New Years Update

Rambling on Mt. Ranier

Update on Ben
Having settled into full time work at Lynden Door, Ben has not received clear instruction from God in what he should be doing to prepare for the mission field. He is focused on being the husband God wants him to be and asks for your prayer that God would show him what to do. Meanwhile we have met some wonderful people through his job.

Update on Mary

Mary has completed her second semester of school with near perfect marks and is poised to complete her Masters program by this time next year if her accelerated pace holds true; praise God for allowing her to work so well and at such a pace while saving us money in tuition! AAAAND: we are still debt free! Praise God the Provider for what He gives!

Exploring the beautiful state of Washington
with school friends and our host family

We have spent some time with the great students and teachers at various events and found good fellowship and excellent learning from folks who had been on the ground in Papua New Guinea. We are thankful for really good information on what things are like there from several sources (God seems to throw buckets of these folks at us) and good fellowship with strong followers of Jesus who are dedicated to His purpose. 

Christmas! 

Jesus appreciation day! Hooray! We are thankful for visits and cards from everyone and sent out...81? This is par for the course in our family. And no college buddies were included in that number. Sorry! It was also fun making the cards (Mary did all the artwork!).

We are continually blessed and amazed by the grace and hospitality that has been shown to us by the Mock family, our hosts. It has been a joy to share bits of the Holiday season with them. We have also been so blessed by friends near and far.

Over Christmas break we were able to travel down to the Portland area to spend time with dear friends and family. One of God's little miracles this month has been providing exactly what we needed for gas and expenses for the trip down and back again. So thank you God! And thank you all of you who prayed or helped us out in other ways! We are continually blown away by the perfect timing of God's provision.

Moving into the new year, Ben will be going back to Portland for a few days in the second week of January for Army Guard drill and Mary will begin classes in her third semester at school. We look forward to the blessings and challenges of the New Year and are truly blessed and grateful to the living God for the privilege of serving Him.

PRAYER REQUESTS and PRAISES:

1. What kind of education Ben should pursue (he is a personal trainer)

2. Whether we should attempt to secure visas without Ben having a degree

3. Financial provision for the coming semester, this will be the largest hurdle yet!

4. Wisdom for Ben in communicating better and to be the husband God wants

5. Patience and wisdom for Mary in being a good helpmate for Ben

6. We are currently looking at a laptop for her; please pray God will provide what we need to facilitate her education

We had an answer to prayer when we asked for healing of Ben's back when he strained it a few weeks ago. He has experienced no pain there since coming back to full duty and is reminded of the gratitude we must all show for our circumstances.

We have been provided for in every way from the car we drive, to the place we live, to the funds for tuition and weekly needs. God patiently teaches us again and again that He will provide for all that we need to be able to walk in obedience to Him.

Random joyfulness: we got to go adventuring (Ben's Christmas/Birthday gift to Mary). See picture.

Finally, pray that God will use us to be His witnesses here in Lynden. We aren't needed to accomplish God's goals (He is God) but we sure like the way He weaves us into the story!

Joy from Christ and His blessing on your New Year,

The Grimms

A very late, late update

I am obviously not a terribly committed blogger. This is the first post we've made since we were married. Sorry.
... Where were we? Well, the Grimms rode off into the sunset and lived happily ever after.

More accurately, we went north, driving a little Honda Civic that God and Ben's mom conspired together to provide for us and dragging a 5 by 8 foot U-Haul trailer with all of our worldly possessions inside (minus a car load of books that we thought might just break the camel's back).

Ben describes his life pre-Mary like a lazy river meandering quietly along. Now it's more like a whitewater stretch on the Colorado.
But it's all good.

God has emptied us, filled us, poured us out, and filled us again. We have nothing, and we have everything that we need.

I don't know how to relate all of the crazy turns our life has taken since we met or since the day our wonderful community of friends and family witnessed our marriage.We have been desert wanderers, hitchhikers, penniless travelers, mountain climbers, and dish washers. We went from enjoying the security of a wonderful community with family all around to being aliens in a strange land of tall Dutch people with too many reform churches. We have received mind-blowing hospitality and grace, the kindness of man, and the blessings of God.

Recent blessings:

• God has provided us a place to stay through the generosity of a wonderful family.

• We are going to church again.

• We had the opportunity to hear Carl Mederas speak (look him up!)

• We are both learning a lot about what it means to be wholly devoted to God's purpose.

• Recently God has humbled both of us through failures and mishaps; and we have had opportunity to benefit from the grace that exists in fellowship with Christ and in His Body. 

• Mary is in her second semester of her Master's Program for Linguistics.

• Ben has a full time job with a wonderful company.

Prayer requests:

• Ben is seeking out how God wants him to be preparing during this season of our lives. Please pray that God would give him opportunities to grow in skills that will be useful in the mission field. 

• We are both working on staying focused on God. Being married is hard! And we are learning together what it looks like to encourage each other in faith, communicate well, and live in grace.

• Please pray for our host family, that God would pour out His blessing in their life for the hospitality they have shown us and for the faithfulness with which they follow Jesus' teachings. 

• Please pray for our financial provision, that we may remain debt free as we prepare for the mission field.

Regarding Gifts

We have discussed it and decided not to register anywhere for wedding gifts. We did this for several reasons and with a few considerations in mind:

• Your presence is enough. We recognize that a lot of you will be traveling in order to attend and/or circumstances make it difficult to bring a gift, and we want you to know that the gift of your presence is absolutely enough.
• We are going into missions. Although the first few years of our marriage will be in the States, ultimately we will be going into the mission field. This means that we want to keep our material possessions at a minimum to reduce the complications of transportation and/or storage. 
• Our immediate future is uncertain. We are not currently sure if we will be moving immediately or shortly to Washington in order for Mary to attend her linguistic school. There are a few other opportunities on the table, but all of them would be aided by not having a whole lot to move.

If you do want to give a gift, we will receive it gladly. We ask that you give what comes to mind as useful and good for us. We trust that God will supply our needs.

• We are going to put any monetary gifts into an investment account to be used when we are ready to leave the Sates for the mission field (please let us know if you are interested in supporting us in missions on a regular basis).
• We are both book worms and outdoorsy people. So we enjoy shopping at REI, Next Adventure, Powells, etc.
• Needs:
• A queen-size futon mattress
• Some small bookshelves
• Your love and prayers
• Wisdom  :)
• That's all I can think of right now...

Potluck food - list of ideas

Here is a list of ideas and things to consider. You are of course welcome to bring anything you feel comfortable creating and transporting. :)

• Fun drinks - Martinellis, Simply Juice, etc. (no alcohol per. Park restrictions)
• Pasta salad
• Potato salad
• Been salad or taco Salads
• Cold cuts (like pork or salami)
• Chips & Salsa
• Fruit or fruit salad (watermelon, pineapple, cuties, etc.)
• Crackers or rolls
• Cheeses
• Twice baked potatoes 
• Sandwich platters
• Deviled eggs
• Pickles (or pickled things - artichokes, green beans, etc.)
• Deserts - cookies, cupcakes, brownies, joyfulness

• We are going to avoid peanuts altogether so as not to risk triggering allergies
• If you are making something vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free let us know so we can create courtesy labels for those guests with allergies or food preferences.

Wedding Details: What to expect, what to bring

We want this day to be a celebration, both of our marriage and of the friends and family who have been such a huge part of making us the people that we are.

We want to keep things low-key, shoes optional, come as you are!
The wedding is going to be informal, not out of disrespect for the institution of marriage but out of a desire to focus on our community and the relationships that have blessed us.

What to expect:
The event is going to start at the top of Mt. Tabor park. There is a natural cathedral of trees where Benjamin and Mary will be married by Pastor Bruce Arnold.

We invite guests who can to park at the base of the hill in the shelter parking area (P), walk past the sheltered reception area (R) and up the trail to the crest of the hill (W) where the ceremony will take place. The walk is less than 0.2 miles long and should take less than 10 minutes. Guests who do not feel comfortable walking this distance can park along the drive that loops around the top of the hill.



After the wedding ceremony the bride and groom will walk down the hill to the reception area. We hope that you can join us for the potluck following the ceremony.

What to bring:

• Please bring a picnic blanket or something equally portable that you feel comfortable sitting on (this will be for both the ceremony and the reception).
• Please bring a 5x7" card with a favorite family recipe, blessing, scripture verse, etc. We want something that helps us to celebrate you and the unique element that you bring to our community.
• The Reception will be a Potluck, so bring a dish or food item that is easy to transport and can be served cold. If you want to email us with details on what you are bringing that would be wonderful. If you don't feel like you can bring something because of traveling or limitations, don't worry! There is always enough to go around.