On a Mission

Pennies from heaven

2010-12-19T21:12:00.000-06:00

I went to the grocery store yesterday to pick up some items on a list. We're trying to pay cash for everything, so I headed to the ATM first to get some money. As you know, ATMs only give you $20 bills, which was fine with me.

When I parked my car at the store and got out, I decided to bring in some coins because I generally like to get as close as possible to giving exact change. Scrounging around the car, I found a few coins. I was just about to head in the store, when I looked down and saw a penny on the ground. I picked it up and then happened to notice two more rather scuffed up pennies under the car. Thinking to myself that I might need these, I shoved them into my pocket and entered the store. My youngest son was with me riding in the cart.

Now, you have to understand that I often have trouble making decisions. That day was no exception. Fruit was on my list, but I didn't have any idea what type of fruit or how much to get. Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples, pears and kiwis passed the test and made it into the basket. I got some sweet potatoes for pies, but first had to make sure I had just the right weight. I picked up and put back a few of them until I was satisfied with my choices. A number of items made it into the shopping cart that weren't on my list, but I felt like I should get anyway. For example, normally, I don't buy things on a whim, but when my son asked for shells and cheese I got it for some reason. A little later he saw an apple slicer and reminded me that we needed one so I got it.

I know this may seem like a lot of boring detail--(I mean, how exciting can grocery shopping be?)--but that's part of what makes the outcome so significant to me.

When I was finally ready to check out, I went through the self-checkout line, scanned and bagged all my stuff, and got the total: $60.73. At that point I remembered the change in my pocket and wondered how close I would be to having exact change. I reached into my pocket and found that I had exactly 73 cents, the three pennies I found on the ground having made all difference. Not only that, but since I had gotten all $20s from the ATM I had exactly what I needed down to the dollar and cent.

Another thing you have to understand is that I'm a math teacher and God often speaks to me through situations involving numbers. (BTW, the odds of the above happening are about 1/2000.) What I sensed God reminding me of through this whole thing is that He is in total control of my life. He is sovereign over all the choices I make. He is interested in even the most minute, unimportant details of my life, like buying kiwis and apple slicers.

Some people don't like the idea of God being in control of everything, but this is a very comforting truth for someone like me who too often agonizes over "did I make the right decision?" He is with me; I don't need to fear. Whether big things or mundane things, my Heavenly Father concerns Himself with the things that concern me. If you are His child, He has the same concern for and interest in you. You are not left alone in the tough decisions you face. He is with you and will in everything work it out for your good. He reminded me of that when He gave me His three cents.

What's in a preposition? The work of the Holy Spirit

2010-10-03T14:13:00.002-05:00

Note: This post grew out of a discussion that we had in my home fellowship group.

Our pastor recently preached on three distinct workings of the Holy Spirit. To distinguish among these three workings, he spoke of three different prepositions that are used to describe the Spirit's interaction with people. Those prepositions are "With," "in," and "upon." That is, the Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit being with a person, in a person and upon a person.

What's the point?

Well, the point is that these three prepositions are convenient ways of describing three different activities of the Holy Spirit in a person's life. (This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of the various roles of the Spirit in a person's life. Whole books have been written on the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. A good one I would recommend is The Person & Work of the Holy Spirit, by R. A. Torrey.)

"OK, but does a preposition make that much difference?" Yes, it does, actually. Consider the use of those three prepositions with respect to water. I can have water "with" me, "in" me or "upon" me--with three very different results or workings. If I have water with me, I can cook or wash with it, but it's not quenching my thirst. If I have water in me, it quenches my thirst, but it's not going to get me clean. If I have water upon me, I will get clean but I couldn't use it for cooking. Prepositions are powerful little words!

Prepositions and the Holy Spirit

In John 14:15–17 Jesus said:

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."

Here we see two of the three prepositions: with and in. Jesus clearly distinguishes two different states of the Holy Spirit with respect to a person. At the time He spoke these words, the Holy Spirit was with the disciples, but Jesus promised that one day He (the Spirit) would be in them. While the Spirit was with the disciples, He guided them and convicted them of wrongdoing. When the Spirit would come in them, He would give them new life. They would experience the new birth.

The Indwelling Spirit

Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."—John 20:21–22

After His resurrection but before His ascension into heaven, Jesus gives His disciples a commission. He tells them that just as He was sent into the world by the Father to proclaim the Good News, they were to do the same. He then gives them the Holy Spirit. But this is not all that they would experience with regard to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Although they received the Spirit, more was to come. They could not fulfill their mission until something else happened. In Luke 24:45–49, Jesus tells them that they will preach the good news, but they are not to start right away. He tells them to wait until they have been clothed with power from on high (v. 49).

Why do they need to wait when they have received the indwelling Spirit? What more could they get? Jesus said they would need need power to do their ministry—power that they didn't have, even though they knew the gospel and the Spirit now lived in them.

The Empowering of the Spirit

Once again, Jesus tells the disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but wait for the "gift" the Father will give them. They would be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days (Acts 1:4–5). In verse 8 of chapter 1, Jesus tells them, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Here we have the third preposition, on, to describe the empowering work of the Spirit. On the day of Pentecost it says that "all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:4).

We can see that there are a few terms that seem to be interchangeable in Scripture: "being baptized with the Holy Spirit", having the Holy Spirit "come on (or upon)" you, and being "filled with the Holy Spirit." These terms are used to describe the same phenomenon: the ministry of the Holy Spirit to empower someone to be a witness for Christ.

Being filled with the Spirit is a repeatable experience. (See e.g. Acts 4:8, 31; 13:52.) It's not like regeneration (being born again) which happens only once. In fact, believers are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Without the infilling of the Spirit, we will be ineffective in being witnesses for Christ. With the infilling of the Spirit, we will be bold and effective in our proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord.

LAUNCH!

2010-04-15T21:27:00.005-05:00

My church is planning on starting a missions training school which will begin Fall 2010. For the initial year, we plan on starting with a small group of people from our church and seeing what the Lord does with it. The school will be called Launch, and I will be the director. Launch is being developed around three core aspects: Pray...Train...Send...

Pray

At the foundation of any move of God is extravagant prayer. No ministry with eternal impact can take place apart from the working of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is how we align ourselves with God's will and access His power. We hope to instill in our students a dependence on God and His resources. We want them to see the absolute necessity of prayer for their personal lives and ministries. Our desire is that prayer will permeate all that we do in Launch.

Train

We're in the process of recruiting folks from within our local body to serve as teachers and mentors for the students. We are blessed to have in our church a number of people who have served in international missions and/or local teaching ministries. Training will be holistic, covering character, knowledge and practical skills (heart, head and hand.)

Send

Students will participate in practicums such as evangelism, healing prayer, serving the poor, and discipling. We plan on at least one local cross-cultural ministry trip and an overseas ministry trip in the summer.

We believe that through it all, God will call some students to church planting or other long-term overseas work. We trust that all will be better equipped to serve the Lord and advance His Kingdom.

For Such a Time as This

I'm really excited to be a part of what the Lord is doing in equipping and sending people to go "to the ends of the earth" with the Good News of Jesus Christ. The recent major earthquakes around the world have reminded me of Jesus' words to His disciples when they asked Him about the end times:

"There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."—Matthew 24:7–8

I have no idea how close we may be to the time of the return of the Lord, but I do believe we are seeing the beginning of birth pains. Jesus gave another promise that fires me up:

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." —Matthew 24:14

I long to be a part of fulfilling these words. And I pray that through Launch, God would raise up many who would be lit on fire to bring the gospel to the nations.

My focus points for 2010

2010-01-01T21:07:00.002-06:00

My wife asked me today what my goals were for the year. To be honest, I hadn't even thought of it. I typically do not make New Year's resolutions because they always seem so short-lived.

There are a few things, however, that the Lord has brought to my attention over the past year that I want to emphasize for the coming year.

• Spend at least one hour a day with God. I've noticed that I typically spend more than an hour on the computer each day on stuff that has a low "rate of return." It's not evil, it's just idle. My days go so much better when I have quality time with the Lord. Also, I could come up with goals for the New Year that sound great, but aren't what I'm supposed to be focusing on. I need the time with God to know where I should be spending my time.

God has put things on my heart to do, but I want to operate in His timing and not jump ahead. When Jesus heard that His friend Lazarus was sick, He didn't go immediately to heal him, He stayed where He was for two days (John 11:3-6). Why didn't He go right away? The Scripture doesn't say that He was involved in some important task that He had to complete. It gives no reason at all. Jesus spent regular time with His heavenly Father. My guess is that Jesus was simply in tune with the Father, and the Father told Him to stay two more days before heading out. I want to be like Christ and be in tune with God's timing.

• Be content with knowing and doing the "What" of God's will even when I don't know the "Why" or the "How." This follows from the point above. When I've spent the time with God and have discerned His will, I want to be quick to respond to what He says. I often fall into the "paralysis of analysis" because I overthink God's will rather than just obey because He says so.

• Be an encourager. First in my family and then to others God has put in my path. The Bible says to "encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today" (Hebrews 3:13). I received a hand-written note of encouragement in the mail from someone recently and it made my day. (Who hand-writes and uses USPS anymore?) I need to be on the giving end of encouragement more.

• Be a listener. I could avoid a number of problems if I were always "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" (James 1:19).

• Prioritize relationships over rules. I know I'm a "rules guy" and I play that card too much. I need to get that in order.

• Live within my budget. My wife and I were blessed to have gotten out of debt a few years ago (with the exception of our home mortgage.) Lately, however, we have become somewhat sloppy with our finances because things aren't as tight as they used to be. We have been hugely helped by following the financial advice of Dave Ramsey and using principles found in his book The Total Money Makeover. We've committed to getting back on track by being more hard-nosed about our spending, and looking for ways to increase our income.

Of course God's grace is needed for all of these areas. I am comforted knowing that He will be with me as I go through this year and beyond.

Cowboys and Rangers

2009-09-26T21:01:00.007-05:00

I went to two Texas Rangers games last weekend. On Saturday, the Rangers honored all the district Teachers of the Year. I was the secondary T.O.Y. for my school district. I had the honor of meeting Nolan Ryan. That was pretty cool.

On Sunday, I went to a game with my oldest son, a friend from church, and his son. It was my son's first professional baseball game of his life. I, myself, hadn't been to a baseball game in almost 20 years. We had a great time together.

I never realized how close Cowboy Stadium and Ranger Stadium were to each other ever since the Cowboys moved to Arlington. But that stuck in my head: Cowboys and Rangers.

*********
Fast forward to this morning when I went to the men's breakfast at my church. It was a great time of fellowship.

After breakfast, pastor Gary spoke to a couple hundred or so of us about the masculine journey. He drew upon the insights found in John Eldredge's latest book The Way of the Wild Heart. In the book, Eldredge identifies six stages of manhood that men go through—from Boyhood to Sage. At each stage there is something that a man ideally should "get" if he wants to successfully move to the next stage. Gary commented that if something happens to derail a man at one of the earlier stages, it will cause him problems in the later stages.

In the second stage (approx. 13-20 years of age), the overarching question of a man is "do I have what it takes?" Eldredge calls this the "Cowboy/Ranger" stage. At this stage, a man learns to have confidence in his abilities. When Gary spoke about this stage and when the title to the powerpoint came on the large screen, I sensed God speaking to me. I had missed some key elements at this stage. For years, I've struggled with an underlying sense of doubting if I have what it takes. That sense negatively affected me in my years as a pastor. And in many ways, it hinders me from stepping out into the fullness of what God has for me now. Having just been to where the Cowboys and Rangers play, God was showing me that part of the reason for Him bringing me to Dallas was to give me what I had been missing from the Cowboy/Ranger stage of manhood.

It's a sad feeling knowing that you missed out on something earlier on in life, but I'm glad my heavenly Father is with me and I know He will do a good work in me for His glory.

Update on Christ School Bundibugyo

2009-09-16T22:16:00.006-05:00

I had reported earlier that 70 students at Christ School Bundibugyo, became followers of Jesus while I was on my short-term ministry trip in Uganda. I just heard from my friends that another 30 students accepted Christ yesterday! (There are fewer than 300 students total at the school.) You can read about it here.

Definitely encourages me to pray even more for the students at my school.

Fellowship of Christian Students

2009-09-07T20:33:00.004-05:00

The week before school started, a student mentioned to my principal that she and some of her friends wanted to start a Christian club on campus: Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS). I was excited to hear of their desire, and volunteered to be their faculty sponsor.

About twenty students met for the first time last Friday in my classroom before school. We sang a couple of worship songs, and then broke up into two groups—girls and guys—to discuss godly vs. worldly characteristics. The topic was chosen and the discussion facilitated by one of the students who started the FCS group. This student reported having been saved and baptized over the summer.

It's so great to see these students take initiative, and be bold in their witness for Christ. May the Spirit of God do a powerful work in and through them.

Ugandan pastors and witch doctors

2009-08-13T20:43:00.013-05:00

One morning David and I were praying together, and we were moved to pray for all the witch doctors in the area that God would bless them. We really wanted to see God transform the lives of these individuals who are being held captive by the devil. During prayer, I had a sense that we were supposed to go to the home of a witch doctor, introduce ourselves, and tell him that we had come to bless him and his family. Before I could mention that, David said that he felt that the Lord was leading us to go to the home of a witch doctor who lives near the school and pray for him and his household. I told him what the Lord had put on my heart. We knew that was God's confirmation. However, we needed to find someone to translate, and we needed to find out where he lived. We prayed that God would give us what we needed.

The next morning, I took a walk in the village just to see the sights. On the road, I met Daniel, the pastor at whose church I preached the previous Sunday. After talking for a while, I told him that we needed to find out where a particular witch doctor lived. "I can take you to meet someone with that information," he told me. He brought me to the home of an older pastor, 'Kal,' who leads a group of churches in the district. Daniel translated for us. Kal told us that the man we were looking for was not a “normal” witch doctor, but was supposed to be a “night dancer.” They are more feared than regular witch doctors, and are supposed to have more power. Kal told us the man's name and where he lived.

As we were talking about the pervasiveness of witchcraft in the area, I asked him, "Have all the pastors in the district ever joined together to pray against the power of witchcraft?"

"No, we have never done that," he said. "But," he continued, "after you return to America, would you consider returning to Bundibugyo with another pastor to do a seminar for the pastors in the area?" I told him I would pray about that possibility.

The next day, Dave, two other men, and I visited the home of ‘King,’ the man who was known as a night dancer. He was not at all as I expected (although I'm not exactly sure what I expected.) He was quite old for a Ugandan—probably in his seventies. We all sat down in his "watube," a round structure with short mud walls, and wooden poles which support a thatched roof made of grass. He was very receptive to our visit, and actually told us that he wished we had come when more of his extended family was around. Several grandchildren gathered to see all the visitors. He even had a grandson named Brian. (We got along well!)

We talked for a while (through a translator), shared the gospel with him and prayed for him and his grandchildren. He had heard the gospel before on a number of occasions, but hadn’t yet decided to follow Christ. He invited us to come back for another visit in a few days. I left Uganda before having another chance to visit him, but I'm praying that others will make the time to do so.

Second week in Bundibugyo

2009-08-06T20:34:00.006-05:00

Sunday morning July 19, I preached at a local church. The church meets in a very modest tin-roof structure made of cement and having a dirt floor. There were about 80 people in attendance, and I would estimate that about 70 of those were children 16 and under. There were a number of visitors that day. They were very encouraged when I gave them greetings from the church in the US. The pastor of the church translated into Lubwesi. I encouraged them that God wanted to use them to bring the good news of Jesus to Bundibugyo, to other parts of Uganda and beyond.

That night, I began three nights of training Ugandan student leaders and school staff in healing prayer and deliverance. I normally do this training over a number of weeks, but with time constraints I had to squeeze a lot into a few sessions. My prayer is that they would have taken away a few key concepts and will begin to pray in faith for one another and for others. Besides training, I also had prayer ministry appointments for those who were interested. It was wonderful to see God bring healing and freedom from demonic oppression.

Students also continued to seek prayer for difficulty in school caused by distraction, falling asleep, lack of concentration, poor understanding, sudden headaches or eye problems, and sudden desires to flee the classroom. It was very sad to hear how many were so harassed by the devil.

At the same time, these students have such a sweet spirit about them, and a desire to be used by God. The final message I gave to the students as a group was based on John 14:12, that anyone who has faith in Christ will do the things that He did. I wanted them to understand that they could do the things Jesus and His followers did: preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons, etc. I emphasized that these things were to be done for God's glory, not our own. I invited those who wanted to be used by God in this way to come to the front of the chapel area. Many students responded to the invitation. Two staff members, two students and I then laid hands on and prayed for the students who came forward.

School leaders and I saw definite signs of revival beginning among the students. We're praying for the sparks to be fanned into flame.

Soccer field meeting in Bundibugyo

2009-08-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, July 18, we had a worship gathering out on the "pitch," which is the large football (American soccer) field on the school grounds. During the planning stages of the meeting, a few people expressed some concerns. They had never had a large gathering on the pitch before. They usually have worship gatherings in the chapel area. It was going to be at night, which meant poor lighting (only a few lanterns and small battery-powered lights). Some were concerned that there was going to be chaos, and that the boys would be interacting with the girls in inappropriate ways. Despite the concerns expressed—maybe even because of them—we had faith that God was going to work. During the retreat, I had a sense that we were supposed to bring pen and paper to this Saturday night gathering so that we could follow up on the people who decide to follow Jesus.

The field was set up with chairs and benches. As is typical of most of the gatherings of this nature, boys mostly sat on one side and girls on the other. We started with several student-led worship songs in English and Lubwesi. Everyone was singing, clapping and dancing; there was such a sense of joy and celebration. There weren't any reported incidents of bad behavior. None of the fears materialized.

After the worship time, I shared a message from Luke 11:11-13. There was no sound amplification, but it did not seem to be a hindrance. Although it's a Christian school, students from all different spiritual backgrounds attend. We gave an invitation for students to become followers of Jesus. When students began to respond, one of the leaders emphasized that only those who were making a serious first-time decision to follow Jesus should come forward. He told them that the leadership intended to follow up with them to help them grow in their new faith. Some students who initially responded and realized they were not serious went back to their seats. When all was said and done, about 70 students made decisions for Christ that night!

We then had a prayer time for students who wanted boldness for sharing Christ with others, freedom from nightmares, and freedom from fears about the future. I prayed general prayers over the different groups. We also had students pair up with one another (boys with boys and girls with girls), lay hands on each other and pray for each other for their specific needs. We wanted to begin teaching them that it's not just the leaders who pray, but that they can all pray for one another.

We closed the evening with a few songs of worship. The students returned the chairs and benches and we called it a night. Jesus said, "'In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents'" (Luke 15:10). There was much rejoicing in Bundibugyo and in heaven that night.

Retreat in Bundibugyo, Uganda

2009-08-03T08:17:00.010-05:00

On Friday (July 17), Dave and I went on a short retreat to seek the Lord and be refreshed. A family that used to do ministry in Bundibugyo left to be part of a work in another east African country, so Dave and I used their former house as our retreat location. The setting was very peaceful and beautiful.

I really enjoyed my time with Dave. He and I first became prayer partners about eight years ago when we were both living in the San Diego area. I have fond memories of sitting in his car in the parking lot of a coffee shop and praying that God would use us to further His Kingdom. Neither one of us imagined that one day God would answer those prayers by sending him and his family to Uganda for five years, and having me visit them for two weeks to help them out. Following Jesus has its joys and difficulties, but it is certainly not dull!

I brought a guitar and we worshiped the Lord and prayed together. We discussed God's work in our lives, shared the struggles we were facing and encouraged each other in our faith. We also read Scripture and books by Christian authors. I started reading The Heavenly Man, the true account of a leader in the Chinese house church movement who experienced beatings, persecution and imprisonments for his faith in Christ. His story reads like the pages of the Book of Acts—gripping and inspiring. It was a good reminder of what many followers of Jesus must go through, and of God's power and faithfulness on behalf of those who believe.

Nightly student meetings in Uganda

2009-08-01T08:45:00.016-05:00

Christ School Bundibugyo (CSB) is a secondary school which, like all schools in Uganda, follows the British education system. The students grade levels are approximately the equivalent of 8th grade to 13th grade in the U.S. Also, like most if not all schools, the students wear uniforms. Boys have blue top, girls red. The girls wear calf-length skirts. All students (including the girls) keep their hair cut quite short as is the culturally accepted norm.

There's not really a "separation of church and state" so all public schools have some Christian-based religious education as part of the curriculum. CSB, being a Christian school, obviously puts a greater emphasis on Christian education. For example, they have mandatory weekly chapel services and small groups led by teachers to help the students process and apply what they have learned in the chapel services. Because of my limited time in the country, I would only be able to speak at one chapel service. Below is a typical chapel service:

In order for me to have more time with the students, the staff and administrators decided to have a half hour time for me to pray with interested students. As this was optional, we expected maybe ten or so students to show up. I borrowed a guitar intending to play a worship song or two before praying with students. When I got to the meeting area, the chaplain was there as well as about ten students. As we were setting things up, more students continued to arrive. After several minutes the chapel area was full; most of the school's 350 students had showed up.

I wasn't quite sure what to do. I only knew one song that the students also knew and it was clear that they had come to worship. We started enthusiastically singing "There's No One Like Jesus." A couple guys played hand drums and a couple girls led vocally. The one song I knew was coming to an end, and I didn't know what to do after that. After that song was over, the student worship leaders just kept right on going with another song...and another...and another. All my internal stress was for nothing. God had things under control. (He often does :-)

We still did not have a plan for what would happen after the singing was over. There were too many students to pray for all of them individually as was the plan. During worship, I felt like the Lord gave me a short word of encouragement for the students: "The battle is Mine." The students face a lot of external and internal hindrances to fulfilling their educational and life goals. Many students are orphans or fatherless, have difficulties in their studies, struggle to pay school fees, and worry about their futures. Besides all that, many students are afraid of the witchcraft that is prevalent in this area. A majority have regular nightmares as a result. I shared the word with them, along with some promises from the Bible of God's faithfulness and His power over the forces of darkness. The students seemed to be encouraged.

After the meeting was over, the students went to their daily "prep time"—the time from 7:15 to 10:00 p.m. used for studying and preparing for upcoming tests. After all was said and done, we decided to have these half-hour meetings nightly for whoever wanted to come. From then on, the students led the worship singing time, and the remainder of the time went to testimonies or short messages from the Bible. By the end of my time there, the students were meeting on their own without me there. That was very encouraging. Some student leaders asked for an additional 1-hour time slot for me to pray for students one-on-one. Julius, a 16-year-old who pastors a church in the area—yes, I said 16—made up a schedule and organized everything.

In need of healing

2009-07-31T11:29:00.007-05:00

A picture of my friends' (David and Annelise) house where I stayed for all but one night of my time in Uganda.

They have a number of trees in their yard: orange (though this type is green when ripe), avocado, Jack fruit, and mango (below).

The morning of my second day in Bundibugyo, I walked with Annelise through the village to the local health clinic. I spent an extended amount of time in the pediatric area. Not many modern conveniences—it's basically a large room with mats for the children to lie on with their caregivers—but dedicated staff. A few health care professionals connected with World Harvest Mission serve here. It was very heartbreaking to see the children. Malaria, malnutrition, “wasting disease,” tuberculosis, fevers, sickle-cell anemia were the main ailments affecting them. A few of them had witchcraft amulets tied around them. Their parents/guardians hoped that these amulets would bring cures. With Annelise doing some interpreting into Lubwesi, the main local language, I spent some time praying for a number of the children that Jesus would heal them.

I didn't see any miraculous improvements at that time, but I'm praying that the Lord will continue to bring about healing in their bodies. One of the reasons for my trip was to train staff and student leaders in healing prayer and casting out demons. One of my main roles is equipping other Christians to "do the stuff." I've found that much more happens when I help others use the gifts that God has given them. I would love to see the staff and students of the school eventually taking the good news of Jesus in word and power to those in need. Since I've gotten back to the US, I've heard some reports of the Spirit of God continuing to work at the school. More, Lord!

Arriving in Uganda

2009-07-30T16:19:00.013-05:00

[Note: I brought my camera, but forgot to bring the battery charger so I don't have too many pictures. I used another camera while I was there, so I'm hoping to get those pictures soon.]

It was a 9 1/2-hr flight from DFW to Amsterdam, and then an 8-hour flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe, Uganda. On the flight into Entebbe, I sat next to a man who turned out to be a well-known Ugandan pastor and church planter. He has spoken to crowds in the thousands at evangelistic campaigns, but is now convinced that the best way to make disciples is through church planting. His ministry planted 14 churches in Uganda last year, and his team is working on a training program for church planters. We talked at length and exchanged information. It was a very encouraging "God connection."

My driver picked me up from the airport and drove me to the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) guesthouse in Kampala, the capital. After a night's stay, I took a Cesna six-seater from Kijanse airstrip to Bundibugyo. Below is takeoff.

The flight was about 1 1/2 hours. The small plane afforded a great aerial view of the country. Besides me in the plane, there was one American third-year med student who was going to work at a clinic in Bundibugyo. Two Hong Kong natives who were friends of the (German) pilot came with us just for the ride. One was a teacher and the other an IT guy. They were on their way to another east African country. All of us had different purposes, but it was cool to see how each of us was planning on using their gifts for the cause of Christ.

It was loud, but with the windows closed it was not unbearably so—kind of like the engine on my weedwhacker. The flight was much smoother than I expected. So I was taken by surprise when I got airsick about four minutes before landing. Thankfully, this was the only time I got sick on my entire two-week trip....And thankfully the pilot showed me where the air sickness bag was before takeoff.

I arrived in Bundibugyo at about 2:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday, July 14. Upon landing, my good friend Dave greeted me. He was one of the main reasons I made the trip. I would stay at his house with his family. We embraced for a long time. There were lots of villagers who came to the airstrip in Bundibugyo to see the arrival of the plane. I guess it's a big event. Villagers at the airstrip (and most places I went) stared at me because I was a newcomer and because they were trying to figure out if I was a Muzungu. (Not many light-skinned people of African descent where they live.) We took Dave's 4-wheel drive vehicle on a dirt road from the airstrip to his home located on the campus of Christ School Bundibugyo in the small village of Nyakuta.

After I got settled, Dave asked me, "So, you wanna go to a funeral?" The daughter of one of the leading men in the area had died, so we decided to pay our respects. We walked along the main dirt road then turned left onto a winding path leading to the man's home. Many people were walking in the opposite direction having just come from the funeral. By the time we reached the house, they had just about finished burying the young woman on the property. Though we arrived late, the father was appreciative of our visit.

I'm told that funerals are quite common here. Sicknesses and disease take the lives of many well before their time. It was a sobering introduction to my ministry trip, but it certainly helped me keep things in perspective.

Ministry trip is fully funded

2009-07-05T21:57:00.007-05:00

The Lord provided all the money for my overseas ministry trip through many generous donations. Thanks to all of you who invested financially!

Stealing Apples

2009-07-05T20:58:00.011-05:00

I was in the Apple Store in Ft. Worth last week having my laptop looked at. It was around noon and the store was packed with people. Besides being generally crowded, there was also a separate long line of folks waiting to purchase the new iPhone 3GS.

All of a sudden the store alarm began to blare. I looked toward the front of the store and three or four guys probably in their late teens were running away from the building at top speed. One employee looked at the table where the iPhones were kept and confirmed that the bandits had made off with some of the prized merchandise. The thieves were wearing shirts that mimicked those of the Apple Store employees.

I've never been present during a robbery like this. It seemed so random. Thoughts and feelings raced through my head. First, there was confusion. Were those guys all thieves, or was one or more an Apple Store employee chasing the thief(ves)? Then there was anger. How dare they come into a crowded store and rip the place off! After that, strategizing. Do I have enough speed to catch them? Can I even run in these sandals? What if they're armed? Why couldn't I have been closer to the door to at least trip them? I kept my eyes on them as they made their getaway, but eventually lost sight of them among cars in the parking lot across the street.

Eventually, when I left, I noticed that one guy was being escorted by an employee back to the store: handcuffed. At least they got one of them, I thought to myself.

Driving away, I pondered the utter stupidity of these young men, and lamented that more Black youth were headed down the road of crime and self-destruction. Was this the kind of life they dreamed of as young boys? What kind of input, if any, did their fathers have in their lives? What will it take to turn them around?

Today at my church, a man shared about the jail ministry he's involved with at the Dallas County Jail. He said that the jail officials have been so impressed with how inmates' lives have been changed that his ministry is being given a wide open door to work with inmates in a new wing that's opening. Having ministered at Monroe County Jail in Rochester, NY, my interest was piqued. I talked to the man briefly after the service and asked him how I could get more information.

Maybe my being present during the robbery wasn't so random after all.

One year down, ??? to go

2009-06-15T20:59:00.004-05:00

I recently finished my first full year of teaching math. There were some challenges, but over all it was a very good year. My students did outstanding on their standardized state math test (Math TAKS Test). Well over 90% passed the test, and about 55% got "Commended Performance" (which, in this case, means they scored at least a 90%). This, combined with the fact that every student passed the Reading TAKS Test, earned my school an "Exemplary" rating by the state.

The students really worked hard, and I was very proud of them. Many of them are now taking classes at a local community college which has partnered with us. This is all part of their program in which they can earn up to 60 college credits by the time they graduate high school.

Additionally, I was honored to have been selected Secondary Teacher of the Year for my school district. It's especially amazing to me since less than two years ago, teaching high school was not even on the radar for me. God's ways are certainly higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9).

Our two-week Summer Bridge program began today with the incoming freshmen (and some new sophomores.) We have a great group of students coming in. I'm very interested to see what the next school year holds in store. My main two prayers are that my students would excel in math, and that I would be a compelling witness for Jesus Christ.

Change of mission plans

2009-05-13T21:21:00.003-05:00

As you may remember, Amy and I were planning on going on a ministry trip to Uganda with our whole family. After looking at the financial situation and discussing it with our friends in Uganda, we have decided that I would take this trip to Uganda alone. We felt that given the circumstances and the needs, this would be the best use of the available resources. We were all somewhat disappointed, but Amy and I have peace about the decision.

The trip dates have been changed to July 12 to 24. Please pray for all of us as the time draws closer.

Teaching ministry

2009-04-25T20:33:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, one of the pastors of my church asked if I would be interested in co-teaching a class for new believers. I had been feeling the need and desire to get more involved in ministry in some way, but wasn't sure which way to go. I'll be teaming up with a guy who's been involved in missions the last few years. He has a son my age, but he is very energetic and has a passion for discipleship. I'm looking forward to serving in this way, and to working with and learning from my co-teacher. The class begins May 3. I'd appreciate your prayers as I prepare for and begin this ministry.

Turning to Jesus

2009-04-12T21:21:00.004-05:00

Here's another great testimony of what God is doing at Christ School Bundibugyo in Bundibugyo, Uganda.

Happy Resurrection Day!

What's up with Bundibugyo, Uganda?

2009-03-20T10:25:00.003-05:00

Here and here are a couple great links that detail some of what the Lord is doing through missionaries in Bundibugyo, Uganda, where we hope to be going this summer.

Dave and Annelise are our good friends we met when we lived in San Diego.

Marks of a Spiritual Leader

2009-03-18T20:27:00.007-05:00

Pastor John Piper wrote an article entitled "Marks of a Spiritual Leader." I got through less than half of it before I was cut to the heart by the truths in it. (I closed my computer, and made a beeline to my bedroom to pray.) I have since finished the article and really appreciate what he has to say in such a short essay.

"In ( ) We Trust"

2009-03-14T11:18:00.018-05:00

Take a look at those parentheses.

The most important thing you can do is decide what you are going to fill them with. I've been thinking about that a lot given the state of our nation and its economy. King David surveyed his own nation thousands of years ago. In Psalm 20:7-8, he observed:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses....They collapse and fall...

What about our nation today? Some trust in bailouts and some in stimulus packages; some trust in stocks and some trust in gold; some trust in presidents and some trust in lawmakers and judges; some trust in education and some trust in technology. None of these things is evil, in itself. They all have their proper place. But they all fall terribly short as far as something in which to put our hope. They will collapse and fall. They will disappoint and betray. They will grow tired and die. They will rust and decay.

Though some had their suspicions, not too many people would have imagined five years ago that the economy would be where it is today. Yet, here we are and we wonder where this is all going. Some say that we are headed for a depression worse than the Great Depression of the 30's. Some predict the downfall of the nation. Others that we will bounce back stronger after several years.

I'm not a prophet or a financial advisor. I have no idea whether or not you should stay in (or get in) the market, or if you should get out (or stay out.) I don't know if any of the policies our goverment puts into place will work. I can't tell you whether or not you should acquire land in the country, stock up on nonperishable foods, learn gardening, and get off the grid.

The best advice I can give is to tell you to fill those parentheses up there with the same thing that King David did:

...but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

The apostle Paul recommends the same thing:

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17).

What is true for the "rich" is true for us all. We must put our faith, trust, hope in the name—that is the character and nature—of the LORD. His Name means "I AM." He is what? Yes! He is Peace, Comfort, Fulfillment, Love, Provision. He is Friend, Counselor, Father, Lawyer, Real Estate Agent, Financial Advisor, Guide, Job Provider, Healer,... We must commit ourselves to Him and His Kingdom, seek His will as best we can, move forward in a direction, and be confident that He will lead and give us course corrections along the way.

Followers of Jesus must pursue Him with a passion especially in times of crisis like this—both for our own sake and for the sake of a watching world that is searching for answers. Now is not the time to shrink back in fear. Now is not the time to withdraw into a shell, and to only look out for ourselves. Now is not the time to back off of ministry. Now is the time to sink our roots even more deeply into the solid ground of Christ, and to extend our branches out to serve those in our neighborhood and the nations.

But it all starts with filling the parentheses.

Aaron ("Smokey") walks......

2009-03-07T21:07:00.007-06:00

...and his dad figures out how to use iMovie to upload and edit the video. His big brother, Isaiah, did a great job of standing him up and letting him go. He still prefers crawling, but he chooses the upright position more and more. He's also learned how to climb out of the bathtub, which means I generally can't leave him unattended while I...oops, gotta go!

Mission trip to Uganda

2009-02-28T15:52:00.011-06:00

As you may know, Amy and I have been considering missions opportunities for a little over a year now. Africa has been on both of our hearts: Amy, because she spent three years in Kenya with her family, and me because of my trip to Mali in 2006. We have wanted to do something as a family so that our children could have a taste of missions.

We are close friends with a family that is serving the Lord in Uganda. They have two children that are the same age and gender as our oldest two. Last December our friends asked if we would come out for a summer to help them in their mission work. They serve at a secondary school for Ugandans called Christ School Bundibugyo. Bundibugyo is a small, rural community in the western part of the country, less than five miles from the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They work with an organization called World Harvest Mission (WHM). He serves as the headmaster of the school, and she works with female staff and students. The school’s mission is to “develop young men and women into leaders equipped to foster the transformation of their nation.”

After praying and discussing the idea with some family and friends, we came to the conclusion that this would be a great opportunity for our entire family to serve the Lord, help our good friends, and get a feel for extended mission work in Africa.

Lord willing, our trip will be from July 1st to August 5th. We will be working with our friends as well as the other members of their small team involved in health care, education, etc. Our ministry there will include such things as: preaching/teaching at student assemblies, prayer ministry to students & staff, training in healing prayer/deliverance ministry for students & staff, and debriefing, and providing general support for WHM team members. We want our kids to be a support and encouragement for their kids, and to have an appreciation for what God is doing in other parts of the world.

We are excited about the opportunity, and would appreciate your prayers as we prepare for this trip. If you would like to support us financially, you can click the red "Support Us" button at the top. Thanks!

Contentment and patience

2009-02-28T14:21:00.008-06:00

I had coffee with an old saint the other day. John had served as a missionary for over 20 years and now speaks internationally teaching pastors and churches how to reach people for Christ in their country and in neighboring countries. I was telling him how I was currently teaching math, but that it wasn't my passion.

He gave me lots of good stuff to chew on, but probably the most meaningful thing he said was, "If you can't be content anywhere, then you can't be content anywhere." It took me a few seconds to really understand what he meant, but then the light bulb went on. If I don't learn to be content with where God has me right at this moment, then I will not be content wherever I may go in the future. But if I am content in the Lord regardless of my circumstances, then I will be content wherever I may go.

The apostle Paul, writing from a Roman prison, had this to say: "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation...." (Philippians 4:10-12). If Paul could be content in prison, surely I can be content where I'm at.

Spiritual gift test online

2009-02-26T20:43:00.004-06:00

Found this online spiritual gift test quite helpful. I hadn't done a spiritual gift test in a while and I was curious to find out what the results were. I don't think these tests are necessarily the best way to determine your gifts, but I think they can be interesting and useful. It's curious to me that the Bible doesn't mention how one discovers ones spiritual gifts. Probably the best way is simply to serve in whatever capacity the Lord puts in front of you and discover by doing.

Hungry...but not for physical food

2009-01-08T20:38:00.010-06:00

Our church is beginning a concerted effort to reach the people of Arlington with the Good News. All the home groups will be going through a six-week series of teachings to focus on "missional" living. Amy and I had been thinking about how we were to start getting more involved as far as serving in our new church. When we were asked to lead one of these groups, it seemed like the right thing to do to get our feet wet.

I've wrestled with the whole idea of reaching out in Arlington, and the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, in general. One could argue that DFW is the most "reached" metropolitan area in the world. This area is saturated with seminaries, Bible colleges, Christian schools, and ministry headquarters (like Wycliffe Bible Translators, Pioneer Bible Translators, and Gospel for Asia)—to say nothing of the fact that it seems there is a church or two or four on every corner! I had a hard time seeing how it was possible that anyone could not at least hear about Jesus if they lived in the metroplex. I've always felt that there are many places so much more needy than here.

But hearing about Jesus, and following Him are two vastly different things. More and more, I am beginning to see the need around.

Yesterday, I had breakfast with a pastor friend of mine. I got to the restaurant a little before he did and decided to pull out my Bible and read a bit before he showed up. I had it laying on the table facedown when a busser came by.

"Is that a Bible you got there?" he asked. "Yeah, it is," I responded.
"Are you a pastor?"
"No, I'm a math teacher. My name is Brian," I said, extending a hand to him.
"I'm Jeremiah," he responded. (He had a biblical name, but I've changed it here.)
"That's a good biblical name," I said.
"Yeah, my mom was a strong believer."

"Brian, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"What do you think it means to 'live in the light'?"

We talked for a few minutes about that until my friend showed up. I introduced Jeremiah to my pastor friend and we both continued talking with him. Jeremiah was just getting off the graveyard shift and was planning on going home. "Would you like to sit down with us?" my friend asked. Upon checking things out, he agreed to stay. We invited him to eat with us, but he wasn't hungry.

After sitting down, the first question he asked us was, "What does it mean to meet Jesus?" It turns out that Jeremiah attends church every once in a while. He is not a follower of Jesus, but was clearly very interested. We had the opportunity to share the good news with him, as well as our own testimonies of how we met Jesus.

We spent about an hour together over our meal. When we asked him if he had ever considered giving his life to Christ, he said that he had considered it, but that his "pride" and "stubbornness" were preventing him. Jeremiah reminded me a lot of myself when I was his age (25). I think he's very close to entering the Kingdom of God.

We talked a little longer before I had to head off to school. As he left, my friend and I told him that we would pray for him.

This whole event was a good reminder to me that there are people even in DFW (!) who do not yet know Christ, but who are spiritually hungry. We who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good need to be ready to share our bread with them.

Of reptiles and men

2008-12-31T14:27:00.006-06:00

What happens when you cross a hungry python with a hungry alligator? This is what happens:

Apparently the snake swallowed the gator whole, but the gator wasn't going to take it lying down. He put up such a fight inside the snake that the snake exploded. Read all about it here. Two predators, each trying to eat the other, ended up destroying each other.

Nature gives us a very graphic picture of what the apostle Paul was talking about in Galatians 5:14-15:

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another (emphasis mine).

It's very easy to get into squabbles, especially with the ones closest to us. Sometimes in our anger we want to get the upper hand and really give it to other person: a cutting glare, a sharp word, a harsh comment, in the extreme, a physical blow. We believe that if we are on the offensive we won't get hurt—that if we strike hard first, we'll be safe. Such is not the case. Paul warns us that there is the real danger of both parties getting seriously hurt in the process. There are no winners when we attack our neighbor. A part of our own soul is wounded when we wound another person's soul. Like the snake and the gator, we get swallowed or we explode!

But what if by some freak of nature the snake said to the alligator, "Hey, Al. Why don't you and I work together to get us some prey?" They'd most likely never miss a meal!

Hmmm....So if I'm the snake, who are the alligators in my life?

Stay awake

2008-12-31T06:10:00.009-06:00

There have been a number of thefts on my street and neighborhood in the past month or so. Sometime in the night, a person or group steals tires off of cars left in driveways. The only evidence left behind is the car sitting with its rotors on bricks ("borrowed" from another unsuspecting neighbor.)

Although this has never happened to me, it makes me absolutely sick. I feel violated and angry for my neighbors. What kind of lowlifes would do such a thing! I have often thought that I'd love to catch them in the act. But who knows where they'll strike or when? I'd have to stay up all night every night to even have a chance.

Having been pondering all that, I read this passage of Scripture this morning:

But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. —Luke 12:39-40

More important than being alert for thieves, is to be alert for the return of Jesus. More important that being prepared for a thief is being prepared for the second coming of Christ. My desire to be in a right frame of mind in the Lord should far outweigh my desire to catch a bad guy.

No one knows when Christ will return. It could be next week, next year or next century. But we need to be ready. We must stay awake. We have to "stay dressed for action and keep (our) lamps burning" (Luke 12:35). We don't want to be caught off guard or found sleeping when Christ returns. We must watch our lives and be diligent doing the Father's work. What a joy to know that He is coming back for us, and what a privilege and responsibility to let the world how they can be ready to meet Him.

All Things?

2008-12-13T15:15:00.016-06:00

The second half of this week has been rather difficult. I can see how the Lord has been testing me. I think it started with a short conversation I had with a fellow teacher. In the midst of our conversation, he said, "And you know my pastor says that God can make something good out of almost anything." I responded that God can make something good out of anything, not almost anything." I had in mind Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (emphasis mine). That was on Tuesday afternoon.

That night, I went with my three oldest kids to get our Christmas tree. I had my cell phone in my sweatshirt pocket. When we got the tree set up in our house, I looked for my phone but couldn't find it. I called my phone from Amy's phone thinking that I would hear it ring somewhere around the house. Nothing. I tried calling again. This time a man answered the phone! "Hello," the voice said, "I don't know if you own this phone, but I'm going to turn it into Home Depot customer service."

I went back to the store to pick up the phone, and discovered that it was bent and the antenna had been broken off. It must have been run over in the parking lot. Well, at least I found it and it still worked, I thought. The next day, it didn't work. Not a big deal, I could get another phone.

Later that day, Wednesday, I picked up a slight cough. By Thursday morning, I had a full cold and called in sick to work. Again, not a big deal. I went to my school briefly to prepare something for the substitute teacher, and came home to rest. Usually, it's hard for me to rest, but I took great pains to really rest so that I would be ready to go back to school on Friday.

Thursday evening, I was feeling much better and was confident I would be back the next day. But there was an interruption to my plans. After dinner, I was helping to clear the table. I picked up a pot of soup and must have lifted it incorrectly. As I carried it to the counter, I could feel my lower back begin to tighten. Immediately a sharp pain shot through my back. I was able to get the pot safely to the counter, but I quickly doubled over and fell to the floor in severe pain. I had injured my back in the past, so I knew that it had to be a sciatic nerve problem.

If you've never injured your lower back, be grateful. When it hits you, it's very difficult to find a position that does not hurt. I tried to pick myself up, but everything I tried caused immense pain. I didn't ask for help right away; all the while, I was telling myself that I could get up on my own. I tried different maneuvers to get up, but excruciating pain hit me and I would cry out. Eventually, I crawled over to a desk and pulled myself up. Amy helped me to our room, and I lay down on the bed.

Laying in bed, I could not get comfortable. I would have tossed and turned in bed, but moving was too painful. On top of that, Amy and I had an argument adding to the emotional and physical pain I was experiencing. I just need to call a friend to pray for me, I thought. But then I remembered that my phone was broken, and I couldn't retrieve anyone's contact information! Dark thoughts plagued me: Would I walk again? Would I be able to pick up my children? Would I be able to play with them like I used to? Was this a long-term injury such that I couldn't go back to work? How would I support my family? Nagging questions and fears consumed me. Then came the accusing thoughts: You should be stronger than that! Where's your faith? Other people have it worse than you. If you're this emotionally weak, how could you handle a real crisis? It all seemed like spiritual attack. (The enemy loves to kick us when we're down.) I felt very alone. "God, where are You? Why aren't You rescuing me? Jesus, You have to help me. I can't take this!"

In the midst of my crying out, I remembered Romans 8:28. All things? Do I really believe that now? Or is that simply a nice platitude that works well when life is rosy? Nothing physically or emotionally changed that night. The circumstances were the same; but I chose to believe Romans 8:28. I chose to trust God. Thursday night I had to apply what I (perhaps carelessly?) proclaimed to be true Tuesday afternoon.

I stayed home Friday, but I felt a little better. Today, I felt better still and was able to attend a teacher training in the morning. I don't know how I would do in a more difficult situation. I just thank God for His grace on this occasion, and pray for the grace to endure whatever else comes.

Bible thumper

2008-12-07T08:22:00.011-06:00

If you've known me for a while, you probably have noticed the bump on my wrist. It's called a ganglion cyst. It's not painful, but it looks kinda creepy—sort of like your wrist is pregnant. It's a tiny sac filled with fluid that comes from your wrist joints.

I was at a teacher training yesterday, and a fellow teacher told me that she used to have a ganglion cyst. "I just stuck it with a needle," she told me. "Didn't hurt a bit."

So I decided I would try it....

Alas, I didn't have a needle. But I had read online that in the olden days, some people would whack their ganglion cysts with a hard cover book. The cyst would burst like a water balloon and all would be fine. In fact, a slang term for the cysts was "Bible bumps" because apparently people would use the Bible since it was the most common book people owned. No, I'm not kidding. Google it if you don't believe me.

So I made up my mind to hit this thing with the Word of God. But which version should I choose? I don't know about you, but when I think about whacking a ganglion cyst, I think 1601 King James Version (KJV). I mean, if you're going to perform minor surgery, you don't want to mess around with some loose paraphrase like The Living Bible. You want something that carries some authority—and weight.

Unfortunately, I don't own a KJV Bible. I can't understand the Old English, so I always bought more modern translations. If I had known my health would depend on it, I would certainly have bought a KJV for just such a purpose. (Let me encourage you if you don't have a KJV to go out and get one and put it in your first aid kit.)

Well, I didn't have time to go out and get a KJV, and I just wanted to be rid of the cyst, so I looked at my Bible selection and chose the next best thing:

It was perfect: decent size, hard cover, large print.

So I grasped The Message Bible, took careful aim at the cyst, and swung with all my might.....

A very interesting feeling followed. You know that sensation you get when you bite down on a whole cherry tomato and it bursts in your mouth? It's just like that. Except add to that the sensation of simultaneously being punched in the face.

Actually, it hurt a little, but not as much as I thought. And here is the after photo:

With the exception of some fluid remaining in the area and a slight, dull ache, all evidence of the cyst is gone. If this cyst somehow comes back, however, I'm definitely going to buy a KJV Bible.

After Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T21:41:00.005-06:00

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We went to Amy's parents' house. There were about 15 of us with Amy's brother, her brother's friends, and a friend's family. Aim made her cheesy potatoes, and I made sweet potato pie.

Speaking of which, we interrupt this blog post to bring you a special news bulletin. Is nothing sacred?

Climbing higher

2008-10-28T20:20:00.006-05:00

I just got back from rock wall climbing with my two oldest kids at the gym where we just became members. Usually when Amy and I go to the gym with the kids, all six of us go into the pool. Today was the first time climbing.

Rock wall climbing is a lot harder than it looks—especially if you're doing it wrong, like I was. Apparently, you have to keep your hips close to the wall and let your legs, not your arms, do most of the work. Despite my poor form, I made it up to the top of a section of the wall that was medium difficulty. It was a glorious feeling to be 400 ft. up in the air dangling by a rope. OK, maybe it was more like 40 ft., but I'm telling you the air was really thin up there.

When I got down, I saw my 5-year-old son, Morsel, on his way up another section of the wall. He got about 1/3 of the way up, when he looked at me and said that that was as far as he was going to go. I looked at him and said, "No, Son, keep going up. You can do it." He was a little hesitant at first, but he started to make his way up the wall. Soon he was taking more confidant strides. When he would get stuck, I gave him suggestions on where to put his foot, where to reach, etc. I knew he could make it to the top, but I didn't know if he would go all the way.

He was almost to the top of the wall, when it looked as if he might go no further. I kept urging him on: "You can do it, Son. You're doing great! You're almost there!" I was so proud of him when he finally grabbed the top of the wall. I think I was more excited than he was.

Every young man needs an older man who will not let him give up after only climbing 1/3 the way up his wall. Every young man needs an older man who declares his belief in him, pushes him forward, cheers him on, and celebrates his victory. Older men, do you have a younger man that you are encouraging to go farther than he believes he can go? Younger men, have you found someone who can speak into your life and push you out of your comfort zone, so that you don't stop short of your potential?

If not, let's commit to seeking those out so that we can walk in the fullness of who we are in Christ.

Big kid Bible

2008-10-20T20:21:00.001-05:00

We just got our 5-year-old his first real Bible: the kind without the pictures. Although, it does have some maps in the back. He loves it. He's started reading through one of the Prophets. It's very encouraging to see him interested in the Word.

If your student asks for a fish...

2008-10-19T14:04:00.001-05:00

A few days ago, I was rushing through my 30-minute lunch at school. I had been working into my lunch period trying to prepare my room for the PSAT test I was giving my students. I only had a few minutes to myself to eat my meal: leftover tilapia and rice. I just wanted to eat my lunch in peace and not be bothered.

Not long after I sat down for my meal, one of my students walked into the classroom, where I was trying to "hide."

"Hi, Mr. Andrews, what are you eating?" she asked.

"It's tilapia," I responded, not wanting to engage her.

"I've never heard of that. What is it?"

"It's a kind of fish."

"Oh, I've only had catfish." I thought she would lose interest at this point, but then she continued. "Can I have some of it?" Quite honestly, I was taken completely off guard. You're kidding me, right? I was thinking to myself. I was blown away by her boldness, but also the innocence with which she asked me. She obviously thought nothing unusual about her request, but fully expected me to give her some of my lunch. Speechlessly, I broke off a piece of fish and gave it to her. She seemed to enjoy it.

Reflecting on this incident, I remembered Jesus' parable about the man who boldly went to his friend at midnight asking for bread. I also thought about His words after that:

"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?...If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

It was a reminder to me to persistently ask the Lord for a fresh filling of His Spirit. He will satisfy my hunger.

Here comes the judge

2008-10-12T13:42:00.009-05:00

Yesterday, we went to the International Bar-B-Que Cookers Association Cookoff held in a town a few miles from our house. I was excited to take in the sights and sounds (and tastes) of this yearly event. I figured that the public could probably buy barbeque at an inflated price, but I was willing to pay.

When we got to the location, the first thing I heard was, "Folks, we're going to need some judges for the cook off." Imagine being a little kid at Toys R Us at Christmas time and your parents saying to you, "Johnny, you've been such a good boy this year, here's our credit card. Pick out some things you like."

That comes close to the feeling I had. But then it seemed like the bubble of my dream was about to burst:

"We're looking for people to be judges in the ' best beans' category."

Beans? Beans??

"So when are you guys judging ribs?" I asked.
"Oh, that's not until tomorrow (Sunday) at 1:00 p.m."

Immediately I began to plot a strategy to get myself back to this location the next day in plenty of time to sign up to be a judge. I would go to church in the morning, making sure I sang all the praise songs loudly and confessed all my sins so that God would have favor on me. On the way home from church, I would promise my wife three straight days of alone time without the kids so that she would have favor on me. Then with all humility and pitifulness, I would ask her if she minded me going back to judge the ribs contest. "It's a great opportunity for me to be a witness for Jesus when I pray before ~~scarfing down~~ tasting the food."

My plan was foolproof...until my wife said, "Are you remembering we're having lunch with my parents tomorrow?"

[heavy sighs, biting my lips to hold back the tears]

"Oh yeah."

So I settled for judging in the finals of the "best beans" category. There were 19 finalists, so we had to pace ourselves.

If you ever thought to yourself, "I wonder what kind of people volunteer to be judges in the 'best beans' category at a bar-b-que cook off," I can give you the answer to that question. I sat across from a guy who must have been a veteran at this sport. The guy next to me looked as if he might eat beans right out of the can...and then eat the can.

"Howdy," I said warmly to my fellow judge across the table in the best Texas accent I could muster. He sat still as a statue and looked at me as if I had just called his mother an iguana. I figured I came across as too friendly; I decided to try a different approach with Mr. Tin Can.

"Hey," I said coolly as if I had just ridden a bucking bronco and was bored to tears to be judging a bean contest but only did so as a favor to my ailing grandma who lives for this day.

"Hey," he responded. (We must have the same grandmother.)

So I enjoyed my 20 minutes of fame as a judge in the finals of the 'Best Beans' category at the IBCA Cookoff. On the drive home, however, my wife was sorry that it was beans and not ribs that I had judged.

Shocking!

2008-10-12T06:35:00.001-05:00

I saw regular unleaded gas for $2.99/gal today! I should have taken a picture of the sign because I know that many of you don't believe me.

UPDATE: $2.89/gal is the new low that I've noticed here in Arlington, Texas.

What's the lowest price of gas that you've observed? What city?

Scientist for Jesus

2008-10-09T22:15:00.007-05:00

"Daddy, I want to stop the fighting in Science," my 5-year-old says to me the other day.

"Oh, yeah? How so?"

"I want to prove scientifically that God created the world."

You know, I believe he could do it. Last week he was explaining to me how a combustion engine works. Went totally over my head, but he knew exactly what he was talking about. He can spend hours with his microscope, reading about dinosaurs, building planes and helicopters, and coming up with ideas for experiments.

There used to be a time when to be a scientist meant to have a strong faith in God. Many scientists nowadays seem to take pride in ridiculing or being condescending toward believers. I pray for a generation of upcoming scientists who can converse with skeptics, atheists, agnostics and prodigal scientists on a highly technical level, but who are themselves passionate about the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Father, strengthen my son's heart and sharpen his mind. Let him bring glory to the Name of Jesus through his love of science. Let him bring light into dark places. Let him reach people that are far from You. Let me be an encouragement to him as he follows the path You have laid out for him."

Recently released

2008-09-25T20:26:00.006-05:00

I was sitting at my desk at school at the end of the day, when I looked up through the window in the door and noticed a familiar face. It was a student I had last year. I went out to greet him.

"Whassup!" he said as he greeted me with outstretched hand.

"Hey, Jarold (not his real name), how are you doing?"

"Good. Where are all the other teachers at?" He was expecting to find teachers that he had last year.

"Oh, this section has been turned into a different school. All the other teachers are upstairs." We walked together to try to find some of his other previous teachers. "How have you been?"

"I just got out of jail today," he informed me. "I was in a little over three months." I wasn't surprised. He had been one of the more challenging students. Having ministered in a jail for a while, I could relate some to his situation.

Having brought him to one of his other previous teachers, I went back downstairs to start my tutoring session.

"Lord, touch Jarold's heart. Transform him and make him new."

Balloon Festival

2008-09-24T20:18:00.002-05:00

We attended the Plano Balloon Festival last Saturday. It was a great day to watch balloons take to the sky.

That's a lot of hot air.

There were some pretty interesting balloons.

This one's in honor of National Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Couldn't figure out if this was a dragon or dinosaur. It doesn't matter. It deflated in the parking lot soon after take off.

Ike evacuees at Grace Community Church

2008-09-14T20:11:00.005-05:00

Our church is housing about 100 evacuees from Hurricane Ike. Some drove their own cars, others came by bus. Pray for these folks that God would meet all their needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.

Are we nearing the end?

2008-09-13T21:08:00.005-05:00

Has anyone else noticed that natural disasters seem to be on the rise? Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes have all made the news recently. Are they increasing in frequency? How about armed conflicts? How about the state of our world, in general? The Bible talks about wars and rumors of wars, and an increase in natural disasters as a sign that the end is approaching.

I noticed that for two weeks in a row, my pastor indicated his belief that the return of Christ would be in our children's lifetime. Of course no one knows the hour when He will come back, but He did tell us to take note of the signs.

Many past generations of Christians believed that Jesus would come back in their lifetime, but of course He did not. Is this another false alarm? Or are these "birth pains" as the Bible calls them, indicating the time is drawing closer?

So what do you think? Post a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you believe we're nearing the end, why do you believe so? If you don't think the time is approaching, what signs would make you think twice? If you're a Christian in a country other than the U.S., do you believe that talk of the end times is an American thing, or have you or some you know thought about this recently?

Contentedly discontent

2008-09-10T22:24:00.004-05:00

I'm getting into a pretty good groove at school. I love my students more and more each day. The environment has a genuine family feel to it. I'm definitely being stretched, but I'm not stressed. I'm content with where I'm at. There are an abundance of opportunities to be a witness for Christ at my school by how I interact with and "father" my students.

But I do have a longing in my soul, a feeling of discontent. Even as I find myself enjoying teaching, I can't help but think about my friends in West Africa. Most of the time I go about my merry way, but when I have time to think about or pray for them, the desire to minister there returns.

I have gone through periods of feeling guilty for not just being happy where I'm at. "Why can't I just be grateful for what I've got and quit thinking about moving on to something else?" I would say to myself. I would feel guilty for praying that God would allow me to go back to West Africa.

But then a few days ago, I read something that the apostle Paul wrote that encouraged me. He wrote to the Roman believers that in his prayers he always asks "that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you..." (Romans 1:10-11). Paul had an intense desire to spend time with the believers in Rome that he might minister among them, and that he and they might be mutually encouraged by each others' faith. Though he had never met them, he had a love for them.

Paul's words resonated with me. If he could pray constantly that God would allow him to go to Rome—and he eventually made it—then I can pray every day that God would allow me to return to West Africa. There are pastors there whom I have never met, but have grown to love through our email correspondence. I would also love to reconnect with pastors I met and ministered with while there.

In the meantime, I and my family will continue to plug in to fellowship here and prayerfully seek ministry opportunities where we're at.

Two down, thirty-four to go

2008-09-09T20:45:00.001-05:00

I finished my first two weeks of teaching, and I'm happy to report that things seem to be going pretty well so far. I'm enjoying my students, laughing and joking with them, and generally having a much better year than last year. My first year teaching was a major trial. There were many days I wanted to quit, but I knew I had to keep going. This year is very different. Smaller class sizes, motivated students and supportive parents are a great combination.

It isn't all a cakewalk as I am teaching three different courses: Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2. I do feel the pressure of being the only full-time math teacher at the school. I'm under the microscope in some respects. Many people are watching closely to see how the students will perform on the state math test for 9th graders. I need to remind myself that my job isn't to worry about who's watching me, but to teach my kids to the best of my ability and to trust that God has me exactly where He wants me.

Prayer meeting for my school district

2008-09-04T20:15:00.004-05:00

I just got word that there will be a prayer meeting specifically focusing on my school district, Cedar Hill ISD, Friday, September 5 from 7:00 p.m to 12:00 a.m. It will be held at High Pointe Baptist Church. The public is invited to be a part.

What an encouragement that that is taking place!

Where's Aim?

2008-09-02T21:17:00.005-05:00

Dozens of you have asked, "Brian, how come you're doing all the posting? Where is your wife?"

OK, "dozens" is a slight exaggeration....Actually, nobody has asked, but some of you were probably thinking it. Anyway, the answer to that question is that Amy has resurrected her previous blog and doesn't have time for us "little people." So I guess it's up to me to hold down the fort.

Some of you are saying, "This fort is not going to be held down if Brian is doing the holding." That may be true, but I will still do my best to post at least once a year to keep y'all—(that means "you all" in non-Southern)—updated.

In the meantime, visit Amy's blog and plead with her to post over here at least on occasion. Because you really don't want to read through another entire post of mine and discover, once again, that there was really no point to it.

Shelter from the storm

2008-09-02T06:45:00.009-05:00

Our church was designated a shelter for those who left New Orleans because of Hurricane Gustav. People left with their pets, and since many shelters do not accommodate animals, our church decided to set up an area for them. The grassy area just to the east of our building has been dubbed "Poop Park."

In his sermon this past Sunday, our pastor was talking about taking action and not being slothful. In the middle of his message, he got word that our shelter was to be activated. It was a perfect illustration when he called the shelter volunteers into action, and 20 or 30 people got up out of their seats to set things up for our guests from New Orleans.

This place is crawling with missionaries

2008-08-31T20:57:00.007-05:00

Amy and I became official members of our church, Grace Community Church, after having gone through the membership class. We're excited about being a part of this church. There is a HUGE missions focus. It seems like every other person we run into has been on the mission field, is home temporarily from the mission field, or wants to go to the mission field. We just got back from a small group meeting for new members and probably 80% of the people had some missions connection. One woman went to Amy's rival high school in Nairobi, Kenya, and another couple knows Amy's parents.

We hung out with a family from church today who plan to go to Indonesia for Bible translation work. Our kids played with their kids and some others from the neighborhood. One neighborhood kid (also a missionary kid) turned out to be the sister of some folks that went to our church in Rochester, NY.

It still blows my mind when I think of all God did to bring us here. I continue to feel an increasing burden for West Africa, and being around all these missionaries has only fed that desire.

Off to a not so great start

2008-08-31T20:46:00.005-05:00

Bummer!!!

It was about 4:56 am last Monday morning. I was driving to a prayer meeting when all of a sudden I see the red and blue flashing lights in my rear view mirror. My heart sunk.

"Good morning, sir," the officer began. "Was there a reason you didn't come to a full and complete stop at that intersection?"

"Well, officer, I'm late to a prayer meeting where we're specifically praying for men in uniform such as yourself."

(It was true that I was late to the prayer meeting, but I didn't actually say that to him. I mumbled something about being confused about which way I was going blah, blah, blah.)

Inside, I was hoping for mercy. Maybe he would check my record, see that it was clean, and let me off with a warning...? No such luck.

Not the best way to start the day, my first day of school....But as Amy said when I got home from the prayer meeting, "At least your day can only get better from here."

New teacher orientation

2008-08-31T20:33:00.006-05:00

New teacher orientation for teachers in my school district took place a couple weeks ago. The main speaker was the City Manager. I was really impressed by this man who demonstrated a clear and genuine faith in Christ. He was very open about his faith in this decidedly secular setting.

He told us all that he believes God brought him to Cedar Hill, and that he believes that there is going to be spiritual transformation in the city that will affect government, business, churches and schools. It was very encouraging to hear his heart for the city, and to catch his vision of what God wants to do here.

After his message I sp0ke with him privately, and he shared more of what he believes are God's plans for the schools. As he was talking, I felt the presence of the Lord and I got a new sense of calling to my position as a math teacher. It was just what I needed to hear. I pray that the Lord will use me as a vessel at my school and that the light of Jesus will shine clearly.

Gearing up for school

2008-08-01T06:52:00.005-05:00

I finished teaching one week of a two-week summer session at my new school. The summer session is designed to prepare the students (high school freshmen) for the rigorous material they will see during the school year, and for the college entrance exams they will soon be taking.

My school is an Early College High School. According to the website, "the schools are designed so that low-income youth, first-generation college goers, English language learners, students of color, and other young people underrepresented in higher education can simultaneously earn a high school diploma and an Associate’s degree or up to two years of credit toward a Bachelor’s degree—tuition free."

The students will be taking many of their classes for dual high school and college credit. When they graduate high school, they should have between 48 and 60 college credits. They need to pass some college entrance exams in order to be eligible to begin taking the dual credit classes. The ECHS concept is very new—only six years old. There are currently about 160 ECHS schools nationwide. My school is opening this fall with about 104 9th graders.

I was very pleased with the performance, attitude and behavior of my students. The vast majority of them are very motivated to succeed. Their parents/guardians have demonstrated a commitment to be actively involved and supportive of their children. You can tell that these students have a goal in mind, and understand that they need to work hard to achieve it. They're still 14- and 15- year-olds with typical issues for that age group. But they're starting to "get it." They're beginning to realize that this is a huge opportunity for them that they might not otherwise get.

Teaching in this environment has so far proven to be a good experience for me, as well. My principal keeps me on my toes, and pushes me beyond what is comfortable. I don't always like to be pushed, but I can see in this short time ways that I have grown as a teacher because of her coaching and modeling.

I'm very curious to see how the Lord uses this experience, and I'm still amazed at how God started me on this teaching journey.

Man shoots lawnmower...

2008-07-27T22:25:00.005-05:00

...because it wouldn't start.

Maybe if he hadn't set it on fire it would have started.

Our anniversary

2008-07-26T11:34:00.004-05:00

Today is Amy's and my anniversary. It's hard to believe it has been 11 years. We give all credit to the Lord for getting us this far, and we look forward to the future. Both of our parents are inspirations for us. Her parents have been married around 35 years, and mine have been married 52 years.

We celebrated this past Tuesday. We went to Six Flags Over Texas and saw "Cirque Dreams Coobrila." If you've ever seen or heard of Cirque du Soleil, it's the same idea: amazing acrobatics, breathtaking balancing acts, and other-worldly costumes all swimming in an explosion of colors, surrealistic props, and hauntingly dreamy music.

We had a great time.

We are now free to leave the country...

2008-07-22T08:11:00.007-05:00

...at least in the eyes of the U.S. government.

Amy had to renew her passport, and all the kids needed passports. No, we don't have any plans to go anywhere at this time. But it's nice to know we could go if the opportunity arose

I believe every Christian should have a passport just in case we are called into service outside the borders of our home country. At least five times, Jesus commanded His followers in general to go worldwide with the good news:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19);

"Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15);

"Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations..." (Luke 24:46–47);

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8);

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14).

That last one always gets me. As long as there are nations, tribes, or people groups who have not heard the good news, the end will tarry. God will wait. Judgment will be delayed another day. But when we, Christ's followers, have finished the task of going to every nook and cranny of planet earth, look to the heavens because the time will have drawn near! How exciting that we get to be a part of God's great plan of salvation, and that we are a part of the timetable for Jesus' return!

So get your passport ready. You may not go across the world, but like the Boy Scouts say, "Be prepared."

Divine appointment at a prayer meeting

2008-07-05T13:45:00.005-05:00

I've been getting together with a younger pastor, named Brad, from the church our family attends. We talk about theology and whether Kansas City has better barbecue than Texas. Last Tuesday, he told me about a prayer meeting that he wants to start going to. Since we both talked about giving our prayer lives a shot in the arm, I decided to take him up on the offer.

"Oh, yeah," he said, "it's from 5:00 to 6:00 am." Since I'm now a math teacher, it was relatively easy for me to calculate that I would have to get up pretty darn early for this prayer meeting. But I was motivated and curious.

The prayer meeting was this past Thursday. We had a great time. There were about eight of us altogether meeting in the living room of this young couple. From a quick survey of the room, I'd say that I was about 14 years older than the next oldest person, but I felt right at home. One guy led worship on guitar, and we prayed in between songs.

Afterward, I introduced myself to the guy who hosted the prayer meeting. His name is also Brad—no relation—and he's a 23-year-old, on-fire-for-Jesus type of guy. I couldn't believe how much energy he had at such an early hour. (Then I reminded myself that he had no kids.) We clicked right away and started talking a little bit about our backgrounds.

"I did some mission work in Africa," Brad told me.
"Oh really, what country?" I inquired.
"Mali. I went there in 2003."
"No way! I went to Mali, too, for mission work in 2006," I responded with surprise.
"That's crazy!" he said. "Most people I talk to about it have never even heard of Mali. What city were you in?"
"I was in Bamako."
"So was I!" he said excitedly.

We were both amazed at how God set us up to meet each other. Brad was involved with evangelism when he was there, as was I. We talked about how we would both love to go back some day. Since it was getting late—it seems strange to say that 6:30 am is late—we agreed to get together again and share our stories about how the Lord called us to Mali. I left the prayer meeting rejoicing over what God had done that morning.

An exciting day of mowing

2008-06-22T21:27:00.001-05:00

I finally got around to mowing my lawn Friday, so I wouldn't go to jail. I didn't know how my mower was going to work since I hadn't used it in so long. I put some gas in it, primed the engine, and pulled the cord. It started on the first pull, and I was in business.

I finished the front lawn and headed to the backyard. Now if I had been smart, I would have only mowed the front and not worried about the back because that's when my troubles began.

I turned the mower off temporarily to move stuff out of the way. When I tried to start it up again, I couldn't pull the cord. I called Amy's dad to get some pointers. "Try turning the mower sideways and spin the blade," he suggested. "That might loosen things up." I tried it and it worked. But in the process of turning the mower sideways, oil began to run out of several places. I cleaned it up as best I could, but when I started the mower, it smoked liked a Texas barbecue. The smoke temporarily blocked out all sunlight reaching my house. This wasn't a bad thing because it helped to cool things off a bit.

I continued mowing, feeling very manly for having fixed my mower myself and not having to pay a repairman to make a house call. But then the mower stopped on its own for some reason. Ah, no problem, out of gas. I put more gas into the tank.

Now, here's a word of caution for all of you. I do not recommend putting gas into an overheated tank. I poured the gas in, but when I was done pouring, the gas level continued to rise in the tank because it (the gas) was expanding due to the heat. O Lord, please don't let this overflow. It did. But not by much—or so I thought. At the time, the thought went through my mind, I really should wipe up this excess gas. But I convinced myself that it wasn't that much gas, and would probably just evaporate quickly anyway.

So I pulled the cord to start the engine. The good news is that it didn't smoke. The bad news is that I could distinctly see a bright, orange 5-inch-long flame coming from the engine where the gas had spilled. No problem, I reasoned. The gas will burn off in a minute. After a couple of minutes, the flame was still flaming and I was beginning to not be at peace about the whole thing.

Brrrinnggg. "Hi, Dad.....Yeah, I'm fine.....What do you do when your lawnmower is on fire?"

"Well, you get your fire extinguisher."

"Where would that be?"

"Wherever you put it when you bought one." Since I had never bought a fire extinguisher, I wasn't happy. "What do you do if you don't have a fire extinguisher?"
"You get the garden hose."

Now, in my own defense, the thought of getting the hose had crossed my mind, but I had seen too many fire safety videos where they tell you that you shouldn't use water on some types of fires. I was afraid that using the hose on my flaming lawnmower would set off a thermonuclear explosion. By now, however, the little 5-inch flame had matured into a blazing inferno which would make forest fires in California look like candles on a birthday cake.

I quickly hung up the phone, and rushed to get the hose which, as fate would have it, was attached to the opposite side of the house from where the lawnmower was. I turned on the water, grabbed the hose, ran to the other side of the house, and aimed the stream at my lawnmower. As fate would have it again, the water fell about a foot short. (No, I'm not kidding.) I went into slight panic mode and dialed 911. "Welcome to Verizon Wireless. We're sorry; we cannot complete your call as dialed." Click.

WHATT!!!

Now, I was really panicked. I told my daughter to go get a neighbor, while I prayed a half-prayer. You know that story where Jesus multiplies the fish and bread to feed the 5000 men? Well, He must have miraculously lengthened the garden hose because when I tried it again, the water hit the target. I doused it for several minutes just to be sure the fire was really extinguished.

Now, I know some of you might be thinking I made up this story. Below are a couple of pictures, including a close-up of the charred engine.

All is well now, and I get to buy a new mower. But a thought kept running through my mind as these events were taking place: The Flaming Lawnmowers would be a good name for a rock band.

America's Most Wanted...Homeowner

2008-06-18T13:56:00.004-05:00

I'm a lawbreaker. I've been caught red-handed. Or maybe "green-thumbed."

We just got a letter from our friendly neighborhood Homeowner's Association. It reads, in part, as follows:

Dear Homeowner:

As the managing agent for ______ we are assigned the duty of enforcing the Association's...rules and regulations....We are often contacted by owners and other residents from the community with reports of rules violations.

I am writing this letter today to inform you that it has been observed or reported that the following item(s) is (are) in need of your attention:

6/04/08 - Please mow, edge, weed and maintain the lawn. Thank you.

We thank you in advance for correcting the referenced item(s) and request that you address this matter within ten (10) days after your receipt of this letter.

"Exhibit A"

"Exhibit B"

This brings up all kinds of "issues" in my mind. First of all, who ratted us out?! I wouldn't say that I'm as friendly as Andy Taylor, Cliff Huxtable, or Mike Brady, but I think I'm a pretty good neighbor, and a darn good American. I put my trash out on the curb on a regular basis. I don't blast rap music at all hours of the night. My children are under constant adult supervision and do not roam the streets like hooligans. I pay my taxes, pledge allegiance to the U.S. and Texas flags (as required by law), and support our troops.

But for some this just isn't enough.

Don't these concerned "owners and other residents from the community" understand that I have a higher mission than to worry about the height of my grass? I'm protecting the environment, for goodness' sake! The longer my grass is, the more greenhouse gases will be absorbed and the more oxygen will be put back into the atmosphere. (Go ask your science teacher if you doubt my word.) It's not just the rainforests in Brazil that need protecting; it's the lawns in Texas that we really should be concerned about. So while these earth-haters are persecuting me, I'm trying to save the planet. Where is Al Gore when you need him?

New Yorkers are much more sympathetic to environmental issues than Texans. No one ever criticized my gardening skills up north. In Rochester, I would let my lawn go for weeks without trimming it. My daughter went out in the front yard to play one day and we couldn't locate her for several hours.

But hey, I'm not bitter about the letter. "When in Rome..." as they say. I just bought some gas for my mower. I had to hock my wedding ring to pay for it. No, actually, my father-in-law gave me a gas can with some gas in it. He told me, "Brian, it's a good thing the Homeowners' Association is on top of things. It'll keep your property values high." Now, that I think about it, perhaps that's why our former next-door-neighbors in Rochester sold their house for so much more than what we sold ours for. They actually mowed their lawn more than once a season.

At any rate, I'm finally ready to mow my lawn. Just as soon as I find my son.

Six Flags and one headache

2008-06-17T14:33:00.001-05:00

We went to Six Flags over Texas a couple weeks ago and had a wonderful time. It was the first time for all of us, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We wish we had had a video camera for the above ride. Sausage was laughing himself silly on this ride.

We got season passes for $60 plus tax—a great deal when you consider that one day at Disneyland is $66.

The only down side was that I got a little woozy on the Batman ride. Well...maybe it was the merry-go-round, but that horse going up and down is a killer!

I'm surrounded by pastors

2008-06-12T07:07:00.001-05:00

I may have mentioned that at my previous school, there were a lot of former pastors on staff, including an assistant principal and two teachers.

A couple of days ago, we got mail meant for our next-door-neighbor. The kids and I walked over there to deliver the mail.

"Hi, I'm Brian, your next-door-neighbor. We got your mail by mistake." It turned out that the neighbor to whom the mail belonged had moved out, and another family moved in.

"Oh, hello," my neighbor responded, "I'm Rev. Andrews."

Freaky.

Elmo is a 45-year-old Black man

2008-06-10T09:14:00.001-05:00

Did you see Oprah the other day? It's true. She introduced the person who is the voice of Elmo, and it's this guy named Kevin Clash. He comes walking out with a furry red muppet on his hand. I would not have believed it if I hadn't heard "Elmo" talk.

How do you get a break like that? I mean, who says when their a kid, "When I grow up, I'm going to make millions of dollars by never showing my face and talking in a squeaky voice."

It was an inspiring story, I have to admit. Maybe five years from now, I could be preaching in a squeaky voice and hiding behind a giant pulpit.

Moving forward in teaching

2008-06-09T11:07:00.004-05:00

School let out for the summer May 30. That was certainly a day of rejoicing for both teachers and students alike. I had to go in the following Monday to finish doing grades and check out for the year.

It had been a somewhat rough five months of teaching. I had heard that the first year of teaching is the hardest, and that many would-be teachers don't continue after that. Now I know why.

There were days I didn't know if I was going to make it. I remember one morning literally laying out on the floor weeping and crying out to God because I did not want to go into work that day. But what do you do? You get up and go anyway.

The Lord was always faithful, however, and would send other teachers my way on those days when I felt like never coming back. One day in particular stands out. I had been struggling with some things personally and related to being a teacher. Two fellow teachers came into my classroom during my prep period. Both of these men had been pastors in their former lives, as well. We had a great time sharing about personal and professional stuff. At the end of our time, they prayed for me. It was a very encouraging time, and just what I needed to get me through all the difficult things I was facing.

Thanks, Jeff and Jeremy. You guys are a blessing.

Next year, I'll be working at an Early College High School that is opening up in the new school year. The mission of an ECHS is to give motivated, at-risk students a rigorous, quality education such that after four years of high school they will have an Associates degree in college. I am looking forward to teaching students who, along with their parents, have made specific commitments to working hard to achieve high educational goals. My life's passion is still to be involved in full-time ministry, but this will suffice for now.

We've moved in!

2008-06-09T09:27:00.001-05:00

We closed on our house Thursday, May 22 and began the moving in process that Saturday. Fortunately, we had the long Memorial Day weekend to get things sorta set up.
Our POD arrived safely with no major casualties. There was one lampshade that didn't survive, but in reality it probably never should have left Rochester.

We got our fridge set up pretty quickly (thanks to Amy's dad), but our washer and dryer and stove weren't delivered for another nine days. The house did come with an electric stove, but we wanted a gas one because electricity is more expensive. We're selling this brand new GE electric stove in case anyone out there is interested.

Dad got the gas stove hooked up—after cutting into our wall and cabinet, attaching gas pipes and valves, and hooking up other doohickeys. And we can wash our clothes now, which our neighbors and friends at church really appreciate.

But we still felt like we were in the bush until we got internet. That was a relief. Man does not live on bread alone; he must also have cable. And it got installed just in time. We were starting to pick up bad habits like reading books and talking to each other. Glad that's over.

So as I said, we're back and we'll try not to keep you in too much suspense. But in case it does take us a while to blog again, try reading a book.

Offspring update

2008-05-04T14:56:00.017-05:00

Sausage turned two a few days ago. We had a little celebration for him the next day (since I had a night class to go to on his birthday.)

He likes listening to music. He thinks every song is called "Jingle Bells," and at the end of the song he says, "Yeah, Jesus!" (whether it's a Christian song or not.)

He loves reading "Clifford," playing chase and going to the park. He's also becoming a fan of Thomas, like his older brother.

Smoky turned three months a few weeks ago. He's a lot more interactive—smiling and talking. We're looking forward to the time he learns to sleep through the night on a regular basis.

Cakes enjoys being a big sister. She likes taking care of her littlest brothers. Her writing is getting more attention, too, as she has taken to journaling (like her dad.)

Sunday school has been a very positive experience. If you ask her what her favorite part about it is, she'll probably tell you it's the "Victory Points" they earn for completing weekly assignments.

Morsel enjoys playing games on the computer (when Dad is willing to share the computer.) He likes to build things with his K'NEX building set, and is quite the inventor.

We thank God for these four unique gifts.

Nicknames

2008-04-20T13:47:00.010-05:00

Mark, Allison & Tessa Joy said...: burrito, sausage... do a post on what you call each of the 4 and how they got that name. That would be intersting to hear.
This post is about the nicknames of our kids. (BTW, Amy had some concerns about using the real names of our kids on our blog, so we made the decision to use their nicknames.) Here are the stories:

Our firstborn, H: When H was born, the nurse wrapped her up in a receiving blanket, gave her to me and said, "Here's your little burrito." She did look like a burrito, so that's what I called her: "Little Burrito." Of course as anyone knows me can testify, I am never content with just one name. So Little Burrito became "Burrito" and "Burr" for short. A few weeks later, I looked at her and called her "Babycakes." I don't know where that one came from. But that name soon morphed into Cakes, Cakies (pronounced "Kay-keys"), Cakes of Baby and Cakeasaurus.

Our secondborn, I: He was small for quite a while. Keeping with the food theme, I thought of something small and tasty, like an appetizer or a morsel of food. He became "Morsel." That morphed into a few offshoots: Mr. Morsel, Mr. Morse, Morsey, and Morse. When he started solid foods, he began to gain weight pretty quickly. He became "Mr. Plump and Juicy" or "PnJ." Over time, it was the Morsel nickname (and its various forms) which stuck.

Our thirdborn, J: I looked at him one day when he was wrapped up in a receiving blanket. He reminded me of a Vienna sausage. Thus, he was christened "Sausage." This name evolved into Saucy, Saucer and Sauce. Months later, I was watching "Barney" with the kids. (OK, I was watching it by myself. So what?) Anyway, Barney uses the phrase "Super-dee-duper" quite a bit. For some reason, I applied it to J, and he acquired the nickname "Super-dee-duper." That was too long, however, so I shortened it to "Super Duper." Following the pattern, this nickname also has many versions, such as Super Dee, Sup Dee Dup, Super, and Sup. (Note: Sup and Dup rhyme with "soup." Note also: I do not call him Supy. That would be going too far.)

Our fourthborn, A: First of all, I know you're probably asking yourself why we didn't name our fourthborn something that started with a "K" in order to continue the pattern. The short answer is: just because. The long answer is: just because. I have to admit, I had a hard time with the nickname of A. I actually began to worry about it. Will my youngest grow up without a nickname? Will he need years of therapy and/or healing and deliverance ministry because of the emotional trauma of not having one? Well, one day A reminded me of one of those Little Smokies. You know those 1-inch smoked sausages that you can make pigs-in-a-blanket with? So he became Little Smoky. Most of the time, I refer to him as Smoky, Smoke, Da Shmoke, Shmoky, etc.

Each child also has at least one theme song or tune associated with him or her. But that's a whole other story.

House update 4/13

2008-04-18T19:55:00.001-05:00

Here's the Sausage on our new driveway. The garage doors were put in that week. The yard has also been graded.

How about a peek inside?

This is the soon-to-be kitchen. If you look closely at the bottom left corner of the picture, you can see what appears to be water. Yes, it is water. And yes, there was a leak coming from the bathtub....And yes, there was a good amount of water on the floor and a bit on the drywall. For some reason, I can't seem to get away from overflowing water. (A little inside joke for the Rochesterians.)

Downpour

2008-04-17T22:30:00.006-05:00

OK, Texas has some crazy weather. And Texans love it that way. It makes for good conversation. I just watched a tag team weather report in which a male and female reporter talked about thunderstorms, tornado warnings, and golf-ball-size hail for about an hour without a commercial break. Well, it may have been only 20 minutes, but really, how many times can you repeat the same doppler weather images.

It didn't look that bad outside, so I decided to go get gas for my car. I got my gas—having to dip into our retirement account—and proceeded back home. All was well until I was about 6 minutes from the house. It started with a light drizzle, and then out of nowhere BAM! It was like a fireman aimed his water hose right at my windshield. I turned the wipers on high, to no avail. I turned on the high beams. Although it didn't help me see the road or potential pedestrians, I could see the rain very clearly. I probably should not have been driving as fast as I was, given the conditions. But rather than slow down, I decided to crank up the worship CD and sing a little louder. I couldn't see any better, but it made the ride more exhilarating.

House update 4/6

2008-04-17T21:24:00.005-05:00

The good news: the brick is in place. The bad news: somebody ordered the wrong style of brick. The good news: the builder is giving us $2000 in incentives for their mistake. And really, who cares what the brick looks like.

GOALLLLL!

2008-04-12T19:59:00.007-05:00

The Burrito has played in five games so far. Usually she plays forward, but sometimes the coach has her play goalie. In her first game, she scored the only goal for her team. (I don't think I embarrassed her too much with my loud cheering.) She is really growing as an athlete and in sportsmanship.

Theft, violation and bitterness

2008-03-27T21:45:00.003-05:00

I'm not happy.

Today, I went to a department meeting. A sub was handling my class during the meeting. While I was away, a student or students stole my timer, three of my graphing calculators and possibly my car and house keys. (I haven't been able to find the keys, and I don't think that I simply misplaced them.)

To top it off, not having my keys made me over an hour late for a review session I had to go to for my teacher credential program.

The feeling of violation is what I hate the most. I'm also not sure what the best response is. I don't want to be mired in bitterness. This really made my heart cold toward my students. It's hard to separate out the good from the bad, the innocent from the guilty. I don't like that. I don't like not knowing who's responsible. I can fully understand David's and the other psalmists' pleas to God to take vengeance on their enemies.

"Help, Lord!"

House update 3/24

2008-03-23T13:49:00.005-05:00

Yeah, the date's correct. I've got a backlog of pictures. It's been a busy time.

Happy Resurrection Day!

2008-03-23T13:06:00.003-05:00

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is available today for us who believe (Eph. 1:19-20).

Have a blessed day!

Soccer dad

2008-03-23T12:48:00.004-05:00

Well, I've finally joined that exclusive club that I thought I'd never be a part of: Soccer Dads. The Burrito is enjoying playing on the same team—The Purple Dragons—as her friend who lives two doors down from us. Her first real game is this Saturday.

"So, how do you feel about your upcoming game?"

"Excited."

There you have it, folks.In case you go to the game, she wanted you to know her number so you could easily identify her and cheer.

House update 3/16

2008-03-23T12:41:00.002-05:00

A little late, but here are some pix of our house from last week.
As you can see, we allow our children to roam around freely in dangerous construction zones without wearing hard hats. Please do not report us.

Spring Break!...and a new perspective.

2008-03-15T14:40:00.006-05:00

Spring Break officially began for me 3:10 p.m. yesterday. I'm so excited to have a week off to (partially) recuperate. Amy's excited to have a couple extra hands to help with our growing tribe.

We visited a home group at our church for the first time this past Wednesday night. I asked them to pray for me for my teaching situation. I basically said, "Please pray for me; I hate my job." I think their prayers, plus the prayers of many others—like you, are starting to have an effect. I'm getting some new perspective on my teaching job.

Last night as I was walking outside with our newborn, I was reminded of how many of my students are fatherless in some way. "Daisy's" father left home when she was only five. She told me he had been planning on being a pastor. He owes thousands of dollars in child support. "And to top it off," she told me, "he forgot my birthday. I guess that's why I carry so much anger inside."

A couple of days ago, I found out that the mother of another one of my students is terminally ill. Apparently, she could go at any time. The student's uncle told me that the father is not in the picture at all. Is it any wonder this student has some behavioral issues?

I've been feeling convicted that I need to more intentionally reach out to my students—especially the boys. I can't keep bemoaning the situation and complaining about what is, when I, by the power of the Holy Spirit, can have an impact in some students' lives.

We'll see what happens.

Happy Pi Day! 3.14

2008-03-14T21:52:00.003-05:00

Today, we celebrate that most famous of irrational numbers: pi. For those of you that forgot your middle school math, pi (approximately 3.14) is a special number used to find the perimeter (distance around) a circle. The formula is pi times the diameter. So if you have a circular jacuzzi that is 8 feet across, the distance around it would be approximately 3.14 x 8 or 25.12 feet.

By the way, pi is called "irrational" because the digits of pi go on forever without repeating themselves. According to one website, in 2002, a team of people calculated pi to 1.2411 trillion digits!

Anyway, I hope your Pi Day was as exciting as mine.

UPDATE:

Here's a cool website that lets you estimate the value of pi by throwing needles on a table.

Soul update

2008-03-09T22:07:00.009-05:00

We survived daylight savings time, and were up and ready for the 9:00 a.m. church service. The pastor spoke on why there is suffering in the world. When I really stop and think about what others go through, I have nothing to complain about. I am blessed in so many ways, not the least of which is my family. Nevertheless, a few things have been weighing on me.

Teaching has been very difficult. There have been days I have wanted to quit. I feel overwhelmed much of the time. Behavior issues of some of my students cause me a great deal of stress and frustration. Sometimes I have absolutely no idea how to handle a particular situation. But I press on because I know God has me here for a reason, and the leading was so clear.

I have also dealt with loneliness quite a bit lately. I'm used to having a group of men that I hang out with regularly for fellowship. I have not found such a group yet. My soul is aching for quality time with Christian brothers. I know the Lord has something out there for me, but waiting on it to materialize is tough. This is my biggest prayer request at the moment.

Not being involved in ministry is tough. At times I feel my life lacks direction and purpose. Every once in a while, I have an interaction with a student where I feel I've really made a connection and can see fruit. Those times don't occur frequently enough for me.

Gotta go. I'm still missing that hour of sleep.

A firm foundation

2008-03-09T15:24:00.005-05:00

"For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
—1 Corinthians 3:11

There's snow place like home

2008-03-04T20:56:00.010-06:00

Yes, that is snow on the ground. And no, we did not move back to Rochester. This is the backyard of Amy's parents' house in Dallas (where we're currently staying.) I enjoyed watching the snow fall late last night as I sat in Panera Bread inputting my students' grades and posting them online. Have I told you I love free coffee and free internet?

Here's the Morsel enjoying a cold one. The snow didn't last very long here, but it was nice to be reminded of our battles with extreme weather in upstate NY.

House update

2008-03-04T20:47:00.004-06:00

Here's a picture of the plastic stuff they put down before laying the foundation. My wife says the technical term for it is "plastic stuff." It's starting to look like home already.

Groundbreaking

2008-02-25T20:26:00.006-06:00

Here's the first picture of our new house. Ground was broken on it just a few days ago. The house is located in the southern part of Arlington, a suburb between Dallas and Ft. Worth. We're excited about the fact that the house will be relatively close to the church at which we recently began fellowshipping.

We're hoping to close on the house in mid to late May. We'll try to have regular (weekly?) updates on the progress of the house. But you know us: no promises!

The house is symbolic of the fresh start in life we're getting here in Texas. Although being a Texan is sinking in now, sometimes I still stop and ask myself, "How in the world did I get here?" Never a dull moment.

We found a church!

2008-01-20T13:58:00.000-06:00

Church-hopping stinks.

We've visited about seven different churches since we've been here. For the most part, they have been either too far away (50 minute drive) or haven't been a good fit.

I was at a really low point a few weeks ago. It was about 6:50 a.m. and I was on my way to the school where I teach. I had been having a rough week, and I was really feeling the pain of not having a body of believers with whom to fellowship. "God, why is there no place for us?"

The next Sunday, we tried the last church on our list of churches to try. It wasn't for us. Amy and I were so discouraged after that. We didn't know what to do. That night we talked about our situation. We realized that to a large degree, we were still not committed to being here in Dallas. We wanted to think that this was only a temporary thing. We had even toyed with the idea of settling for a church that was an hour away because "we're not going to be here long anyway." But that night, God showed us that we really needed to embrace being here. We committed to "diving in" to life here, even though we don't know what the future holds. We prayed and asked God to give us a church close by where we could really get plugged in. We were no longer content to just "sneak in at the beginning of the service, and run out at the end."

Right after we prayed, I did a Google search on churches near us. Buried in one of the lists was Grace Community Church. The name immediately struck me. We looked through the website and saw that there were a number of similarities between GCC and our previous church. It's fairly close to where we live now, and is quite close to where we are thinking about moving.

We visited last Sunday for the first time. They were celebrating their 20th anniversary as a church that day. We were warmly greeted by a number of people, and shown where the kids' classes were. Burrito went to her Sunday School class, but Morsel stayed with us. (Sausage stayed with us, as well, because he was too sick to go to the nursery.)

When we walked into the sanctuary, it felt like home quickly. I cried through most of the worship set. The sermon was about Joshua and was particularly meaningful to me. They had a lunch afterward, so we stayed and met more people.

Today, I took the three oldest to GCC, while Amy stayed home with the newborn. All three went to Sunday School or nursery today—even Morsel, who has never gone to Sunday School by himself since we left Rochester. I was glad that all seemed to have a good time. I look forward to what God will do in our family through this church.

Learning about grace

2008-01-20T13:02:00.000-06:00

Last week, I was rushing to leave work. It had been a long and difficult day at the school, and I was anxious to just get home. On my way to the parking lot, I ran into one of the assistant principals where I teach. He asked me how things were going so far, and this led into a longer conversation.

He told me he could relate to my situation. He had been a pastor, youth evangelist, musician and missionary. He loved working in full-time ministry. He never thought he'd be working in education, but this is where God has led him for now. Though the transition has been difficult at times, he is grateful for the chance to serve the Lord in a public school setting. He talked to me about the opportunities we have to show the grace of Jesus to the students at our school, and to do it without compromising truth.

This conversation was just what I needed. God put me right next someone who has been where I've been, but is a little farther along the road than I am. I'm so grateful to the Lord for that gift. I was also convicted about how far I fall short at showing grace.

Another growth area. Thank God His grace extends to me.

"I'm not angry!"

2008-01-20T12:59:00.000-06:00

Three weeks ago, we visited Northwood Church. The speaker was recounting the life of Moses, and how God did not allow Moses to enter the Promised Land. He noted various points in Moses' life where his anger got the best of him: When he killed the Egyptian (Exodus 2:11–15), when he broke the stone tablets on which were the 10 Commandments (Exodus 32:19–20), and finally when he struck the rock with his staff rather than speak to the rock (Numbers 20:1–12). The last offense was the reason Moses was not allowed to lead the people into the Promised Land.

On each occasion, Moses could claim that he was righteously angry. He killed the Egyptian because the Egyptian was beating a fellow Israelite. He threw down the stone tablets because the Israelites had made an idol and were worshiping it. He struck the rock because the Israelites were whining, moaning and complaining—again—about not having any water, and questioning the wisdom of leaving slavery in Egypt.

Who can blame Moses for being ticked off? If only people would get their acts together and do the right thing, Moses wouldn't be forced to fly into a rage.

At least, that's what Moses thought.

God did not see things the same way. After he struck the rock, God said to him, "Because you " God expected Moses to represent Him and show His character regardless of what everyone else was doing. Moses was supposed to set the example. Moses was to be holy as God was holy. If the example didn't reflect God's character, people would not know what God was truly like. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

I've justified my anger on many occasions. "They're not doing it right. Look what they've done! Did you hear what she said!? Look how he's acting!" But God's Word says, "In your anger, do not sin" (Ephesians 4:26) and "Let all...anger...be put away from you" (Ephesians 4:31).

I can see that this is one issue that God wants to work on at this time in my life. "Lord, just don't let the process be too painful."

It's a boy!

2008-01-20T12:19:00.000-06:00

The newest Andrews was born yesterday, 1/19/08 at 4:31 a.m. He was 7 lb., 10 oz. and 20 5/8 inches. Amy delivered at a birthing center. We used an intern midwife. Amy and I both thought the whole experience was much better than delivering at a hospital with a doctor. The midwife and two interns were all Christian women, which definitely added to the sense of peace.

Yes, he was born 1/19. Amy was skeptical when I told her I thought the baby would come on that day. I have been reading through the Psalms the last few weeks. Last week I finished Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible. The next several Psalms are very short. When I was looking at my Bible, it was if the the different Psalms became dates; i.e. Psalm 120 was 1/20, Psalm 121 was 1/21, etc. To make a long story short, I sensed the Lord saying that Psalm 119, the longest chapter, represented the fact that Amy would go into labor that day. Also, the next days would be easier (as the next chapters are very short).

So far "Double A" has been a very content baby. He's hardly cried at all since he was born. He slept six hours straight last night. (Thank You, Lord!) And he pretty much sleeps in the daytime as well. We'll take it as long as we can get it—especially since my schedule is going to get even more busy.

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!
—Psalm 119:1

Hey, it's me, Amy

2008-01-18T20:05:00.000-06:00

Well, since it appears Brian has dropped the ball with regards to blogging...

Just kidding. :) He's been working like a madman, trying to adjust to his new teaching job. As far as I'm concerned, he's my hero. I'm so grateful that he's willing to teach and pour himself into it even though teaching isn't exactly something he's particularly passionate about.

Word on the street is (read: according to his principal), he's doing a great job. I must say, those 9th graders are giving him a run for his money. And I keep thinking: Was I that ridiculous when I was in 9th grade? All I've gotta say is, I'm glad it's Brian and not me; I would have most certainly pinched someone's head off by now. In any case, I'm sure he'll be back to his regular blogging schedule...uh...hopefully soon.

As for the rest of us, we're truckin' right along. Living with Grandma and Grandpa is a definite hit and we're slowly accepting ~~our fate~~ the fact that we now live in Texas. Yes, we live in Texas, y'all. (Please wait a moment while I let that sink in; it's slightly disturbing. OK, I'm OK.) Actually, Texas isn't all that bad. I mean, how could one complain about mostly sunny weather, no snow and temperatures that rarely dip below 30 degrees? Also, the people here are exceptionally friendly.

The kids and I spend our days doing our schoolwork and heading up the cooking responsibilities (a nice trade off for living rent-free if you ask me!). We've been looking for a church since we arrived in November and finally visited one last week that looks promising. The atmosphere and style are right up our alley and unlike many of the others we've visited, this one is less than 10 miles down the road (most of the others were at least a 45 minute drive). We're hoping that we will now start making some friends.

Otherwise, we're just waiting the arrival of the new baby. Brian has predicted that the baby will be born on January 19 (that would be tomorrow). Now, Brian is an exceptional man, as you all know, and I wouldn't trade him for the world. However, I hate to say it, but I no longer listen to his predictions about the arrival of our offspring. Not after what happened with Josiah anyway. For those of you that don't know, he predicted Josiah would be born on April 7, 8 or 9 (or something like that) and Josiah didn't show up until April 28. I can't tell you how thrilled I was about that (uh, hope you caught the sarcasm there).

I suppose I should mention (in Brian's defense) that he predicted Isaiah would be born on December 1 and don't you know, that kid was born at 12:35 am on December 1. So, when it came time for Josiah to be born, I had faith in him. But well, now, well, let's just say my faith in his predictions has waned. Although I suppose there is a possibility he could redeem himself if this baby is born tomorrow. We'll have to see...

In any case, we are grateful that God led us to the midwives and birthing center He did. My only prayer now is that when the time comes, we'll be able to make it to the birthing center before getting stuck in a traffic jam and having to give birth in the car on the side of the road (Dallas traffic can be like that).

Anyway, I'll sign off for now. Just thought I'd throw in my two cents. I don't expect to post often because I tend to be flaky like that. Lots of love to all of you!

Blogging hiatus

2008-01-13T13:38:00.000-06:00

I haven't blogged in a while as I've been massively swamped adjusting to teaching 9th grade math. I hope to get some more posts in soon.

Amy is due in a week, so we'll keep you informed about that. By the way, we have decided to go with a midwife for the delivery. Our other three were all born in hospitals, but this time around things seemed to point to using a midwife.

We really liked the midwife and the interns with whom she works. They are all Christian women and seem very gentle and caring.

More later....

Olé for Benda Tacos

2008-01-01T11:36:00.000-06:00

Somewhat surprisingly, we haven't found a whole lot of authentic Mexican food since we've been here. We've encountered plenty of "Tex-Mex," but that just doesn't cut it. So we were happy to have discovered these tacos sold out of a tiny window at a service station in downtown Dallas. We affectionately call them "Benda Tacos" after the name of the owner of the service station. It's a very interesting place because besides the food and gas, you can also see a herd of longhorn right on the property.

We first visited the place last Christmas (as in 2006), and have been hooked ever since. They're the really small, soft tacos with your choice of chicken, shredded beef, ground beef, steak or pork. Trust me, these tacos are to die for. And at only $1.16 + tax, you're not going to find a better deal. The place is open 24 hours, and the tacos are best eaten at about midnight after your regular dinner has pretty much settled. (They also serve breakfast tacos in the mornings, but we haven't tried those yet.)

My daughter, Burrito (no relation to the tacos), wrote an acrostic poem. Here's the unedited version with a few explanatory notes:

Let's go to Benda Tacos!
Exciting! Huh?
To Benda Tacos we go!
So what are we waiting for?

Go Go Go to Benda Tacos!
Olsons, Andrews, Miersmas! [our extended families]

Tacos, Tacos, Tacos, Tacos!!
Ohhhhhhhh Tacos!

Benda Tacos! Benda Tacos
Exciting, Exciting!
No, Benda Tacos instead!
Down to Benda Tacos!
And to Benda Tacos!

Tacos yea!
Animals we see, Tacos we eat!
Cute donkeys, yummy Tacos!
Ohhhhhhhh, Tacos!
SocaT Tacos! Benda Tacos! ["SocaT" is "Tacos" spelled backwards]

"I highly suggest the pork or chicken tacos...
if you know what I mean."

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T11:27:00.000-06:00

Love & Kisses from the Andrews family

Christmas 2007

2007-12-28T20:53:00.001-06:00

Christmas 2007 was spent with Amy's sister, brother- in-law, brother, parents and grand- mother. Amy's sister has a son, and is also pregnant.

We enjoyed watching the kids open their presents. The most touching moment came when the Burrito opened this present from our former next-door- neighbors in Rochester. She and Morsel used to play with this kaleidoscope when they visited their house, so our neighbors decided to send it to the kids as a gift. It was a deeply emotional moment for the Burrito, and a poignant reminder of the friends we left behind.

Ups and downs

2007-12-28T14:48:00.000-06:00

A few nights ago I was bored, so I started googling some of my old friends from high school and stuff. I realized that I finally made it to that age when just about everyone is doing what they're going to do "when they grow up." You know how when you were younger and everybody who was anybody was always older that you. Well, I'm now at that age when people my own age are doing significant things with their lives.

To be honest with you, I was sort of depressed.

I'm 40 years old, my family and I are living with my in-laws, I don't currently have a regular job (admittedly, something is in the works), and I have no idea what the future holds. I've been going through these up and down periods regularly lately. I know that God is there, and I know He has a plan for me, but my faith waivers when it comes to waiting on Him.

I can only imagine how Abraham felt. He was 75 years old when God told him to leave everything that was familiar to him, and go to a place he had never been before (Genesis 12:1-4). At that time, God told Abraham that he would have many descendants, but the promised child didn't come for another 25 years! How did he handle all the questioning from inquiring minds? "Hey, Abe, it's been 5 years (10 years, 15 years, 20 years) since you left. Are you sure you heard God right about having a kid?" "Maybe you messed up somehow along the way, and God changed His mind." "Why don't you just go back to where you came from? At least it's familiar." Though he faltered some along the way, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:3).

One encouraging moment came last Sunday when my family and I went to my in-laws' church. The pastor was giving an example of living for Christ, and he related a fictional story of how a teacher can change a child's life. He ended the story with the statement, "You're not just a teacher, you're an agent of God." I wept as I heard those words. It seemed that God was speaking to me through this.

So I don't have a choice but to trust the Lord. Not always easy, but ultimately worth it.

Fatherless generation

2007-12-20T20:55:00.000-06:00

I've been assisting the regular teacher in the classroom the last few days, by doing some teaching and helping students with classwork. At one point yesterday, the students were to be doing independent work while the other teacher and I walked around and answered their questions.

One young man was distracted from doing his assignment, so I approached him and started talking with him. At first we were only discussing school-related subjects, but the conversation soon turned to personal things.

"So, where are you from?" the 14-year-old asked me.

"I'm originally from Los Angeles," I replied simply, not wanting to get into my whole life story.

"What are you doing here?"

"God sent me." The youth got a knowing look on his face and said, "Oh, you're a Christian man."

"Yes, I am," I replied. The young man paused for a moment, then asked, "So are you single?"

"No," I answered, "I have a wife, three kids, and one on the way."

"Oh," he said with a slightly disappointed look. I was about to walk away after that. I didn't want to distract him any further from doing his work. However, my curiosity eventually got the better of me.

"Why do you ask?" I inquired.

"For my mom," he said.

At that point, I almost broke into tears. Now I really had to walk away. I've heard stories of people going to orphanages and being overwhelmed by the great need in front of them. How they wished they could adopt all of the children. I felt a small piece of that yesterday. I suspect this young guy's story is multiplied many times over at this school—and at schools across the country.

I pray that this young man and others of his generation will not repeat the cycle of previous generations. I pray that the hearts of their fathers will be turned toward them (Malachi 4:6). I pray that these teen boys will grow into passionate followers of Jesus and be lights in their families, local community and the world.

Becoming a teacher

2007-12-18T21:12:00.000-06:00

I started a long-term Substitute Teacher position today. This is the position that opened up in God's perfect timing on Friday. I will be teaching five Algebra classes and one pre-Algebra class. Today was a lighter day since the whole school was undergoing state-wide testing. I'll be working with a regular teacher for a couple of months, basically following her around. I didn't do any teaching today, but I did help a few students with an assignment.

One student's father came and sat in on a class today. I was very happy to see him there, demonstrating his involvement in his child's life. Toward the end of the class, I introduced myself to him. "We need more Black, male teachers," he told me. "I'm glad you're here." "We need more involved fathers," I responded. "I'm glad you're here. Keep doing what you're doing."

I have also applied to an alternate certification program that, once I get accepted, will allow me to serve as a regular full-time teacher under contract. Tomorrow, I take a pre-test which is one of the last prerequisites I need to be accepted in the program. I'm applying to be certified to teach Math, Physical Science and Engineering. The school district and the certifying agency have both been very helpful in trying to get me in the certification program as soon as possible. Pray that things go smoothly and quickly.

The Lion, the Burrito and the Morsel

2007-12-18T20:11:00.000-06:00

Last Christmas, I started reading The Chronicles of Narnia books and couldn't put them down. I read through the whole series in a couple of months. I love how clearly the character of Christ is portrayed in Aslan the Lion.

A few months ago, I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to my 7-year-old daughter, "Burrito," and my 5-year-old son, "Morsel." They both liked it so much that they wanted me to keep reading books in the series. We read The Magician's Nephew, The Horse and His Boy, and yesterday we finished Prince Caspian.

Sometimes the plot and difficult words make things a little hard for them to understand, but we talk about what's going on, and they stay pretty engaged. I find it not only a good way to increase their vocabulary, but there are many spiritual lessons that come up.

For example, in Prince Caspian, Lucy, who is a main character, meets Aslan again after not having seen Him for quite a while. "Aslan," Lucy remarks, "you've gotten bigger since the last time I saw you." "That's because you have gotten older," Aslan replies. I asked Burrito what she thought Aslan meant by that. "Daddy, it's like when we get older and know more about Jesus, He seems bigger to us." It's really cool when they "get it." I would highly recommend the Narnia books for personal and family reading.

On turning 40

2007-12-17T11:44:00.000-06:00

This morning I felt a sudden surge of maturity and wisdom. All of my issues were immediately resolved. Revelation after revelation came pouring forth from on high. I had great insight into theological paradoxes and geopolitical conundrums. At the same time my fathering became flawless. I discovered the perfect balance of grace and truth, love and firm discipline. Life's questions that I had pondered over and struggled with for years became as simple as 2+2. I learned the secret of perfect relational dynamics, and had instant skill in counseling others to experience the same. And to top it all off, my humility rose to even greater heights....

"Babe! Babe! Wake up! What are you mumbling about?"

"Huh? What happened?"

"Happy Birthday, Babe."

"Oh, thanks, Dear....But you interrupted a great dream."

Divine appointment pt. 4

2007-12-16T21:00:00.000-06:00

On Friday, I had an appointment with the district math coordinator. She was going to tell me about a long-term subbing job that was coming up. The assistant superintendent (A.S.) had previously offered me a full-time position at an Early College high school that was to start in Fall 2008. The A.S. wanted to get me working as soon as possible, so he was going to try and get me into a long-term subbing position until they could hire me as a regular teacher.

I went to the district office early on Friday to finish my sub paperwork and get my district I.D. so I could begin subbing. I had some time before my appointment with the math coordinator, so I sat in the district lobby area to do some reading. It was 9:10 a.m. At 9:20 a.m., the automated sub system called me to offer me a one-day assignment for that day. I turned it down because I already had the appointment scheduled for 10:00 a.m. At 9:35 a.m., the principal of the 9th Grade Center called.

"Hi, Mr. Andrews. I'd like to meet with you today to talk about an Algebra 1 teaching position at my school."

"Oh, is this the position that the district is going to tell me about?" I asked.

"No," she replied, "this position just opened up 10 minutes ago."

I couldn't believe it. She could probably tell that I was surprised, so she asked me if I knew a man named Bob. I told her that Bob was the man that I met at Panera Bread a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, Bob had told her about me. "He must be prophetic," she said, "because when he told me about you, I didn't have any teaching positions open. Now this comes up." I told her that I would meet with her that afternoon and let her know what the math coordinator said.

The math coordinator told me about the long-term sub assignment, and I told her what the principal said. The math coordinator said she would contact the A.S. and that we could probably figure something out.

After this, I went to Panera Bread to work on my application for the teacher credential program. While there, I overheard two men sitting across from me talking about church. I and one of the men exchanged a few words, and then they left. I didn't think anything of it.

Later that afternoon, I went to meet with the principal. When I got to the school's main office, there was the man I encountered at Panera Bread! We greeted each other, and the principal said, "Oh, do you two know each other?" Crazy. He and I exchanged contact information. It turns out he's the pastor of a church nearby.

From talking with the principal, I discovered that she is a strong believer. She told me about the position, and I met some of the other teachers and staff. She and I both saw God's hand at work in all this, and were able to encourage each other. Tomorrow at 2:30 p.m., I meet with the A.S. again to talk about this position.

Jesus has been very faithful. His grace is truly amazing.

And speaking again of the Cowboys...

2007-12-14T08:09:00.000-06:00

My mother-in-law sent me this one:
-----

Brett Favre, after living a full life, died. When he got to heaven, God was
showing him around. They came to a modest little house with a faded
Packer's flag in the window.

"This house is yours for eternity, Brett," said God. "This is very special;
not everyone gets a house up here."

Brett felt special, indeed, and walked up to his house. On his way up the
porch, he noticed another house just around the corner. It was a 3-story
mansion with a Silver and Blue sidewalk, a 50-foot flagpole with an
enormous Blue Star flag, and in every window, a "How 'Bout Them Cowboys"
sign.

Brett looked at God and said, "God, I don't mean to be ungrateful, but I
have a question: I was an all-pro QB, I won the Super Bowl, and I even went
to the hall of fame."

God asked, "So what do you want to know, Brett?"

"Well, why does Tony Romo get a bigger, better house than me?"

God chuckled and said, "Brett, that's not Tony's house... it's mine."

Sign on a plate

2007-12-13T11:37:00.000-06:00

I guess we're supposed to be in Dallas. The license plate on our Honda starts with "DFW" which, for the uninitiated, is the code for the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. I hope the next license plate has HNL or PPT in it.

Out of curiosity, I just checked the license plate on our other car. It starts with "CFR." A little Internet search reveals that CFR happens to be the code for Carpiquet airport in Caen, France. Hmmm....

"How 'bout them Cowboys?"

2007-12-13T11:33:00.000-06:00

We went to a Christmas special at my in-laws' church this past Sunday night. After the program, I headed to the little boys' room. I had just chosen an appropriate location, when a man parked right next to me. He looked at me with a huge grin, deep voice, rich accent, and said, "How 'bout them Cowboys!"

In an instant several thoughts went through my mind:

1. Can't a guy pee without being accosted by a sports fan?
2. Was this a generic Texas bathroom greeting?
3. (As this is a "family" show, we'll skip #3.)
4. Judging by the vast number of other Cowboy fans in the bathroom, if I don't respond to this guy in an appropriate manner I might be the victim of a terrible tongue-lashing.

So I looked the guy in the eyes, raised my eyebrows, nodded slowly, smiled knowingly, and spoke nothing to him. Instead I gave him a look that said: "What the Cowboys did was so amazingly magnificent and awe-inspiring that it is not necessary to talk about it, but only to savor its richness and to silently bask in the glory thereof."

In reality I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. And I didn't find out until a few days later.

So if you will excuse me, I need to go and read the sports section. I might have to use a public restroom today, and I am not going in unarmed.

Baby in a backpack

2007-12-11T21:06:00.000-06:00

When I was living in Rochester, I rarely took the time for exercise. I had a weight bench in my basement, but it was mostly used by my kids as a makeshift jungle gym.

That all changed upon our arrival in Dallas. My father-in-law walks a few miles each morning pretty regularly. I figured if an old guy like him can do it, so can I! (Fortunately, Dad's not very computer savvy and is unlikely to ever read that previous statement. Shhh!)

My youngest son likes to tag along when Dad and I go walking. I get a better workout, and Amy is able to get more homeschooling done with the two oldest, while I have the little Sausage.

Sometimes Dad has early meetings to attend (or is just lazy), leaving the Sausage and me to go it alone. We like to pretend we're exploring exotic places, and discovering uncharted territories.