Prayer Card

Courtesy of Jesse and Emily...I made the hand written card as a joke, but they decided to add the image of my head, mass produce it, and start handing it out to people at FPO. Larger file sizes are available upon request should you desire to print your own copy of this remarkable limited edition prayer card.

It’s Over! (But Really It Has Yet To Begin)

So orientation is done. In fact it’s been done. Since Thursday afternoon actually. And yet you may have noticed that I’ve yet to write a post wrapping it all up. There’s a good reason for that: it’s a hard thing to do. We’ve spent the past seven weeks learning about doctrine, missiology, culture, culture shock, the various diseases we’ll get, personalization, language acquisition, storying, discipleship, church planting, history, things that are giant, worldviews, security, insurance, and probably some other things but they aren’t coming to me right now. We’ve been taught by experienced missionaries, the Bible, each other, and some weirdos from Idaho. We’ve laughed together, grown together, played basketball and volleyball together, played in the snow together, learned together, lost sleep together, and eaten 5 or 6 reincarnations of a meal together. We’ve built some of the greatest friendships you could hope for and become one big family that by and large won’t ever see one another again until the end has come. In many ways I’m glad it’s all over, but I wish I could bring everyone with me.

The biggest thing I got out of orientation is that I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. Funny that you spend 7 weeks learning what you’re going to be doing only to walk away with no idea. In fact going in I thought I had a good idea of what I was doing, by halfway through I knew I didn’t have a clue, and by the end I realized that that’s ok. Understand I’ve got a vastly greater understanding of what I’m doing than I had seven weeks ago (you didn’t fail me, Uncle Elbert, I swear), but the more I’ve learned the more I realize how much more there is to learn still. Oh how blessed I am, how blessed we all are, to have a God who knows exactly what’s going on and exactly what He’s doing, who is at work in and through us to accomplish His purposes, because as long as I let Him be in charge and as long as I follow His direction it doesn’t matter how clueless I am.

Now less than 2 weeks to go and it’s off to Uganda. It’s difficult to believe that it’s coming so soon, in part because it’s still somewhat difficult to believe that it’s actually happening. I look forward with great anticipation to being involved in the work God is doing amongst the people of Uganda and pray that you will continue to follow me on my journey and continue to support me in prayer. Just because you aren’t called to come with me doesn’t mean it can’t be your journey too.

Amazed By Lesser Things

I was sitting at home tonight when I heard some explosions outside, and as the sound of something exploding generally draws one's attention I went to the window to find fireworks being launched from the vicinity of the new mall. I sat there, mesmerized by the beauty of all colors of light exploding across the night sky, and wondered if there would be fireworks in heaven, or perhaps some perfect form of fireworks beyond what we could imagine. I came to realize, however, that in the presence of God's glory we'll probably wonder how we were ever so amazed by such a thing as fireworks, much like a man who has spent his whole life swimming in muddy puddles would feel upon first seeing the sea.

Acts of Kindness: A Birthday Story

A brief disclaimer is required: this particular blog entry is about a week and a half late as I had to do some photo editing (as shown by the appearance of the Homestar Runner cast at right), so my apologies for the delay.

Sunday, December 4 was my birthday, and thanks to the incredible people of the FPO 5.05 community it was without a doubt the best birthday of all time. It included 3 free meals (Double T's, which despite being far from the heavenliness that is Central Texas Barbecue was pretty good, Casa Grande and Red Robin), three free ice creams (fried at case grand, sundae at RR, floats at Quad 24), movies, Pop Rocks, cards from as close as FPO to as far as Uganda, e-mails, messages, lots of hanging out, a portable cd player, and even snow. The official party on Friday was the largest one ever put together for me with about 27 people in attendance.

I want to thank all of those who planned, gave, paid, sent greetings or just came out to dinner. For all I know people came just for the opportunity to get off campus and eat something other than cafeteria food, but as someone who's not used to having much done for them by others for their birthday, it meant the world to me. Know that even the smallest act of kindness can be huge for someone who is not accustomed to it. As such we should always be certain to not neglect the more minor ways in which we show love for others, for as unimportant as they may seem they are invaluable to those who are unaccustomed to experiencing them. It is possible in the right circumstance for the love of Christ to be shown as brightly in saying "Happy Birthday" as in great sacrifice.

Self Portrait x 3

A few more discernable features than the last :)

Recognizing Blessings

This past week we received a great blessing from above: it snowed several inches Monday. We looked outside during our first break and saw the snow beginning to fall, and on our next break we saw it beginning to stick, and by the time we were done with sessions for the day it was really starting to pile up. It snowed all day and most of the night, with several inches accumulating in all.

We were sure to take advantage of this blessing with snowmen, snow angels, sledding, snowball fights, and an attempt at an igloo (the amount of progress made, however, did not justify the amount of effort required, so instead we ended up with an igloo ruin). After all we're largely a group of Southern boys and girls who don't see all that much snow, so give us some and we'll make the most of it

But many people don't get all that excited about snow. In fact a lot of people see it as commonplace or even an annoyance because they are so familiar with it that it's nothing special. My first trip to Ukraine it began to snow very hard during our New Year's party, and being a group largely from Texas we all went outside to play while the Ukrainians sat in the warmth and thought us crazy. After all, it was just snow.

One of the worst things that happens to us is that we become desensitized to the blessings God has given. We get so used to the great things God provides that we forget how fortunate we are to have them. A person from Canada would probably see the kid who didn't eat anything Monday because he spent every spare moment playing in the snow as being insane, yet, having spent his whole life in Miami, he was so amazed to see snow stick to the ground that eating never even occurred to him. He was completely overwhelmed by God's blessing.

If only we were so fully appreciative of God's blessings in our lives that we too would be completely overwhelmed by the great things He has done for us. How much more grateful, how much more humble we would be, how much more would we praise Him, if we truly realized the extent to which He has blessed us all and continues to bless us each and every day.

Matters of the Heart

Every Sunday night we have cultural worship, a time in which songs, scripture reading, preaching, worship styles, seating arrangements, clothing, etc. are done in languages and styles that reflect different parts of the world. Tonight we had European worship, which included two songs sung in Russian. There was something about singing and even just hearing the words, though I had never heard those particular songs in Russian before, that really pulled at my heart. So great is the heart that God has given me for the people of Ukraine with whom I've worked that even the Russian language touches me deep in my soul, filling me with both a joy and longing I don't know how to describe. Yet God has not called me to Ukraine but to Uganda, and though He has been working to create in me a heart for the people of Uganda, that heart is still far from the one He has given me for the Ukrainians. I ask that you join me in praying that God would fill me with the same love for the people of Uganda as He has for the people of Ukraine.