuine worship.  If the church gets that right, it will be on the right track.  Focusing on other goals or programs while failing to genuinely love means failure no matter how great the appearances seem from the surface.  You have to really be intentional about putting on that lens and living through it day after day.  This message has been stirring within me for the past week as I have considered how I am doing with loving God and others.  Is this my focus?  Would others close to me say of me that I am loving them in such a way that they know the love of God?  I am praying for a deepening capacity to love, and I am seeking a greater capacity to see the world around me through the lens that the Father sees.

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us." (I John 4:11-12)

"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you." (John 15:12)

School is going awesome!  I was absolutely stunned to learn about a scholarship opportunity on a recent Friday afternoon, as the school receptionist was walking through the lunch area asking random students who were residents of North Dakota.  I picked one up, filled out a short essay over the weekend, turned in a couple teacher recommendations, and submitted in on Monday.  On Wednesday, I was notified I had received the $1000 scholarship!!!  God is so good!  This is another demonstration, on top of several others in recent weeks, where God has abundantly supplied our needs as we have trusted Him and waited for Him to act.  Here are some recent projects at school, where good times are being had by all!

 This is a Piper Aztec twin engine aircraft with no rudder... yet.

 This is the rudder being put back on with a lot of help and coordination.  We had taken it off to do a control surface balance, which is important to prevent flutter (vibration during flight).

 I'm pretty sure that these pieces of metal will not come apart!  In sheet metal, we have done a lot of riveting, drilling, re-drilling, rivet-removal, and re-installation of more rivets.  There are thousands of these on most aircraft... and they hold everything together.

 This is actually two channels of sheet metal that were carefully calculated to fit into each other at specific dimensions (the next picture shows them side by side, in this one they are together).  Bending is a lot of fun!

 Before you can produce the finished bend with the correct dimensions, you do a lot of simple math and lay everything out so you can apply the math to the tool that makes the bend.

 These are copper tools that we hand made with a hammer and welding torch.  They are used in hydraulic systems to install and remove O-Rings.

Below is an I-beam made from four separate flanges and another middle piece.  The big whole is called a lightening whole which has nothing to do with lightning.  It reduces weight.

                                                                   

                           

 This is a spoiler actuator from our DC-9, taken off and disassembled.  It was fun and a bit of a challenge getting this off the plane correctly.

 This is called a spool valve, and it converts mechanical motion from a cable and linkage shown on the left side of the valve, to hydraulic actuation to drive the spoilers during flight.  This valve specifically ensures that as that mechanical motion translates into hydraulic power, it happens proportionally versus all at once.

 This is what it looks like all together re-installed, tucked in safe and sound.

 More on the way!  This semester is flying by pretty fast!

Reflections on the Joy and Wonder of Christmas

 "And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)

"He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.  Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:11-12)

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." (3 John 1:4)

Year after year we celebrate Christmas.  Friends and family time are shared and cherished in a special way, people decorate and bake more than usual, songs are sung, gifts are given.  It is beautiful!  It should be beautiful!  It should be celebrated, and it should be special... and not just for a season.  It is God's greatest gift of love, given to us: Himself in the flesh... in the Person of Jesus Christ.  In Him is the fullness of this light and love where we are truly satisfied and find abundant life..  The truth that God chose to take on flesh, and dwell among us in such a marvelously humble way never ceases to cause my heart to stir and reflect on Who God is, and what He is all about.  It is such an unsearchable mystery! The truth of Jesus coming to dwell among us is not just an historical fact from 2000 years ago that we recall once a year and feel uplifted for a time, then go back to day-to-day life.  Jesus was born, revealed the fulness of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, then He died, was raised, and ascended to the Father's right hand - where He poured out His Holy Spirit to dwell in the temple of our hearts forever!  He lives in each of us and is still at work - dwelling among His people and drawing more to His grace and truth.  He desires to abide in us and is still working to extend that loving zeal in amazing ways throughout the world.

Close to home, it is exciting to watch Him at work in our little family.  As Elsie and I were reading the Christmas story a couple weeks ago, we decided to pretend to be Mary and Joseph and find the manger for baby Jesus to be born in.  Elsie has since taken a special liking to Mary and frequently dresses up spontaneously - seeking to take on a more intimate connection to the story.  For her, the Word is coming alive!  It brings Erin and I to appreciate how God is revealing Himself in a tangible way to Elsie, and brings about many laughs along the way!  As Elsie identifies with the Christmas story, and belts out Christmas hymns at the top of her lungs, we are witnessing the Word becoming flesh and making His dwelling among us... in our little home, in beautiful and treasured ways!

Sam-the-man, Samster-the-manster, or in a recent discovery: Sambo-the-rambo, is growing up fast as a special part of our family.  It is always fun to watch the week-to-week changes in development, and watching how Elsie adjusts to being a big sister (key word=adjusts).

I hope you and your family is able to enjoy the many blessings you receive from our great God, knowing that the greatest joy we have is God with us here and now - revealing Himself in tangible ways day in and day out.

                           Merry Christmas to all!

Fun Projects

The end of the first semester is near, and I thought I would share some photos of what I've been up to all this time.  I have learned a lot and had a lot of fun at the same time!

Here is our fabric covering project for a left horizontal stabilizer, painted.... John Deere Yellow!

Here is a "buzz box" used to time magneto's on the engine.  We got to solder all of this together and keep it for our own use - pretty cool!

Here are some shop tools projects.  The first is a precision machined part using a mill, and steel stock.  The other is a 11/16" brass punch - made from a metal lathe, which I gave to my Dad for Christmas.

Finally I thought I would share a picture of my tool box.  Because we are students, we get pretty incredible discounts on tools and equipment.

May God use all the instruments He equips me with to bring Him glory!  Thank you God for a great semester (and please help me do well on all my finals). Amen.

Thank you to all who are thinking about us and keeping us in prayer!  May God bless you with a very wonderful Christmas!

The Glory of the Gospel: The Glory of God

"Therefore, we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (II Corinthians 4:16-18)

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

"For God, Who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness', made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ." (II Corinthians 4:6)



I recently watched a video of this incredible story of a missionary family in Indonesia.  A man named Don Richardson and his family were called by God to share the gospel with a tribe in Indonesia who were on a deadly path to extinction due to tribal warfare and ongoing violence.  It got so bad that he shared with the tribe that if they did not soon change their hearts away from violence and constant fighting with neighboring tribes, he and his family would have to leave.

Amazingly, this led the tribes to begin working toward peace!  To demonstrate this tangibly, one of the neighboring tribes offered a "peace child" to their enemies.  Don Richardson and his family saw this as the perfect opportunity to share the gospel with them - how God sent his peace-child to the world.

That was 50 years ago, and this short video shows how the gospel has taken root and completely transformed this region into a peaceful people who are seeking God and becoming awakened to His glory:

Video: Never the Same

There is footage of MAF transporting Don Richardson and his family back to the tribe for a 50 year anniversary celebration.  I hope you are encouraged and blessed as our family was to witness and celebrate God's hand working through all His partners in the gospel, as Christ is revealed, shared, and celebrated to all tribes and nations!

To God be the Glory

"As for God, His way is perfect: The Lord's word is flawless; He shields all who take refuge in Him.  For Who is God besides the Lord?  And Who is the Rock except our God?  It is God Who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.  He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; He causes me to stand on the heights.  He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.  You make Your saving help my shield, and Your right hand sustains me; Your help has made me great.  You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way." (Psalm 18:30-36)


















This pretty much sums it up in words far better than I could have imagined... we have a great life!  We have been so blessed by the hands and heart of God!  Look at the darling wife that God prepared for me, and the children we have been blessed with!  We recently celebrated five years of marriage in September (and have been a little on the busy side with moving and settling into a new rhythm with school and Erin beginning a new job - which explains the delay in updating our blog lately), and as I reflected on what we have experienced in just five short years together, I have truly been amazed by the consistent way God has blessed us.  We certainly have witnessed the hand of God working in our lives, and are thankful for these immeasurable gifts He has given.  What will the next five years hold?  How about the next ten or twenty years?  Even a lifetime!

Before Erin and I were married, we both went through a time of waiting on the Lord and growing independently with Him first.  There is a special verse/story from Genesis that remains an ongoing reminder to us today about God's Sovereignty and unique plans for His children:

"So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her." (Genesis 29:20)

Jacob waited for God's timing.  Jacob trusted God and His unique plan.  I often wonder what it would have been like if Jacob wasn't willing to wait for Rachel... I'm sure those seven years of waiting were not just a walk in the park for either of them.  It certainly wasn't a walk in the park for us.  Looking back, however, I am amazed what God taught us during that time, and I know we are better together today because of it.  In a sense just like Jacob, they seemed as mere days in the grand scheme of the rest of our lives together.

That is similar to where we find ourselves now.  We are adjusting to a new schedule and lifestyle with the recent move and many changes.  Through it all, we remember how God has worked in our lives in the past in perfect faithfulness, and in ways that surprised us.  Behind the scenes, God is good... infinitely good, and we can trust what He has planned for us tomorrow, and the next day, and the next years ahead.  We are witnessing many answers to prayer, and are thankful for all who might be following us and lifting us up.  School has been going great, and Erin's job is a perfect fit for our already tight schedule.  We are surrounded by family, and are settling into the church we went to during college.

We hope you and your families also can reflect and enjoy the hands of the Lord touching your lives as He has touched ours... that you will also know in increasing measure how great our God is to His children!  May God bless you!

"Now to the King Eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (I Timothy 1:17)

In deed, to God be the glory forever!