Preparing Kaylene for her Dominican Experience

This Friday we take Kaylene to LAX to begin her two month internship with SI in the Dominican Republic. She has set up her first blog and will be posting throughout this summer. 

Kaylene and I went four years ago and last summer. She sensed God's calling her to serve this summer after we went last summer when she went as high school advisor. She was a leader to our students and also was working with interns that were her age. She was encouraged by the staff to apply for this summer and after much prayer she did. The outpouring of support from our church and friends has been overwhelming. Kaylene is fully funded and last Sunday we had a time of prayer for her which was rich and sweet.

I will let her tell her story though her blog. Wendi and I will be leaving to the DR at the of July for a 9 day outreach. This will be Wendi's first mission experience outside of the country. She's a little freaked out about flying but I'm confident that she will have a great time. Who knows? She may even want to go work there.

Long Time, No Blog

This blogging thing takes time and thought. It's been almost two years since I last wrote an entry and some things have changed, while others remain the same.

I'm still diabetic. Still trying to figure out how to eat, live and manage my life in this new paradigm. I've had a couple of kidney stones in the past 5 months - one required lithotripsy, and the other passed on its own. I joined a gym in February and was doing great until Chris shattered his femur in a freak accident in early March. I have not gone back since - the desire is there, but I just need to get out and do it.

This past year has been a year of change and challenge to live a balanced life. Wendi was "called" to go into teaching full-time at an incredible charter school in Fresno, Kepler School. She became an intern - meaning that she is teaching full-time while simultaneously going back to school evenings at Fresno Pacific University to earn her teaching credential. The schedule has been grueling, giving her little time off for doing anything social.

Our time together has become study sessions at Panera, Starbucks or Mia Cuppa Caffe' in the Tower District. I've learned a lot through this experience.

First, women cannot tune out their environment and focus on one thing. Wendi gets distracted when at home - even when it's just the two of us. It's not noise (nor the lack of it) but rather sitting in an environment where laundry calls out to be done, floors call out to be swept, and the house calls out to be decluttered. This was a new revelation after being married for 30 years to this woman.

Second, there are times when one is called to support the other though challenging times in life. When we were married, one of the scriptures we picked at our wedding was Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. Verse 9 says, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil." I have found that true throughout my marriage. Wendi has been a great help-mate in life. It is a blessing to do the same for her. She will be finished in May and we can hardly wait for it to be over. The question is, "Will BTSA go away before the start of the 2016-17 year?"

Kaylene and I went to the Dominican Republic in July and it was a blessing to serve alongside missionaries and other believers in Jarabacoa. Kaylene is praying about being an intern next summer and I am hoping that Wendi can go with me in the near future. I can easily see myself (with Wendi, of course) serving there in some capacity. We'll see what God has in store.

Today was the first day of my 31st year in education. I'm starting to sense that my time in the public schools will come to an end. I have an idea of what I'd like to do next and perhaps when I'd like to do move on. For now I'll keep it to myself and see what happens in the next couple of years.

I'll blog more in the future - hopefully about something more specific and less rambling.

Not for the Faint of Heart

It's never good news when the doctor's office calls and asks if you can come in the following day. I didn't think much about it but Wendi insisted that it was bad news. I thought she was being overly dramatic.

Wendi & I (1981)

The bottom line is that I've been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. In the past I guess I'd be considered borderline but not any more. The doctor believes that this can be controlled by diet and exercise but I'm also on medication for now. She didn't want to label me as such but yet there it is.

I've thinking about making a lifestyle change for quite a while. I don't do much exercise and have gained quite a bit of weight. This news has put things into perspective and increases the urgency to make the changes.

This getting older thing is definitely not for the faint of heart as a friend of my mine posted on Facebook the other day. This means that I will need to be disciplined in my eating choices and make time for exercise. I'd eat like I was in my twenties, giving no thought to how much I was eating or what I was eating. I don't know if this applies but it brought 1 Corinthians 13:11 to mind, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways." 

Wendi says that this is hard news. It means that I need to change. From reading the literature I received yesterday this is something that is not going to go away. When I found out I had bladder cancer two years ago, my world was rocked. The "C" word was now a part of me. Right now it's not a big deal but who knows what future brings. Change comes for everyone but the important part is, how will I respond to the change?

I'm not sure but that will be the subject for a later post. When I was reading everyone's posting on Facebook for today (Thanksgiving), I'll admit I wasn't finding much to be thankful about. But on further reflection, I am thankful for lots of things: my family, my Faith in Christ, my church, my ministry activities, my job, my co-workers and yes, my health. I've been given an incredible opportunity to become healthier and live more productive. I'm going for it!

  

All My Bags Are Packed...Am I Ready To Go?

Tomorrow afternoon (7/15) at 5:30 PM a team of 30 of us from 1st Pres. board a charter bus to LAX and leave for a 13-day mission trip to the Dominican Republic with Students International. We will be working alongside missionaries in different areas: a school for special needs students, a preschool, physical therapy, health and dental work, social work, sports for teens, construction, and micro-finance.

Our youth director, Craig, had a vision for families to go on a mission trip together and minister oversees to give students and families the opportunity to see God at work in other parts of the world. The unique aspect of this is the multi-generational component of this. Some families are going as well as some teens. My daughter Kaylene wanted to go and  my wife, Wendi thought it would be a good idea (even better if I went along too!). For Kaylene and others on this trip, this will be their first time serving on a mission trip outside of the country.

I am always up for an adventure and thought it would be fun to go. However, I have been hesitant to go this time and wasn't sure that I should actually go. The first stumbling block for me is the financial aspect. Things have been rough this year with medical issues that I've dealt with and blogged about this past year. It has been a bit of a strain financially and the economy hasn't helped much either. I had a talk with our missions director, Terry, who told me that I should not let money be the issue. Wendi and I prayed about finances and going to the D.R. Shortly after that, she got a long-term sub job in Cutler.

Ok, one excuse down...

Wendi likes to point out that in his book Desiring God, John Piper says that because God is sovereign, He always gets His way in the end. His plans can't be thwarted. Jonah is a perfect example of that principle. Jonah did make things harder on himself. I dropped the ball in so many ways preparing for this trip. I never wrote a letter asking for support or prayer, yet somehow the finances came through. I saw that we needed to have certain vaccinations before leaving. Fortunately Kaylene was all up to speed except for Typhoid. Wendi found out that I needed shots and I got them all in one day...yippee!!

Excuse two down...

The past three weeks have been crazy. Our sewer line got clogged and I needed to dig out and replace twenty-seven feet of old clay pipe with ABS pipe. If you want to see the pictures, click here to view them. Yesterday I just finished fixing five sprinkler lines that were broken in the process of trenching and digging to the line.

In spite of my slothfulness, inattentiveness and things that were outside of my control, I am still going. Let me make it clear that I do want to go, but I really have felt distracted by life over that past couple of months with work, church, and things that make life 'interesting.' Wendi even said to me that she feels more strongly than ever that I should be on this trip. That goes a long way with me. God seems to speak to me through my wife more than any other way except for His Word.

I was talking with our high school intern, Chris, the other night about the trip. He was telling me about how many of the kids were "freaking" out and uncertain about what was going to happen. He told the students to relax and know that they would be going to be servants. Jesus told the disciples to leave their boats and nets to follow Him. Chris then said, "Just get of the boat and go." Words of wisdom from a young man that will be on the trip with us.

Prayer Requests

If you've read this entry up to here, you can consider this my prayer support letter. We will be in the town of Jarabacoa, an mountainous area in the center of the country. Kaylene will be working with girls in a sports camp environment. Specifically, she will be playing sports and teaching physical education to build relationships. She will assist with leading volleyball, soccer and softball clinics. I will be working with boys in the community (ages 7-15), through games, Bible Studies,  and getting to know their families. 

Kaylene has taken two years of Spanish and I learned Spanish from working in Cutler. I understand Spanish pretty well, but when I was on a trip to Cuba almost 10 years ago, I tried to order coffee for some friends when we were in the airport in Mexico City. I asked for dos cafés (two coffees) but got dos conos (two ice cream cones). Hopefully I'll be a better communicator this time.

Here's how you can pray for us:

• Pray that all of our travel to the D.R. and back are uneventful. We're flying to the D.R. via Panama City.
• Pray for our health - that everyone on the team will practice safe hygiene and no one would get sick.
• Pray that we would be able to communicate the Love of Christ with the people that we meet - in spite of our language differences.
• Pray that we would be changed as a result of our experiences - how? I don't know and can't anticipate.
• Pray for unity among the various ministry teams.

If I can, I will blog as we minister, but I'll probably be journaling the old fashioned way (the way we used to before computers and the internet). If I can, I'll post pictures and quick updates on Facebook.

Thanks for your prayers.

Routines

Today was my first day back after three weeks off for Christmas break. I needed the time off and needed the rest but quickly developed routines that were not very productive. It's great to take time off and do something different, and to get some much needed rest. I was ready to get back to work, but did I accomplish anything during that time off - did I have fun?

When given he opportunity, my kids can sleep in all day. From my high school days I can remember sleeping in until 12-12:30 on Saturday mornings after Friday night football games. Today, if I can sleep in until 8:30, I'm doing great. Between an aging bladder and a old dog dying for morning attention (well, a backyard potty break and some breakfast), it's impossible to sleep later than 9 AM.

One routine that I had developed before Christmas was uninterrupted 30 minutes of listening to the Bible from the YouVersion app on my iPhone on the way to school in the morning. Since I didn't have to go to school, I would get on the laptop or iPad and read 3 newspapers, check out Facebook for a couple of hours and then watch a documentary or movie on Netflix. This new routine really ate a lot of my time and left me drained.

Towards the end it was getting pretty pathetic as I turned to foreign films and watched a series of short movies that poked fun at life in communist Romania. I have always liked listening to foreign languages and this got me in the mood for more. I finished my movie vacation by watching a movie that was in Swedish, English and Arabic (Arn: The Knight Templar). Although I enjoyed these movies, I found myself wanting more. Chris had moved a DVD up in our queue, The Ultimate Gift, a movie that we had seen parts of at our men's retreat last May. It was good and great way to end my movie watching for now.

During vacation I thought about going out for a bike ride or a walk. But ultimately I was just too lazy. Now I could feel guilty about this but I choose not to. I didn't completely fall into my typical Christmas time blues. I did get to spend time with Wendi and the kids a lot more. We ate meals together every day. I did take Kaylene to and from her soccer practices. And I took a shower and got dressed every day - by 3:30 most days.

I also successfully resisted the temptation to work on school projects during break. I managed to turn off my district e-mail account and avoided even thinking about work for at least two weeks. Last night, the eve before going to work, I woke up once every two hours. I kept thinking it was time to get up. When my alarm did go off at 5:00, I managed to hit the snooze button for ten more minutes.

Today was a good day to ease back into the old routines. I did listen to the book of Colossians  on the way in. At the end of the day I had accomplished some things and left enough to keep me busy for the rest of the week - at least my plans for the week. I know that will change as unexpected things come up.

In the end, I think that the next time I have extended time off, I will be more purposeful in what I will do with my free time. Perhaps plan a day trip with Wendi up to the mountains or to the coast. I'll even consider going for bike rides and walks. One thing that I will not do is to update this blog.

Facebook and The Mystery of Prayer

Waiting for the Stones on tour. It's going to be a blast!

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and smart phones connect us with the world and allow us to know what's happening and to inform others of the things happening in our lives as well. It can be both a blessing and a curse. It can give a false sense of community or it can truly be a method of communicating to your friends of things that they would want to know about and to take action on. I've had a deep attraction to technology since I was in high school, thanks to my dad, and have had struggles with spending too much time online. Here's a 2009 article from CNN on the 12 most annoying types of Facebookers.

Facebook has been a great way of helping me to reconnect with old friends, former students and keep in touch with family spread far and wide. It definitely does not replace nor should it replace the intimate, one-on-one, face-to-face communication of being in person with someone. This past week I witnessed how Facebook benefitted me and how God used this form of communication to bring Him glory.

Here are screenshots of my postings:

I thought I was tired from the weekend activities I was involved in. Boy, was I wrong!

At the hospital, I was making light of my situation. I was in more pain than I've ever been in my life. The worst part was the nausea. St. Agnes does have very nice barf bags though!

I spent all day Tuesday in bed sleeping to avoid the pain and the nausea. Even though I was on medication, I was not well.

I had a BAD Tuesday night. I spent most of Wednesday sleeping except for a quick trip for a CT scan.

While I was sleeping, Wendi made the arrangements and posted this Wednesday afternoon.

My mother-in-law posted this on her FB page asking for prayer. Notice that I didn't ask for any prayer up until this time. I think Wendi may have, but not me.

45 minutes after she posted her status update, over 25 people had responded to her request and were praying. I was truly overwhelmed by the prayer support. I think I also had my last bout with nausea and then slept that night, an almost normal night.

This post says it all. I was feeling pretty good all day Thursday and was in a mood that Wendi described as zen-like. I don't know what she meant - I think I was pretty calm and at peace, but excited that the pain might soon be over.

I got called in early. I'm excited and obviously making light of the situation. I could sense God's presence and knew that things would be fine.

Over at last, the stone was lodged in my right ureter and would not have passed on it's own. The surgery was successful - much different than the previous procedure that I had in September for the left kidney. In that situation, the stone was much larger but had not moved yet, so I was never in any pain. They say that kidney stones are as bad as labor. I don't know if that's true, but at least with labor, the end result is a beautiful, new life and a new found love and wonder for your child.

As a result of this experience, I see the value in using Facebook to get the word out to pray for people. A verse comes to mind - James 4:2b "You do not have, because you do not ask." Now this is taken a bit out of context, but speaks of me. I haven't always prayed because either I'm afraid that I won't get the answer I want or I don't pray because why should I pray to God who already knows what I need before I've even asked.

Søren Kierkegaard once said that 'the function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays." I have found this to be true. In praying, my attitude or mind is changed and I become aware of my dependence on God more than on my own limited resources. 

Oswald Chambers said, "Is the Son of God praying in me, or am I dictating to Him?...Prayer is not simply getting things from God, that is a most initial form of prayer; prayer is getting into perfect communion with God. If the Son of God is formed in us by regeneration, He will press forward in front of our common sense and change our attitude to the things about which we pray." I think that I don't know enough about prayer, but I'm learning. Jesus constantly prayed to God the Father and He was God Himself. So if Jesus prayed and also taught us to pray via the Lord's prayer, we should be praying as well. It just amazes me that I could have communion with the Creator of the universe and that my prayers (or the prayers of others) somehow come into play with His purposes. 

Ah, the mystery of being a Son of the Most High. This too will be one of those realities that will be fully realized in eternity.

A Letter to My Son

Dear Luke,

When you were born 23 years ago, someone told me that the time would fly by. At the time I didn't realize how true that statement is. The time has flown and now your wedding day is upon us. I've been praying for you (it's not like I just started!) and have been pondering on what to say to you. Here are some thoughts that I wanted to share with you.

A Mystery
This covenant of marriage you about to enter in with Valerie is not something to be taken lightly. In Ephesians 5:32, Paul describes marriage as picture of Christ and the Church. He even refers to it as a mystery. Your marriage relationship is a visible testimony of Jesus Christ and the Church. I don't completely understand, but like the doctrine of the Trinity, I get glimpses of who God is and how He relates to us. Our society has taken marriage so lightly that there is debate as what constitutes a marriage. It is more than a commitment between two loving adults. It's not just a "friend with benefits" kind of relationship. You and Valerie are to love each other with a love that is so totally different than the world's definition and as a result your marriage will be a living witness of how Christ loves us.

Love Your Wife as Christ Loved the Church

This was spoken to me at my wedding 26 years ago and it is probably the key verse that I strive to live by in my relationship with my wife (who conveniently is also your mother!). Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." Every time I'm tempted to point out that I'm right about something - whether it's in an argument, or something that I would be wanting to 'invoke' my rights, this verse stops me cold. Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died on the cross for me and rose from the dead, by his position of authority in my life, can demand my loyalty and worship, but instead is patient and waits for me. He'd much rather have me completely by my own volition or will, instead of manipulating me or forcing me to love Him. Loving Valerie like Christ loves you involves humility, patience and a view of wanting the best for her. We can be so selfish and deceive ourselves with a false sense of humility, but when we measure our love by Christ's standard, we're quickly put in our place.

Be A Man of God

One of the things that a wife really wants is a husband that loves God with his whole heart. Remember the line from "Courageous" in which Nathan tells his daughter that if a man loves God first, he'll always love and cherish her. Matthew 6:33 says "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you." You can only be the husband that Christ is calling you to be if you seek Him and put all of your trust in Him. You cannot do it on your own or try real hard and hope that God blesses you or gives you an occasional helping hand.

Provide for Your Family
Paul says in 1st Timothy 5:8 that the one who does not provide for his own family "denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." Another thing that I remember my pastor counseling me before we got married was that I need to do whatever work I can get in order to provide for my family. This not only applies to physical or financial needs, but also the spiritual needs of your family. In Colossians 3:23, Paul also writes, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men." He goes on later to say that you are serving the Lord Christ. It is real important that whatever work you do, that you give over and above what is expected of you. You were created to work and you will find a certain amount of satisfaction from a job well done. By giving your all, you will be a further testimony of Christ living in you.

Blessing
Finally, I want to close by telling you what a blessing you are to me. I can't tell you how often someone at work or church will come up to me and tell me, "I saw Luke at Costco the other day." They always tell me what a great kid you are. I know - you're a man, but I'd treasure the "kid" part as long as you can. It fades quickly. Seriously, I am proud of the man that you have become and know that with God's help, you will have a marriage as strong and joyful as I have had. God has brought you a beautiful gift in Valerie and will use her to continue to shape you into His image. May God richly bless you.