Birthday

Today is Ryan’s birthday and I miss him.

Time goes by so fast. I can’t believe that it was 25 years ago today. Here is how I remember it………..

April 1980 Amarillo, Texas

Ryan was born on April 28, 1980 in Amarillo, Texas. The due date for his birth was April 25. I’ll never forget that week. I had been working for Procter & Gamble for just over two years and had been pushing my boss for a promotion. As luck would have it, I received a phone call on the evening of April 23 from the “big” boss asking (telling) me to catch the first flight to Dallas the next day. I told Mr. Big that our son was due to make his appearance any time and that it might not be a big idea for me to travel overnight. His response was, “these things (baby’s arrivals) never happen on time so, you should come on to Dallas.” I did. On the afternoon of the 24^th, Terri went to the doctor and he wanted her to go on over to the hospital because she was about ready to deliver. He was ready to go ahead and give her the boost that she needed to deliver. Terri told him that I was out of town and that I wouldn’t be back until the next day so, he suggested that she stay at home until I was able to get back.

While I was in Dallas, I did get the promotion that I had been wanting but it didn’t feel as good as it should have because I was so worried about being gone. My friends Eddy, Joe, & David made sure that Terri was OK and I made it home on the 25^th – still no Ryan. Over the weekend, we counted the minutes and the hours; we tried to walk that baby out, nothing! Finally, on Sunday night – the 27^th we decided to have dinner at Gardski’s so Terri could have her favorite pregnancy food (nachos with extra peppers) and I could have a burger. I think that the Nacho’s did the trick because, sometime around 3 AM Terri informed me that it was time to make the trip to the hospital.

A Son is Born!

Just like we were in the movies, we were stopped for speeding on the way to the hospital – no ticket given. We were able to call the folks in Borger and they arrived a couple of hours before the most beautiful child I had ever seen was born. I am still amazed with the instant and overwhelming love that happens when you first see, hear, and touch your own child. I am truly blessed to have experienced this on three occasions.

I think that we had finally agreed on a boys name while we were in the labor room. Ryan Marcus was it. We both knew that the name was a fit. My son looked just like a “Ryan Marcus”. We would call him Ryan.

Ryan was an instant hit with the grandparents. Norma couldn’t believe that she had a grandson. She had wanted a grandson so badly that she was afraid to mention it lest she “jinx” the whole deal. I’ll never forget her running up the hall in the hospital yelling, “we got us a boy! we got us a boy!” Morris was so proud that he could hardly speak. Mom & Dad were just as happy and tried to burn the phone lines up letting their friends in on their news.

In Hondo

Last Thursday I was able to travel to Honduras for a few days of planning for the upcoming summer mission. It is always eye-opening to go back to the communities where we have worked and made friends. It is even more eye-opening to go to new places and find out that the place that you previously thought was the poorest possible –really wasn’t.

Last week we went to a place called Nuevo Oriental. Nuevo Oriental is on the road to Zamarano –about 10 km outside of Tegucigalpa. It is a fairly new piece of squatter land that the government has started parceling out to the very poorest of the poor. There are about 200 families in the community and more coming every day. If you have never seen a group of people with absolutely nothing, then you have never been to a place like Nuevo Oriental. It cannot be described………….

Planning and working with Tim & Joe was great. These men had the faith to leave the comforts of the USA for a land where many people would feel rich to have a chance to eat our left-over food….Even the food that we throw our every day would be a luxury in the eyes of the poor in Nuevo Oriental. I am blessed that God introduced me to both of these men and to their families too.

Terri has the current headcount for the July TORCH mission at 156. WOW! I should probably stop the number here but, I just can’t say no to someone that is willing to come with me to do the work that I love. We have big plans and a lot of work ahead. I believe that this team that I am working with will be amazing. I just keep praying that we will have the resources that we will need to do what God has planned for us to do. That is pretty silly – especially since our God doesn’t plan anything without providing the means to get it done.

One big project that I worked on this weekend was a land purchase for TORCH, Mi Esperanza, and the IRC. The land is in a community called Santa Anna. S.A. is really beautiful – really peaceful & calm. On Sunday morning we finally concluded that the land purchase was what we should do. We were in several different places on Sunday but, every where we were we (Tim, Joe, & I) were dreaming about the possibilities that could be realities with the land. A permanent clinic, a new church building for the community, a children’s home, houses for the poor, a park, fresh water for the community, a place for TORCH dorms, and much more.

The one thing that I have talked to all of the board about is the fact that this permanent purchase will mean that we will all be required to step it up to the next level. I am ready!