Wow!

That's the only word I have to describe my last 3 weeks and the first 3 weeks of summer. After school let out, my family and I immediately took off to Nicaragua on a mission trip with 18 others form our church. It was amazing and God did some incredible things in and through us. But on our way back to the states, we received a call informing us that my wife's best friend from Ohio had just lost her 20 year old son in a tragic accident. So we left immediately. We were stunned by what we experienced: We waited 2.5 hours in line for the visitation...over 1200 people attended his funeral. Let's just say that God was amzingly present and at work. While we were in Ohio, we took some time to visit my wife's father who just got out of the hospital and was in a nursing home, and then we left right from there for a weeks vacation in Florida. Some friends were generous enough to let us use their condo in Bradenton Beach, so the 16 hour drive was definitely worth it. We had a blast as a family...just catching our breath and relaxing together. Then yesterday, we made the 16 hour drive back to Indiana and are finally settling in for the rest of the summer. Our Lead Pastor just left for his first ever sabbatical, so I'm holding down the fort while he's away for the next 8 weeks. I'm just happy to be in one place for awhile! Wow...

Nicaragua...What an Experience!

Wow! I just returned from a week in Central America...and what can I say? How can I ever possibly convey what I experienced there in a short Blog post? It's impossible to paint an accurate picture of the overwhelming poverty. But it's also equally impossible for me to describe the unbelievable love I felt from the people there. As we drove through the dump in Managua where over 1 million people call home, our bus was inundated with flies. The filth was everywhere and I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could...and then I realized that people live there every single day. Kids wake up there and go to sleep there at night...every single day. My heart broke. And then we traveled for about an hour to Masatepe where the poverty was just as bad, but hundreds of children greeted us with smiles and hugs. They were so happy that we were there to love them and serve them with the love of Jesus Christ. What a privilege! As I've reflected on my trip, I imagine it's exactly where Jesus would be if He were here living with us on the earth today. And it's exactly where I want to be too...serving whoever Jesus brings across my path with His love and grace. Thank-you for the opportunity Lord. Thank-you for stretching my soul and making me more like you...

Nicaragua Here I Come!

Well, the packing has begun and the trip is just a day or so away. I'm excited and nervous and happy and tired all at the same time. It should be interesting, because half of the team has come up sick in the past few days and the enemy is doing all he can to distract us. God must have something HUGE in store for us down there. It seems like whenevr these types of trips come up in my life, something inside of me doesn't want to go at the last minute, but then I decide to ignore my feelings and go anyway...and God always blesses me. I know this will be the same type of trip!