Thursday, April 28, 2016

Out of the Bottle

When Jeannie, Major Healey, Jeannie's sister, Major Nelson, and Jeannie's mother congregated on my front walk, well, things just started to get exciting.  I have watched enough episodes of "I Dream of Jeannie" to know that when things get too wild that you just have to lure the Jeannie girls back into their bottles, send Major Healey to Siberia and poor Major Nelson has to have a chat with Dr. Bellows.  Here is wishing you an uncorked life full of surprise.
 

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Wearing yellow helps in life

Having sons that want to make money and having soccer games that need refs has been a logical first job for Alex and Fritz.  Wearing yellow has more added benefits than the cash in their pockets. 
 


Yellow wearers learn how to make split second decisions with an audience.
 
Yellow wearers learn how to conduct themselves in a confident manner.
 
Yellow wearers learn how to teach.  "Pat your shin guards." -Fritz 

Yellow wearers learn how to handle conflict.  The all-important coin toss

Sunday, April 24, 2016

The God of Details

I am so excited that Alex gets to head to Uganda this summer on an amazing mission trip serving
with International Voice of the Orphan.

 
Not only will Alex get to be part of what God is doing at the Gem Foundation, but he will get to visit with his uncle, aunt and cousins who also live in Kampala.  The crazy thing is that this has been many years in the works orchestrated by the God of Details.  

Detail #1 I stumbled upon a blog almost three years ago about a special family who has a heart for Jesus.

Detail #2 When we brought Teddy home two plus years ago, we came to realize he had the same medical condition of one of this family's sons.  Statistically I only originally followed six or so special blogs. Teddy's condition is 1 out of 10,000.  The likelihood of one of those six bloggers having a child with the same condition is crazy.

Detail #3  A little more than a month ago that same family brought home a son who lived with Teddy in his foster home for many years (I even have photographs of them together). In 2014, China's Child Welfare Affairs Office said it had over 500,000 orphans in their system.  The likelihood of my son Teddy having lived with the same family's new son is crazier still.

Detail #4 Before my brother moved to Uganda, I asked if Alex could visit them summer 2016.  Little did I know that God was stirring this same bloggy family to lead a mission trip this summer.

Detail #5 In the Ugandan capital city of over 2,500,000 with limited physical addresses, directions are in the vicinity of something else.  That my brother's house would be less than four miles away from the heart of the mission project and that he would know exactly where a certain coffee shop was located is incredible.

Detail #6  The cost of the trip is exactly to the penny how much we set aside from the combination of Ben's call tithe and the predetermined amount we give monthly to the spontaneous things God lays on our hearts.  How can this be?  God loves to confirm his plans with details that are beyond probabilities.

God can be trusted!

Monday, April 18, 2016

My walking buddies


 
 (Fritz photography)

(Fritz photography)

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Tuesday, April 05, 2016

Monday, April 04, 2016

At sunset

 


 
(Fritz photography)