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Neighbors
Melissa and I have been walking the neighborhood for exercise this past week or so – ever since spring decided to finally arrive. And, often as we walk, we pray. It’s only natural, therefore, that I have found myself praying a few times for my neighbors lately. It will be two years ago this coming August that we moved in with Melissa’s mother after renting out our own house in order to pay down some debts before entering the mission field full time. We never thought we would be here this long, but you know how time flies. Trudy has been…
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Supplemental Prayers
I am between books right now and haven’t found anything that has caught my interest, so today I found myself picking up the old Kindle and browsing selections there. I ended up rereading a section of David Platt’s “Radical Together”. I often find that it’s dangerous to read what Platt writes!Here’s what I came across:“Over the last couple of years, I have been convicted that prayer has been supplemental, not fundamental, in my life and in the church I lead.I began to ask myself, If someone were looking from the outside at the Church at Brook Hills, would they see a…
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Florida Trip in Pictures – Part 1
We left for Florida early Tuesday morning. The Drama Queen already had her sunglasses ready. We had to rent a van for the trip – our van isn’t up for any long trips. It’s old and tired. We are simply praying that it will not give up the ghost before August! This was the fourth time we had attempted a trip to Pensacola – and even this time, we had all but given up. The sticking point was finding an affordable place to stay while there. (It’s a bit much to expect any family to take in Melissa and I and…
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No More Slushies
When I was a kid, my parents owned a “Five and Dime” department store in Shelbyville, Indiana. My brothers and I had many jobs around the store from an early age: stocking shelves, straightening greeting cards, watching for shoplifters, etc. There was one job that only the older boys got to do: mixing the sugar water for the Slushy machine. For some reason, I always thought it was super cool to watch that bag of sugar getting dumped into the five-gallon bucket of water and watch it dissolve away as we stirred it up. In my eyes, that Slushy machine…
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The Food which Perishes
I am paying the price for mentioning a new diet book to my wife. I saw Dr. J.J. Virgin touting her book on Rachel Ray’s TV show one day in December when I was visiting my mom after her fall. At the time, Melissa was trying to avoid gluten. She had experienced a phantom pain in her side for a couple of years and, more recently, mysterious swelling in her leg and foot and we suspected gluten could be the culprit.The “Virgin Diet” takes what Melissa was testing with gluten and expands it to 7 different types of food – and…
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Back to Work
I’ve got a new job and thus far it is proving to be a real blessing. I became aware of the open teaching position weeks ago, applied early in February, then interviewed, and finally received a phone call with the offer as Dats and I were in the Miami airport on our way back from Haiti last month. I started two weeks ago and, as of today, get my first vacation: a week and a half off for spring break.It’s a temporary, part-time teaching position at a local “New Tech” high school – a place that avoids many of the traditional school elements (like bells and lockers) and…
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Dats’ Speech Contest
Fatherly pride is oozing out of me lately. Dats (age 11) has entered himself in a speech contest. He will be delivering the speech tomorrow evening and I am sure he would appreciate your prayers. Meanwhile, his sister, The Drama Queen (age 10), has a chance tomorrow to speak about the work God has called our whole family to in Haiti. The setting will be the homeschool class of her good friend, Anna. The DQ would also relish your prayers. Below is the text of Dats’ speech. He mentions baby Sammy, an orphan Dats met in Haiti last week – make sure you…
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Back Home
It strikes me as surreal that Dats and I have been back from Haiti just three days. How easy and comfortable it is to slip back into the day to day life I am used to. But I discovered just over a week ago that it was just as easy for me to slip back into life at the mission and at Cowman School. So which one is “Home”?Dats was certainly feeling that tug of the heart in the direction of Haiti. On Tuesday evening – our last night in Haiti… for now – he seemed restless. At one point I…
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New Shoes
I wasn’t going to update the blog tonight, because I’m dog-tired and because I knew it would take FOREVER to download any pictures with the internet connection here such as it is. BUT then I opened the file of pics from this afternoon, and I just had to share them – I guess updating the blog here tonight is my way of saying, “I wish you could have been there!”Jane picked Dats and me up at Cowman School after the final bell – 2:30. (By the way, my classroom time felt very productive to me this past week – I…
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The Potter’s House
My mother asked me a few days ago what the name of the orphanage was and at the time I didn’t even know if it had a name. It turns out that it does: The Potter’s House. I apologize in advance for the quality of some of these pictures – a few are stills captured from videotape.Melissa and I first became aware of this orphanage through Facebook. We had chatted back and forth with our friend Jane over the last few months about the needs of this special place – ever since Jane and Bud had discovered its existence in…
