Live Intentionally

Today we’re discussing Chapter 12 in the Flickering Pixels group blog project.

The points that stood out most to me in this chapter was that our individualism has led to the high rate of failure of intentional communities and marriages. And that we need to develop better habits of interpersonal conflict.

Think about how quick people are to quit their job, end a friendship, leave a church, or get divorced. People dump their “communities” all the time, sometimes over minor personality issues or differences in opinions. It’s partially because we have so many options today. Don’t like your church, your friend, your job, your spouse? You can just get a new one, right?

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Only 9 days until our trip to Kenya.  I don’t know why I didn’t mention this here earlier, but Jennifer and I are going to take an extra suitcase each filled with stuff for the kids in Kenya. Last Wednesday I posted a list of the things you can donate on the Kenya Trip Facebook group.

We’ve already received a lot of great stuff. Including:

• 100+ cross necklaces
• 2 coloring books
• 6 kids flip-flops
• 14 pair of black dress shoes
• 2 boxes of crayons, plus 25 boxes of 4 crayons
• 6 clean, small stuffed animals
• 11 sets of juggling balls
• 1 kids DVD bible
• A bunch of “Jesus loves me” bracelets

Huge thanks to Korin, Cindy, and the other generous people who donated those things! You guys are awesome!

My 8 year old daughter, Ainsley, also went through her room and decided to donate some of her shoes and stuffed animals. (See the pic above) We are so proud of her!

There are still some things you can donate for us to take on the trip.

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Only 17 days before Jennifer and I are supposed to board a plane for Kenya and we have run into 2 huge barriers in the last week.  Barriers so insurmountable on several occasions we thought we would have to cancel the trip.

Thursday I got a call from my dad.  He and my mom had graciously offered to take care of our 5 year old son, Aidyn and his 2 year old sister Aryn for the entire 10 day trip.  My mom has been experiencing terrible lower back and leg pain over the last several weeks.   My dad called to let me know the good news - that the doctors had finally diagnosed the problem (a bulging disk) and was starting treatment, and the bad news – that the doctor said she wouldn’t be able to care for our kids.

Whaaaa???

How are we going to find someone to watch 2 of our children for 10 days at this late hour?

Then yesterday I called Delta to try to reschedule the last leg of our trip.  They had us going from Atlanta to Tampa through Memphis.  (Makes a lot of sense right?) When I got through to someone, she told me, “Oh well, we need to reschedule the rest of trip too because the flight to and from Kenya has been discontinued.

Whaaaa???

Me: It’s less than 3 weeks before departure, when were you planning on letting us know this?  What are we supposed to do now?

The news in both cases was very disheartening.  Jennifer and I talked about it and in that conversation we said, “Well, maybe God just doesn’t want us to go for some reason.”

Dead End or Barrier to Overcome?

It led us to a tough question…

When you’re faced with what looks like an insurmountable obstacle how do you know whether God is closing the door and you should take a new path or He’s giving you’re the opportunity to see Him overcome the barrier?

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I forgot to mention this last week, but I’ve been participating in the group blogging project for the book Flickering Pixels by Shane Hipps.  Last week I had the privilege of blogging about chapter 6.You can read my post here.

In this chapter Hipps claims that communications technology led to post-modernism and it has also led to a flood of facts and trivia that we struggle to make sense of.

So, the questions I’m pondering (and I hope you will to) are…

1) How am I responding to people with a post-modern worldview who are skeptical of universal truth and put off by the claim that Christianity is the only real faith?

2) What am I doing with technology to produce not just information but understanding and wisdom?  And not just in me but in others?

Sunday the worship service at my church focused on the church and school we partner with in St. Louis Da Nord, Haiti.  You can watch this video to learn more about it.

The school provides books, a uniform, and a meal to 450 kids who otherwise would not get any education.  Our family sponsored 2 of those children last year - a 5 year old girl named Youyoute and a 7 year old boy named Louireus – and we were excited to be able to sponsor the same two children again this year.

In addition to that…
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Sunday I had the remarkable opportunity to be on the front lines where physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual battles are taking place.  Our worship services were on the topic of healing and at the end of each service our pastor invited people to come forward for prayer with the spiritual leaders of the church.  For 40-50 minutes after each service we prayed earnestly that God would heal a number of people with cancer, with broken marriages, addictions, financial problems, and more.

It was an intense combination of fear and hope and sorry and joy as we prayed and talked and cried with so many people who are going through so many difficult things.  I know that God was at work, and I’m glad that I was able to be a part of it.

It was difficult to see so many people going through so much pain, but you know what really broke my heart more than anything?

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Six weeks from tomorrow we’ll be on a plane to Kenya.  I can hardly wait!  We purchased our airline tickets earlier this week (actually Delta charged us 3x for the tickets and put us over our credit card limit.  What a headache!) and just a couple of hours ago Jennifer and I got our first round of immunization shots.

While I can’t say I enjoyed the trip to the health department or the needles, it is neat how each step in preparation for the trip has provided several opportunities to tell people about Cypress, Springs of Hope, and Jesus.

Because one of the immunizations must be administered at least a month before we leave, this is your last shot (lame pun intended).  If you’d like to go with us, you need to make a decision this weekend.  I’ll also be at Cypress for both services Sunday, and would be happy to talk more with you about the trip.

I’m really excited that Aaron Bischoff is going with us!  Yea!!!

There are a few others who I’ve talked with and I’m praying will be able to go too.

It’s not too late for you.  Send me a message or call if you have questions.

Just came across this video and found it inspiring. Hope you do too.

I was reading an email that arrived in my inbox this morning and this paragraph stood out to me.

“My experience tells me that uptight people can never really experience joy. People who have everything screwed down real tight can never learn to dance. People who are not at peace with themselves, people who carry around the baggage of past hurts and failures, people who look at the world through the narrow lens of their own self-interest, people who just plain don’t like themselves or others, can never really discover the hilarity the Gospel promises.”

For me, my joyless days usually come when I am overly focused on my own agenda, just trying to get stuff done.  Any of these things keeping you experiencing true joy?

The paragraph continues…

“Only those who let go and discover the deep peace which comes in knowing we are loved simply because God chooses to accept and love us, can know the freedom of laughter.”

Here’s to a joyful day!  (You can find the whole message here.)

I’m very excited to announce that my wife, Jennifer, and I will be traveling to Nakuru, Kenya this summer to serve along side our friends Joe and Molly Bail at Springs of Hope.  Joe and Molly have been living in Nakuru ministering to the people of that area and building a home for children who have been orphaned by AIDS.

As excited as I am about going on this trip, I am actually more excited about the potential to share this experience with you – whether you can actually travel with us or not.

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