Summer is here and we finally got the pool set up in the backyard. What a wonderful experience that was - and yes, the sarcasm is heavy about now! I hope the laughter it generates will truly brighten your day. There is absolutely no spiritual wisdom here, just insight into the mind of a stubborn, hard headed, naive man. This is a rather long story, so if you are short for time, come back later to read it or print it out and enjoy it at your leisure.
This past weekend seemed like the perfect time to set up the "Easy Set" pool we purchased last year. DANGER, DANGER!!! Anything that says "easy" in the product name can't be easy! The kids were asking a lot lately and our weekends had been such a blur, so with a free day looming, I decided to buckle down and get it done. After begging a local floor store for all their old scraps to use as padding, Jill and I lugged the pool from the garage and immediately began looking for the tarp. I found one in the garage, only to realize it was a tad too small to cover our little mulch pile; which brings me to the next hiccup in this plan. Jill, ever so sweetly, suggested that since I had decided to stock pile mulch in the area where we set up the pool, it would work better if I raked it first. With much hesitation (and minor grumbling) I raked all the mulch out of the area wondering why in the tarnation we bought a 18' pool and wondering why I didn't insist on a concrete pad, instead of piles of mulch. Concrete is pretty too, right?
Once the raking was done, forgetting I had already tried it, I laid out the tarp again, only to find it was still too small for the area - so off to Home Depot I went. Jill and the kids had a party to go to, so I had two hours to get this task completed. And yes, at this point, I was still thinking 2 hours was more than enough time to get the pool set up, get the water running, and be resting on the couch by the time the family arrived. My daydream was interruppted by the astounding price tag of $50 for a tarp large enough to cover our giant 18' circle! I was about ready to walk out the door, but the cheap side of me kicked in. I realized it could be $50 now or $300 later if the pool sprung a leak. As I grumbled driving home, the enjoyment of this project was slipping away.
I got back to the house, laid out the tarp and what do you know - now I had a tarp large enough to cover the area of two pools! With a "better safe than sorry" attitude, I pulled up the tarp, laid out the carpet and realized there was another problem. If I doubled up the tarp, it would be too small - that meant I had to get creative with the excess. I wish you could have seen inside my mind at that moment. I visualized the tarp tucked backed under the carpet, all the edges straight and smooth as butter (too bad we don't have a good digital camera to show you the final results - all of that money paid for this "easy" pool!). I think this was the moment that I realized getting the pool up was a neccessity - not because of my dream of having it completed, but because I had no intention of Jill or the kids seeing the incredible mess I had hiding under 5000 gallons of water.
I had to get the pool laid out. If you've every lifted one of these pools by yourself, they aren't the lightest backyard accessories available! In my infinite wisdom, I just knew that dragging it to the middle was the best idea. See where this is going? A tarp that isn't staked down DOES move when a 60 lb vinly pool is dragged across it. After two more tries, I finally realized the problem (yes, it really did take me two more tries to catch on) and hefted it to the middle before dropping it into place. At this point, I am sweating so much I feel like grabbing the kids' swim goggles so I can see clearly. I get the pool in place and begin fitting the poles together. I'm sure the neighbors (if they were still watching at this point) were rolling on the ground laughing. If I hadn't been so frustrated, I might have joined them - and charged admission to pay for the $50 tarp. Picture this.....a 34 year old man, slightly out of shape, sweat pouring down his head, putting a pole in place and running back to get another one before the first one fell over. I think there are probably 20 poles that go around the pool, so picture this happening at least 2 to 3 times per pole. It felt like an old "I Love Lucy" rerun. With the pool finally complete, I climbed in, and began to straighten out any bumps or creases. However, it seemed that when I folded the tarp back to get it to fit my smaller area, it made the metal rings that you would normally stake it down with, rest in the middle of the pool. Metal on vinyl....not a good thing! At this point, I put it out of my mind and kept on straightening (this issue will appear again - keep reading).
I still had to patch the hole that my brother-in-law's dog chewed in it during their Christmas visit. So, imgaine a sweaty man leaning over a small hole, trying to apply contact cement to a piece of vinyl that is slipping through his fingers and trying to get it on the hole before it dries. I climbed out with all the extra patch material attached to my hand (at least my hand won't leak) and made it inside just in time to dry myself off, sit on the couch, and appear completely relaxed by the time my family walked back in the door (Jill would say she thought I was dead by the way I looked - but "relaxed" has a much better ring to it).
As the kids begged to start putting the water in , I was relived to read that the patch had to dry for 12 hours before adding water. So with much ado, I blamed it on those darn patch makers and their crazy rules and settled in for the evening. After a tortuous night of sleep I awoke the next morning to a gentle nudging reminder (and a stiff back) that I would have to do something about the metal rings in the tarp before filling the pool with water. I told you those metal rings would come into play again.
So, there I was on Sunday morning, hurting all over, cutting carpet pieces that would cover a small 2 inch metal ring. After covering all the rings and straigtening back out the liner, it appeared I was on the downside of this battle. Finally, the water was running and the kids were all smiles, dreaming of playing in their pool after church and Sunday naps. I wish that was the end of the story, but unfortuantely, there are a couple more important details to help you get the full experience.
As the pool finally filled up late Sunday evening, I began hooking up the filter pump and the hoses. I pulled the safety plugs and water began filling up the hose....and drenching my legs! At first, I couldn't figure out where the water was coming from, but it didn't take me long to see a row of 5 holes in the intake hose that was watering my wondeful new $50 tarp. So off to WalMart I went to purchase new hoses for, what is now turning out to be, a sizeable investment. With new hoses intact, I added chlorine, turned on the pump and let it run.
Monday evening (Jill was working all day at the hospital), I picked the kids up from my mom's and off we went. They behaved better for me on that short trip than any I can remember recently, due to the threat that any bad bahavior would jeopardize their swim time for the evening. Before I could even get my truck unloaded, Dara was dancing aorund in her swimsuit and Dade was standing by the toilet with two legs coming out of the same leg hole of his swimsuit saying, "Daddy, I weady!" After almost an hour of wonderful fun, swimming and splashing around, we proceeded inside to get baths started, eat dinner, and wind down for the evening.
Prior to heading in, I decided to check the chemicals. After getting good results that morning, the chlorine was now almost non-existent. I decided that it would be wise to add another bag of shock and maybe a little Ph Up to help balance things out (like I really know what Ph is, much less what Ph Up does). After mommy got home and the kiddos were tucked in, I went back out to check on my project with a pride in my step, remembering the fun we just had and picturing many more evenings of pool fun before dinner, only to find a cloudy bowl of water that I couldn't even see the bottom of. So, needless to say, I left for work this morning a little disillusioned with the novelty of "Easy Set" pools and why they call them "easy" at all!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Friday, June 1, 2007
Weeds
Weeds....they just creep into everything and take over if left unattended. Several things lately have led me to analogies using weeds....just thought I'd share with ya'll.
Jill has taken such care in cultivating the flower beds around our house. My parents surprised her last June with a freshly laid lawn over our dry, dusty (and when it rains - mud pit) backyard and some new flower beds next to the house. She has taken such great care of all of it. She weeds them, waters them, and plants new life when the old life dies (just a hint.....buy at Home Depot.....they take dead plants back for up to a year). When our schedules get hectic around here, we find that the flower beds go unattended. Sure enough, these little weeds start creeping in. Still not sure where they come from, but almost overnight, they appear, which results in hours of pulling up these little stragglers. She has trained me well. About once a week, I'll stop and weed around the front steps or around the bird feeder when I get home from work.
But....sometimes I get a little ambitious and hurried and don't pay attention to what I'm doing (especially when the weed eater is in my hands). I have been known on occassion to cut down a Morning Glory or two and I think I even killed a Rose Bush once (or three times, but whose counting anyway?). It's the same with the kids. Sometimes they will get out there and "help" with the flower beds and before you know it one of our little angels is holding a flower in their hands asking "is this a weed?"
I think too often we look at things the same way. God takes us into the garden to show us all the beautiful things He has created. Sometimes we run ahead of Him and start pulling what we think are weeds, but are actually beautiful flowers waiting to bloom. Other times, we find a weed, but we don't pull it up by the roots and just rip off what's seen above the surface, without realizing these will only grow back in time.
We know we are in a weeding out process in our lives. God is preparing us for Tanzania and we have to walk patiently with Him right now. We have to turn to Him to show us where the weeds are hiding. We have to rely on His wisdom to help us determine the difference between the weeds and the flowers. We have to trust that He will guard our steps from the snakes that may be lurking under a bush. We have to know that He will give us the strength to pull the weeds of our lives out by the roots.
Walk in the garden with Him. Let Him quietly point out the rare flowers you didn't even know existed. Sit with Him while He plants the new life that He wants to see grow. Learn how to cultivate the soil that the roots will take. Watch how He waters it faithfully each day. I know "He is the potter and we are the clay," but I also like to think that He is the gardner and we are His garden!
Jill has taken such care in cultivating the flower beds around our house. My parents surprised her last June with a freshly laid lawn over our dry, dusty (and when it rains - mud pit) backyard and some new flower beds next to the house. She has taken such great care of all of it. She weeds them, waters them, and plants new life when the old life dies (just a hint.....buy at Home Depot.....they take dead plants back for up to a year). When our schedules get hectic around here, we find that the flower beds go unattended. Sure enough, these little weeds start creeping in. Still not sure where they come from, but almost overnight, they appear, which results in hours of pulling up these little stragglers. She has trained me well. About once a week, I'll stop and weed around the front steps or around the bird feeder when I get home from work.
But....sometimes I get a little ambitious and hurried and don't pay attention to what I'm doing (especially when the weed eater is in my hands). I have been known on occassion to cut down a Morning Glory or two and I think I even killed a Rose Bush once (or three times, but whose counting anyway?). It's the same with the kids. Sometimes they will get out there and "help" with the flower beds and before you know it one of our little angels is holding a flower in their hands asking "is this a weed?"
I think too often we look at things the same way. God takes us into the garden to show us all the beautiful things He has created. Sometimes we run ahead of Him and start pulling what we think are weeds, but are actually beautiful flowers waiting to bloom. Other times, we find a weed, but we don't pull it up by the roots and just rip off what's seen above the surface, without realizing these will only grow back in time.
We know we are in a weeding out process in our lives. God is preparing us for Tanzania and we have to walk patiently with Him right now. We have to turn to Him to show us where the weeds are hiding. We have to rely on His wisdom to help us determine the difference between the weeds and the flowers. We have to trust that He will guard our steps from the snakes that may be lurking under a bush. We have to know that He will give us the strength to pull the weeds of our lives out by the roots.
Walk in the garden with Him. Let Him quietly point out the rare flowers you didn't even know existed. Sit with Him while He plants the new life that He wants to see grow. Learn how to cultivate the soil that the roots will take. Watch how He waters it faithfully each day. I know "He is the potter and we are the clay," but I also like to think that He is the gardner and we are His garden!
Friday, May 11, 2007
We Know Where, Just Not When!
How excited we are to know where (more than likely) we will be spending the first two years of our time with AIM. God has confirmed to us in so many VERY unique ways, that Tanzania is where He wants us! He has used dreams, chance encounters, a night with no electricty, the opinion of many dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and a couple of slaps upside this stubborn head of mine. I think it takes longer to sink in when you don't have any hair to help it along.
Here are just a few of the questions we have either been asked by others or asked ourselves.
Q: Now that you know where you are going, when will you be leaving?
A: We don't know.....yet. While we have committed to the Tanzania TIMO team there are still many details to work out. The team leaders are still in the process of praying through some of the unreached people groups of South Tanzania to see where God would lead this team. Once that is decided, there is still much survey work to be done. All of that to say, we believe the earliest we will leave will be January 2009. There is always a chance that it could be earlier OR it could be later. As soon as we know, we will let you know.
Q: Do you have any other details about the team?
A: Not many, but we'll share what we know at this time. We know that more than likely we will be working along the coast or possibly on an island just off the coast. We know that it will be a rural team. We know the team leaders are a young couple like us (no wisecracks here - we're still young at heart) and have three young children. We know that they have spent time as missionaries in Sudan. That is about all the details we know. We'll fill you in as we learn more.
Q: How big is Tanzania?
A: Over twice as big as California with room to spare. For all of you Texans, if you took Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana and made one big state, that would be roughly the size of Tanzania.
Please continue to pray with us as God prepares us....
...pray for Reid and Sandy, our team leaders. Pray that God will give them wisdom and clarity as they try to determine where He wants to place this team. Pray that God will put His hand of protection around them and their children as they travel to Kenya in June to begin the planning stages of TIMO and to see how TIMO works first hand.
...pray for fertile soil in the hearts of the people group we will be going to. Pray that God would already begin to prepare their hearts to receive the gospel. Pray that God would begin granting us wisdom, even now, on how to reach these men, women, and children, who so desperately need a Savior.
...pray that we would be patient as we wait to find out when. Until now, we always thought we knew the timing and were waiting on the place. Now we seem to know the place and are waiting on the timing.
...pray that we would have wisdom regarding our house. We are fairly certain we will sell the house before we leave. Pray for the right timing for this and for the transition period for Dara and Dade. This is the only "home" they have known and it tends to put them on edge when we talk about moving. I guess they have always assumed that someday we would come back to our house in Texas.
Thanks to each of you who so faithfully pray for us. We could not be doing this without each of you interceeding for our family. We love you!
Here are just a few of the questions we have either been asked by others or asked ourselves.
Q: Now that you know where you are going, when will you be leaving?
A: We don't know.....yet. While we have committed to the Tanzania TIMO team there are still many details to work out. The team leaders are still in the process of praying through some of the unreached people groups of South Tanzania to see where God would lead this team. Once that is decided, there is still much survey work to be done. All of that to say, we believe the earliest we will leave will be January 2009. There is always a chance that it could be earlier OR it could be later. As soon as we know, we will let you know.
Q: Do you have any other details about the team?
A: Not many, but we'll share what we know at this time. We know that more than likely we will be working along the coast or possibly on an island just off the coast. We know that it will be a rural team. We know the team leaders are a young couple like us (no wisecracks here - we're still young at heart) and have three young children. We know that they have spent time as missionaries in Sudan. That is about all the details we know. We'll fill you in as we learn more.
Q: How big is Tanzania?
A: Over twice as big as California with room to spare. For all of you Texans, if you took Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana and made one big state, that would be roughly the size of Tanzania.
Please continue to pray with us as God prepares us....
...pray for Reid and Sandy, our team leaders. Pray that God will give them wisdom and clarity as they try to determine where He wants to place this team. Pray that God will put His hand of protection around them and their children as they travel to Kenya in June to begin the planning stages of TIMO and to see how TIMO works first hand.
...pray for fertile soil in the hearts of the people group we will be going to. Pray that God would already begin to prepare their hearts to receive the gospel. Pray that God would begin granting us wisdom, even now, on how to reach these men, women, and children, who so desperately need a Savior.
...pray that we would be patient as we wait to find out when. Until now, we always thought we knew the timing and were waiting on the place. Now we seem to know the place and are waiting on the timing.
...pray that we would have wisdom regarding our house. We are fairly certain we will sell the house before we leave. Pray for the right timing for this and for the transition period for Dara and Dade. This is the only "home" they have known and it tends to put them on edge when we talk about moving. I guess they have always assumed that someday we would come back to our house in Texas.
Thanks to each of you who so faithfully pray for us. We could not be doing this without each of you interceeding for our family. We love you!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Waiting
Many of you have asked us, "Do you know where you are going yet?" The answer is no, but we do know where we are not going. Some of you are aware that we had previously committed to go to Nairobi as part of a TIMO team with Africa Inland Mission. The final confirmation was the departure date. We recently found out that it leaves 6 months earlier than we had hoped. With out going into great details here (many of you know the story), we knew this was God closing the door. The morning I received that email, I was heartbroken (as was Jill). While we had not yet left Texas, our hearts were already in Nairobi as we prayed for the people group we would be working with. Yet, through the sadness, we have an overwhelming peace about God's will and His wonderful, AWESOME plan for our lives. We know He has hand picked our home. We know our hearts will soon yearn for a new people group in a new country.
As we pray for His will, let us share some possible assignments with you, so you can join with us in prayer. We have learned that a team will be heading to South Sudan in July of 2008. This will be working with an unreached people group in a very rural, mountainous area. We have a very good friend, that is currently serving on another team in the same area so we have been able to see glimpses of what God is doing in that area of Sudan. Two other possibilites (although leaving later than we would like) are south Tanzania (rural) and Madagascar (urban). While we don't know many details about either team at this time we are faithfully praying for His direction. Both of these teams are estimated as a 2009 departures at this time.
Please pray....
...that we would not get so hung up on leaving in 2008, that we become blinded to His leading to one of these other teams (we have learned that 6 months in not a long time when you are trying to fit everything you need for two years, into two bags per family member).
...for our team leaders (whoever they might be), that God would work in their lives as they prepare for us and our other team members. Pray for their families. We have learned a little about the leaders for the Sudan and Tanzania teams. One couple has grown children with one young teenager still at home, while the other couple has three small children. Pray that God would lead them as they continue survey work and planning for the TIMO team.
...for the people group we will be working with and living among. Pray that their hearts would be ferile soil for God's Word. Pray that even now, God would be working on their hearts, preparing them for the harvest.
...that He would provide friends for all of us in Africa. Pray specifically that God would provide accountability partners for both of us in Africa and that He would provide friends for Dara and Dade.
...for wisdom as we continue the support raising process. We are currently at about 65% of our outgoing expenses and about 25% of our monthly target (that could change with a new assignment). Pray that God would lead us to people who are willing to partner with us financially, but more importantly in prayer.
Yes......we are waiting once again, but that has certainly been God's theme throughout this journey. In fact, on Tuesday, during our quiet times, God gave Jill verses on peace and gave me verses on patience. How fitting!!!! His will is perfect and we rest in that.
As we pray for His will, let us share some possible assignments with you, so you can join with us in prayer. We have learned that a team will be heading to South Sudan in July of 2008. This will be working with an unreached people group in a very rural, mountainous area. We have a very good friend, that is currently serving on another team in the same area so we have been able to see glimpses of what God is doing in that area of Sudan. Two other possibilites (although leaving later than we would like) are south Tanzania (rural) and Madagascar (urban). While we don't know many details about either team at this time we are faithfully praying for His direction. Both of these teams are estimated as a 2009 departures at this time.
Please pray....
...that we would not get so hung up on leaving in 2008, that we become blinded to His leading to one of these other teams (we have learned that 6 months in not a long time when you are trying to fit everything you need for two years, into two bags per family member).
...for our team leaders (whoever they might be), that God would work in their lives as they prepare for us and our other team members. Pray for their families. We have learned a little about the leaders for the Sudan and Tanzania teams. One couple has grown children with one young teenager still at home, while the other couple has three small children. Pray that God would lead them as they continue survey work and planning for the TIMO team.
...for the people group we will be working with and living among. Pray that their hearts would be ferile soil for God's Word. Pray that even now, God would be working on their hearts, preparing them for the harvest.
...that He would provide friends for all of us in Africa. Pray specifically that God would provide accountability partners for both of us in Africa and that He would provide friends for Dara and Dade.
...for wisdom as we continue the support raising process. We are currently at about 65% of our outgoing expenses and about 25% of our monthly target (that could change with a new assignment). Pray that God would lead us to people who are willing to partner with us financially, but more importantly in prayer.
Yes......we are waiting once again, but that has certainly been God's theme throughout this journey. In fact, on Tuesday, during our quiet times, God gave Jill verses on peace and gave me verses on patience. How fitting!!!! His will is perfect and we rest in that.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Hypocrisy
How often do you hear that word thrown around? Maybe there are Christians you know who have been offended by the hypocrisy of other believers. Maybe there are friends and family members who have distanced themselves from God due to the hypocrisy they see in the church. Maybe there are strangers that are reluctant to believe in Jesus Christ due to what they perceive as hypocrisy of the faith. I have heard this word a lot lately. It makes me sad that we as believers allow ourselves to be hypocrites in a world that is looking for answers and struggling with their eternal destination.
Hypocrisy is defined as "the false assumption of an appearance." Interstingly enough, when you look at the original greek, it is the "act of playing a part on the stage." Another definition from the greek is a "pretender." What a great illustration for us! In simple terms, it's faking it - acting a certain way or playing a part because it's what we're supposed to do.
In Matthew 7:5 and again in Luke 6:42, Jesus gives us this harsh rebuke. "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
How many of the problems caused by hypocrisy would be resolved if we followed His Word? I had a communication professor in college who taught me a principle that has stuck with me to this day. In any communication breakdown, 51% of the responsibility rests with yourself. In other words, there is always something you could have done differently to change the situation. Sounds like a biblical principle to me! If we truly remove the plank from our eye (51%) instead of focusing on the speck (49%) in other people's eyes, we might reach a resolution much quicker.
I admit that I'm a slow learner. In hindsight, I wonder how many times, God will have to teach me the same lesson over and over. And then.....I'm reminded of the Israelites and their journey out of Egypt. God parts the Red Sea and they want to complain about being abandoned. God lets Moses see His glory and they build idols. God gives them manna and they want steak. God provided in every way for them and they don't want to go fight the "giants" in their promised land. Don't we do the same thing? Think about it. I know for myself, I want to remove the times of pretending from my life and replace them with times of complete reliance on Him. What about you?
Hypocrisy is defined as "the false assumption of an appearance." Interstingly enough, when you look at the original greek, it is the "act of playing a part on the stage." Another definition from the greek is a "pretender." What a great illustration for us! In simple terms, it's faking it - acting a certain way or playing a part because it's what we're supposed to do.
In Matthew 7:5 and again in Luke 6:42, Jesus gives us this harsh rebuke. "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
How many of the problems caused by hypocrisy would be resolved if we followed His Word? I had a communication professor in college who taught me a principle that has stuck with me to this day. In any communication breakdown, 51% of the responsibility rests with yourself. In other words, there is always something you could have done differently to change the situation. Sounds like a biblical principle to me! If we truly remove the plank from our eye (51%) instead of focusing on the speck (49%) in other people's eyes, we might reach a resolution much quicker.
I admit that I'm a slow learner. In hindsight, I wonder how many times, God will have to teach me the same lesson over and over. And then.....I'm reminded of the Israelites and their journey out of Egypt. God parts the Red Sea and they want to complain about being abandoned. God lets Moses see His glory and they build idols. God gives them manna and they want steak. God provided in every way for them and they don't want to go fight the "giants" in their promised land. Don't we do the same thing? Think about it. I know for myself, I want to remove the times of pretending from my life and replace them with times of complete reliance on Him. What about you?
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