1. Dakota – “ELEPHANT!”. . . Ang – “no, it’s chicken” (Ang was putting it into the oven)

2. I’m cleaning up, and I hear Ang say in the other room to one of the kids. . . “We’re not tying your brother up tonight”. . . .

3. Kya, Elli, and I are playing soccer in the living room, and Kya is the referee trying to decide who should get the ball first. . . . coin toss? No. . . He asks – “Elli, do you like green eggs and ham”, Elliana: “Yes”, Kya – “OK your ball first” . . . . . WOW – I had no chance on that one!

4. I say “why is Dane trying to eat my ear?” . . .Ang – “he is just trying to give you a kiss” . . . Me – “are you sure? that sounds like some famous last words” . . . Ang – “yes, it is just what he has been doing today” . . . Me – “ok” . . .Dane (11months) gives me a kiss on the ear, and then . . . Me – “ouch!”. . . Dane “***laugh*” . . . .

5. 2:30 a.m. and Dakota is calling Ang from his bed. . . “MAAAAAHHHHHMMEEEEEEEE, MAAAAHHHHHMMMEEEEE” – So, Ang gets up and goes into his bedroom (Dakota sleeps on the bottom bunk, and Kya is up top), and Dakota asks Ang “Ice cream shop?” – Ang – “later”. . . Dakota “OK” and he goes back to sleep. I love how Ang didn’t even try to say “no” to Dakota’s request to have ice cream in the middle of the night, but just redirected it. . . “Brilliant”!

- the really funny thing is that this is almost every day/weekend – I love being a dad so much. It is by no means fun and games all the time, but they really do crack me up sometimes. Praise God that I get to have them in my house for a few years !

****OH, and I just heard from Ang that we have been officially liscensed as foster parents by the state!!!. We (and especially Ang) has worked so hard on this process the last 5 months, and now we just wait. . . . and keep praying for the one who will soon show up at our door, not wanting to come in, but having to – - praying that God will use us to show them love. . . unconditional love.

So, one of the students that I mentor here on campus, Shane, is going to be a guest blogger for the Deeper Life Conference (Jill Briscoe). These are some of his highlights and thoughts from session 2 last night:

- Often when we think of worship these days we think of praise. Worship is so much more than praise, it’s work.

- The spirit of Him who lives in us has the power to raise dead bodies.

- There are 2 areas that we get tired: in the work of the Lord, and of the work of the Lord.

- When ever God does something big he does it by his Spirit.

- No matter how tired you never run out of God.

- We (Christians) aren’t supposed to be happy all the time.

- How will you praise Him if you are somewhere you were never meant to be?

- Joy- something deep, deep, deep, deep, down.

- God says, as you pour out,  He’ll pour in

- He waits for your obedience.

 Tonight Jill again talked about the Holy Spirit. She really tried to drive home how the same spirit that is in us is the same spirit that was in Jesus and others raising the dead and doing amazing things.  This is something to think about, something to really ponder. . .

What are we scared of? This is a Spirit that can do radical things a Spirit that changes lives, a Spirit that wants us to listen and wants us to pour out of our selves.

Jill said that we need to keep pouring out. We can’t stop! She gave us an example from the Bible about how this woman poured oil out of this tiny, tiny bottle and she filled tubs and tubs full of oil, she never ran out. She said, like this woman. . . . we need to pour out of our selves and know that we can not run out of God. This doesn’t mean we won’t get tired this doesn’t mean that we will be happy all the time but in all the pain and in all the troubles God is still there he doesn’t run out.

He doesn’t stop pouring into us. When we are tuned into God and when we are listening and living by Him there are no boundaries;  no line He won’t cross. It will take all you have, it will take all of you! Freely we have received! Now freely give!

So, I got back from India at 1:30 am yesterday morning, and right now I am about to teach my first lecture of the new Spring Semester. . . . there is so much to be said about the trip, and it will come . . . please be patient . . . Thank you so much for your prayers!!! God is on the move. . . and I have so many stories to share with you!

right now, I am reminded of my called vocation – there is much work to be done in the mission field of my classroom. I am honored to do it – here we go. . . . game day. . . . it’s go time baby!!!!

Follow our trip to India

HERE IS THE LINK

So, I thought for those of you who are not sure what the point is for me and the team to go over to India – here are two videos introducing International Justice Mission, which is the organization we are partnering with while over in India.

video 1

Video 2

WISDOM: The human capacity to view life and this world through God’s eyes

Father, today please increase our vision to see all of our circumstances through your eyes

So, I am going to try something new. . . sometimes I take a picture of my kids that is just priceless (of course, I am biased = this is my youngest son, Dakota), now I could blog a million different directions with this picture. . . what would you do?

Here is the challenge: write in the comments what you would do (e.g., title and a couple sentence direction) if you were to blog about this series of pictures?? Let’s have some fun with this one

Well, today is a big day – Elliana started Montessouri this morning – she is sooo cute – these pictures of her with her backpack were from this morning. She was so hyper this morning that she did not even want to eat breakfast, which for her. . . that’s a big deal. She will do great I’m sure, but it provided me with some empathy for all of the parents I talked to over the weekend that were leaving their “little” boys and girls with me at College. . . I met all the parents of my block students this weekend, and we prayed for their children and the journey that they are beginning.  Not going to lie. . . there were quite a few tears from the parents. . . this IS a big deal and I do not take it lightly. It is a true privelege to be entrusted with others’ children to help them along their own adventures. By partnering with God, my goal in my classrooms is nothing less than true transformation – I know, it’s a high goal, a big mountain in front of me, but I learned long ago – that instead of telling God how big this mountain is. . . I need to trust and tell the mountain how big my God is –   

If you teach. . . anything. . . to anyone. . . remember the mantle that is upon us as educators – teach well, live well, model well, and be grateful that we do not have to search for a way to influence the young minds of this generation. . . it is our vocation. Be inspired to be the educator that guides students down a new road this year – Isaiah 43:18-19 Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands. – The message

Peace be with you

This concept was brought up by our Wedsnesday night speaker pastor Scott (sorry I forgot the last name) from the The Chapel church in Grayslake Illinois. The idea of Practicial Atheism is that though 73% of people this part of the country profess to believe in the God of the Bible (not just any god, but the one true God), only about 6% are involved in a local ministry of some sort. Here is the main point of what Practical Atheism is :

Though we may believe in God we act and live as if we don’t. . . let me say that again, though many of us say that we believe in God, we totally act as if we don’t. This greatly worries me, b/c I don’t know which is more dangerous, someone who is adamentally opposed to God or someone who claims to be a Christ-follower, but nothing in his/her actions is carrying out that belief. This of course, is very synonomous with what the bible calls “Lukewarm”, which God seems to detest the most.

Hey, I know you have probably heard this before, but has anything changed. . . ? Are we concerned more with our happiness or our holiness? Notice, I am including myself here, I am as guilty as anyone, but I am tired of wasting the opportunities that God puts in front of me DAILY to serve him and bring Up there Down here. So, God I pray that you somehow give us the motivation, the passion, and the courage to do what you are calling us today to do. Please give us the patience to wait on you daily with our ears and our hearts seeking your still small voice. Thank you for your faithfulness to us, and your passion for all people. Amen.

So, I am back from our 2.5 day retreat at Oakwood Park in Syracuse, IN, where I did not have internet access. Sorry for the lack up updates, but there were a lot of great things that I experienced and learned that I will share with you guys over the next couple of days. Let me just say this as I run out of my office to go and see my wife and kids – Bethel College is a special place. . . a very special place, and I am honored to work here.  A lof of people ask, what makes Bethel so different? and while there are many ways to answer this question – let me leave you with this. . . Today is one week before classes start. . . and already, through the faculty and staff’s committment, every single bed on campus has been prayed over, ever seat in the auditorium has been prayed over, and some students. . . that’s right, students, have come back early and prayed have prayed over all of the athletic courts and fields!

We believe in and are committed to working towards transformation here. All truth is God’s truth, and I, as a faculty member blessed to be able to teach some of that truth – this is going to be a great year!!

So, there were a couple of things that I couldn’t get out of my head pertaining to this weekend’s message with Rob Wegner (see it here: www.gccwired.com ). One key phrase that really hit me was -

Being Addicted to Approval - I think we all seek approval through others, in fact that is part of our natural way of gaining self-esteem and confidence; however, the key there is that it should only be a “part” of how we do this. The amazing thing is that it too often becomes the ONLY way that we find worth. Just some thoughts and let me know what you think about them – there are some common things in ALL addictions:

the HIGH: how good it really feels to have someone laugh at our jokes or wit – even smiling at us, giving us thanks, loving us when we get good grades, do well at work, win the game, or just any approval whatsoever

the CRASH: when the high feeling runs out and you sink down lower than where you were before the high even came – or maybe you tried really hard to get approval – to get those grades, to be the perfect employee, to win that competition, to not mess up . . . and nothing. . . I mean you get nothing in return – you feel worse off than before – maybe embarrassed, feeling stupid, betrayed, or any number of negative emotions

TOLERANCE: your body’s or mind’s amazing ability to adjust to the incoming drug’s “high” resulting in a constant need for more and more of the substance/experience that leads to an insatiable craving. How true this is for other’s approval of us. . . how addicting other’s laughter can become for us, their smiles, their praise, their conditional love. . . my experience is that this craving is soooo strong sometimes that in an instant we can say or do things that we would “never” do – just to get a positive reaction of some sort. sometimes our craving leads us to push beyond our normal standards of integrity just to fill an empty spot inside of us, just for an instant to try and “prove” to ourselves that we are liked and accepted.

This is one of the great things about Christ that I love – over and over in the bible he talks about his Father’s unconditional love for us, for no logical reason.

As Rob talked about, this can all be related to Trapeze artists. We are the flyers and God is the catcher. The role of the flyer is simply to LET GO and STRETCH OUT AS FAR AS THEY CAN then they just wait for the catcher to catch them. Letting go is tough, but I think waiting for God to catch us is the hardest part  – no matter what we are dealing with, trusting that God will catch us when we let go (usually scared to death when we do) is tough, real tough. . .but it is worth it, b/c God always, always catches us, and if we never let go, . . . well, we always swing back to the exact same place we were – no progress. Let us all let go of something today and stretch out as far as we can. . . the catcher is ready and WILL be there!

I enjoy reading blogs, and you will see that some of the ones that I follow I have links to. I enjoy people’s stories, because the psychologist in me loves to see how God moves in and through other people. Some people ecouraged me to start my own. . . why? I thought, aren’t there plenty out there?? I’ll just cut to the chase. . . this blog is not for me or even my family, it is a reflection of the story that God is writing in and through me – I hope that others will journey along with me and my family on this adventure, but in the end – it is all about giving God glory. I have lots of unique thoughts and insights (or so I think) throughout the day – too often I forget them. I love trying to figure out what God is doing with me. I have so much to learn. . . and I can’t wait – here we go