August, 2013

Dear Friends in Christ,

Ministry

Hope you are enjoying your summer! Ours has been a busy one in many ways. Bernie has continued to give many historical tours, and we have had our usual outreach events. Also this summer we enjoyed a Penn State Ministry reunion, which was inspiring and encouraging. Bernie did a wonderful job as Master of Ceremonies at the event, and also taking care of many other details to make the reunion happen. It was very fun to see friends from over 30 years ago continuing on in ministry and with God, faithful for the long haul, in spite of many difficulties and hardships over the years.

30 Years!!!

Bernie and I are also working on a booklet commemorating 30 years in ministry. Hopefully that will be completed and in the mail before too long. Thirty years ago this summer, we joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, International. We have been in full-time ministry ever since, in various capacities, and at various locations. The booklet will share stories and testimonies from others through the different seasons of our 30 years of ministry. It's been a remarkable & delightful experience for us to collect these stories. We hope they will encourage you, too!

 

Ezra Caleb Beall is Born!

The most exciting news this summer was the birth of our first grandson! Ezra Caleb Beall was born at 2:30 am on July 17th, weighing in at 8 pounds, 22 inches long. He was born via emergency C-section, due to discovering he was frank breech minutes before he was born! My amazing daughter-in-law labored at home, and the discovery was made soon after they arrived at the hospital as she was ready to deliver! In their labor classes Aaron and Christina were told, 'ignore your labor.' So she did.

They actually went out that day, bought a minivan they had been considering for several weeks, and went out to dinner, while she was in labor. Both my daughter-in-laws are warriors in terms of their strength and determination during labor, they are not wimps! They are incredible. I had to cry when I heard about the emergency C-section — to labor all that time, be ready to deliver, then have to have surgery just seemed so disappointing to me. But Christina is like bubbles and light, and all that seemed to come out of her mouth afterwards were words of gratefulness. Aaron is a hero, too. He was the sole caretaker of Ezra for the first few hours after birth, since there was not time for an epidural and Christina had to have general anesthesia and be in the recovery room afterwards. Aaron also was able to take two weeks off from work, to be home with Christina and care for her during the beginning of her recovery at home.

They all are doing great! Ezra is gaining weight like crazy, sleeping well at night, and already holds his head up and rolls half way over by himself. And that was at two weeks. Seriously! Aaron and Christina are so fun to watch interacting with their little one, I am just so crazily blessed by God with this family of mine. I have had the chance to hold Ezra and visit a number of times. He is just so precious!

Sarah's Adventure

Another exciting activity this summer is that Sarah is having the opportunity to travel to France for an 8-day summer music school! Please pray for safety and God's abundant blessing and encouragement during her time there. She hasn't had piano lessons for the last four years, only a few trips to NYC to work with a teacher on some technical things. In addition to teaching, Sarah has had some opportunities for work with other musicians, but overall, the musical environment she is in here is not very challenging or encouraging. So hopefully this summer will be a wonderful boost for her. Maybe she will get some traction to move forward with a masters degree or find some chamber musicians to perform with. Please keep her in your prayers and pray for her to know the Lord's leading in these things!

Health

Health stuff: Bernie and I recently switched from our old health insurance with its increasing rates, to a Christian Health Sharing plan, called Medi-Share. (Medi-Share was founded decades ago by the same man who organized Campus Crusade's health plan, which we were under for 23 years.) We were both evaluated and assigned a health coach to work with us to get our bloodwork and other things to a level to be accepted. After nine months, Bernie had met the goal, and lost about 30 pounds, but I was not showing much progress getting my cholesterol down, in spite of experiments with different dietary plans, including a vegetarian plan. As I was complaining to one of my daughters-in-law, she recommended a book to me. Desperate, with her encouragement, I gave it a try. It has worked!! My last labs show my cholesterol down significantly! This plan is a mix of ideas that together work very well. I am actually eating the same amount of calories as I have been for years, but now keep the carbs down to 50 grams per day, and never mix fat and carbs, anchoring both with a protein. Sounds complicated? That's what I thought! There is a learning curve, but it is definitely doable, even downright delightful, and includes recipes for low carb treats sweetened with stevia.

So there is a little peek into our summer. Please especially lift up in prayer Aaron, Christina & baby Ezra, and Sarah in her musical adventures!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." ~ Philippians 4:6

God bless you immeasurably,

~ Linda for the Bealls