Pumpkin Carving

Here's Miyah with the finished product (pretty basic for our first pumpkin with her):

Good Night...

This was Miyah's prayer when I put her to bed tonight:

"Dear God, thank you for my dad 'cause he's my best friend...
and he has little big hair... and he's nice. Amen."

So adorable... and so confusing.

The Guat... With Darian

Darian has been my closest friend for the past ten years. It is one of those friendships that can't really be explained in words. We have experienced a lot in the years we've known each other.... and now one more experience can be added. We've been in another country together.

For Darian it was the first time he has stepped foot on the soil of a country other than the United States. It was great to share with him as he soaked up everything he could about the Guatemalan people and the culture. He instantly became close with our Guatemalan friends and fell in love with the people of La Limonada that Cherie, Leah, Donnie and I have grown to love so much over the years.


One thing about Darian that I learn so much from is how he takes time to enjoy everything about life... even the things that others would consider insignificant. He engages all of his senses as he takes in everything around him.

The time he spent here (he left today, but I'll be in the Guat for a couple more days) was a huge encouragement to us and to Tita and her team and the work we are doing with Lemonade International. As part of his time here he tested the water in La Limonada to see if there is a need to install a water purification system in the community. We are wrapping up those tests now and will know what the need is along those lines soon.

Whether or not that is a specific need, I am pretty confident that we'll be back here together again some day. He's also scheduled to go to Uganda sometime early next year... and we're talking about how incredible it would be for me to join him on that trip. So, you never know....

Blog Action Day - Poverty

Today I am joining a community of more than 12,000 bloggers who are focusing their blog posts on the issues of global poverty. The aim of this is "to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion".

While there is a real economic crisis that is happening in the global markets right now... for a huge majority of us life goes on. We drive our cars to grocery stores that provide us with thousands of choices of products that we simply take off the shelf and place in our baskets to take home, cook and eat. We meet a friend at a local coffee shop for a $4 latte. We go with our coworkers to our favorite Mexican restaurant and spend $10 on lunch.

All this while more than 80% of the world's population lives on less than $10 a day. All this while 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation. All this while 1.6 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live without electricity.

All this while our friend Nora in Guatemala has to hide her baby's formula from her other five children so they don't eat it and so her baby doesn't continue to live on the edge of malnourishment.


I share none of this to shame us, but to make us aware today that for those of us who are part of the 20% of the world's population who live on much more than $10... maybe we can make a difference.

Would you consider sponsoring a child in La Limonada today or by making a donation to help change the life of a child living in poverty? By doing so you can help to provide healthy meals, education, mentoring and most of all... hope and love.

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: