There's No Place Like Home

We went out of town for Christmas. We spent some nice, relaxing time with family.

Eggnog. Family. Turkey. Presents. Kids giddy about presents. Trees. Lights.

I LOVE Christmas! And I love being with my family. And I love traveling.

But there's no place like home.

There's nothing like sleeping your own bed, watching your own TV, lounging on your own couch. (I took a wonderful nap on mine this afternoon... Woo-hoo!)

No matter how much I enjoy a trip (& I've taken some great ones!), I always love coming home.

There's no place like home!

I'm on another trip away from home right now, too... It's called life. There have been good times & there have been bad times, & I've really enjoyed my life. But, I'm really looking forward to going home!

This world is NOT my home... I'm just on a journey until Daddy calls me there! And I'm really looking forward to that day!

There's no place like home!

It's (Still) the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Regardless of how commercialized, hectic, & selfish "the holidays" become, I will always be thankful for Christmas!

Honestly, I'm not a "gifts" person, so getting gifts doesn't excite me in the slightest. But, I'll tell you what does...

There's something wonderful about watching my girls fidget and squirm more and more the closer and closer we get to present time!

There's something wonderful about seeing the hustle & bustle of "the season" come to a sudden & screeching halt about 7pm on Christmas Eve.

There's something wonderful about the sounds and smells of family and food.

There's something wonderful about the tree and the lights.

There's something wonderful about presents and decorations.

But, most of all, there's something wonderful about all of these things that constantly remind me of Jesus' love for us, His gift to us, and His splendor.

They can make Christmas as commercialized & aggrandized as they want to, it will never compare to the glory & splendor of Jesus that we will one day see!

It's still (& will always be, in my opinion) the most most wonderful time of the year!

Merry Christmas!

It's always darkest just before dawn

Some sayings are silly.

Some sayings are pithy.

Some sayings drip with sarcasm.

But there are a few sayings whose truth rings so clear that they cannot be denied.

This is one of those sayings.

I have heard it's ring first-hand, and continue to hear the echoes of it's truth down through the years.

It seems there is no shortage of darkness in the days in which we are living. I don't mean that in some hooky-spooky, ultra-spiritual arrogance, either... It just seems to me like everyone I know is dealing with something difficult in some area of their lives. For most people I know, it's several things in several areas of their lives.

Very little of these troubles seems to be overtly or exclusively demonic, although there's no doubt that the prince of darkness is working in the midst of these circumstances that share his title. No, it's just... Life. Life in times of trouble. They've happened before, & they'll happen again.

But even while this darkness looms foreboding over the paths we are walking, an undeniable and sharp sound blasts through the fog & illuminates hope in our hearts. If you listen, you can hear it. To be honest, its ring is so distinct that you have to tune it out if you don't want to hear it. It is the echoes of this truth returning to our circumstances & drawing our memories back to times previous when--at the edge of despair--dawn broke through the darkness.

"It's always darkest just before the dawn."

Wherever we are, no matter how dark things may seem...

"It's always darkest just before the dawn."

No matter how long the blanket of struggle has been laid heavily across our being...

"It's always darkest just before the dawn."

No matter how hopeless the darkness may seem...

"It's always darkest just before the dawn."

No matter how far away the morning seems to be...

"It's always darkest just before the dawn."

Brothers & Sister, hear me: DO NOT DESPAIR!

IT IS ALWAYS DARKEST JUST BEFORE THE DAWN!

Riches in Poverty

There are some ironies of life that transcend all explanation.

I found one in Haiti.

I expected that my trip there would impact my life, but never to the depth that it did! It was one of those I'll-never-be-the-same-again experiences.

I also never expected to be impacted the way that I was impacted!

As long as I've been a Christian, I've heard about the transforming power of Christ's love. (Longer, I'm sure, but what unbeliever ever listens to that!) But until I spent this time at Grace Children's Home, I never experienced it!

When you & I look at Grace Children's Home, we think "orphanage." Keith & Cindy would quickly correct you if they heard you say that: "We're NOT an orphanage, we're a family."

It's not a slogan... They are!

See, at Grace, they are not running an orphanage, (begin sarcastic voice) trying to give a bunch of under-privileged kids the opportunity of a lifetime: to be an American. (end sarcastic voice)

The truth is that at Grace, they have a family. They are a family! In fact, when you look at the 80 or so kids there, if you didn't know the kids came from different families, you'd think it was a strong family with 80 kids! Seriously!

It's incredible!

In fact, it's miraculous!

And that's really the point: this family is not knit together by DNA, but TPCL... The Transforming Power of Christ's Love! These kids have been touched by the Father's love & now have an earthly father & mother in Keith & Cindy.

If you've never seen this transforming power for yourself--or if you've seen it only to the extent that you're still able to explain it--then I invite you to join us in March as we take a team from our church down to Grace.

We're going down to be a blessing: "rich" Americans showing benevolence to "poor" Haitians, but I already know what's really going to happen: we're going to realize that they are rich, that we are poor... And we're going to be blessed more than be a blessing.

This is what happened to Jennifer & I experienced when we went down there.

Yes, indeed: we're going to see riches in poverty!

no title

That's not a typo up there: I didn't give it a name on purpose.

Ya know how people say something is so amazing that they just don't have words to express how they feel about it? I really feel that way!

We've been back from Haiti for almost 2 weeks now, & I haven't posted a blog entry because I haven't been able to find the words to describe it. Not just one aspect of the trip, either....

Let me try to describe the 2 major areas of this trip over the next couple of posts. This week, I'll try to tackle describing the best part of this trip: meeting my son.

We saw the pictures. We knew he was cute.

Those puffy little lips...

Those chubby little cheeks...

Those big, brown eyes...

But we didn't realize that his grip was so strong! No, no, no... Not the grip of his hands, the grip he has on our hearts!

We've been wondering how this would all pan out...

Would he accept us?

Would he have a personality compatible with mine? Jen's? The girls'?

Would he be cold & aloof, rejecting the love we want so much to offer?

What we discovered in our far-too-few days with him is that He was created to be a part of our family! Yes, he was born to other parents in another part of the world, but I'm just as sure that God created him to be my son as I am that God created Jen to be my wife and Micaiah, Hosanna, Faith, & Leili to be my daughters!

There really are no words to describe how it felt to be there with him!

Well, maybe there are...

I felt like I had come home to be with my son.

By the way, Carlos has a new name: Judah Benjamin. (The girls helped Jen & I pick that out.)

I sure do miss him!

And there are no words to describe how it feels!!!