Cloudy Minded Mistake

I was lying in bed last night, trying to remember the name of the "club" my brothers and I had when we were little. It basically was the three of us and a couple brothers from school. I called Dan to no avail, so then I naturally dialed Sam's number. At about the second ring, I hung up. What was I doing? It's been five months (tomorrow) since Sam met up with Gracie and began walking face to face with Jesus. I remember having a similar experience in the first few weeks after my grandfather died. I eventually found out our name from one of our founding members (a friend), but I wish I could have asked Sam.

And if you're curious, it was "Tykes". Tyler/Kessens

National Orphan Sunday

National Orphan Sunday is coming up on November 8th. This year, Kate, Aaron, and I are heading to Nashville to spend the weekend with Dan and his family. That Sunday afternoon, at Christ Community Church, there will be an incredible response to the cry for the orphan. Prayers are already lifted for this special event, and let's all be thankful that God will never leave us orphaned! God bless..

Helping our children

"Don't ever hinder a child's ability to dream." I can't give you the exact author of that quote, but it's one that I saw on the wall of a Boys Town last week. It's one I completely agree with, and I wish everyone would follow that same rule. Children from inner-city Washington D.C. should have the same dreams and opportunities to live those dreams out that the kids in Hollywood, California have. I met a boy last week whose father is in jail and whose mother died of AIDS a couple of years ago. The little boy wanted to be a doctor. Yet, some adults look at that situation and say, "good dream kid, now back to reality.." Why? Why can't this little boy be a doctor? Why won't someone step in for these kids and tell them they can change the world if they want to, someone who will care enough for them to look at their environment and tell them to reach for the prize in spite of it all. Many organizations and adults I met with in D.C. are doing just that, and they are great examples of love in those children's lives. But sometimes many is not good enough. Before you call me hypocritical.. Before you say, "what have you done, J.B.?"..I want to say that I found that calling years ago. Have you? God bless..

Washington D.C.

Five of us are leaving tomorrow afternoon for Washington D.C. and five days of working with some of the inner-city children in that city. Prayers appreciated for the work we'll be doing and the substitute that's taking on my kids Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday! God bless..

I wanted to report that I'm either a genius driver's education instructor, or my nephew is just a very good driver. Without Sam to guide him, my nephew is trying to navigate the "not quite licensed but almost there" stage. He's not that bad of a driver either. He checks his mirrors, eases onto the pedals, puts his hands at 10 and 2. He might be a better driver than me!

Show Hope

In processing how God wants us to spend His money, we decided a few months ago to participate in a Show Hope sponsorship. If you've not done so, I'd urge you to look into this organization. As someone in the middle of the adoption process myself, it's great to see the amazing gifts that are coming about because of so many people's willingness to give. http://www.showhope.org

God bless.

I wish I could feel the way I feel about God right now, the deep love and passion for Him, the adoration of His presence in my life..I wish I could feel that without having to experience the pain that brought me to this point.

Marriage in Heaven

Kate's been sort of like a fragile leaf the past few days. She kept me up (though I admit I didn't mind) until 3:00 this morning talking about how she's been feeling. Right now, God's distant. He's there, but He's not "talking that much". Sometimes, Heaven feels really close for her. Lately, it's felt far away. Through the cloudiness that comes with being up at 3:00 in the morning, I did manage to pick up on her major points. One of them was when she rolled over, turned on the light (blinding the two of us for a couple seconds), and said that she wished we could be married in Heaven. She kind of teared up, and I sort of just let her. The Bible says that we will neither marry or be given away to marriage in Heaven. I remember a sermon about that topic given a few years ago. That also depressed Kate a bit. I tried to say something meaningful, like we'll be married to the King then, but I could see that it was actually bothering her. The relationships we'll have in Heaven are mentioned in the Bible, but there really is no way of knowing until we get there ourselves. I believe I'll know Kate in Heaven. I also believe we'll know that we were married on this Earth. I don't know how our relationship toward each other will be, however. Will we be closer to each other than we will be to others? That subject led us into talking about Gracie, which made both of us cry. It was the "Tears in Heaven" questioning after that. Just a lot of interest surrounding our future Home at a time in the morning that no human could possibly give 100% effot to, but it was still a good conversation. My prayer the last few nights has been that Kate will feel Him close again. She knows He's there. She's just trying to find Him right now. She smiles in front of Aaron and cries in front of me. She's Homesick right now.

It's hard to not get excited about a Fender...

Bold for Christ

Normally, Aaron goes into the children's ministry during our service, but he's been wanting to stay in to be with us the past couple of weeks. We've let him, and he seems to really enjoy listening to all the music (sits in on many of our praise team practices, so he knows the songs before we sing them on Sunday), and he likes to hear the sermons. In the month of September, we've been in a series about being "bold for Christ". This morning, while we were praying, Aaron whispered something in my ear. He said, "Dad, I want to be bold. Cause God doesn't just want 10%. He wants all of me. I wanna be bold for Christ." The 10% line was a reference to a comment our pastor had just made, about how God doesn't want just 10% of our lives. He wants all of it. The congregation finished praying, and it was time for the praise team to head back to the stage. I took Aaron up on stage with me, and he sat on the piano bench next to me while I played "Softly and Tenderly". I kept sneaking peeks at him, and his eyes were closed the entire time, swaying his head to the music. It was the perfect Sunday morning.