Mike's Musings

Why is waiting so difficult?  Is it something you struggle with as much as I do.  I hate sitting, doing nothing, just waiting.  I feel like I waste so much time and wasting time is another thing I detest.  As of late the big thing we are waiting for is the arrival of our little girl, Allie Jo.  Now, her original due date is March 26th, but my wife has had some contractions and other signs of pre-labor so the waiting has begun.  I am so ready to meet Allie Jo and the waiting is killing me.  What is crazy is when I read great stories of great things happening in the Bible it is usually over an extended period of time....40 years, 60 years, etc....but when I read it in my mind it is happening in a matter of moments, possibly hours.  I mean the children of Israel wandered 40 years in the desert...Abraham waited forever to see the promise fulfilled...and some promises weren't filled until after the persons death.  I am working on this...but it is taking time...so I guess I have to wait.

Im at a point in life and in ministry where I am asking God to do big things.  I am not even sure what kind of post this is, I think it is more of an "just being open"about things kind of post.  What do you do when you hit a wall?  You feel like God is leading you in a direction and you get pumped about it. It's what you think about all the time (including when you are trying to sleep) & it's what you dream about (when you actually do fall asleep).  Then, when you try to make it happen it seems like everything goes "SMACK" directly into a brick wall.  It discourages you and puts a little of your fire out.  Now is time for my proclamation....I won't let it stop me, I should say, I won't let it stop God.  i'm not going to allow a couple brick walls stop what God wants to do in me and through me...neither should you.

Mary and Martha...two sisters.  How are they so different?  In Luke 10 we see their story and how they interact with Jesus.  Luke 10:38-4238 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.

Nehemiah continued to face opposition, from outside the walls and from within, in fact the outsiders were hiring insiders to get Nehemiah to stumble.  However, Nehemiah persevered and kept doing what God had led him to do.  When we do something BIG for God there wil be times when you grow weary, beat down, and discouraged.  But, we have to keep on keeping on.

Now we come to the completion of the wall, he is finally seeing his massive project come to a completion, at least the exterior wall, and what do we see happening?  Now, it only took him 52 days to rebuild the city wall, which when you think about the task is pretty amazing, considering they had no modern day equipment, but in those 52 days a lot changed.  you see as Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall he was ultimately rebuilding the Jews, as a people, and their relationship with God.  You see sometimes God has us do things that don't seem to make sense but in the end they make total sense.  After the wall was built they basically had a worship service, they read scripture all afternoon and the people lifted their hands and praised God...pretty cool scene to imagine!  So in review...

1.  Dream BIG
2.  Repent
3.  Be relentless
4.  Do all with love
5.  Give God the glory

As the new Year has started I have started to assess which BIG projects I want to tackle this year.  I don't just want to take a shot in the dark, but I want to do something BIG with my life.  So I thought to myself, "I should find an example in the Bible of somebody who decided to do something BIG."  Aas I began to think there were many stories I could have went to, Dave and Goliath, Noah building an Ark, Moses leading the people out of Egypt, or Esther saving her people, but for some reason my thoughts rested on Nehemiah.  The story has the same type of set up:  Nehemiah was pretty much a nobody in social circles and he ends up saving his people and rebuilding their city wall and everything they once had....a life.  What I wanted to do was begin to outline this story.  I mean, what really went on, what can I learn from it, and why should it matter to me.  However, I wanted to keep it brief and to the point.  Sa far this is what I have come up with:

1.  Nehemiah 1:  Repentance
          --  Nehemiah starts off with saying, "God, we are wicked, we have sinned against you, please forgive us"  When you tackle a big project do you go to God and just say, "God I am sorry for the dumb things I do...forgive me please"  SO, when I tackle my BIG things this year I want to make sure I do this!

2.  Nehemiah 2:  Faith leap & Mockery
          --  After getting things right with God Nehemiah took a huge leap.  He was "sad around the king".  In these days if you were a servant of the thing you were not allowed to appear sad in front of the king.  He did want want to be effected by other people's foul moods.  If you were caught being sad in front of the king He could have you killed.  However, Nehemiah was so upset about the injustice of his people he couldn't help it.  The king asked him what was wrong and nehemiah had a decision to make.  A) Lie to the king, say everything was fine and go on with life as normal, or B) be honest, tell the king what was really bothering him, and see where it goes.  Lucky for him, and us, he chose B.  Just think, in that small moment of decision he set his future.  How many small moments do we take the easy road instead of the tougher road, which, in reality, could change the course of our life forever.  Next, came the mockery.  With every crazy decision we make there will always be the mocker.  Nehemiah had people mocking him all the way through his BIG project.  When we decide to tackle something BIG there will be people that mock you, think you are dumb, or think you are crazy.  As tough as it is, we just have to keep going.

3.  Nehemiah 3:  Perfume Maker and Girls
          --  Now, this is the part that nobody likes:  Hard work!  This entire chapter is simply describing people as they bust their butts and work hard.  Nobody was exempt either.  Even the perfume maker and the girls were helping to rebuild this city wall.  I think a lot of us get a BIG dream, then we see how much hard work it will take and we say, "Eh....i will do that another time."  If we want to accomplish BIG things it requires BIG work.

Nehemiah 4:  Obstacles & Fatigue
          --  Here we see obstacles coming up.  Those outsiders who mocked Nehemiah saw that he was actually going to do what he set out to do and wanted to stop him.  So, they planned an attack.  However, Nehemiah was not going to let that stop him.  So he had every work also become a fighter or a guard.  As some worked with one hand they had to hold a sword in the other hand.  One guy worked while he carried his trumpet in case an attack came so he could blow his trumpet.  Needless to say people grew tired.  Some were working by day and guarding at night, there were a group that hadn't even changed their clothes because they wanted to keep their sword on them at all times.  They grew weary.  As you work hard to accomplish your BIG dream, you might get tired....and thats normal.  Even though you may take a momentary rest here or there, we need to keep on task of living the dream.

Nehemiah 5:  Trouble & Love
          -  At this point there was not only opposition from outsiders, but there was opposition from within.  This is when it gets really tough, because, the people you think are there to support your BIG dream, the ones you think have your back, may in the end oppose you and what you are trying to do.  One thing I notice though is Nehemiah doesn't just avoid them, or tell them to leave, but, he addresses the issues and they move on.  he treats the people with love.  You see there were a group of people that were loaning money with interest and also making people pay with land, food, and wine.  Nehemiah basically said, "Guys, we are on the same team here.  Lets loan the money, but loan it without interest.  Can you give back the interest charged as well as the land, livestock and wine?" so...they did.  You see, Nehemiah loved his people.  in fact, he had every right to do like other leaders and make them pay him some money, a lot fo money.  Other leaders would lord over people and have them pay them a lot of money, livestock, etc...however, nehemiah didn't require it.  People gave to him out of love for him, because he loved them.  There is a saying that says, "It is easier to attract bees with honey than with vinegar"  Nehemiah loved his people and in return they loved him.  Do you love the people you are trying to accomplish great things with?

I know this is long and I apologize, but I wanted to get this down.  I will continue it as I read the rest of Nehemiah and I hope it helps.  So far it has revealed a lot of things ot me about projects and leadership!

There are times we don't see beauty. We overlook it and ignore it everyday. I am probably more guilty of this than anybody else and I am really trying not to do this. What do you see beauty in? What should you see beauty in? Currently I am in Sandy, UT (just outside of Salt Lake City) and it is gorgeous! Words to describe it would be massive, breath-taking, overwhelming, beautiful, awe inspiring. Then, when I think about these words they are words that remind me of God and who He is. I think these some of these same things when I think about my wife and daughter (except for massive, that may get me in trouble). I guess what I am trying to get at is this: we wait for these "mountain" experiences to see beauty in life and in reality it is all around us. Maybe you find beauty in your work, I am thankful that I am able to do that. Maybe for you it is in your community, family, friends, or quiet places. Even as I type right now the sun is coming up over the mountain I am staring at out this window and it is beautiful. I see the sun everyday yet I rarely slow down to see the beauty of it. However, sometimes a change of scenery can help you to see the beauty in things and then remind you of the beauty you have all around you everyday. Maybe it isn't a trip to Utah, but a trip to a hiking trail or park to just sit and think. No cell phone, no PDA, no laptop, maybe even no Bible (I know I am crazy huh) Maybe you just need to go, sit, and listen. I know I need to do that more. If you want, share an experience you have had where beauty was revealed to you!

Have you ever been busy?  I know dumb question, right?  When aren't we busy?  I know I am busy a lot, but I sometimes feel like I am busy for busy sake.  I am a bottom line kind of guy.  I like for somebody to tell me, "Here's the bottom line" because it helps me to really see the big picture.  So...here is the bottom line, life is about relationships.  Everything is founded on relationships.  Our main relationship should be with God, but also with other people.  I am really starting to see this more and more lately.  Way to many times I get so busy and don't see the people all around me that could use me and I could use them, and I don't mean the word "use" in a negative sense.  We need each other.  I was recently reminded about this with a friend of mine.  We were always really good friends and then business happened.  I moved, had a job that kept me busy.  He moved and life happened for him.  Needless to say when he needed me I wasn't there and just within the last couple weeks have I had the joy to reignite that friendship and talk things out! Honestly, it has been this great redemptive experience.  SO what is a friend? How do you get friends?  I mean real friends, not someone you just say hello to at work.  Here is a list, it is not comprehensive, but there are some ideas here.


#1.  BE FRIENDLY!


So many times I talk to people and they are upset that so and so didn't call them or let them know something and my first question is, "Did you call them?"  "Well....no...but...".  It takes some effort, but the effort is worth it.


#2.  BE HONEST!


Why do we lie to each other.  When a friend asks us how we are we easily say, "I'm good"  when in reality we are hurting.  The Bibe talks about this is different places.  Proverbs 27:6 says, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; But the kisses of an enemy are profuse."  Friends should be allowed to wound us.  We have to be ok with them being honest with us and telling us the truth and we have to be able to tell the truth to them...even when it hurts.  I had a pastor in MO that was excellent at this.  He did it in such a way that was full of love but he was always willing to be honest with you.


#3.  BE LOVING!


All the time.  Proverbs 17:17 reads, " A friend loveth at all times, a brother is born in adversity."  So many times we are friends with people when things are good.  However, the second they screw up we just push them aside.  This verse is basically saying, "If you want a really good friend get through that adversity with them."  It is in situations full of pressure that make that relationship stronger.  So, don't go through those pressure situations alone!  When a friend messes up, don't leave him/her high and dry.  Be there for them!


#4.  BE STRONGER


There are two verses that speak to this:  1)  Proverbs 27:9, "Oil and perfume rejoice the heart; So doth the sweetness of a man’s friend that cometh of hearty counsel."  Take wise counsel from your friends as well as give it.  In order to give good counsel you need to know what good counsel is, in turn, know what scripture says about certain situations.  2)Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend."  The thing to remember with this verse is that both pieces of iron go away from the sharpening changed.  This is just not a case of you telling your friend what he should or shouldn't do but it is a mutual process.  Are you willing to make it a mutual process?  


Like I said, this list is not a comprehensive list, but they are some strong ideas on friendship.  Please, don't be too busy for friends.  Slow down and grow because of it.  My final questions is this, "Who wants to be my friend?"  :)  

So for our Fusion Group, small groups at our church, we are all going through the book Crazy Love!  It is fantastic!  Actually this is like the 3rd time I have gone through the book but I find things in it I have never seen before, plus, I am going through it with a group of people that mean a lot to me and it is great to hear how it is effecting them as well.  This post really is two fold, one, I love the book, and two, I love my fusion group!  I look forward to Wednesday night every week.  This week in our group when we were discussing the chapter for this week the question was asked, "When was an "AHA" moment for you in realizing God's love for you?  And what is something you can do to remind yourself of God's love?"  It was cool to hear everybody share there different moments!  It was awesome to hear how God has worked in all of our lives but it has been in a different and creative way for each of us!  It is great being part of a group for one massive reason, you don't have to go through life alone!  It seems like every week we cry and laugh together.  Have joy and sorrow together and it is nice knowing we aren't a lone when we go through those times.   As far as the book goes, it is great as well.  To this point it pretty much is just setting up the fact that God is crazy for us and He is worthy of us being crazy in love with Him.  I mean you think about the things He has created, the sacrifices He has made, and the people He has created, loved, and always been there for it is tough not to have a crazy love for Him!  If you don't have the book you really should get it and read it!  Also, if you are not in a Fusion Group, you should find one and join that too!

     I hate these two words:  "working out".  I don't enjoy it.  Not at all.  I hear people talk about getting a "runners high", which is some mysterious euphoric time you enter when you really get into running and before you know it your run is magically done!  HAHAHAHAHA!  That has never happened to me before, possibly because my run never lasts more than 3 miles.  If you saw me running it is anything other than euphoric.  I am pouring sweat (I don't mean just glowing I mean shirt changes color due to the amount of sweat), slobbering, and breathing very heavy.
Then, if that is not bad enough after running it is time to lift weights.  Now that I have spent every ounce of energy trying to run my behind on the treadmill I am now supposed to drag over to the weight bench and lift, push, or pull something.  After all this I am spent. Done.  The fact of the matter is, it takes work.  There is no amount of sitting still and you just loose weight or build muscle.  It won't happen.  It requires effort...and a lot of it.  Our faith I think is similar.  It takes effort.  I think a lot of us sit and pretend that it will just happen on it's own.  If we go to enough church services, sing enough songs, or read enough verses we will be spiritual.  Here is a question for you if you are married...does reading enough books= instantly better marriage?  Does simply doing things out of habit=better marriage?  No.  Effort does.  Sometimes the smallest thing means the most to your spouse or family.  Jesus at one point basically says to the "religious" people, I don't want your acts, I want your hearts."  Does God have your heart?  Does he have all of you?  or do we just give Him bits and pieces of us?  Do we just give him our "actions"?  This is something I have been thinking a lot about.

So I wanted to share with you one of my passions and really one of the reasons it is a passion of mine.  I love photography, there I said it.  I love you.  At the surface it may seem like I just love it because I like snapping photos, but I think there is more to it than just that.  I really feel we were created to be creative beings.  I mean simply the fact that we were "created" shows that being creative is in our DNA.  I love seeing the beauty in images.  The simple things that people overlook every single day.  Things like the leaves passing into the fall and changing into brilliant colors, architecture, people actually being candid (some of my best shots come when people aren't even looking at the camera or don't even know that I am shooting), or simply things that have always been there that people over look.  I love allowing people to see photos I shot and them say, "I have never seen that before", or, "You took this picture there?"  It allows me to express creativity in my own life.  I love being able to capture memories for my own family and for other peoples families as well.  One day they will be able to look back at photos when there children were young and remember that moment simply because it was captured on film (digitally in todays world) and I was able to do that for them.  Obviously it is simply a still photo, but when you look at it it's like it takes you to a different place.  You remember things like where you were, who said what, the smells that were in the air, and how much love you felt at that time.  There is really a couple things I want to encourage you to do...#1.  Find some old pictures and look at them.  Just look and remember.  Allow yourself to be transported to a different place and remember as much as you can about that time.  #2.  Be creative.  I don't care how you do it, but create.  When was the last time you created something?  Whether is be creating memories, something you built with your hands, music you created or any other of the billions of creative things we could do.  I don't really want to be known as a person who did what somebody else did, I want to be known as a person who created and pioneered.  What about you?  I put some pics on for you to check out and see if they spark creativity in you.  Some are pics of family, other people, or random thing!

It has been a while since I have updated the blog, way to long actually.  I have been somewhat busy lately during these summer months and a lot has happened.  The big thing I have not reported on here is that Mickey and I are expecting another child!  I can not put into words how excited I am for another bambino. I love being a father.  Emma is getting really big and talking a lot.  My favorite thing she does is run up and hug me when I come in from work and just that look of excitement on her face and she utters those words every parent loves to hear...."ove daddy" (aka. love daddy).  That right there makes any day a great day.  As a parent I wonder if God desires the same thing as He is our parent.  Not all our duties and services, but our hearts.  Sometimes we run, run, run and work, work, work, and I wonder if really He is just saying, "I want to hear you say you love me."  I mean my daughter, not even being 2 yet, has so much faith in me.  it is her nature to trust me.  When she is scared she runs to me and latches onto my leg and tries to monkey climb up my body.  When she is happy she runs to me with a huge smile.  This is the type of faith we should have.  Our faith isn't in things but in a person.  God.
     Also, we went on vacation this summer to Destin FL.  We have gone there since we were kids and it is cool being able to take our kids there now.  Vacation is way more fun with little kids by the way.  It gives me a reason to act like a little kid again :)  I posted a few pics here but for more you can look on my facebook...also, I am for hire;)

Coming up is my favorite time of year...fall.  It is a time when the weather starts to cool down, which is always nice.  It also means football season is here.  More specifically, college football.  As you can guess my favorite team is University of Michigan.  It has been since I was a little kid.  I remember as a little kid watching games with my dad and dreaming one day of running onto that field, obviously, that did not happen, but I made my peace with that.
The last thing I want to talk about is my wife.  She is great.  I sometimes wonder how I got so lucky.  I mean what did I do to get her.  Yesterday I cam in and I noticed all the kitchen chairs were missing and when I investigated further I realized she had made a fort for her and Emma to play in, read books in and watch a movie in.  She is a great mother.  Our kids are very lucky!  I love her very much.
     Well, I know this was random, but that is kinda how my summer has gone.  It has been a crazy one and excited for this new season in life.  Thanks for reading!

Day 2 was nothing like Day 1.  Day 1 was a lot of traveling and a lot of taking the sites, smells, and sounds in.  When I say taking those things in that happened all night as well.  It seems like just about the time we all were going to bed every night dogs, or Haitians, started fighting in the streets...or dogs fighting Haitians, I wasn't quite sure.  Around 2am a rooster would start to crow and around 4:30, when the sun started coming up, people were setting up and shopping at a fish market across the street.

Fish Market

Lets just say they set up about 4:30 and shut it down around 5 pm.  Fish, left unrefrigerated, for that long never produces a good smell.  Around 2-3pm every day things started smelling pretty fishy around our parts.  Right below the balcony that was attached to where we were staying there was a lady that had set up a little restaurant.  She cooked by the street in 3 different pot, 1 was chicken, 1 was rice, and 1 was beans, and then had a little tent with 4 chairs in it.  Someone would walk up and pay her and then she would "seat" them.  Next she would go out and serve up a massive serving of food and take it into the tent to them.  They would drag one of the other chairs close to use as a table.  The building we were in was technically 4 stories and you could go out on the roof as well.  In the mornings and evenings it was coolest up there.  Also, that kind of seemed like a storage area because there was a lot of stuff up on the roof.  Trash, clothes, portable toilets, car parts, broken window AC unit, and a bird cage.  There were a couple nights I went up on the roof because I could not sleep and I realized there were people sleeping on matts up on the roof.  Later I realized the orphans that were staying with us would go up there to sleep because of how much cooler it was.

Bird cage on roof

Once we ate breakfast, which was usually an assortment of pop-tarts and granola bars, we would meet for the day.  We had a lesson in the morning with our AIM leaders and a time of prayer just to ask god to guide what we did for the day.  The first thing we did that day was split up into groups, each group had a translator, and we walked around the tent village we were staying in.  AIM was really big on saying, "You don't have to talk to a million people, just build relationships with the ones you do talk to."  I think that first day the group I was in, with our translator Fe Fe, stopped at about 3 places.  We would ask they were, about their families and friends, how their life had changed since the earthquake, etc.  Then they would respond with questions of their own:  How old are you?  Do you have any children?  Are you married?  Where are you from?  Usually a good conversation would take place.  At the end of our conversation we would ask if we could pray with them and we would.  It was great just getting to "hang out" with people.  My favorite stop of the day however was one lady out on her porch with a guy about my age out front "fixing" cell phones.  She asked us to sit and went inside and got us chairs to sit on, also making other family members stand.  We had a great time.  Turns out the guy fixing cell phones that was his job...his only tool was a pair of busted up pliers, but somehow me managed to fix cell phones!  After that we headed back for lunch, which was PB& J sandwiches and Pringles every day.  Then after that we did a VBS for the children.  We did songs, motions, verses, coloring, and crafts.  Lindsey Seeyle was in charge of this and did a great job.  She had everything in order and ready to go every day we did a VBS.  She got

Lindsey @ VBS

all the other people on board for VBS and excited for it as well.  Another big assest for VBS was one of our interpreters, Ramsies.  The children loved him and he loved the children.  Whenever you couldn't find Ramsies you usually could look in some corner and he would have a coloring book and crayons out and he was coloring pictures.  Also, pray for Ramsies because him and his wife our expecting there first child this week I believe!  After the VBS excitement we headed back to "base" for debrief and diner.  Dinner usually was some sort of chicken dish, rice and beans, and plantains.  It was great every night!  Then we just go over the day and see how things went for all the teams and people.  Usually everyone was in bed by 9 or 10 pm, that is if you could sleep.

Fearless leaders

These two guys were two of our AIM leaders.  The guy in the red shirt was our project leader, Troy, and the other guy was supports staff, Ryan.  Both of these guys were a bast to hang out with and be around.  Both have become friends of mine and they are awesome!  There were other support staff, but I will discuss them later on!  Thats all for now!

So I thought I would finally blog about our Haiti trip!  I was not sure how to do it so I thought I would spread it out and blog about individual days, or chunks of days, while we were there.  I guess to start I will give you the background info on the trip.  I started working at Connections back in February and when I first started my friend Ted came to me and said, "We need to go to Haiti!"  I said, "Sounds like a plan!"  So we joined together with Schoolcraft High School's FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and started planning.  In all we had 25 adults and students who embarked on a life
changing journey.  It's amazing the connections you make with people when you are required to sleep in small cement rooms that are heated to over 100 degrees!  It was a unique trip because a lot of people on the team weren't really familiar with the other team mates, but over time we grew a close bond.  We had a couple planning meetings a few months prior to our departure and at one meeting specifically we had a Dr there, that had been to Haiti pre-quake and post-quake, and he scared the mess out of everyone there!  So when we landed in Haiti we were prepared for the worse.  I had visions of fighter pilot type mosquitos gunning for our team right when we exited the plane...turns out, it wasn't as bad as the good Dr. had us to believe.  We all thought for sure we would return with malaria and Elephantitus, which are two very scary things to have by the way!  So we met in the parking lot at 3 am and left for Chicago.  From Chicago we went to Ft. Lauderdale and from there we flew into Port-Au-Prince and landed there around 3pm I believe.

From there we were about 13 miles from our destination, which took about an hour or so to get to.  We also traveled in a bus designed for about 18 people and we crammed 25 in there (with a few guys that are on the larger side), it was fun though.  The sites, sounds, and smells to our destination were a lot to take in.  I think just seeing how hard people were working is what was shocking to me.  One image that stands out in my mind was a dad holding his little girl, who happened to be about the age of my daughter, and trying to sell little bags of water.  Who knows if mom was even around anymore or if she was lost in the earthquake.  It was hard to tell, there were lots of children running around and it was hard to tell where there parents were or if they even had parents.
There were tent cities on every bit of ground, even in the medians between the roads there were roughly thrown together tarps that people were living in.  There were piles of rubble all over the place and people simply trying to walk around it or over it if they had too.  The thing to remember with Haiti is this, there wasn't much to it before the earthquake so they aren't really sure what they are trying to put back together.  They are trying to build Haiti correctly from this point.  The first day was simply traveling and getting our "base" set up. We were originally told we would be sleeping in tents outside, but a couple days before we left they contacted us and told us we would be staying in an orphanage.  Mike Zito, a friend who went with me, and myself brought a tent anyways just in case.  The first night there we actually set it up on the roof
of the place we were staying because it was a lot cooler on the roof than down in the building.  Well it is rainy season in Haiti so about Midnight are tent started filling with water, so we marched downstairs into the oven.  The heat was very overwhelming to say the least.  I had a 25 oz. water bottle I took with me and I drank about 8-10 of these every day.  Every chance I could get I was sucking water down.  There was not a single minute I was there that I wasn't drenched in sweat, as well as every other person on the team.  So you can imagine what are base smelled like.  We had jugs of Culligan drinking water that we used to drink out of and than we hauled water from a well to fill some 55 gallon drums with that we used to flush the toilet and take bucket showers if we wanted to.  I think most people tried to shower everyday but there were a few of us who realized this was useless and we chose to forgo showers all together, we took one midweek and that was it.  As soon as you got out of the shower you were soaking wet.  That first night I maybe got one solid hour of sleep and the rest was spent tossing, turning, sweating, and praying.  I was praying that God would use us how He wanted and that as a team we would come together with the Haitian believers and simply make progress int hat community.  We went with an organization called AIM (Adventures in Missions) and there main goal is to work with the local churches and allow Haitians to build Haiti.  All in all it was a great first day and there were many more to follow, which I will update you on as the days progress.  Thanks for listening!

Well, I stil have to blog about our Haiti trip but I'm not sure what I want to write yet.  So, I thought I would share this.  I was at McDonalds last night to scoop up some nuggets and something interesting happened.  I was in line behind a guy, in his late 30's probably, and he hada little boy with him, about 10 or so.  There was a new guy working, about the age of 16 or so, and you could tell he was frazzled and confused.  In the midst of rushing around and getting the delicious fries ready he passed the the man's change to him that was due.  I watched as the man looked down, looked up, and looked down again.  I could tell by his actions he had been given way to much change.  Now, a lot of times people will simply not say anything and put it in their pocket and walk away.  I have even heard people say, "You know that is their penalty for not doing their job correctly."  Wow.  People mess up.  If i had a penalty every time I messed up at my job that would suck.  So as I watched this guy I was curious what he would do.  Once the worker came back the guy got his attention and said, "Excuse me, I think you gave me too much change."  Well at this time the manager was close by and I don't think the worker wanted to get in trouble so he responded, "I don't think I did."  At this point the guy simply did the math for the new employee and restated, "To be exact you gave me $10 too much in change", and finally persuaded the employee to take it back.  The employee just stoof there, for what seemed forever due to the lack of nuggets I had, and looked shocked.  Why is it we are surprised when people do the right thing?  I wish i had an answer for this, but I dont.  All I know is that it made my day to see it happen.  I remember seeing my dad do things like this as a kid and it has effected who I am today.  I couldn't help but think that this little guy seeing his dad do this will effect who he is as a person.  The dad never said to the boy, "See there son.  I did the right thing."  He just simply did it like it was something he would do all the time.  I just thought it was cool!

I know I have posted this before, but I am putting it on here again!  I am leaving for Haiti on Monday, @ like 2am, and I am extremely excited about it!  Also, I am nervous.  I know I shouldn't be, but I am.  It is a good nervous though and it is good for me to do this and expand my comfort zone.  I guess the idea of not know what to expect it was gets me the most.  The more I think about it though the more I should try to live my life in this way.  I want to live a life that was full of adventure because I did things that were uncomfortable.  We all should try to do this.  I don't want to live a predictable and boring life.  In Elevate we are talking about how God wants to Rescue us from an ordinary life and it is effecting me a lot.  John 10:10 says, "The thief comes to kill and destroy but I (God) comes to give life and give it to the fullest."  God wants us to have a full life.  Satan wants to destroy us.  I am also asking you to pray for our group.  We are going with several adults and teens and I have talked to many that feel the same way I do.  So PLEASE pray that we will be bold and be smart at the same time!  Thanks.