Call + Response

I wish this film was showing in Raleigh. Please support it if it is showing in your city. You can go to the the Call + Response Website for more information. More awareness is vital to end the human trafficking and slavery.

There are more slaves today than ever before in human history - 27 million!

From the website:

"CALL+RESPONSE goes deep undercover where slavery is thriving from the child brothels of Cambodia to the slave brick kilns of rural India to reveal that in 2007, Slave Traders made more money than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined."

A Chair

When dropping Miyah off for her first day of Preschool... I noticed a chair in a corner of the room. It was an old style school chair like I remember sitting in when I was in elementary school. But it was painted black... with a globe painted on the seat... and the words "Go into the world" painted on the seat back... and footprints along the sides and legs.

The chair caught my attention... so I took a picture of it. It wasn't until later in the day that I stopped to think of the significance of it. Since before bringing Miyah home from Nepal... and from our time in Guatemala, God has been expanding our hearts for the world and given us more of an international focus.

For me, this was one of those little things in life that didn't seem so little in my heart.

First Day Of Preschool

Miyah had her first day of preschool today. She's been talking about it for days. When Ben & Alex got on the bus this morning... she said she wanted to take the bus to her school.

She was such a big girl! She didn't cry at all... and was really excited about investigating her new classroom. I got all emotional as she hung her backpack on her own hook and as I took the photo of her name written on construction paper in her very own "cubby"!

When we got to her classroom door, her teacher told the kids they could go to their parents if they saw them at the door. Miyah was the first one out the door... and ran right to Cherie. On our way home she said, "I'm really glad you came back to pick me up."

OK.... I gotta stop before the tears start flowing. Here are some photos:

Only in New Hampshire

I wasn't the most "outdoorsy" person growing up. We weren't the hunting, camping, fishing type family. And now that I have my own family... that is still the case.

But, whenever I am in NH I end up doing things I have never done before. When I first visited Cherie here in NH the first summer we were dating... I rode my first four-wheeler (embarrassingly I have to admit that I sat behind Cherie because I was too scared to drive). Once I got comfortable it was tough to get me off that thing. Then several years ago I rode my first jet ski... and absolutely loved it!

This time around, thanks to my brother-in-law Allan and my nephew Zach (a motocross racer), I rode my first dirt bike ever... on a track they built on the property behind their house. Unfortunately, I crashed within seconds of being on it and scraped up my ankle. So, needless to say I took it pretty easy after that.

Great times!

Classic New Hampshire

We are in NH to visit Cherie's family and to spread the word about Lemonade at a House Party at Cherie's sister's house and at a couple churches.  Fall is the best time to be in NH.  I love it here this time of year!  Miyah had a blast at the Derryfiled County Fair with "Pepe" & "Grammy" yesterday (it was classic NH)...

Eye Opening (And Appalling) Numbers

Take some time to read the 2008 Social Justice Quiz from Dissident Voice.

Here's a sample: 22,000 people are killed every year due to acts of terrorism while 25,000 people die every day due to poverty and malnutrition. With this in mind... the US military budget is $623 billion per year (more than the military budget of all the nations of the world combined) while we spend $23.5 billion in foreign aid (half as much as our citizens spend on pet food annually).

Why don't we hear statistics like this during presidential campaigns? Would a candidate that addressed statistics like these ever get elected to office in our country?

Proverb 29:4 "By justice a king gives a country stability..."

Proverb 29:7 "The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern."

God, may we "act justly, love mercy and walk humbly" with you (Micah 6:8).

A Week

Wow... has it been a whirlwind of a week! Sometimes it is amazing what happens in the course of a day or a week.

From sharing more time than ever with my amazing wife... to parenting Juniors in high school, including new class schedules, school supplies, after school job, watching the Buffalo Bills win on opening day.... to parenting a three year-old with laughing, yelling, legos, dancing, whining... to keeping up with family and friends that live in other places... to leading a new organization with phone calls, amazing stories of progress and stories that break your heart, emails, meetings with church leaders, planning missions trips, newsletters, computer problems... to BBQing with new friends, celebrating birthdays (a lot of them!), getting treated to lunch (thanks!), sharing a cup of coffee, walking downtown for an international festival (including some great Nepali food)...

It is life. And it is a gift from God.

But I do understand why He created the Sabbath. Time to rest.

Or cut the grass...