Taking a step back in time

I, Mike, had the chance to go on a 2-week trip to China and visit a country of mystery, progress and darkness. Along with Mark and Brett, two members of NRBC, I went to visit a friend who teaches English in a university in Yunnan Province. It was 12 days of action-packed adventures that left my mind spinning with the cultural differences as well as the opportunities to minister to some very needy and searching people. I wish I could tell you more on this site, but security demands that I be brief and concise.

Regardless, during the trip we also visited a spot on this globe which I'd hoped to visit many years ago. About 15 years ago, I was sitting in my sister's house in Michigan, looking at a picture book of beautiful places on this earth. One place caught my attention, and lodged a longing in my heart to go and see this unique place on God's green earth. Little did I know that I would actually get the chance to visit. Well, this trip was that dream come true for me. I wish I could adequately my thanksgiving to God for giving me so many of my wants as well as supplying all of my needs.

In the meantime, things progress at home with a busy fall season, sports schedules, school, church growth, etc. Noel continues to work hard in a struggling real estate market; her niche has been to help young couples, first time home buyers, go through he intimidating process of securing that first big purchase of life.

Hope you are doing well and growing in God's grace. Enjoy the pictures below!

For Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

She's baaaaaaack!

We've officially begun the fall sports season, which for the DeVries family, is a very busy time. With 4 teens (well, Monk is big enough to be a teen - just took him and his size 11 shoes to the doctor and found out he's in the 95th percentile in height at 5 ft. 4 in. and in the 95th percentile in weight at 149 pounds) this is an extremely packed time of life. We've always been busy; we are just now busy with other things. Dennae and Jami are playing softball for their high school. Ivy is playing club soccer, and Michael is playing club tackle football (I'm an assistant coach working with QBs and receivers). The next few blogs will just provide some pictures of the different kids in their various sports. Hope you enjoy.

Ivy is a striker and thinks about nothing other than making the back of the net ripple with a shot from her foot. Her first game of the season was yesterday, and she picked up where she left off last year: several shots and one goal. The pictures below will show a progression in the goal she scored. It was a rebound off another shot by one of the other forwards on her team. This year, a new player on the team has a photographer for a Mom. So, we'll be getting some pretty good pictures. We're glad to share them with our friends and family.

Have a great day!

The Trip of a Lifetime

We just got back from 2 weeks of vacation! All six of us went to S.Korea to visit Noel's sister and family. Kent is a chaplain in the Army, stationed at Jongsan Garrison in Seoul, and Shawna teaches at an international Christian school. They will be there for another year, and then it's off to another assignment. While we make the difficult adjustment back to Colorado time, we will cherish the memories of our trip for a lifetime. The cousins all got along fabulously, and we got to see places in this world that we would otherwise probably never have a chance to see. We were able to experience a different culture up close and personal; it is a culture that has a lot of good things to teach the Western mind set. All in all, it was a great trip! We will always be indebted to Kent and Shawna and their children for going through the difficult process of hosting a family of six for 2 weeks in their apartment.

Some of the distinct memories from the trip include the following: 1 - preaching, singing and playing during a chapel service on post 2 - traveling to Sockcho and Busan and staying at the beach in some of the best hotels Korea has to offer 3 - morning trips to Starbucks where the four of us sat around and chatted about everything we could possibly think of 4 - watching Jami on stage at a Korean cooking/Taekwondo show 5 - pulling my hamstring at another show where they hauled me up on stage in front of everybody 6 - watching Andrew and Monk launch home runs in the baseball field behind the apartment 7- Jami and Katherine reading and writing books together 8 - Jessica and Dennae becoming buddies 9 - Ivy diligently shopping at the outdoor markets for all her friends back home 10 - eating out every meal (the cooks need a vacation too!) 11 - Korean food at the Korean restaurants 12 - ministering at the Shalom house for handicapped Koreans 13 - dinner with our Korean friends the Ahns and the Uhms 14 - Nathaniel and his computer games...and the list could go on and on. Take some time to look at the pictures below.

MJD,Sr.

Happy Birthday, America!

These past several weeks we've enjoyed a number of opportunities to be together and enjoy each other as a family. We celebrated all the DeVries family birthdays in the month of June together with our monthly get together. We all got to go watch Dennae play in a double header up in Windsor, a nearby town that was recently devastated by tornadoes. Maybe you heard about it on the news? We celebrated my 25th high school class reunion; it was great to see that everybody who showed up is serving the Lord with their lives. That was a blessing indeed. We celebrated the 4th of July as a family with a church wide picnic and then fireworks that night in a nearby city, Louisville. Then today, July 5, Monk and I took a hike with Peter Landry and his son, Wil. Peter is the other elder in our church plant. We went to the Royal Arch up above Boulder. Spectacular views of all of Denver. You could say we had a royally good time!

Hope you had a Happy Independence Day! I'm proud to be an American!!

Don't forget the pictures at the bottom of the blog!

MJD,Sr.

Happy Birthdays and Sad Good Byes

These past couple of weeks we've celebrated a number of birthdays among our family. Since my extended family has grown considerably on the DeVries side, we get together once a month to celebrate whosever birthday was that month. In May, Minsook (my "adopted" sister from Korea), Brett (Dennae's boyfriend), and I all had birthdays. It was fun, as usual, out at my Mom and Dad's house. They now have a contract on their house that will hopefully turn into a sale in the days to come.

Shane and Sjanie Medhurst, and their two-year old son Brock, are leaving us and moving back to Australia today, May 31, as I enter this blog. I met Shane on a mission trip to Australia back in the late 1990s; Sjanie moved in to our basement with our family in the late 1990s. They met on a mission trip to Australia in 2000, fell in love, and got married in 2002. Shane moved here, and they've spent the last several years establishing themselves. And now the time has come for them to move to Australia and fulfill some God-given privileges and responsibilities there. We will miss them dearly as friends and church members and pray God's richest blessings on the. On Thursday night, 80 people from our church family showed up to say "farewell" to them.

Also, Michael enjoyed his 5th Grade Graduation this past week. We are now entering the phase of life where all of our children are either in middle or high school. Please pray for us.

Don't forge the pictures at the bottom of the blog.

Have a great day for Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

Jami was 13 and I'm 43!

This past few weeks have seen a few small changes in our family. Dennae got a new puppy that she and Brett and going to watch after and have signed a contract swearing their allegiance to perform all the duties necessary for Denzell's welfare whether he needs food, drink, discipline or if he decides to leave unsightly traces of his presence around the house, yard, etc. The last thing I needed right now in my life is another dog. Angel is old and cranky; she nips at people, dogs and other things she unwittingly bumps into with her diminishing eye sight. She's kind of pathetic at this point; she's 13 years old and I've enjoyed her so much since we got her only a few months old. But she's starting to fade, so I guess a new dog is OK for the family. As far as Denzell is concerned, the new pup, he's actually a pretty neat little dog, a mix of an Australian shepherd and black lab mix. Everybody's really taken to him.

Ivy went to a soccer camp that some of the Colorado Rapids players hosted. She got her picture taken with many of them, and of course, is always thrilled to get those opportunities. She has tryouts for another year of competitive soccer. Her team didn't do so hot this past season so they'll be moving down to a lower league, but they have high hopes and soon making it back to the highest level of competition in the Colorado Youth Soccer Association.

Also, we came across some pictures of Jami when she turned 13 years old a few years ago. I thought you'd all enjoy seeing a few of those. She's changed a lot since then, really blossoming into a fine young lady! Her wit, humor and extremely bright little mind are always keeping me and Noel guessing and looking at each other just wondering where this girl came from. She is quite unique - marches to the beat of her own drum, doesn't really care what others think, is an active apologist for the faith at school with teachers and students - just a lot of fun! Please pray for her.

I turned 43 this past week. I'm enjoying life as much now as I ever have in many ways. God has blessed me richly with a great family, wonderful friends in our church family, a nice house, but most of all, hope for the future, an eternal hope that grows brighter as each day passes!

Don't' forget to look at the pictures at the bottom of this page. Hope you have a great day for Christ's sake, and until the next entry in this little blog, Soli Deo Gloria!

MJD,Sr.

A Teenager, a Slugger and a Lieutenant

Since our last blog, Ivy has turned the big "13" - that means we've got 3 girls in the home in their teens. Now you know how to pray most effectively, efficiently and fervently for me and Noel. Sheesh! Actually, they're all great. Ivy has basically been a teenager for about 10 years now so not much has changed. She, the social butterfly and very popular young lady, had about 25 girls show up to her open house birthday party. We tell the kids that they can have "extravagant" parties on their 7th, 10th, 13th and 16th birthdays. Well, Ivy had hers all planned out about 1 month in advance. She is quite the little planner. She had her budget figured out, her businesses contacted, her invitations, her plans for which few could stay the night, etc. It was really something. She could surely be a big help to President Bush and his efforts (or lack thereof!) to balance the federal budget. It was amazing! Anyway, the party was a huge hit. Chocolate fountain, sub sandwiches, "Dance Dance!" and "Guitar Hero." Really fun to watch these girls put some moves on! We had the fire pit with smores in the backyard; and the weather was really nice. She even arranged to have a huge "bouncy castle" set up. That was a lot of fun for everybody! What a riot. All in all, we had a great time and are very proud of our new teenager.

Michael has also established himself as the "cleanup batter" on his baseball team. He can handle his own with the glove and throwing, but he can absolutely crush the ball for an eleven year old boy. It is fun to watch. His first league game, he went 3 for 3: a triple, a double and a single. He was awarded the game ball.

Also, my brother Matt had an open house celebration for his 40th birthday and for his recent promotion to Lieutenant at the North Washington Fire Department. He is doing very well in his career as a "Fire-Med"; he has a lot of stories to tell of people who have both survived and not survived on his watch. Very interesting to listen to.

The rest of us are doing well. I was recently in Kentucky for a "Together for the Gospel" conference that as a real blessing. Noel is selling houses, Dennae is hanging out with Brett and Jami is making plans to live in Australia one day! Crazy girl! Take a look at the pictures at the bottom of the blog.

Hope you are doing well for Christ's sake.

MJD,Sr.