Day 3

So it looks like the babysitting thing may not work out cause of some paperwork technicality....oh well...God provides.  For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about...welp...don't worry about it   Today = restful day.  Slept in...ahhh

Image of serenity...

Washington Coastline

Saturday going to the Lake...anyone in Springfield wanna come with us (small group already of 6 or so) just let me know.  Leaving Evangel campus around 9:30am and just staying till about 2ish.  Grill out lunch down there...etc etc.

of the rest of my life...or is it day one all over again?>

Either way...today two of my room mates and myself drove down to Table Rock and spent a couple hours at Moonshine Beach. It's actually a very nice little beach...hope to go again later this week..maybe I'll get some pictures next time...

other than that...uneventful day!

P.S. Oh yeah....today...I got my burn on!!!!  No body reddens quite like I do!

Also on a side note...my phone died several weeks ago and I lost most of my phone numbers so if you want me to have your phone number...send it to me in an email.  Thanks

It's Time!!!!  To go back to work....

Tonight I find myself back in the security office...doing what I do best....well doing something atleast!  Today is the first day of the rest of my life...August 1st 2006

Today today today...so much potential...and with that in mind I leave you with this thought:

Indeed...it is coming....

It's over.....tear...

The final stretch...

One more week...

Actually...only 4 days of program!

This past week we've had a couple of services, gone bowling, an obstacle course and took the kids to Silver Dollar City for a day.  So far everything seems to be going great.  For the second week... we will have a couple more services, go karts, ice skating and spending a day at white water!  One of my favorite aspects of School of Missions is the combination of both a spiritual focus and a social focus.  God smiles when His children worship and when His children laugh and have fun too!

Dear Lord,

Help us to be sensitive to your will for the lives of these families and their children.  Help us not to stand in your way and if it is your will let us be some of the tools through which you bless them.

PFO is now over...the new kids have now graduated into fully fledged MKs.  All that's needed is to get them overseas and get their feet wet!  This year's group is a pretty amazing group.  They all seemed to have really good attitudes about almost everything....well that's my perception anyways.  I think they will do great in adjusting to new cultures wherever they go.  This past week the main event was the sevice at the Spanish church.  That is truly one of my favorite times.  It is the epitome of everything we are trying to do with CS/PFO.  The ability to enter a different culture comfortably and being able to develop relationships and minister to the people.  Anyways...I really enjoy it!

Shree Lear spoke and did an outstanding job with a neat retelling of the Ruth and Boaz story.  And the church cooked an amazing meal for us...as they always do!

Yep...good times!

Yesterday was cleaning day...such a long day with the kids.  That's when we clean everything we took camping with us.   It was extremely hot outside and we were pretty much outside from 10:30 till 5pm minus lunch.  So..yeah...long and hot tiring day.  Today is the 4th...day off...thank goodness.  Going to a friend's house so....yep...ciao

I'm not exactly sure where I stand on the whole place of patriotism in the church issue.  For that part I don't even agree with most of the conflicts America has been involved in.  Revolutionay War - over Taxes, French & Spanish wars - Land, Civil War - wasn't even fought over slavery..that was just a by-product of voting issues that would determine economical power influences,  and then there were some other wars I really just don't know all that much about.

However...there is one thing I know for sure...my great grandparents and their generation set down a precedent of honor, integrity, and self sacrifice for thier fellow human beings in WW1 that most don't have a clue about.  Then their children became a legacy with their actions.  Our grandparents (ofcourse there may be some generation differences for some of the readers...adjust the terms as needed) know more about sacrifice than anyone before them and anyone since them.  If you doubt my words just go to the American cemetary in Normandy where close to 10,000 tombstones rest of just Americans who decided to say "NO" to a tyrant who was slaughtering millions upon millions.  And those tombstones are one a small representation of all the men who died from Europe all the way to the Pacific.

Especially as MKs who hold dear to our hearts the places we grew up...it's because of their sacrifice that the nationals and friends we cherished don't live under murdering tyrants having to speak either German or Japanese.  The gospel is being spread and preached and millions upon millions lives are being saved because their arn't atheisitic governments controlling half the world.

If nothing else for one Sunday a year (1 out of 52) we pay homage to that generation as a body of believers since we don't really do it as a body of believers at any other point in the year.

Heck...even the French in Normandy fly American flags for a few days a year.

(It would be nice if bad people could be stopped with hugs and roses...however...just like our police realize...that is not a reality and has not been a reality since the times of Moses and before.)

The Sabbath...

I have a friend who tries to make sure to take a sabbath every week.  It's not so much on a Saturday or Friday or any day in particular...she just takes a day of rest.  A day she has off from work and since she is very active in the church it is usually not sunday either. 

Although I personally don't take a "sabbath" as often as I should...I will say it's one of those goals I have set for myself.  There's a lot to be said about a day of rest where one retreats from the madness of schedules and "to-do lists" to just relax and focus on God a little bit more.  Perhaps if more people took a personal sabbath in their lives more often we would have healthier families and see less burn out in the field of ministry. 

Remember what the red text says about the Sabbath....if you don't....go back and look it up....and ponder what was meant by His words...