Category: family

Or something like that. mom is getting ready for her big race and dad is in charge!

I can’t explain it but suddenly paul decided to play today. he hd a blast and scored 3 goals… and checked a kid who got too close to him. that’s how paul rolls.

Today is just like all the other days. we are here and paul doesn’t want to play. at least he got a uniform.

No more dreams of Kentucky loving for these siblings.

Our kids fight over everything. Any menial inequity is a big deal. This morning Megan and Paul were fighting, crying/whining/punching, because of the last waffle in the house. They weren’t willing to share it… one of them had to have the whole stupid waffle.

No one has to convince me that we are born with a sin nature. I love my kids, I’d do anything for them. But they gotta figure this whole fighting over nothing thing out. Mom and dad are going crazy.

It was my fault. I was trying to make tea so I put the kettle on and walked away. I have a habit of turning the wrong burner on… and about 3 minutes later you hear a big "kaboom!" coming from the kitchen. I assumed that one of the kittens had knocked something off of the counter and scurried out when a bowl shattered.

It turns out that I had exploded a Pyrex bowl into a billion pieces all over the kitchen. (Thankfully, no one was hurt.) The molten glass even burned the kitchen floor a little.

As Paul said, "Daddy, you are in big trouble. You’re a very bad boy." It’s true.

No, this isn’t about O.J. Simpson and the world’s most famous house guest.

This weekend we hosted a missionary couple in our home who was visiting First Baptist. Since we have a few things in common I had a feeling we would get along… but I totally underestimated how much we were going to like having the Whiting’s with us.

The are just as crazy as we are. If by "crazy" you mean, "faithful enough to follow God out of Ur" or "faithful enough to want to capture the Promised Land."

These aren’t the first missionaries from the church we’ve hosted, so when the visit began I’ll admit that I was a little on edge. Within 10 minutes of their arrival we were sitting in our living room and I was answering questions about all the changes at the church. I wondered, "Are these people here to tear us down or are they just curious?" In fact… not only were they curious, they were exceedingly happy with all we’ve been up to. We both wrote down ideas that one another have used that we’ll consider here and they will consider in Croatia. (Local churches there call them crazy, too! We are not alone.)

By Sunday afternoon we had progressed from sharing stories to coming up with new ideas discussing how to look at this community "more missiologically." And yesterday, before they left we talked again about engaging a culture and following Jesus’ command in Matthew 28 to "go" to our culture instead of waiting for them to come.

One thought that sticks in my mind was his categorization of things in the New Testament church. He put things into the category of historical Jewish methods (come to us, be like us, to be reached by us) and historical Jesus methods. (go to them, be like them, to reach them)

Here’s my thought for the day: Since America has become a mission field and there is general acknowledgment that we need to act like missionaries in order to reach our communities… we shouldn’t be studying the methods of church… we should be studying the methods of effective missionaries. (For another day I’ll contrast "effective missionaries" with "systematic missionaries.")

Here’s a Gene Whiting thought to chew on: In Europe there are traditions based on centuries of history. In America, change is the tradition itself.

In my high school years, one man really sticks out as having invested in my spiritual development: Dan Evans. I’ve talked about this guy before.. but I thought it would be great to post a bit of an update.

It’s incredible to think that 15 years after he was my youth pastor, Dan & Barb are still working for the same organization. When I met them, they were living in Hanau, Germany and targeting their ministry towards students at Hanau American High School and Middle School. While most people don’t even know that the Defense Department runs a school district at one time it was probably the largest school district in the United States as they provided education to military dependents living overseas.

When Dan came into my life, I was lost. I mean really lost. Hurting, confused, frustrated, and bored I was living  thousands of miles away from my hometown of South Bend, Indiana. More than anything… I needed someone stable and normal in my life and Dan provided that.

So where is he now? Last year, Dan left student ministry after about 20 years of working with Cadence International’s Malachi Ministries. Never fear… they didn’t leave ministry altogether, they just kind of morphed into a logical step for a growing family… running a hospitality house. Better yet (for Dan the outdoorsmen) they have moved to Alaska!

In an update we received last night, Barb tells us that they are busy with doing what they’re good at... connecting hurting people to a loving God. I wasn’t around the military very much (10 months) but I can tell you that folks who are stationed far from home crave deep relationships. For some this results in dysfunction as they fill that need for deep connections with crap. (drinking, partying, self-destructive habits) But Dan & Barb step into that void and try to fill those desires with good stuff. They are expert disciplers and I am proud to know them, pray for them, support them, and stand behind them to cheer them on.

What about you? Where are the people who had deep impacts on your life? Are you still in contact with them? Do you still pray for them?