cairns

Has it only been a week?  A false accusation from a totally unexpected direction and a surprise visit from CPS, a very difficult family meeting, a cancer scare for my wife, surgery Wednesday, planned trip to visit a college with my youngest tomorrow, closest prayer partners to get through it all everywhere on the planet — except right here where I live.

I do not care how flawed human beings and their churches are.  This week makes one thing (of many things) very clear.  We need each other.

peace

2 Comments »

S, thank you.  L, thank you as well.  D, D, and B thank you for being part of the place we had that made this place possible.  As I was scanning and uploading this image it occurred to me.  This is and will most probably remain the pinnacle of my teaching career.

The experiences I had that day right where this picture was taken are also now a major metaphor of my current life.  All I have most of the time or truly need is strength and sight for one more rock, one more step, and a clear marker in the distance.

peace

3 Comments »

Its a quiet snow day.  Just a little sunlight is enough when the world is clothed in snow and ice.  The view out my window lifts my spirits.  In the dark and cold, just a little light brings great relief.  Things are looking better for the loved one I wrote of earlier.  Friends surround us as they also surround the globe.  And there is a little light. 

peace

Comments Off

A good friend sent me a very funny email about almost falling on a cactus with herself as the victim — just because I needed a laugh.  Now that is the church to me. 

No matter that you may find this kind of friendship more often in bars than churches — Jesus would more likely be in a bar than a church as well!

Thanks!

Comments Off

She left again this morning, one of the most traveled short term missionaries form our area.   A young wife too shy to speak in Sunday School class has become a woman leading an all woman team on her fourth trip to that magic continent.

By the time Thanksgiving break ends here they will put together photo books for our long term missionaries to share their story back home, prepare and host Thanksgiving dinner for 40-50 people, host a luncheon for women Young Life Workers, get the missionary out of town for a few days of safari and sisterhood, decorate a church for the wedding of two friends in Arusha, visit Zanzibar…beyond that one can only guess.

And life will be different for a few workers — a few workers dedicated to reaching every teen, everywhere, for eternity.  And they will come home different.  I can hardly wait to see what the next page holds!

Comments Off