Renfro Ramblings

John Mark arrived at 10:24 pm When 39 weeks rolled around I got more anxious. Naomi was born at 39 weeks and 1 day so I was hoping that would also be the case for John Mark, even though everyone tells you that all pregnancies are different. That day when the 39 week mark rolled around we went in for a sonogram. Dr Gomez found John Mark quite snug and not showing any signs he was coming soon. The sonogram also showed he was getting pretty close to weighing 8 lbs. He also said that he wanted to induce in one week if nothing happened. I didn’t argue since my parents were coming in one week and I also did not want to compromise any issues with his ventriculomegaly. The next day I had an appointment to meet with my midwife Rosa. I wasn’t feeling anywhere near labor just tired of being pregnant and hot due to the summer weather. Well it turned out I was 3cm dilated but she didn’t seem too worried stating that we would probably have him during the coming weekend. It was Wednesday. She t...

Hace poco tomé mi primera clase bíblica y puedo decir que fue algo que disfruté muchísimo. Pude aprender un poco mas allá de la vida de Jesús al examinar los Evangelios Sinópticos: Mateo, Marcos y Lucas. Uno de los aspectos de la vida de Jesus que me interesó fue la forma en que Él enseñaba. Al leer sus lecciones en los Evangelios se destacaron algunas características de la vida de Jesús como gran maestro. Estas características pueden ser un gran ejemplo para nosotros hoy en día en situaciones diarias con las personas que Dios ha puesto estratégicamente en nuestro entorno. 1. Jesús amaba a los que enseñaba. Él fue conmovido por las necesidades de ellos y tuvo compasión (Mateo 9:36; Marcos 6:34), y les enseñó muchas cosas.  El amor de Dios en nuestra vida nos debe animar a establecer amistades con propósito e intencionales. Cuando intentamos cultivar relaciones genuinas podemos reconocer las necesidades que tiene la gente y podemos lograr tener compasión de ellos. La compasi...

I recently took my first Berean course and I greatly enjoyed discovering more about the life of Jesus through examining the Synoptic Gospels: Mathew, Mark and Luke. One of the many aspects of His life that intrigued me was the way Jesus taught. Reading about Christ’s teachings in the Gospels reveals certain characteristics of Christ the Teacher. These characteristics can be an example for us to follow in our everyday interaction with the people God has placed strategically in our lives.  1. We learn that He loved those whom He taught. He was moved by their needs and had compassion on them ( Matthew 9:36 ; Mark 6:34 ), so He taught them many things. The love of God in our lives should compel us to build relationships that are purposeful and intentional. When we strive to cultivate genuine relationships with people, we begin to recognize their needs and have compassion on them. Compassion should lead us to action and this action, whether it be praying for them or just listenin...

FOR TO US A CHILD IS BORN, TO US A SON IS GIVEN....ISAIAH 9:6 CHILD - YELED (ילד)(HEBREW) - PAIS (GREEK) The more I reflect on the birth of Jesus I become amazed at how a small, delicate child came to change the course of humanity. The other day Josh and I watched an interesting movie called Children of Men set in the future, 2027. For some unknown reason the world was no longer fertile, unable to conceive children, and was vanishing. It was ravished by war and turmoil as people struggled to survive. In the midst of the chaos a miracle occurred and a woman became pregnant. The world had not heard the cries of a tiny baby for over 18 years. There was a scene were heavy fighting broke out between two extremist groups. The moment the baby came into sight and its cries were heard the fighting came to a halt and an unbearable sense of hope filled the hearts of these warring men and women. And then earlier this week in my devotional “Immanuel: A Daily Guide to Reclaiming Christmas...

We do not lack opportunities to share about CONEXION... and motivate university students to be strategic and intentional with their time in the university. Part of moving to the capital was making it easier for us to  travel to key places and work with youth leaders and students. Our times have been fruitful  as we teach on issues such as defending the faith, the purpose of life, and simply building relationships with people who have a heart for this work.   Building Relationships is key  The desire to reach students within the national church is increasing and we pray for people who have a heart to reach students. One of our answers to prayer is Jaime and Valentina. They are young couple as well as professionals who have committed themselves to serve their local church as CONEXION leaders. Part of our work will include spending time with them and teaching them the core values of CONEXION.  Prayer Walks on Calle Republica   “Suppose one of you wan...

It is hard to believe it has been almost 2 months since we found out about John Mark’s condition. I can’t imagine going through this with out the Lord. The One who has supplied our STRENGTH and HOPE through this time. John Mark is not even born yet but we are amazed at the insane amount of people who are praying and interceding for our son. Thank you dear family and friends! Your encouragement and prayers have literally sustained us. Because believe me there are times we just feel idle. We rejoice because we are experiencing God’s intervention in our sons health and we are witnessing prayers being answered! We have received the full amniocentesis report and John Mark DOES NOT have a chromosomal trisomy of any sort and no other syndromes or abnormalities were detected.  The hydrocephalus has leveled off and there HAS NOT been any further swelling in his brain. The doctor expressed that if this continues we may be able to avoid placing a shunt at birth. Other than what...

These past few months have been quite an emotional roller coaster ride. I have never walked down a road such as this one, but all I can say is that I am thankful God is my Rock! Deuteronomy 32:3-4 3 I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!  4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.  We arrived  back in Chile mid June for our second term and had been dealing with the transition to the capital city. August rolls around and we were just getting into the swing of things with student ministry, when all of a sudden our worlds were turned upside down.  August 28th we went in for a 20 week sonogram to find out the gender of our baby and found out more than we wanted to know. The doctors detected that our baby boy had swelling in his brain due to cerebral spinal fluid build up, a condition also know as hydrocephalus . Hydrocephalus can be life ...