Johnstein!

As many of you might know, it has been over a year and a half since we moved back to southern california. It been a wonderfully difficult time. The reminder in James 1:2 to "Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds" has never been more real to me than this year. These past months have been a experiment in examining the "various kinds"...and in God proving the promise that these trials will produce steadfastness. It's been too long since I have updated this page. In some ways, I think it is losing its "effectiveness". With our mailchimp updates and our facebook group page, it almost seems like we're falling in to the trap of over-communicating...and in this trap, updates are lost. But...I think over-communicating is "better" than isolation. Plus...God has done some amazing things during this time and through the challenges, has placed our entire family in positions of growth while stretching and strengthening our faith. For...

Two years ago we were just wrapping up a project training the "first generation" of Kosovar baseball coaches. The 20 that were there that week represented 3 cities. They represented a small group of interested athletes learning a sport that had no representation in their country; no baseball federation, no baseball clubs, no recognition. That was two years ago. Since that week in January, a number of these young people have become active in working to establish baseball as a new national sport in Kosovo. And while the challenges seem endless...the successes are propeling us forward. Now, these coaches represent a new generation of athletes who want to build something new in their country. They are a generation of leaders who have stepped up to start baseball clubs in 6 cities. They are a generation of visionaries working together to establish the newest Baseball federation in the world. Two years ago I wrote on a facebook update that I was "challenged by the reality of w...