Honduras on my Mind

I've been home from Honduras for a week, but the world seems different now. My eyes were opened to the fact that God's children live in all kinds of different circumstances. My heart was opened by the love and generosity of the Hondurans who despite a language barrier, spoke the language of love and laughter which I understood perfectly. I realized that contentment was a choice and not dependent on material possessions. I was moved by their faith, their sense of community and the love they showed towards each other and towards our team. I'm very grateful that I had the opportunity to go and the tiny village of "Dos Rios" will be in my thoughts and prayers until I have the opportunity to return.

We're heading out

Right now, I'm in the midst of loading up the car, checking my e-mail one last time, making sure I didn't forget anything vital like toothpaste and trusting Thomas the Tank Engine to entertain my kids for a few minutes while I write this post. We're heading to Kentucky to attend my brother's wedding this Friday and then I'm leaving early Saturday morning for a missions trip to Honduras, so this will be a whirlwind.

The wedding should be interesting because it's on the 4th of July and it's a ceremony that I will be co-officiating with a retired Catholic priest. Yeah...this should definitely be a memorable wedding. My brother Drew is marrying an awesome girl named Erin and we can't wait to offiicially welcome her into the family.

Please be praying for us this week that I don't kill my children on the perilous 9-hour voyage today and that I would make the most of my opportunity at the wedding to share the Good News of Jesus in a respectful way that honors the couple and captures the imagination of any unsaved folks in attendance. It's going to be a great week!

Heart Transplant

Stories can be powerful. Jesus used stories more than any other teaching method, and I've found that stories can connect a message to an audience better than any other method. Of all the true stories I have ever told in sermons, this one might be the most powerful one of all. It's all about a new heart.

Party Time!

I attended a birthday party today that was unlike any that I have ever attended. It was held at a nearby nursing home simply called "The Place" that's located less than a mile from our church. The party was held in honor of all the residents with a June birthday, but ironically, both residents with a June birthday were out of the home in a hospital receiving treatment. We partied anyway. If you've never seen a 90-year-old do a kegstand, you haven't lived! (That was a joke...she was actually only 80).

Truly, this experience was very eye-opening for me. I've been to this home several times now, and each time, I walk away with a feeling of hopeful humility. I'm astounded by the faith and perseverance of many of the residents who have been confined to beds or wheelchairs for many years. I'm heartbroken for the young residents whose vibrance has been stripped away by a permanent health crisis. I am ashamed of all the petty things that I find myself complaining about when I see someone whose whole month is made by a tiny serving of ice cream or a brief visit from a stranger. Jesus definitely taught me a lot today.

Fun Facts

Blog postings might be insightful, but they rarely ever teach me anything new. I have a strange obsession for trivial facts and I'm dedicating this post to sharing a few of them with you. I hope you learn something new!

1. The 4th largest city by population in the USA is Houston, TX (behind New York, LA & Chicago).
2. The human nose and ears never stop growing until death (bad news if you already think your nose and ears are too big).
3. President Bill Clinton's last name at birth was "Blythe" (he took the name "Clinton" from his step-father when he was in elementary school).
4. A marathon is exactly 26.2 miles long (or approximately 20 miles longer than I can currently run).
5. The continent of Australia has fewer residents than the state of California.
6. Civil War Fact: The Union's President (Abe Lincoln) and the Confederacy's President (Jefferson Davis) were born less than one year and one hundred miles apart in the same state (Kentucky...which is also God's favorite state).
7. The musical act that has performed most often on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno is...Country Music artist Dwight Yoakam (I know...I was surprised too).
8. A child is approximately 100 times more likely to drown at a neighbor's pool than to be accidently shot and killed by a neighbor's gun (and you thought guns were dangerous!)
9. There is only one black female billionaire in the entire world and her name is...Oprah.
10. Jesus loves you (this isn't trivial, but it is True, so I thought I would share it).

If you can disprove any of these facts or if you would like to add fun facts of your own, post them under "comments" below. Thanks!

Change of Plans

At this very moment, I am supposed to be on a plane to Honduras for a weeklong mission, but instead, I'm sitting at my computer at home writing this blog. Through a myriad of circumstances out of our control, our flight was canceled and consequently, so was our trip. Our team is bummed, but I'm reminded that our plans aren't always God's plans and I'm sure He has a very good reason for closing this door at this time. So for this week, I want to make an extra effort to savor every moment of wrestling with my boys, holding hands with Ashley, watching Comedy Central, eating American food (with some burritos thrown in) and doing all the incredible things I would have had to miss by being away all week. There's no place like home!

90-Day Challenge

What's the maximum possible life-change you could experience in a 90-day period of time?

I suppose you could lose a significant amount of weight or maybe pay off some debt during a 3-month window, but this past Sunday at church, I suggested that there is a challenge of more eternal significance that could be completed in 90 days. The challenge is the read through the entire Bible from start to finish over the next 3 months. I was blown away by the response as hundreds of folks seemed eager to make God's word a top priority this summer. My "Summer Reading List" has radically changed as a result of this challenge and I'm fully expecting to be radically changed by God's Word over the next three months. If you would like to join me and hundreds of others from our church this Summer in the great adventure of exploring God's Living Word, then click on the link below for the daily reading plan.

http://www.haventoday.org/schedule.pdf