13 and counting...

Happy Anniversary to Stephanie and I today... We celebrate 13 full, amazing,
adventurous, growing, fun, crazy years of marriage. Who would have thought
13 years ago when we said, "I Do!" that we would be living in Africa and
have five kids! Not us, that's for sure... There is a little wall sign
thingie that on our wall which says "All because two people fell in love."
This little sign makes me laugh when the kids are fighting and chaos is
breaking out and smile when hugs and kisses abound. I guess that is what a
marriage journey is all about. Praise God for His grace which is
sufficient and kind and powerful to lead us through all that life has
brought us so far.

A before and after...

Stephanie and I just celebrated our 9th anniversary with a little gettaway in Seattle. I went down with a beard and left clean shaven. Something about Stephanie not liking to kiss me with a beard threw out all resolution to keep it growing...

"Home"less no longer...

I'm back home. I got in Sunday and it feels great. I got huge hugs from my girls, some wonderful kisses from my wife and some wonderful home cookin'. I took a hot shower, slept on a comfortable bed and woke up to some snuggling little girls. Wow... What a reversal to the situations I witnessed just a few short days ago. Men sleeping on the concrete, women pushing around their shopping carts of belongings and little kids watching ambulances and police cars and listening to sirens. My trip to San Francisco to work with the Center for Student Missions was such a great trip. It was amazing to have exposure to the inner city, to experience poverty and homelessness firsthand. I came away thankful for my parents, my education and primarily my relationship with God. I think above all I was enlightened as to my and all Christians responsibility to love, serve and help the poor...

Jeremiah 22:16 (NIV)
He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?"
declares the Lord.

This verse especially really rocked my world. Throughout the Bible, it is clear that we are called to serve the poor. To know God is defend the cause of the poor and needy.

To often I think I thought it was a calling... I am not called to work with poor. According to this and so many other verses, the poor and needy are at the heartbeat of God. And, I haven't found any out for poor people who are lazy, addicted to drugs or bent on making bad decisions.

During my second day there, I met a homeless lady named Loretta. We had a short 5 minute conversation while on a bus, but she told me, I just wish I could have a house with a kitchen. I was so moved by her simple plea, I said, "Loretta, I will pray for you everyday for the next 30 days." I have prayed for her every day, and also for Clay and Willie.

I think we have a calling to do what Jesus came to do...

Luke 4:18-19 (NIV)
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
[19] to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

A good week... Thanks for your prayers!

A Comment about the crazy bird

I just love Google. You can find out something about everything. I googled "robins hitting windows" and was able to find out the reason why the robin was repeatedly crashing into our windows....for several hours. (SEE VIDEO BELOW.) During the spring, which is mating season, the male robin gets very territorial. So, when it sees it's own reflection in a window it thinks that another bird is trying to invade its territory so it keeps crashing into the bird and the invading bird (its reflection) keeps crashing back at it. It gets more and more agitated and so does the invading bird. Our bird seems to have mellowed in the last few days. We've cleaned up the mess and hope that we don't have another episode.