Flying again?

Well I have to get on a plane again. Right now I am setting in the KC airport waiting on ANOTHER plane. The good news is that I am only flying to Midland and not around the world. Jane spent all weekend looking at houses in Midland but came back last night somewhat frustrated. Now it's my turn to go look at houses. So far we have not found much but we do have some good leads.
Everyone has been so amazed that our KC house sold in 2 days. The avg house in KC is staying on the market 197 days! Sounds like we had a little help!?!? Well I got to get on a plane. Keep us in your prayers, I really would like to find a house.

Did I learn anything?

Well I am back. It took me a few days to recover and I am still not 100% but I am back. So far it has been good to be home. Jane and the boys missed having me around. The boys have really been having a hard time with the transition and all. Between me being gone, us redoing the house to sell and packing, they are pretty turned around right now. I hope we can get them back on track soon.

I have been putting off recapping my trip because I have wanted to savor it. The whole experience was so wonderful and refreshing. Plus, I discovered I returned with some type of internal hitchhiker. It would seem that a small amoeba or bacteria has come back with me. It is nothing a little ciparo wont kill, but troublesome non the less.

While traveling back home I kept thinking, “What did I learn?” It was a question I even posted to myself in my travel journal. Here is what I wrote while flying somewhere over the Sahara Desert.

“Have I learned anything? That’s a good question. I certainly have learned a few words, and some cultural etiquette, but is that all? I have acquired a few new stories and some new antidotes. But have I changed???
Yes.
Somehow I have realized how unhealthy I had become. Somewhere I sold my birthright, lost focus on what is really important. Somehow I have convinced my self that my work for the kingdom is greater than my Kings work in me.”

It is a brave thing when men can be honest with themselves. Perhaps there is no easier person to fool than ourselves. I think I had tricked myself into believing my unhealthiness would be rewarded, acknowledged in some way. Somehow I began to believe my overworked hyper extended schedule would lead to peace and self satisfaction. After all, I was working for a good cause right? Instead it left me shallow and unkempt. Trying to be all things to all people has left me slowly becoming no one.

Over the last two weeks I have discovered my passion again. I understand more deeply what it means to be “born again”, not out of flesh or even water but out of joy and rejoicing.

The last entry in my Africa journal says this.

“Have I learned anything? Yes. I have learned that I am Paul Talley. Husband, father, friend. In short I have learned how to be…me. And I am pretty sure that’s all I need to be.”

May you learn to be you. May you be comfortable in your own skin. May God bless you with the uniqueness unto yourself. May all the days of your life, from this day until the last day be occupied with you being…you.

In London

I made it to London.  It's 6:30am in London, 9:30am in Mwanza and 12:30am in Kansas.  My body really does not know what time it is.  I am fried!!!  The trip home has been much less glamorous.  It's funny how when you leave for vacation airports are fun and represent a chance to see something new and exotic and when you return from vacation they just stand in the way of seeing your family.  My 6 hour layover in Kenya was really boring.  The airport has no AC so after about 3 hours I feel really greasy.  I did get a great sandwich at a coffee shop Jason and Emily recommended called the Java house.  Good call guys, it was a wicked good sandwich.  (Also Emily don't forget to send me that bread recipe)  Well I got another 6 hour layover here in London.  I wish you could see my excitement.

In Kenya

I made it to Kenya safely.  I now have a 6 hour layover until I leave for London.  I had really bad weather in Mwanza.  I thought flying into a small African airport was fun...try it in a thunderstorm.  Wehhhhhhh.

Tragic news

I didn't want to bring this up before but decided I should. News of this filtered in to the team here this week. The Jinja mission team is only a few hundred miles away just across the border. Please keep them in your prayers. Please also keep the missionary community here in your prayers, things of this nature can are hard to understand. Read the full report here.
http://www.jinjamissions.org/

A few pictures

I start home tomorrow at 1:40pm (4:30 am Sunday morning central time). I have several layovers and hope to post more but my computer has been acting up. (Have I mentioned I hate Dell's international customer support! It's International support is only open 9am- 5pm Central standard time. It's not even a toll free number!) Until I post again here are some pictures.
The Serengeti planes.

An overlook at the Nabii Hill checkpoint and guard station.

Our first campsite at the crater.

Our second campsite. I thought this sign was a joke until I saw...

this less than 100 yards from our campsite.

Please keep me in your prayers until I return on Monday night at 6:10pm in KC.

Across the Serengiti

Last night we got back from our drive across most of Eastern Tanzania. We drove from Mwanza around Lake Victoria into the western gate of the Serengeti. From there we drove across the entire park and into another park just west of the Serengeti called Nororgoto Crater refuge. The crater refuge is home to the rift valley and a 30 mile wide crater sometimes called the "crater of life". In the rainy season the crater is filled with every animal known to eastern Africa except giraffes. The entire drive was on 4wheel drive roads through some of the most remote country I have ever seen. Hundreds and hundreds of miles of lush green grass as far as the eye can see. We crossed mountain ranges, jungles, grasslands, lakes, and rivers, lots and lots of rivers. We could not have gone at a better time. The great migration has just finished leaving millions of Zebra and Wildebeest grazing on the lush grass in the western end of the park. Many times we would crest a hill and be able to see 30-50 miles of black moving herds of wildebeest in every direction. It was a truly awe inspiring feeling to experience what the early American settlers must have felt looking across the plains of Kansas at millions of buffalo. For the last three days I have been in sensory overload. 4wheeling across Africa with one of my best friends camping along the way, has been one of the greatest non family experiences of my life. Jason and I spent hours and hours talking, laughing, and just generally enjoying each others company. I was a little apprehensive about the trip to start with just because I have never done anything this "big" before. It was apparent very quickly that there was nothing to worry about. Having someone who speaks fluent Swahili and knows how to get around in Africa made all the difference in the world. Several times we ran across tourists who where paying through the nose for the same experience with a guide company. Each time Jason and I would laugh and say, "poor saps". I was a little vague before about the details because I did not want anyone to worry but here was the plan.

1. Drive across the Serengeti and Rift valley in a 4x4.
2. Not take any meals with us but instead try to buy meals from locals and cooks at the big safari camps.
3. Camp out in bush every night.
4. Have a blast.

I am happy to report we where able to do all of the above. The drive was unbelievable, the food incredible, the camping outrageous, and I have never laughed harder, dreamed bigger, felt more relaxed, and generally had a more enjoyable travel experience in a very long time. If I where to recap the story I really would not even know where to began. We saw every animal you can think of. Some animals we only saw a few of others we saw several hundred thousand of. The only animals we did not see were rhino, and cheetah. In talking with other drivers who communicated with ham radio, none where spotted anywhere during our visit.

Well I need to go. We have a busy day planned. I have been trying to post some pictures but have been having LOTS of problems with my computer. The piece of junk does not seem to want to work. I spent a few hours messing with it and talking with dell, but found out quickly "customer service" means "customer service to people in America". My GPS also crapped out right as we entered the western gate leaving us without a "proper" navigation system. My camera and video camera worked brilliantly however leaving me with some 300 still photos and an hour and a half of video. Including video of us trying to get Jason's landcruiser unstuck from a mud hole while being surrounded by a pack of Hyena. We where never really at risk but it was a surreal experience. I have gotten 4x4's unstuck lots of times but never while someone stands and watches for lions and other things that might eat you. I would have been more freaked out about it had one not tried to get in our tent the night before. But that is a story for another time...

An old friend

I posted pictures and text today. Tomorrow Jason and I leave to drive across the Serengeti in his landcruiser. We will be camping and wildlife viewing. I will return on Thursday night (late wed night in America). Please keep us in your prayers. Until then here is my latest post:

This morning I have been giving lots of thought to experience. (I am reading Mark Millers book on Experiential Storytelling). It has really got me thinking about this whole experience. Yesterday I went to church with Jason and Emily. It was a wonderful experience that I outlined in detail in my journal. Church was such a wonderful experience. During communion Jason asked me,
“So what stands out at you the most?”
Pausing a moment I replied,
“Not to be self centered but how relaxed I am. It has been a long time since I have felt so relaxed. Part of it is that I do not have any responsibilities here, but a big part of it is just my stress level. It’s practically non existent.”

The whole experience of church yesterday was so refreshing. First of all it lasted all day. Literally. We left Jason and Emily’s house at 8:30am and returned at 8pm. Second everyone was so happy to be there. Absent was any since of responsibility attendance. There was no hint of preoccupation or stress. Worry seemed to be a polar opposite of each persons emotions and everyone placed a high value on those around them.

Part of that attitude is the culture here and part is not. Sukumu, as well as the other tribes, place a very high value on greetings. A simple “good morning” greeting here would be offensive if not followed up by several questions about family translated “Is your family with peace” and the most important “Are you with peace?” What stands out is not that each person asks these questions but that each person asks them slowly, intently, and with great interest. When we arrive at a village introductions sometimes take 15 minutes as everyone greets us with the same interest and concern. Each person repeats the same questions, even if they heard how we answered to others. This is done out of respect to show value. Only after introductions are made are we invited to set down and discuss “the news”. The standard American “Good morning how are you” while collectively thinking “Please don’t answer that for real just say good” is unwelcome and does not fit into this culture at all.

Another interesting trait I have noticed about the villagers is the intensity in which they focus. There is no underlying preoccupation or rushed since of communication. Conversations are not measured or hurried but instead easy and relaxed. It would be easy to say, “Of course it’s relaxed, they have less to worry about, no boss, no house payments, no deadlines.” But this is a simplistic, under thought viewpoint. True, they may not have a “boss” to worry about, but all work in the village is back breaking labor. In the fields it is planting, and harvesting large crops by hand in the homes it is cooking over an open fire, and you walk everywhere. Sometime animals are used to plow a field and other times family members take turns pulling the plow. Each home has a small plot used for farming and raising animals and as with all farming communities there is much to worry about. Anyone who has ever farmed knows that each harvest bring either feast or famine. Usually there is no “OK” crop. Either you have much corn for the coming year or something happened like a storm or a drought and there is no corn and the next year will be spent trying to find food for your family. Also it appears that infant mortality is still very high in the villages. I have met several people who will say I have 12 children but 4 did not make it. Throw in communicable disease like AIDS, dysentery, yellow fever, and malaria and you have the potential for some stress. Worry? There is plenty of opportunity for worry out in the villages. But if they are worrying I cannot tell all I see is faces filled with joy and laughter, lots of laughter. If quality of life is measured in happiness then Sukumuland is a much healthier place to live than America.

All of this brings me to my experience. Yesterday was the first time I completely relaxed in church in many years. During church I was suddenly filled with a great sense of enjoyment. Gone were the stress, worry and collective weight of so many issues facing families I work with. Gone were the last minute adjustments to my lesson, the pressing issues waiting on my desk, the emails piling up in my in box. Yesterday church was about worship and enjoyment of the creator and his creation. Beneath the mango trees somewhere in East Africa listening to the rhythm of Sukumu singers sing songs about joy, and peace I experienced something. I experienced something familiar and known but distant and forgotten, something comforting, beautiful, and complexly simple. I remember it from long ago and welcomed it as soon as I felt it. It was known to me, yet foreign, like an old pair of forgotten jeans it felt cold against my skin but fit just right. It was not until I allowed myself to step into it and button it up that I recognized what it was. It was an old well worn and almost forgotten friend. It was…The joy of the Lord…I am sad to say I had misplaced it. I had let it set under piles of less worn, more stylish, newer garments. But now that I have it on, nothing could feel better.

My you experience the joy of the Lord this week. May you live in Molliah (peace) today. May you slow down what you are doing and enjoy life. My you find that which you have misplaced and wear it all the days of you life.

more pics

Here are a few pics. I had to shrink them so they would upload faster.

Church under the mango trees. A worship "choir" (they also dance quite well)

Communion (you can also see the good seats they always give us up front because we are guests)

The Millers by Lake Victoria

Pics

The monkeys that live at Jason's house.

The monkeys that live at my house!

A city on a hill

Today the complexity of what Jason and Emily are doing began to sink in. After going out to a tourist resort by the lake for lunch Jason and I went to visit some of the leaders from the church whose building collapsed last month during the rains. Earlier Jason had explained to me the difference here between the good parts of town and the bad parts of town.

"Here if you live high on a hill you are poor because it is so much further from the water. The "rich" people live in the lower parts of town close to the water supply"

Of course this is completely opposite to some of the places I have lived like Colorado. The most expensive houses are higher up on the hill. As Jason and I drove to the church I could not help but notice we where climbing higher and higher. As we approached the church it was obvious we where entering a slum. Instantly I remembered what Jason said and this verse came to mind,
"you are to be a city on a hill"

Turning to Jason I asked, "so how do you tell the church they are to be a city on a hill if here that means God is calling them to abject poverty?"

"It makes it interesting doesn't it"

This has just been one of many cultural differences that make delivering the gospel so multifaceted here. Another is that it is very common to have multiple wives. In fact it is a status symbol here. If you are well off, you are expected to have many wives and many children. As you can imagine this lends to a delicate situation when churches choose elders. Remember the verse in Timothy about elders "they are to have but one wife". Jason said that many mainstream church dominations who have sent missionaries here actually teach that once a man is baptized he must send away his many wives. This creates two problems. First, there is only one job a woman can do in the village to support herself and it is prostitution. Second, sending away a wife means sending away "her" children as well (remember Abraham and Hagger?). To send away a wife means making her children illegitimate. Most often these children become orphans and street children. The best case is in this situation is that the mother sells her body to provide for all her children? All of this is done by well meaning but misguided missionaries.

That is what has been so impressive to me about the Mwanza team. They seem to be so focused on making a real, long term impact, in ways that seek to understand the culture. For centuries the Catholic church sent out missionaries to teach and convert. Unfortunately most taught and converted native peoples to a European style of thinking as well. You see it here with other mission agencies still. Several have adopted a "American" church mindset. They went to a prominent place in town, built a big and visible church, and tried to make Mwanza's first "megachurch". Can't we just drop our infatuation with megachurches? Jeezes.

That is why the team here is so focused on local churches. So far they have over 100 they are working with. Small, self supportive churches with local leaders and preachers. It is amazing how "different" this way of thinking is. Overall the complexity of their task has started to sink in. The underbelly of this trip is starting to show.

Another example is the aids crisis. Across Africa the "national" rate is 25%. That means every fourth person you meet most likely is caring the aids virus. Here in Mwanza the number is closer to 35% because it is a big city with a shipping port (sailors are no different in any country). Jason even knows some missionaries up north who keep records and calculate that in their region the average is about 70%!

Nothing is simple here. Nothing is easy. The gospel we know and take for granted has different meanings and connotations here. In America the message from popular "christian" books is "get rich, get healthy, be happy" here the message from the book is "be the poorest people in town". Overall I am surprised and humbled at the task set before Jason and Emily. The road they have chosen humbles me greatly, yet I know that their calling is no greater that the calling I received. Their call is no greater that the one being placed on you. Their call was to go around the world to East Africa, maybe yours is to go around your block. Maybe the father is slowly whispering to you to "get up, and get out" as well.

May you not fall into the trap of thinking that the call is only for distant lands. May you hear the voice of God gently (or not so gently) calling you to serve him. Wither it is at the gym, the office, the neighborhood, or East Africa, may you accept the call today.

The last two days

I really don’t know where to start. Yesterday was amazing. We spent the day traveling to a small church outside the town of Ibondo. The town is just across Lake Victoria from Mwanza. After taking the ferry across the lake we drove for 3 hours on some of the worst roads I have ever been on in my life. I have been on worse 4x4 roads but never worse main roads. As Jason said in his last mission report the rainy season here has been REALLY rainy so there was lots of mud and washed out places on the road. It was Jason and I, his team mate named Calvin and a local church leader named Sweatburt (that’s his real name!) all in Calvin’s tried and true Landcruiser 100 (it’s good to be in the land of landcruisers).
As soon as we got to the village children and adults from all ages started gathering at the church. Suddenly as if on cue the children started singing songs and hymns in rhythm. The songs were in that very rich African style made popular by Paul Simons singers. During each song Jason translated for me so I could understand the meaning and depth of the songs. The songs they sang where beautiful hymns about redemption and faith. After several minutes of singing Calvin got up and taught for about an hour. Each week Calvin has been doing a overview study of the Bible. His teaching has not been overly complex but has instead been a simple introductory/overview look into biblical themes and books. The villagers really seemed to like the study and several of the men took lots of notes. After the “service” we where rushed to a small hut and served a meal (which really seemed ironic since we where delivering food). The villagers rolled out the red carpet and nothing was spared to entertain us. They gave us the best seats, the best food (rice) and the best tea. It was only us and a few men in the hut eating and we all ate off the same plate with our hands! Jason leaned over right before we started eating and whispered to me “only eat with your right hand, don’t touch anything with your left hand”. I will let you figure out what the left hand is for out in the bush…

The whole experience was very surreal and felt naturally unnatural. Setting in some small village that didn’t even have a road to it, eating with villagers I had just met felt…right. Not “I should be a missionary” right but “these are my brothers in Christ” right. For some reason setting there eating rice out of a common bowl 5 minutes after worshipping with strangers just felt like, well, communion. There where no barriers, no facades, no pretenses. The villagers where so warm and friendly and open to us that it made me fell somewhat ashamed. There kindness was not because we where “wazungu” (white guys) but because we where their brothers in Christ. I had just met these guys and they welcomed me like an old friend. I couldn’t help but think of all the times I have gone to speak at friends churches and been put up in a hotel. I was across the globe with total strangers being offered some of there last rice just because I was the guest. It was wonderfully uncommon…at least in my world.

Today I got to meet the rest of Jason and Emily’s male team mates. To my surprise I already knew two of them from ACU. Kevin Linderman (Jane he says hi) and Aaron Bailey where at ACU when Jane and I where there. For some reason I had never connected the dots on them being on the mission team. All of the males met at Jason’s today for their weekly time of prayer and discussion. Over dinner we discussed the mission here, landcruisers, and what is going on back in the states. Afterwards Kevin, Jason and I spent some time praying. It was a very refreshing few hours.

This afternoon Jason and I went to town to pick up his truck at the mechanics. I was not expecting much but got a huge surprise when we arrived. The shop was a full service auto shop and vehicle outfitter. The back lot was filled with exotic 4x4’s being outfitted for all types of work around east Africa. I was like a kid in a candy store. Landcruisers (almost every model), Nissan patrols, Land Rovers, Hylux trucks, safari trucks, expedition trucks, you name it, it was there. I spent an hour walking around looking inside all of the trucks I have seen pictures of for years but have never gotten to see. It was truly one of the more delightful (and youthful) experiences I have had in awhile. All of the sudden I was 12 again experiencing pure enjoyment. It’s funny how something so small can make you feel so excited. It reminded me of the first time my dad took me to a camping store.

So that’s been my last two days. There have been lots of other things as well but this is getting long enough. Keep us in your prayers.

A few pics before I post

Passing out rice to the church members outside of the villiage of Ibondo.

Judah at dinner by the lake.

A few pics before I post. This is the airport I talked about.

Mwanza

After 39 hours 8884 miles and 6 meals on airplanes I am in Mwanza. Jason meet me at the "airport" (I use the term loosely). The flight from Kenya was a TRIP! Airport security is an term used loosely here. We where all asked to go out on the tarmac to board our plane and they took us there through areas that are supposed to be "secure". I walked right through the baggage handling area to get to my plane. Once at the plane there was a pile of bags and luggage and we where asked to pick our bags out to load. The plane was bigger than I expected and seated 48 people. The flight was gorgeous! We flew over Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti and the Ngorngoro crater. We had to stop at the Kilimanjaro airport to refuel so they made us get out of the plane for saftey. The airport is located at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro and was quite possible the most beautiful airport I have ever been in. It was small but had lush landscaping and was decorated with teak wood floors and lots of pure white marble. The bath room was clean enough to eat in and the whole airport just had a glow to it.

When I got to Mwanza we where shuffled to a small office to buy visa's and have some guy rifle through our stuff. After fondling my clean pairs of underwear stuffed in the bottom of my bag he told me I could go. Jason meet me outside the airport and immediately started telling the pushy taxi drivers I was "taken".

Last night Jason, Emily, Judah and I went out to dinner at a great restaurant right on the water of Lake Victoria (the source of the Nile river). Afterward they showed me around town and we went to the market for fresh fruit. I am amazed at how fast both of the have picked up swahili. They both talked fluently to everyone they met. I was very glad to be with them.

After dinner we came back to their house and set around and visited as long as I could handle. By 9pm I was fried and had to go to bed.

This morning Jason and I are going out to visit a church in the country with several of Jason and Emily's teammates. I am very excited about it.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers. Jane called this morning and said she had an offer on our house!!! She countered and they accepted. Looks like our house may be sold.

A night in Kenya

Wed Jan 10 7:58 am Kenya Africa (10:58pm Tuesday Jan 9 Kansas and Texas)
I finally have some time to slow down. So far this trip has been lots of flying and setting around followed by running from gate to gate and standing in airport security lines. When I first got my ticket I thought I would have more time at layovers. So far it takes about 3 hours to get from one plane to another because of security lines and complications.

I arrived in Nairobi last night at 9:30 (local time). I knew early on this was going to be the hardest part of my trip. My plane for Mwanza does not leave until 10:40am wed so I have a 12+ hour layover here in Nairobi. After much deliberation and research I decided to stay in the airport because it is cheaper. If I left the airport to get a hotel I would have to buy a $50 visa (to enter the country) a cab into the city (the airport is about 15 miles outside of town) and a hotel for the night ($125-$150 for a safe one). All told it would have cost me about $250 just to spend the night somewhere. So I stayed at the airport. Actually it was not bad at all because I did some research on the internet and found out that this airport has a “sleepers lounge” which is basically an area of small closets with beds for rent. So the plan was to stay here at the airport.

Everything went really smooth until I got here. The problem I ran into was that because I fly a very small plane to Mwanza from Nairobi British airways would only get my luggage here and not all the way to Mwanza. When the agent told me about this in Kansas City I figured “no problem I will just pick it up in Nairobi”. That’s where it got… complicated. Turns out the baggage claim is about 20 feet outside of the “secure terminal” which means I would need to get a $50 entry visa just to go the 20 feet to get my bags (which by the time I figured this out are the last ones on the carousel). So after talking to about 12 different people and getting the runaround I did what wary travelers have done for centuries. I bribed someone. Long story short I had to pay $10 for my bags. The up side is that my bags and I got a personal escort from airport personnel to the sleeping quarters.

The “duty free sleep and shower” is just a simple little area of 12 or 15 rooms for travelers. Most are single rooms about 6 feet long by 5 feet wide with a light, single twin size bed and night stand. There are showers down the hall and someone in the front “lobby” 24 hours a day. They are simple, clean, have a lock on the door, clean sheets and are perfect for catching a few zzzz’s. The cost was not too bad, $40 for 8 hours. Overall it saved me a boatload and gave me a place to sleep, relax, unwind and clean up. I slept for about 6 hours and just laid in bed and prayer the rest of the time. It felt good to stretch out after being in planes for 20+ hours.

The airport here in Nairobi is much nicer than I expected. It is old and outdated but clean, well kept, and staffed with very friendly people (especially if you bribe them). Everyone is very helpful and everything is in English which is also helpful. Having spent lots of time in Mexico it’s kind of funny how different but similar the two are. The airport here is just like many I places in Mexico, outdated, old and much worn. The two differ however in that here things are well kept, clean, and well serviced. The bathrooms here are much cleaner that the ones in Chicago where!

Well that’s about it for today. I just wanted to update everyone on how it was going. I leave in about two hours which would make it about 1:30am in KC. This last leg should have great scenery because we fly over Mt Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, and Mt. Kenya. I am really excited because I got a window seat!

Thanks for all the prayers, God is truly watching over me and making this a great trip!

Africa!

Yesterday morning
The last week and particularly the last three days have been a blurrrrrr. We marathoned the house and have been working non stop since last weekend. Today (Monday Jan 8) I left for Africa after quite possibly the craziest day I have ever had in my life. The realtor, her assistant, a painter, and a photographer all showed up at 9am and everyone wanted access to the same rooms of the house. The only problem is that we where not finished yet, not to mention I still was not packed and we had a three year old and a two year old running around. We stayed up until 2am last night working on the house and packing and still had to get up early to keeping working. I literally worked until the last second I had to leave.

At Chicago
It has been nuts so far. Chicago was a zoo and I had to not only change planes but go to a different terminal (and go through security again) to find out that my plane was in an isolated part of the airport without any services (food etc). Normally this would not have been a problem except I have not eaten anything but a mini pizza all day…and come to think of it I missed lunch and dinner yesterday as well. Oh well, I will eat sooner or later.

OK first item of business. Which cd’s did I get? I went with the postal service (great pick Pete!) and a wildcard that I saw at the store and remembered I had wanted. It was a Moby cd. I tried to download Coldplay live from itunes but it kept screwing up and I didn’t have time to mess with it.

Over the North Atlantic
My watch says its midnight but the airplane clock says its 6am. We are nearing Ireland which makes me feel better. We had some bad turbulence out in the middle of the Atlantic that was unnerving. The whole time movies kept running through my head. First I kept thinking of Castaway with Tom Hanks but then after convincing myself I could survive a plane crash over the North Atlantic I remembered Titanic. Youuuu knowwww, the movie where everyone in the water of the North Atlantic freezes to death. These are the things I have been pondering. It does not help that one whole channel on the airline tv is survival stories.

I did have had some serious thoughts in between random musings. I am reading a great book that is getting my mind moving, more on that later. As far as the trip goes, so far so Good.

Recent**
I just got to Kenya. I now have a 12 hour layover until I arrive in Mwanza. I am working on bootlegged wifi. I will update more later. All is well so far.

Hardest decision yet.

Two more days. Today is the last day of working on the house (hopefully) and then I can think about packing for Africa (hopefully). All I have left to do on the house is to paint the living room, clean out the basement, repair the deck, replace the kitchen sink and pack the Christmas decorations. No problem right?

My last two decisions today are my biggest decisions yet. This decision is bigger than what realtor to pick, how to price the house, which moving company to choose. By far my biggest decision yet…

Which new CD’s do I need to get for the trip? Every good road trip needs a theme CD. I can’t decide what to go with. I got the new Jars of Clay and Shane and Shane but can’t decide between several others. Here are my choices: The Postal Service (Pete recommended this oneand the new Mae cd), The Fray, The Killers, Matisyahu’s new one, and possibly the new My Chemical Romance CD (I have only heard two songs off the album and have not seen if it has any explicit lyrics yet). Those are the new ones I like but I could always go with some classics like the Counting Crows greatest hits, or radiohead, etc.. I’ve got a itunes gift card good for 2 and a best buy gift card good for one so I have to pick three. Hard choices.

Let’s do this. If you read this drop a comment for me on what CD you think I should get. If you had to spend over 60 hours traveling to the other side of the world and back what 3 CD’s would you put on your i-pod?

I fixed it so anyone can comment now on any post. Comment away!

Let it ride

Today has been such a crazy day! My emotions are all over the place. I have three pages of single spaced “to do lists” and every thing is urgent. We only have until Monday to get the house ready to sell, which would not be a problem if I was not trying to wind things down here as well as go to Africa! While I sometimes question my sanity it is exciting to be working towards something. Everywhere I turn something needs done, but if I look deeper everything leads toward something. So much of our life is spent doing stuff that leads nowhere. All this commotion in my life, this uneasiness, this uncertainty, can all lead somewhere if I let it. Everything I am facing has the potential to change not only my location but my outlook on life. I have no idea if my house will sell by Feb or even if my wife will be able to call and tell me if it sells while I am in Africa. I don’t know where I am going to live in Midland. So much in my life right now seems so uncertain, unknown, and unclear except… how I think.

Check this out, Romans 12:2 NLV
“…let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.”

Will my house sell? I dono. Will I find a house in Midland? Sooner or later. Will my family be ok while I am away? Yep. Will God speak to me while I am in Africa...

If I let him.

Collect calls from God

It would be hard for me to over communicate the amount of weight that has been lifted off my shoulders. For the past month I have been agonizing over what to do. What does God want from me? What is God doing in my life? Where does God want me? Where can I be used for Gods glory best? These are the questions I have been wrestling with all month long. Every singe one feels big by it’s self but is complicated by the simple fact that how I answer effects so many of those I love around me. How I answer those questions effect the teens and families I work with, my close friends, my mentors here at op, and most importantly my wife and kids. The fact that my personal decisions effects the public ministry (and church) here has left me with a deep sense of conflict. In the end the question comes down to two things. Trust and providence.

Here is how good old Webster defines trust and providence.
Trust= to have reliance of faith in
Providence=divine care or guidance

At its very root and genesis my questions are not simply, “Where does God want me to be?” or “Where can I serve God best?” God answered those questions long ago. You can serve God best by serving her wherever you are. More simply put my question is, “Do I trust (have faith in) God’s providence (his divine care of me)?” Do I trust the call and the caller?

Growing up I had a crazy uncle. Not, “oh you big goof” crazy, but rubber room crazy. Occasionally he would get thrown in jail for writing bad checks or some stupid decision and call us to come bail him out. He always called collect. Early on we learned to not accept the call. We made a decision before he called that we would not accept his collect jail cell calls. No time was spent “in the moment” trying to decide wither to take his call or not. We did not trust the caller and acted accordingly.

Do you trust the caller? All of us have felt the tug of God’s spirit pulling on our heartstrings? We wipe away the call by burring it with questions. But we must decide now, before the moment comes, do we trust the caller? If you “choose this day who you will serve” then you know the answer to the question before it is ask. My answer is yes. Yes I will follow you, yes I trust you, and yes I believe you have a plan for my life. Yes I will push away from a perfectly good harbor to sail new waters.

Maybe God is not calling you to a new job, or a new town, or a new church. Maybe God is simply calling you to new understanding of work, a new heart for your town, or a new love for your church. What ever God is calling you towards my hope is that you say yes to the call. May you be blessed with collect calls from God this week, may your life be full and rich with a trust of God’s providence. May you live all the days of your life as a yes man to the creator God. May you accept the call.