Kate update

I just realized we haven't said anything about Kate recently.  She is doing wonderfully now.  Right before Christmas we took her in for a weight check and she was at 15 lbs.  She was sucking well now and eating enough oz during the day so the doctor said that we could take the tube out so we didn't have to take all of the stuff with us to Alabama.  We were excited about that.  She told us to e=keep everything in case we had to put it back in when we got home but we would check her weight again when we got back.  THe doctor was just expecting her to maintain her weight while we were gone and not to gain anything else.  We took her in again a couple of days after we got home and she had gained another pound while we were away!  So now she is off the tube for good and we are starting over on solid food.  Thank you so much for your prayers throughout this whole situation.  God is good.

aidan's announcement

sc07

I know it's been awhile since I posted last, but we've been at camp for the student ministries at ncc. sc07 (summer camp 2007) was incredible: heart change; great, freeing worship; good lessons; and awesome games. But best of all, we did it all to the glory of God. I've got over 500 pics that we took, but I won't be putting all of them up on this blog, though I plan to put a few select ones up. It was a great 5 days at PLNU (Point Loma Nazarene University) in San Diego, CA. It was at least 30 degrees cooler in SD than it was in Phx when we returned. Believe me, I love Phx and don't want to move away from my desert home, but it was quite nice to have a respite spiritually at camp and physically with the weather and beautiful ocean. I hope to get mon Amy's opinion on things up here, as well, but we are still trying to get back in the grove of life. We've had family here, as well. Misty & Melissa Sides, Amy's first cousins, have been staying with the Ogles for the last few weeks. It has been great to see them again and to be able to disciple Misty even more. She's got a desire for growth, and that's exciting. They leave today, so life might get back to normal soon, but it was a great time together, and Misty joined us at camp, too. Melissa will be with us next year, you can count on that. Overall, these last few weeks have been a blessing. Praise our God, for He is good.

dvccc

dvccc met again last night at Deer Valley High School. We were in room 400 last night (Wasserbauer's room; he's the club's original supervisor). We had 16 students, 2 supervisors, 1 adult speaker, and 1 adult helper. The speaker was great, and we enjoyed our time playing games, as well. I wrote down a quote from the speaker, but I left it at home, and I'm at DV, so I'll post it later. It was a great evening that God granted to the group. Praise the Lord.

colts are champs

The Bears came out with a 92 yard kickoff return for a touchdown! The first time in NFL history that such a feat has been accomplished. The Bears game up a touchdown the Colts' first drive, but they missed the extra point. The Bears scored again, making it 14 - 6. From there on out it was all Colts. The final was 29 - 17, Colts. It was disappointing for me, but everyone else at the party was rooting for the Colts, so most everyone was happy. It was nice to see the Bears make the playoffs and even the Superbowl for the first time since I've been a fan, since I was five years old. Jason Procknow (died at the age of 17 or liver cancer; never drank), a friend from Boulder City, NV, introduced me to Chicago sports, and the Cubs and Bears have been my teams ever since. Oh, well, I enjoyed the game while the Bears were ahead. Praise the Lord sports don't make life go round. And praise the Lord that the Colts' head coach is a believer and made that profession when he was awarded the trophy. God knows what He's doing, I can tell you that.

bethany's goodbye

Below is the post that my sister, Bethany, left on her blog about our Great Grandma Mildred Marcetta (Charles) Van Liew. Here is the link to the original post on Beth's blog: Great Grandma Van.

Last week we were informed that my Great Grandmother was very possibly on deaths door. Our family members were encouraged to say their good-byes. Since she is in Phoenix, my good-bye had to be done over the phone. I have never enjoyed talking on the phone about important things, I would much rather be face to face or write it all down. So, Joseph and I prayed and I made the phone call. I told her I loved her and that I was so thankful for the godly heritage she has passed down. That was about all I could get out and I was very disappointed. So I determined to write her a letter, whether or not she lived to receive it, I would feel better about writing all the things about her that were so important to me. This is what I said...

Dearest Grandma Van, I am so very thankful that God chose to give me a great grandmother like you. Mom and I were talking about you the other night and I realized it was you who first introduced me to sharing my faith. When we lived in Grandpa George's old green house down the street from you when I was in fifth grade, I went to Backyard Bible Clubs with you and Mrs. Singer. Thank you for watering that desire in my heart. The desire to see the lost come to know Christ is still very strong in my life and in the life of my husband, Joseph as well. So I really meant it when I said I am thankful for the godly heritage you have given your children and their children and their children, so we can in turn pass it on to our children.

I wanted you to know that Jonathan David has been dedicated to the Lord and we pray first for his salvation and second that he will be a godly man of integrity who does great things for the Lord. Selfishly, I wish that I could introduce you to Jonathan in February, but the better thing is to go to meet the Lord. What a glorious homecoming that will be! A long life, well lived! The Lord God will definitely say to you, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." Your life has produced many ripples, like a rock thrown into water, you may never know how many other lives your 100 years of service have touched, but I am eternally grateful that I am counted among those lives. The godly counsel and wisdom you have gained you never kept to yourself and I thank God, that He prompted you to share it with others.

I love you so very much; I pray that it was evident in my life. Philippians 1:3 "I thank my God (and will continue to for all my days) upon every remembrance of you."

I sent it out the very next day and God has chosen to sustain her life thus far. So I know she will be able to read the words of my heart. I still have mixed feelings wanting to see her and wanting her to go ahead and be with the Lord. I am glad I don't have that decision to make, it is so good to be able to put all our trust in the Lord.

goodbye

I went to say goodbye tonight. Goodbye to my Great Grandma Mildred Van Liew. She's pretty much on her deathbed at this point. She coughed a few times, and each time my heart sank. She kept saying, "Sorry," in a very muffled, hard-to-understand voice which was barely audible. She was apologizing that she couldn't express herself to me. I said, "Oh, don't apologize, you beautiful lady. I love you." I had talked with my dad earlier, and I was debating whether or not to go. What made up my mind was that my dad asked me to communicate to her that they were praying for her and loved her. I did communicate that to her, and she replied, if through hardship, "With all my heart, I love [them]." I sang to her tonight. I did three or four hymns that I found in a hymnal there at Paul and Naomi Van Liew's house. How Great Thou Art, My Jesus I Love Thee, and Great is Thy Faithfulness. Each one, if you look at the words in each stanza, references death and seeing the Lord. It was quite fitting. She would close her eyes more when I sang. I pray she enjoyed it and it brought her joy. I brought Amy and Aidan with me. Aidan brought a smile to grandma Van's face with his laughing and funny noises. It was great to see her face brighten with a smile and even her laughter. Her motor skills were so gone that when she grabbed on to Aidan's hand, she couldn't let go. I had to remove her fingers to get Aidan free. That also tore at my heart. I told her how much I appreciated her service to the Lord and that I loved her. I was there for about an hour before I left. I said goodbye.

incredible lady

My great grandma Mildred Van Liew is an incredible woman. She has served the Lord for many decades. She's given time, money, resources, and then more time, money, and resources. Such an incredible woman of God. What a heritage we have to live up to! She is currently 99 years old, turning 100 next month, February 27th. She was born back in 1907. She's seen a lot of change over those years - automobiles, phone, electricity, refrigeration, radio, TV, air conditioning, computers, the internet, cell phones...and the list goes on. With all of her stalwartness we've seen from her throughout many years, her body has now become feeble. She just had another stroke 4 days ago. Her son, my great uncle, David, came down from Seattle to be with her, and he thinks she had another stroke the next day, also. Grandma is having a harder time speaking. She might be leaving us soon. Praise the Lord for His grace and mercy, allowing us to learn from her for so long. Praise the Lord for His grace and mercy, knowing that He will bring Grandma Van to be with Him when she graduates from this fleshly existence. Graduation is what her son, my grandfather, George referred to death as for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Moving on to bigger and much better things. It might not be too much longer until my Grandma Van graduates, and this we will celebrate, but we will also miss her with a deep longing to be with her again when the Lord returns or we graduate ourselves. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (james 4.6), and Mildred Van Liew is a humble lady who depends upon the Lord. Like I said, what a legacy, what a heritage to live up to! Grandma, I've got so far to go. May I follow after you the way you follow after Christ so I might be like Him as you are. You are a blessing to your family. You are a blessing to the Body of Christ.

my cousin the marine

Charles Phillip Van Liew, my cousin from parents George Charles (Chuck) Van Liew III and Brenda Van Liew, has either proposed to his girlfriend last night or is going to do so today. What a stud! This young man excites me. He loves the Lord, loves his family, loves his country, and is buff on top of it all. What a great lookin' Van Liew man-child! I am blessed to know him, and I look forward to welcoming Allison into the family as a full-fledged, bonafid, card-carryin' member on May 19th, 2007, five days after Kate is due. Should be interesting timing as I am the father of Kate and a groomsman/bro-cuz of Charles. Both events are incredible to me. How the Lord blesses us even while still here on Earth! And that is a common grace, I dare say (questions? it's a theology term...I'd love to talk with you about it...just let me know). The Lord bless you and keep you, Charles!

yo mama

Katherine Ann Van Liew (Bonsack) is my mother. She has been going through a lot of difficulties physically for years. First, she's had to have two back surgeries; both were very invasive and serious. The second surgery, the doctors (in AZ) went in and actually fused together two of her vertebrae, in order to stop the back problems she was having. She was in wrenching pain beforehand, and she was in wrenching pain afterward as she recovered for a long time. Amy (my wonderful wife of four years) and I were able to have my mom live with us for a month or so after the second surgery. It was hard for all of us, but the Lord pulled my mom through and has healed her back now. Second, my mom has had stomach issues for a long time. A couple weeks ago, the doctors (now in AL) decided it was time for my mom's gall bladder to be taken out. So it was. She then had a very hard week, or so, afterward in recovery; but the pain wasn't from recovery: something else was wrong. They found that her bile (liver produced) was somehow leaking where it shouldn't, so they had to go in again to place a stint where the issue was. They went in orthoscopicly (from which she's incurred no problems) and place the stint by her liver. The operation was a success. Starting a week ago, she's felt better than she's felt in a long, long time. She told me that she even got a leaf blower/vac and was enjoying going outside and using it to clean up the yard. She was excited about it even. What joy it brought me to hear my mom talk like that (meaning that she was feeling well enough to enjoy working outside). This past Friday, the doctors went again down her throat to remove the stint, and that was also successful. She was so out of it, though, from her anesthesia, that she called me, had a thirty minute conversation on numerous topics, but didn't even remember calling me the next day. How strange the human mind is (a thought from her). We talked the next day, resaid everything that had been said the day before (but I finished her sentences this time), and I enjoyed every minute of it. What a blessing it is to know that the Lord provides! To God be all the glory for the great things He has done which show off His character for us to see and respond to. That He would even give me a chance to respond! Love you, mom.

znotaboutme

Yesterday, I taught at ncc again in the studentministries. I spoke on James 5.13-18. I will teach again on this coming Sunday, and will be closing up a 12 week stand in James with ch5 vv19-20. For any of the sm@ncc's messages from any of our teachers, please feel free to visit www.znotaboutme.com and click on "messages" at the top. You can listen online, or download them for later listening pleasure. I felt that the Lord used me, and that there was no way that it could have totally been me. I'm sure that my sinfulness got in the way somewhere, but the Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness , and relenting of evil (Joel 2.13). How great is our God, and greatly to be praised! It can't be about me. It must be about Him. He is glorified as His character is shown off to the world around us. It is our job to be like Him in order to show others even a slight glimpse of who He is. He has radically changed my heart, and He will do the same for you. Leave me a comment if you want to talk about it, and I'll get back to you. He alone is worthy.

once again lyrics

Jesus Christ, I think upon Your sacrifice.
You became nothing, poured out to death.
Many times I've wondered at Your gift of life,
And I'm in that place once again;
I'm in that place once again.

And once again I look upon the cross where You died
I'm humbled by Your mercy and I'm broken inside
Once again I thank You
Once again I pour out my life

Now You are exalted to the highest place.
King of the heavens, where one day I'll bow.
But for now I marvel at Your saving grace,
And I'm full of praise once again;
I'm full of praise once again.

Thank You for the cross
Thank You for the cross
Thank You for the cross, my Friend