What's been going on?

So for those of you following me, I kinda went dark for a while. It has been a ridiculous last month & a half. What exactly have I been doing you ask? Well let's break it down. First. We moved to Ohio in the first week of Sept. We bought a house & are in the process of remodeling the Kitchen & Bathroom. When I say remodel, I don't mean some paint & hanging some pics. Oh No! I mean gut the thing completely down to the studs ceiling, walls & floor. In the bathroom, we rearranged the toilet, removed the shower & put in a tub, & ripped out the tile floor to put down different tile. Easy said than done. On top of that I had started a new position as the Worship Media Pastor/Director for Mansfield First Assembly. My home church. It has been awesome being home. The staff are truly amazing people. It's been great. I do greatly miss my old friends from PA. So its great that I am sitting currently in Hershey Pa at the District Women's conference where I am the technical director. It's a record year with over 3000 in attendance. Jen & Tally are here too. Jen is currently hanging out in Kate Gosselin from John & Kate plus 8 on TLC's hotel room. I'm in the convention hall listening to Kay Arthur sitting with my good friend S. Poole. So we're still alive. It's just been busy busy busy. I went for 54 hrs without sleep this week. There are truly not enough hrs in a day, so something has to get cut out to get it all done. So there went the luxury of sleep. It's was nice when my head finally hit the pillow. Well pics from the conference will follow. I'm out.

Catching up

So I kind of left you my readers hanging while I was in India. Sorry, but when you're traveling with 29 white ladies, life can get a little hectic! lol I am back in the States & glad to be home. Missed my little girl & Jen. They are amazing & make my life a joy. India was great, but the hardships the people face for believing in Christ is unbelievable. I thank God for keeping me safe in some pretty hairy situations. Now being home for over a week, I have been sucked back into the vortex of remodelling our kitchen & Bathroom, getting things ready for the Penn Del Women's Conference & gearing up for my first Christmas here @ Mansfield First. All a wee bit stressful, but little by little I'm hacking away at the tasks before me. I do miss laughing with my ladies, taking pics with them sleeping on the bus, plane, Taj! It's getting colder here in Ohio & I am not looking forward to what's ahead... WINTER! @#$%^& I do lothe it with a passion. It's been a long day. Worship practice was a little taxing on my voice. Jen's out chilling with a new friend. I'm happy for her. She's fitting in. Tally's in bed, & I'm sitting here wishing we had cable already! I miss my Thurs night shows, Office, 30 Rock, Survivor, CSI, ER. Soon I will have DVR & a 52" PLasma to go with it! Can't wait. Well that's all from me. Living the cushioned american life. No worries if I'm going to have food, water or shelter tomorrow. Thank You God for your many blessings that I take for granted so easily. I'm out.

Here goes...

So here's a blog that I wanted to write yesterday, but was just too tired. I find myself in the same state of tiredness as we have been going non stop since we got here. I am definitely looking forward to our trip to the Taj Mahal. Since I am tired, I am going to get straight to the point. Yesterday after our main Kids crusade was over with & the team boarded the bus, a few of the leaders & myself, 4 to be exact went in another vehicle, with one of the pastor's & his wife. They are the pastor's to the church who is located on the outskirts of the slum that you might have seen in a lot of my India footage.

We were only supposed to sneak into the slum so we could go see the finished church built right in the middle of it. I say sneak, bec there is still alot of tension & violence happening to Christians, by a Hindu extremist group. The church was beautiful. A great place for people & kids to come & be educated & learn about Jesus. Then we were supposed to get back to our hotel, but the pastor made an unexpected stop. Mind you by now it's pitch dark & we're in the middle of a 8 mile radius of slums, if not more. So I have my mono pod to use as a weapon if things go south. He took us to a hut where one of the kids sponsored through mission of mercy lives. I was kinda irritated to be there. Maybe because I was tired & hungry, Maybe because we had by now drawn a crowd that was surrounding us at this hut, & the ladies were inside but I was the only 1 that couldn't fit inside. Indian's have no concept of personal space bubbles. Absolutely NONE! So I am being pressed upon by people outside. It took everything within me to not flip out. God did check my heart in that moment. I have to be honest & transparent. I have lived in India before & have seen all these things. So forgive me if I'm a little jaded. But in that moment at this little boy's hut, I was disgusted with my level of compassion. So much so I could have thrown up! I call myself a Christian? Yeah right... Jesus would have sat in their hut & talked with a mother who was grieving the loss of her other son. All I cared about was my comfort. I am ashamed to admit this, but I believe God was showing me my heart in that moment.Not condemn me, but to grow me. I was so ashamed of what I saw I wanted to hide it. Know one must ever know. But duh! God knows. & He still loves me. Ugliness & all. Although we were in a potentially unsafe situation, he was watching over us. God is working on my heart condition. I need it. I feel sometimes the American church has got the motions to perform Christianity as may seem down. But where's our heart in all of this? think about it.... thoughts? I'm tired but that's what I wanted to get off my chest. I'm ugly inside, but my God trades beauty for ashes! wow I am posting some more pics below. I must warn you, some are of the violence that has happened up here over the last 2 weeks. They are disturbing. You've been warned. I'm out.

Day 2

So today was the first day of the women's conferences & kids crusades here in Delhi. I must say, for running on 2 hrs of sleep, I did pretty decent. The day did end highly awkward & uncomfortable for me. I found myself stuck in the middle of a Health seminar for the women. Not just any health seminar, but a chat about menstration! Hello. I wasn't supposed to be running the powerpoint for this thing, but some how got stuck running the thing. The ladies on the team sitting off the side got a huge kick looking at my face, as the lady talked about "shedding your inner lining" @#$%^&* So needless to say, I have been educated more than I ever wanted to. But it's late & I have some sleep to catch up on so I'm out.

Back in the motherland

So I am back in India, been a year since I was last here. Already enjoying the food. There is one things majorly different about this trip though. I am with 28 white ladies! Yeah you should have seen the look on the faces of the airport officials when I was strolling off the plane in Delhi with them. It was priceless. I must say though, it's been a pretty pleasant trip so far. No attitudes, or cattiness. But we're only a day in here. We'll see how long it will last. Got to go see the girl Jennie & I sponsor today, well yesterday it's 3 in the morning & I don't know why I'm up. It was a pretty cool moment to see & hug the child you are giving a second chance in life to. It was actually humbling. Weird how that happens. Many of the ladies on the trip got to meet the children they sponsor & so it was just an all round good time. Tomorrow starts the conferences so we'll be at it from 6am to evening. Good times. There has been some recent violence against the church up here in the northern part of India. There have been bombings & killings, by religious extremists who don't want to see people converted to Christianity. One of the pastor's we are working with has been getting threatening phone calls everyday. We have had to cancel some venues where conferences & children's ministry were going take place. So it's pretty serious. Safety is a huge concern so we are traveling in smaller groups rather than one large bus. So all in all it's been a good trip so far. Watched the entire 3rd season of the office on the way here. Definitely helped pass 13 hrs away easily. If you have never watched the office or tried it, I definitely recommend it. It is absolutely hillarious. Well I should go to bed. More to come tomorrow. I borrowed one of the National Mission of Mercy staff's Wireless Broadband card. So no 9$ per hr for internet for me this time. Atleast for most of this trip. Here are some pics to tide you over till tomorrow. I'm out.

Home sweet home

I know it's been a while since my last post but I have excuses! Maybe it's because I started a new position, or I had to weave through boxes to get to my desk in my new office. Maybe it's because our lender kept changing our loan, & we got 19 versions of our HUD! (That's home owners talk) Never the less, yesterday we closed on our house after signing a mountain of paperwork! 3 hrs of it!(there were some discrepancies) We spent our first night in our new home! It was great. I couldn't sleep though. Getting used to the sounds of the new house. I also kept running numbers in my head making sure that what we signed was right. It is quite a great feeling to know that we are home owners! How crazy is that. To be investors this young. Most people our age are trying to climb out of financial debt or recover from bad relationships & choices. So I thank God for His steering & direction in my life. I have another full week before I head back to Stroudsburg, to fly out to India for 2 weeks. So I might be seeing some of you when I get back from India, while I'm still in PA. Then onto our kitchen being remodelled! Can't wait. Stay tuned for pics of our improvement to our home.

OHIO

It's late, & I'm tired but I wanted to drop a note here in my blog for those who I have left behind in Stroudsburg. I miss you guys, but haven't really gotten to think a lot about being so far away as it's been busy since we got here. Still haven't closed on the house yet, our lender is unbelievably indecisive. Be praying for us as we have another appraisal happening Fri & we have to get the garaged stripped & repainted to pass it & get our loan. So tomorrow is going to be a jam packed day of power washing, painting & then my first worship practice. I had to lead worship tonight, I wasn't really planning on it, but there was no one to help out, so I did a sit down acoustic set, with just me playing & singing. It went well I think. Well my eyes are shutting as I type, so that's it from me for now. Tired in Ohio.

Natalia

So i just got home from an exhuasting day. Trying to keep my head on straight while trying to close on our house. All the paperwork can be absolutely mind warping. I have 2 weddings to do this weekend & am absolutely pressured with that & trying to pack my whole house & move by the end of the month! Had to lead worship tonight, strained my voice a little. So nevertheless I am tired.

I Let Natalia sit on my lap in the driver's seat of my car, relax it was just across the parking lot of the church to the parsonage we live in. She loves it when I let her do that. It makes her feel like a big girl. Got home & we sat at our dinning table to have a quick snack before bed. Out of the blue, she says to me, "Daddy, you're the missing piece to my puzzle." OMG! I asked her again to make sure I heard her correctly & that was it! word for word. I kid you not. I was blown away! Wow. How can something so deep come out of a little 2 1/2 yr old's heart. I seriously underestimate her. Then if that wasn't enough, she follows it up with, "Daddy, you're my best friend." Take me now Jesus! What else is left to experience in life than the love of my little girl. Way to make a long day end beautifully. I never thought being a dad would be so rewarding. Well, Natalia's in bed, & I'm still tired, but with a smile on my face:) I'm out.

Adoption & Gays

Today marked a significant stepping stone in our now fourth attempt to adopt a baby girl into our family. As most of you know, we tried international adoptions twice & got burned & got into debt with no child to show for it. Today we spent the first of four 9 hr Saturdays at an agency, in a class with 7 other couples looking to foster children with the option to adopt. I must say this, the organization is not a government organization although they are integrated with them. This is great bec we're not obligated to take in any child that needs a home, just bec we're registered foster parents. This organization is actually Lutheran affiliated! Who would have thought, anything good could come out of the Lutheran movement. Just kiddin.

Anyways, what really impresses me about them is the way they made their presentations, how they were upfront about the good, the bad, & the ugly was great. The only thing that bothered me, & people that know me will laugh… was their projection onto the screen was more of a trapezoid than a square. Lol It just needed some simple keystone-ing! Maybe next week I'll help them out:) I did give them this, at least they weren't using an overhead projector! They were also, still using windows 2000. Hey, you can't win them all. I'm such a media guy.

The last part of today's session, they brought in a panel of 3 couples who had & still are fostering & adopted kids through them. Again they too were honest, it's not easy, but so worth it. I can appreciate people that are honest up front. One of the couples though, were an "alternate" couple also known as homosexual. I didn't really have a problem with them adopting a kid, considering the fact that they took 2 kids out of an abusive home to a financially stable & safe, loving home. Lesser of two evils?...

I looked around the room at the other couples to see what they're body language was saying, & found all but one, go figure the Mennonite couple to have an issue with our 2 dads. I have lately been becoming more & more aware greatly(bad English), how badly the Church in most cases portrays herself as judgmental rather than loving. Rejecting, rather than accepting. Mind you I'm not saying it's right to be gay, read your bible. Besides I still can't understand how one dude can do that to another. Barf!

But on a level of the heart, here are people, never mind their dysfunctional relationship, genuinely caring for these kids. I have no problem gleaning wisdom from their experiences. The Mennonite guy wouldn't even look at them. Come on! When did we become fragile people, that our salvation would be compromised by looking, god forbid talk to people who may not share our views or beliefs?

Sorry for my little rant n rave, but that has become my resolution for this yr. As a pastor it's hard to get my head out of this Christian circle. Besides the daily lady at the gas station I am craving to interact with people who are unchurched. Am I on a mission to save the world? No. Just to prove that there are some of us out there that call ourselves born again or saved what have you, & are "normal", "real", people who genuinely care for others regardless of their beliefs, sexual orientation & lifestyle. Jen & I are actually going to be taking classes at a local college for cooking, & maybe dance to meet people that live outside our sphere. Who knows what doors will open. Better yet I'm hoping for new friendships. People of different minds & beliefs. I know this will sharpen me as a follower of Christ. Their salvation? That's up to the Big Guy. When the time is right, it will come up.

This has been yet another long blog, but rarely do I feel the inspiration to, so there you have it. For what it's worth. I'm out.