How Deep the Father's Love for Us!

How deep the Father's love for us,

How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,

The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the chosen One,

Bring many sons to glory

 

Behold the Man upon a cross,

My sin upon His shoulders

Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,

Call out among the scoffers

 

It was my sin that held Him there

Until it was accomplished

His dying breath has brought me life

I know that it is finished

 

I will not boast in anything

No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ

His death and resurrection

 

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom

by Stuart Townend

Another Snow Day!

I love snow days. As I teacher, it’s just as exciting as when I was a kid. There’s nothing like groggily waking up to a phone call and hearing, “School’s cancelled!” Now that I’m grown, sledding, building snow forts, and drinking hot cocoa has been replaced with doing laundry, washing dishes and making dinner on my holiday, but I don’t mind. (I do find some time for leisurely activities too...)

My first two years in Rolla teaching, we had no snow days. And of course, in Uganda we didn’t have any either. So this is my first year to experience them- and today is now the 4^th one this winter! It’s hard to believe that it was 78 degrees on Sunday, and now it’s pouring beautiful, white fluffy flakes- but I don’t mind! It’s lovely and I'm so thankful for the nice, relaxing day off!

The snow declares the beauty of our creator

He is glorious in splendor- Holy is His name!

He has washed me new like the freshly fallen white-

Clean, pure, and Redeemed by Christ

May all people be refreshed by His creation

Turn them to your face, O Lord

Open their hearts to see your glory

That all people may declare You as the Creator

and Your works majestic!

I love the Psalms, and as I was reading this morning I realized that the Psalmist did not live in a climate where they experienced much snowfall- otherwise I'm sure they would have written about it! So I decided to write my own Psalm about snow. The beauty of it draws me to worship our majestic Creator.

I took these pictures several snows ago. It was too snowy to go out and take pictures today- and I have yet to purchase a pair of snow boots! The first two pics are in Tower Grove Park (within walking distance from our house) and the last is our backyard.

Valentine's Day Celebrations

Didn’t you just love Valentine’s Day as a child? I loved decorating a shoe box with construction paper, hearts and glitter, filling out carefully picked Valentine’s for friends, sampling chocolate hearts until I found one filled with strawberry, and reading all my cards at the end of the day. I also loved my mother’s beautifully decorated and delicious “red” themed meal, including lasagna and pretzel jello salad.  One year in elementary school, my cousin and I even threw our very own Valentine’s Day party- following of course the American Girl party guide and wearing coordinating Limited Too sweaters.

I love being a teacher and experiencing excitement of holidays again through children. I never tire of making my students Valentines, decorating my classroom with hearts, icing sugar cookies, and watching the kids pass out their special Valentines. 

David and I celebrated Valentine’s by going out to dinner at Favazza’s on the Hill. (Thanks Uncle Matt & Aunt Patti for the gift certificate! The baby and I enjoyed amazing filet mignon!) While waiting for the meal, David completely surprised me with a beautiful set of pearls! (I just gave him jelly bellies:)  Our lovely evening was romantically with topped off with plumbing problems in our house, with water leakage in the basement. No fun! 

This is me at 17 1/2 weeks (technically into my 5th month.) My belly is growing- I now feel like I'm starting to look a little pregnant.

We're Producing!

"We're Producing" is how our Ugandan friends say, "We're expecting!" As many of you have heard- we're pregnant with our first baby! I am almost 15 weeks along and our baby is due at the end of July- around the time of our 4th Wedding Anniversary. We're very excited and greatly anticipate Baby Baca's arrival! I heard the heart beat for the first time the other day; it was breathtaking to hear how loud and strong it was. It's amazing to think of this little, tiny baby (the size of a lemon!) is miraculously being "knit together" in me by the hand of our Father. "For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God." Ps. 86:10


Now an update on the rest of our lives...
We are adjusting to our new life back in our hometown, good old St. Louis. We’re living in the city, in the Tower Grove area, right next to the Botanical Gardens. We love it here- though it is very different from Wildwood and Chesterfield where we grew up. It actually feels like we are in a whole new town, so it's nice to live a different life in STL. We have found a new church community, are making new friends, trying out new ethnic restaurants, and are discovering many cool new things about our city. We're looking forward to warm weather which will mean lovely walks through the botanical gardens and casual bike rides around the parks.

This is our "flat," we basically rent the first floor of this house. There's a neat couple our age with two small kids that live upstairs. 

I enjoy teaching 4th grade and am very thankful for her sweet group of kids that I have. I car pool with 3 other ladies in my area and fortunately our 20 minute commute on 44 and Big Bend hasn't been affected by the major Highway 40 shut down! David started with EDM, a multi-disciplinary engineering firm, in December and is trying hard to enjoy being a structural engineer. Working quietly on a computer (doing formulas all day!) in a cubicle is hard for his outgoing, extroverted self. (He's definitely not your typical engineer.) Prior to EDM, he worked with his dad at Guarantee Electric on a job site, which had a lot more action and commotion than a quiet office. But he's thankful for his job, is learning a lot, and finds the work rather interesting.

David with his dad, in front of the St. Claire Hospital Project at Bowles and 141 in Fenton

With Baby Baca on the way, some of you might be asking,"Are they still going back to Uganda?" We purposely rented this year, as to not be tied down to a house, and we actually got pregnant hoping to take the baby back with us next Fall. Though our hearts do desire to return, we found out in early December that David is no longer needed to help build the Westminster Theological College and Seminary Campus. As some money started coming in, Westminster's board concluded that they wanted to start construction ASAP and went ahead and found a local builder/project manager. So construction is in progress- which means they can move their overflowing campus sooner to the new building and hold more students! We are now in St. Louis for the time being, and are starting the process of looking for houses in our neighborhood. We know our mothers (and family!) are very excited to have us nearby....and we, too, are excited to be near them.

A Drissell family shot from Christmas

What are we doing now???

It's now been a little over a month since we arrived back in the States! Several have asked about a blog update, so we thought we'd take a minute and fill you in on what we've done since we've left Uganda...

Our Time in Europe…

We slowly started adjusting back to Western life while we were in Europe for two weeks. When we arrived in London from Entebbe, I was overwhelmed by how smooth the roads were and how clean, charming, and pristine everything was. Everything was so green, cool, and lush; it felt like winter had just melted away and spring had crisply sprung. The fashion was quite amusing as well: mini skirts, tapered jeans, and even some mid-rifts in Italy, none of which we saw in Uganda!

Yum...David enjoys a mouth watering pizza in Naples, home of the original pizza!

Our time in Italy was lovely- and hot! We probably got more sun being in Italy than we did in Uganda. The whirlwind tour included stops in Rome, Naples, Orvieto, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terra, and finally Geneva, Switzerland. We walked around all day, every day, saw many breathtaking cathedrals, ancient ruins, art museums, country sides, and of course dined on scrumptious Italian cuisine.

Cinque Terra, five quaint fishing villages built into the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean, was absolutely breathtaking and one of our favorite places. As you can see in the picture, the water was a sparkling Caribbean blue. We spent a day hiking the difficult trail between the villages. We camped and enjoyed meeting some young backpackers and two young Christian couples from Sweden and America.

Cinque Terra

David stands with the great reformers in Geneva, Switzerland

The Engineer is trying to fix the problem

Our trip ended in England with a visit to Jean, a fellow eMi intern. We visited her hometown in the countryside of England. On Sunday, we went to her dad's church in a charming village and ate fish and chips by the sea. It was raining and chilly the entire time we were there, just how you'd imagine England to be. Jean also took us to Oxford, where she attended University. It was very sophisticated and extremely posh--old stone buildings, exquisite gardens, and cobblestone streets were everywhere. We even ate at the pub where C.S. Lewis and Tolkien hung out, Eagle and Child.

At the chilly sea side with Jean in Ipswitch, England

So what are we doing now?
Realizing that Westminster Theological College and Seminary only has $40,000 in the bank and they are in need of $275,000 before we can return, we decided to live in St. Louis for awhile. Actually, God provided jobs almost immediately after returning for both David and me. I will be teaching 4th grade at Twin Oaks Christian School at 141 and Big Bend where I used to attend elementary school. David took a three month job with his dad's company, Guarantee Electric. They are really busy with the electrical design at the new St. Clare Hospital at 141 and Bowles. I actually visited him last week and saw the job site trailer where he works with other designers. He is looking for an engineering firm to begin using his Arch E. degree.

We will be in St. Louis for a bit and we have no idea how long that "bit" will be. My parents graciously let us stay at their place for awhile (along with Matt and Becky!) and now we're at the Baca's. We're currently looking for a place to live....

Prayer…
We are thankful and rejoice in the opportunity God provided for us to serve him in Uganda. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support; it could not have been possible with out you "sending" us. Please continue to pray that the money would come in for Westminster and that we would be patient on God's timing during this interim period. You can also pray that we would find a place to live and for David to find an engineering job.