Soulation Entrust

Second Annual Soulation Retreat

2010-06-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

Estes Park gave us a wonderful chance to see how God strengthened us despite some sleep-deprived nights.

We thank God for everything we asked for. The Q and A time was so fruitful, Finn slept well both ways and slept during two of our talks. Here's a fun picture of him and Jonalyn the last night. We felt very creative as we tried to juggle everything. The hardest thing was for Jonalyn to get enough sleep. She's learning to do less and relax more, even while on the road.

This week we're about to welcome nine friends for five days of retreating. We'll be sharing ideas, discussing things from spiritual abuse, body image and sacred space.

Would you pray for us this week:

for each person (including us) to find ways to love and listen and learn from one another
for each person to feel loved from the wonderful food Ellyn will be preparing, to the movies we watch, to the conversations they enjoy
for us to have proper boundaries to get sleep and for Finn to get sleep. We ask God that Finn would continue his habit of sleeping 6-7 hours each night. We could really use that!

Would you be willing to take one of these and pray it for us this week?

Ready to retreat with others!
Dale and Jonalyn Fincher

Estes Park Week with College Students

2010-06-03T09:52:00.000-07:00

Since writing, Finn has turned 3 months old and now we have plans to go back on the road.

Using the insight we gained from our Biola experience, this time Jessica, Jonalyn's sister, will accompany us to help watch Finn, enabling us to speak and interact with college-age leaders at Estes Park.

We leave Tuesday and speak until Friday. Our topics include, The Gender Myths, Be Saavy: Bring Your Questions, and Misquoting Jesus: How to Read Your Bible.

We'd love prayer for

Finn to be able to have some good sleep time as we drive the 4 hours to this event.
God to give us grace and creativity with ourselves and each other as we learn how to speak for a longer event with Finn (babywearing, babysitting, etc)
Realistic expectations to interact with the college students while also watching Finn
Open-hearted vulnerability on the part of these college students (many of them attending Colorado State University, Boulder) so they can begin to share their questions during our Q and A time).
For Jessica to have a wonderful time engaging with Finn.

Thank you for praying for us.
The Finchers

Biola Speaking with Finn

2010-05-08T09:20:00.001-07:00

We're so thankful we made it.

Finn traveled beautifully, and received lots of compliments for his laid back travel style. We even got an empty seat next to us on the way out, so he got to really snooze between us.

Our crazy busy Monday was made more difficult because Finn had a horrible night's rest, which meant we did, too.

Though we got up 2 hours too early for the 1st radio interview it went so well that the DJ wants to interview us more regularly. Details on that will be forthcoming. We're so excited she felt we had more to share!

Our chapel talk while Jonalyn carried Finn in the baby carrier went beautifully, even though Jonalyn said her head felt a little muddy. Finn began to cry for food in the last 5 minutes so Jonalyn announced he was going to go see grandma and serenely handed him over. It was amazingly smooth and Grandma was a big help.

Our 2nd radio interview went well, though it felt very short.
In the evening Finn surprised us by sleeping for 3 hours (probably because he needed the rest so badly) during our entire Gender Justice talk.

As this was the talk we were originally invited out for (the chapel was tagged on just 1 week ago), we were thrilled when the room packed out, with people standing in the back. We stayed until 11pm signing books and chatting with the Biola students. To read how they liked it check out their campus newsletter's article, "Mind the Stereotypes". We felt blown away by their enthusiasm and excellent questions.

Thank you so much for praying. This week we're headed to Moab for a real vacation. As we learn to integrate Finn into our lives on the road, we ask for continued wisdom.

Would you pray that for us this week?

Gratefully,
Dale and Jonalyn Fincher

First Speaking Trip with Finn

2010-04-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

We praise God because Jonalyn came through surgery beautifully. No complications and no excess bleeding during her procedure. Finn and Dad did great, as well. Thank you for praying as her good health makes it possible to go into this upcoming busy week with strength.

This week we look ahead to our time in Los Angeles. It will be Finn's inaugural speaking trip with us. Would you please pray for us, ESPECIALLY on Monday as we have a

6 am radio interview for our book,

a 9 am speaking event for Biola's entire student body (audience around 2000),

a 1 pm radio interview again for our book and

a 9 pm speaking event for a smaller audience at Biola (around 100+).

We ask for:

Health, as we travel with Finn on a plane for the first time. We want to be sensitive to his needs as we travel and speak, we really want him to stay healthy. We've been asking God for wisdom as to how to incorporate Finn into our Soulation work. It would be wonderful if he could sleep during our talks as we will be baby-carrying him during both events. Grandma will be in the audience to help if there is a breakdown. However, Jonalyn specifically asks for peace and joy as she models another way to include your child in your work.
We ask for tender hearts at Biola, that the students and faculty would be sensitive to hearing us speak about sharing your faith and gender myths.

We look forward to reporting back next week on how God answered our prayers.

Sleep, Surgery, Speaking

2010-04-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

Your prayers have made a difference!
This week Finn has impressed us all by sleeping for up to 6 hours at a stretch at night. AMAZINGLY wonderful. Please continue to pray for Finn the amazing Sleeping Champion to continue to wow us, as we need as much sleep as we can get.

Jonalyn needs your prayers tonight and tomorrow morning. After multiple sonograms the doctors have determined that she needs a D and C. She goes in at 6am tomorrow for a 7:30am surgery.

Would you pray for her specifically that

She will not lose much blood, a potential given a retained placenta. We have a speaking event (our first since Finn's birth) in Los Angeles in 2 weeks so she needs all her strength.
The fast from food and drink from midnight until surgery will not be too arduous given her need to nurse.
That Finn will be able to have a special time with Dad who will watch him during the surgery.

Finally, we are preparing for our first speaking event at BIola on May 3rd. Would you pray our work on this talk would be a joy and not a burden as we learn to prepare with Finn in our lives?

Rentals, Finn and Surgery

2010-04-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

We are excited to tell you that we found a wonderful spot for our Soulation Retreats. It's an ideal location and the rate is affordable for us. HOORAY!

In other news, Finn is adjusting beautifully to life outside the womb. We've found a schedule that has worked to give us about 7 hours of sleep (though mine is in chunks!) Would you pray for Finn to begin to sleep consistently from 10-2am? This would help us be more alert for business during the day.

Jonalyn could use some extra prayer this weekend. She has an infection which needs to fully clear by Monday or she will have to undergo surgery (D and C). Would you pray that God would naturally heal her body? She does not relish the idea of going under for this procedure. Please pray for her to lean on God for courage during this time.

Thank you so much,
The Finchers

We ask for God's healing.

Days and Nights with Finn and Soulation Retreat

2010-03-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

We've had baby Finn home with us for 2 weeks now, after his 2 week hospital stay. We're realizing the one month anniversary can be more challenging than we thought.

Would you pray for us as we brainstorm ways to get a little more sleep. Jonalyn's body has been particularly worn down, something she realized this weekend with her 100 degree temperature. We ask that we'd have creativity and sensitivity about letting each other sleep and teaming up (especially in the wee hours of the night).

Dale is working hard to find a place to host our two Soulation retreats this summer. Would you pray for us to find a lodging that would fit all our guests and would be miraculously more affordable than the going rate at Steamboat? We have many details to get together and we need good prioritizing to make these happen in a timely manner... and with a new born around!

We need strength this week to persevere in caring for Finn and in our own Soulation responsibilities.

Grateful for you,
Jonalyn and Dale

Home with Finn

2010-03-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

We're delighted to let you know that Finn is home. His strength is growing. He's even off oxygen except at nights. Tomorrow we hope to have him oxygen free.

Jonalyn's strength continues to grow, as well. She even took Finn for a short walk down the driveway today wearing him in her new Moby wrap.

Tonight Dale is holding down the Ask LIVE! fort while Jonalyn continues to enjoy maternity leave.

Would you join us in thanking God for

Finn's health (the pediatrician this week said he looked perfect!)
Jonalyn's endurance (despite only snatches of sleep she's been able to nap regularly and even begin to feel more like herself!)
Dale's sensitivity (I, Jonalyn, have felt so served by Dale's frequent trips to town for groceries, Dale's love and involvement with Finn-- read more on this at Dale's new blog on fatherhood)

Would you join us in praying for

Jonalyn's carpal tunnel to fully heal (she's been very limited in typing, journaling, knitting--even changing diapers is difficult).
A publisher for Jonalyn's next book on female friendships. So far we nearly have one offer. This is so encouraging!
Dale's endurance as he handles much of the correspondence for Soulation while Jonalyn continues to recover. Each night he burns the midnight oil and writes for his new blog, as well. Would you pray that this work of crafting his writing would continue to be rewarding for him?
Our book, Coffee Shop Conversations, will be releasing in 2 months. We still have work to do to promote it. Would you pray for our developmental volunteer, Mike, and the pertinent staff at Zondervan to be timely in their preparation and marketing? It's so easy to miss the narrow window of promotion.

Baby Finn

2010-03-09T16:09:00.001-08:00

We wanted you to know that last week our lovely boy arrived in this world, Finn Davies Fincher. To read a little about his name check out my blog or Dale's blog.

We've had a wonderful labor experience. Jonalyn delivered all 9 lbs 12 ounces of Finn at 2:41 pm last Tuesday, March 2, 2010. We were amazed, delighted and so thankful for the swiftness of labor and the chance to deliver him without any pain medications.

There have been some bumps along the rode, however. Jonalyn suffered from post-pardum hemorrhage and is still regaining strength as she stays at the hospital with Finn.

Finn has had a rough week too. Though he is strong, his lungs were giving him problems. God has protected his life by appointing attentive nurses to see his struggle and he was moved quickly into the nursery (similar to the NICU in larger hospitals) He's been on 7 days of antibiotics and oxygen.

The strain of being apart from each other and for most hours, from Finn, watching him and being very helpless to help him (beyond nursing him) has been hard.

Would you pray for us to draw near to God and trust him as we await the final (we hope) round of tests tomorrow? We will find out if we can take him home around lunch time. Even then we have to complete a final night with him to prove his strength and health.

Right now we feel so grateful he is getting better but not sure if we can (or should) get our hopes up of taking him home. We long to be home with him so much.

To read a much more detailed day-by-day account of what we've been going through see Dale's newly created blog on being a father.

Baby Coming and Library Requests

2010-02-25T10:02:00.000-08:00

Today is Jonalyn's due date, but so far no baby arrival. We feel grateful that we're not anxious, just very curious.

Please join us in praying that Jonalyn would be able to deliver without having to induce labor with something like pitocin.

We also came across something rather disheartening today that we'd like your prayer on as concerns our small mountain community. About 2 years ago we both donated our books to our local library. We've also made it a practice to routinely donate good theological and Christian books so that our local library would be outfitted for those who have further questions about Christianity. So far, we just assumed they'd put many of these books on their shelves.

But, today Jonalyn did a search into the library database, more out of curiosity than anything and found that neither of our books can be found. This means that the library either lost them or decided against stocking their shelves with them. Or maybe something else happened.

This concerns us, especially with the overwhelming amount of spirituality books our library does own that leave Christianity out or caricature Jesus. Jonalyn put a call into the Library's director--a woman named Chris and left a message asking for clarity.

We ask that the Holy Spirit would work to begin to help this relationship with the library grow into something where they see the value of good Christianity literature. We want to help those at our local library see the need and if there is any prejudice against Christians that we could offer a reason to put that prejudice to rest.'

Would you pray for Jonalyn's talk with Chris?

Would you also pray that our local library would become aware of the need to stock good Christian books on their shelves?

We believe so much of our work to help people love Jesus begins with changing our minds--which often begins with a good book.

Unexpected Answers

2010-02-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

We're sorry to say that the audio was never recovered, however, Biola has expressed interest in our coming out in the Spring, so we can present to the students LIVE. This may prove to be the best option, but it was still hard to lose our work! Thank you for praying.

This week we feel grateful for the time to nest for Birdie's arrival. We did some firsts this week, got our car seat and bought diapers for the first time. You can see how Lady Victoria awaits the baby's arrival, so patiently :)

Birdie is expected Feb 25th, but he may come any time in the next 3 weeks. Jonalyn is feeling much more cumbersome, though she's not in any regular pain. Walking, snowshoeing and yoga have kept her in good shape (pic is of her at 37 weeks). We are asking God for a rewarding labor experience. Ideally we'd like to have the baby without interventions, without a C-section delivery and with Jonalyn and baby in full health. We shall see what God has in store for us.

Dale has had some severe lower back pain due to a fall into an icy pond last week (read about his mishap here). He's gotten some good chiropractic help (as of yesterday) and asks for his back and pelvis to full heal so he can be fully physically present during Jonalyn's labor.

Dale also asks for wisdom as he works out the format for his next book. He has lots of brainstorming documents and ideas, but needs a clear structure of how to best put these thoughts together.

Hopefully, next time we write we'll have some baby news!

Grins,
The Finchers

Missing Audio

2010-02-10T10:25:00.001-08:00

I was so excited to write an update to you today to share how glowingly our video recording went last week.

We were able to get the entire talk done swiftly and with clarity. We even enjoyed the process. We kept checking all our equipment to make sure it was working properly and sighed with relief when we got the talk finished and could Fed Ex it off to our video editor in Los Angeles.

But, today, we heard back from our video editor that 1/2 the audio (the last half) did not come through. We're utterly frustrated. This is precisely why we think we shouldn't be doing videos like this, we're just not professionals and too many things can go wrong.

We're going to try to find the audio on our backed up copy at home, but the chances are slim that there's audio there. Overall, we feel tempted to scrap the whole project, I don't think we have the resources to recreate the entire talk at this point in Jonalyn's pregnancy and our creative energies.

Would you pray that God will help us find the missing audio?

Video Day

2010-02-04T07:02:00.000-08:00

Dale and I have one last presentation to give, this one to a camcorder. This video will be edited and shown to Biola University for their kick-off chapel for The Coalition of Social Action, held Feb 22nd, way too close to our due date for Jonalyn to travel.

We could use your prayer today as video-taping requires we both play script-writers, set-designers, camera and lighting crew and directors is very, very difficult. It would be wonderful to be able to hire a crew to do the video-taping, but that's out of the budget at the moment.

So we ask for

incredible creativity to film and present in a way that doesn't in the end look cheesy and unprofessional
willingness to hear each others' ideas as we brainstorm points and filming ideas
speed to finish this project this morning
clear-headedness to remember our points with the camera staring us in the face
Love to cover our interaction with each other

In other news, our audio recording went beautifully! Our book is recorded and we had a wonderful time with Brad. It was a lot easier recording together and tag-teaming the amount of reading.

So far no more news on Jonalyn's book proposal which is just as well, though hard to wait, since we have our hands full with other things at the moment!

Baby news: the baby may be coming sooner than his due date, something we're praying for as the closer we get to Feb 25th the bigger he'll be. He's around 6 lbs 10 oz right now, so he's strong enough to meet this world. We are praying that he would arrive sometime next week.

Yours in this work,
Jonalyn and Dale

Three Cheers and Strong Voices

2010-01-24T09:50:00.000-08:00

We finished Coffee Shop Conversations. The proof is in the pudding: today Zondervan's audio editor flies into Steamboat for Dale and I to record the entire manuscript this week. So no more changes allowed!. As it's snowing (9 inches and counting) would you pray for him to arrive safely?

Thank you for praying for us to finish. We saw God answer our prayers in three specific ways

We were able to correct many more mistakes given that the rushed situation required an electronic version (and the not the paper version where we have to hand write any corrections). So several chapters ended up much stronger!
Our friends who came to vacation for a week were enormously understanding of our need to finish these edits, so we were able to finish on time.
Dale and I worked very very well as a team, we had wonderful communication and few meltdowns. At 8 months pregnant and all the other distractions, we see God's protection in this.

This week would you pray for us to have strong vocal cords, endurance and no ambient noise interruptions? We are recording out at our cabin.

Jonalyn's pregnancy continues to go very well. She's glad the baby is still sitting high which means snow shoeing and walking is no problem. Come next week we begin nesting in earnest!

Jonalyn's proposal for Walking in Her Shoes is being looked by a few publishers this week. One of the publishers she especially wants to work with has been asking additional questions. Would you pray that God would coordinate the best partnership to allow her next book to be published?

Thank you for praying for us so faithfully!
Jonalyn and Dale

Missouri Amazement and Manuscripts

2010-01-14T10:47:00.000-08:00

We're so happy to tell you that Missouri went very very well and that our baby is still "cooking." No unexpected complications and Jonalyn's strength held up beautifully, even for the 8 hour speaking day on Friday.

Here are some pictures of us with the team of women who brought us out. You can also see us on stage during our talk on Men and Women. We received many enthusiastic comments from Woodcrest Chapel participants on our Soulation fan page. But we wanted to include one here:

Thank you so much for joining us! The time we spent with you both was intriguing, engaging and enlightening. While I enjoyed all three days, my husband came for Saturday and said it was the fastest two hours ever. It left him wanting more. I tossed him your books.

We had participants join us for Ask Live! last night and are continuing to be thankful that we could make this last trip. Thank you for your prayers.

This week's requests

We've seen God answer prayers for wisdom with our manuscript for Coffee Shop Conversations. After Dale put in 14 hours editing, Jonalyn picked up the manuscript and found enough problems that we needed to request an entirely new edit and with an in-house editor. These means Dale's 14 hours had to be scrapped as we go back to a July version of the manuscript. The last edit was done with someone out of house and altered way too much of our material. Requesting a new copy edit took a lot of boldness on our parts, in the past we'd usually just plow through and take too much on our shoulders, but this time, we asked for the editing to be redone. Our editor has agreed, accepting full responsibility for fixing some mistakes. She will be doing an incredibly quick re-editing this week. Her name is Becky and we know her work in these last stages is pivotal for ironing out the distracting grammar, punctuation and redundancies. Would you pray for her to have calmness and balance (many of her projects have had to be put on hold to make our manuscript right this week) so that next week we can tackle this final edit.
Come Monday we'll have Coffee Shop Conversations back in our hands for the final time. We'll have one week to finish it before we have to record it for an audio version of the book. This task, combined with juggling some fun company coming next week means we need incredible focus to work well on this manuscript. Would you pray for swiftness of mind, good communication between each other for this final push and God's grace to meet these deadlines?
Jonalyn is excited to share that her next book, Walking in Her Shoes is currently out among publishers looking for a home. She finished her proposal for this next book on women this last Monday. You can see a video of what it will be about here. She asks for prayers that Walking in Her Shoes would find a good home, an editor that believes in the need for women to strengthen their female friendships.

And on the home front, the baby continues to grow healthy and strong. Please pray for Jonalyn to have patience with her more cumbersome body and to take time to rest when she needs it! Here she is at 33 weeks on a snowshoe we took this week.

We are grateful for you!
Dale and Jonalyn

Weekly Prayer Request - Writing, Travel, Thankfulness

2010-01-05T09:49:00.000-08:00

With Christmas over the New Year begun we're glad to share with you some answered prayers.

After sending our Christmas Seasonal out, we have seen new partners offer to help Soulation. They have left us hopeful that if we continue to let people know our needs God will bring us provision. While we could not take full advantage of the matching grant, we were grateful those who did sacrifice this year to continue Soulation's work.

This Thursday- Sunday we will be in Columbus, Missouri speaking for a leadership training event on the value of women in the church, Jonalyn's final speaking trip before her maternity leave. This church heard of Jonalyn's Book, Ruby Slippers, and is asking her to speak upwards of 5 hours about the value and uniqueness of women. They want to open up their congregation to women speaking more regularly as partners with men. Jonalyn has a final doctor's appointment tomorrow to ensure travel is wise at this time 33 weeks into her pregnancy. We ask that there be no complications, that the travel days on Thursday and Sunday are completely uneventful and that her pregnancy runs full term at home in Steamboat. Jonalyn also asks for strength to winsomely share the content in her book. We speak over 8 hours in 3 days, so we both need energy!

Manuscript - Our book, Coffee Shop Conversations, has been sent to us for the final reading before each page is formally laid out for printing. We need the eyes to see how it can be better. Once it leaves our hands this time, it will be printed and out in the world. We want it to be as good as it can be. We have a week after we get back from Missouri to finish it up. Sometimes we think it's great, other times we know we have to clean it up some more. Dale has been working on it every day for the last 3 days. He's off to a coffee shop again today to finish up his edits. Jonalyn will begin to edit when we get back from Missouri.

Grateful for your prayers this week!
Jonalyn and Dale

Resting/Writing

2009-12-15T07:22:00.000-08:00

It is so good to be home, again, for a full two weeks. HOORAY!

We've both found inspiration to work on writing, new blogs this last week, new book ideas. We want to ask you to thank God for a wonderful last week of travels, too.

Jonalyn's talks both in San Diego and Vail went wonderfully well, even with a few kerfuffles in travel, she finished strong. One woman wrote Jonalyn today. We wanted you to see some of her words to know how God answered our prayers:

I was blessed to be in the audience at _______ Women's Dessert. You have the amazing gift of encouragement and inspiration. Your message touched my heart in more ways than you know. I have been a stressed out, burned out social worker for the last few months. How I needed to hear your words!

In addition, my husband and I have also been struggling to have a child for several years. I dont think it was an accident to not only hear your wonderful insights, but to hear them while you are glowing with a baby! It was a reminder to me...to HAVE FAITH and to "walk humbly with my GOD!"

A million thank yous.

This week we ask your prayers for:

Jonalyn's agent to work through her recent book proposal on women's friendships and that the process of finding a publisher for her next book would go swiftly. Jonalyn wants to work on this book in the next few months before the baby arrives, but it all depends on the book finding a good home with a publisher.
Dale to be given a clear vision for his next book. He asks for an excellent memory and the cheerleaders to continue to come along side for this next project.

Thank you!
Jonalyn

Rest and Energy... last talk before Christmas

2009-12-08T06:59:00.000-08:00

Jonalyn is on the plane traveling to San Diego (Carlsbad) for her last speaking event before Christmas. It's been a long stretch of pregnancy and travel over the last month. She's holding up well, but asks for prayer that she's able to get some rest during her travel day and have lots of energy for tonight. She returns home tomorrow.

As always when public speaking, pray she will tell the truth clearly, personally, and imaginatively. This talk, "Mary and Minute Rice" has a lot of power that will resonate with her audience. Pray also for openness and some breakthroughs for these women who will easily neglect their souls over the expectation to be superheroes this Christmas season.

Carlsbad and Vail

2009-11-30T13:01:00.000-08:00

This week we're thankful to share that Jonalyn has finally got a diagnosis on her cold. She's actually been suffering from a sinus infection and now has all the meds she needs to get better. She's already feeling a lot more energy and back to herself, which is good because . . .

She and Dale travel to San Diego this Tuesday and then Vail on Friday and then back to San Diego the following Tuesday, all for overnight speaking trips for women's Christmas events.

Would you pray for Jonalyn to have sufficient energy to speak with a clear mind as her day begins at 4 am tomorrow and she speaks late tomorrow evening after a full day of travel? Her message is entitled "Mary and Minute Rice" and she hopes to inspire the women to resting and walking humbly with Jesus this Christmas season.

Friday, she will be speaking for an outreach event entitled "When Love is a Person" again a Christmas event. She's glad Dale is along to help her on both these trips, as it's harder to move these days. So far our baby boy is doing very well, he's just growing a lot! :)

Would you also pray for those who will receive this Christmas' Soulation Seasonal? We’ve written out most of the content and are very pleased with the result.

We are asking God for more financial donors to join Soulation this year. If we received $15,000 this year we'd both feel encouraged that Soulation is growing (but we hope and can use much more). Would you petition him to move the hearts of those who believe in Soulation to give this year?

Bethel Report and this Week's Work

2009-11-24T07:30:00.001-08:00

Bethel was a delight, the students came out in droves to support us at optional events, their questions were honest, intensively interesting and kept us thankful for each other to back us each up. You may enjoy reading their comments at our facebook fan page. One email stood out that we want to share with you

Thank you so much for sharing at Bethel this week! After hearing you at Vespers, I was just praying that the Lord would teach me to model 1 Peter 3:15 like you two do by being prepared to give answers with gentleness and respect. Wow. And I loved to see your beautiful partnership. We can read all the relationship books in the world and never learn half as much as we did just by seeing you two love and honor each other. You're like a living metaphor!

Thank you so much for praying for this trip!

Jonalyn's health is stronger, though she still is fighting the last vestiges of her cold.

This week our main task is writing out a Fledge and a Seasonal for Christmas. Many of you will also be receiving a hard copy of the latter. This will be our most important seasonal this year as far as the future of Soulation is concerned. We need to communicate our need for financial backers if Soulation's free resources and work is to continue. As we combine and synthesize so many events into stories of our time on the road, as we try to adequately explain what we do, we ask for your prayers.

We need clarity to explain our work, a good memory to recall the stories we know others want to hear and the diligence to write, write, write.

Off to Indiana!

2009-11-16T16:41:00.000-08:00

We're speaking at Bethel College (see our map) this week on soul-growth, relationships, and gender. Two chapels, a leadership lunch discussion, two gender sessions, and an evening Q&A. We're eager for this opportunity to speak to the student body (about 1000) and feel ready with some fresh ideas.

Jonalyn is feeling fatigued. She's been fighting the sniffles and the antibiotics aren't working their magic. She feels tired going into this full week, carrying her pregnancy well, but needing some energy and health.

Today, Dale had his stitches removed from surgery last week. The doctor is very pleased with the healing. He'll be writing more reflections on his surgery on his blog... coming soon. He's feeling pretty tip-top.

Thanks for praying for us; we can sense it. We anticipate a great week with the students and look forward to sharing the report!

Dale's Surgery News

2009-11-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

I have wonderful news to share about Dale’s surgery. It went INCREDIBLY well. The doctor got all the cancer on the first surgery and he was super cool and helpful the whole time. Dale never went into anxiety or shock. We were amazed and feel enormously thankful for your prayers. This was an overall very very good experience, which is good as Dale will probably have more of these in the future. The good news: all the cancer is gone. God is so good!

Now we're in the recovery stage as we get ready for our next week of talks at Bethel College in Indiana. Would you pray for Dale's full recovery?

We also ask for insight and fresh ideas as we write up talks for the college students next week.
Thank you!
Jonalyn and Dale

Surgery Tomorrow

2009-11-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow Dale and I will spend the day at the skin doctor's office for his out-patient surgery. As Dale often suffers from anxiety attacks at doctor's offices would you pray for him to sense God's peace and comfort.

We also ask that all the cancerous cells would be removed.

We look forward to this day being a time God shows himself near to us.

Thank you for praying!

A Mountain and Then a Valley

2009-10-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed how after a mountain the valley is quickly beyond it? After a tremendous time in Dallas, better than we've encountered at any church event in terms of participation, enthusiasm and feedback, we've slid down into a valley. Dallas gave us time to meet with teens (read more at the previous blog), staff and women (hear Jonalyn on the Sexuality Panel) who were engaged, excited and thankful for the ideas we shared. They made us feel so grateful that we are running Soulation and doing this work.

But we don't feel so tip-top right now.

It probably began when we missed our flight due to plugging in another airport's address. After a 4am rising time for standby, we are still catching up on sleep. Jonalyn is beginning to feel the drain of having a more cumbersome body to move around. And we hit the ground running when we arrived back in Steamboat because our house in town is officially being sold. Escrow closes this Thursday. This makes us enormously grateful, too, though the packing feels like a lot right now.

Would you pray for....

A few weeks ago, Dale went to the dermatologist to have a small growth removed from his eyebrow. He thought it would be routine, since a similar one was removed last year. This year, the doctor was more cautious and sent a biopsy to the lab. The results returned that it was a form of skin cancer. For now all is fine in that it has not spread, but this Tuesday, Nov 3, Dale will go in for a MOHS surgical procedure to remove any remnants of the skin cancer. This procedure is as cosmetically non-invasive as possible, while still removing the entire cancer. He can use your prayer that not only will all the cancer be removed, but that his anxiety (with medical procedures) will be minimized.
We have to pack up our in town house by Thursday. Would you pray for us to find capable, quality conscious movers to help us?
We've faced a series of difficult encounters on a personal front, the details we cannot share. It has discouraged us at our core. Would you pray that we would experience God's peace and pleasure in us these next few days?
Jonalyn has been bombarded with Buddhist comments on her blog (read the post "Jesus Outshines Buddha") and has finally decided to set some ground rules for the discussion. Would you pray for the Buddhists who have attacked or misunderstood Jesus in these posts? We see how they need Jesus' love and greater humility, but we feel inadequate to know how to communicate it. We want to let the Holy Spirit take over and rest in his power.

We're thankful to have you praying for us... it's been hard even getting to the computer to write out this prayer request. We're glad we finally did it, as we feel the need for prayer this week!

Thank you for holding us up,
Jonalyn and Dale

Answered Prayer

2009-10-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

We had our evening with the teens last night. We were so grateful that David, the youth pastor, allowed us to speak at a well-organized and well attended event. Parents sat in the back and the questions the teens asked were honest, eye-opening and universal. These are the questions, the adult-like questions, that we hear all over the country.

Jonalyn felt a little weak at first and her head felt muddy, but Dale said her presentation was excellent. Nice to know it came through. We stayed for an extra hour afterward to talk with teens individually, so far our strength is holding up.

Though it's been less than 12 hours later, we've already received emails and facebook requests to connect and go further into answering questions with them. Thought you'd enjoy some pictures.

Today at noon we speak to the staff about homosexuality. Please pray for us to work well as a team, to listen and speak with humility about what we've learned.

A Trip to Dallas

2009-10-22T08:43:00.001-07:00

We are approaching a busy month of November's travels, which we kick off with a three day PACKED trip to Dallas.

We ask for your prayers specifically...

That we'd be able to connect with Irving Bible Church culture swiftly as we'll be speaking to the youth, staff and women.
That we have wisdom to answer difficult and often considered "too personal" questions on Christianity and sexuality. We're also leading a staff discussion on homosexuality. We ask for humility and gentleness.
Protection from the H1N1 flu especially as Jonalyn's pregnancy makes her more vulnerable
Jonalyn will be on a panel (pic from last year's panel she participated in) along with a theologian and a sex expert to discuss sexuality for the women's Bible study both this coming Monday evening and Tuesday morning. As she will have already spoken twice that weekend and will be near the end of our Dallas stay, would you pray for her to have energy and succinct and fresh ways to share the holism of sexual experience and clearly explain why God cares about sex?

In other news: We are so grateful to report that some key road building has been happening in these precious weeks before the snow comes. Our land is beginning to take the shape to dream up where future Soulation retreat cabins will go. Thank you for praying for us to have favor with capable workers in town, several of which have given us a non-profit discount. HOORAY!

Would you pray that we'd also have favor in the eyes of the county planning commission?

DVD Answers

2009-10-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

Today was Jonalyn's video shoot and it went incredibly well! We've included a few photos so you can see her on set. The director was very impressed with delivery and poise. She was totally relaxed and actually really enjoyed the process. The coordinator for the process was in tears after Jonalyn finished her first story. Everyone just loved her style and material.

God is good!

It will be so neat to be able to have this curriculum on Rebekah and Mary Magdalene available for women more easily.

Thank you so much for praying, she felt carried through the process and like she was able to deliver her best. It was an amazing experience.

Also, the day was just GORGEOUS, so they were able to do some shots of her walking through the woods and some amazing views from the land. Great for promoting the retreat down the road :)

A Few Requests

2009-10-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

So far so good on selling our home! Thank you for praying, we still await the bank and getting the loans.
We've seen Salvation Army people coming to more healing this week. Amazing correspondences with them online. Thank you for praying!
Jonalyn responded to the Buddhist monk and feels very good about the time and energy she put into her words.
Jonalyn is all geared up for her film shoot tomorrow. What with the caterer and make-up artist and film crew there is enough to get her all nervous. Would you pray she would be relaxed as she works with the team tomorrow? She'll be shooting from 8am -5pm
Dale's blog continues as he found time to write an excellent post. He continues to receive great feedback. Please pray for him to begin work on his next book project.

We are putting in our first major road in the White Woods and this is a significant chunk of cash for us in this tight time. We will soon need donors to help us develop this land, so we pray in expectation of who God will bring to us to help us shoulder the cost of the retreat center. Would you pray that God would begin grooming those who will financially support us?

We ask for continued good health as we work at home these next few weeks. Jonalyn's belly is GROWING and we're thankful her health has been good and the baby is completely healthy, too.

God is good and we sense his protection this fall!
Dale and Jonalyn

Can you believe it?

2009-10-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Wonderful news to report:

We entered contract on our house in town this Monday. HOORAY!! This housing deal involves a condo swap as well. We're now working through loan documents and waiting to hear what the banks word will be. Please pray for us as we shift around our finances and begin to prepare for the future retreat. We need favor in the eyes of the bank (as does the buyer).
Salvation Army time was just amazing. We had one of the most profitable Question and Answer sessions (hopefully we will get the recording mounted and online soon) that went over 1 1/2 hours. The audience was very engaged for our talks and we're still in contact with them online. Would you pray for the broken people we spoke with, that they will follow Jesus into places of spiritual and emotional health? We have some pictures of our time at our facebook fan page:
Jonalyn received several more blog comments on a blog she wrote about Buddhism. The commenter is somewhat aggressive and accusatory. Would you pray for her to find additional help to answer these technical Buddhist questions (read more here)? She also needs courage to not give up under the many other tasks at hand.
Next week Jonalyn will be filmed for a DVD Women's Bible Study curriculuum (published through Zondervan). The filming team will work all day next Wednesday on location at our cabin in Steamboat Springs. We're thrilled our cabin and Jonalyn will be a part of this, but the coordinating, not to mentioned being "on" all day will involve lots of preparation. Please pray for Jonalyn to be herself when on camera and wisdom as she outlines her material.
Dale recently posted a wildly popular blog on the meaning of church (read more here) He has been moderating many comments and needs the time to post another entry. Please pray for him to find the time to continue writing this important series.

The work continues, even though we're home we feel busy and glad it's gorgeous outside. We love taking breaks and breathing all this fresh, crisp air!

Happy Fall,
Dale and Jonalyn

Quick Requests from the Road

2009-10-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

We have more good news

The sale of our house in town looks more and more possible. We expect an offer soon (our realtor has been amazing getting this sale to move forward!) and we ask that God would allow the many details of these early negotiations to be ironed out. There are many ways the sale could disintegrate. We're also asking God to put up a road block for us if this sale is not going to be a good move for us as we plan to build the retreat center.
We woke up at 4:45am this morning to catch a flight with 3 legs to get us to Dallas in time for our first talk this evening with the Salvation Army. Our talks are all printed and ready, we're reviewing them. We ask specifically for prayer Saturday evening when we spend 1 hour at open mics fielding questions from these young adults (ages 18-35) ask any question. This Q & A times can be enormously useful IF the audience feels free to ask their heart questions. Would you pray for them to have boldness to ask and for us to have sensitivity as we answer?
We also speak Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday morning. We'd value your prayers during any of these times as we're always presenting new material!

From our Salt Lake City layover,
Dale and Jonalyn

Preparing for Another Trip

2009-09-24T10:48:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon!

Dale and I have some lovely news. We're thanking God for

A couple who is very interested in our home in town. They've looked at it 3 times and we're moving toward an offer in the next few days. Please pray that as we begin appraisals and negotiations that we'd be able to sell our house in town without compromising funds we need to start the retreat center. We ask God for wisdom as we move forward.
A fantastic meeting with the county planning committee. This was our initial meeting and we began to clarify what we need to do to make this retreat a reality.
A surveyor/road builder who found out that we are "doing good just to do good" as he put it, has offered his services at his non-profit discount, 40% off. We're thrilled we'll be able to build some key roads for much less than we had anticipated.

We ask prayer for

our upcoming trip. We'll be speaking for the Salvation Army Young Adult Retreat. Hundreds of 18-35 year olds will be attending and we'll be organizing the schedule and our talks in the next few days. We ask for clarity in speaking and developing talks that will allow these young adults to see the freedom Jesus offers.
traveling mercies as we fly to Oregon and Dallas and food is always a bit of an issue as Jonalyn is very dependent on eating regularly and sometimes this can be tricky in terminals and airplane food courts. We ask for some good, healthy food to keep us going!

Thank you,
Jonalyn and Dale

Hopeful News

2009-09-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

Our time in New Hampshire surprised us with the way God uses us when we feel most needy and weak. Dale and I connected so swiftly with the high school students, noticing how many were hungry to know what God valued in them. One student told Dale after a talk, "You didn't tell us how we're awful and sinful like so many speakers do. Thank you for showing us why we're valuable." We've been enjoying connecting with them over email the last few weeks.

Perhaps the most unexpected part of our time in New Hampshire was the invitation our friends (who serve as president of the school we spoke at) extended to us to speak again, all last minute like, for the young adult Sunday School class. We were in town for an extra few days to enjoy time with our friends, so we threw together a talk using stories from our lives we have not, to date, shared publicly.

The response was overwhelmingly positive. We've been in contact with several of these people as well. We only wished we had recorded it, but know we'll be doing talks like this (covering spiritual abuse and how God's love sets us free) again and again.

These next few weeks we're home and enjoying summer turning to fall. We need your prayer for

preparing for three talks for the Salvation Army's Young Adult (13-35) Retreat in Dallas
our house in town is showing right now and since the market has been so slow, we pray that these people who love it and want to buy it!
rest and strength as our baby grows and Jonalyn is starting to really notice :) We want to leave for our next trip with full health.
Thankfulness that God met us in New Hampshire!

New Hampshire Speaking

2009-09-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

We're back on the road again, this time for a return trip to a Spiritual Retreat in New Hampshire. This week, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Dale and I will speak six times to a group of 50 high schoolers, to kick of their spiritual lives for the school year.

This is our second time speaking to this group, some of the seniors remembered our talks from four years ago. Their coming up to us, within the first few hours of our arrival and reminding us of what they had still remembered and continued practicing encouraged us to pour our energy into these next few days with them.

Dale speaks once more tonight on the power and uniqueness of Jesus in healing the paralyzed man. Tomorrow morning I speak on God and brokeness. Then Dale and I speak Thursday evening, Friday morning and Friday evening. If you would be willing to commit time to praying for one of these events, we will be greater emboldened and strengthened.

Specifically we'd like prayer for

Jonalyn's health as she is 4 months pregnant now... (baby Fincher due Feb 25, 2010--HOORAY!) and feeling some residue nausea from her first trimester. Pray for her strength and memory to communicate the important ideas tomorrow morning.
Dale to have courage to speak boldly as this event is a very conservative audience and he wants to stay focused on speaking Jesus' freedom and showing the teens that God cares about their questions.

We have a very busy fall coming up and with expecting a little one and learning to continue relying of Jesus to give us strength, we know we need to remember Jesus' power surrounds us.

Thank you for your prayers!

Hooray

2009-07-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to tell you that we finished our last BIG edit for our book. We're so thankful to have that chapter done for now so we can turn our eyes onto the next 2 weeks. We hope to have more word about the book in the next few weeks. Our editors will be working their magic to get it the right word length and grammatically sound.

Dale and I will be on a 14 day road trip, driving first to Orcas Island, off the coast of Seattle, for something called "Kindling's Fest" hosted by Dick Staub. We are hoping to enjoy some retreating of our own as well as reuniting with friends and Soulation connections. And you better believe we'll be taking notes about good things to adapt for our retreats.

One week from tomorrow we leave Seattle area and head south to mid-California region to speak for a week long Water Ski High School Church Camp.

Here's what we need prayer for:

Strength, we had very little turn around time between events/deadlines this summer. Even though we've been home for 1 full month we've moved, hosted a retreat and finished our 1st book together. We want to feel both refreshed by our retreat time and prepared to help the teens think more deeply about their faith. We need strength to let ourselves relax and gear up.
Joy as we drive, relax, network and speak together. It's been about a month since we've been on the road, and as we gear up to go back out, we want to remember why we really love doing this
Preparation for teen's hearts to be receptive as this camp is at least 15% un-churched. Our theme is re-introducing Jesus. We hope they will love him more when the week is over.
Safety and creativity- we're taking our corgis with us on this one and we need both safety for all of us as we drive, but also creativity to keep everyone cool enough during these warm weeks. We look forward to watching our little Ladies run in the fields at a little dog-friendly farm we found on Orcas Island.

Off to pack!
Jonalyn (for Dale, too).

The Soulation Retreat

2009-07-10T09:38:00.001-07:00

Our Soulation retreat finished up last Sunday and it went incredibly, beautifully well. Dale and I felt so affirmed by how our guests bonded, contributed, helped and loved. We feel like retreats are in our future as Soulation and look forward to see how God will give us the space to make them happen.

To see a cool slide show one photographer attendee put together watch here. Through her eyes you will get a taste of our land and the fun people who came out! They breathed courage and joy into us, even though we felt slightly stressed with our book deadline and our move.

GOOD NEWS:

I (Jonalyn) have finished my final proof read of our book: Coffee Shop Conversations. Dale is doing his final read through and we are VERY VERY grateful to be near the end.

Would you pray for him to

notice the things I missed as he sharpens up this final draft
enjoy the final read through even as he has other things clamoring for his attention
creativity

We are finishing up our time with guests. This week Joseph, a friend from our travels, has flown out to help us with trail-making. He is working hard and Dale asks for some time to enjoy working and hanging out with him. So far, I (Jonalyn) am so impressed by how much Dale can do. He is amazing! :)

Thank you for making a tangible difference in our lives with your prayers!

Soulation Retreat around the corner!

2009-06-28T16:33:00.001-07:00

Only three more days till our first Soulation retreat. Much has been prepared, much more still to do. Nine are descending our our mountain town refreshing their souls with conversation, the outdoors, and friendship. Our anticipation is high.

Heave upon this excitement and preparation our book project. Our editor sent us back our book to be edited and sharpened once again. This time, Jonalyn and I are doing it together, paragraph by paragraph. Each day we've spent about 4 hours to do 15 pages. It's slow, but very helpful work. The book is shaping up nicely. But couple that schedule and new deadline with the retreat and we've got very full plates.

We ask for patience as we work together. Working on a book so closely can frustrate us both, but we keep remembering the special opportunity to put our ideas into writing so better the world. We also ask for endurance as we carve out time this next week, giving all our guests our presence while also using our free time to edit, edit, edit. We will be exhausted come next Sunday, but rewarded. We also pray for an overflow of thanksgiving for our opportunities and the abilities to do seize them.

Our on the land, the forest consultants are working up our agricultural plan. All needed steps as we walk forward toward our plans for the retreat center.

I am continuing therapy... you can pray that the insights and honesty continue to flow. I'm in the middle of Scott Peck's book, "The Road Less Traveled." I'm stunned nobody has recommended this book to me before. It's a keeper, deeply resonant, and one you'd serve your own spiritual growth well by picking up (how's that for a plug in a prayer blog!)...

We look forward to sharing a good report for next week!

Big to Small

2009-06-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight is our last night in our spacious home. We've been working so hard to transition over. Tomorrow a slew of realtors will be visiting our home to see if they'd want to suggest it to their clients. So on top of packing we've been cleaning, too.

Whew!

As we move into the cabin, sometimes it feels like everything will fit well, sometimes I feel like Cinderella's stepsister trying to get a huge foot into a small shoe. Will everything we need fit? Where? How? And perhaps we don't need to worry as much as just take it a step at a time.

Would you pray for our first night at the cabin, tomorrow evening? We'll be sleeping on a blow-up mattress and doing our best to sleep well. We're mostly excited :)

We felt so loved tonight when a dear friend offered to bring us our first meal tomorrow evening along with a visit with her girls. Thankful for you all who pray for us and help us through this transition!

More to come!
Jonalyn (for Dale)

Moving Into the Wild

2009-06-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago I (Jonalyn) met a porcupine, a HUGE one on our land. It was about the size of a 40 inch TV, but much pokey-er and heftily raising it's quills. Our corgi, Lucy, helped me see him, but thankfully, she did not get too close to the hind quarters. The encounter makes both Dale and I very glad she is obedient when we called her sharply to "COME!". Afterwards, I felt all jittery about moving out of town into the great wild.

So I for your prayers for me as we make this move. Though that cabin is lovely, comfortable and very suited to our tastes, we're still "out there." And I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of porcupines meeting our dogs nor the idea of bears and mountain lions prowling about. God give me strength for this new adventure.

Dale has "changed lanes" so to speak into a more committed endeavor to simplify his life and focus on writing regularly. Would you pray for him to build the discipline and long-endurance to put his thoughts into blogs, essays and book ideas?

We have been moving slowly and spending lots of time reading and writing. This feels blessed to us, we want to enjoy the leisure to develop more thoughts without the distraction of book deadlines or speaking engagements.

And, of course, our home continues to sit on the market. We await God's plans. Meanwhile, we also await the county assessor's office to grant us agricultural status on our land that we move to. If we find favor in their eyes, we will have more funds to build the land. Would you pray for Routt County's favor?

Moving on

2009-06-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we sent our fully edited manuscript of Coffee Shop Conversations off to our editor to finish up. While we know there will still be a final read through, we felt a huge amount of satisfaction knowing we had finished well. The editing was grueling last week, but each day we had moments of rest, a walk, a walk to get mail, a good movie to relax to at least for a few hours each day.

We both felt your prayers. I (Jonalyn) felt really thankful that I didn't feel as stressed and frustrated as normal. Dale put in an additional read through the entire book before sending it. We think the work will pay off as we've given the manuscript the best that we have in ourselves, at this time. Thank you for helping us finish.

Now it's out of our hands for awhile and we're cheerfully turning toward moving to our cabin this month. We ask your prayer for

wisdom about attaining agricultural status on our land. We need favor in the eyes of the assessor board to make this happen.
deep contenment about our house remaining un-sold
wisdom about what to do with our house:drop price? continue waiting? get renters? We need God's guidance about what would be the best move. Pray that he would guide us.

Our times with our house church in town have been particularly rich lately and we feel nourished and thankful to live here in Steamboat. We very excited to be moving into our little cabin.

Happy Summer!

Coffee Shop- final week

2009-05-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

Ohio was wonderful, we felt united as we spoke, fully present and we even got time to work on our book. The flights were perfectly smooth. We're still getting emails from thankful people in the audiences.

This week we need your prayers for writing. We're down to the last 4 days of editing Coffee Shop Conversations: Making the Most of Spiritual Small Talk.

Please pray for us to have creativity and clarity as we edit. We both know that the small changes we make this week will have long-term consequences for help or confusion. We want the former. :)

Putting in 8-10 hours each day to do our final (5th) read through of the manuscript has been grueling. Please pray for us to still like each other at the end of the day, too. :) So far, we've found the work very rewarding, but we're only 1/4 of the way through this final read.

Dale is doing a lot of work editing on our "being" verbs and cutting the manuscript down another 7000 words. I (Jonalyn) am doing the final, final read through. We're both feeling the pressure of our Saturday deadline.

Thank you so much for helping us make it through!
D & J
p.s. you might enjoy reading my blog where I give an example of coffee shop type conversations.

Malibu Answers, Writing and Ohio

2009-05-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

We're home from Malibu and I (Jonalyn) am so excited to share with you some amazing things God did.

First, God answered your prayers about helping me strike a chord with the women and open up a new way of thinking. My books sold out, the women were eager to listen and apply the talks and small group time and I was delighted by their feedback. At the end of the retreat when they specifically thanked me and prayed for me, I was in tears. It was a very meaningful time.

At the end of the retreat we enjoyed a time of corporate prayer and women thanked God specifically for things we had discussed and I had shared that weekend. Things like, "God thank you for giving me a way to see the ugliness inside of me" , "Thank you for freedom from guilt and shame", "Thank you for giving me a way back home" all themes in the talks. When I heard the women owning the idea that Jesus can help them, and wanting to walk more boldly into Jesus' arms for help.... I felt I just had to tell you how much God helped us all. It's weekends like this that make me love this work. THANK YOU for praying for me.... I sensed the Spirit's help this weekend.

And Dale had a very productive, good time, too. He got through round 2 of edits and even found time to connect with friends. Even after a long weekend of working, our time was amazingly refreshing!

This week we begin the next stage of editing together. We've been through the manuscript 2 times. We hope to do another 2 in the next 2 weeks. Given that we also fly to Ohio for several speaking events (Friday-Monday), we're hoping to be very diligent in the next 3 days and then next week before our May 30th deadline.

Would you pray for us?

to sleep well so we can awake refreshed each morning
to trust one another to make the book better
to trust God to be able to give us the words to connect with our audience.
as we write new talks for this weekend that we'll be given fresh ideas and organization

Thank you for helping us do this work!

On to Malibu

2009-05-14T19:22:00.001-07:00

As I write this, Jonalyn has just finished packing the Soulation supplies and books and putting the finishing relish on her suitcase.

In the early morning, we set off for Malibu, the land of celebrity second homes. Jonalyn will be speaking three times, twice in Saturday, once on Sunday. I will be doing some networking and visiting a local cafe to continue editing our book.

Pray for safe travels, that Jonalyn will strike a real chord with the ladies, that souls will be open to change and new ways of seeing things, that my meetings will be fruitful and nourishing, and that we'll lap in as much of the sea as we can before heading back to the mountains.

We return home late Sunday night!

Editing

2009-05-05T09:09:00.001-07:00

Our next book, Coffee Shop Conversations: Making the Most of Spiritual Small Talk, will be coming out in Winter, 2010. We even have a new beautiful cover design which is helping motivate us. See attachment :)

But the work of writing and editing happen now. Today and every day of this month (except when we travel for speaking), Dale and I are editing our manuscript.

We need prayer specifically this month for our partnership dynamic. Dale and I both have strong ideas about where each section of the book needs to go. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we don't. We ask you to pray for:

trust in one another as we edit, crop and delete each other's hard work
humility as we receive critiques from our editor and each other
zeal and determination to insert new stories so as to make the reading more enjoyable
desire to get to bed at a decent hour so we have enough morning hours to write well
A quick memory to recall all that we've talked about with each other and on the road to add to this manucript

Our deadline is May 30th. Back to work!
Jonalyn and Dale

Walking in Memphis

2009-04-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

We are in Memphis Tennessee this week, speaking together Monday night and Tuesday for a luncheon and a dinner.

As we're arrived safe and sound, we wanted to send you a few prayer requests

We hope to recuperate our rest tonight so we are geared up to speak together Monday evening for a Q and A with the church's leadership team.
Jonalyn speaks twice on Tuesday. She asks for you to pray that the Spirit give her words of truth with love. She will be presenting on the freedom for women to discover their calling (i.e. their personalized body and souls' calling in the kingdom). There will be non-believers attending, so she asks for wisdom to both introduce Jesus to those who do not follow him as well as refresh the believers ideas of what Jesus means to their womanhood.
We fly home Wednesday, please pray for our safety.

Our house was seen, but no word, yet. We await God's work in our lives in any way he sees fit. This week, we want to be fully present in Memphis.

One Request

2009-04-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

We have received the beginning of an answer to our prayers to sell our house.

Tomorrow we have a house showing from 10:30-11:30. That in and of itself is an answer.

But it's hard to remain faithful to pray when God has said,"No" so many times to it selling. We ask you to pray with us that his family would want our home.

Thank you!

Radio and Dallas Answers

2009-04-08T16:13:00.000-07:00

Radio update- the interview went great. We love being on radio! As of now we don't have access to the recording, but we're trying to get it so we can post on our website and you can hear it. Our interviewer was excited about us and Soulation. She was young and asked us perfectly accessible questions that we took and ran with. We didn't interrupt each other (YAY!) and felt clear (I, Jonalyn, only had one brainfreeze that I don't think anyone noticed).

I'd say we weren't quite as whimsical as we could have been, but it's hard to pack it all into 15 minutes. After the interview, the host said she'd love to connect again. That is very good for us and for Soulation. Thank you for praying!

Dallas update:
Sometimes it can be hard to know if and how you've made an impact, but this last weekend in Dallas was not one of those times. Two ways we gauge how effectively we've communicated Jesus:
1- How many want to know more and come sign up or talk more with us afterward
2- How many write to us after the event is done and over with.

Both happened in Dallas and are happening now. We're still answering emails from eager teens and young adults. Our hosts wrote us afterward and told us "You really met a need in the discipleship of our young adults that has been hit or miss for some time. Thanks for your willingness to listen and be present for the teens and young adults."

And our time with the potential director of development was amazing. He has volunteered his time to help us brainstorm new ways to ask for funding. We are encouraged to know he wants to join our team, even though we do not have the funds to pay him right now.

Our prayer for these next two weeks is that God would bring us a buyer for our home in Steamboat so we can begin our retreat center plans in earnest. Would you focus your prayer with us on this request?

Radio Today

2009-04-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

We want to share the good news of our trip (we just got home last night from Dallas), but first, can we ask for your prayer today?

We'll be interviewed by Moody Bible Radio at 11am (Mountain Time) on the subject of the resurrection. It will be a 15 minute interview.

We're very excited, but need your prayers for

clear thinking as we have limited time
respect for each other as we're being interviewed at the same time
whimsy and humor so that this broadcast will be picked up by other stations around the country

We'll update you on how everything went tomorrow!
Dale and Jonalyn

Five Days of Rest

2009-04-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

We are so thankful to be home.

HUGE THANKS to God for finding us a web programmer. His name is Joaquin (you may have remembered him as he helped us before) and he has agreed to shoulder many new responsibilities for us. Would you pray for him to stay on task as he wades through a long to-do list for the website?

Highlights of our 10 day speaking trip include hearing students remind us of things we taught them last year (nice to know some things stuck with them), walking the emerald green hills during a break, Jonalyn feeling cold symptoms vanish after one good night's rest, soon enough to keep up our energy (thank you for praying for endurance!) and some very unique questions and answer sessions in classrooms. We can tell you prayed for us to have creativity as we got some new questions we had to navigate.

One of the best things about Steamboat is that our friends know when we have been gone and they welcome us back when we return. We love that.

Would you pray for us this week and weekend? We are flying to Dallas, TX Friday and will be gone through Tuesday. Jonalyn is sick with the cold that returned with a vengeance (must have been that 17 hour drive home on Saturday) and has kept her in bed trying to recover. We ask for her body to be completely recovered before we board our flight Friday morning.

We'll be speaking to youth (teens to 29 year olds) this weekend. We both need sensitivity to the wide range of ages and boldness as we'll be doing some gender break-out sessions with guys and girls as well as a main session and a Q and A time. Would you pray that this weekend many young people would find new tools and boldness to share their faith?

Monday we'll be meeting with a possible director of development for Soulation. Please pray for our time with him, that we would know if this is a lead we need to follow-up on.

From a land where the snow has fallen in feet in the last few days!
Dale and Jonalyn
p.s. our home is still on the market, no bites. Please pray for us to continue to feel peaceful as we wait.

Half-way CA!

2009-03-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

On the road, we count the times we hit the pillow to see how long before we head home... last night was the halfway point.

Jonalyn's first two talks to two different women's groups were very well received. Jonalyn is more convinced than ever of the topic of her new book regarding female friendships is needed. This is just what she needs to get motivated to re-work her proposal when we get home. Her evangelistic message was really appreciated by the leadership and many women thanked her specifically for being clear, gentle, firm, honest, giving truth, offering rest through Jesus and affirming the freedom Jesus offers women.

This second talk in Anaheim went so well, it further confirmed Jonalyn as a moving, eloquent speaker in her own right. She needs to hear that, so we were both grateful!

The days were very packed, but we're still feeling healthy and energetic.

Sunday, Dale lead the church through Nehemiah 2... he enjoys speaking through a text of Scripture, mining out the larger context of how it fits into our stories. Nehemiah is no different. Several old friends and new came forward to thank him.

We hope to have the above three talks online in the near future.

Our journey north after the church service was loooong. Seemed everyone up north was returning home from spring break (or people in the south were leaving for spring break)! Living in the mountains makes you forget just how many automobiles we have and the long lines we can make with them. We arrived at our hotel after 11PM and jumped out of bed for a morning chapel at a small ACSI school in Medicino County. The students were eager to have us... we shared with them how they are souls and how we love God with our souls.

Now we're writing from Fremont where we spoke this morning on the realness of God. Already we note a respectfulness and eagerness from the students. This is our third year in a row to share for spiritual emphasis week. One girl, the chaplain from 3 years ago, already graduated, came back to sit in the back and hear us speak. It's little significant moment like this that keep us going.

The next two days we'll be in classrooms with the students as well as do chapel each day the rest of the week. We need endurance and creativity to answer their questions.

We drive home early morning Saturday.

Pray for these kids, that they will release the guards on their hearts and let God's love meet them. Many are anxious over graduation and college applications and fears for the future. Many are ripe to rest into God while others are still asking questions whether God is good enough to rest into... It's a spiritual battle, even in the Christian school. Many of the students do not follow Jesus at all, so it is a balancing act on how to engage everyone at multiple levels.

Thanks for praying! You're making a difference in this kingdom work.

California, Here We Come

2009-03-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

We leave tomorrow at 4am for a long drive to Carlsbad, California. So begins our longest speaking trip of this Spring. We are very excited!!

For this prayer update, we decided to list each event. It would help us so much to know that you will be praying for each of these events. We invite you to choose one or two to commit to praying for. Here's how we often pray for ourselves:

God give us the clarity to show your truth, help us to explain how beautiful, good and free you are. Make us attentive to show love to those here by being present with everyone we speak to.

Friday evening- Jonalyn gives an inaugural talk on Women and Friendship for a women's ministry group in Carlsbad

Saturday morning- Jonalyn speaks at her first Outreach event. She will be presenting the way Jesus allows women to rest and offering women a chance to receive Jesus in Anaheim.

Sunday morning- Dale preaches at our old home church in Laguna Beach. He'll be speaking on Nehemiah

Sunday afternoon we drive to San Francisco

Monday morning- We speak together on Loving God with all Your Soul to Deep Valley Christian. Pray for good conversation afterward as we'll be sharing lunch with the high schoolers.

Tuesday-Friday- We speak together at Fremont Christian School each day for their Spiritual Emphasis Week. We'll also, energy permitting, be visiting individual classrooms for some Q & A time.

Saturday- we drive home.

We want to give California the best we have to offer, but we also need God's helps to take this trip one opportunity at a time. We cannot wait to see how God will use us to help others become more appropriately human.

Off to Kansas City

2009-03-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Thank you for praying for our talks for this week in Kansas City. We both feel excited about what we'll be sharing. Dale will be kicking off the Conference Friday evening and Jonalyn will start the day Saturday morning. Would you pray for us? It makes an amazing difference when people pray for us while we speak.

We ask for strength tomorrow as we get up early, drive to Denver, catch a flight and then meet and greet and rest a bit and then BAM! Dale goes on stage. Please pray for energy for us both.

Our house has gotten very few offers, not really even nibbles. As our cabin gets closer to being done, we ask that God would time a buyer for us so that we can move smoothly into the cabin and not let our house sit empty. We are really eager to use the funds to begin building toward the retreat center. It is hard to wait, isn't it?! We're learning about faithfulness, God's faithfulness and our need to continue with the work before us.

We've been reading lots. Thank you for praying for the time!

The webmaster lead didn't work out, but we have another one that we're pursuing. Please pray for us to find a web programmer to help us with the Soulation website.

We're off to pack for our trip! Thank you for helping us with your prayers,
Jonalyn and Dale

Back in the Swing

2009-03-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

Dale and I returned from Seattle last week to meet a host of hard things, deaths in our community, personal struggles of friends, many emails with needs of people looking to Soulation for help. It's amazing to us at how many people are hurting.

Jonalyn and Sally's class ended very well. The last meeting was amazing, a true climax to our time. We look forward to doing it again!

We want to thank you for praying for our time in Seattle. We found so many amazing new friends, meeting up with radio personalities, homeless shelter directors, gender justice advocates and enjoying the quirky people we found at Pike Street. To see some pictures of our trip visit here. We came home rested in mind, but tired in body (since we drove both ways). This last Monday we both took a much needed Sabbath where we did not look at our emails. It was exactly what we needed.

This week we ask your prayer for

Dale and I will be doing a large apologetic conference in Overland Park, Kansas the 13-14. Please pray for us as we organize our talks this week, we want to be very clear in our presentations.
We have a possible lead for a webmaster. We are so excited that this might work out because it means our website will be regularly updated, more information available to others. Would you pray for her as she looks over the job description and tasks we need help with that she would know if this would be a good fit? Please pray for clarity and a good working relationship
As we await the edits on our Faith and Friendship book, we've both been dedicating more time to reading. Would you pray that we would both find the desire and carve out the time to read?

Rest and Peace

2009-02-12T19:41:00.000-08:00

Dale and I are remembering, once again, why we love this little town. This week has been so restful and good for us both. Thank you for praying for our RPM's to slow down :) We know we're relaxing as we've both been able to enjoy hobbies we really love!

This weekend we look forward to meeting with our house church. Jonalyn will be sharing. Please pray for her preparation.

Monday night is Jonalyn's final class with the women in town. The opportunity has been enormously satisfying, educational and fun. She and Sally are working well as a team! Would you pray for their final meeting to empower the women to be salt and light in this town?

Next week we take a trip up to Seattle for networking and relaxation. Would you pray for us as we plan out our itinerary. We need the right mix or vacation and meetings.

Glad to have weeks like this!

Finished

2009-02-04T08:42:00.001-08:00

Our book, first FULL draft, is DONE!!!! YAY. So good to get it off.

We both feel very good about the product we churned out. For the last few days Dale has been the WRITING/EDITING master. Yesterday he edited over 140 pages, so that last night, fresh off a plan from Dallas, I, Jonalyn, could focus my last inklings of energy to go through about 40 pages, finish up edits, compile and click SEND.

I know we did our best. Now we await our editor's red pen.

Now, we want to rest. Jonalyn has a sore throat, Dale is well, but his back and eyes are tired from computer strain.

We are celebrating with some days to relax and avoid our laptops (though as you can tell, I, Jonalyn, am not doing such a good job at that). Dale is tinkering with his Jeep and I'm about to get back to a good novel.

I flew home late last night from Dallas with a satisfied heart (and a sore throat).

I haven't felt that thrilled to be speaking on my own in a long time. It's usually very hard to be separated from Dale, and I feel more nervous traveling as a single female. But, the trip out was smooth (I found good food and enough peaceful time to still my soul). Even though I didn't see my hotel room until midnight--I landed and went straight to a dinner event, changed clothes at this home, arrived at the church got wired up, went on stage, I was at peace, really relaxed!

The panel discussion was delightful, full of grace and truth for each other and the attendees were so thankful and responsive. I saw some key answers to prayer I wanted to share with you:

Several women thanked me specifially for my wisdom and honesty.
I was not nervous, almost giddy with peace (is that possible?). The stage was set like a living room with couches and I felt so relaxed up there. Even though the lights gave me a suntan.
I had lots of energy, but also a willingness to be silent for some answers to allow the others to speak. I feel that is the beginning of wisdom, too.
I felt valued, listened to and courageous.
The women I got to meet and learn from were so enriching to my life.
Scores of women loved what we said, asked further questions, got books, opened up with their stories of doubt and faith. On this note please pray for the many women who wanted to go further in discussion questions, who I invited to email me. Often biz cards get lost, the passion to know fades. I want to pray that these women would contact me and that we could push further in to know the Lord.
Here's what one attendee wrote: her blog.
THANK YOU FOR PRAYING FOR US!!!

Dallas and First Finished Draft

2009-01-29T19:17:00.000-08:00

Big potential news: we have a couple looking at our home this weekend (Saturday at 3pm) interested in viewing the house. This is their 1st viewing so we don't want to get our hopes up, and yet we do. Would you pray for this opportunity to materialize into a great offer?
We have been pumping out chapters. Jonalyn is done YAY! editing like mad now. Dale is meeting all his goals. Please pray we would finish this book strong. It would be easy to get tired, but we want to turn in our 1st draft proud of the work we've done.
Jonalyn is feeling God's love and wisdom pouring down on her. She also feels humbled by how little she knows. Perhaps this is the perfect answer to prayer as this coming Monday (Feb 2) she flies to Dallas to participate in an apologetic panel for a large women's Bible study.
While Dale finishes up the book Jonalyn will be flying to Dallas. Please pray for Jonalyn to have courage, serenity and peace for this trip. Her flight must be ontime (both legs) if she is to arrive in time to speak Monday evening. It's a whirlwind trip, she's only staying one night. Would you pray for her to find peace and poise after her day of travel to speak Monday evening and Tuesday morning? Travel can be so frazzling, she will be doing 2 booksignings, lots of mingling and she already feels pressure as she's the youngest on the panel.

Yours in the work,
Jonalyn and Dale

Coming Home after a Weekend High

2009-01-22T17:10:00.000-08:00

Well, we're home again and have much to be grateful for.

The Messianic youth leader retreat was truly amazing, enriching time. Our flights were a breeze, clear, sunny skies both ways (I, Jonalyn, did make it back in time for my Monday night class). We both felt replenished, even though Dale was sick with a cold 1/2 the weekend. He is on the mend, now! I was so touched that I wrote an entire blog about the time with our Messianic brothers and sisters. To read see my blog.
No action on our house, yet!
Dale and I see the end of our writing for this book, we both sat down yesterday and pumped out a short chapter each, which was rather surprising and encouraging. Would you pray specifically for Dale as he will be carrying the main responsibility for the final chapters? We ask God to give him fresh ideas as he writes. I need steady awareness as I do a few more chapters and a lot of editing.
I need extra wisdom. Lately, I've been unhappily aware of how little I truly have. I need your prayers here. I want to seek wisdom. Would you pray that God would help me find wisdom for several areas in my life?

Website News and Youth Retreat

2009-01-15T06:48:00.000-08:00

Good morning!

We have wonderful news--our new website is LIVE. View it and be certain to check out our new calendar (click "Get in Touch" and select "Our Calendar"). The Library is also a new feature, we're so thrilled that people will be able to search for what they need and find it much more easily. Thank you very much for praying for this venture!
Last night we had our weekly Soulation Chat. We are very thankful to God for the strength he gave me, Jonalyn, to discuss some very heavy topics.
Tomorrow we head to Atlanta to speak to the Young Jewish Messianic Alliance, a retreat of Messianic youth pastors. We will be presenting on worldview and gender. Would you pray for our flight (out of snow country) to be on time both going and coming? Dale has mentioned that our particular concern for this speaking engagement is that our own views woudl be expanded as we learn from this group of Messianic Jews.
Please pray for our house to sell. We have received no bites so far and that is disappointing (but not unforeseen).
Our writing has been going so well. We're nearing completion and right on schedule. Thank you for praying for us in this!
The first class I, Jonalyn, taught with Sally in town, "Reviving the Soul in the Chill of Winter" was a joy to co-teach. The participants were excited and engaged. As our second class is next Monday evening, the day we fly home from Atlanta, we pray for no mishaps on the flight.

Snow, writing, and a surprise....

2009-01-07T18:34:00.000-08:00

This is my second winter in the snow... I never thought it was be this much fun. Growing up in a sunny place (Florida) and then transplanting to another sunny place (Los Angeles), everyone had an opinion of the snow and how glad they were not in it. Maybe that will be my tune one day, but for now this powdery stuff is a wonderland, a good workout on snowshoes, a scenic landscape out the window, and a veritable obstacle course on the roads! Yesterday we received 16". It's so fluffy, Jonalyn opened a path to the cat door (for "Spout") by simply stomping down the snow. The wall of snow beside the path is about 30"... that's how fluffy it is. I "shoveled" off the front steps with a broom!

With this backdrop, we're busy writing every morning. Since our last post, I have completed my 6000 word section for our new book (it ended up being 8000 words) and am onto the next serious of chapters. Jonalyn is as well.

Writing is hard work. If there's one thing a writer needs prayer for it is a playful imagination. All the info is in the head (mostly). But it has to get onto the page in a way that will carry people along, help them see the world through new lenses, help them be glad again to be human... that they do fit into the world.

We can use prayer to that end.

Jonalyn begins her class with her friend Sally this week called "Reviving the Soul in the Chill of Winter." The class is booked full! That's always a great encouragement when people pay for a class. This is the first time Jonalyn and Sally will be teaching together, so they need good chemistry and teamwork as they share.

Next week we're headed to the national Messianic youth worker retreat. We feel a particular affinity with the Messianics and look forward to learning from them as much as teaching them Soulation-style apologetics for youth.

One more thing: I opened up our Soulation mailbox yesterday, stunned to find donations for Soulation. We didn't sent out a fundraiser letter this year, yet we raised two thirds of what we raised last year without it! This is what our God is often like, surprising us in special ways, using his sons and daughters as vehicles of his goodness. So many thanks to you for encouraging us with your prayers and support. We stretch every dollar to the max (and hope we don't waste any prayers of yours either!).

The God of Israel is our comfort, help, and hope. Thanks for walking this road with us.

Oh, the Weather Outside

2008-12-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

This morning was our first full day home from celebrating Christmas with family in Maine last week. We watched more and more snow fall outside on our balcony. Two feet this week alone.

Some wonderful opportunities await us here:

being more intentional about getting OUT. We plan to walk or ski more often to keep our bodies healthy. A Maine horseback ride reminded us of how out-of-shape we've become. Would you pray that we would choose to get outside, even in the snow, to take care of our bodies?
Dale is trying to finish a 6000 words section of our book, Faith and Friendship. He needs dedication this next week. Would you pray for his devotion to the task?
Jonalyn has recently been asked to participate in a video series on "Women in the Bible" for Zondervan. She has to choose the women she'll be presenting on in the next week. Would you pray that she would carve out time to think and pray about who to choose?
Two days we're taking OFF to celebrate Jesus's birth, our house church will be doing a Christmas Eve service. We are so glad the snow is falling outside!

Merry Christmas to you!

p.s.

2008-12-10T15:40:00.000-08:00

Dale is feeling much better and that allowed him to take a few more steps on the website.

Update on the grant inquiries we sent out: so far only received 2 letters back, both sharing that they cannot give at this time. So we leave it in God's hands and wait for the others.

Our home has been "looked at "a few times. A sale in the current economy would be a huge deal for us. We await.. and in the meanwhile rest :)

A Fun-filled Day

2008-12-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

We speak twice today, already once this morning to the local Christian school in town, tonight to a local church youth group. This morning we worked through their questions they had given us last time. It was so fulfilling as they listened and responded attentively. As we pulled away Dale said, "I love speaking."

We're thankful to God for giving us these opportunities.

We had our bi-annual Soulation Board Meeting Saturday and they helped us strategize and guard the things Soulation needs to do. God is good to give us such faithful, whole people to help us! The most important thing we need prayer for is:

To keep the major things (writing bi-monthly Fledges, our blogs, email correspondence, speaking preparation, time and space to write well) major and the minor things (Retreat Center, new videos, new website up, new Soulation initiatives) on the back burner. We'll wait on these things until after our book is finished. For now we are glad to focus on "Faith and Friendship."

As there is so much to distract us: criticism (as I type Jonalyn has a critical email to respond to in her inbox), social engagements, discord between us, appointments, errands. We ask that God would teach us more about rest for the remaining weeks of Advent.

We have a handle on our writing (this last week Jonalyn pumped out two great articles, you can read about food and gossip on her blog) and feel we need to rest, would you pray that we would choose this good gift from God?

Snow Falling, Fingers Tapping

2008-12-03T16:30:00.000-08:00

The snow is softly falling outside and we are grateful for it's beauty and cover.

Much writing lays before us, but we are excited to get our fingers tapping on the keys.

Jonalyn is finishing up two articles one on "Finding Your Voice" to be featured for MOPS leadership magazine, Fullfill and another for Christianity Today's women in leadership blog, Gifted for Leadership. Both editors gave her some extensions to get them done as some unexpected things came up (Dale got sick and our car had to be fixed in Denver i.e. 8 hour drive today).

Please pray for Jonalyn to have the inspiration to write these well.

Please pray for Dale to recover (he's at 75%) and find the strength these next to days to tackle the part of our book on "Lost Words." He will be writing on the topics of "sin" "glory" "faith" "love" in the next few days. Would you pray his energy and health would match the ideas he wants to get on paper?

Our home is on the market and we await a buyer, expecting God to network for us. Would you pray he would have our home sell by Valentine's Day? From our limited viewpoint, that would be ideal for our transition out to the cabin.

Our website is coming along, it's been exciting to see our new Library get updated as we are coding for a better search engine. We are so grateful that you are praying for us and the site's workers. Dale needs energy to look over the major changes to the Library this week.

Thank you for pouring your love and prayers into us!

Many Things

2008-11-19T16:50:00.000-08:00

The sun has set on a beautifully, uncommonly warm day in Steamboat and Dale and I are feeling the first longing for snow. We have made some great progress in our book.

We thank God that our eye-strain is all gone. Dale's reading glasses, increasing our font size and regular breaks have helped a lot. We ask for broad, wholistic vision and excellent editing skills as this week we will be proof-reading the 1/3 we have written, our first batch to send off to our editor before Thanksgiving.

We made our first Soulation Fledge VIDEO EDITION yesterday on "How could a good God send people to hell?" Videos have been a goal for months now, so we're both proud that it's happened! Our video editor, Trevor, will be editing it for free broadcasting (we hope to put it on Youtube) hopefully soon. Would you pray for creavity for him?

We've begun having Soulation Business Meetings each Wednesday's over lunch, a committed time for us to bring up Soulation stuff to each other (which mostly means me making lists for Dale). We're getting much more done since beginning them, but also finding less time to relax, now. We're still finding our rythmn in our work load. Lately relaxing hasn't been making it on our schedule. Would you pray for us to find the courage to let some things go and really rest when we need it? Some of you have encouraged us to be really careful about not overcommittting. As we are in the process of writing, putting our house on the market, participating in an awesome house church, running Soulation and getting a cabin remodelled, we feel very, well, overwhelmed. We need to know what we can just let slide and be glad to be alive, together and loved by God and his family.

Tomorrow we drive to Colorado Springs for an interview with A.C.S.I.'s headquarters for their Early Christian Services. We each get 30 minutes and then a 30 min slot together. Since we'll be speaking mainly to preschool teachers, would you pray for us to be able to be practical and helpful as we share Soulation with teachers?

Glad you help us keep going!

The Writing Begins in Earnest

2008-11-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

Well today we plowed into writing. We felt energized and focused as we worked. Thank you for praying for our eye-strain (it's been better with regular breaks). this week please pray for

Our grant application requests- Ellyn has been matching our needs with specific foundations (please pray for her today as she finishes that up). And we send out our initial inquiry letter this week. We need winsomeness and deftness in writing. Tomorrow we finish the letter, stuff and stamp and off they go. The response will dictate how many ways Soulation can expand next year. We ask for favor in their eyes.
We have serious deadlines for our book coming up. Would you pray for us to remain fresh as we write. We want to write about how to share our faith without being accusatory, demanding or dry. We need the Spirit to be our Muse
Our website has made enormous strides as Eric has been working steadily away with Joaquin and David. Daily, Dale is responding to ideas and fine-tuning. Please pray we might get the website LIVE by the end of this month.

Glad to be at work at home again!
Jonalyn and Dale

Answers and Requests

2008-11-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

This morning we wake up to more snow falling in Steamboat and our plates full of great things to do

Would you thank God with us that we found a coder (our cousin, Eric) who has offered to help Soulation? YAY! We ask that God would give him, Joaquin and David the timeliness and energy to finish up our new web site THIS MONTH!
Would you also thank God with us that our drive home was safe and no other mishap met us? We got home Monday evening and were SO glad to get our car under shelter. No rain/snow leaked through the torn roof. Three cheers for duct and packing tape! We're now beginning to start the process of getting it repaired, not easy or quick I'm afraid.
Today we meet with Ellyn and Courtney to finish up our grant writing application request (stage 1 in this long process to ask for grant monies). Would you pray for us to be able to quickly get these requests sent off soon, for us to work harmoniously together with the limited, precious time we have?
This is writing month! Dale and I have plotted times to just write and write away on our next book: Coffee Shop Conversations. Would you pray for our eyes? We're experiencing headaches and some eye-strain as we spend a lot of time behind our screens. We need to take breaks and still get this work done.

We value your prayers!
Jonalyn

Chicago crime

2008-10-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

Last night in the heart of Chicago, someone tore our PT convertible top open, rifled through A LOT of valuable Soulation gear, passed up everything and stole my iPod. Besides feeling angry about the theft and vandalism we are glad to have had so little stolen. Would you pray for our drive home on Sun with a taped roof. And that our car would be protected from further attacks as it sits more vulnerable now?

From the Road- the final stretch

2008-10-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Today we took a day of rest... it was wonderful after 5 days of writing (we did end up taking a writing retreat and it was most productive!).

This week, while Dale and I speak and travel for our last week, great things are a-brewing in other parts of the country . . .

In Oregon, David (our artistic director, an amazing friend and volunteer) and crew are gearing up for a fall launch of our website. We hope to have it live within a month. Would you pray for David to find a capable programmer who also has the time and (the miraculously) willingness to do hard work for meager pay?
In Steamboat Springs, Ellyn and Courtney, our volunteer grant writers are planning the first big steps for requesting foundations for granting monies. This week they will be picking the foundations and requesting applications. As we've heard from others, grant writing is hard and getting granted funds is even harder. We ask you to pray that the Spirit would guide them to the foundations that match Soulation's needs and will be the most gracious to our request. We need your prayer for this!
In Chicago tomorrow morning we will be speaking to Timothy Christian High School about "Is God Real?" a brand new talk in response to a common question we get from teens, "How do I know God is real if I can't see him or feel him?" We are thrilled to do it, but need your prayer for us to be clear and persuasive.
In Chicago from Thursday-Sunday, we will be attending the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries' Fundraising event for the year. Lots of people to meet. We ask for that extra boost of energy to be present with all we meet, to refuse to compare our ministry to others and to bask in God's love for us even in the busyness.

Glad we're on the last home stretch, eager for this week of speaking and networking and grateful for you!
Jonalyn (for us both)

Baker Book House and a few burdens

2008-10-21T12:11:00.000-07:00

Tonight Dale and I speak at Baker Book House, a locally owned book store in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We have 30 minutes to present our book ideas, Soulation and then we'll be fielding questions and signing. We're excited to speak, though slightly weary from travel.

We've enjoyed plenty of adventures in our drive so far. We've seen Lake Michigan and a Bob Jones' van (in that order).

Dale's catching up on his sleep while I write this and I'm working through a VERY stiff neck from too many nights in strange beds. We're glad to be staying at the same hotel for 3 nights in a row as we attend the GospelCom conference at Calvin College this week, too.

So far we feel burdened to ask you for prayer for

continued health though we begin to feel weary
the strength for our web team to get our new Soulation site launched for Nov 1st (we've had some trouble meeting deadlines as our team has had to transition into new volunteers) Would you pray for us to get our new calendar and Ask LIVE! up and running by Nov 1st?
our plans this next week are somewhat up in the air. We had hoped to drive to Canada, but our good friends recently received news of a death in their family. We're not sure where we'll go, but we want to make the most of the time and find the space to relax. Please pray for some good ideas to pop into our minds!

So far we feel healthy and glad to be together.
From the road,
Dale and Jonalyn

A Crazy, Wonderful Soulation Day

2008-10-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a rundown of our fun, LONG first day of our 2 1/2 week road trip!

DAY ONE

5:30am- wake up, feed and hug the corgis goodbye.
6am- on the road driving from Steamboat to Colorado Springs ~4 hour drive
10:15- arrive at our first book signing (a part of Journey 2008- a Colorado Springs initiative to connect Christian book stores, authors and customers) at Mardel. We arrive in time to make an important phone call to tie up loose ends on a project (i.e. Apologetics Study Bible) and received some good, hearty closure and unity. We felt both listened to and appreciated. Thankful for the unity, we walk into Mardel's.
11am- we sit with a team of 11 other authors and spend 2 hours socializing (aka networking) where Jonalyn learns from a former Mrs. USA runner-up that she could compete in a Mrs. USA pageant (something that flatters Jonalyn until she realizes it goes against everything she stands for!) and Dale hears from a local old-timer author that it's impossible to really answer teens' questions! We do meet some interesting, lovely authors in our two hours.
1pm- done with our first signing we drive one block to "On the Border" to meet with a new friend, an associate editor for an ACSI magazine. We talk about a future ACSI podcast interview. We share some good stories and take a sort of breather in our day.
2:45- Jonalyn walks around the "On the Border" parking lot trying, unsuccessfully, to get a steady signal and to contact Zondervan to set up a radio interview for Monday morning. She has to coordinate a land line at a bed and breakfast on our trip with Zondervan who will pass the info to Moody Radio. Our cell phone continues to cut in and out and Jonalyn becomes VERY frustrated at everyone (Zondervan for waiting until the last minute to get the information, the phone for not working, but--because of God's goodness and some growth in her--she does not get mad at Dale! YAY!!)
3pm- we drive to our book agent's headquarters to sign our names on the dotted line for "Coffee Shop Conversations" and enjoy meeting Cindy who helps us see the important things in the fine print. Jonalyn borrows the phone during the meeting to set up the radio details, gets through to the B & B and Zondervan (now after hours) and breathes a sigh of relief.
4pm- we drive to the nearest AT&T store to finally get a cell phone that gets service and is reliable. We dub it our Soulation biz phone and smile at one another that we picked it out and got it set-up with a competent rep in under 30 min!
4:45- we drive, get lost, but eventually find Woodmen Valley Chapel for our last signing. We find our seat, meet some more new authors, field questions and enjoy the trickle of people who want us to explain what our books are about.
6:45- we shake hands all around and hit the road for Fort Collins (2 hours north). We feel tired, heavy-eyed and very hungry.
9:30- we arrive at downtown Fort Collins where we stay up to type this update blog because we wanted you to know that today was a wonderful, crazy, good day for us, for Soulation....

and you had a lot to do with all that. Thank you for praying for us!

Stopping home...

2008-10-14T17:25:00.000-07:00

We are hope for three days before launching out again.

Thanks for your prayers. The youth worker convention was a real success for us. Not only were all three of our seminars well attended and received, but we felt nourished, encouraged, and motivated to push forward more ideas and initiatives to help others see what it means to be appropriately human. All three of our talks are worth putting online and we'll be sending them to our editor, Dodd, for that right away.

We did not feel the discomfort of 'corporate' Christianity like we have in the past. And that's a real answer!

Jonalyn felt a special renewal during a session she attended on 'praying through poetry.' Several personal obstacles she had been wrestling with found themselves uprooted as she pushes forward in those areas.

Our coming trip will be three weeks on the road, first book-signing in Colorado Springs, then onto Grand Rapids for a convention, radio interview, bookstore presentation, then onto Canada to visit with some friends and an event coordinator for a possible future opportunity, then to Chicago for a large networking, ministry event before heading home.

We expect to be physically exhausted when we return. Do pray for safety on the road (we're driving!) and for connecting with the right people at these conventions. Many of you understand how meeting the right person in the right place can open up many other doors of opportunity, not only for us, but also for them.

Our appreciation goes out to you on our prayer blog; you give us a place jot down our needs, expectations and celebrations; and we know you are with us all the way.

Largest Event this Fall- Prayer Requests

2008-10-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we leave for our largest event this Fall, the Youth Specialties National Convention in Sacramento, CA.

We've been bustling around the house getting last minute things together, our outlines, our handouts, our powerpoints, our talks, our clothing, our recording equipment and our sanity.

We are tempted to be overwhelmed and discouraged by distractions today (lots of difficult emails today). Would you pray for God to comfort us as we face our emails, ready the house and prepare to leave?

We ask for these things specifically

Our seminars (Jonalyn's "Comfortable in My Own Skin: Identity and Body Image", Dale's "A New Kind of Apologetics: Emerging Questions From Today's Youth" and together "Why Healthy Youth Ministry Needs Both the Masculine and the Feminine") will be well received and well attended with those who need what we have been planning to share
Safety as we drive over 1000 miles tomorrow (and then back on Monday)
Spiritual armor to protect us from feeling we have nothing to offer, standing as we will be in the shadow of Corporate Christianity (which seems so big at conventions like this).
That we would partner in a way that inspires others to take up the male-female team model into their youth groups.
That no matter what criticism or praise we receive that we would love each other and grow to be more fully human because of this weekend.

Thank you!

This Week- Update

2008-10-01T19:30:00.001-07:00

As of now we are not writing a letter to the publisher about the Apologetics Study Bible situation. Right now we are pursuing another channel to properly resolve this. In the meanwhile, we can feel your prayers as we are at peace and even content with not being a part of this project (a very different emotion than we first experienced!)

We're excited for this week's work which will be including

prepping for our 3 talks at the National Youth Pastor's Convention.

I will be working out my powerpoint for my talk "Comfortable in My Own Skin: Identity and Body Image" this Friday
We are working together on a talk "Why Healthy Youth Ministry Needs Both the Masculine and the Feminine".
Dale is doing his own "A New Kind of Apologetics: Emerging Questions from Today's Youth"

2. Beginning our manuscript for Coffeeshop Conversations. The contract is nearly signed and our agent told us, "START WRITING!" So we feel we need to begin plugging away. It's always a battle to begin integrating steady writing times into our schedule. If you think of us in the mornings (the typical writing time for us) please pray for the Holy Spirit to strengthen and direct us.

3. We have another meeting with our lawyer this Friday to further discuss how to make the Retreat work, how to begin fundraising and legally keep us "in the clear."

Would you pray for us as we write our talks, write our book together and attend meetings. We long to have fresh insight and creative energy, to be honest and winsome in the work we do.

Light Persecution

2008-09-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

Today Dale received a very disappointing email that involves both of us.

A few months ago Sean McDowell invited us to write articles for the Apologetics Study Bible for Students and even asked Dale to serve with his imaginative writing skills as Associate Editor and contribute several more pieces for the Bible. It's a big project with an estimated reach of 100,000.

We've been writing and brainstorming with excitement to have this opportunity.

Dale wrote to clarify the vision with B & H publishing group today. His letter spurred the editorial staff to check SOulation out. So far, so good.

In reading our articles, the chief editor read our Unmuted article (which if you've read the article is not clearly egalitarian or complementarian) and wrote to tell us that we can no longer be contributors to this Apologetics Study Bible.

Needless to say we're shocked and discouraged that the apologetics insights we could have offered to this project have been curtailed because of our views that men and women can play partnership, opposed to hierarchical roles in a marriage or church. We're disappointed that this made/broke the deal.

The fine print of our contract did reveal that while the Bible is goin to be published by B & H, it seems this project is predominantly controlled by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Souther Baptist Convention.

Dale is working on a reply and then will sit on it for a day before he sends it.

Would you pray that we would have grace and truth as we respond?
Would you also pray that we would be willing to take the rejection of our ideas without capitulating in courage or integrity?
Would you also pray that we would not be excluded from this project if the kingdom of God would be further built by our inclusion?

We await on Him helping us.

Thank you for praying for us!

God at Work

2008-09-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

This week we received an invitation request from Portland, Oregon for this Spring. The amazing thing about this invite is that they wanted both of us and really understand how we love working side-by-side. That leads us to thank God.

People are realizing that we are a husband-wife team. YAY! Would you pray that more invitations would come to us requesting us together. We do not want to be divided in our speaking (which often happens when folks learn that Dale wrote a YOUTH book and I wrote a WOMAN's book, we expect this to shift after our co-written book comes out..but this won't be for at least another year).

On another note of thanksgiving, we received this email recently from a young college age woman. We wanted to share with you how Dale's book helped her trust God even while she faces a current physical trial. She wrote:

"I just finished Living With Questions and am certain that God exists and cares. The chapter on the value of humans rocked me as I have carried a feeling of unworthiness as long as I can remember, and although the feeling is not always absent, I am equipped to fight feelings and thoughts of unworthiness. I see unworthiness not returning for longer periods of time and laugh at how God has defeated evil. It is so rad. It's thrilling to me that your and Dale's ministry have eradicated evil through the power of the Almighty in my life because that means that truth is being reached by others who hear and read yours and Dale's work. Yeah!"

We want to ask you this week to thank God with us for these blessings.

God has been connecting us with the right business people to manage some challenges with our personal assets. We are trusting him with our future, Soulation's future and the ideas and plans we've had.

He is capable and we are full of hope!

Exciting News!

2008-09-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Would you thank God for helping us find a buyer for our Whittier home? The sale if FINAL!

SO EXCITING!

And we have the funds to begin moving forward with step 1 of this retreat center. Getting ready to sell our current home and move to the little cabin.

We also want to thank God for a great new dog-sitter who has donated his time to us, which will make our traveling easier. And for a great finish to our recording week, we feel thankful that we did not get sick or sore throats as we read hundreds of pages last week in Grand Rapids.

Please pray for us this week.....

We are beginning our articles for The Apologetic Study Bible for Students edited by Sean McDowell, due Nov 1st. We need some fresh ways, with Biblical evidence to write about our topics
We need to meet with our grant writing team. Would you pray for them to have the time to be able to do this hard work of writing Soulation grants?

Thank you for walking us through some uncertain times with the housing market and this amazing quick sell of our Los Angeles home.

Recording in Grand Rapids

2008-09-11T19:39:00.001-07:00

Dale just finished recording Living with Questions and I've got 2 more hours to finish Ruby Slippers tomorrow. We are so thankful for

our voices being strong and our minds attentive as we read
that we have connected strongly and well with Zondervan's sound editor and reunited with several friends at Zondervan who have been helping us feel we are known and belong in their lives
that we get to do this trip together.

While our voices have been holding up, but we're both feeling the strain of being in the city.

There is something that happens when you work among Christianity corporate and while we are grateful to be noticed and to be here, we also need protection.

We need your help to pray that

our work together as a team would not be threatened by the pressure to brand ourselves separately
that Dale would be encouraged that his work, his voice is needed.
That God would bring us more evidence that this retreat center is the next step for Soulation and that it is okay to not have tons of BIG speaking engagements down the road.

We are glad to be here, but eager to fly back home to Steamboat tomorrow!

Recording our books!

2008-09-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

Jonalyn and I leave for Zondervan headquarters in Grand Rapids Monday. We'll each be recording our books for audio release. We're praying that we would be in top form as we read. And I have a deep down desire to be 'discovered' as a reader so I could perhaps help with some other books in the future.

We are amazed at the volunteers that have emerged to help Soulation. God has been dramatically good. We'll have more updates on that as it unfolds.

Our lawyer is looking into creative ways for a Soulation retreat center on paper--liabilities, protections, balance sheets and all that. As I write this, we're loading the truck to go out to the property to do some afternoon work out in the woods.

Our Mark study finished well... We were encouraged to hear how the study shined a light. Several even thanked us for making the first Bible study they've had in their lives that wasn't boring. We averaged about 25 a week! I expected 5... it was great for us to be in the word, studying, every week!

Update on our CA home: some loan docs got bogged down on the buyer's end, so we expect to close this coming week. Pray it happens!!

Those are some updates and prayers this week. So glad you're in this with us.

New Steps

2008-08-28T12:05:00.001-07:00

Our lawyer meeting had to be moved to today. We will meet with Jeff in a few hours. Would you pray for us to remember all we need to ask him? We pray for a good, productive engagement with him. What we learn in this meeting will dictate so much of what we can and can't do with this land in the future.

We are grateful that God has directed Courtney to commit to helping Soulation with grant writing. We'll be operating on a trial basis, for both our sakes, for the next 4 months. Would you pray that God would continue to affirm her decision to give her time to us? We love her enthusiastic willingness.

Website continues to move forward. Joaquin and David have to find a way to make a map feature and a chatting feature work for our new website. Would you pray for them to be directed to find the best programs to meet our needs?

Our Los Angeles home's buyer got approval for his loan and we are switching utilities to his name as I type. We'll be done with escrow within 2 weeks and that means onward for our Retreat Center. Thanks to God!

My laptop did not recover, though I did not lose any information, just a lot of time. Work is a bit slower with an auxiliary keypad, but Dale has ordered me another laptop (mine was due for a replacement anyways). Would you pray that it would arrive intact and the transfer goes smoothly for us to keep on top of our work?

My family comes to visit tomorrow and this will slow down our work. I want to enjoy the precious time with them. We are excited about their participation during our final Bible study, next Monday, as well.

God has been so good to us this summer!

Orange Juice, Coffee Shop and Adrien

2008-08-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

Well, after sharing some of the harder stuff last week (and being encouraged by those of you who wrote to buoy me up), I have to let you know that today has been another one of those roller-coaster days.

We have had some amazing connections this last week, from getting connected with a lawyer in town who we can drill with all our questions about non-profit retreats (that meeting is next Tuesday, please pray for us to make the most of the time to tap his--Jeff's--expertise), to having a young adult offer her writing skills to help us with some grant writing. We pray for her, Courtney, to be willing to assist us with gathering funding for our retreat center.
Please continue to pray for Joaquin and David on the website progress. I cannot wait to unveil it to you!
Still in escrow on L.A. property and waiting...
This morning, we attacked a growing pile that had amassed during our splendid, much needed day of rest. Somehow while working busily away on emails and the new Fledge a book fell over, knocked my full glass of pulpy orange juice all over my desk, including my laptop. So today has been spent backing up all I can, cleaning up the keyboard and trying to get my keys to work. At the moment all work except "u", "i", and "o" rather important keys. So this is being typed on Dale's computer. Would you pray that I could get my laptop in working order by tomorrow?
Splendid news that brightened us up quite a bit, as I sat hunched with a vacuum cleaner over my laptop, is that a major publisher wants our book "Coffee-Shop Conversations: Making the Most of Your Spiritual Small Talk" and is planning on offering a lovely package deal to get us going. We thank God for this opportunity. We cannot wait to get started. Please pray for us to have wisdom about choosing a good deadline for the finished manuscript. We want to do it quickly to get these ideas out into the marketplace, but we also want to do a quality job, fine-tuning our sentences and ideas.
We also heard from our agent that our ideas are wanted and continue to be needed for the publishing world. This puts fresh wind into our sails. I've finally finished my 1st chapter for my book "Walking in Her Shoes" and am priming up the introduction this week. Please pray for us to begin switching gears soon to put all our efforts into "Coffee." We need persistent teamwork as we will write it together.
Our friend, Adrien, is visiting us this week and working on a portrait of Jonalyn. It's an honor to have her and see her expertise in our Soulation office on her easel. We love working alongside her and to see beauty being created in her brushstrokes. I've included a picture of how far she's come just in this first day. We would pray that God would use our downtime together this week to encourage each other in the often lonely work of creating (her in logging hours behind her canvases, us in logging hours behind our computer screens).

Glad to be in the mess and craziness of creating!

Prayer Requests

2008-08-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

We have some fun news and prayer requests this week

We've ironed out some communication problems with our web designers, David and Joaquin, who will be working like mad to get our website actually up and running within the month. Would you pray for them to focus on the essentials and meet their goal? We need to get the new site up sooner rather than later.
We've recently found a large parcel of land that was available, affordable and attractive to us so we put in an offer on this piece of land in hopes of beginning a Soulation Retreat Center. The offer was accepted, we were granted much favor in the seller's eyes. And now we're now the proud, scared, excited owners of 100 acres, 20 miles south of Steamboat. Here's a picture of where we'll be moving within the year (from our current home in Steamboat to 800 sq feet) to begin dream-casting the details of this land we hope to invite many to find rest for their souls. We have plans for cabins, parsonage home with dining hall and meeting room, infrastructure, landscaping, new trails. We need prayer for we feel like we're 2 year olds who've discovered a Queen Mary. How do we run this thing?
In spite of all the excitement, we feel the responsibility of these changes on our shoulders. We're trying to finish up selling our home in Los Angeles. We've found a buying quickly so we're in Escrow. Would you pray that we'd make it through this process soundly without compromising the value of our old home? We want to be able to use this money for the retreat center's beginnings.
There are times in our lives we just feel crummy. Soulation, our writing, our work doesn't seem worthwhile and I can't find the energy to even ask for prayer. Yesterday was one of those days. Sometimes think I can sound like life and Soulation is all rosy, when in reality it's never all rosy. We'd ask for prayer as we face some of our Goliaths

Dale will wrestle at times with wondering if he should even write his book on becoming appropriately human. He sometimes wonders if it's worth it, if it's all already been said, if his energy will find an audience. Pray for him to continue to persevere through those times, and that God would show him clearly how his message is valuable.
I, Jonalyn, need wisdom to wade through the criticism and praise I regularly receive about her blog and her work. I need to know whose opinion to take to heart and who I need to listen to with caution. I don't want every critique to send me spiraling downward.
We both need God's confidence to fill us!

Time Fleeting By

2008-08-05T19:55:00.000-07:00

Would you pray for us this week
1-Jonalyn needs the time to push through her proposal for "Walking in Her Shoes" these next 15 days.
2- We both also want to be present with our family who is visiting us this week and enjoy the moments of being with them (including our nephew, who is growing big awfully quickly!)
3- We need God's assurance that he will not abandon or forget about us, even if we feel we're not working hard enough or fast enough.
4- We are in Escrow selling our home in Whittier, which will free up funds to begin pressing further in with Soulation dreams. Would you pray that if God would want us to use these funds for Soulation's growth we would not drop out of Escrow?

Thank you!

Opportunities

2008-07-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well we've seen God's goodness this week. Thank you for praying

1- Dale got that Fledge out and we've had some great email responses from it
2- We had a stellar time with my sister, making great memories and enjoying life together
3- Our meeting with our agent was so encouraging. She liked ALL our ideas, including Dale's new one for his book (that means his golden thread weaving it all together works in her mind, too--always an encouragement to us).
4- The book we're working on together, working title is "Coffee Shop Conversations: Making the Most of Your Spiritual Small Talk", is getting some interest out there, so hopefully we'll have a chance to publish it. Would you pray that we'd be connected with an editor that understands us and our message? This weekend we wrote 4 mini-chapters in preparation for marketing it out to the publishing world. We're already enjoying the writing together, which was an unexpected surprise!
5- This week we will be plowing away on writing our individual books in the mornings. We're thankful you hold us up for diligence and zeal to continue to get our book proposals up and running. So far we're amazed at how much we've done with so much company!

God is good!

Sister in Town and Requests

2008-07-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

It always amazes me when I can have fun with friends (and this week with family) visiting and still get emails and blog posts, articles and chapters written. I see God's hand giving us strength to know how to enjoy every new task and devote time to each while enjoying company.

My sister, Jessica, is visiting this week and we are working on keeping on task with some projects AND enjoying her. Would you chat with God about some of these things for us?

Dale wrote a wonderful Fledge (going out tomorrow) on casting our nets wide in prayer. It's a beautiful piece and I'm excited for him to finish it up, record it for the podcast and send it. Please pray for him to find time this evening to do that.
Tomorrow we are carting Jessi with us to visit our agent in Denver, and show her the city. Would you pray for this meeting with our agent? We want to be able to help one another during this time. We need to be clear with her so she knows how to market our next book projects, and we need her help to know how our 1st writing samples need more work. We want this meeting to be so good for all involved.
Thank God for the way Dale feels he has found his golden thread, the unifying idea for his next book. We hope our agent likes it and can market it well!
We can see how your prayers give us added diligence and joy. Today I wrote 4 pages, a bizillion emails, several blog comments and found time to give piano lessons while Dale took Jessi fly-fishing for her first time. You can see how much fun they had (though Jessi thinks this picture makes her look like Gollum, but Dale can attest that she did NOT eat the fish raw) They're off for the evening feeding hours in a few hours.
We love soaking up Steamboat with those who visit us. Thank you for praying for us to grow and enjoy, to love and live well.

Writing Projects and Living as Healthy Souls

2008-07-15T12:14:00.001-07:00

I just sent the editor of Today's Christian Woman my completed article. It felt good to be done and Dale ran his eyes over it to make sure it was grammatically respectable.

We are loving working as a team this summer during our Monday night Bible studies and writing projects. Thank you for praying for our team spirit :)

This week we need prayer about

Morning writing time, we've found some more coffee-shop options for writing around town. Please pray that we would be disciplined enough to commit to these mornings away from home to work. Writing this article has put me behind on my book, so I'm excited to jump back in tomorrow morning. We are both getting better about guarding our mornings.
Please pray for us to individually work even if the other is distracted by other things. We both need to focus even if it's without the other.
Please pray for us to have integrity in the ways our work, our writing, our reading are intersecting our lives at the moment. Jonalyn has some challenging conversations to engage in this week (all dealing with her next book's topic ranging from interviews to confrontations) so she needs added wisdom and humility. Dale has continued financial decisions to make that he needs added wisdom and peace.

Thank you!

Writing Answers and Requests

2008-07-09T16:50:00.001-07:00

Today we said good-bye to a wonderful family that visited for 2 days and we plopped ourselves down to finish up some writing. Here's how you can pray for us this week

Jonalyn has an article to write on Spiritual Gifts for Today' Christian Women Magazine. It's due July 15th. So far, she has been able to gather some great research. But please pray for her to be able to explain 3 theologically confusing points within her word limit, while enjoying the process. Writing can be fun, (we try to remind ourselves) but we need the Holy Spirit's help to make that possible. Please pray for joy as she works and the deadline approaches.
Dale is working on his next book. As he hammers out more pages, he's realizing he needs a clearer picture of the goal for this book. Is it memoir? Is it spiritual autobiography? Is it meditation? He needs guidance and clarity. Would you pray that God's Spirit would lead him to the niche his book will fill?
We both need the continued discipline to make the most of our days (Summer is 1/2 over and we can't really fathom that!) to write in the mornings. Since Sunday we've been able to do that (minus a few days off for company). We long to continue this regime.
And as if we didn't have enough to write :).. we have a new book proposal on making the most of spiritual small-talk that we want to write together. Our agent is marketing Coffee Shop Conversations: Bringing Apologetics to Ordinary Life to potential publishers this week. We need an editor/publisher to want this idea.

Thank you for helping us make it through the tasks of this summer!

Bible Study- Articles and Writing

2008-07-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

This week we are hosting friends from New Hampshire and learning to fall in love with Steamboat all over again. It's been fun showing them the places we've come to enjoy and having them attend our Mark Bible study last night. We're still so grateful for the many who attend and the way we get to enjoy the same group week after week (instead of having to fly away).

In the midst we are finding times to do Soulation work. We could use your prayer for these:

1- Jonalyn has the opportunity to write an article for Today's Christian Women on Spiritual Gifts. She needs prayer to juggle the many requirements for the article as well as research and determine her view before putting it on paper. It's due July 15th

2- Dale has been finishing up a longer article on his investigation into Ephesians 5. He's titled it "The Mystery of Submission" and now needs to do the work of finding a home for this piece. Please pray for him to be connected with someone who'd like to publish this work

3- We need endurance to work hard and stay on top of our emails

Thank you!

Weekly Study and writing

2008-06-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

First, let me say that Jonalyn's request to find resources for her article has been met in an unexpected way. On our camping trip, we stopped in the Telluride library. Who would have thought some needed resources were sitting right there on their shelves. You never expect to find much in small mountain towns, but God led us right in.

In other news...

Our weekly Bible study on the book of Mark is going remarkably well. Jonalyn prayed boldly for 12 people to attend each week (I expected 5). So far, our attendance has gone from 20 to 25 to 31! Our little living room is packed out (but there is always room for more!).

And our audio editor is making these lessons our top priority so we can make each study available right way. So far Mark 1 & 2 are on online (www.soulation.org) and Mark 3-4 will be done tomorrow!

Pray for this endeavor. We'd love to have as many come as we can possibly fit in our home. Also pray for those who don't know Jesus to find their way here to hear more about the real Jesus. Our study is open to the public, anyone who wants to come. And if you're passing through CO this summer, do drop in!

Also pray for our writing and diligence. Every morning we see our schedules already packed with emailing, maintaining soulation, writing bills, updating blogs and websites, writing updates (the Seasonal goes out today), etc, that it saps some of our motivation and creativity to write for our books (which really is our best writing and probably our most lasting contribution). The enemy knows this. So pray for new bursts of imagination and desire to put our hand to the plow and put God's goodness into words.

Thanks for praying for us and celebrating with us. It's a team effort. And we're glad to report that fruit is abounding and God's name is made great!!

When God Hears

2008-06-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a week since I've flown to Long Beach. Along the way, I learned several things

God loves to answer our prayers, even the detailed stuff. I was exhausted before speaking on Tuesday evening, but from somewhere (you know where) I got the energy afterwards to meet women and sign books for a steady 1 and 1/2 hours. One woman wrote me afterwards and noted "Thank you so very much for time this evening. You took such careful time to hear everyone, and gave each woman your undivided attention. What a blessing you are to us, and others around the world....very special ministry you have created...answering all the hard questions that sometimes are confusing! Thank you for that." And my family came to hear me (aunt, mom, me, grandma) and support me, too! :)
I can get stranded for long hours at a time in airports and not get stressed out. My trip home gave me an unexpected four hours of waiting time, not knowing if I'd be in Denver overnight, but eventually and gratefully made it to Steamboat
It is imperative to have time before speaking engagements to pray and seek God about what he'd like me to share. I sensed God wanting me to share about the need for rest. This was before I knew that the audience was made up of mostly affluent, intelligent and busy women. And even the night of my talk, when my head felt fuzzy and I admitted from the stage that I felt like I was in Oz (that morning I had watched the sun rise over 2 elks who walked in a field next to me while I pulled my luggage into the terminal, flown to Denver, Phoenix then Long Beach, swam, napped, showered and now was on a stage speaking) God used my words. The coordinator of the event wrote me afterwards, "I prayed for a speaker in regard to women's self worth, according to God's word. You have allowed God to lead you in this direction and prayed for the evening and what to say. And there you were giving women (because of God's direction) exactly what they needed to hear. God is good!

Would you pray for us this week....

I have to find some good resources (where can I find a good library when you live in Steamboat??) for an article I'm writing (yes it's the one that was due last week and I finished, but the editor has asked me to add on to it with some more exciting, but time consuming research comparing the way the founder's of major religions treated women).
Starting this Monday we will begin writing our books (about 5 hours each day). I want to plunge right in and so does Dale. Please pray for dedication and excitement to get started!
Finishing up our vacation this week (we're camping through Colorado--tonight in Telluride) that we would love one another and relax with each other. It's so easy to turn vacation into work time.

Request and answer - RS Dessert Gala

2008-06-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

Jonalyn just called, telling me she landed safely and has been able to rest since she arrived in Long Beach, CA. In fact, she spent some time by the pool and even got in a nap. On the phone, she was driving to the Ruby Slippers Dessert Gala and asked me to post up a request that she would be full of energy from beginning to end, including the important one-on-one connecting time afterwards. She'll be signing lots of books afterwards and that can zap the last bits of your energy just as much as giving a public performance.

Last night was our first study in Mark. I was humbled that 20 people packed into our living room. Many shared how much they enjoyed it (but that doubtful side of me always wonders, "Where they just being nice?"). That was an answer to prayer (we were praying specifically for 12!) Our next one is in two weeks on Mark 2.

We are trying to get the recording on our website in time for the next one... so that those who cannot attend can still listen their way through the book of Mark with us this summer. So when you think of it, pray our video editor will have the time to edit these technical recordings.

Now it's raining in Steamboat and I'm enjoying the mysterious clouds thunder down on the swelling river below!

Three Potential Anxieties/Opportunities

2008-05-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

I woke this morning with a pit of anxiety in my stomach. I realized what it was as I got ready for the day.

Next Tuesday I fly to Long Beach to speak for a church in Cypress that evening. The event is an amazing one-of-a-kind desert gala centered around Ruby Slippers. I'll speak for 30 min and then sign books. The reason I feel anxiety is two-fold:

Due to mis-communication and the airlines adding one more layover, I have 3 stops before arriving in Long Beach. This means that there is a larger potential for delays and me to not get into town in time. It's so frustrating when the airlines change your ticket without notice and even more so when I want to have the energy, clarity and excitement for the evening event.
I will be traveling alone, which is always more stressful for me. You have to monitor your own safety, unwanted male attention, connections, etc. I need to have confidence and energy for that day.

This week Dale and I are finishing our chapters for an apologetics compilation book, edited by Sean McDowell. Needless to say we want to do this well. The deadline is fast-approaching, but we are seeing how much work we've already done. We are both writing about 5 hours a day to finish in time. Thank you for praying for diligence, we've seen God giving this to us. It's coming together, but it is labor-intensive. Please pray for us to want to help each other with editing and ideas and not just focus on our own chapter.
This Monday, the night before I fly out, is our inaugural Mark Bible Study. We've cleared our schedule this summer (except for the Cypress event) so we can serve in Steamboat. We've decided upon the venue of "Seeing Jesus through the eyes of Mark," teaching every Monday night this summer. I'm eager to begin, but want to find the time to meditate further and put together my thoughts with Dale. Please pray for us to coordinate our ideas and for at least 10 people from the community to make it a priority to come.

It's strange but as I write this, the anxiety has evaporated. Thank you for carrying our burdens with us. We know that much of this weight is evidence of answered prayer. God is using our efforts. We want to savor these opportunities as they come.

Answer! --and request for writing

2008-05-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

We finished our two week trip well. When we returned, our bodies certainly felt fatigue. Always on. Getting into the thick of other people's suffering. Always under spiritual attack. It takes a toll.

And your prayers helped. Even after returning, our souls felt strong. We felt that we were doing exactly what we were made to do. People's lives were changed, souls were built. We watched God moving among his people just by our being present with them and using the gifts he's given us. We've already received many student emails from the past two weeks... God give us wisdom to respond to some hard issues these student's face.

That's an answer to pray that we finished strong and that souls were moved. And to top it off, before we even reached home, we watched God's hand in motion. On our long drive from Denver airport back to Steamboat, we decided to grab some lunch at Pei Wei on the West side of Denver. After enjoying a healthy meal (fresh vegetables always seem to be sparse when traveling), we stepped into the coffee shop next door. Waiting for our drinks, a man turned to us and asked, "Are you guys from Steamboat?" Well, yes.

His name is Joda (pronounced "Ho-da") and he had attended one our "Loving God with All of You" seminars in Steamboat earlier this spring. He happened to be in our coffee shop with his father-in-law. After a pleasant discussion revolving around the goodness of God and serving Him, Joda prayed for us. It deeply touched us that wherever we are, God continues to remind us that he is for us.

As he continues to remind us he is for us, Jonalyn and I are each working on a chapter for a book on apologetics for a new generation. Jonalyn's chapter is on apologetics and gender. Mine is on apologetics as soul formation. Our due date is June 1.

We ask for prayer that our thoughts would be organized. We have lots of material and only 4,000 words to cram it into. So pray we would be economical with our words. Clear. Organized. Engaging. Creative. That our words would be the kind that would stir others to action and growth.

We're thrilled to be doing this project, edited by our friend, Sean McDowell (Josh's son). We'll be finishing up our articles this coming week.

Again, thanks for standing with us and reaching the world through your prayers. It makes a difference.

Request from Copperas Cove, TX

2008-05-18T14:48:00.000-07:00

Jonalyn and I tallied up our speaking presentations since leaving home for this trip. This morning's talk on how to read the Bible put us at talk number 22. Tonight is our final talk before flying home tomorrow!

Our time in San Antonio finished strong with many students going out of their way with appreciation. Many were refreshed with a larger vision of Jesus and how every faculty of the human person is called into a meaningful walk of love with the Savior. (But we were disappointed in the Prince Caspian movie, which even the teens thought fell short of their hopes and undermined our favorite character, Aslan... but that's a topic for other blogs!).

We are tired and want to finish well. Tonight's talk has a city-wide invitation so there is no predictor on how many will show up. "Living with Questions" is our theme followed by Q&A. It is an open forum event, so who knows what will happen.

Our prayer is for strength and clarity. That we would tell the truth with courage. That the thoughts would flow through our weary minds (I just took a power-nap in the car while we're parked at Starbucks because I just couldn't focus). And that those who come will be inspired to find the King more meaningful than ever before and worth following across this broad world into eternity.

And also pray for a safe return flight home tomorrow. We can't wait to see the "ladies" (our corgis) and our big soft bed.

Requests from San Antonio

2008-05-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

Well, Forest Lake School turned into a marvelous week. Parents, teachers and students flooded us with appreciation. It's been one of the best responses we've ever received.

This from one student on Thursday (halfway through the week)

"I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to you and Dale speak to us in chapel today and yesterday. I can't wait for tomorrow as well!" She then went on to email us some questions of a more private nature. Other teens have been writing in this weekend with gratitude, more questions, or wanting to be our friends on facebook.com. One girl wrote, "I am listening to you at Forest Lake Christian and I love you guys! Especially the first day of Spiritual emphasis was spectacular! That was most likely the best sermon/chapel I have ever listened to before! Thank you both soooo much for coming and for all that you do! I can\'t wait to hear you tomorrow! Keep up the great work!

We've been built up by their eagerness. And the vice-principal has extended a return visit invitation to be speakers for the Senior Bible Retreat this September. Even the principal announced during the Parent-Teacher night (Dale and I shared about what it means to help your students live with their questions) that he'd like to recruit us to join the faculty at his school if we'd ever consider moving. We were thrilled they enjoyed us so much! Here's a pic of us before our final talk, at our Soulation table (the flowers were from a student).

This morning we woke up at what to our bodies was 4 o'clock (what Dale calls "0-dark thirty") but really only 6 am San Antonio time to begin our Spiritual Emphasis week at Harvest Christian Academy.

Our hostess had already laid out a delicious coffee cake spread and we felt nourished though still tired as we followed her to our next school. We spent from 8:30- 12:25 with about 40 teens, grades 7-12. It was a very good first meeting. Dale was his splendid self, lightening up the atmosphere, sharing and acting out the humorous bits in our talks and fielding questions.

In this next week we have left here's how we need your help. Would you pray for us

Though we are tired we've had some time to rest this afternoon. I took a 3 hour nap and it was exactly what I needed. I haven't felt this tired since finals at UVA 4th year. Please pray that we'd sleep adequately and remain healthy!
We need the kind of personal, inquisitive, attentiveness for these students as we will be spending all morning for 5 days with them. There's such potential for them to open up their minds and hearts to us, but we must remain attentive for the opportunities. Please pray for us to be "on" when we need to be.
Each night this week we have events or dinners planned and we are excited for these, but also need endurance.
Sunday we speak in the morning and evening at a church about 2 hours away. Please pray for us to finish this week well as we work with the adults and teens.

We need you to be like Moses' friends, who held his hands up when he was weary.

Prayer Request- Lake Tahoe

2008-05-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

Thank you for praying. We feel healthy, rested, well-fed and on the same page as we begin speaking this week. (And I'm 1/2 way through the Chronicles of Narnia!)

We have not been involved in working in very conservative Christian circles in a while, so this week as we minister to our brothers and sisters (both students and parents) at this Christian school we ask for

sensitivity to not offend as we also challenge them to think about Jesus in new ways
strength as we have a packed few days here, tonight we meet with the teens on student council, tomorrow we meet with the parents to share with them the questions teens are asking, Saturday as we potentially meet with some Christian leaders regarding future events, and during every day we are doing chapels and meeting in classrooms with students.

This morning we shared about faith with the junior highers. We only had 15 minutes, so it felt like a whirlwind, but we managed to step on some toes by sharing the story that Jonalyn left her Christian school to be a missionary to a public school.

God give us grace to know when to make waves and when to be still.

Big Praise and Request s for CA and TX events

2008-04-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

Well, Dale just shouted up from the new office in our basement that I should tell you all he has a BIG PRAISE that we were able to really rest last week. We took a 4 day trip to Moab, Utah (the off-roading capital of the world) with my parents (my Dad has a Jeep, too and he and my mom are great off-roading companions) and tent camped and enjoyed the outdoors. Here's how we do off-roading (notice the corgis and Dale's new license plate!).

Sunburned, but happy and rested we returned home to pick up where we left off with bills, emails, speaking events and writing. We were able to jump right in and I want to thank you for that ease. We were able to relax and we were able to return to our work with added enthusiasm.

This next week we'll be gearing up for another 2 week trip (we've realized this will be our 3rd 2 week trip this Spring and we don't think we'll be doing such intense, long trips again). This time we head out to Lake Tahoe area to speak for a Spiritual Emphasis week at Forest Lake Christian. Then we fly to San Antonio, Texas to speak for another Spiritual Emphasis week at Harvest Schools where we'll be speaking about C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia and the way Lewis refreshes our understanding of who Jesus is. We'll be enjoying the premier of Prince Caspian with the teens that week as well.

In preparation we ask for

continued eagerness to finish the Chronicles of Narnia so they are fresh to share.
as the days will be long with the teens (classroom visitations, lunch impromptu meetings, dinners with new friends) please pray for us to stay healthy and build up strength to give to others.
we will be developing several new talks together, please pray for us to have creativity and work ability with one another (Dale and I have different styles of organizing our talks) so that our strengths are building up each.

Thank you for praying with us!

Possible Bookkeeper

2008-04-22T23:12:00.001-07:00

We have both made much of our week of rest, blogging about hot topics, catching up (on older emails, amazed at how many new emails come in, aligning details for upcoming speaking events and realizing how helpful a bookkeeper/office manager would be.

On that note we have a possible lead for a bookkeeper, though we wish God would just answer all our needs at once, we're excited to follow this up, which won't be until we return from plenty of traveling, an entire month from now.

We'll keep you posted. For now, would you pray that God would coordinate our needs with the person who can help us in the most cost-effective way?

Tomorrow, Dale and I travel to Moab, Utah for some true R & R with my parents. We're really looking forward to it!

Request- Home and Resting

2008-04-15T16:18:00.000-07:00

Well we made it home, safe, sound and exhausted.

This week we need prayer for rest that we'd take time to recharge ourselves, to read in the evenings, to build up our minds and hearts with truth and friendship and relaxation.

Jonalyn is still working through her cold, almost better, but not quite.

We both ask for the ability to reconnect well with our friends, to swiftly plunge back into knowing and being known.

Thank you for praying with us!

Request- Valley Christian High School, San Jose

2008-04-08T15:03:00.001-07:00

We've been on the road 8 days and we feel like sponges that have been all wrung out. It's a good feeling to be used, but we know we need your prayers to keep going with energy, creativity and love for these students.

Last week was wonderful, spending time connecting with both Christian school teachers and their students. We had asked for the clarity to know who wanted to learn and those students found us, either through purchasing our books, signing up for our email apologetic devotional (Fledge) or through grabbing us between classes. We felt we connected even better this year than last year. And on our way out the principal asked to book us again for 2009.

This week, we're doing another spiritual emphasis week, but 10 times larger and all week long. We collected 2,500 questions from these students yesterday and sifted through them last night. There is something heavy and hard about reading question after question and hearing their pain and confusion and knowing you can only answer and help so much.

It is also hard with so much of a secular worldview dominate their assumptions about the Christian God. It's like you have to construct a new context for them to even begin thinking about an answer.

We have 3 more chapels ("Why Should I Trust the Bible?" "Faith, Feelings and our Father's Presence", and "God Wants the Broken" this time with a different story thrown in). This is their spiritual emphasis week. Each day we're also visiting 2-4 different classrooms to do more talking, interacting, question answering. It is draining, but it is good. We are also inviting them to join us in the gym during lunch if they want to discuss more questions and go deeper. Today was the first day we tried it and about 20 students came engaged, open, hungry!

We ask for the ability to find those who want to go deeper, to be bold to challenge them (This is a wealthy area, wealthy school, we want them to be left with more questions to go deeper with God), to maintain our health and love for each other as we work side by side.

Now we're off to watch their baseball team (ranked 11th in the nation for division IV!) play a challenging rival this afternoon. It's this entering into their world and being part of their story that makes our time well spent.

Thank you for supporting us so well!

Requests from San Jose

2008-04-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we piled our 3 corgis, suitcases and lots of books into our truck and headed out west. We drove 1100 miles until we pulled into Fremont. Little wonder we slept very well.

For the next 3 days we speak at Fremont Christian School, a student body made up both those who follow Jesus and those who do not. In just one hour Dale will speak on "Is God with Me?" challenging the teens to doubt their squirrelly feelings and get real with God's nearness even if they don't feel him. Tomorrow I'll be speaking on "Loving God with Your Soul" and finishing up with a version of "God Wants the Broken."

Every day after we speak we're scheduled to do some Q and A time in individual Bible classrooms. Since we're only here for 3 days please pray for us:

1- to find and connect swiftly with those who are hungry to grow
2- that God's message, his love for these teens would really come through our words
3- for us to pace ourselves as we have another full week of Spiritual Emphasis at another Christian High school starting next Monday. We want to be sure to have some energy left for them :)

Thank you for holding us up!

New Ideas for Soulation

2008-03-25T14:33:00.001-07:00

Quick note: Jonalyn's Biola chapel "God Wants the Broken" is online in video form at Biola's Centennial Chapel Series.

It has become increasingly obvious that we need help with Soulation. We've been praying for financial partners for Soulation for awhile. Some have jumped on board and encouraged us with financial support. But we realize we need to share this need with you.

We need financial partners, people who can help fund the ideas we have in the hopper:

office manager so we can work on what we do best
funding for our sound editor, to edit our talks so we can continue to build our Soulation Library.
a video editor to create regular mini videos of us answering questions, posted in our Soulation library and freely available on YouTube
web help (our website is nearing completion, but we will need funds to upkeep management of it)
we've found we can get on the radio in Los Angeles on KKLA, but need funding.

The original fund raising letter we sent out for Christmas was a wonderful way to get this Prayer Blog started, but as of now we don't have the funds for most of our new ideas. Some of you helped us get some new talks out in our library (THANK YOU!!) and even made it possible for Dale to have a promotional video by giving to our general expenses. We appreciate how you've supported us.

A lot of our research and writing time is gobbled up by travel arrangements, book-keeping and IT work. To share the gospel is going to require that we involve more hands on deck.

Would you please pray for us to figure out what to do? We need God's direction to find people to financially support us, or to show us how to allocate our finances for these things.
Thank you!