Poop face, raccoon style!

No, unfortunately that is not just a catchy title line.

Last night I was on my way to bed around 10 after having the police over for an oatmeal cream pie & a water. Lincoln had been in "bed" for about an hour & a 1/2, though we laid him back down several times. Apparently on the last one he mentioned, "Shoowee." Checked, clean, night night!

45 minutes later as I walk up the stairs I got a whiff of something. Linc's door was open & my immediate thought was that of his trash can.

As I walked closer to his door the smell of rancid chocolate overtook me. My enlightened eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, the glider is moving, the trash can sits erect & unmoved.

I step over his gate, because I'm a man, that's what I do. Why go through a door when I can go over it! One step in and a squish, ohhh. In my frozen state, eyes still unaquainted with the blackness, I turn and yell, "Get the bath ready we are coming down."

I flip the light to see wide eyes instantly go squinty - there is a stark naked raccoon in my son's glider half covered in a blue blankey painted some hideous color of brown. He looks up at me through the lone ranger style mask of feces and says, "daddy."

One minute later we are in the shower, Linc with his sad, cold sleepy face as I start to clean him. He cries a little, then laughs a little, but mostly sits blankly as if to say, "I was asleep father, why didst thou wake me from my slumber?"

It was not an easy removal as apparently malleable lumps of steaming dung dry quickly and crunchy. Wash, wipe, soak, repeat while he sits, shakes and says, "cold." "I know baby, I know."

Finally clean & in zipped and buttoned footy pj's, his mother having already handled the new paint job in his room, it was time for bed again. As I lay him down, "night night Linc, I love you." He looks at me with a slight grin behind his blue paci, "squeeze?!?"

"No buddy, I think you already squeezed it all."

"Discipleship is a nightmare"

About a year ago I heard a statement that I have been mulling over ever since. My instant reaction was, YES!" but lately I've been rethinking this and I wonder if I was off a bit, which wouldn't be terribly unusual!

"Discipleship is a nightmare isn't it. Can we just be honest about that? We want it to be like a superhighway but it is more like a dusty road through the desert with coyotes on each side."

We end up putting people together in different ways and calling it discipleship. I think my question when it comes to this is simply why are we trying to make this happen?

I know that sounds odd but why do we pour time, effort, and funds into programs we want to enable discipleship between people? It is a lost art I think, a needed aspect that rages against out instant, do-it-yourself culture. Discipleship is slow, and it has to start slow, and it has to spread through culture, the culture of the church and of its people.

I am learning that discipleship can look different than just the Disciples, and this is brilliant. Short times with specific goals of working through a book, or specific passages, or anything in order to help someone see Christ more and draw closer to Him. This is a bit of a different topic, but thanks for the insight there Steve P!

Short, long, whatever to make discipleship happen it has to be ingrained in the culture, it has to start with people discipling and being discipled (the second is more difficult often times). If we can enable others to do this we can burn it into the culture of this world. It just starts slow and spreads slow, that's how you change culture and personally I'm all right with that.

What you have learned and experienced is like everything else in this life: It's not about you and it's not just for you.

The only way to conclude this though, and it goes on forever in my mind, is to steal Nike's slogan: Just Do It!

803 - R4TL

We are two days past the Run For Their Lives and though I didn't run I am still physically and emotionally exhausted. 803. That was the number that registered. Far beyond original goals, almost double wildest dreams for a first year race put on by a community with so many causes to support.

803.

I was able to speak to the 5k aid station before the runners arrived and was privileged to tell them that every runner they saw, that they handed fluids and cheered on to finish represented a night of freedom for a girl in Thailand and hopefully a lifetime of freedom.

How quickly this became a movement rather than just a race.

The kids 1k was beautiful! Almost 50 red faced, breathing hard, and smiling as they crossed the finish line on the Heritage High School track to a huge cheering crowd and my boy - 12 Gage - taking it all in as he rounded the last turn to cheers and clapping. He smiles, he looks around, he joins in clapping for himself (he didn't know!) and then he finishes, completing one more race than his daddy!

So Many Thanks

The volunteers were amazing! To be able to handle the crowds at check-in, sponsors, start and finish, aid stations, parking - everywhere. Without you this would have been a disaster, you freed Thailand girls today.

Freedom 4/24 - without you this was just a foot race, not the movement it has become, not to mention the turnout is because of the cause, not the race.

The Sponsors - It was because of you that every runner represented freedom for a night and hopefully freedom for a lifetime.

The City of Lynchburg - Your officers were great, your V-Dot crew was amazing, and your support by allowing the race to happen was crucial.

The runners - I stand amazed at the discipline and dedication that you have to free girls in Thailand. I loved watching you run knowing why, and being there to support and cheer you on.

The R4TL Team - I have loved getting to know you and seeing your determination and passion. You have all done an amazing job, thanks for letting me be a part.

What's to Come

There are thoughts for this, but know is not the time. Now is the time to celebrate the accomplishments and the freedom for one night and hopefully for a lifetime for so many girls all because of a movement that BEGAN in Lynchburg, VA through a small church and some small people following a BIG God!

Swiss Cake Rolls

I realized the other day that I have been missing out on a delicacy for many years now. I have always taken my time and enjoyed each part of the rolls separately, increasing the occasion that I can indulge in the chocolate upon chocolate goodness.

Peeling the thin outer layer off carefully, which can prove more difficult than one would imagine, there have been times, more often than not, that my teeth have to get involved in this process, unfortunate but still tasty. Next come the edges and the bottom. This involves precision biting being careful not to take much of the actual roll. Once the shell has been removed it is time to unroll the cylinder and begin the small bites of the flat cake finishing it off after several minutes of enjoyment (I have no desire to discuss the later sugar crash than can occur).

Several day ago I had a roll, but I was in a hurry and unable to perform my glorious ritual. After a slight hesitation of disappointment and disgust I raised the roll to my mouth and took a bite. I had to stop in my tracks – It appears that the smallest of the Debbie’s has the largest of taste!

I have not since torn apart the intricacies of a well put together sweet treat and encourage all of my fellow “slayers” to do the same, trust the creators, they know best!

5 am - My Nemesis

It seems as if this week the 5:00 hour has been my nemesis. Usually it greets me with a soft glow through the window and the songs of some bird confusing itself as a rooster. I can lay there for a moment and then arise to a long, hot shower that has no other use that to wash me awake and ready me for the excitement that the day surely holds.

The past two weeks have been different. The soft glow has been there, as well as the befuddled bird, but the welcomeness of this hour has all but vanished.

Perhaps I have been bedding down later or fighting of some farm animal flu without knowing but whatever the reason my bed has been a super-magnet during this hour. The past day or so I have regained some ground in this epic battle but not enough to call a victory. Unfortunately, the war between the requisite for sleep and my need for the lack of it will continue to be – and I think I will always be defeated.

Freedom 4-24

Just recently Brentwood (my church) launched a campaign of sort called Freedom 4-24 (www.freedom4-24.com). The mission is to reach prostitutes in Thailand through a ministry called Beginnings. $24 pays for a night where the girls are taken to a safe place and told of an alternative means of survival.

One of the things that struck me was that a huge amount of the men who come to defile themselves through the use of these girls come from the United States. We live in a fallen world.

Mark 7:20 ". . .That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man."

Wait . . . there is hope! Some of us won't be able to go to Thailand and fight there - fight here! Fight with donations, support and prayer - but fight another way.

Fight with the Truth!

Fight because there is a better way. Grip the sword here and let everyone know that we serve a God of love, grace and mercy. We serve a God of justice, truth, and righteousness and what it is that those men seek from Thailand won't be fulfilled because there is a way that is right and that way leads to true joy and satisfaction.

Donate, go, talk, wherever it is that you feel the Holy Spirit leading you to be involved, but make no mistake you are involved. It takes sharing Christ to the people around us to a whole different level, not just about the person but about the world! On www.freedom4-24.com it states, "the end must begin somewhere."

Let it begin here
Let it begin there

Let it begin.

"Best & Brightest"

Several days ago some major bonuses were given out to executives in a business that has caused a huge uproar. Part of the justification for this by the company was they needed to retain the best and the brightest. This captivated my thoughts, wasn’t it these same “best and brightest” that put the company in that situation?

How many of Jesus disciples were the best and the brightest? Most of them had been kicked out of “seminary.” These men were called to follow, not the guys you would expect, not top of their class. The majority of people that Jesus called and that followed Him were the bottom in man’s eyes but they were passionate and committed.

My whole life I’ve been picked close to the bottom, close to last. I have failed more than can possibly be imagined and delayed from pursuing and fulfilling my calling for 12 years now. I don’t know why, I don’t care. What I do know is that Christ is after the Holiness of my soul and has given me a passion for His local church that cannot be extinguished.

Matt 5:6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied

Hunger and thirst, not full and quenched. It seems that the only thing Christ wants to do with the full & quenched is show them that what they have gorged themselves on is not righteousness. Interesting that it says shall be satisfied, looking toward the future, a future hope, a hope for the future.

So for us failures, us weak, us who are no where near the “best and brightest” there is still a calling on us, for us, a passion that burns inside aching to escape and a commitment to truth that will lead us to be satisfied . . .

. . .but in the words of the slave from Gladiator, “not yet, not yet.”

Just His Ways

Mark 8:27-33
"Who do you say that I am?"

What a scene this must have been. Jesus and the disciples, between gigs, walking down the road. I can see Matthew telling some stories of stuff he had "taxed", John pushing James into a bush as they walk by it. Peter is probably picking up rocks and throwing them at cacti or something.

Then Jesus says, "Hey guys, what's the word on who I am? What are people saying?" They answer with what they heard from the crowds. Then He says, "What about ya'll? Who do you think I am?"

Of course Peter declares He is the Messiah! To which Jesus starts telling them about the rejection and beatings and bleeding and death that is coming. Well Peter calls Him aside and says, "Look man, I just vouched for you, You're the King, You can't talk like that, You're gonna rule and we are going to be there with you!"

This was about Peter having glory and not being embarrassed that His King would die and not rule and have a place in the court for him. This was Pride.

We want Jesus to come only where we want Him to go.

We don't want Him to go to the cross, to poverty, to pain & suffering, to cancer, to death because we are going with Him!

We are told in detail of Peter's later denial, but don't forget John 21, where Jesus brought him back, broke him down, built him up, and sent him out! It was through these things that Christ brought Peter closer and closer to Himself.
This will not be easy and we will fail but He will bring us back, break us, build us up, and send us back out.

This life is not about us, it is about Christ being glorified through us, not His ways before ours . . . Just His Ways!

Don't Let Go!

Last night my beautiful wife was out at a birthday party so it was just me and Linc. It was getting close to bed time and he continued to want me to pick him up. When I would he would put his head on my shoulder (a pretty rare occasion as my child is always looking for something to do or climb on.)

We went up stairs, got ready for bed, drank some milk, read a book, and prayed, just like every night. On this night though he wasn’t ready to let go. He grabbed my neck and wouldn’t let me put him down. He squeezed tight, so I squeezed tight and he laughed. We did this a couple times then I sat down with him. We rocked for a while and I tried to put him down again, still he held.

He then began to move my head around like I was a GI Joe (not a doll) or something. He would turn my head, I would turn it back, he would laugh, repeat! He continually looked at the door, I think he was looking for his Mama. I wanted to just take him to bed with me but he wouldn’t stay, he’s just too curious and outgoing for that anymore. Thank you, God, that sometimes Lincoln just doesn’t want to let go.

In the Beginning

I have had many hesitations in the past regarding starting a blog, not the least being that I have uttered many un-educated and ignorant things that have vanished into thin air because the were not written, now any incoherent utterance can be re-read or printed.

Not that I really expect many people to read this, there is not much call for a warehouse manager / Real Estate Agent in the world of blogging but I have all these things rattling around in my brain that need to come out and this seems the safest way.

So here it is, this is the view "Into My Life . . ."