Ok, so . . . sorry that I have not posted for a couple of days – there has been a lot going on:

yesterday - I spent the whole day with my Block class at Bethel at the Science and industry museum in Chicago.  Now, I forgot my camera, but here are a few pictures that Heather (one of my students) took  – we had a good time

Beyond these pictures – here are few more of my highlights:

1. I got to disect a Cow’s eye for 25 minutes with some of the students. . . . not going to lie. . . pretty amazing – especially the sheer volume of eye juice that was in there!

2. Heard the story and went inside the only German Uboat on American soil – the U505 – it was huge!! The whole thing is indoors, and we went inside for a 20 minute tour that took us back to what happened on the day that it was captured, we got to see the actual torpedo bays that sank 40+ ships, hear some of the music that the soldiers were listening to that day. . . . yes, I know I am a nerd. . . but it was amazing!

3. Saw one of the Ominmax shows. . . . . AMAZING. . . it was about South Africa and the Wild Coast – reminded me that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law are heading over there soon as missionaries (more on that to come)

4. Saw a baby chick hatching from its shell. . . live. . .

5. Got to get to know more of my students better – they are an amazing group of young adults!

 . . . .

Then I made it back to Bethel just in time to start my 6-10pm class that I teach every Tues. night. . . . those students are equally as great! – lots of fun, but I was tired . . . . thankfully I got to go home and see the real highlight of my day – Ang . . . isn’t this a great picture of her that Debbie Mann took a few weeks ago?

Today – I got to participate in a lecture series on social media that Aaron Marshall (the aforementioned brother-in-law) has been giving to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary over the past few months. He wanted me to explain a little bit about how I use this blog as well as my twitter and facebook accounts as an evangelistic tool. I had so much fun, because here I am in an office with a webcam. . . . where I can see them, and they can see me (free via Skype), and we can talk – as if we were in the same room. . . . even though they’re in Louisville, KY.

Aaron asked me some questions and I talked about how I feel like my blog is a witness/display to others of how I try (I am sooooooo far from perfect at this!!!!) to really keep God at the center of all my life (i.e., why I include many parts of my life on this blog), AND also how social media is my way of imitating God’s model of coming to us/our world with Jesus. . . so, I go into “their” world – my students (believers and non-believers) – a place that is comfortable for them, relevant to them. . . . . where they spend A LOT of time:). . . . and how, on one such occasion a few weeks ago – I was honored and humbled to help lead someone to Christ through Facebook Chat. . . Crazy. . . I know. . . . God can use anything to show others that He loves them!!! (ps – I am soo proud of that student!)

 One of the best things about this little talk this morning. . . is what happened afterwards. . . .I simply clicked a button on my computer to “hang up” and poof – just like that I am no longer in front of people at a seminary, . . . and then my wife calls and says that she, through a link that my sister-in-law sent her by twitter, was watching me from our home give my little presentation to the conference in Louisville. . . . WILD. . . . . ha! . . . . we have used Skype for awhile, but this is my highlight so far

Thanks for catching up with me. . . . have a great day everyone!

You guys have already heard me talk a lot about my block class. . . because I really do care so much for my students. . . .

. . . . and I get to have a lot of fun!

Yesterday, I saw the first real signs of the transition from High school to College. . . you know. . . . when the students start saying things like “man, why did we do all of the stupid stuff in high school. . . . who cares what other people think!” – I love this part, because they are beginning to realize their place in the adult world – as they are. . . . not what their friends think they should be. . . . but their own man or woman. . .

Anyways, they had their first speech yesterday in Speech class (the other half of block), and it was on  wisdom they had gained thus far in life. . . . . so, I wanted to share just some tidbits of their wisdom

God taught me how to love, and not judge others through the stinging pain of insults and judgements that others rained down on me

wisdom is not just knowing you are gifted, but knowing how to use your gift for good

wisdom does not just happen overnight – it takes proper trainging, time, and the ability to learn from mistakes

I knew what I wanted to do, but didn’t know the steps. . . . . but I believed that Bethel could get me there

I had always been a Christian as long as I could remember. . . . or so I thought. . . . until I felt loved and accepted for the first time

wisdom is the ability to see the big picture of the present and future, but also the past. . . looking back and seeing God’s hand move

worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of sorrow, but it empties today of strength

which do you have. . . . reasons or excuses?

Have you ever had moments when you look back on your life and laugh outloud at certain moments in your past. . . whether or not they were funny at the time. For instance, my dad used to wake up me and my two brothers at 6 am on Saturday mornings in the summer time to go and work outside in our garden (we had a huge garden ~ acre, more like a small farm ). The funny thing was that he would be all smiles as he burst into our room nearly shouting “WE’RE BURNING DAYLIGHT BOYS, WE’RE BURNING DAYLIGHT” – of course we would moan and groan in futility, but an hour later we were outside working our butts off, and usually laughing about something - having a good time.

This morning was one of those mornings - - Every year all of the block students (around 300-400 students) do a community service project day (half in the morning, half in the afternoon) as part of their freshman orientation. For several years now we have descended like a hoard of locusts onto riverpark off of Main Street in Mishawaka, and done everything from weed it all of it by hand, to spread mulch, to move rocks, etc…

This year was a whole new level. . . They dammed up and drained the entire park area so that it could be “cleaned” of all of the trash and sludge that had built up in the past year. Armed with hand scrappers, snow shovels, and other various shoveling equipment, a big group of us attacked the sludge!!!

Was is hard work. . . yes. . . did we have to get up early to get out there. . . yes. . . was it what anybody really wanted to do when they rolled out of bed this morning. . . no. . . Did it smell. . . c’mon, what do you think?  Most importantly. . . did we have fun. . . WE HAD A BLAST!! We were covered in “muck“, we were hot, we smelled something fierce, we were thirsty, and we didn’t know eachother, but I think we were all laughing most of the morning – just yelling and being silly, acting like Lord of the Rings going into battle with our snow-shovel-shields, - getting dirty like my 16 month can only dream of – good times. . . As Mark Beeson would say, we were making memories – great memories. Somewhere between students getting snipered by a conceiled raise of concrete, releasing a jolting aaauugh, and watching 3 overworked city workers be able to take a morning off. . . God showed up. . . . . . . . and obligation turned into opportunity. . . and we didn’t look back. . .

Can’t attitude sometimes change almost everything??

I challenge us all today to do three things:

1. Remember that God owns everything and that we are stewards of His creation

2. Think of ourselves less often today

3. Willingly accept a job that most people would consider “beneath” them

Peace be with you all -

So, had orientation for the block students this past weekend at Bethel. Block is an amazing program where each and every freshman gets put into a “block” with around 20 other students. There are also two upperclassman that serve as block mentors. These mentors do just that, they set up outside activities for these 20 students to get to know each other doing everything from bible studies to video scavenger hunts to cooking breakfast for our morning class. . . during class . As a block we (the students and two professors who co-teach two classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays) do community service projects together and go on a couple of trips together throughout the Fall semester. There’s more here – feel free to ask questions if you want.

One of the best things about block, is that the freshman get here 5 days before the other students and get to hang out and do things before everyone else arrives. For example, yesterday we all went to Chicago together to hang out for 5 hours – Bethel sends all the blocks up in separate Charter buses, gives us money for dinner (we made reservations at Giordano’s!!!), and says go have fun – see you in 5 hours!!! Good times. Well, I always like to throw in something memorable during this time. So, this is how it played out. . .

Me and about 6 students were going down Michigan Street passing homeless people left and right. . . after about the 6 one, I said “hey, let’s talk about this. . . Everyone has to make a decision. . . everytime. . . how do you decide whether to stop or not? to give or not??” —silence— “come’on there are no wrong answers. . . ” Things started flowing at that point.  Mostly familiar things like, it being their choice to be homeless, nervous, scared, just ignoring it, don’t want to give them money to go and get booze . . . etc….

Well, I have had the pleasure to have done some homeless ministry in my past, and so I asked for volunteers to go and talk with the last man that we past who had a “God is good” sign in front of him. I said only a group of 4 b/c did not want to overwhelm him. I told the group, from my experience, - “hey, we may get cussed out, he may be mentally ill, or he may be just like you and me, we don’t know. . . here we go”

This is about when God shows up, I love how He does that! -

Walter is his name, but people who know him call him Farmer  – we had a great conversation, us 4, sitting around him hogging most of the busy sidewalk. . . having church. . . . He explained that for right now God is calling him to be a reminder, a “seed” (thus, the farmer) to others that God is good, and that amidst all of the spending and hectic pace . . . God wants to remind you that He is here for you and that He is good. His story is deep and rich with times of being in prison, times of being in love, time of being rejected. . . and we listened. . . just listened. We prayed for Walter, the farmer, and he prayed for us. . . our time was up – and we moved back into the “field” with our new seeds .

Of course the other students in our group that did not go and see Walter were wondering WHAT HAPPENED!!!, so we talked it out. Great discussion!! For everyone. . . you have to decide. . . it could have been all a polished story. . . a con. . . or it could have been truth. . . several of us prayed silently for a discerning spirit while talking to Walter, but we did not get a “for sure” answer – — – - oh, and then the big one. . . what if it was true. . . ?? would God really call someone to be homeless!!! to dig through trash cans, chase down garbage trucks, and sleep over sewer caps to stay warm. . . would my God really do that???

How do you decide?

One thing I know . . . we all have stories to share. . . and Walter just wanted to tell his story. In his prayer to us, he thanked us several time for just coming and “entering into his loneliness” bringing a moment of life and joy and acceptance. We told Walter that we would be back in an hour with leftovers from Giordano’s. . . he was waiting for us, and we gave him 7 boxes of 2 pieces each – not all for him of course. . . but so that he could he could do what he does best. . . provide nourishment, afterall he is the Farmer, he already knows how to do this - he had already done it for us -

Thanks Farmer