Arkansas -- Month 1

The first month of our adventure is now drawing to a close. Friday, August 28 will mark four weeks since we moved to Arkansas. Four weeks as Arkansans. Four weeks of being a full-time pastor for me, and two weeks as a full-time teacher for Brenda. God has truly blessed us in amazing ways as he sent us to our wonderful new church family. That being said, this has got to be the longest four weeks of our lives! I didn't know how right I was when I said that the logistics of moving 17 years of marriage stuff, 2 kids and a nervous dog 650 miles south would be a nightmare. We still have things we need to take care of to fully make the move.

I'll try to put things in a bit of chronological nutshell:

Friday, July 31: We arrived in Little Rock and moved in to our rented house. We had a great turn out to help us unload. A sweet couple from church brought two crock pots full of delicious stew! We ate that for days!

Saturday, August 1: Spent tons of money buying moving in stuff for the house.

Sunday, August 2: My first Sunday as Associate Pastor of Cornerstone Church of the Nazarene. I led singing for the morning service, it went well all things considered. After church they held a potluck (pitch-in) for us -- I do love Southern cooking!! They also gave us a food pounding. With all the food and Wal-Mart gift cards we were given it was an embarrassment of riches!

August 3-9: Vacation Bible School. It was a great time! I helped with the music and got to know many kids and parents. Don't EVER start your first week at a new ministry with VBS! As fun as it was, it almost killed me!

Wednesday, August 12: Brenda met with her new principal for the first time. After being hired by phone almost a month previously, it was good to meet her and see the school. Northwood Middle School is not much to look at but it is one of the best schools in the area. She is teaching 6th grade, 1/2 time literacy and 1/2 time music. I led my first worship team rehearsal that night. It was rough for a lot of reasons, but God was there and everything turned out well.

Wednesday, August 19: First day of school for Brenda and the girls. The girls are very happy in their new school. God really blessed us when he got us into the Davis Elementary school district. It is one of the highest performing schools in the state. Brenda did alright her first day, but overall she had a pretty rough week.

All in all this move has been every bit as difficult as we expected -- and more. It has been a struggle in every sense of the word. When you set out to fulfill God's calling in your life you will not go unopposed. But the blessings have FAR, FAR, FAR outweighed the struggles! We serve a mighty King whose love never fails! He continually makes our joy complete as we go through each day. We even have some funny stories (mostly about Cecily and Corinna) that I can't wait to share in future entries!

Right now we are pressing on to the the Master!

God pulled a Job on me!

I can just see it. God and Lucifer were having a conversation yesterday evening. Lucifer nudges the Father and says, "Hey! I'm gonna mess with your new 'Pastor'." God, knowing His child so well, rolls His eyes and responds with, "Alright. Go ahead. But you can't kill him."

Last night as Brenda and I were sitting watching TV we heard a big crack and rumble coming out of the front yard. It actually sounded as if someone was throwing something into our yard. We rushed out to see a branch on the Black Walnut tree in our yard -- at least 25 feet in length -- dangling about 7 feet from the ground. Of course, you understand it was Lucifer that caused the otherwise healthy branch to fall.

Now comes the part where the Father rolled His eyes, because He knows me so very well. Because I, in all my manness, saw the end of the branch dangling precariously above the ground just within reach. The thought came to my mind, "Hey there's a branch hanging there over my head! I should pull on it and see what happens!" So, even though because of the darkness I could not see up in the tree to assess the situation, I pulled on said branch. It didn't give. So I told Brenda to get up on the porch just in case it would work, changed my position and pulled HARDER (again, I'm sure God was rolling His eyes). At once I heard more cracking and felt the branch giving way -- THAT is when my God-given wisdom said, "What did I just do?" and I started running to get out of the way.

The branch ended up coming down on my shoulder and forearm, giving me only a few scrapes to remind me of my stupidity. But a larger, half-dead branch fell along with the big one and missed my head by less than a foot. I could have easily been seriously injured. The scary part for poor Brenda was that as I was running away from her toward the street she just saw the branch come down on me and I disappeared. There was a long pause as she held her breath, then she heard, "Well, that wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done." Then we both started to laugh.

Week 3: Sick and struggling

This past week has been the most difficult yet in the fast. All four of us struggled with sickness in some degree throughout the week. When you're sick and just lying around all day it is nice to have the TV as a distraction -- something to do, to occupy your brain. But we lived through it -- even thrived. So, once again, we know that TV is NOT a necessity.

I found several web sites that have hundreds (yes, literally hundreds) of episodes of TV shows that you can watch for free. I told Brenda, "Who needs cable or satellite when we can watch almost anything we want on the computer?" They even have the latest shows that have only been on a month or two.

I even had the opportunity to experiment with using these web sites in a reward system. Brenda was very sick throughout the first part of the week (NO, not swine flu!) but she still had to work as a substitute because we need the income. On Wednesday evening she stayed home with the girls to rest rather then go to church. The girls were wonderful for her! They helped her fold clothes as well as put them away and they cleaned their room with very little help. We were both very proud of them.

The next day I told them how proud I was of them -- no sarcasm, just straight praise -- and when I got home from work we got on the computer and watched an entire episode of Johnny Socco and His Flying Robot. Believe it or not, the girls LOVED it! I'm sure part of it was the romance of watching TV on the computer, but they really enjoyed the show. This knowledge could be very useful in the future.

One of the best things about this fast is that Brenda and I have a lot more time to talk and pray together. After the girls go to bed we sit and read or visit, instead of turning off our brains and completely vegging out. I have to admit that TV is not patently evil. There are fun shows and times when watching it is fun and enjoyable. The problem is that we -- I bet like many families today -- lost our priorities. We put the TV first in WAY too many ways. It really did become somewhat of a god in this house. I praise the true God for the realization and the opportunity to change our focus.

Finally, we found a wonderful family site just last night: tangle.com (formerly godtube.com). It is very much like youtube.com, but the videos are all family friendly, many are church dramas that were recorded and uploaded. It was wonderful for Brenda and I to be able to go into the kitchen and leave the girls knowing that anything they clicked on would be appropriate. Check it out if you get a chance!

Week 2: The Meltdown

Well, we have completed week 2 of the fast. It was an up and down week.

Monday was almost surreal. After Brenda left for her fitness class, the girls and I had a very nice spaghetti dinner. We laughed and giggled and just plain had fun. After dinner I got on the computer and found an online radio broadcast of a hockey game to listen to while I did the dishes. The girls (you probably should be sitting down for this) went into the living room and TURNED ON THE CLASSICAL MUSIC RADIO STATION (I'm NOT kidding). Corinna lay down on the couch because she was tired, and Cecily proceeded to read to her little sister for over half an hour.

I finished the dishes and walked into the living room. When I saw the girls I stopped and looked around expecting to hear Rod Serling say, "You are traveling through another dimension...the Twilight Zone". I honestly sat down in my chair and just enjoyed watching them for the next ten minutes. Then they got ready for bed and I read to them (Where the Sidewalk Ends). It was wonderful.

Later in the week Brenda called and canceled the TV satellite dish because we simply can no longer afford it with her only working as a substitute teacher. We told the girls about it on Friday morning before school and explained that, when we do start watching some TV again, we would not have the satellite which means none of their favorite channels. It was taken remarkably well by both of them -- or so I thought.

It was when Brenda and the girls arrived home from school that the idea finally sunk in to sweet Corinna's mind; an absolute meltdown fit for the ages ensued. This pint-sized nuclear bomb went off! She started by screaming, crying, then stomped into her bedroom, kicking toys and clothes out of the way as she entered (their room often resembles the forbidden cave of squalor). Then she had to go potty, so she stomped into the bathroom, kicked the bathtub as she sat on the toilet, then pounded on the sink with her little fists after she was done. My first question to Brenda was, "And did you let this go on?" She didn't. My second question was, "Did you get it on video?". She didn't.

Brenda had been telling Corinna to control herself all along, but after pounding on the sink it was time for them to sit down and talk. Brenda talked to her about controlling her anger and they prayed, asking Jesus to help Corinna calm down. Then they went into the living room to color for a while. After about thirty minutes Corinna proclaimed, "Hey, Mommy! It worked! I'm not mad anymore!"

I have no doubt in my mind that we were led into this fast by God. I see everyday how He is blessing it.

TV fast -- Week 1

We have completed our first week of what we are calling our TV fast. Brenda and I decided about a month ago that our family would forgo any and all television in the house starting with the day after Easter thru the last day of the school year, May 28. We prayed about it and really felt it was something God has blessed. Our reasoning is that the "Idiot Box" (as my Dad calls it) has become a constant source of aggravation and tension; as well as a GINORMOUS time waster and cause of procrastination. So, no TV (no videos, no movies, no sports, no SpongeBob, no nothing) for six weeks.

I understand that there are those in the world who would consider this cruel treatment; that we are depriving our children one of their basic human rights. But it is most likely those same people consider SpongeBob Squarepants to be educational programming -- so their opinions are not to be considered. Nothing bad can come from going without TV for a few weeks.

We had let the girls in on it a full two weeks before it started. There was the initial weeping and gnashing of teeth, (one of them even curled up into a fetal position and cried) but they accepted it -- until Easter day. That's when they proceeded to panic. Cecily even got up out of bed on Sunday night and told us she "just couldn't take it" if we didn't watch TV. Our response was, "That attitude is EXACTLY why we ware turning it off. Now go to bed!"

Well, believe it or not, the idiot box has stayed off for the entire first week -- and the girls have not melted or gone insane. The house has been amazingly peaceful; Cecily has finished her homework each night; there is much less arguing and fussing in general. Remarkably, since we quite often listen to the local NPR station from Ball State University, the girls have actually discovered the beauty of classical music -- particularly Beethovan. Corinna loes to stand in front of us and pretend to conduct while Brenda and I play pretend instruments. Wow!! God REALLY performed a miracle!!

I don't know if everything will go as smoothly in the coming weeks, but I know that we are sticking to it. I have no doubt that God will continue to bless our family as we spend less time turning off our brains and more time enjoying one another.

More later.

God spoke to me.

I mentioned that God spoke a word to me during our time at the Garden Tomb. But I have to preface it with an explanation (I'd use the word "brief" but you all know that is not possible with me).

Our men's group at church has been studying about being ready for God's great adventure of life. One of the people we focused on was Caleb -- one of the 12 spies to go into the promised land and the only one to stand with Joshua to say they should go in. Because of Caleb's faith, God promised him he would make it to the promised land. Forty-five years later, when Caleb was eighty-five years old, God not only fulfilled his promise to Caleb but He blessed Caleb and his tribe to take Hebron -- the good high ground -- from the giants known as the Anakites.
God has continually led me back to Caleb in the past several months. His faith and integrity have been an inspiration to me.

Now, fast forward to the Garden Tomb: After we had finished communion, we began singing a few songs. I mentioned earlier how exhausted we all were. I was cranky and just wanted to get back to the hotel for a fifteen minute nap before leaving for the evening concert. Even when we were given the opportunity to share if God was speaking to us my thoughts were, "Please, can we just get this over with?"

We sang another hymn and I was suddenly enveloped by the Holy Spirit. It hit me almost as if a rushing wind came through the alcove where we were sitting. In the middle of the song I crumbled, unable to sing or do anything other than bury my face in my hands and weep.

Gos spoke to me in that moment in His still, small voice. His voice was meek and tender but all the time filled with the power and authority of the Almighty God. He filled my heart with these words, "Be faithful. You will take the high ground for me." Overwhelming is the only word that describes that moment. I knew immediately that he meant both Brenda and me in our ministry. It would not be the last time on the trip that I would feel humbled and unworthy in the presence of our Holy God.

I know the details of such a promise will only be revealed in God's time. I also know that it will require raw faith for Brenda and me to stay faithful to the call as we make our way. Just like Caleb, there will be times of wandering through the wilderness, and there will be times of battling giants.

Regardless of what the world or the enemy throws our way, God will be faithful to His promise. Brenda and I will be faithful -- and we will take the high ground!

The Garden Tomb

Sorry about the delay. Church, class, sick kid, they start adding up!

The Garden Tomb was a wonderful way to conclude our first day of touring. It is not the actual tomb of Christ, apparently archeologists are sure the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher holds that distinction. What is great about the place -- it's really a private park run by a British christian organization -- is that it more fits the image western Christians have of what Golgotha and the tomb look like. It is a very quiet place of reflection, available free of charge by appointment only; a volunteer guide showed us around, giving us a brief history of the site. It was a beautiful place.

They led our group to a small venue with benches where we could take communion. They provided juice and matzo bread for the sacrament. The juice came in small olive wood cups for us to keep. We sat together and read the scripture of the Last Supper, then after the meal we sang some hymns and choruses (we were a choir group -- we sang A LOT).

It is always a wonder how and when God's spirit chooses to move. It was late in the day. We had already walked almost three miles through Jerusalem, most of which included stairs and hills. We were jet lagged from over 18 hours of travel the day before, some still suffering the affects of motion sickness. Many of us, Brenda and I included, fought off sleep as we tried to focus on the moment, forging our way through a haze of exhaustion. But it was then, at our weakest point, that God chose to move.

Several members of the group, including me, reported God speaking to their hearts about specific situations. Everyone was touched, most were in tears, feeling the joy of the Lord's presence. It was a sacred time. Our team went to the Holy Land with open and expectant hearts filled with a desire for a greater understanding of our Savior. Anytime Christ's servants humble themselves and truly seek Him with open hearts He will change lives. That is exactly what He started on that first day.

Next: What God spoke to me after communion.

First Day

Our first day of touring we went to the Temple Mount, built on the site where Abraham brought Isaac for sacrifice. The sites we saw that day were numerous, including St Anne's Church near the pools of Bethesda, the East Gate, the Via Dolorosa (all 14 stages), the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which included Golgotha, the Stone of Annointment, and the Holy Sepulchre Basilica.

Something really stood out for me about the East Gate into the Temple. This is the gate where Jesus entered the Temple Mount after His triumphal entry. Our guide, Samir (a Palastinian christian) told us that the Muslims, when they took over the city many years ago, bricked up the gate to discourage the Christians, thinking that Jesus could not return for His second coming if the East Gate was blocked. Isn't it wonderful that Christ came to enter the temple of our hearts? Nothing can stop His second coming. He will come when He is ready, when God the Father deems time to be fulfilled. But Christ waits at the door of each heart to enter and save. Praise God!!

Next post: The Garden Tomb

We're back!!!

What an amazing trip!! We just made it home this morning around midnight. It was a total of 25 hours of travel to get home. The only way to describe the trip is truly life-changing. God moved and spoke to Brenda and I as well as the others on the trip in ways we never dreamed He would.

The holy sites were tremendous, our time at the Garden Tomb as well as the house of Caiaphus were nothing short of moving. Also, the experience of worshiping with other Christians in Israel and Jordan was a blessing. We were from different cultures and spoke different languages, but we were united by the same Holy Spirit. Wow!!

I will be blogging about the various experiences at least every day or two for a while. Please keep checking for updates. I cannot wait to share the experiences with you!

Tuesday

We are supposed to meet at the church just over 30 minutes and the airport still lists our flight as scheduled for an on time departure. Please keep praying that we make everything out on time tonight. I told my father in-law that God just wanted to grace him with my presence for another day. I took his silence as a prelude to rejoicing.

Delayed

God has His own way of working and His timing is not always ours. Our flight schedule is to leave Indianapolis and fly to Newark, New Jersey, then from there to Tel Aviv. We just received word that Newark is forecast to get 6 to 10 inches of snow along with some sleet tonight. (For those of you who live in California -- that would be bad.) So, even though it is beautiful in Indiana, the airline has postponed our flight 24 hours, we now leave Monday at 5:02pm.

Please keep praying that God will keep the worst of the weather away from the airport and that we will be able to fly safely out tomorrow. We are still excited and we know that God will be glorified throughout the trip.

We're on our way!!

We can hardly believe it is FINALLY here!!! We leave for Israel this Sunday, March 1. Our plane takes off from Indianapolis at 5:02pm. Thank you all for you support -- both through prayer and donations. You are awesome!! Our final fund raiser was on Feb 8. Brenda and I performed a concert at the Linton Assembly of God for a love offering. They were very generous and their giving put us over the top for the expenses. God has provided beyond what we could have ever hopes.

We are packing and preparing for the trip. We had no idea there was so much involved in traveling overseas. This is the first time we have ever traveled anywhere that there is no WalMart in case we forget something! So we are trying to make sure we have everything we may need.

Even though, up to this point, I have proven myself to be one of the worst bloggers in the history I hope to make several installments. I will be journaling throughout the trip about the various places and experiences, so I will have plenty of material for blogging.

God bless and keep you all!!!