2008 April Archive at familybush.com

Archive for April, 2008

Real Live College Prof

Published on April 30, 2008 in promise house. 11 Comments

I know a real live college professor. We’re tight. She lets me call her ‘Prof’. She teaches English, and she’s the real deal. For example, I picked a book of poetry off her bookshelf to test her. She got like 3 out of 8 right. You can’t fake that, people!

So, this is a picture of me and the Prof. Amanda and I went to visit her at Crichton College in Memphis, TN where she teaches.

I didn’t actually write that paper she’s holding. That’s just how she interacts with people. She holds papers all the time and points to them with her red pen. I’m just trying to figure out where the closest coffee shop is.

Like I said, she’s the real deal. College professor through and through.

Seriously, Hannah Johnson is one of Amanda’s best friends. In Amanda’s words “She’s one of the only people that gets me.”

Her husband, Brad, is finishing up at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary this semester. We’ve been friends with the Johnsons since before Peru (Brad and I were on staff at GSFBC together). And Hannah really is a college professor, which I think is pretty stinkin’ awesome. And, really, she got more like 4 out of 8 on that poem thing.

We spent about 2 hours with them at B&N last week. We talked about school, Olde English, Operation Valkyries, Johnny Cash and other highly intellectual stuff.

ADDENDUM: Bridge to Terabithia Rounded-Up

Published on April 29, 2008 in promise house. 2 Comments

Great news! I have all the copies of Bridge to Terabithia that I need! I received 4 in the mail last week and just got an email saying that 10 more were on the way! You people rock!!

If anyone would still like to help, I could use some comp notebooks.

REISSUED: Bridge to Terabithia Round-Up

Published on April 29, 2008 in promise house. 6 Comments

I now have 4 copies of Bridge to Terabithia in my possession. Thanks to your awesomeness!

And, since we’re still short 9 books and 13 notebooks, I thought I’d make one last call for help.

Summer hits the Promise House on June 5th, officially. And, summertime is, uuummm, dangerous. Let me explain.

Imagine with me, if you will, 9 pregnant, hormonal, emotional teens with nothing to do, cooped up in a house all day, for three months. It has the potential to be the longest 3 months of our lives. So, we get prepared. The key is activity. Lots of it.

And that brings me to my plea. Along with classes and outings and games and a bunch of other stuff, I’m going to get the girls reading this summer. And, hopefully, writing too. So, I need about 13 copies of Bridge to Terabithia and 13 composition notebooks. Would you like to help?

There are lots of used copies on Amazon for a couple of bucks or less (plus shipping). Or, maybe you have an old copy laying around that you don’t need anymore. It doesn’t have to be in perfect condition, just readable.

If you’d like to participate in the Bridge to Terabithia Round-Up just send copies of Bridge to Terabithia and Composition Notebooks by May 15th to:

Promise House
c/o Arkansas Baptist Children’s Homes
P.O. Box 552
Little Rock, AR 72203

If you have any questions, email me: thefamilybush [ a t ] gmail.com.

Thanks!

We stay in touch . . .

Published on April 28, 2008 in promise house. 0 Comments

Girls hate it here.

Then, they love it here.

Then, they leave.

But, they don’t really leave.

They stay in touch.

I’m thankful for that. Because, I miss them.

Playground / GSFBC

Published on April 27, 2008 in promise house. 0 Comments

Sophia and I just got back from the playground at Geyer Springs FBC. Here are a few shots I took (post-processed using picnik.com).

I heart being Sophia’s dad. Seriously. It’s awesome.

Hoody

Published on April 26, 2008 in promise house. 1 Comment

Winter is gone. Hot is here. I like summer. Baseball. Air conditioning.

But, I’ll miss winter. Not so much winter, but my hoody.

Until next fall, friend.

Me and the girls in our brand spankin’ new Christmas hoodies (thanks Linda!).

14 Hours. 2 Babies. No kidding.

Published on April 26, 2008 in promise house. 0 Comments

They were supposed to be spaced out just a little bit more, but Princess did not want to come. For like 2 days. So, finally the doctors decided to do a c-section. Princess was born at 11pm Tuesday night. Well, Caden was a planned c-section for Wednesday morning. He was born at 1pm. Talk about some craziness! That puts me at like 14 grandkids.

Funny things I heard in the van this morning . . .

Published on April 25, 2008 in promise house. 5 Comments

Often, the van ride to school is the most entertaining part of my day. It’s one of the best times for me to really connect with the girls, but it’s also when they say and talk about some of the craziest stuff. For example . . .

Toaster Strudels

Mr. Ryan, those Toaster Strudels were off the chain this morning! Those thangs were so good they made me want to slap my mama!!

Left Hand

Girl #1: What’s it mean when your left hand starts itching?

Girl #2: That mean you gonna get some money!! When my mama’s left hand started itching, we always got a check.

Girl #3: No, man! It means your gonna go to jail. Every time my left hand got to itchin’ I always ended up in jail, man. I’d tell my mama that my left hand was itching and she’d say, “Oh girl, I better get the bail money ready.”

Messy Hair

Whoa! Look at that woman’s hair (signaling to the woman in the car next to us)! Her hair is a MESS! Make me want to throw my comb over to her.

Other funny things I heard in the van a while back . . .

($8,500,000.00USD)

Published on April 24, 2008 in promise house. 3 Comments

This was in my inbox this morning:

Greetings From Zaidi and Sister,

I am writing you in absolute confidence primarily to seek your assistance to transfer our cash of Eight Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars($8,500,000.00USD) Deposited in one of the prime Banks here in Abidjan the Capital city of Cote d’Ivoire West Africa, to your private account pending our arrival to your country.

I am Zaidi Adama,the only son of Late Mr. Hari Har Adama a native of mende district in the Westhern province of Sierra Leone, my late father was the General Manager of Sierra Leone Gold and Diamond mining co-operation (S.L.G.D.M.C.) Freetown. My sources of your contact gave me the courage and confidence to rely on you . . .

Wow. Must be my lucky day.

Marriage creates a situation . . .

Published on April 24, 2008 in promise house. 0 Comments

Marriage creates a situation in which our desire to be served and coddled can be replaced with a more noble desire to serve others — even sacrifice for others. This is a call for both husbands and wives.

The beauty of marriage is that it confronts our selfishness and demands our service twenty-four hours a day. When we’re most tired, most worn down, and feeling more sorry for ourselves than we ever have before, we have the opportunity to confront feelings of self-pity by getting up and serving our mate.

Gary Thomas, Sacred Marriage, 186.

Werewolf

Published on April 23, 2008 in promise house. 4 Comments

[DISCLAIMER: This post is rated at least PG-13 due to scary werewolf content. Parental guidance is strongly suggested.]

When I was in kindergarten I won the costume contest for Halloween Harvest Fest. Look at me! I’m ferocious! That cute little robot standing next to me is really my little sister. It’s not a real robot.

My mom made the costumes. There were some other pretty good contestants (ghost, hobo, Richard Nixon), but I won hands down. Probably because the teacher wasn’t sure if I was a real werewolf or not and didn’t want to anger me just in case.

Cuban Ritmo

Published on April 22, 2008 in promise house. 4 Comments

This is pretty much the cutest thing I’ve seen all week. Of course, I’m not biased or anything.

Sophia loves the Cuban music that I’ve been playing non-stop. Here she is dancing to it.

Go ahead. Give it a click. I promise it will make you smile.

Namibia

Published on April 21, 2008 in promise house. 2 Comments

I went to Namibia, Africa in 2000. I spent 2 weeks with a group of students from Ouachita Baptist University in Windhoek, the capital city. Our main offering was an allegorical drama called “The Kingdom”. I played the evil knight (Satan). That’s me up there . . . the good-looking one with horns.

Because I didn’t become a follower of Jesus until I was 17-years-old, this was my first mission trip. And, it was amazing. My world was turned upside down. My understanding of myself and role on this planet was shaken to the core. Needless to say, I was changed. And, in a lot of ways that trip was the beginning of a call to missions that has led me to lots of short-term trips to Mexico and Peru and a two year stint with the IMB in Peru.

Calling . . . that’s a tricky one. I’m pretty pumped about this book coming out in July. I spent a week in Cuzco with Dr. Sills and a group from his church back in 2006. His love for Jesus and the Peruvian people was so evident and infectious that I am still encouraged today by the memories of that trip.

At any rate, if you’d like to see more pics from my trip to Africa click here. I digitalized a scrapbook that I put together shortly after the trip. The link should take you to a slide show of it.

René Touzet

Published on April 19, 2008 in promise house. 5 Comments

Ever since I read Finding Mañana, I’ve been tuned to all things Cuban: I called my Cuban friend. I talked to a guy in a cigar shop about Cuban cigars. I suggested to Amanda that we find a Cuban restaurant to eat at. I even became an honorary Cuban. And, now I am the proud owner of Cuban music.

If you’re a long-time reader of this blog, you might remember the Martinez family from our time in Peru. Well, turns out, Rick (Ricardo) Martinez is Cuban and his grandfather is none other than the famous Cuban musician and band leader, René Touzet. So, when I emailed Rick about Cuban musicians, he directed me towards his grandfather, and this album in particular, which can be found on iTunes. Go ahead, give it a listen.

Fish Dream

Published on April 19, 2008 in promise house. 4 Comments

NOTE: Wait! Don’t leave just yet! I know you’re looking for pictures of fish and I’ve got a pretty good one below, but this blog has a bunch of other stuff as well. So, if you’re interested in Gorillas, Time-Lapse Videos, Photography, Faith, Pregnant Teens, Missions, Peru, Jesus, Etc. then click HERE. That will take you to the current post.

When we found out Amanda was pregnant we sent out a mass email to let everyone know the good news. One of the Promise House girls that graduated from the program a few months ago wrote this back:

I cant believe it! i just knew it cause i had a dream of fish like 2 nights ago. i am going to tell everybody and i will pray for you. tell mrs amanda i said i love her and name the baby after me if it is a girl

Did you catch that??? She said she knew Amanda was pregnant because she had a dream about fish.

Hhhhmmmm . . .

Boyle Park Slide

Published on April 18, 2008 in promise house. 4 Comments

One of the great things about being a parent is getting to see your kids grow and learn and discover. And, it seems like Sophia is discovering something new everyday. She just discovered caterpillars on Monday. Now, every morning she wakes up and says “Gusanos? Where’d it go? No se.” (Gusano means Caterpillar and No se means I don’ know.) So, we go out on the deck and hang out with the gusanos for a while.

Now, she has discovered the slide. Boyle Park is right up the road and has some great playground stuff. Watch Sophia conquer the slide here.

Charlie Day

Published on April 17, 2008 in promise house. 2 Comments

Some of our best friends in the world just welcomed Charlie Day into the family. He weighed in at 7 lb 3 oz and was 20.5 in long. Good job Mark and Laura! Jack, you’re going to be a great big bro!

Wild West Mouse Trap

Published on April 17, 2008 in promise house. 0 Comments

This is for real.

Speaking of varmints . . . I saw a BIG rat in New Orleans. By BIG I mean REALLY BIG. It’s pretty big when your first thought is “Wow. Look at that funny looking cat.”

Caterpillar! Caterpillar! Caterpillar!

Published on April 16, 2008 in promise house. 9 Comments

Caterpillars are pretty fun. Especially if you’ve never seen one before.

And, it seems like the Promise House deck has become the caterpillar hang-out of Little Rock. Which, is fine by the Sophie and I. We’ve been having a blast chasing the little hairy boogers around.

April 15th. Crunch Time.

Published on April 15, 2008 in promise house. 3 Comments

To all you accountants out there: YOU CAN DO IT!!! And to my favorite accountants in the whole world, Calvin and Ginger: WE’RE ROOTING FOR YOU AT THE PROMISE HOUSE!!!

Don’t press . . .

Published on April 14, 2008 in promise house. 6 Comments

your gas pedal down too far between New Olreans and Little Rock. Unless, of course, you want a court date in Hamburg, Arkansas.

New Orleans, Four Thumbs Up

Published on April 14, 2008 in promise house. 2 Comments

New Orleans was cool. We had heard a lot of warnings about the dangers of the city. Caution is a must in any city, obviously. But, we found New Orleans (dowtown, French Quarter) to be clean, safe, and intriguing. The French Quarter was my favorite. Though it was definitely ‘touristy’, I feel like it has maintained corners of it’s true self (parts that aren’t trying to cash in on tourists).

Something about that city makes me want pull out my guitar and play. Is that weird? Probably. But, I feel like that city exudes creativity in it’s rawest form. Like the 4 piece band near Jackson square. No amplification, no formal training, no stage. Just a guy flexing his vocal chords and blowing hurricane force winds through a trombone occasionally using his hand as a mute. He also seemed to be making a pretty good living.

Anyway, Sophia and I give New Orleans four thumbs up.

New Orleans

Published on April 12, 2008 in promise house. 0 Comments

We are in New Orleans. The one in Louisiana. Amanda, Sophia, and I drove down on Thursday to see some friends on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Today, we are going to the French Quarter to do the tourist thing. More pics and stories to come. In the meantime, here’s a video of Sophia catching the Cajun spirit.

Surfing Cat