Here’s another long-overdue Thursday 13. Thanks for reading and praying!

1. We had a wonderful Christmas break. Our visits to St. Louis South Dakota were rich and restful.

2. We got to see the beautiful new house recently purchase by Laura’s dad and step-mom in Rapid City, which they bought last summer.

3. Our January term was very refreshing. As we already mentioned, we each took a class and audited each-other’s. We had more time to catch up on some to-do’s that we had put off for months.

4. On Martin Luther King weekend, we took a spontaneous 3 day trip (which consisted mostly of driving) to Asheville. It had been too long since we had seen Joel’s family, so we surprised them (or at least Joel’s siblings) with a visit.

5. We did a lot of cooking in January (which is our favorite thing to do)!  We found a wonderful web site that offered videos that taught basic cooking skills (check out www.Rouxbe.com if you ever have the chance!)

6. This spring semester has gotten off to a fast start, and it looks like it will likely be as challenging as the last.

7. This semester we are both taking: Acts and Paul, Old Testament History and Theology 2, Poetry and Wisdom Books, and Theology and Secular Psychology.

8. The last 2 weeks have been particularly hard. Laura experienced some severe stomach pains last Thursday, which rendered her out of commission for most of the day, and this week her laptop bag (which contained her computer, external hard drive, and planner) was stolen from school.

9. We filed a police report for the stolen laptop and sent an email out to all the students, but we haven’t gotten any leads at this point.

10. Since Laura depends on her laptop so heavily (for school, work, etc.), we decided that we probably need to buy her a new one soon.

11. Joel is still really enjoying his job teaching ESL, and loves getting to practice his Spanish.

12. On Valentine’s Day we had a fondue party for the wives in Laura’s Bible study and their husbands. We had a lot of laughs playing our version of the Newly Weds Game.

13. Laura is co-leading a Bible study on Galatians this semester (using the Redeemer Pres small group curriculum)

Praise and Prayer: This week has been extremely challenging (spiritually, emotionally, physically, etc.), but the Lord has been faithful in making his presence and provision known to us, especially through the wisdom of his Word and the love and support of those around us. We’re appreciating more and more all that He has blessed us with, and growing in our faith that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him”. Pray that we would continue to grow in this faith.