2012-12-16 Cook's Short Order Update

We have been working for a couple weeks (among other critical things) on a different email format. We hope to send it out this week. We appreciate your patience as we get this new format wrapped up.

2012-11-27 Short Order Update

Cook's Short Order Update
Finally, a few moments to write an update.

Thanks giving. Giving thanks. Time with family and friends. We enjoyed a feast with our staff (and some additional family and friends) at Camp David of the Ozarks. Later that evening we helped serve a feast of thanks and worship and food at our church. Saturday was just our family, just the six of us helping prepare the meal, making the house look warm and homey, sharing the day as family.

While we are being stretched in ways that are uncomfortable to painful, God has shown Himself to care for us abundantly. Seeing God's care is where we want to find ourselves, even in the discomfort.

Please pray as we minister this weekend in Rolla. The city is hosting a parade and Camp David of the Ozarks will be in it. What a great time to share in the community.

We rarely ask you directly for anything but maybe that's wrong. If we don't ask, you won't know our needs. So, let me share some things and ask you to pray diligently that God will supply.

We are currently at 22% of our needed monthly living expenses. Bruce is seeking part time jobs that allow us the flexibility to serve at camp during retreats and take trips for recruiting and fund raising, Please pray that we will find work that alleviates our financial burden. While we are thankful, the substitute bus driving is not very substantial.

Michelle is seeking to start a business producing homemade crafts and such. While we are not counting on this for living expenses, it could help when things are very tight. Pray for God's blessing as we plan.

Please know that when God graciously supplies our support need we will budget for these things just like anyone else. In the mean time, we believe our God will meet these needs through people who can't support us on a monthly basis.

We hope you won't see any of this as complaining. God has been so good to us. We have a warm home, we have free heat (takes some work getting the wood cut and stacked), we have food, we have a vehicle that runs great, our kids are serving God joyfully. We are able to obey our Savior because we love Him.

Thank you, each of you who gives and prays, for being so faithful to us through our 3 years of full time ministry. We love you.

Bruce Cook

Staff Ministries Director

Camp David of the Ozarks

573.364.2786

For Michelle (my best friend), Bryan (22), Nate (20), Caleb (17), Kaitie (13), Seth (10)

Find out more at

www.campdavidozarks.org

2012-11-07 Cook's Short Order Update

There we were, in the emergency room, wondering, "How are we going to pay for this?"

Our support raising trip has been exciting. Several hours from our first stop in West Virginia our van electronics quit. It's quite noticeable while you are climbing a steep hill, cruise is on, CD is playing, and all of this quits. We shut everything down and nervously proceeded. A few hills later it happened again, only this time, the engine died as well. 70mph, full van, no power steering... I put the van in neutral and restarted it. It worked! So, what's going on? We will make it?

We sent out a request for you all to pray. You did. Praise the Lord for technology! God provided and we made it safely to Mount Tabor Baptist Church, Beckley, WV. We shared our burden for serving with Camp David of the Ozarks and rested Sunday afternoon. After the evening service we visited with some friends, ate way too much and came back to the church apartment.

For no apparent reason I began coughing (heavy upper respiratory congestion) and itching in my hands. My hands and feet began swelling quickly. This has NEVER happened before so we decided to seek medical attention. I was given allergy medications and steroids and sent home. By Monday morning the swelling was mostly down. But the van was still being really cranky.

It turns out that one of the bolts on the battery cables was stripped. Replaced that and Chevy Astro seems to be happy.

I am spending most of Tuesday and Wednesday hanging out at Appalachian Bible College visiting with students. Pray that God will send us (CDO) many great young people to serve as counselors next summer.

We spend the evening with Bryan last night, sharing our ministry in Fellowship Bible Church tonight, enjoying WV Thursday, heading to Indiana on Friday, sharing our ministry in Pine Ridge Bible Church Sunday and World Missionary Press on Tuesday.

Happy Birthday to our middle child, Caleb. He turned 17 on our way here. We celebrated his life by attacking him with silly string and a cookie cake in the van. We love you, Caleb!!!

Thank you for being faithful pray-ers,

Bruce Cook

Staff Ministries Director

Camp David of the Ozarks

573.364.2786

Michelle (my beautiful best friend), Bryan (22), Nate (20), Caleb (17), Kaitie (13), Seth (10)

Find out more at

www.campdavidozarks.org

Special Update - 2012-11-01

We are sending this as a special request for prayer. We are leaving for West Virginia Saturday, God willing, but have a small mountain of stuff to accomplish for this trip to be worthwhile. Will you pray that God will give us efficient thinking, and help us discern what is really important in the next 2 days?

Thank you for partnering with us,

Bruce for Michelle, Nate, Caleb, Kaitie, Seth

Short Order Update - 2012-10-29

The Pizza Inn fundraiser last Monday was a great success. Our (Camp David of the Ozarks) goal was to purchase 64 chairs for the Dining Hall/Chapel. God was gracious and He raised enough money for us to purchase 96 chairs! So grateful for the guests who ate at Pizza Inn and the 25+ volunteers that made it possible.

We are preparing for a two-week support raising trip. So much to do.
Prayer Card update. Check. Getting those tomorrow! Excited to get this new one out. We think you'll like it.
Prayer Letter - working on that. Some new things; we hope you enjoy it. Hopefully getting this out before we take off for WV.
Furnace fixed to keep house from freezing. Check. Using the advice from a friend at church we should be able to have this keep our pipes warm while we are gone. Wood heat has its disadvantages.
Oil for furnace - working on that tomorrow.
Redesign Display table - working on that tomorrow and the rest of the week.
Design new church presentation - working on that all week.
Pack - let's not go there... 
Finalize travel plans and dates to be where we think we are supposed to be - working on that.
Prep van for 2500 miles - working on that this week.

Help with Kidfest in our church this Wednesday - outreach to community during Halloween activities. 

Will you pray for us as we head out this Saturday? God has called us to serve with Camp David of the Ozarks, to reach children of prisoners with the hope that Jesus gives. Will you pray that God will help us serve Him well on this trip?

We have a number of churches lined up for this trip:

11-04 am - Mount Tabor Baptist Church, WV

11-04 pm - pending

11-07 pm - Fellowship Bible Church, WV

11-11 am - Pine Ridge Bible Church, IN

11-11 pm - pending

11-13 am - Presentation at World Missionary Press, IN

If you know of a church/family/home group that would be interested in our ministry to children of prisoners in Missouri, please let us know. We need many faithful prayer warriors to carry on this ministry.

Thank you for being faithful with us,

Bruce

Staff Ministries Director

Camp David of the Ozarks

573.364.2786

Michelle (my best friend), Bryan (22), Nate (20), Caleb (16), Kaitie (13), Seth (10)

Cook's Short Order Update - 2012-10-24

What a super weekend. 14 teens and young adults converged at Camp David of the Ozarks to be challenged to identify the "One Thing" that is holding them back from moving forward for God. Through group Bible Study, small group Bible Study, personal Bible Study, personal solo times, group challenges, worship, prayer, intentional planning, our prayer was for these teens and the full time staff to grow and change. The focus was on changing any thought pattern that does not line up with God's Word and developing a SMART plan for success. God blessed us with a beautiful weekend for this event.

We have a number of churches lined up for November.

11-04 am - Mount Tabor Baptist Church, WV
11-04 pm - pending
11-07 pm - Fellowship Bible Church, WV
11-11 am - Pine Ridge Bible Church, IN
11-11 pm - pending
11-12 am - potential presentation

We are working on a new prayer letter and hope to have it out the first of November. We are also working on updating our prayer card. We hope to have both of these out to your mailbox the first week of November.

We spent Monday afternoon and evening at Pizza Inn in Rolla, MO. More than 25 volunteers served for the benefit of Camp David of the Ozarks, to make guests of Pizza Inn feel welcome, special, and experience God's grace, while also raising funds for new chairs for camp. "Thanks!" to all who gave much time and energy to make this event happen.

If you know of a church/family/home group that would be interested in our ministry to children of prisoners in Missouri, please let us know. We need many faithful prayer warriors to carry on this ministry.

Thank you for being faithful with us.

Bruce, Michelle (my lovely best friend), Bryan (22), Nate (20), Caleb (16), Kaitie (13), Seth (10)

Cook's Short Order Update 2012-20-08

There is frost on the ground and the wood furnace is pushing warm air through the house. Summer appears to be over. But that does not mean an empty schedule. Far from it, as we hit the road to recruit staff, raise our support, and plan for retreats and next summer.

We will be in West Virginia and Indiana during the first and middle of November. Would you pray that:

1. God will keep us alert on the road

2. Help us see opportunities to share His love

3. God will bring in support quickly
4. God will help us find great young people for next summer

In a couple weeks Camp David is hosting its first October Advance. So often we have events at camp, we get charged, we go home, we resume our routine. The drive for this event is to find one fundamental thing in our lives that is not submitted to God and invite Him in to that area. Pray for us as we plan for this impacting time, October 19-21.

If you know of a church/family/home group that would be interested in our ministry to children of prisoners in Missouri, please let us know. We need many faithful prayer warriors to carry on this ministry.

Thank you for being faithful with us,

Bruce

Staff Ministries Director

Camp David of the Ozarks

573.364.2786

Michelle (my best friend), Bryan (22), Nate (20), Caleb (16), Kaitie (13), Seth (10)

Cook's Short Order Update - 2012-10-02

God has been faithful to us as I am now driving as a sub for 3 schools. Not a huge help but God knows our need.

We enjoyed a great time serving with our team at Camp David this past weekend. CDO hosted a Prayer Conference retreat. Michelle and Linda, another staff member, did all the cooking with some help from others on the team. We all helped with dishes and just odds and ends stuff (photography, fire tending, supplies to session rooms) to make the weekend work for our group. Kaitie enjoyed a birthday party with Esther, one of the Director's daughters and Seth enjoyed "working" with Timmy, one of the Director's sons. It was a busy/tiring/fun weekend for each of us.

Please pray as we head into another retreat, October Advance, October 19-21. This one is geared to teens and young adults, giving them a place and time to focus on identifying one thing that is preventing them from giving each part of self to God.

Pray for Nate as he looks for direction from God. He is also looking for income, but so far has no leads.

In our last update we gave a wrong address for those who would like to help financially. The correct address is below. If you already sent something to the other address, we will still get it. It's just not as secure as a post office box for ongoing support mail.

Camp David of the Ozarks

PO Box 1607

Rolla, MO 65402

Include a note that the gift is for Bruce Cook support and you will receive a tax deductible receipt for your gift.

Thank you so much for being faithful in supporting us with prayer and financial support all these year

Bruce

Staff Ministries Director

Camp David of the Ozarks

573.364.2786

Michelle (my beautiful best friend), Bryan (22), Nate (20), Caleb (16), Kaitie (13), Seth (10)

Short Order Update - 2012-09-10

We are so excited to let you know... God has led us to join the team at Camp David of the Ozarks full time! This is the ministry we served with this summer, and after an invitation from the Director, God's approval, the blessing of our commissioning church in WV and our home church here in MO, we are convinced this is where God now wants us to serve.

Praise the Lord for His timing! We will use the next weeks and months to give testimony to what God has done in the past 9 months and more to prepare us to serve at Camp David of the Ozarks.

This is a support-based position, so we ask you to pray that God will quickly provide the monthly support we need to get involved with CDO full time. For now, Bruce will seek part time work as we begin to re-establish contacts who will fill the financial need.

Please pray with us as we want nothing more than to enhance the beautiful ministry that is already taking place at CDO.

If you would like to be involved with us financially, please send your gifts to:

Camp David of the Ozarks

11335 Private Drive 5316

Rolla, MO 65402

Include a note that the gift is for Bruce Cook support and you will receive a tax deduction receipt. We will receive the full gift for our support. None of it will go to the general ministry fund.

Thank you so much for being faithful in supporting us with gifts of prayer and finances all these years,

Bruce

Staff Ministries Director

Camp David of the Ozarks

573.364.2786

Michelle (my lovely best friend), Bryan (22), Nate (20), Caleb (16), Kaitie (13), Seth (10)

Cook's Short Order Update - Exciting News!!

Genesis 1:30 "'And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food.' It was so." God has created such a beautiful system and in all this, HE upholds it all by the word of His power.

We are so excited to bring you this update!

Bruce got to baptize Seth and Kaitie in the Current River during a church baptism! How cool is that?!?! Check out the pictures and video.

We have started school and it's going well, very well, actually. Maybe, after 13 years we are finally getting it.

The drought this summer proved to be a blessing, at least on our small piece of land at the farm house. We didn't have much time to do yard maintenance all summer. Our last time mowing was the end of May. Then we got the mower and weed eater repaired in time for the remnants of Hurricane Isaac this last week. Green grass once again.

Please pray with us as we wait on God's direction. Sometimes God just says, "Wait." Sometimes He says it in a way that frustrates us, like He doesn't care that we are having to wait. But we know that's not true because God cares about the things that concern us. This is one of those times for us. Please pray that we will grow patient. This seems to be what God is seeking in us.

With much love and appreciation,

Bruce

for Michelle (my lovely best friend), Bryan (21), Nate (20), Caleb (16), Kaitie (13), Seth (10)

Cook's Short Order Update

Genesis 1:29 Then God said, “I now give you every seed- bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food." I think this verse is so incredible. God could have provided something boring with full nutrition and no flavor that would enable us to live in health. Instead, He provided immense variety and flavor and texture, just because he cares about us!

We are done with summer camp at Camp David of the Ozarks. Once we get an end-of-summer-sneaking-into-fall prayer letter out, we will be more detailed on how God has worked and blessed. Right now we are at Camp David, "watching" the facilities while others are getting a much needed break. Thank you for praying for us through out this summer. It was evident as we ran out of strength and God sustained us that others were before God on our benefit.

Nate is staying home this year, to work, and serve with us at New Harmony Church. Pray for God's leading and provisions as he seeks to obey his Savior.

Home school will be starting in a few weeks, and Bruce is looking at some work opportunities as we seek what God has ahead for us. Pray for our hearts to be open to His directions.

With much love and appreciation,

Bruce

for Michelle (my lovely best friend), Bryan (21), Nate (20), Caleb (16), Kaitie (13), Seth (10)

2012-06-17

Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in His own image. In the image of God He created Him. Male and female He created them."

What an amazing first week of campers. Michelle and I had a difficult time keeping up, not really having a clear picture of the flow of things. But several of the Support Staff are alumni and were graciously helpful and patient with us. Thank you, guys! Nate has depended on God in a new way as the Worship Leader. Caleb is busy between work at Burger King and work at Camp. Kaitie is fitting well on the Support Staff Team and Seth on the Green Team.

Pray for us as we invest in these precious teens day by day. They are quickly finding a permanent home in our hearts.

Friday as the Leadership Team was debriefing the week we heard someone hollering. We looked outside to see a small brush fire growing from a burn pile. In just a few moments the entire staff pulled together and had the blaze under control. God protected us!

Thanks for sticking with us and praying for us. We love you,

Bruce

for Michelle (my lovely best friend), Bryan (21), Nate (20), Caleb (16), Kaitie (13), Seth (9)

2012-06-03

Cook's Short Order Update

Genesis 1:26 "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' "

Leadership Training Week at Camp David of the Ozarks is done. This was such a sweet time of fellowship and training with the Leadership team, getting to know personalities and such. Really were stretched and blessed!

Tomorrow, all the Support Staff (Michelle's and my main responsibility), Counselors, and Volunteers for the summer will arrive for another intense week of training, relating, planning, working; you get the idea. That's about 60 new people this week. We're really excited and nervous about this phase of the summer!

  ONLY FOR THOSE WHO FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK

For those who follow us on Facebook, soon we will be migrating from our current Facebook Group, Friends of the Cook Family, to a Facebook Page by the same title. The main difference is that it will look more like a personal profile and You will "Like" it instead of waiting on us to approve your request. We think it will look more like "home".

Hope to see you there!

Thanks for sticking with us and praying for us. We love you,

Bruce

for Michelle (my lovely best friend), Bryan (21), Nate (20), Caleb (16), Kaitie (13), Seth (9)

2012-05-28

Cook's Short Order Update

Genesis 1:25 "And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the ground after its kind: and God saw that it was good." You know, we like the "beasts of the earth" that God has created. We have one named Bunker. What a fun-loving God!

Two things...
1. Thank you to all who have sacrificed something to keep our country free (and all who have let a son or daughter, mother, father go to serve). We appreciate you!

2. We move to Camp David of the Ozarks today to begin summer training. We've posted a new album of the Camp here.

Please pray for us as we begin this summer ministry.

Congratulations to Kaitie!! She's 13!!!

Thanks for sticking with us and praying for us. We love you,
Bruce

2012-05-16

Cook's Short Order Update


Genesis 1:24 "And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so." That is just so cool!

Things are winding up for our summer at Camp David of the Ozarks. Bruce is writing devotions from James 1 for the Support Staff. His goal is to make it applicable on a daily basis for the circumstances the Support Staff will encounter. Pray for God's leading.

We have all been working hard on making the farm house "home". Here's a link to a growing album of photos. What an amazing provision this house has been. Thank you, God!!

Michelle is winding up a rather unique year of home school. Thankfully, God has led us all the way.

We are very glad to have Nate home from his first year at college! Wow, what a year of growth and learning this has been for him. On the way we spent some time with Bryan and our two families in Indiana. Good trip. "Thank you!" to our Mt Tabor church family for warming our hearts again! You guys are special.

We will be launching a new Facebook Page soon and doing away with the "Friends of the Cook Family" group. We'll keep you posted on when that takes place.

Please pray as we step out in faith that God goes before us in our desire to serve with the incredible staff at Camp David.

Thanks for sticking with us and praying for us. We love you,

Bruce

for Michelle (my lovely best friend), Bryan (21), Nate (20), Caleb (16), Kaitie (12), Seth (9)

2012-04-20

Cook's Short Order Update

Genesis 1:23 "And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day." What an amazing time to be around!

Happy Birthday to Nate a couple weeks ago, March 30! We are so proud of this young man. We love you son!

It seems God has chosen now for the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics to be in effect in our home. You know, the Law that states (very simply) that things are deteriorating. Take that, evolutionists! It is a law, not a theory or an hypothesis.

So, as I was saying, our weed eater, lawn mower, stove, and fridge have all decided to prove this law true. That said, I was able to fix the fridge (change water filter), the weed eater - 2 times, and broke again, get a part for the mower (jury is still out on this). The stove, however, is recommended for the recycle pile. "It will cost more to fix than to buy a new one." Crazy that such a small part (gas valve) could be so expensive.

So a few days ago we went stove shopping, just to look. As we were ready to leave Lowe's, Michelle noticed one on clearance, because the previous owners decided they didn't like the color. Well, happens that Michelle would rather have this color than others we were looking at. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, cheaper than even their sale items, free delivery, and already converted to LP.

So even in the midst of disorder, God shows up as the God of order and plan. Thank You, God! Pray that the grass will grow slowly, at least in our yard, until we are able to get a mower running. :)

We are getting involved with Camp David in various ways (writing devotionals, planning songs, and just being their for various visits. Our prayer is that God will allow us to be a blessing to this ministry and this staff and kids this summer.

We will be living in a motor home this summer. We'll get pix out soon. Expenses at the camp will be covered but we'll still have utilities at the farm house.

Thanks for sticking with us and praying for us. We love you,

Bruce

for Michelle (my lovely best friend), Bryan (21), Nate (20), Caleb (16), Kaitie (12), Seth (9)

2012-03-25

Cook's Short Order Update


Genesis 1:22 "God  blessed them,saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.'"


We have an exciting announcement!! We will be serving with Camp David of the Ozarks this summer for two months. Ben, the Camp Director, has asked us to be the Support Staff Leader. Michelle and I get to pour into the lives of 9 or so teenagers that come to Camp David to help make camp possible. From morning briefings, to chores, to devotions, to worship, to coming along side these precious kids and helping them grow in Christ, we are very excited about this opportunity!

Please pray that:

1 - we will be who these young servants need

2 - God will meet our financial/spiritual/emotional needs

3 - God will use this time to stretch and grow us as a family and individuals

Camp David of the Ozarks ministers to kids of prisoners, giving them an opportunity to experience God's unconditional love for 5 short days. If you would like to learn more about this wonderful ministry check it out at Camp David of the Ozarks.

We will be sending out a prayer letter in the next few weeks so be watching your mailbox and inbox. Wow, this is exciting stuff!

We love you,

Bruce

for Michelle (my lovely best friend), Bryan (21), Nate (19), Caleb (16), Kaitie (12), Seth (9)

2012-03-11

Cook's Short Order Update

Genesis 1:21 "God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good." I think "great sea monsters" sound really cool! Just glad I don't share a home with them!!

Getting settled into the farm home. We will post pix on facebook when we finally get an internet connection.

Last week was really rough. Both Michelle and I caught a nasty flu bug that lasted all week. I was out of work all but Friday. Seth had it the week before and ran some high temps. We're all doing much better now.

Taking Nate back to the airport to return him to ABC. Even though we were sick we enjoyed a really sweet time as family last week.

God has provided a job for the time being. I am doing painting at a battery recycling plant not far from our house. I have only worked there a couple weeks and I don't think I will ever forget the smell of lead in the air. Not sure I see the benefit of recycling with all the junk I see oozing out of places. Yes, I wear a respirator, but it can only do so much. I'm told it's quite an efficient process. K. I'll take their word for it.

1. Pray for Nate to finish well for his first year in college.
2. Pray as Bruce works on air brakes, school bus, and combination endorsements for his CDL. This will help provide many work options.
3. Pray as we seek what God wants for us this summer and beyond.

2012-02-13

Cook's Short Order Update
Genesis 1:20 "Then God said, 'Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.'" Aren't you glad He made swarms of creatures in the water for us to catch and eat?

This update will center around a couple who has been a blessing to us and needs our prayers. Ben and Grace Smith direct the ministry at Camp David of the Ozarks, 30 minutes from Rolla, MO. We know them through our home school group, as missionaries of New Harmony Church, and Christian camp functions.

Ben and Grace invited us to accompany them to the Christian Camp and Conference Association Ozark Sectional in Roach, MO last week. Their desire was to provide an atmosphere of encouragement for us.  Through the small group prayer times, General Session messages, informal chats, God renewed our desire to serve in full-time ministry, and He provided a time of refreshment for our spirits.

But what also came from this time was a realization that the Smiths need our prayers. Camp David of the Ozarks is heading into their 9th summer session, and, until recently, Ben and Grace have been the staff. They have directed, recruited, planned, fund-raised, implemented, organized, cooked, facilitated most everything that happens at camp (of course, with the help of of many support staff, cooks, counselors, volunteers, and donors). Still, they have sacrificed much and God has honored their labor.

So we are not asking prayer for us in this update. We are asking prayer for Ben and Grace Smith. They need wisdom, discernment, and God's plan, but most of all they need God's provision of supernatural endurance.

So will you pray for this dear missionary family, that God will sustain them while He continues to grow His work at CDO? Also, on February 23 they will host their "Banquet for Hope". This is a fundraiser dinner that seeks to raise monies to provide scholarships for children of prison inmates to attend camp. Pray that God will provide much funding through this venue.

You can visit this ministry from your laptop at Camp David of the Ozarks.

2012-01-03

Cook's Short Order Update

Genesis 1:19 "There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day."

One, literal, 24 hour period of time. Because that's what God's Word says!

Sorry for the silence. We still don't have internet access at home. Hopefully tomorrow.

We are moved!!! Well, mostly. We have a few loose ends to wrap up. We need to move a vehicle which can't be driven on the highway, a picnic table (which also can't be driven on the highway), and a shed (no, it can't be driven either, not even in Missouri). Now we are learning to use wood heat with no thermostat. Very interesting business, that. But God provided several free truck loads of wood, part of which needs to be split and stacked. If you know of someone who is just aching to get rid of a 14" or bigger chain saw, please let us know.

Please pray as we are beginning to consider what God wants next for us. We have had several ministry offers. We want to know God's plan for us. Pray also for a couple job opportunities in the mean time. One will be driving for a local school and another for a local contractor. But Bruce will need to upgrade his license to include Air Brake and School Bus endorsements. Ach!!! We thought he was done studying...

In case you didn't get it in the last update, our new address is:

8677 Hwy B

Bunker, MO 63629

2012-01-20

Perspectives

As I turned the corner and headed down the hill, the view didn't quite seem familiar, even though I've driven this road many times. I kept driving, looking for familiar landmarks and visual cues as to my location. Nothing. I crested another hill... and finally I saw the building I was looking for.

I questioned myself why this familiar road wasn't. I've traveled this direction on this road many times. Then it hit me - the world is different from 3 feet lower.

Usually, I sit behind the wheel of an Astro van. On this trip I was hugging the ground in a Toyota Camry. Maybe I'm making a bigger deal out of this than it warrants. Maybe not. Here is a fact: my perspective had changed.

A shift in perspective can make the world seem to be a different place, literally. Take hiking, for instance. You walk, or drag yourself, up a ridge, stop at the overlook provided, and drink in the view. Why is it there? For rest? Yes. But also for you to gain a different perspective on what is in front of you.

Now let's go the other direction. For sake of time, we will be transported to the bottom of a ravine, and for the sake of familiarity for the greatest number of people, let's visit Grand Canyon. It's around a mile deep, give or take a few. Looking up, the typical response is a feeling of insignificance and frailty within the universe.

Perspective changes how we see. Not deep but true. Once our view is changed, we may think differently about how we respond to what we see. Let me say it another way; a new perspective helps us respond differently to the normal flow of daily life.

As a family, our perspective has been in a state of change for the past several weeks. From resigning from a ministry, to moving, to looking for jobs, the landscape looks different all the time. This can be difficult, but with the Holy Spirit's constant presence, it helps us see life differently. I hope I am seeing life more the way God wants me to. After all, I think this change in perspective was ordered by God for that reason: to gain a new perspective, to gain a more godly perspective (2 Corinthians 4:17).

2012-01-19

SPECIAL UPDATE

Dear Friends,

We have a new address and phone number:

8677 Hwy B

Bunker, MO 63629

573-739-1118

We still have the cell phone number.

Pray for strength and safety this Saturday. We will be moving a majority of our stuff.

2012-01-16

Cook's Short Order Update

Genesis 1:18 "and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good."

We are moving quickly toward moving to the farm house being made available to us. We will post pictures later. It will also put us much closer to our church so we can be more involved and yet have more time at home.

Still a lot of work to do to get the house ready: drywall, mudding, install dish washer, finish gas lines for stove/dryer, paint, flooring, steam clean carpet, cut/split/stack wood (this will be our primary source of heat), change address and contact stuff. I'm also working on upgrading my CDL to have school bus and air brake endorsements. This will open up some work opportunities in the next weeks and months. Oh! and we have to pack this week too!

Thank you to the many who have worked long hours to get the house ready for us. We owe you a great debt. Thanks to the men for bringing 2 truck loads of firewood by yesterday. You guys are a blessing!

Keep your eyes open for a new email format.

Bruce Cook for Michelle (my lovely best friend), Bryan (21), Nate (19), Caleb (16), Kaitie (12), Seth (9)

2012-01-05

So there I was running, realizing I am really out of shape this winter. Duh! Winter tends to do that to us. It felt like I walked most of the 3.8 miles. But even that's better than working my biceps with the remote control.

A good friend once told me that reading your Bible is very much like exercising: you have to keep your brain in shape just as you do your muscles. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've heard all this before. But this was a different take. The friend reminded me that the brain is a physical part of the body, just like muscles. So it takes work and routine and discipline to make the brain "look" the way we want it to.

So when I just can't focus mentally, I'm allowing that physical part of my body to tell me to quit trying so hard. I typically don't let my muscles talk to me that way when I lift weights. Now mind you, I'm not going for Mr. Universe, of course. Just want to stay away from doctors doing weird stuff to me to keep me alive later.

What the friend was saying is that I must push my brain to stay in shape, just as I would other physical parts of my body.

On a related theme, but not really, I don't like accountability. If I'm not sensitive to the Holy Spirit's conviction, what makes me think I will be less likely to lie to a fellow human?

Enter visual stimulus. Ever tried web-based calendars? I use Google Calendar. I can access it anywhere I have internet access. Here's my stimulus. Every day I exercise I make a calendar entry with a description of what I did, how I felt, how hard I worked. You get the idea.

I make my entries in red-ish so they stick out from all my other entries. When I look at my calendar in the morning I can quickly see how faithful I've been to this endeavor.

Paul said, "... bodily discipline is only of little profit..." (I Tim. 4:8). Did you see that? Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul told us that physical exercise is good for us. Not nearly as good as spiritual exercise, but still good for us.

So, I'm trying to keep a healthy balance. Enjoy the day God has set in front of you.

2012-01-03

Genesis 1:17 "God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth."

We've had a couple good days of work getting the farmhouse ready to move into. Hopefully, we're putting in gas lines for a small LP tank to fuel our dryer and stove. This seems like a better option than storing or selling those appliances and borrowing others.

Praise:
1. Great weather for working in a non-heated house.
2. Very good time as family this Christmas season.
3. We will hopefully be able to use our dishwasher in the farm house!
4. Van getting a new fuel pump. It didn't like the original.
5. That our van has gotten us here and there faithfully. We have not been stranded on any roads for several years.

Prayer:
1. 2nd vehicle as I will need to get a "real" job for a while.
2. 100+ gallon LP tank (to fuel dryer and stove).
3. We need boxes and packing bubbles and such.
4. Faithful lives in our family.

If you receive our email update, keep your eyes open for a new email format. Should see it in your inbox very soon.

Bruce Cook
for Michelle (my lovely best friend), Bryan (21), Nate (19), Caleb (16), Kaitie (12), Seth (9)