Archive for November, 2007

The Fruit of the Thanksgiving Tree

Published on November 29, 2007 in promise house. 2 Comments

Here is a sampling of the fruit that was picked off the Thanksgiving Tree today in preparation for Christmas decorations.

I’m thankful for being at the Promise House.

I am thankful for family.

I am thankful for my friends.

Hot showers!

I am thankful for the second chance at life I discovered during my time at Promise House. I am also thankful for the strength I found in myself during my pregnancy that has seen me through so many difficult times since then.

For the people who care and love me and Kylee.

I’m thankful for God’s AMAZING grace!!

I am thankful for God’s guidance and care through our pregnancies.

I am thankful for my house and my mom’s truck.

I am thankful for my brother.

I am thankful for me.

I am thankful because I’m alive and my family is alive too.

I’m thankful for Christmas.

I’m thankful for my health and strength.

My family and friends.

I’m thankful for Mr. and Mrs. Bush.

I’m thankful to be a listener, supporter, and giver. And to help and assist others.

I am thankful for Ms. Ruth!!

I’m thankful for food and my very nice roommate.

I’m thankful for my mom and my brother.

Jennifer, Ryan, Amanda, Sophia, Keri, Tera, Edith, Brittany, Sherry, Michelle: For all the joy you bring into my life.

I am so thankful to be alive!! Today is full of possibilities!!

I’m thankful for my baby girl!

I am thankful for my family - especially Esten.

I’m thankful for my family and friends.

I’m thankful for being cancer free for 10 years.

I’m thankful for my bed that makes my back hurt at night.

Pro-Life = Republican?

Published on November 29, 2007 in promise house. 1 Comment

This article by Tony Campolo talks about how the traditional party boundary markers are becoming more and more obscure. It has always kind of bothered me that to vote anything other than Republican is looked upon as wrong in the Baptist camp. A lot of that sentiment hangs on the abortion issue. This article takes a second look at that idea.

Kylee is here!

Published on November 28, 2007 in promise house. 2 Comments

After 36 hours of attempted inducement, Kylee made it to the outside world by c-section at 9:25 this morning. Everyone seems to be doing fine. Kylee weighs 9 lbs. and 13 oz.!! And she is 21.75 inches long. Yup. That’s right. She’s a two-month old.

Here she is just 2 hours old.

Colossians 3:16

Published on November 27, 2007 in promise house. 1 Comment

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

Razorback Football

Published on November 27, 2007 in promise house. 1 Comment

I was exhausted and elated after watching Arkansas upset the then #1 LSU Tigers in triple overtime (50-48). That had to be one of the most incredible games in Razorback football history (along with the “Miracle on Markham”).

Now, as expected, Houston Nutt is gone. ESPN is reporting that he’s heading to Ole Miss. A pretty good lateral move. That should spark up a new rivalry.

One last thing: McFadden deserves the Heisman! Ok, that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Worlds Longest Diary, All 3.75 Million Words of It

Published on November 27, 2007 in promise house. 1 Comment

This article is pretty interesting. It’s about a guy who kept a diary of his life . . . in 5 minute increments. Wow. “Shields was nothing if not committed and only slept for two-hours at a time so he could describe his dreams.”

Thanksgiving Tree

Published on November 21, 2007 in promise house. 5 Comments

Thanks. I don’t think about that word or what it means as much as I should. However, for the past few days gratefulness seems to have become my default. Every time I turn around there is something else to be thankful for. Not big stuff . . . just things that I tend to take for granted. And, quite frankly, it feels really good. It’s hard to be to be worried about the usual stuff when I’m busy saying thanks for all the things that go right each day. I guess it’s appropriate. Thanksgiving is just one day away. But, I hope it’s more than just the holidays. I like being thankful. When I’m full of thanks, I’m also full of joy.

I thought of a tangible way for us at the Promise House to express our thankfulness. I put up a Thanksgiving Tree. Sophia and I pulled out the Christmas tree a few weeks early and pieced it together next to the fireplace. We put one string of white lights on it to give it some sparkle. Then we punched holes in index cards and looped some string through them. There is a big basket on the kitchen table filled with blank index cards. Whenever anyone thinks of something to be thankful for, they write it on the card and hang it on the tree. The tree is filling up! We have a lot of visitors at the Promise House and whenever someone comes in, I explain to them what it is and give them the chance to give some thanks. So far, 15 or so people have expressed their gratitude by way of the Thanksgiving Tree.

Here is Sophia helping me tie string to the index cards. I am so thankful for Sophia.

The Thanksgiving Tree!

Tangible Thanksgiving!

Small Town Overcome by Mysterious Ape Sightings

Published on November 21, 2007 in promise house. 1 Comment

In case you haven’t noticed, there is a recurring gorilla theme on this blog. Here’s another story for you monkey lovers out there.

Our Compassionate Efforts Toward Justice

Published on November 19, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments
Our compassionate efforts toward justice guarantee a deepened faith and prayer life. They will lead us to disciplines of the spirit and of the heart. By engaging with suffering, we learn true joy. By touching despair, we discover what it means to embrace hope. By coming to know Christ crucified, we participate in his resurrection. By pouring ourselves out, we gain our lives.- Joyce Hollyday

Sophia Loves Bob

Published on November 17, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

Bob the Builder that is . . .

Sophia met Bob when she was just a few months old in Peru. She has loved him ever since. Maybe it’s the stylish hard hat. Or maybe it’s the form fitting overalls. But, it’s probably that ‘can-do’ attitude we’ve all come to know and love!

Here is a 2 minute video of Sophia watching Bob. (For the grandmas!)

And here are some of the her best facial expressions while watching Bob.

Some Thoughts on Immigration

Published on November 16, 2007 in promise house. 2 Comments

Oklahoma passed a set of immigration laws recently. Here is the article. Among other things it “makes it a felony for U.S. citizens to knowingly provide shelter, transportation or employment to illegal immigrants.”

That government would make it illegal to benevolent is unbelievable. If an Oklahoma resident come across a family of Mexicans that are in the U.S. illegally and they have absolutely no place to sleep that night and it’s 18 degrees outside, to let them camp out in his garage would be a felony!!! Granted, the chances of that situation happening are pretty slim, but that’s not the point. To deny a human being basic necessities like shelter just seems wrong.

The immigration issue has been serious for a while. And, for me, the question boils down to this:

Do I welcome or reject those who were born in impoverished circumstances and are seeking to raise their standard of living to a fraction of what I have enjoyed?

Here’s the problem: It might make my standard of living go down. It might cause me problems. It might make my life difficult.

I know, I know. That’s oversimplified. There are a lot of things to think about. A lot of consequences to consider. But, personally, I’m putting out the welcome mat.
History will judge us on this kind of stuff. In 1939 the S.S. St. Louis was loaded down with Jews that were fleeing Hitler’s regime. They, however, were denied refuge in port after port before finally returning to Germany. We look back and say, “Man, those countries were jerks. How could they ever do that?”

But, back then, they were probably were saying things like “We don’t want to get mixed up in this.” or “Just think of all the problems this could cause us.” The same stuff we’re saying about immigration today. It’s different, I know. But, the basic principle is the same.

But that’s not the main reason I’m putting out the welcome mat. I follow Jesus Christ. And Jesus lived his life serving the outcast. He hung out with the folks that the mainstream said weren’t worthy of “shelter, transportation, or employment” (though, to my knowledge no laws were passed against offering it). So, when it comes down to solidarity with and service to the less fortunate or rejection thereof. I’m choosing the former.

I’m not saying we need to swing open the gates. We don’t need a free for all. It just seems to me that these new measures are going in the wrong direction.

Doesn’t the Statue of Liberty say something about all this? “Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free . . .”

Man Allegedly Uses Stapler to Rob Bank

Published on November 16, 2007 in promise house. 3 Comments

It’s bewildering that anyone would attempt a bank robbery wielding only a stapler. But, apparently, it worked.

“The Year of Living Biblically” by A.J. Jacobs

Published on November 14, 2007 in promise house. 3 Comments

Amanda has been in Crossett the past few days (she has several more vacation days than me because of my Peru trip), so I’ve had a lot of extra time. I’m an introvert by nature, so this alone time has actually been very refreshing and restful for me (though I have missed Amanda and Sophia a lot).

I think I’ve read one book in English in the past three years. So, I figured this would be a great time to double that stat, and it just so happened that I was very interested in a book by A.J. Jacobs called “The Year of Living Biblically”. I wrote a post
about it last week and it seemed like everywhere I turned this book was mentioned (NPR, Relevant Magazine), so I bought it. I finished it up last night anticipating the return of my family and I have to say that the book was funny, entertaining, reverent, challenging, enlightening, and just a tiny bit disappointing. The disappointing part is by far outweighed by the overall quality of this book. I would definitely recommend it.

A.J. Jacobs was inspired (in part by his Jewish heritage, and in part by his very interesting ex-uncle Gil) to live for one year following all the commandments of the Bible to the best of his ability. He spent the first 9 months focusing of the Old Testament and the last 3 months concentrating on the New.

The book is written in a sort of journal form chronicling the project from preparation to debriefing. The thing I love about his book is that Jacobs goes into the project wanting to find the good in religion. And although he has been cynical about organized religion most of his life (he is an agnostic), he makes a sincere and calculated attempt to give it a fair shake. Just that fact alone is inspiring and challenging.

For example, Jacobs personally does not believe that creationism is a plausible explanation for existence, yet he visits the Creation Museum in Kentucky with an open mind and leaves with his mind unchanged, but graceful and understanding. I heard him interviewed on NPR (I can’t remember the name of the show) and the interviewer asked him about visiting the museum. “You mean they’re not all idots?” the interviewer jabbed. It is precisely the attitude that has caused so much division and hatred. Jacobs doesn’t have it. Far from it. In fact, in the book, Jacobs spends a lot of time taking up for the religious.

However, as note-worthy as it is, Jacobs’ friendliness towards the subject matter isn’t the best thing. For me, it was amazing to see Jacobs openly and honestly struggling with the existence of a personal God. It is an intensely intimate and transparent view into the human soul, Jacobs’ to be exact. He wants to believe. He wants to experience it. But there are so many things in the way (science, practicality, faith, worldview). I think it’s something that most people can relate to, whether they claim to be religious or not.

As I read most of this book at San Francisco Bread Co., I was constantly having to stifle my laughter (I didn’t want to make anyone feel weird). The commandment-induced quandaries that Jacobs got himself into were hilarious. For example, he realized that he had to be honest to fulfill the commands of the Bible. Even white lies were no good. In one instance Jacobs and his wife and son are eating at a restaurant. His wife, Julie, runs into a friend from college (she also is with her husband and child). Julie’s college friend says,

“We should get together and have a playdate sometime.”

“Absolutely.” Julie responds.

But then Jacobs says “Uh, I don’t know.” Julie’s friend begins to laugh nervously. Julie glares at her husband.

“You guys seem nice, but I don’t really want new friend right now. So I think I’ll take a pass. It’s just that I don’t have enough time to see our old friends, so I don’t want to overcommitt. Just being honest.”

Towards the end of the year Julie figures out a fun game to play. At random times during the day she would ask her husband this terrifying question: “What are you thinking about?” That’s a pretty common question for a wife to ask a husband. But, when you have a husband that has to tell the 100%, whole truth, it can get very interesting and quite comical to say the least.

Now for the disappointing part. The center of the Old Testament is the Law. It’s what God put in place to protect and consecrate his people. It was the manner in which his people could relate to him. Jacobs did an incredible job of entering into the center of the Old Testament. He truly lived and experienced it. However, the center of the New Testament is not the Law or really any commandments. The center of the NT is Jesus Christ. And to truly enter into the essence of the New Testament Jacobs would have had to live as though Jesus were who he said he was. In my opinion, this is where the book falls short. The last three months of Jacobs project, in which he focussed on the New Testament were certainly entertaining and helpful in understanding different strains of protestantism, but it didn’t get to the heart of what the New Testament is.

I really don’t want to discourage anyone from reading this book, because it is excellent. I give it two thumbs up, a 9.5 out of 10.

Jacobs said in the book that he has a problem with googling himself, so chances are that he’ll read this. Mr. Jacobs, congratulations on a job well done.

Gideon

Published on November 12, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments
You have too large an army with you. I can’t turn Midian over to them like this — they’ll take all the credit, saying ‘I did it all by myself’ and forget about me.

- Judges 7

Gideon had it tough. It’s one thing to say you trust God. It’s a whole other thing to march into battle with an army that had been whittled down from 32,000 to 300. God was teaching Gideon about trust, but there is something else going on here. It seems that God is wanting more than credit or even for Gideon to trust him. God wants to be known by him. Maybe God puts us in tough circumstances that force us to rely on him simply because he wants to be close to us and he wants us to learn to be close to him.

Think of it this way. I want Sophia to learn and grow and become strong. I want her to learn to walk on her own and feed herself and speak. But, at the same time, I long for her to be close to me, to need me. Yes, I want her to learn how to walk. But, when she comes upon a particularly precarious bump in the road and she looks at me and reaches out her hand for my help, I get this top-of-the-world, how-can-life-get-any-better feeling. Why? Because she is my child, and I want her to be close to me, to rely on me, and to need me.

My Girls

Published on November 12, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

The Zoo

Published on November 9, 2007 in promise house. 3 Comments

The zoo is awesome. We went today with Big Ron and Abuela. I know everyone always says that the Little Rock zoo isn’t all that great. And, I guess compared to other zoos, it’s not. But, I definitely enjoyed it! And Sophia made friends with a Spider Monkey and some Lorikeets. So, it’s A-OK in my book. Here are the highlites:

We’re going to the zoo!

Giraffe! Jirafa!

Dude, that thing is huge!

No comment.

Let’s go! Let’s go!! Let’s go!!!

Hello. Would you happen to have a banana? (He really said that.)

Here yittle yorikeet. I yuv you.

Ray Winder Field

Published on November 9, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

Right now, everything at Ray Winder Field is for sell. Trash cans. Socks. Popcorn machines. Section signs. Concession marquees. If you can break it loose, they are selling it. Bill Valentine was even there signing stuff.

I’ve got to say, it was kind of creepy and sad to see the place in shambles. The weirdest thing was that the field was overgrown.

I think the ‘garage sale’ is going on until the 11th.

Sophia’s “Did you say “no”?’ Face

Published on November 8, 2007 in promise house. 2 Comments

I’m Not Who I Was

Published on November 7, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

You’ve probably heard this song. It’s good stuff.

Metro, the student ministry at UALR, came to the Promise House last week to hang out, play games, and talk about what God is doing in their lives. One of the young ladies who shared about her life showed this video.

15 laterals later . . .

Published on November 6, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

For you college football fans, you won’t believe this. Division III, Trinity v. Millsaps. With 2 seconds left, Trinity had one play to put a touchdown on the board. This is crazy.

Does anyone else have this?

Published on November 6, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

I woke up with glass in my throat and feeling a little achy all over. It has gotten progressively worse today. Maybe it will get better as I sleep tonite.

I hate being sick!

Back from SOTO

Published on November 5, 2007 in promise house. 1 Comment

Shepherd of the Ozarks is amazing. I can’t think of a better setting for a retreat.

The weekend was really really good. It is amazing to see so many kids together. Kids that, most people would say, didn’t/don’t stand a chance. But, look what God is doing in them. It is really breathtaking and humbling to be a part of it.

Also, Sophia loved it. She got to pet a donkey and a deer. What more could a little girl ask for??

The Right Questions

Published on November 2, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

En Pos de lo Supremo, Octubre 27

The challenge that faces a follower of Jesus is not the difficulty of getting wayward or indifferent people to turn around and start going in the right direction. The challenge is our own relationship with Jesus.

The right questions are these:

Do I know my resurrected Lord?

Do I know the power of his Spirit living in me?

Do I put enough faith in Jesus and what he said that my actions are seen as imprudent by the world?

Or am I abandoning the humble position of unlimited faith in my Jesus (that which is really my only call as his follower)?

Shepherd of the Ozarks

Published on November 1, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

This weekend the Promise House will join all the other Arkansas Baptist Children Homes at Shepherd of the Ozarks for the annual retreat.

Three years ago Amanda and I attended this retreat. I had been asked to lead worship for the houseparent part. Dave Hughey was the speaker. The second day I was asked to lead a few games for one of the homes. They couldn’t participate in the more strenuous activities. “Why can’t they?” I asked. “Because they are pregnant.” I was told.

So, here I went to play games with pregnant teenagers. They were, of course, girls from the Promise House. I had never heard of the Promise House at that point. Now, I live at the Promise House! How crazy is that. Just thinking about my awkwardness in leading those games three years ago and the fact that now I work here full-time makes me laugh. I’m pretty sure God got a kick out of that one. I can just imagine him being there as I led those games . . . “You just wait!”