“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "In the shadow of the Almighty", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2007/11/13/in-the-shadow-of-the-almighty/" });

Our son’s hair was becoming like his Dad’s (a helmet), so it was time to chop that mullet! Before During After – all clean! After – handsome boy! SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Dutch’s first haircut", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2007/11/08/dutchs-first-haircut/" });

Last weekend we headed to California for a wedding and stopped off at my Dad’s to be with him or a couple of days. Then we proceeded to drive south to Santa Barbara for the the wedding of Mr. & Dr. Joe & Amanda Munk. Joe was my roommate from 2001-03 and a close friend in Christ. One of those loyal and candid and authentic and zealous friends God blesses a man with. I love him as my own soul. (Amanda is a dear family friend of ours, and I must say that Joe followed the good advice of marrying up!) Kari has written some reflections on our trip, and specifically about Joe & Amanda...

Kari is continuing her retelling of our story, “The Road to Santa Clara,” detailing our experiences in leaving all for a ministry opportunity a few years ago. The lessons learned along the way have proved to be invaluable, and although we wouldn’t sign up for it again, we wouldn’t trade it for the world. It is a redemptive story of God’s sustaining grace and the depth of friendship in the midst of confusion and frustrating circumstances. The entire story is now up: Ch. 1: The Phone Call | Ch. 2: The U-turn | Ch. 3: The Jeep | Ch. 4: The Apartment | Ch. 5: The Meeting | Ch. 6: The Rack...

Here is my desk right now. Yes, it is a mess, but will be organized at the end of the day. Today is my last day of full-time work at Kamph Construction. For the past 2-1/2 years I’ve worked with long-time friend Ben Kamph to oversee and construct numerous excavation, underground utility, and development. I started as a laborer on the sewer & water utility crews, got a few hours on some equipment, but after about 6 months moved into the office full-time to serve as a Project Engineer, utilizing my civil engineering background and other work experience in like positions at two previous...

Last night we arrived home from a long weekend in Bellevue, site of the wedding of Jeremy & Mari Lyn (Petrick) Stewart. What an incredible time, reconnecting with friends and witnessing the beginning of Jeremy & Mari Lyn’s journey as husband and wife. Jeremy is one of those rare friends who embodies the qualities we admire most: he’s humble, authentic, unselfish, has a listening ear, a wise mind, and is adept at seeing into the hearts and lives of others. Couple that with his considerable hoops skills and we became friends for life when we met for the first time back in ‘99...

(I wrote this ahead of time…) Today is moving day for the Patterson family. We have rented out our home and are moving in with Kari’s parents for the next two years (at least that’s the plan) to finish up seminary at Multnomah.  I will continue to work out here in McMinnville for the summer. To that end, today is the best day to move, as I’m off work, and since we sold quite a bit at our garage sale and on CraigsList, it should be easy enough. (If you need our new address, send us an email.) — You may have also noticed that today is July 4th, commemorating our Independence...

We just got home from a long-weekend mini-vacation to Phoenix (Chandler, AZ) to visit my brother John, his wife Brenda, and their daughter Brooke. This is the first time for them to meet Dutch. It was an awesome time being together as a family. Also, Dr. John gave us a dental cleaning, and fixed some of my teeth. (All weekend Brooke called me “Uncle Ralphy,” (or “Raffy”) and we’re not sure why!) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Phoenix trip", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2007/02/26/phoenix-trip-07/" });