Refuge

Have you ever heard of things that had to be real because they are so "unreal" that nobody could make them up? Beyond imaginaton.

In Santa Ana, Honduras there is a little girl named Pamela who is 10 years old. Pamala came to live at Casa de Esperanza last week and her's is one of those stories that no normal person could make up. Pamela came to us with her little brother and her little sister. To Pamela and her little family, Casa de Esperanza is the real house of hope that it was designed to be. Casa de Esperanza is a refuge.

Before Pamela and her little brother and sister came to us, Pamela's mother was making her work. In third world countries - a child working and helping to bring in food isn't unusual - enen at 10 years old. What makes this story different is the type of work that this little girl was forced to do. Pamela's mother had forced her into the dark world of prostitution. It makes me sick to think that in our world, a child is forced by anyone to do this but, coming from the one person that God put here to protect you is gut wrenching. I have cried every day since I heard about little Pamela and the world she was forced to live in. I have also thanked our great and awesome God for building the refuge that we call Casa de Esperanza.

He's My Rock! He's My Deliverer!

marc

That's My King

Here is a sermon delivered in 1976 by a man named S M Lockridge.

My King was born King. The Bible says He's a Seven Way King. He's the King of the Jews - that's an Ethnic King. He's the King of Israel - that's a National King. He's the King of righteousness. He's the King of the ages. He's the King of Heaven. He's the King of glory. He's the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords. Now that's my King. Well, I wonder if you know Him. Do you know Him? Don't try to mislead me. Do you know my King? David said the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. My King is the only one of whom there are no means of measure that can define His limitless love. No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of the shore of His supplies. No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing. He's enduringly strong. He's entirely sincere. He's eternally steadfast. He's immortally graceful. He's imperially powerful. He's impartially merciful. That's my King. He's God's Son. He's the sinner's saviour. He's the centerpiece of civilization. He stands alone in Himself. He's honest. He's unique. He's unparalleled. He's unprecedented. He's supreme. He's pre-eminent. He's the grandest idea in literature. He's the highest personality in philosophy. He's the supreme problem in higher criticism. He's the fundamental doctrine of historic theology. He's the carnal necessity of spiritual religion. That's my King. He's the miracle of the age. He's the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him. He's the only one able to supply all our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He's available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He's the Almighty God who guides and keeps all his people. He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharged debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek. That's my King. Do you know Him? Well, my King is a King of knowledge. He's the wellspring of wisdom. He's the doorway of deliverance. He's the pathway of peace. He's the roadway of righteousness. He's the highway of holiness. He's the gateway of glory. He's the master of the mighty. He's the captain of the conquerors. He's the head of the heroes. He's the leader of the legislatures. He's the overseer of the overcomers. He's the governor of governors. He's the prince of princes. He's the King of kings and He's the Lord of lords. That's my King. His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His light is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. I wish I could describe Him to you . . . but He's indescribable. That's my King. He's incomprehensible, He's invincible, and He is irresistible. I'm coming to tell you this, that the heavens of heavens can't contain Him, let alone some man explain Him. You can't get Him out of your mind. You can't get Him off of your hands. You can't outlive Him and you can't live without Him. The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him. Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree about Him. Herod couldn't kill Him. Death couldn't handle Him and the grave couldn't hold Him. That's my King. He always has been and He always will be. I'm talking about the fact that He had no predecessor and He'll have no successor. There's nobody before Him and there'll be nobody after Him. You can't impeach Him and He's not going to resign. That's my King! That's my King! Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Well, all the power belongs to my King. We're around here talking about black power and white power and green power, but in the end all that matters is God's power. Thine is the power. Yeah. And the glory. We try to get prestige and honor and glory for ourselves, but the glory is all His. Yes. Thine is the Kingdom and the power and glory, forever and ever and ever and ever. How long is that? Forever and ever and ever and ever. . . And when you get through with all of the ever's, then . . .Amen!

What's Important?

On Monday morning I was at the Y for my morning workout. I usually go about 7:30 which puts me in between the 8 - 5 folks and the mommy brigade. I'm usually still working out when the mommy crew arrives and most of the time pay no attention to the world around me. On Monday, it was different because there were two moms on the machines next to me and they were engaged in a conversation that I couldn't help but over hear. One of the moms was giving the family success update - "we just picked up our new boat and can't wait to get it on the lake... I don't know if we'll keep it at the lake or at our house....of course we've finally started construction of the new house and can't wait till October when we can move in.....blablabla...what about you? " The other mom was one that I've seen several times at the Y - you know the kind...always 'coordinated', her conversation was sorta like this, "wow! a new boat and a new house! well, we have been so busy....and it's so hard to get the workouts that I really need - what with the kids and all....my regular sitter hasn't been able to work so I've been 'stuck' keeping the kids in the afternoon when I'd really like to be doing a lot of other things besides that....being stuck with the kids makes me feel like I'm in jail."
I wasn't trying to listen in but, what I heard made me wonder what is going on in families around the country? What's different about these families than most of the world around us? What's important anyway?

Life Changes

Terri & I are moving to Honduras!
Yep, after 29 years in the business world, we are going to to make a move into full time ministry and we are way excited about what God has planned for us.
Right now, our plan is to work until Nicole's wedding on June 2 - preparing for our ministry and building support - for our mission. I will travel to work in Hondo with TORCH teams about June 12 or so and Terri will be coming with our usual team on July 19th. We will return to the states in August to finish up our stuff here and we plan to be in Honduras in early September.
We will be working with Casa de Esperanza and will plan to build a house on the property. Our plans include helping with staffing the clinic, growing the work at Casa, working with new churches, working in feeding and clothing programs, and growing the work of short term missions.
We believe that our God has been training us for this work and have often talked about doing this "sometime". Over the past few weeks we have literally stood face to face with our Lord and had to answer the question - If not now, then when?
I'll plan to use this blog to keep friends and family posted on our progress as we work toward our move to Central America. In the mean time, please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for the greatest adventure ever.
Marc

The Answer

Have you ever prayed for direction - asking God to help you with an answer when you already had in mind what His answer would be? ...only to have an obvious answer that was completely different than the one that you assumed. Well, it happens to me more often than I'd like to admit and it happened again just this past week.
On Friday I was travelling from Salt Lake City to St Louis via Chicago and as usual, turned my phone on as soon as the plane touched the ground in Chicago. There were a bunch of messages - nothing unusual except there were about 5 from my friend Tim and knowing that he was in Honduras, these were the first messages that I read. By the time that I finished the messages, I realized that there was an urgent situation with 5 little boys that needed a home and perhaps, Casa de Esperanza would be able to help. I called Tim and that led to calls to Jennifer - who is currently in Ohio for a mission conference - and Karen in Santa Ana. We all agreed that we would pray for God to guide our way and show us what he would have us do. We had just taken on 5 more kids about 10 days ago and the quick addition of 5 more would be unexpected to say the least. By the end of the weekend, I think that all of us had concluded that if these children needed a home, then we were the ones called to take care of them. Then on Monday morning and Karen was preparing to go into Tegucigalpa to meet the boys, she received a call from the lawyer that they had already been placed in another home. So, there ya' go! Here we all thought that God's answer was going to be that we were the ones to take care of these kids and - well, we were surprised with the direct answer that we received. Our God is good...all the time.
I am blessed to be associated with people like Karen & Jennifer that are so willing to listen to God's answer - even if it would mean that life would be turned upside down by following Him.
Can you imagine going from 5 kids in October to 15 two weekd later. All of them under 7 years old!
The answer is to trust God. It's that simple.
The answer in Honduras and so many other third world countries for the children is YOU & ME. If we know that there are children in need and we don't do anything about it, then we are showing the extent of our love or lack of it. There is a Proverb that says "If you hear the cries of the poor and do nothing, then one day you too will cry out and not be heard!"
Just because you can't actually hear the children crying themselves to sleep every night at Casitas Kennedy - they are and because we know that, we cannot ignore them. I can't.
Marc

My Dad

My dad & I love to play golf together. We don't get to be together very often but, almost every time we are, we play golf. So, what is it about this tradition that makes it so important that we rarely miss an opportunity to play? Well, I've seen both of us play and personally know that it's not exceptionally great golf. While both of us like to win, it isn't the chance to beat each other that draws us to the golf course. It isn't the senic beauty of the golf courses in Borger - they are mostly reformed cow pastures. It isn't the ideal weather of the Texas Panhandle - we usually get to play around the Christmas holidays when the wind blows ffrom the north and it's as cold as Canada.
The bottom line is this - the reason that my dad & I like to play golf together is because it gives us time to be alone and just enjoy being together. We kid each other, we pull for each other, we talk, and we just have a good time. That's it - 4 or 5 hours of uninterrupted time with my dad. That's what golf with my dad is.
I wonder if there will be golf courses in heaven - I suspect so.
Won't it be grand to play a 4-some with my dad, my Heavenly Father, & my son's - (I guess a 5-some will be okay in heaven. After all, I'll be playing with the "club president") Will it be okay to play on Sunday mornings in heaven? I'll bet that there will be a long wait to play in God's group. The good news is - even if it's once every 1000 years, we'll still have an eternity to play together. I wonder if you get to take mulligans in heaven? Do you think you will really need a "do over"? I wonder if there will be any sand traps & hazards on the course? I'll be pretty surprised if there are any weeds on the course. I wonder if there will be a dress code on the course - I doubt it. Won't need a glove because it would be impossible to get a blister.
Well, till I get to heaven, I'll just enjoy all the times that my dad & I get to be together on the course.
Love ya dad,
Marc

Tough Questions

One of my good friends struggles with faith and is always asking me questions about mine. I told her last week that I appreciate her because her questions - they make me a defender of my own beliefs and if we can't defend what we believe, then how can we really know if it is all real or not. One of the recent discussions that my friend and I had was based upon her question - "How do you know Jesus was really who he said he was?" Here is my answer -

Why do I really believe in Jesus? What makes me sure that he is real? How can I know that he is the living son of God?
You ask tough questions that make me search my own faith. Here are my top 10 reasons for believing - not in order of importance -
1. I believe because I choose to believe. When I was a kid, I believed in a lot of things like Santa, the Tooth Fairy, & monsters in my closet. Through the years, I could pretty much prove almost all of my childhood beliefs were just that - all except the one that Jesus was the son of God.
2. I believe because he answers my prayers - not all of them the way that I'd like but, in ways that are best for me.
3. I believe because - if he were a fraud, his ministry would have sunk over the years and it hasn't. People are still willing to give it all up to follow him.
4. I believe because following Jesus isn't forced upon me - it is my choice yet, he chose me. No other world religion is postured this way. Islam forces conversion and will kill those that reject it.
5. I believe because no other "God" has come to earth to live as a man and was willing to sacrifice his own life to save me.
6. I believe because of the example of the apostles. After Jesus rose, they weere willing to die before they would deny the resurrection.
7. I believe because without Jesus, there wouldn't be any hope.
8. I believe because the tomb was really empty.
9. I believe because my need for a God in my life has searched and found that he is real and that there is no true joy or happiness in this life if he is not in the center of it.
10.I believe because I want to be in heaven with people like you and so many others that my relationship with Jesus has filled my life with.
Please allow God to nurture your heart. You don't need to be an expert on Jesus to seek his will for your life - all you gotta do is just ask him to come to you and to take you in his loving arms. He will.
Te quero mucho,
MARC
How would you answer this question if one of your friends asked you the same question?

Questions

When Nehemiah went back to the land of his fathers, he wrote that “God has put this on my heart.”
How do you know when a thought is God putting something on your heart or if it just your own hearts wishes? Is it God’s call when it is all you can think about? When God puts something on your heart, does it come all at once or does it come in gradually? How do you know?
Nehemiah was going around with a long face and the king asked him what was wrong. He told the king and was sent off to answer the call and to go to work at what God had put on his heart. Pretty cool story – read it if you haven’t.
Lately I’ve been struggling with what I see and feel as my own wall that needs to be built. Yesterday morning I was able to attend the North Richland Hills Church in Fort Worth and my mind was swarming with thoughts of “what does God want from me?” I prayed for God to help clear things up and then the sermon started – the topic “What is your purpose in life!”
It hit me between the eyes. The needs are clear, I already understand what is on my heart, I just don’t yet know how to get there.
Te quero mucho,
Marc

..if a tree falls?

I always remember hearing the old saying "If a tree falls in the woods and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?"
Good question but, we always knew the answer.....or did we?
Lately I've been bothered by all the trivia that people let get in the way of what is really important. Like hearing people cry out for help. It's almost like this tree question except it is people's lives that we're talking about or really not talking about. It is so easy to get caught up on our own little meaningless trivia so we can ignore the cries of the world around us.
Solomon said it best - "If a man ignores the cries of the poor, he too will cry out and be ignored."
Yet, here we sit in 2006 with the desire to argue about the trivia of worship style or one tradition or another when the world around us is starving, naked, hurting, and waiting for some good news. Good news that we already have and have been "COMMANDED" by the very words of Jesus to GO INTO ALL THE WORLD and MAKE DISCIPLES........
Satan is so good at what he does that he can con people into believing that "Fighting for the cause" means forgetting about good news and working toward narrowing the kingdom by excluding anyone that they have a disagreement with.
I hope I am never a part of anything like that and if I am, I hope my friends will slap me into place.
Marc

Grace

So, What is it about grace that makes it so hard to just accept?
I have been in a couple of places lately where the lesson was all about making a list and checking it twice to make sure that we are doing all the stuff that God wants us to do. Now anyone that knows me knows that I am all about seeking out what God would have us do and getting about doing just that. The point is that I’m hearing people that seem to believe that the doing is the point of believing – that doing will make you believe more and will somehow get you a better seat at the table.
What really bugs me about all this is – well a couple of things –
1) All the lists of doing things and getting them done wouldn’t ever be enough to pay for the cost of my salvation. I know it’s hard to swallow but, Jesus died so I wouldn’t have to.
2) Grace is a gift from God and my God isn’t an “Indian Giver”. A lot of the talk I’m hearing is about falling in and out of grace. Man! My bible says that when God gave me grace, he made me his adopted son. From experience as a dad, once my son was my son, he was my son forever. I belong to Jesus! The parable about the prodigal son does tell me that I can turn my back on my father and reject him. It also tells me that when I walk away, he is always going to be there waiting for me to come home. The lesson from the son that stayed home also tells me that I certainly don’t have to be a perfect child to remain a son. Thank you Lord for that.
3) Doing the stuff that my friends want on a list is a natural result of loving God. Just like a happy child, they want to do things to please their parents. They have a heart for serving because their hearts are connected by love. When you love the Lord your God with all your heart, your very character and nature change and all you can think about is making your father happy. You don’t need lists or even need to be told what to do – you just ask the Father to show you what he would have you do and you go about doing it.
4) I think we have a hard time with grace because we are struggling with PRIDE. Yep, we never had to take “charity” before and not gonna’ start now. Even if that charity is the only way we can get what we want so badly to work for – if we think we are earning it by working harder, we are only fooling ourselves into believing that our own Heavenly Father’s gift isn’t good enough to just take and be thankful for.
5) Grace is free.
6) Grace comes from a Father’s love.

Well, more than a couple of points but, that is the way my brain works.
Marc

Faith

I met a grumpy lady a couple of weeks ago that made me think about how our God answers prayer.
In Honduras, a friend from the church in Los Pinos asked me to build a house for an old lady that lived on the mountain and was either confined to a wheelchair or bed. I never saw her out of her bed but, I did see a picture of her in a wheelchair. All that doesn’t matter, what does matter is how we don’t always see opportunities to serve in ways that we think we should. Let me explain –
After the group finished construction of the house for the old lady, I went into her old place to see how she was doing and how she liked her new house. I’d never in 6 years and 150 houses met anyone that was unhappy after they just had a new house handed to them - Built by TORCH & Courtesy of the God of this Universe. There is always a first for everything and this woman taught me a lesson about faith – even though it made me agitated at first and very uncomfortable. As I walked into the rook where this little woman lived, the smell was pretty foul. If you have been on the mountain of Los Pinos, you know that there aren’t many bathrooms and since this woman was confined to the bed, she used her room and the smell of that was there. Anyway, once I got past the smell, I asked her about the house and she began to talk. She talked and talked and the more that she talked, the more she asked for. She wanted food – specific kinds of food like chicken & fish & fresh fruit & potatoes & lots of other foods. She wanted a new bed and a new mattress and other things too. I’m not great at Spanish but, I well understood that she had in the period of about 5 minutes of nonstop talk – listed everything that she could think of to make her life more comfortable. At first thought, I was a little disappointed that this little lady was not all that happy with the new house and had the nerve to ask for more. Later in the day, I thought and thought about this list and realized that this woman was expressing her faith by telling me her needs. After all, if she had prayed about a new house and God delivered it through my group, then isn’t it an expression of faith to tell God’s servant her other needs? Of course it is. She must have known the words that James – the brother of Jesus gave us when he said how faithless it would be to deny this woman her needs if we had the resources to provide for her. She had the faith to ask and to expect God to deliver through us.
I just gotta build on the faith that everybody that God sends to me with needs won’t always be happy and pleasant. I likely wouldn’t be the happiest camper in the world either if I were in her shoes – except she didn’t have any shoes. She did get her new bed, and as much of the food list as I could find.
Our God is good... all the time!
Marc

Life Lesson From Nicole

My baby - I'm sure that she will love being called that - is Nicole. Since she is a junior at Harding and not quite a baby any more - but, she is still my baby. Anyway, I'll be 50 next Wednesday and my mom still calls me her baby.
Well, Nicole is in Honduras for the summer doing what she loves and that means most of the time she is working out at Casa de Esperanza - a children's home and on her days off, she is working with one of the TORCH teams or occupying her time with all the kids that are around Santa Ana. I love Nicole - she is my daughter but, she is my buddy too. We are way too much alike - probably to her detriment. I love Nicole's heart and her passion for others.
A couple of weeks ago I was in Honduras for a weekend and Nicole & I had a chance to work together for about 4 straight days. It was great. On the Sunday night, I was taking some people back to the mission house and needed to stop at the Texaco for a cell phone card & I sent Nicole into the store to buy it. She was taking forever to accomplish this simple task and I of course was making comments about just how slow she was in doing this simple thing.
When she cam out of the store, she had an extra sack and she walked over to two little boys that were hanging outside of the store - opened the sack and handed each of them a hamburger. The boys were all smiles and I was a proud pappa.
Nicole taught me that I need to open my eyes to the needs that are right here in front of me. She taught me that if there is a need, then it is my responsibility as a child of God to do everything possible to resolve that need. Just like James - the brother of Jesus said, you have NO FAITH if you see a hungry person and tell them to go and be fed. Nicole taught me that it's okay to take a little extra time to do the work that God planned for us to do - even before the beginning of time.

A Holy Man?

A holy man?
I don’t know if anyone has ever described me as “a holy man”. The connotation of that description is (or was in the past) – at least form my limited POV – someone that is very calm, Biblically learned, wise, and maybe a little self righteous.
Well, I’ve been wrong before and I was wrong about what a holy man really is. I don’t have all the answers but, I do know this – God has called all of us who claim him as our Father to be holy.
He also called on all of us to follow in the steps of Jesus – who by the way was certainly a holy man (and not the least bit self righteous). The Jesus I read of wasn’t afraid to get dirty, he was in and amongst the people, he ate meals in the homes of the “sinners”, he wasn’t afraid to touch the untouchable, he never talked down to people, he found out why people were hurting and he helped them, he taught by the way he lived, when his friends were hurt – he cried with them. This man was the absolute Holy Man and he is so completely different than what I’ve let my mind wonder off and define differently.
I think we have changed the way we think about holy because many times we would rather spend time in studying “holiness” than becoming holy. Becoming holy would mean that we would need to leave the comfort of our air-conditioned pew and actually serve others (like Jesus). Becoming a “holy man” means that we are willing to take up the cross and follow Jesus up the hill. Becoming a “holy man” would mean less talking about it and more doing it. Becoming a “holy man” would mean loving the unlovable of this world. Becoming a “holy man” would mean completely changing my character and nature – yet knowing that we would still have the imperfections of man – but covered up by the grace of the savior.

You Might Have a Problem If....-

I've been working on a new line of products for almost a year that will be marketed under the "Jeff Foxworthy" brand. My first thought about Foxworthy is his comedy act that starts off with - "you might be a redneck if...."
Well, leaving those thoughts to Jeff Foxworthy, I was on a plane the other day and started thinking about the wisdom of the Proverbs. Simple one liners that have stood the test of time and have just as much "life meaning" today as they did when they were written over 3,000 years ago. Talk about wisdom, where else can you go to read relavent thoughts that mean just as much today as they did - even 100, 200, or 500 years ago?
I wouldn't pretend that my own wisdom would qualify me to write any timeless proverbs but, while I was on the plane, I started writting down some thoughts that fit with the TITLE of this blog - You Might Have A Problem If.......
Here are a few of those .........(I'll be back on the plane again tomorrow so, I'm sure that I will think of more. You too can use the comment section to add your own)
You Might Have A Problem If.....
- you persue happiness through the persuit of money. It is likely that you'll lose sight of the original goal of happiness.
- you confuse "I want" and "I need". To find out what you really need, ask someone that has absolutely nothing what their needs are.
- you define happiness by what you have or your occupation.
- you have "needs" that really aren't "necessary".
- you depend on anyone but God for your happiness.
Okay, one more that doesn't fit with the title but, I really like it -
- Nobody on their way to becoming wealthy believes that "more" won't make them happy until the secret reveals itself to them with a slap in the face.
Blessings..
Marc

A Parable

Once upon a time long, long ago there was a young man that was on top of the world. He was a good guy, followed the rules, obeyed God’s will, and felt as if he was very blessed. Like many of us, he related blessings to money and he was rich so, I’m sure that he felt “richly” blessed. This concept isn’t foreign to us, because most of us have bought in on the idea. Living in the richest nation in the world and hearing the gospel of blessings makes us comfortable that our riches are deserved because after all, we are mostly good guys, we follow the rules, we try to obey God’s will – so naturally being righteous – we deserve every hard earned dime that we have.
Oops, I lost track of my story –
Seems our young wealthy guy heard about a man that had answers to some of his questions. Especially the question about security.... long term security. You know that is a question that lots of people with money seem to be asking all the time. “Do I have long term security?” “Where will I be in the ‘future?’”. I see television commercials all the time telling me that I need to secure my future.... That was the question on the mind of this wealthy young man the day he met this advisor........ an advisor that could answer definitively about the security of the future of this young man.
When they finally met – this young man and the advisor, there wasn’t any hesitation from the young man in his questioning. He quickly outlined his current strategy and the advisor just as quickly provided the answer. Then the conversation ended abruptly and the wealthy young man – with his head bowed and his proud shoulders slumped, walked away from the advisor. The advisor had given him the absolute answer to a secure future but, the instant that the young man heard the answer, he knew that the risk was too great and he was too far along in another investment strategy. I mean, how could this advisor have expected him to take all this risk? This advisor was asking him to stop what he was doing and give up everything he had always believed in – and then, this advisor – who probably doesn’t even have an investment portfolio – was asking him to just follow him. What a crazy idea! Give up financial security, comfort, all of these God given blessings that he had earned to follow someone that wants complete change........crazy!
Is this what my reaction would be if I met the same advisor? Of course I’ve met him and he is the one that gave us this parable so that we too would be warned about how to secure our future. He gave us this parable so that we would understand what “investment strategy” is necessary and what he expects from those of us that claim him as our savior, our ultimate advisor. It is so sad that we confuse wealth with the true blessings that our God promised, and that we have bought off on the idea that we are “God’s special people” just because we happened to have been born in the world’s richest nation. It is sad that we can read the parable about the rich young man and not be hit between the eyes that the message is for all of us too! What have we given up to become a follower? Did we ever change? Sell our stuff and give the proceeds to the poor? Does my life reflect what I claim to be

What Did You Say?

It's crazy how we read words and hear them the way our brain chooses to process them. Depending on our mood or our level of trust in who the message is from can make a major difference in the interpreted meaning of the words we read and how we hear them in our brains.
Last Sunday in church, we were reading from Matthew 14 about Peter stepping out of the boat. The words that Jesus spoke when Peter began to sink are the ones that best reflect - to me anyway - how our brains hear the words we read in a completely different way than they were meant.
Jesus said," You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
How do you hear these words of Jesus?
- Was he scolding Peter?
- Were they the sympathetic and understanding words of a savior?
- Were they light hearted and said with a smile and with a hand held out for a friend in need?
I don't really know but my best speculation is that they weren't said in a scolding way. This was the SAVIOR and his friend was in the water - sinking. I doubt that our savior would scold his friend in a desperate moment!
Before these thoughts, I'd always "heard" the words that Jesus said to his friend as much more harsh and scolding than my savior would have ever done.
Think about it!

Current Reading

Currently reading a book called – “I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist” and it is an incredible book that will strengthen the faith of anyone that might already be a Christian and would certainly make a non believer question a lot of their own beliefs.
I am convinced that most of us that call ourselves believers would be strained to defend our own faith with someone if they happened to question us about why we believe or even the exact details of what we truly believe. I don’t want to fall in that group. Right now I could tell you why I believe, what I believe, how I came to become a believer, but, I am not sure if I have a ready defense of the truths that I know are really true.
To a non-believer asking questions, “The bible says so” isn’t a good enough answer. We need to use the evidence that is all around us to be able to defend what we already know to be. I’m only about 1/2 way through this text and have already learned more about the creation and the evidence of God’s fingerprints that surround us than I knew existed. I’ve learned ways to defend my faith when I run into folks that believe that truth is “relative” or that there are “many paths to heaven”.
The copy of the book that I am reading belongs to my wife and she already told me that I am to absolutely not loan it to anyone. That is how important it is to her.
Well, I think that this is the first time I’ve recommended a book in by blog but, I’ve gotta say that this is truly worth the read.
By the way, when you think about this title, it really takes incredible faith to be an atheist. Here are just a few of the things that you’d need to believe –
You would need to believe that something can come from nothing. Yep, you would believe that long long ago before time, the universe exploded from nothing and time began.
You would be forced into believing that life came to be from non-living things.
You would need to have faith that intelligence came from non-intelligence.
Order came from disorder.

The list could go on and on but, - just get a copy of the book and we can share the thoughts.

On Our Team?

There is a story in the NT where Jesus and the Apostles are walking down the road when and one of the group says “Hey Jesus, there are some other people that are using your name to cast out demons.” Then Jesus said, “Good! If they are not against us then they must be for us!” I am guessing that that wasn’t the answer the Apostle was looking for. My best guess is he was hoping for a little confrontation – a little action, a “cease & desist” order from the master. I mean, this guy is treading on our territory. What if he gets in the way? What if he doesn’t do things exactly like we do?
Things haven’t changed very much in 2000+ years have they? We are so territorial in almost everything we do that sometimes it creeps into our service and our ministry. In business we don’t want anyone near our little territory because we are afraid that they are going to get a piece of something that we believe is rightfully ours. We worked for it, developed the business, and will fight anyone that tries to “horn in” on it. We are so competitive that we bring that same attitude to work with us when we go to serve our God. I have noticed it in my own work in Central America and have tried to purge the thoughts of thinking that somehow the work that TORCH or even my own team does is somehow better or more important than that of others that are only there because they too have heard the call to go and serve the Lord by serving the least of these brothers.
What a shame that we would ever be discouraging to others that want to serve just because we were there first. How disgusting must it be to our Lord that we would make a competition of service to him or that we would think ourselves as better because we were first in the area or think our way is “better”. If what we are doing is working it is because our God has decided that it would work. If our harvest is great it is because God decided it was going to be great.
I hope that I haven’t let my ego and pride get in the way of learning what God had planned to teach me - in Honduras or in anything that he planned for me to do. Wouldn’t it have been a shame if the Apostle described above had been so full of himself that the lesson that Jesus simple words spoke – went over his head? I hope that these words never ring hollow in my own ears.

When He Says GO

What would you do if God reached out, grabbed you by the hand and said, "it is time to get up off your backside and Go.... and by the way, I'll let you know later where it is that you are going!" Would we say, "well God, I sure want to do your will, but, I've got a couple of car payments, two kids in college, starting to think about retirement, and you don't even want to tell me where it is you want me to go. When you make up your mind, why don't you let me know, give me a couple of years to get ready, raise some support, sell a few things, and then .... maybe then I'll be ready"
With my friends -Mike & Janet - getting ready to GO to Honduras and with three of my good friends already there, the subject of going has been top of mind lately. Looking at the words of Jesus in Matthew - some of his last words spoken on this earth - he said Go and said it so clearly that we call it "The Great commission". I would guess that when we read those words today, we generally see them as the great option and not a commission otherwise, we wouldn't ever question what God would have us to do. I know that these words of Jesus charge us with spreading the gospel around the world and it isn't practical for everyone to go into the world...unless you consider your own neighborhood the world. The simple fact is that there are about 6,000,000,000 people in this world and more than 1/2 of them have never heard the name Jesus...NEVER.
Here we sit with news that saves, news that is the best that anyone can ever have. We have news that is better than the winning Lotto numbers and giving them away won't take away from our own jackpot - it will only increase it. We have news that can keep the dead from dying and give hope to the hopeless. We have this news, a savior that told us to go, be his witness, be bold in our testimony, to plant the seeds and allow Him to let them grow.
What are we doing about it?

Daisy

I met Daisy this past weekend in Honduras. Daisy lives in a new house in Santa Ana and works for Casa de Esperanza. She and her three sons – Saul, Eduardo, and Carlos recently moved from a community called Union e Fuersa to Santa Ana because her home wasn’t safe anymore. Her old neighborhood had been taken over by the “bad guys” and Daisy was afraid that her oldest son was going to join them. Daisy told Carlos that God has a better plan for him and she was able to move because of the new houses that were constructed on the TORCH property in Santa Ana.
Anyway – back to Daisy.
Daisy is always smiling – ALWAYS!
Her heart is so big that she gets her feelings hurt if she isn’t allowed to help out. It’s really hard to describe just how much of a servant Daisy is because I’ve never quite run across anyone quite like her.
Daisy has adopted Karen & Jennifer – my friends that manage Casa de Esperanza – as her family. She has matter of factly told both of them that other than her sons, they are the only family that she has. She loves them and does what she thinks is watching out for them. On nights when Karen & Jen are in Tegucigalpa, Daisy patiently waits near the gate for her “family” to come home.
In 48 hours that I’ve been back in the states, I’ve come to see that Daisy is to Karen & Jennifer what we should be to the family of God.
Daisy’s willingness to do anything for her “family” – with a smile of satisfaction is an attitude that would serve all of us (me) well.
Daisy’s love for her family makes her want to watch out for them is how we should all be – especially when one of our family goes away. We should be like Daisy and celebrate their return.
Daisy’s heart is big – so big that it shows up in her smile and her hugs. I think that she gives hugs so that she will get hugs. Nothing wrong with that.... we all need more of both! (giving and getting)
Marc

Headed To Hondo

This past week I heard the comment "God wouldn't call someone to a ministry and not provide the resources". I really like that thought and plan to use it...often.
This comment seems to be a real true-ism with my friends - Mike & Janet Paden. The Paden's are those that I mentioned a while back that are tired of "playing church" and are planning to spend retirement in the mission field. They have decided to sell the house, quit the job and move to a third world country to serve Jesus. Well, they put their house on the market last week and today it sold. I guess that the answer is pretty clear that our God wants them in the mission field.
In April, Mike & Janet will be moving from Shilo, IL to Santa Ana, Honduras. That is a pretty big change - one that is best described as by the words of the writer of Acts - BOLD!
BOLD Faith is what I want. Mike & Janet are an inspiration to me. They will join others of my friends with faith BOLD enough to listen to the call to GO. The call that Jesus made in the great commission to GO & make disciples. My friends Joe Merillot, Karen Vaughan, & Jennifer Wright are already living in Santa Ana and are just doing what Jesus told us all to do. Many others are demonstrating BOLD Faith by providing the support to keep these misintries going. Praying every day and writting checks - even when the evil one is tempting us to spend the money on ourselves.
Mike & I are blessed to be able to travel to Honduras this weekend. We will be working with our friends in Santa Ana and making plans for Mike & Janet to join those already there.
When the Paden's arrive, they plan to work with Noel Aragon - the minister of the church in Santa Ana, they will assist Karen & Jen in the work at Casa de Esperanza, they will support the clinic and the teans that come to work there, they will discover new ministries that need their hands as tools, & they will serve Jesus.
Yep, my friends are BOLDLY Going - Pray for them and for Joe, Karen, & Jennifer.
mt

Dear Ryan

Dear Ryan,
I really am missing you. I can’t believe it’s been 6 years now. Time has flown, but, it has stood still at times too.
Sometimes I wonder what I would have done differently if I would have known that night of March 11th would be the last time I would see you this side of heaven. I have thanked my God often that the last words both of us said were simply “I love you”.
Ryan I still do love you. Knowing you are in heaven is good for my heart but, it will never make waiting to see you again easier. The games we played when you were a little boy – giving each other big bear hugs never stopped and I am so glad that you were never embarrassed to give me one of your trademark big hugs. I miss your hugs.
You would be so proud of your little brother and sister. They are doing great. Nathan is a great daddy and your little niece – my grand baby is so beautiful. I’m sure that you will be legendary in the stories that Nathan tells little Camille about you. Nate really misses you too. He has hurt more than any of us can possible know.
Nicole has grown into such a beautiful young woman. She has a boyfriend and he probably needs a dose of some of the torture that you would have offered – but, in the end you would like him. He treats Nicole like he should and he is a good man. Nate has stepped into your shoes as the big brother protector of your little sis. You would be amazed at how they have grown so much closer.
We’ll all be in Mississippi this weekend. It just seemed like the place we needed to be – with the friends that came to offer comfort on the day that we lost you.
I love you and I miss you.
Dad

I SURE MISS YOU - by Gearal Crabb
If life could only bring again, the days I took for granted when
To hear your voice was just a call away
Oh what I'd give for just some time, to say the things that slipped my mind
There's so much now I'd really like to say
But I can never go back when we did the things we did back then
I'll store those precious memories in my mind
I'll take what you've instilled in me;
I'll try to be all I can be
And walk the path that you have left behind

I sure miss you; life will never be the same with you not here
Each passing day has brought much pain
But with God's grace my strength remains
I sure miss you, but heaven's sweeter with you there

The little things that seemed so small are now gold in a memory vault
I cherish every one I have of you
Now I can see and recognize the part you played to shape my life
I often see you in the things I do
In God's design and master plan He saw the hurting hearts of man
As we would say goodbye to those so dear
So with our family and friends we'll be together once again
We'll view all heaven's splendor hand in hand

Obscene

Through the years there has been a lot of debate about exactly what obscene really is. The definition boiled down to “you’ll know it when you see it”.
The truth is, obscenity is all around us and we don’t see it because we have become so used to it that we just dismiss it as the world around us. Our senses don’t work as well as they should because we have abused them for so long that we aren’t able to see what is right in front of our eyes.
Last night I saw and participated in an obscenity and don’t even know whether to feel privileged, disgusted, lucky, or what. Please don’t think that I’ve gone crazy – I just went to a basketball game. The Memphis Grizzly’s are the local pro team and I’ve been to several games but last night was a little different because I was invited to go with some friends and sit in the sideline seats. It was pretty cool – we were almost right on the court and had an unbelievable view of the game. The thing that got me thinking about the obscenity of it was when I looked at the ticket and saw that it was a $150! I was with a group of 4 so that meant that we’d just sat in seats that cost $600 – for one game that was about 2 hours long. A season in the NBA has 40 home games plus about 5 pre-season and an average of 6 post season games making these seats cost over $30,000 in a year. Add in food and extras and you notch it up to close to $40,000 for 4 seats for basketball.
On my drive home from the arena, I decided that I’d participated in something obscene.
How could anyone ever justify that sort of expense when there are so very many hungry people in the world around us? Then I thought about how we justify a lot of other obscenities in our lives – the ones that we’ve become accustomed to like; most movies, many television shows, the language we “tolerate”, etc. Once we develop calluses, once we develop blind spots, we can ignore the obscenities and even act like they are just normal life.
I’m guessing that the folks that spend $40,000 on basketball tickets can easily justify the expense because it is really such a small percentage of their income that it doesn’t interfere at all with the good things that they do. I am not even intentionally trying to throw stones at people that buy these seats, I’m just looking at the $40 grand as the equivalent of 40 houses, or ½ of a new children’s home, tons of food, and lots of lost opportunities. I wonder if it was God’s plan for the money to be spent that way when he put his master plan in place? I wonder how often I’ve been obscene in the way I’ve spent money that God planned for something else?

Feed My Sheep

Reading the words that Jesus said to Peter in John 21 has always made me thing that Jesus was telling us that we needed to feed each other with his words. I guess that I have always thought this because - it is what I was taught. I don't ever remember hearing a lesson about acutally feeding people - food, you know the stuff that helps us stay alive. I don't know why it had never occured to me that Jesus may have actually meant what he said - "Peter, feed my lambs", "Peter, take care of my sheep", "Peter, feed my sheep!". I mean- we like to take the words that Jesus spoke as what he meant so why not the words that he spoke to Peter?
I think that I've never thought about these words as a charge to go out and feed people is that I am surrounded by people that are never really hungry. Working in Central America has really opened my eyes to the fact that there really aren't any truly hungry people in the USA. We don't have a population of people that go to bed hungry and wake up the same way. People that spend their lives looking for something to eat. We don't have mothers that are desperate to find food for their baby. We don't have families that decide that they will stop feeding the younger two or three kids so that the rest of the family can have a little more. We aren't in a country that has a generation of malnourished kids that are stunted in their growth and their mental devolepment.
I started thinking about this last week on an airplane while reading the USA Today. I was reading an article where the author said "I've never gone to bed hungry". That statement made me stop reading and start thinking about the power of the words. I HAVE NEVER GONE TO BED HUNGRY... Added to that, until my work in Honduras, I had never personally known anyone that had ever truly gone to bed hungry. Someone that had nothing in the house to eat and not much of any chance that there would be anything there the next day. True hunger is something that I have never known. Yes, I can take you to it, show it to you and introduce you to people that are living right smack in the middle of it - but, I've never "been there, done that".
FEED MY LAMBS, TAKE CARE OF MY SHEEP, FEED MY SHEEP!
Yes, these words that Jesus spoke to Peter - and to me are easily read more than one way. One day I will be able to ask Jesus how he meant them. In the mean time, I am reading them both ways and believe that helping to take care of the physical feeding will open the door to spiritual feeding.

GO!

I just had lunch with some friends - friends that we've been talking with for the past few weeks about going.
My friends told me that they are at a time in their lives that they could keep on working for the next 15 years so they could have a bigger nest egg at their retirement or - they could follow the pull that is in their heart to GO! They have chosen to GO and I am awed that they have asked me to help them and that I get to be a part of this plan.
My friends told me that they are tired of playing games, working to support their stuff, tired of making excuses for not following the great comission, tires of playing church. They said that they just want to be servants, that they want to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
I made a promise that I will help and will be there for them.
They are hoping to sell the house, cars, and other belongings so that they can move to a third world nation and work daily - taking the gospel to people that really need and want to hear it.
Pray for my friends.

Temptations

Last weekend I went to the place that everyone goes to for fun & shopping – WalMart!
Everything was pretty normal till I got to my car and realized that my new toothbrush was laying in the bottom of the basket and hadn’t been scanned.
I had made it through SECURITY – through the watchful eyes of the WalMart Greeter / Receipt Checker / Basket Watcher Person with merchandise that had not been paid for.
I was very close to becoming a THIEF! (and I hate thieves)
Amazing thoughts went through my head – the wrong side of my brain was yelling “go ahead and take it, nobody’s gonna know” and “you spend a fortune in this store – ‘bout time you go a little bonus”.......
Well, the good side beat out the dark side and I went inside to pay the $2.50 for my new toothbrush.
I just wonder why it is that we continue to ever be tempted by even the simple things, the things that we actually hate?

It's Not My Plan

Here is the final product. I'll put some pictures of the inside here soon - but, this is one beautiful building - isn't it!

Getting from the shrub covered ground to this - from August to now has been an adventure, a challenge, a frustration, a joy, a pain, and has involved every emotion that I have. I know that I am not alone in this - I'm not the only one that has laid awake at night wondering if all of this was really God's plan or just one that I tried to blame on Him.

All along I have been confident that this is 100% his plan, there have just been time when seeds of doubt tried to creep into my head. In hindsite, the periods of doubt were almost always when I was not spending enough time in prayer - neglecting the reason for this home. In the end, God showed me that his promise of taking care of things is really a promise.

Everytime that I am reminded of the faithfulness of my God, I remember the words to a song written by the Crabb Family - a Southern Gospel group from Kentucky. This song is called "Through The Fire" and the words go like this -

so many times i've questioned certain circumstances
things i could not understand
many times in trials, weakness blurs my vision
then my frustration gets so out of hand
its then i am reminded i've never been forsaken
i've never had to stand the test alone
as i look at all the victories the spirit rises up in me
and its through the fire my weakness is made strong

he never promised that the cross would not get heavy
and the hill would not be hard to climb
he never offered our victories without fighting
but he said help would always come in time
just remember when your standing in the valley of decision
and the adversary says give in
just hold on, our lord will show up
and he will take you through the fire again

This was a song that really helped Terri & I to get trough some really dark days. When I bought the CD I hadn't even heard of the Crabb Family - I just liked the cover of the CD.....
One thing is certain - God continually shows us that his plan for us isn't generally the easy way out. Isn't that great - if he just poured everything out without expecting us to work then we would be a bunch of spoiled faithless children - Working hard - no doubt is God's plan for us to learn, to build our faith, and to grow stronger in him.

Thank you Father for the lessons you teach me. Thank you for your faithfulness and the lessons of patience that you teach me by doing things on your time - in your plan - and not mine. Please bless the children that you have in your plan for Casa de Esperanza.

2005 And Out

When I was a kid, a year seemed like a decade and a decade seemed like a lifetime. I guess when you are a kid, both are true. This year is almost gone and I am barely used to writting 2005 because I am still not quite in the new century. Oh well. I don't need to worry too much about writting 2005 much longer because we only have 9 days of it left.
A lot of really good and unexpected things have happened in this fast paced year that has just BLOOOOWN by. 2005 started like bost others - on the 1st of January... sorry about that..
When the year started I was comfortable in my job and expected to continue in the pork businness for a long time. Surprise - our unexpected job change and move (soon I hope) to Memphis has been an above average - very good change. My new company is off to a great start and the people are the best that I have ever worked with. God is good.
Please pray that our house will sell very soon and we can get this move made.
TORCH missions was an unbelievable adventure in 2005. Our team grew and grew and eventually expanded to about 180. We were able to plant 2 churches, feed about 1500 families, help almost 1000 in medical clinics, build 35 houses & a church building, and teach the Word to many many people. There were over 54 new Christians from the seeds that were sown.
Terri & I were also drawn into the work around development, construction, and establishent of a new children's home project in Honduras. Casa de Esperanza is now built, dedicated to our Lord, and will be ready to accept children in early January. Casa is a beautiful building and is in a very very beautiful place. If you never thought that you had a reason to go to Honduras, Casa would change your mind. Especially when we get the kids there in January.
My new year of 2005 started with an extreme life change because I became a grandpa on the 31st of December, 2004. New Yeaers Eve is now and forever to be known as Camille's birthday. Being a grandpa is excellent! You gotta be one to understand.
In early December, I also became the proud parent of a son with a 4.0 in college. If you knew where Nathan had been, you too would celebrate this God made change with me. He has become a wonderful husband, dad, & student. Thank you God!
My other change in 2005 is one that I am not quite sure about. His name is Matt and he is Nicole's boyfriend. Matt is really nice and is good to Nicole but, I am not quite ready to share MY baby with another man.
We are off to Texas tomorrow to be with the folks for Christmas. I am looking forward to it....all of it except not having Nathan, Julia, & Camille there. They will be with Julia's parents and we will see them the following weekend on Camille's birthday (the day previously called New Years Eve). It will be great!
Our God is so good... all the time!
Merry Christmas
Marc

December 10th -

Last summer I was with my friend Tim and we were pulling dates out of the air. One of the dates that we pulled was December 10th, 2005. that is the day we decided would be a good day to open a children’s home. In June or July, it seemed a long time off and certainly enough time to raise money, build a big house, stock it up with all the things that one might need to take care of 20 kids, plan a party, and probably have days or even weeks to spare.
Well, most of that has happened – except for the part about raising all the money, we are pretty close though. As far as the part about the big house, that too is almost finished and it is gonna be great. The 20 kids are coming and the party is planned. December 10th as going to be a day to remember – a day to remember as the birthday of Casa de Esperanza – the Home of Hope. From it’s concept in April to it’s opening this coming Saturday has been amazing. Terri & I are blessed that we are going to be there for the excitement.
By summer, the house at Casa will be full of children, full of love, and full of wonder. The yard will be full of reminders of the children that live there. The rooms will have the noises that happy kids make and the kitchen will be filled with the smells of the food that will keep them full. When visitors come, they will be greeted with smiles and hugs.
December 10th will also be a big step for the “Women of My Hope” as we will be with them when they break ground on the training center in Santa Ana. In a few months, ladies will be learning the skills that they need to provide for their families. I’m excited.
A year ago, I would have never dreamed that I would get the chance to help build this children’s home....for that matter, even that it was a remote possibility. Now, here we are right in the middle of everything and loving (almost) every minute of it.
I guess we are pretty small minded when we try to ‘box in” our concept of what God has planned for us. Just a few years ago, all I wanted to do was take one of my kids on a mission to Honduras and now I get to take about 200 people a year on mission to Honduras.
In April when my friend Jen Wright sent a note to Tim Hines that she would really like to take care of kids in Honduras, probably had no idea that the events of the past 8 months would lead her to living in Santa Ana in a place called Casa de Esperanza. Be careful when you dream outloud – others may hear you (especially our God) and you might get what you were asking for.
Well, enough rambling. This Saturday is going to be a wonderfully great day and I am blessed that i get to be a part of it. I can’t wait to see what the God’s next plan is.

Random Ramblings

Thanksgiving has come and gone - my favorite holiday of the year. It was a great weekend - family, food, & football. None of it would be the same if it weren't for the family part of it and the combination of the three is excellent.
The week before TG, Terri & I were on a business trip in Las Vegas. Being with Terri for the week was really good - especially in a place like Vegas. For the life of me, I can't understand why that place is so attractive to so many people. I hadn't been to LV in a few years but, the downhill slide seems to be continuing at a rapid rate. They advertise themselves as "sin city" and that may be an understatement. The thing about it that bugs me the most is that it seems that people are buying off on the new advertising campaign that says "whatever happens in Las Vegas - stays in Las Vegas". This seems to be the thought of people that a little bit of the dark side every now and then won't hurt anything - will it? I really believe that Las Vegas is a growing cancer on the landscape and I am not sure that the country wants to be cured.
Things that are glorified in Vegas are spreading around the country so - to keep pace, they must reach further down so that they are still attractive to the nation.
Now you know my feelings about LV - if you are planning a convention there, please don't invite me. Thanks!
Casa de Esperanza is coming along very well. It is scheduled to open on December 10th and it is going to be awesome. Terri & I will go down to Tegucigalpa on the 8th and will be there for the celebration. If you need to give someone a lasting gift for Christmas, give them the honor of sponsoring a child in their name. You and your gift reciepient will be blessed beyond anything you could possibly buy here. Where else could you be assured of saving a life for $100 a month?
Think about it & send me an eamil or give me a call. You can emai me at marclt2003@yahoo.com or call me at 901-598-0356 which by the way is my new cell number.
I will be posting pics of the opening during the weekend of the 10th of December. (Just a thought - if you can't take on a child on your own, why not get a Sunday School Class together and do it.)

Bigger Than I COULD Imagine!

Last April I wen to Honduras to prepare for the summer mission teams and to take a look at a piece of land for the IRC. Standing on the land with my friends and praying together to seek God's will for what we should do was amazing. Over the weekend we made a decision to go ahead and buy the land for $45,000. Since we only had about $20,000 of the money in hand - it was a leap of faith but, we felt that our amazing God had plans for the plot of dirt in Santa Ana.
Since that day, the land has been paid for, a church building has been built and there are many new Christians that worship together there, a the original house on the land has been remodeled into a clinic, 14 homes have been built for people that needed a place to live, and we are about 75% complete in the construction of Casa de Esperanza - The House of Hope - a children's home for about 20 homeless kids. All of his in 6 months is BIGGER THAN I COULD IMAGINE!
I wonder why we don't think bigger? Why do we limit what God can do by thinking small? I have learned so much about how big and amazing our God is from my first hand view of what has happened in the past 6 months. All that He has done makes me think of the words we sing...
"You are beautiful beyond description,
to marvelous for words
To beautiful for comprehension,
like nothing ever seen or heard
Who can grasp your infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the depth of your love?
You are beautiful beyond description
Majesty enthroned in love.

And I stand, I stand in awe of You
I stand, I stand in awe of You
Holy God to whom all praise is due,
I stand in awe, of You."

Growing

My little granddaughter has started walking and it is pure joy to watch! She is happy with herself and she can see the joy that it brings to everyone around her. She likes being the center of attention. Camille is 10 months old and changes every day.
I also really enjoy watching Nathan & Julia grow as parents – they are almost as entertaining as Camille. Both of them are head over heels in love with their baby and they would die to protect her. They are going to be great parents and I am proud of them and the way that they care of my grandbaby.
Watching Camille and her parents develop has reminded me how much our God cares for us and how – as our dad, he protects us, forgives us, allows us to grow, and was even willing to die for us. It is amazing to me that we – as Christians expect so much – so soon from new believers.... babies in Jesus. We just need to look at them as babies and as big brothers and sisters – nurse them in their development. Allowing them – each other to grow up is what we need. Looking at each other as brothers and sisters is what we need. Taking care of each other as we would a baby is what we need. Forgiveness and love is what we need. Maybe that is why Jesus said that he would forgive us the same way we forgive each other.... because we just can’t do it without the love that comes with a family.

Murphy's Law (on a plane)

Last week I was on too many airplanes – understatement, I way on way too many airplanes. I flew across the country twice – was in every time zone at least once and most of them 2 or three times. New company, new products, selling hard and things are good on that front. The bad part is getting from point A to point B.
I was on one of my flights from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City and managed to have the “Murphy’s Law” of seat assignments – which seems to be the standard lately. “Murphy’s Law” says that if anything can go wrong, it probably will. Applying “M.L.” to airplane seating means that you are almost guaranteed to get the worst seat on the plane. That would be a center seat on a 4 hour flight and the plane is delayed – after you’ve already boarded. It could be a seat on the back row – next to the restroom that is absolutely going to run over in mid flight – nothing like blue water between your toes! It could be the incessant talker, or the gassy neighbor, the “two seater” squeezed into one seat and spilling over in to your space, or it could be some combination of any or all of these.
Anyway, last weeks example of “Murphy on a plane” was actually the passenger seated directly in front of me. My neighbor to the north was one of those special people that believe that the universe that God created was made especially for them – and nobody else. She was one of those wonderful souls that believe that there is only one person in the world that has value – and the rest of us are minions; made for the purpose of whatever she wants. I learned all of this (about my neighbor) on a short two hour flight. I can’t tell you her name and I learned all I know about her by her actions. (the saying that actions speak louder than words was never more true than in this experience) As soon as the plane backed away from the gate my neighbor SLAMMED her seat back into the recline position as far as it would go. This happened to be directly into my knees. (I can’t tell you why Delta makes the distance between rows for people that are shorter than the average Chinese dwarf – but, they are.) Whatever the case, every time I moved my pinned legs, my neighbors chair moved too. Every time her chair moved – she literally growled and attempted to slam her chair back into a “more” reclined position. All this went on for the entire 2 hours of flying. I even asked her to please move your chair up – even just a half inch so that we could both be a little more comfortable to which she reacted by growling and slamming it back again. Finally, the flight was over, my pinned legs began the road to recovery and Miss Universe was on her way to use and abuse other minions.
I’ve now had a week to ponder the still unbelievable actions of a person that never spoke – only growled at me. I have laughed about it and yet, am amazed that there are really people in the world that don’t care anything about the feelings of others around them Then I consider that there are really a lot of folks like this – maybe not as bold and blatant but still oblivious to the needs of the needy and the hurting world around them. Maybe I needed someone so rude to help me wake up to a better understanding of just who is sharing “my space”….. even if that “space “ is on the other side of the world.
marc

Lots of thoughts

Lots of thoughts and not much time to blog.
Last Friday, I was leaving Memphis on my weekly pilgrimage back to O’Fallon when there was a four car pile-up right behind me. I pulled off as fast as I could and ran back to the first crashed car – actually a van. There were 5 people in the van and 4 of them were hurt. One at a time, I helped the injured people out of the van and onto the ground where they could lay down and wait until the professionals arrived – it took the first ambulance almost 45 minutes to arrive. There were hurting people in every one of the other 3 wrecked cars. I have never had to be the first on the scene for anything like that and I hope that it was a one time thing. I’ll never forget the little boy that was afraid that he was gong to lose all of his stuff……or the lady that was traveling alone and at first thought she was okay but collapsed in pain… I prayed with her and we both cried. I was amazed at the raw emotion of the moment.
All of this made me even more aware of the ongoing pain and anguish of the people that continue to suffer on the coast. I read this week that there are probably 160,000 houses in New Orleans that will need to be plowed under – another 68,000 in Mississippi and about the same numbers that need major repairs. I don’t know how the relief volunteers can keep going day after day – they must be emotionally exhausted! Pray for the workers and for the people that they are there to serve.
I was in Philadelphia this week and – because of a horse show, hotels were a premium. I had to pay almost $200 for a room at a Marriott Courtyard. What a rip-off!
I was in the lobby and overheard some of the “horse people” talking about their show horses – that has gotta be one of the most expensive hobbies around – I read that the average spend for a show horse is over $2000 per month! That’s $24,000 a year for a pet.
We could send a whole mission team from Baxter to Mexico for that! We could plant 5 new churches in Honduras and support the preachers for less than that!
Build 24 houses – take care of 40 kids in a children’s home – build 2 church buildings – all for the cost of a “toy”. If my priorities ever get so out of wack that I am throwing money away instead of spending it wisely – please somebody, slap me!
I could blog on but, work is calling!
marc

I Wonder?

I wonder why we expect brand new Christians to come out of the water all grown-up?
I wonder why we are afraid to tell our friends that aren’t Christians about the good things that our God has done for us?
I wonder why we have such a hard time sharing our problems and our weaknesses with other Christians?
I can’t figure out why it is so hard to confess our sins to each other and to ask our friends to pray for the help we need.
Why do we pretend to be strong when we know that we are really weaklings?
Why is it easier to be a cut down artist instead of the one that lifts people up?
Why is it so hard to trust each other?
Where did you see Jesus today? Did you look for him? Did you start the day expecting to see him?
Why is it harder to tell people that are not blood relatives how much you love them?
I wonder when Christians stopped greeting each other with a holy kiss?
Why does it make some people uncomfortable when others lift holy hands to God?
How is it that it is so easy to ignore the poor in our own communities?
I wonder what it would be like to give the first homeless person that I see enough money to live on for the next month? Or – my best clothes or my favorite CD or my last $100?
I wonder if others would think I was crazy?
What would it be like to be called “crazy for Jesus”?
I wonder what it would be like to tell your family that you were giving it all up to serve the Lord 100% of the time – a long ways from home?
I wonder?

misc stuff......

It is amazing to me how much focus the politicos want to put on blaming someone for everything about Hurricane Katrina – even going as far as blaming the president on the hurricane itself because he doesn’t pay enough attention to global warming. It’s like a bunch of kids. Why would anyone ever want to go into a life of politics?
On the other side of the focus issue, our churches have been phenomenal in putting their focus on resolving the issues of helping people pull their lives back together. My prayer is that working together for this cause will help people to see that the real purpose God gave us is to work together for him and not to just warm a pew 3 times a week. I pray that we will stop worrying about things that don’t matter and focus on things that do matter.
Right now, here are things that matter to me –
The hurricane relief work – especially in the communities where I have friends – Gulfport and Mandeville.
My friend Terry Reeves and his battle with melanoma – he is having surgery today and he needs our prayer that he will be healed.
Casa de Esperanza – the children’s home project in Santa Ana, Honduras is real and with God’s will, it will open on December 10th. We still need to raise $30,000 for this project.
Selling my house in Illinois so Terri & I can get this move over with.
Getting ready for TORCH 2006.
If you read this, please pray for these things and leave me a comment on what I can be praying for on your account.
marc

More Katrina Needs

James said that being faithful is backing your words with action. The example that in James 2 –
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
What a powerful text –
I also like the words of Solomon when he wrote “if you hear the cries of the hungry and ignore them, one day your cries will also be ignored”
In our country, it has been easy to never really see big needs or to hear the cries of the hungry – No More!
The sheer size of Katrina, the scope of the damage, and the numbers of those hurting are impossible to ignore. As a believer, I cannot see how anyone can sit this one out – this is the time for real sacrifice and sacrificial giving.
I plan to fast one day each week and make sure that the money that I would have spent on food will go to someone in the hurricane zone for food. I know that Terri & I will be talking over the next few weeks about how we can help friends and people that we don’t know that have been affected by Katrina.
There are so many ways to help –
Here is an email that another TORCH / IRC leader sent this morning –
IRC/Torch Missions is putting together a team to serve the people in Louisiana and Mississippi. I have spoken to Janet Hines in Baton Rouge and there are many needs. Here is list of items that can be used NOW. Please let me know where and how much you are able to collect and we will work on getting the much needed supplies to the distribution centers. So they can be handed out other people.

Need List:
RVs -- to house workers -- we need to house 30-50 people
Clothes Pre sorted by male-female-child - size (only good condition please)
Shoes all types flip-flops are OK
Sheets - towels -
Bleach
Mosquito repellent
Hand Sanitizer
Under ware all types and sizes
Adult diapers
Baby Formula -- power or pre mixed
Diapers
Personal hygiene items
Chain Saws

Man Power Needs:
People to load & deliver
Tree cutters
Counselors
Nurses
Doctors

Needs; --- pasted from an email sent from Baton Rouge
1. We need Prayer first, foremost and often....If the Air Condition> can be turned on by prayer, anything can happen.
2. We need to finish our Kitchen, upgraded that will allow us to> serve 1,000's of meal-we will work with baton Rouge to get this done THIS> WEEK. Cost of $25.000.00.
3. Need to arrange to get a mobile shower and a mobile> toilets...Urgently...Tell us where to go...
4. Industrial Size Washers and Dryers.....Urgently...
5. Industrial Ice maker....Urgently> > We can make available our building to stay, but we need to be able> to accommodate and need it quickly. HELP !!!!!!
6. We need clothes, underwear, shorts, T Shirts and flip flops, and> entire outfit, they have nothing....
7. Toiletries, shampoo, toothpaste, even some makeup.....
8. Canned meats, fruits, diapers, formula, energy drinks, fruit> snacks.
9. 10 Pick up trucks with trailers and drivers for 2 weeks
10. Winnebagoes and pop up containers, self contained
11. Electricans to set up external power hookups
12. Tarps of all sizes, Visqueen
13. 50 chain saws, stihl brand as they ar more durable, 100 chains,> commercial chain sharperner
14. 1 inch ropes
15. 200 cots
16. 100 matteresses
17. 15 people, willing to work in in Airconditioned church to> prepare boxes to goout
18. 3,000 empty cardboard boxes, 18 x 24 x 12
19. 20 cases of packing tape
20. 5 empties semi-trucks containers to be used for 2 months
21. 5 pressure washers
22. 2 250 gallon gas containers, one for gas and one for diesel
23. 100 gallon gas tank to take to station for refilling
24. 50 generators
25. 20 people for roof crews
26. 40 people for chain saw crews>
Please Call me or Email at (423) 341-1000
tomgilroy2000@yahoo.com
As you can see – the list offers plenty of opportunity for all of us to stand up and share our faith with our action.
Marc

Katrina

My friends from Gulfport and New Orleans evacuated on Sunday and are fine – they don’t have any idea what the condition of their homes will be – but, they are doing well. They are worried about people that they know that chose to stay behind because communication is so bad that nobody knows much about the condition of the people that stayed back to “ride out the storm”. Personally, I can’t for the life of me figure out why anybody in their right mind was thinking when they decided to “ride out the storm”. All day Saturday and especially Sunday the forecasters were telling people that Katrina was going to be as bad as a storm could be – and on Sunday we all woke up to hear that she was a CATEGORY 5!... and that she was on her way to a direct hit on New Orleans and Mississippi.
About 70 or 75% of the people in the path of the pending disaster listened and left. That meant that there were still 25 or 30% of the people that heard the same warning and for one reason or another ignored the warnings and decided to stay behind. I do not understand what they could have been thinking….
To me this is just like hearing the warnings of Jesus and choosing instead to ignore them – pretending that they really don’t mean anything – that “since I can’t see the storm, it must not be there” – or, just hoping that ignoring the truth, it will just go away.
Katrina was like Jesus in another way too. Just like Jesus, nobody made the people that chose to ignore the warnings leave. Jesus said that following him was The Way and that we must follow him by our own choice. There isn’t one example where Jesus forced anybody into salvation…… I guess that you can’t force somebody to save themselves from a storm that they don’t want to be saved from.
As for me and my house, we will follow the Lord!

God's Amazing Plans

A few months ago I was standing in the middle of piece of property in a place called Santa Ana – a village that is about 15 miles from the airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I was with friends and we all had the same question – What would God have us do with this land? At the time the land was for sale and the non profit group that I work with was looking for property to build a training center for the Mi Esperanza ministry. Doubt’s were there – where would we ever come up with $47,000?.... is there really a commitment?.... what if this isn’t God’s plan?...is the land too far from Tegucigalpa?...
We prayed for God to show us His will. Right in the middle of the land we prayed and almost immediately God started sending us his answers.
Within 36 hours, we were certain that the clear answers were right in front of us –
Almost ½ of the money for the land became available, funding for a clinic was found and the house that was on the property would make a perfect clinic, money for a planned new church building was already in place and the land was a perfect location, Jen Wright sent an email that said that she believed that God had called her to move to Honduras to take care of kids and the land is a perfect place for a children’s home, on and on, god provided answers for our prayers and we clearly saw that it was part of God’s plan for our ministry to buy this property.
I am amazed at how things have developed since April. The property is 100% paid for and it has been transformed from a sleepy piece of land into a place of action. The original house is almost ready to be opened into a clinic, there are now homes for 20 families, the church building is complete and people are worshiping there every Sunday and that building will soon be an integral part of the Santa Ana community, the ground is being prepared for construction of the children’s home and we will be there on December 10th for the opening celebration. The crazy thing is, we started looking at the land for a Mi Esperanza training center and have since seen that we’ll need more room to make that happen. It now looks like we will be attempting to buy another piece land – maybe the one directly across the road from the original property – for the training center. We plan to have a ground breaking for the center on the 10th of December – as part of the celebration of the opening of Casa de Esperanza – the children’s home.
I have fallen in love with the work of getting Casa de Esperanza off the ground. The two women that are leaving for this work on October 25th have become my family and I love them dearly. Jen & Karen clearly heard the words of Jesus - “Follow Me”, and they have chosen to do just that. They are two of my hero’s.
There is so much happening and so many good things ahead – I can’t wait to see what our amazing God has planned for the next few months!

Zoom.....

New job!
Planning a move!
Teaching a couple of classes!
Family!
TORCH!
Casa de Esperanza!
IRC Director Stuff!
ZOOM........Life is full and busy. I am amazed at how much stuff can pile on and how fast it can happen. The only word that I can think of to describe all that is happening is ....ZOOM.....
I like having a lot on the plate but, I am constantly reminded of the fact that once the plate is full, you can't add anything new without knocking something else off..... and usually when you knock something off of a plate, it lands somewhere that you didn't expect and it's messy!
I'm pretty convinced that Satan likes everybody to stay really busy and with full plates - that is because we (I) tend to over-fill my plate with things that seem to be really important and end up knocking things off of my plate that are truly important..... like a quiet time to study and to be alone with my God.
Jesus was so consistant in his example of this - he was always breaking away from the disciples to be alone with the Father. I am convinced that he gave these examples so that we would see the importance of time alone with the Father.
Nothing - even of full plate of distractions should come between the Father & me......

Two Weeks / Too Fast

I am back from Honduras and the time there was better than ever. I still can't believe that we pulled off a team of more than 175 and were able to keep everyone busy for the whole two weeks. It was literally amazing and fun from early morning to bedtime.
one of the most fun times of the day was standing in front of the 5 buses every morning and telling them to "start their engines" ..... had to be better than telling the drivers at Indy to do the same.
There are more stories and amazing things than I could possibly share in the short space of this blog but, if interested, you should read the trip reports at mstorch.blogspot.com
As I stated in my last post, I have changed jobs and the best way to contact me is at my personal email address marclt2003@yahoo.com
I'll be keeping the same cell number for a few weeks and will let anyone that emails me know the new number whenever I get it.
marc

Change

This weekend I was in my old home - Columbus, Mississippi. It was like a family reunion and seeing my family there was great. Staying with Don & Cynthia is like staying with family - they open their doors and their hearts.
My friend Billy preached about change this weekend. That word really scares a lot of people - especially when he said that he wanted God to use him as a "change agent". I could see a few people squirm when the words came out of his mouth but, he was using Peter's words to the Jews in Acts 2 that convicted them and made them want to change. The point of the lesson was that if we have become Christians and never changed from our old ways, then we need to rethink our faith. A measure of your faith is a measure of your change isn't it?
Change - if you are comfortable, then change is a pretty spooky thought.
Me - I guess that I am a freak - I like change. I prefer to think that I am in control of my changes - you know - change by choice. That is a silly thought from someone that truly believes that God is in complete control though. The past few months I have seen just how much God is in control and it is my job to pay attention to his will. Here is what has been happening -
......until April of this year, my job at Meadowbrook was fun. It was very challenging, sometimes frustrating, but - it was fun. Something out of my control happened between my boss & me - to this day, I do not know what it was but when it happened, I went from hero to zero overnight. The really weird thing is is that April was off the charts for our company earnings. Anyway, as soon as my boss & I started having problems - I started getting phone calls from companies that wanted to hire me away from Meadowbrook. I worked hard to find out what I wasn't doing so that I could correct the problems but, the situation at work became worse - not better. At the same time, more people called wanting to hire me. By the end of June, Terri & I had concluded that a change was necessary and we asked for God's direction. We believe that the offer that came from Memphis, TN is the direction that God has pointed and we will be moving there as soon after Honduras as we can sell our house.
Please pray for us in this change. Pray that God will send a buyer for our house and that we will put this behind us soon.
Also, please pray for the 175 people that will be traveling to Honduras this weekend to work for the next two weeks.
Our God is good ... all the time.

God Opens Doors

Sitting here - early on Saturday morning having a cup of Cafe de Oro - for the uninitiated, that is the thick Honduran coffee that we are treated to every morning on our missions - I have it every day.
Anyway, I have been reflecting on how amazing life has become - how many doors God has opened since I started in this work that I love. God has provided me with so many real - true friends. Not just the casual "how ya' doin''" kind of friends but the ones that you can pour out your heart to. The ones that you aren't afraid to let know the real you - because even when they know you, you know that they will still love you. The ones that would drop everything - give up anything - to help you.... that kind of new friend.
One of the really cool things about all of my new friends is what they have in common. They all have this passion for service. I'm sure that this is just a reflection of Jesus, the Spirit that he promised, The Way.
Thank you God for the people that you have introduced me to.
For my friend Billy that always lifts me up when I talk to him, for Cisco who never has a bad day, for Les who just calls to see what's happening, for Tim & Gena & Dalton & Dylan who are the definition of amazing love, for my friend Gayle who's heart is bigger than big, for Janet who's Spirit of love is so easy to see, for Tom G & Tom B who are always looking for more ways to serve you, for Karen & Jen who have shown me what take up your cross & follow means, for my friend Don who defines the fruits of the spirit. For so many friends that I can't list them all.
Thank you God for my family, for Terri and the endless work that she does - keeping all of the team stuff in order, for my mom who has become a hugh fund raiser for our work, for Nicole and her big heart, for Nathan & Julia and their encouragement.
And thank you God for the team that is preparing to leave next week to serve you.
I love you Lord..........thank you for loving me enough to send your Son.

Nicole

My baby girl is 19 but, she will always be my little girl. It's amazing to think that she is now about the same age as Terri was when we were married. It's no wonder that my future father in law didn't talk to me for about six months after we told him that we were going to get married. I now understand.........
Nicole & I have always gotten along. We are so much alike that we sometimes drive Terri nuts. We laugh at each others jokes when Terri rolls her eyes. We tease and call each other a moron when we both think that the other is one of the smartest people around. On my fathers day card- Nicole wrote that I am her hero..... well thank's Nicole- that's hard to live up to! (but, I'll try)
Now for the past 2 weeks, Nicole has been back in the place that she loves - Honduras. I miss her but, knowing that she is off doing the work that she loves - well- it's just fine. Two years ago when she interned for TORCH - I worried a lot more. This summer there is a level of comfort that is hard to explain. Perhaps that is the "peace that passes all understanding". Just the knowledge that God promised that he would take care of us is enough.... even when you can't explain it.
Terri & I will be on our way to Tegucigalpa in exactly 3 weeks. Three weeks from this minute, I'll be on a plane on my way to Miami and then to Teguc by about noon. Can't wait!
Nicole will be at the airport waiting - as long as her boss will let her. I expect that I'll see her big smile looking through the door of the point of entry - just waiting for us to get our passports stamped and then - hugs! Can't wait!
I wonder if there is a door like that in heaven? One where you can see your friends and family looking through the door with big smiles - just waiting for you to "clear customs" and waiting to give you hugs. I'm guessing that - most likely there is! Can't wait!
Nicole I love you and am ready to see you. Can't wait!

Family

Ever meet new people and feel like you have known them for a long time.... llike they are family? That is exaxtly the way it was for Terri & I when we were in Belpre, Ohio last weekend. We travelled to Belpre to meet with the mission comittee and speak to the congregation about Casa de Esperanza - the new children's home that will be built and opened this year.
I had been talking to Jen Wright for several weeks - Jen is going to move to Honduras in October along with Karen Vaughan to run the home - anyway, Jen & I had become friends on the phone and I knew that we would be family as soon as we met in person. I really didn't expect that everyone that I met would become like family so quickly. I'll get in trouble if I start trying to name everyone but, because of the people that we were around all weekend, we had an amazing time. It was just as comfortable as being with family - not the cousins that you only see every few years, but like family that knows you and still loves you.
I'm blessed by experiencing the weekend with my family in Belpre. I sorta' expect that this will be the way it will be when we walk into the gates of heaven. Never one uncomfortable moment - just family.

Trajellio

A couple of months ago I was in Honduras to plan the work for my TORCH Team. While there I was in one of the poorest places that I have ever seen- a village called Nuevo Oriental. While there, I met a man named Trajellio and he took me to his home. Trajellio's house was about 8 foot by 10 foot, made of scraps of burnt wood, wire, plastic, and whatever else he could find to provide shelter. My reaction to seeing Trajellio's plight was emotional - I simply didn't have the immediate resources to help Trajellio that day but, I promised him that Jesus would bring him a house.
He did!
This week my friend Tim Hines sent me an email with a picture of Trajellio & his new house. Trajellio was all smiles. God answered Trajellio's prayers for a new house & He allowed Trajellio to be Jesus for the people that built the new house. I like the words that Jesus gave us in Matthew 25:40 -" whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me". Trajellio became Jesus and the people that built his house came face to face with Jesus.
It is such a simple concept and yet, I choose to take a pass on opportunity after opportunity to come face to face with Jesus by helping and serving others. I am guilty. I get so tied up in serving myself and being "busy" that I overlook the needs that are around me. I walk across the street so I don't have to see the man hurting in the ditch.
Open the eyes of my heart Lord
Open the eyes of my heart.
I want to see you
I want to see you
To see you high and lifted up
Shining in the light of your glory
So pour out your power and love
As we sing Holy Holy Holy
Holy Holy Holy
I want to see you!

San Miguel

Over the past couple of days I have read blogs from my friends in Honduras that tell abuot the flash flood in San Miguel - a poor community on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa. Just this morning Joe M wrote about visiting a couple of families that several of us know and described their living conditions after the flood. The homes that they live in were built by TORCH - my team may have even built them - it doesn't matter. The fact is that the families are living with knee deep mud as the floor of their house. Everything that they own is wet, the kids are sick, and the family is hungry and desperate.
One of my friends is leading a TORCH team in Honduras right now and I am sure that these two families will get help but, I also know that there are at least 500 other families in the San Miguel community just like the two that I've mentioned.
All this reminds me how meaningless the things that I worry about are. When you think about the desperate lives of the people in the village of San Miguel and their daily struggle to just survive, well - I have no problems. All of this only gives me more drive to take more people to share in the work, to help them open their eyes to the plan that God has for their service, and to meet Jesus face to face.