Conversation Club dance

I'm thinking of making this our official Conversation Club dance and song! I've got to work on my moves first!


Numa Numa from realifeonline on Vimeo.

Gottcha Day!

Today is Joi's "Gottcha Day". If you are unfamiliar with that term Gottcha Day points back to the day we added Joi to our family. Each of our daughters has a special day we set aside to remember the miracle of God adding them to our family. Since God chose to put our family together through adoption, we make a really big deal out of the day we first saw each of our daughters. We also celebrate birthdays and spiritual birthdays (the day they became a Christian).


Today was all about going Joi some choices to celebrate her special day. She got to pick her favorite restaurant (Rosies). Actually her first choice was McDonalds but after a little coaching she soon felt the need to some Tex-Mex. We got to play the game of "Life"...the longest board game in the history of board games...but it was fun!

Another fun thing about Gottcha Day is that we got to pull out Joi's Life Book. It's a book with lots of pics of what her life was like in Korea, info about her foster mother, and great pics of our cute little "hooten-tooten". Next time you see her make sure you call her by her nickname!

On Gottcha Day we all remember some of the "firsts" about one of our daughters. Here's what we remembered this year about Joi's first 24 hours with us:

• We traveled to Atlanta meet Joi for the first time at the Atlanta airport. Faith and Grace were given cameras and they went crazy. They were like preschool paparazzi's! Unfortunately most of their pictures were of the floor or someones thumb.
• Joi was almost a year old when we adopted her and she was severely jet lagged the first night with us. Amy and I took turns staying up and entertaining her. Her favorite game was banging on the hotel window and smiling. It kept her pretty occupied but we didn't get much sleep.
• Joi was a great snuggler from the very beginning. To this day she sits in my lap every evening I'm home. I'm secretly hoping she will keep this habit into her teens!
• Joi's first American food was an Arby's curly fry...it sure beat the squid chips she was gnawing on when we first met her.

Joi has really lived up to her name. She has brought incredable joy to our family. This has been a great year for her. We have recently celebrated her becoming a Christian and daddy is looking forward to baptizing her pretty soon!

Tonight the celebration continues. Her request was grilled hot dogs slathered in ketchup. Hopefully we can get her to the Korea House restraunt on her next Gottcha Day. I've got a hankering for some more of those squid chips.

Simple Summer Pleasures

It finally happened. Our family actually went on vacation and witnessed a first for me. I chilled the whole time and loved it. That may sound like a weird statement but you have to understand that it has taken years to get me to this point. Up until very recently, vacation (in my adventurous mind) was all about how much of an adrenaline rush I could get in a day. For me, it just wasn't a beach vacation unless I para-sailed, boogie boarded, ocean kayaked, snorkeled, and deep sea fished...preferably all in one day!

Ask Amy about the time we rode jet skis. We got a brief lesson on safety and all I heard was "these things will go 60 mph". I didn't hear the part where the instructor said, "Don't go that fast because the water is too choppy today". Amy jumped on the back and we took off. She enjoyed it all until I turned a little too sharp. Nothing scarier than seeing your bride launched from the back of a jet ski. Amy was a good sport though. She landed and laughed and laughed. She broke her toe but was very forgiving (a quality that is required when living with me!)

To prove my point of being a full throttle, adrenaline junkie, our family went to the OBX (Outer Banks of North Carolina) one year. Mr. adventure actually signed up to kayak in an alligator reserve...complete with live gators in the water. I was the only person to show up for the tour. Imagine that! When I saw the first gator, I asked my guide how close I could get before the gator got ticked. The guide said "You'll know". I drifted toward the gator until he started slapping his huge tail in the water while laying on the bank. I now know this is a gator-speak for "get out of my space". Yes, I would do it all again but that's not the point of this blog.

What's the point? To celebrate the fact that I have come a long way from the "cram as much as you can into vacation" days. I know this because I didn't need a vacation after we got home from vacation!

Seriously, the biggest lesson I have learned is to cherish every moment with my family. I was extremely content this year making sand castles and taking the girls out on floats in the "big waves" at Destin. I was content to sleep on the beach or read the paper. If you know me at all, I hardly ever read anything that doesn't have to do with ministry so this was a biggie for me.

I used to love to get up really early and go for a long run on the beach. This year I tried to win the "sleep in" contest with the girls. In the past I have had a really hard time sitting through a whole family movie. This year I fully embraced all the movies we watched.

You wouldn't think I would have to "work so hard" to chillax, but trust me, if you are a really driven, results-oriented person like me, vacations can be a challenge.

I knew I had made it over the hump when I was content to leave my Treo in the car or hotel room. I am rarely without my "office in my pocket" and I really don't like to disconnect from technology. I typically get severe technology withdrawal. This year on vacation, I can honestly say I didn't send a single email, didn't twitter at all, and wasn't even tempted to jott or blog. That was a defining moment for me! Hopefully it will stick and I will learn the beauty of just doing nothing but soaking in the blessings of those God has placed around me...even on vacation.

Stuck

When we first got Shadow as a puppy, it was fun to watch her pick her favorite places to take a nap. Like most puppies she picked a small place where she could be protected and feel secure. That place was usually under my chair. It was cute at first but it has now turned into a pain. You see, she really doesn't fit under my chair anymore. She can physically crawl under there but after a good nap she wakes up to realize she is STUCK. She starts to whine and someone typically has to pull her out. I keep telling her she needs a bigger place but it hasn't sunk in yet.

We are all like Shadow. We want things to stay the same. We get used to certain patterns. We prefer our ruts. We get STUCK. To be honest God has bigger and better things for us.

Col. 2:7 says it well: " Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."

As God brings growth in us, he calls us to new places and experiences. We simply cannot stay where we are and go with God. I'm willing to sacrifice the comfortable and familiar in exchange for what God has for me. No more getting STUCK. How about you? Be honest...where do you get stuck?

Multicultural ministry

I am blown away by what the Lord is doing through Conversation Clubs. Who would have thought that after a year we would have people from five different countries involved in weekly meetings on a church campus. Each week we have new people coming into the group. This past week, three ladies from China, Korea, and Japan joined. All the group participants speak English but they want to learn how to speak it more conversationally, learn more about American culture, and increase their reading comprehension skills.

We start our time each week with word studies and grammar skills. OK, grammar is not my strong suit. Thank God for Susan and Sue Ann and their innovative ways of helping the group in these areas!

One of my favorite times each week is enjoying a home-cooked meal with the group. The group members typically bring something from their native country. Our lunches consist of food from Columbia, China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and the U.S. Not only is the food amazing but it really opens up great conversations as we show appreciation for different cultures. I must admit, I have a very adventurous taste for food and really look forward to this time every week.

After our meal we work on reading comprehension skills. We felt led to use the Bible to study the life of Joseph. After all, Joseph was a person who moved from one country to another. He had to learn a different language and culture. In the midst of so much change, the Bible says over and over that God was with Joseph. Our goal is to help our group participants know and understand that God is with them and has a plan for their lives as well.

Another area where I'm grateful for Susan and Sue Ann is their ability to pick up on the subtleties of group interaction. Not only do they pick up on group dynamics that sometimes sail right over my head, they also help explain all my southern expressions. Conversation Club has taught me to communicate much more clearly. That's probably a really good thing!

Take a Hike!

If you know me very well you know I love to get to the summit of a mountain. While in Maryland I got to spend a day on the Appalachian Trail. My hiking buddy and I hit a famous outcropping in Maryland called Annapolis Rocks. Great view!

It was a blast to see Jeff again. He got me into backpacking a few years ago and since then we have seen some incredible summits in W. Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and our favorite, Yosemite in California.

I can't explain it but God speaks to me in the mountains. He put a deep desire in my heart to hang out with Him in what I consider the most amazing places on the planet. I love to round the next corner on the way to the summit and have God blow me away by something He created followed by something He speaks to me while I am enjoying the journey.

A spiritual hero

On July 4th I received a call from friends in Maryland. They let me know that one of my spiritual heroes had gone home to be with the Lord. The family gave me the tremendous honor to do my friend Peggy Fagan's funeral. As I jumped on a plane and began to pray about what to share, the Lord began to flood my mind with memories from Peggy's life. She is one of my spiritual heroes because she taught me how to face adversity and uncertainty with great faith. During my time as the pastor of Germantown Baptist Church in Germantown, MD I routinely saw Peggy face the trials and tribulations with amazing faith. She taught me how much God can do in a person even when their circumstances are not what they want. The Lord led me to use 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 as the text that best described her life. Here are a few things the struck me as I thought about Peggy's life:

1. Her perspective was right. Her provider was always bigger than her problem. She reserved one word for God alone. The word "awesome" was only used when she was speaking of God.

2. Her perseverance was amazing. As her sister commented during the funeral: "She had cancer but cancer never had her!"

3. Her painful experiences were used to reach others for Christ. Every time she went to the hospital for treatments she always asked for prayer for her doctors and nurses...not for herself. She was determined to let her situation lead to the salvation of others.

4. Her prayer life was an amazing example. Peggy allowed God to wake her up every morning at 4am. Sometimes she would tell me, "I spoke to the Lord about you this morning". Those were always the times when my heart was heavy and God was using Peggy to help me through a difficult time.

I enjoyed meeting many of her friends at the funeral. Peggy was a true inspiration to many. After the graveside service I saw people from all walks of life, from various religions and countries. It was obvious that Peggy's life had a major influence on many people. She was instrumental in helping our church celebrate the ethnic diversity of over 30 different nations. I wish everyone I know could have witnessed the spontaneous worship that erupted after the graveside service was over. No one wanted to leave and we all worshipped the Lord for giving us such an amazing example of what God can do with a person's life.

I will miss Peggy but know God used her to help me face adversity with courage and conviction. The life lessons I learned through her are priceless! I only hope to be such an example to others.

Let's start this blog with a BANG!

OK, I've been lurking long enough. I've finally decided to blog so let's start this thing off with a bang! There's nothing like a good July 4th fireworks show. This year at Bridge Street was amazing! We saw tons of friends, had a bite at the Chocolate Croc, got a primo spot to watch all the action. The girls loved watching the show from the top of the van. Check out the video and enjoy! Amazingly our youngest child slept through the grand finale!