They Really Are Perceptive

While I understand he gets it honest, Cooper likes to talk. A lot. It is not uncommon for us to drive all the way home from church (30 minutes) with Cooper talking the entire way. No exaggeration. And most of the time we have fun conversations while we are in the car and I really don't mind all of the talking. As I said before, he got it honest. Sometimes, however, I don't fully engage and/or don't fully pay attention to what he saying or talking about. The other day we were waiting in the care for Allison to come down from her office. He was talking to me and I was listening to the radio. As he was talking I was halfway paying attention and responding generally. The conversation went something like this:

Cooper: Daddy, are we in the car?
Me: Yes.
Cooper: Daddy, are we going home.
Me: Yes. (at this time I started to check out because he was asking questions simply to have something to say)
Cooper: some question that I don't remember
Me: Yeah
Cooper: another question I don't remember
Me: Yeah
Cooper: Daddy, you're not really listening to me, you're just saying yeah. You're supposed supposed to say 'Oh, yeah that's right!'

He totally busted me. So many times we think they aren't comprehending or paying attention. They definitely are. I guess I need to pay more attention, huh?

A Tale of Two Disasters

I can't imagine that anyone who is reading this blog is unaware of the events that took place in Nashville and the surrounding areas on May 1-2. If you aren't aware, there was what people are calling a 1000 year flood on that weekend. Hundreds of homes are destroyed and at least 10 people have been confirmed dead in Davidson County alone. I have been trying to process in my mind all that I have seen over the past 9 days or so. Every time I think about it my mind takes me back to Good Friday last year.

Cooper was out of school and I was off work. We had lunch with Allison at her office and when the news started calling for a tornado warning we left to head home. As Cooper and I got home the weather was really bad. We got in a closet and sat for several minutes as I listened to the TV from inside. When I was convinced that we were not in any danger we got out and I started watching the weather. As I watched they were switching back from the radar to a live feed from on top of the courthouse from the square in Downtown Murfreesboro. As I was watching the screen I saw what turned out to be a very large tornado pass by.

The next day I went out with LifePoint Church to help with the cleanup. We spent several hours cleaning trash and debris out of the yard of a friend. After that I spent the next few hours driving a gator around the neighborhood passing out cookies, water, and crackers to volunteers and victims of the tornado. I've never seen anything like that before. I literally stood on the foundation where, not 24 hours before, a house stood. I helped a lady try to salvage a tea set that her mother had brought her from England that was inside a kitchen of a house that only had one wall standing. The devastation was unbelievable.

As we sat in our living room two Saturdays ago, I again saw images that I will never forget. I saw a portable classroom float down I-24. The same stretch of I-24 that I had driven on about 24 hours before. I saw boats moving down that same stretch of interstate rescuing people on live TV. I heard stories of people being stranded on the top of a jeep for an hour before they decided it was safer to try to ride the current to keep from drowning (they were correct and they survived). I also, however, hear stories of a dad that saved one child and went to save the other only to be swept away as well as an elderly couple that were swept away by flood waters on their way to church.

This past Saturday I spent a few hours tearing down dry wall in a house that had about 4 1/2 feet of water inside during the flood. We literally removed everything in the house except the studs. Even 7 days after the flooding occurred, there was still water inside the walls of the home. Up and down the street we were working on there were houses with the same story. All of the insides were being removed due to flood waters. Just a few streets behind an elderly couple were killed during the flood. Just as I did last April, I stood in the middle of devastation. Among that devastation, however, I witnessed something truly encouraging...friends, neighbors, and strangers helping each other in times of need.

I am still not sure I will ever fully grasp or process what I witnessed while trying to help people clean up what was left of their homes. What I do know, however, is that the people of Middle Tennessee are great people. There has been an out pouring of support for the flood victims. Hands on Nashville has had over 8,500 people sign up to volunteer. Churches all over the area have stepped up and spent countless hours trying to help people pick up the pieces. I have, essentially, lived in the Nashville area my entire life. Never before have I witnessed people helping people as I have during these two times of difficulty. Never before have a I been as glad as I am now to call Nashville my home.

The Country of My

One of the most telling conversations we had in Africa was with one of our interpreters. He was asking a few of us about how long we had been married, how many kids we had, how old they are, and things like that. At some point in the conversation he told us he "needed" to get married. We asked him why and he didn't really have an answer. I think it was here that he asked Mark what the perfect wife was. I am sure I am not going to get Mark's answer perfectly correct, but I believe this is generally what he told him. (Honestly, Mark's answer isn't the point. The point is how he responded to Mark's answer that told me all I needed to know about how Americans are viewed.) Mark told him that first, she should love God more than anything else, including her husband. Next he generalized husbands and wives and said, "after loving God, we should love our spouses more than ourselves. We should put their needs above our own" Upon hearing this, he sort of had a puzzled look on his face. Then he said, "But America is the country of my. My house, my car, my wife." Basically he was saying, "Americans don't put others first, they only think about themselves." Mark told him that we often think about our self first, however, God would have us put our spouse and their needs above any need that we may have.

This was one of several things in Africa that put a things in perspective for me. So often we get wrapped up in our wants and put other people's wants and needs on the back burner. My prayer is that, because of my new friend from Africa, I will be more mindful of others' needs and not be so focused on me.

Not Just a Suggestion

Before I went, as well as since I've returned, people say things like "I am sure this changed your life," or "I am sure this trip has given you a different outlook on things." Because this was my first mission trip, I don't know what I expected in terms of "life change" or "outlook." I can tell you one thing for certain, my outlook on things is very different and I certainly am looking at things and pondering how I can change the approach that I take to some things.

Last night the six of us that went to Africa had the opportunity to share with the church about our trip. Mark gave a general overview of the trip and the David went through a slide show of pictures that he took while we were there. After that, Mark went through a series of questions that led the discussion. One of the questions was "What made the greatest impact in your life spiritually from this experience?" I felt that this question got at the heart of the statements that various people have made.

We spent a lot of time, while in the village, talking to the person that stood up and became the first follower of Christ during Mark's first visit into the village. He is a teacher and he is very eager to learn more about Christ and what it means to be a Christ follower. Beyond that, he is doing exactly what the stories say Christ followers do...tell people about Jesus. When we got to the village we learned that he was not in the village. We were told he was visiting another village that his mother is from, but he would be back the following day. When he returned we learned that he had been telling the people of this village about Jesus. He asked us if we would be able to go into that village because he wanted the people there to meet us and hear some of the stories that we were telling. We definitely felt that we needed to go to this village. If for no other reason, I felt this would validate what he had been telling the people of this other village. I don't know why, but I was amazed at the fact that the story says followers of Jesus tell others about Jesus, and that's exactly what he did despite the fact that he's only be a follower of Christ for a few months.

I think the reason that I was amazed is because of my own lacking in this area. As we were going through the story he definitely knew what the story was about, but he couldn't tell the story back to us. This struck me because this is the excuse that I tell myself when I think about witnessing to someone. "I know the story, but what if they ask me a question that I don't know." This question plagues me, but not the villager. He just tells those around him about Jesus, just like Jesus told all of His followers. One of the main things I have taken away from this trip is Jesus didn't suggest that we tell others. He commanded us to. And that's what I'm going to work on. Doing what followers of Jesus do...tell others about Jesus.

To The Ends of the Earth

A few weeks ago I asked you to pray for our group as we prepared for and went on our trip to Africa. I want to thank each of you that prayed for us. We had a great trip in which we were able to witness a worship service in the original village we visited and we saw 5 people accept Christ in a second village we were able to visit. I have just began to process all that I saw, so I am sure there are going to be multiple posts stemming from this trip. One thing I know for sure, I was glad to serve alongside the 5 guys I went with. I was able to get to know them much better than I otherwise would. I also got to see the heart that each one of them have to reach people for Jesus, no matter how far away from home or how long and tough the travel is. I am especially thankful for Mark. He has a great heart for unreached people and was a great leader for the five of us that were going into countries that we had never been to. I look forward to seeing what God is going to do through the people of our church and those partnering with us to help reach these people in West Africa.

Will You Pray for Us?

In just over 2 weeks I will be leaving with a group of 5 other guys to go to Africa. We are going on a trip to engage an unreached people group. Our pastor took a trip to the village we will be visiting back in October and saw 19 people accept Christ. Not too long ago a journey girl was back in the village and returned with great news. She said that they meet together every week to sing, dance, pray, and tell stories together. There is also a possibility that we will attempt to find another village of the same people group during one of the days we are there.

For those of you that know me well know that I don't spend a lot of time camping and that I am not well traveled. This trip will definitely have its fair share of these activities. That being said, Allison and I have both felt for sometime that God was calling us to spend time in Africa. We had no idea when or how, but when Mark told the church about this people group we were both excited about the opportunity to be involved.

So, I am looking for people that will commit to pray for us. Please pray for our group as we travel. Please pray for safe travel, for good health during the trip, and that we will be able to make a great impact on the people we will be engaging. Also, pray for each guy on the trip and the impact that it will have on us. I know for me, this will be unlike any trip I have ever taken.

Will you commit to pray for us?

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

"People love to have lived a great story, but few people like the work it takes to make it happen." The quote from the book, in my opinion, sums up this book. This book takes the you into the author's life and a point in his life when he made a decision to start living his life on purpose.

This was a great book. It was a very easy read, very funny, but at the same time it has a great message. I love that he was able to convey a lesson about making stories with your life while sharing some of the stories he has made in his own life. I write in most non-fiction books that I read. When I started this one I didn't get a highlighter or pen. After about twenty pages, however, I quickly realized that I needed to have something that I could mark pages with. I started this review with the quote that I believe gives the premise of the book. Because of this, it has really made me think about the stories that I am making and the memories that we, as a family, are making.

I definitely recommend this book. Especially if you are looking for something light, funny, but has a great message. To read more about this book you can read more here and you can buy it here.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to give a positive review of this book and all of the opinions are mine.