Diane and I are on a weight loss regiment. We both want to shed about 80 pounds before our 25th wedding anniversary in December. So today I decided to get some exercise done on the elliptical machine. About thirty minutes into my exercise the steel bar for the right side pedal snapped. No kidding. My bulbous frame snapped a steel bar.

Man. I’m powerful.

My youngest daughter, Whitney, was baptized today in the Tuul River in Gachort, about 30-minutes outside of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Click the image for a larger version.

A 12-year dream for me is about to come true. My course work with Reformed Theological Seminary begins May 1st. I’m focused on a certificate in Old Testament studies and hope to eventually work my way toward an M.Div.

It’s about time I educated myself.

I started on the reading assignments yesterday. I read two chapters of an introduction to Old Testament. I’ve got over a hundred pages to do by this weekend, also focused in Old Testament with the book, He Gave Us Stories, by Richard Pratt. I’ve actually read this book before, and liked it very much so I’m looking forward to digging into it more as a student.

Even though it’s distance education it still feels a bit strange to “go back to school” after 27 years. I’m a bit nervous, but looking forward to it.

I decided to go “back to school” to prepare for future ministry and also help me augment my current ministry with Eagle TV. I’m doing a lot more teaching now, and hope to increase that part of my activity.

I’ve wanted to attend RTS for nearly 12 years. But each year I checked on it there was something that kept it just out of my reach, health issues three years ago, financial trouble a few years before that, conflicts with ministry at various times. This is the first year that everything seemed to match up to make it possible for me to get started. I’m so thankful. My schedule is much more reasonable now, giving me time after working at Eagle each day to devote to study.

Your support helps me pay for the dream, so thank you for all that you do in supporting our ministry, and now, my education.

BTW, if you haven’t given in a while and would like to help with a gift of support then please visit www.thomasterry.com/gift.

I’m back in Tucson after spending a week in Albuquerque. My time here is transitional. I’m just waiting (urgently waiting), for Tuesday’s flight back home to Mongolia. When I get home I’ll have about a month to get back into the saddle and caught up with all of the changes at Eagle TV. Then in May I begin my course work with Reformed Theological Seminary as I slowly begin pursuing my M.Div.

The last year, actually two years, has been a time filled with transitions and trials. Almost two years ago we began transitioning the leadership of Eagle TV to Mongolian management. At the same time my oldest daughter, Stefani, was leaving Mongolia for Tucson and college. Separation anxiety began to bud. At that same time my middle daughter Rochele was diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy and went from walking to being confined to a wheelchair to walking again. Gall bladder surgery for me was followed by the death of my father. A few months later Rochele was leaving for Washington State which was followed a few months later by her marriage to her high school sweetheart. In the midst of all of that there were elections in Mongolia and the U.S., a riot back home, machinations against Eagle TV, attacks from Buddhists, and I began the arduous journey of coming to grips with bipolar disorder and the road to recovery.

Whew. No wonder I was stressed.

So as I sit here waiting these last three days in Tucson before my flight home I’m becoming contemplative. A year ago if someone would have told me I would be taking an eight month furlough I’d have laughed. What? Not work for eight months? Are you crazy?

Now I’m beginning the process of transitioning back to work with Eagle, as well as preparing for future ministry by furthering my education. And I’m sure that after I return there will be further unplanned changes that await. Thanksfully, I think I’m better prepared for them now that I’m rested.

I was never big on rest or taking vacations. I was a true workaholic. Doing my work, whatever it happened to be, was absolutely compelling to me. If I wasn’t working then I was thinking about work, or something related to work. Even my recreation was often work-related. Being off these last eights months has served to reorient me to a more balanced way of thinking. Work is still important, but it’s no longer urgent and all-consuming. I’m no longer a slave to my work. That’s a good place to be.

I recently completed Exodus in my Bible reading. One of the passages that stood out to me was the simple command in Exodus 20:8, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” I used to view this Law of Moses as something that was for past generations, during the period of the Israelites in the promised land. But after being forced to rest and renew myself in the Lord I see its wisdom. It’s a simple wisdom given by Jesus when he said, “The sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27).

It’s interesting that the command to rest follows the three commands, “You shall have no other gods before me,” “You shall not make an idol,” and “You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain.” The scriptures are woven together often with a logic and progression that we miss. What does sabbath have to do with these three previous commands? Everything. My refusal, for many years, to take appropriates rests and dedicate myself even more to my work was to place something before the Lord (violating the 1st commandment). In doing so I set up my work as my idol (violating the 2nd commandment). So when I approached the Lord it wasn’t in the fulness of knowing him according to his ways. I limited his transformative power in my life (violating the 3rd commandment—God’s name has everything to do with his authority and power). This long rest for me has been like making up lost sabbaths. It was both a blessing, but also a kind of discipline, just as when the Lord prescribed 70 years of Israeli exile, giving the land its sabbath rest according to the covenant (compare Leviticus 25:4 with II Chronicles 36:21). On the back end of returning to the land was a renewal of the covenant (see the book of Ezra).

Our transitions and trials as a family, and in our ministry are not over. There’s surely more to come. But I believe I’m better prepared to face what may come in the future because of this long rest. And like Israel looking forward to return to the land of promise I too am looking forward to my return home and seeing how God will use me in the coming weeks and months ahead.

My thanks to everyone who keeps up with this blog and has prayed for us during these last few months. You are an important part of our experience, and a blessing.

I am traveling to Albuquerque on Saturday to spend a week meeting with folks, including some time encouraging a new family that will be moving to Mongolia this summer from the Duke City. After my time in Albuquerque is complete I’ll make a quick run back to Tucson to pack up for my return trip home to Mongolia.

I’ve been in the States for eight months, minus the three weeks I spent in Ulaanbaatar in January for Rochele’s wedding. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to getting back home, being with my wife and youngest daughter Whitney, and getting back to work.

About a month after I return to Mongolia I’ll be starting some distance education classes on Old Testament Studies through Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS). I’ve wanted to attend RTS for the last twelve years and this was the first year that my schedule and finances would permit it. Why am I taking seminary classes with RTS? To prepare for future ministry of course, and to augment my current ministry with Eagle TV.

During the last week my course materials have been arriving. Stacks of books, software, and audio lectures are sitting on the kitchen table waiting for packing day. Among the many books, almost half of them are for Hebrew studies. Needless to say, language isn’t one of my strong suits. Mongolian has been more than a little tough for this full-time working guy. I’ve no little trepidation about taking two classes in Hebrew. In 1993 I took six months of Arabic and did pretty well. I’m hoping that the magic will come back, so to speak, for the Hebrew studies. One of the things I enjoyed about Arabic was that is was a completely different animal from English, not just in sentence structure, but also the characters. There was something about that that actually helped my study. The characters can’t be confused with anything English, unlike Mongolian where an H is an N, and a P is an R, and so on. I’m hoping the same thing that happened to me with Arabic will also happen with Hebrew.

By the way, don’t ask me to translate anything from Arabic. I’ve lost almost everything I knew, which was just an elementary level anyway.

Looking forward to being in Albuquerque for a few days.

My youngest, Whitney, turns 16 today. She’s under the weather, which really stinks for a 16th birthday, but she at least has hit that all-important milestone. Of course the hard part for her mother and I is knowing that it won’t be long before she leaves our nest like her sisters did.

Happy birthday Whitney. Now that you’re 16 you can borrow the keys to the yak.

Love ya ta tears.

Congratulations for me. I was accepted this week into the virtual campus for Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS). I’ve been wanting to take courses with RTS for nearly 12 years and finally the door was opened to me—so I stepped through.

My course work will focus on Biblical Studies for this go around. The work I’ll be doing will be applied toward an Master of Divinity degree later.

My work at Eagle TV has changed significantly over the last year, so I finally have the time to devote to study. Yeah, it’s “one more thing” for me, but it’s a good thing.

My studies will start in May.

I had a great time at the Casas Missions Fair this year. Today was the first day of the week long activities focused on foreign missions and missionaries that are part of Casas Church in Tucson, Arizona. I was amazed by the number of people who frequented the Eagle TV booth to tell me they are praying for our family and for Eagle TV. A great deal of people, in fact, remembered my presentation with Roger Barrier during last year’s missions fair.

Stefani was there to help man the booth for me and she, frankly, was the hit with visitors. She broke out her ankle bones and started showing everyone how to play. It’s amazing what amazes the kiddies.

The Supermom video was also a hit. People were continually amazed that we could produce such a good quality product for television with so few resources. In case you didn’t know, Supermom is the most popular children’s television program in Mongolia.

There are events and activities scheduled for the whole week for the Casas missionaries. I’m looking forward to spending the time with everyone.

On the 21st I drive to Albuquerque for a weeklong visit then it’s back to Tucson to prepare for my return trip to Mongolia.

Diane emailed me this picture of the kitchen window.

Yup, that’s ice on the inside of the window. When I returned to Mongolia a few weeks ago I snapped this one with my iPhone.

What makes these so remarkable to me is that we have those new-fangled windows that are supposed to be sealed so that what’s outside stays outside. But since the kitchen is where you boil water and cook, the moisture in the air traps at the windows, and apparently, the seals and thus the ice starts building up.

Click on the images for the Flickr versions.

Meanwhile, I’m sitting in Tucson, Arizona where there’s no ice save what’s in the freezer.

Today is my most loved one’s [CENSORED] birthday. You’d never tell it by her beautiful face though. She looks way younger than her [CENSORED] years.

Darn it. This happened last time I sent her birthday greetings online. She must have hacked my blog again.

Today we’re heading out to dinner with family and friends to celebrate Diane’s [CENSORED] wonderful years. Then its back home where I have to finish packing for my trip to the States tomorrow. I’m going for board meetings and time with my doctor. Isn’t that special?

Major bummer is that while I’m gone I’ll miss Valentine’s Day, and Whitney’s 16th birthday. But it can’t be helped. Stinks really. But at least I get to be here for Diane’s [CENSORED] birthday.

Darn it woman, I wish you’d stop doing that.

Well, happy birthday to my bride. May you have [CENSORED] more wonderful years.