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.

Cereal & Milk

Terri has been out of town and while I am not helpless, I sometimes act like it. We (make that I) have been out of milk for 3 days. I could have gone to the store to replenish my supply but, I didn’t – I was just too lazy. The result is – dry cereal. Yuck! This morning I was hungry and about the only thing left to eat was raisin bran and of course – no milk. I took the plunge and spooned the stuff into my waiting mouth. Bad Plan! Some things go well together and some things just don’t work at all without the other. Cereal and milk fit in the second category. My wife and I fit in the second category too. We are way beyond just being good together – when we are apart, well – it just doesn’t work. It is more than just missing each other, we have been a part of each other for so long that it’s just unhealthy to be apart for more than a day or two.

I love my wife – she is my fuel – my energy – and my inspiration.

By the way honey, we’re out of milk…….

Asking For The Order

It is such a simple concept- ask for what you want.....if you don't ask for what you want, how can the giver give it to you........if you don't ask for the order, you'll never get it.
Fear is what keeps us from asking. Nobody wants to be rejected so we just don't ask.
The shame of all of this is, people expect you to ask and most of the time - if a compelling story has been told - they will give us the answer we are looking for. I keep learning this over and over - at work and even more important with TORCH. Last week I asked a friend to help with some houses and he is going to build 10! Ask for the order.
Our Father too has promised that if we ask - he will give. Infinantly more than we can imagine. He promised and all we need to do is ask for what we want and believe that He will deliver.
No - not like a winning lotto card - better, Infinantly More Than We Can Imagine. No, not for us but for his glory.

Bold

I like the description of the apostles witness in Acts...BOLD.
BOLD - not a word that I use very often. About the only time lately is when I describe the type on my computer. I like it though. BOLD!
It is a description of how ordinary men were completely changed.
Acts makes it pretty clear to me that these guys didn't complete the change unitl they met the Spirit of God. It was only then that they became BOLD. Even though they had spent years working, preaching, & learning from Jesus - they were inclear about what they believed and were afraid when they needed to be brave. It was the Spirit that made them BOLD.
I wonder if being bold is one of the gifts that the Spirit brings? Maybe I am not as bold of a witness as I want to be because I don't depend enough upon the Spirit.

Amazing

Anybody that knows me will know that one of my favorite scriptures is Ephesians 2:10

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Amazing! God knew before I was born exactly what he wanted me to be doing.

Sometimes though, I wonder how many things he planned for me that I’ve walked past or chose to ignore. How many times have I walked across the street so that I didn’t have to look at the man in the ditch? There is no doubt that every one of us has taken a pass on some of God’s plans for us – I just hope that he had a “plan B” so that the work that he had planned for me got done.

I do know that he has forgiven me for any of my past, present and future failures. He promised that in the verses just before Ephesians 2:10. My paraphrase of the text in verses 8 & 9 is – My grace is what saves you, there isn’t any good work that you can do to save yourself – none. This is so that you will know that salvation is a gift and nothing that you can earn. Amazing!

I’ve thought a lot about why our Father would want all of us to have servant’s hearts and the answer is so obvious that it’s almost funny. Can you imagine how boring and meaningless life would be if it was only about our own small selves? For this life to have purpose & meaning, we need to be doing more than accumulating stuff. With a servant’s heart, we open our eyes to the world around us and stop worrying about getting our fair share. With a servant’s heart we can own nothing and have everything. With the heart of a servant we become just like the Jesus that we have chosen to follow. We are no longer orphans looking for a permanent home. Simple and amazing….