{"id":822,"date":"2026-09-26T06:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T10:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/?p=822"},"modified":"2026-09-26T06:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T10:22:16","slug":"a-time-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/2026\/09\/26\/a-time-to\/","title":{"rendered":"A time to…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cFor everything there is a season\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecclesiastes<\/em>.  I\u2019ve been reading this book of the Bible for a few days now and I\u2019m struck by the wisdom (and the hyperbole!) rising out of this review of the human experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter three has me thinking about the boundaries between ending something good and beginning something new, something uncertain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
– Ecclesiastes 3:2-<\/em>5<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

These statements feel like big emotional pronouncements – they feel so final<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the times that I\u2019ve read Ecclesiastes I\u2019ve come away feeling somewhat discouraged (everything is meaningless!).  This time feels different<\/em>.  I am just sitting in the contrasting space of what I sometimes feel and what I know to be true about God and His character – His love and mercies are new every morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Say not, \u2018Why were the former days better than these?\u2019 For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. – Ecclesiastes 7:10<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Written to myself: Chris, don\u2019t assume that the past season was the best season<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is something new happening, something God is doing. Do I perceive it?<\/em>\u00a0 Despite hesitancy on our part, God has made it clear: He has been preparing me to step into a bigger leadership role.\u00a0 Beginning Oct 1, I (Chris) will have a new role as the Director of Language Technology for our organization.\u00a0 We\u2019re still part of the same ministry, the same mission organization<\/strong>.\u00a0 Your donations and monthly support enable us to do this important work<\/a>! We work remotely from Grand Rapids, MI, and yet we are new to the level of responsibility in leading this amazing group of 80+ technologists in the Language Technology department.\u00a0 Being the director is both exciting and terrifying<\/em> – I have great respect for the role, the responsibility and the leader who has gone before me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are working to see language communities around the world flourishing as they access God\u2019s Word<\/strong> and grow in hope and dignity<\/strong> by providing technology<\/strong> that facilitates this transformation<\/strong> – this is Language Technology<\/em>.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Chris speaking at a Q&A session to a few members of the Language Technology department in Dallas, TX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Language Technology software is often designed to work in the most remote locations and for those who have the least resources.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

People are reading God’s word who would not be if Paratext and Scripture App Builder [Language Technology] were not developed and maintained. As one Wazai woman said, ‘Thank you for helping me to learn to read so I can read the Bible for myself.’<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

a time to plant\u2026<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We continue to put down roots here in Grand Rapids, MI<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I look around at what God is doing in the transformations I see in myself, the growth I see in my kids and our family, I am confident that God is working.  The work that He\u2019s given me to do in this next season of ministry is both a challenge and a gift: our story isn\u2019t finished yet.  I don\u2019t know the mystery of why God is doing this, yet the only way I know to go forward is complete and utter dependence on Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lean into Jesus!<\/em>  Here\u2019s how you can pray for us:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Chris\u2019s 3 month scans and blood work were all great news!  His next scans will be in December.  Praise God for these great results!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • All three of our kids are running cross country this fall.  It is a full-time parenting job to be at all the meets and coordinate their schedules!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Luis turned 18!  He is a junior in high school – we love the man he is becoming and we\u2019re asking for wisdom as he makes further steps towards launching. Prayers for him as he looks for an internship this fall.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Becca is traveling for a week for work starting tomorrow – pray that she would have meaningful meetings with the EurAsia wellbeing services team.  Pray for Chris as he\u2019ll be doing all the things to keep the kids going \ud83d\ude42<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"
    The first day of NorthPointe Christian school in late August<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    \"\"
    Luis and Lucas are running HS cross country this year. Luis is 11th grade and Lucas is 10th grade.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"
    Emalene is also running cross country in 7th grade.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \n

    Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:
    Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.
    \u2014 Ecclesiastes 12:13<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cFor everything there is a season\u2026 Ecclesiastes.  I\u2019ve been reading this book of the Bible for a few days now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":837,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions\/837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hirtfamily.net\/chris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}