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Spring Break Article for the Newspaper
I wrote the following article while on spring break in Le Mars, Iowa last week and it was published in The Republic just yesterday. The last point about good friends and late night conversations is a shout out to some Iowans close to our hearts!Here it is: The moment high school students drag themselves back to their desks in January for the second semester, their countdown to spring break commences. January and February are long months. But sometimes when break finally arrives, the fantasy of a true break runs into the harsh reality of homework. Some teachers…
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Leaving Le Mars
This morning marks the end of a fantastic week in Le Mars, Iowa. Melissa has already informed me that she will cry when we leave. Last night as I helped put the kids to bed, I noticed that Ida (age 8) was looking a bit depressed and on the verge of tears. “What’s the matter?” I asked.”I don’t want to leave,” he replied, fighting back tears.”Why not?” (I will admit: I could see it coming and I was fishing for it.)”Because #1 – school will be starting again. And #2 – I want to stay here.””Why do you want to…
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Feeding the Birds
This is my final post (as far as I know) about the Fire Up Conference a couple of weeks back. That Sunday morning we were in Troy, Illinois, I was given the opportunity to preach during the regular services (all THREE of them!) at Troy UMC. My text was Jesus’ parable from Matthew 21 about the two sons who are told by their father to “Go today and work in the vineyard”. The first son responds, “I don’t want to” but later “changes his mind” and goes to work. The second son responds, “I will, sir” but never does get around…
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Shelbyville News Article
My home town newspaper, The Shelbyville News, does a “Where are they now?” feature. This past Tuesday, Steve Talbert wrote up and published a nice article about me and my family. What an incredible opportunity to share our story with a large audience. I have already had several people tell me they had seen the article. It is our joy to share what God is doing in our lives right now. We are currently getting ready to share with folks in Iowa over spring break. I can’t wait to see old friends again and to introduce them to my family.The…
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Fire Up Part Two
Two weeks ago today we were getting back from Troy, Illinois and the Fire Up Conference there. The conference ran from Friday night to Sunday noon. My part officially was to lead a seminar on Saturday afternoon, perform my Kermit the Frog impression accompanied by Tim Price on banjo after dinner on Saturday and then I got the chance to preach three services on Sunday morning.Tim’s dad is the pastor of the church and has been there since 1988. I believe that is some kind of record for a United Methodist Church! As the church has grown spiritually under his…
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Fire Up at Troy, Illinois
I know I don’t have time to do this trip justice, so I am just going to have to accept the fact that posting a few pictures and random blurbs is better than nothing at all, so here goes…On Saturday, February 23rd, the whole family headed to Troy, Illinois so that I could lead a seminar by invitation from my good friend from Asbury Seminary days, Tim Price. Tim has a great ministry that he has been leading for years. Each year he gathers a talented group of college students as a singing, game-leading, worshipful ministry team. Over the summers…
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#227 King Size Bed – Sell
I have really gotten out of the writing routine. But I’ve come to a conclusion: if I want to write more here (and I do!) then I had better start keeping my own private journal again. So I am. I started writing in it tonight. I realized that part of my problem in keeping this blog current is simply lack of sufficient time, but I can make the time. The part of blogging that is really time consuming is trying to figure out what to share publicly and what should be kept private. I mean, I want to be as…
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The Roller Coaster
I don’t remember the context or even who said it, but I recall a preacher once saying that people tend to think of the Christian life as being rather dull and monotonous, yet he found a living relationship with Christ bares more resemblance to a roller coaster. He said the highs were higher and the lows were lower than what non-believers experience in this life. I think it’s true.Some HIGHS from the past few days:*A great couple who surprised us with dinner and a sacrificial gift towards our upcoming ministry in Haiti.*The chance to visit a small group – the…
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“Earl Dix: Adventurer for God”
A couple of weeks ago Melissa and I met with a couple from our small group as we continue to seek financial partners in our call to minister in Haiti. It was a great meeting – we got to know them much better in an hour and a half of face to face time than we have in months of small group meetings. For instance, I knew this couple had been to Africa for a short term mission trip, but had no idea the wife’s grandparents had been full-on lifetime missionaries to Africa for over 50 years: 1929 to 1983. She…
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Throw – Kia Sedona!
Our new(er) van is now scrap metal. It didn’t even last a year for us. I continue to learn about vehicle maintenance the hard way. My ignorance is expensive sometimes. I did not know that a Kia’s timing belt should be replaced every 40,000 miles. Or that it was made of rubber. Or that an overheating engine could loosen it up enough to cause it to slip and lock up the engine. I didn’t know that a used engine would cost $600 and take $1,000 in labor to install. And I was unaware that when I plopped down $70 at…