Kristen leaves for Chile

My daughter Kristen leaves tomorrow evening for a cross cultural trip to Chile.
It will take them approx 12 hrs to fly there from Atlanta. Her flight leaves around 10 tomorrow night so they will be sleeping through most of it.
In case you aren't familiar with where it is, I put the map above. It's in South America along the western border next to Argentina. Right now, it's considered winter there. I looked up the weather and it looks like it will be in the 50's 60's for the next 10 days as a high and the 30's for the low. She will be studying Spanish for credit hours while she is there. It looks beautiful with the Andes Mountains in the background.
Santiago is where she will be most of the time. That is their capital. The doctor I work with was born there and travels there to visit family. He said there are alot of college kids in that area and they speak both English and Spanish. They have one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
Kristen will be staying in a hotel type room which has a kitchen. They will be buying groceries and cooking instead of eating out most of the time.
She will be there for 5 weeks May 31 to July 5 and then she will be coming back here to Ohio for a month before school starts.
I know she's excited to go ...keep her in your prayers :^)

Trust

“Trust is like a vase.. once it's broken, though you can fix it the vase will never be same again.”

Most of us find this out the hard way. I also think that sometimes you just have to throw that broken vase away and start new. You can only put those pieces together so many times before it's just not worth it.

Memorial Day

Undiluted Christianity

These are my notes from last nights sermon. We are beginning a new series based on 1 John. Last night our scripture verses were 1John 1:1-4

Rob started the series by using the analogy of an engine. One small particle can sometimes affect the way an engine runs. With a car you need gas to make it go and you also need oil to make sure the parts are lubricated and can function.
In Christianity, doctrine or word of God is our gas. The Holy Spirit is our oil. You need both.
There are times when we walk with Christ that we are influenced by things that are outside the bounds of Christian faith. When this happens we begin to get "holes" in our nets.

An undiluted Christianity:
1. Proclaims the eternal existence of Jesus Our affection can overflow and spill out.

2. Proclaims that Jesus is God in flesh
John 1:14 "The word became flesh" We need his life(humanity) as much as we need his cross (deity). He was God enough to save us but human enough to touch us.

3. Proclaims Jesus as the source of life.

By believing these:
1. It produces a new kind of community. At Apex we don't have college age groups or women's groups or divorce groups....our commonality is Christ

2. It produces a new kind of joy. There is never a time when Christ followers don't have joy. It's subterranean..It's always there. When we overflow..that joy becomes complete.

You need to ask yourself...Is your ultimate joy about other people being rescused by Christ?

Forgiving and Forgetting

The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.

SO TRUE!

One of my vices

The mix of medicine and passion...I don't apologize for loving this show :^)
Tonight is the final 2 hr episode and I will be loving every minute!

Twelve hours of airports

Let me start by saying that I love to fly. I think it's awesome that you get thousands of miles away in a few hours. I love to see the view from the air.
That being said..what I don't like ...is airports and delays. That's what we dealt with yesterday. When you have bad weather in one part of the country it has a ripple effect.
We got to Burlington around 11:00 am so my sister could make her meeting at work. No biggie...I'm a people watcher anyway.
About 1:15 I started getting a little nervous when they hadn't boarded us. Then came the announcement you hate...we have a delay into Philadelphia. We would miss our connection so they re booked our connection from Philadelphia to Dayton so we would get in at 10 instead of 6:30. Well, that wasn't the best news but it didn't ruffle me too much. THEN they delay until 4:30 and about 4:20 they call us up and let us know that they have canceled our flight from Philly to Dayton and they need to book us to Washington DC at 5 and then from Washington to Dayton at 7:20 so we would get there at 8:50 pm ..which was even better..EXCEPT we would only have 10 minutes before they started boarding..so if the flight was late ..we were in trouble.
When the flight didn't take off until 5:40 I knew we were in trouble. We got to Washington DC at 7:00...ran to the shuttle and missed our flight by probably 15 minutes...AHHHHH!!!
It was chaos as well because they had were delaying flights out of Washington and tons of people were missing connections. There was another lady in line that was going to Dayton and her son was on the phone trying to find out the other possibilities but there were no more flights going to Dayton and the hotels around the airport were booked. I pretty much resigned myself that we would be sleeping in Reagan International Airport ..until the ticket attendant said one of the options was a flight leaving at 9:15 and getting into Columbus at 10:30. Yes!!!! So after a long day of delays I finally got to Columbus at 10:30 where my WONDERFUL husband drove an hour and a half to pick us up and even stopped for us to get something to eat...definitely my knight in shining armor.

There are always lessons to be learned in these kinds of situations:

1. Nothing is ever in our control...and it's better to just go with the flow and make the best of what you have..things do get better
2. Pack my contact case and glasses in my carry on...I'm totally blind without contacts and they get pretty dry after 12 hours
3. When at all possible...take direct flights with no connections!
4. Pack my computer power cord!! I did have about 2 hours of computer time and it definitely helps to have an online connection
5. Cell phones are invaluable in airports
6. If you're nice to the ticket counter agents...they are nice to you.

So it was an adventure. I definitely saw some very interesting people from all walks of life. I did get to see the Washington Monument,Jefferson Memorial, and the Capitol building. I will fly again..actually I'm flying to Washington DC in August with my friend Mary for a diabetes conference..but it's a direct flight!!!

Vermont...Day 4

It's been a rainy cool day here. My sister and I drove 45 min to go shopping in Burlington. We drove past the campus of University of Vermont. You can also see Lake Champlaign which is very pretty. It was an indoor/outdoor mall. Some of the small shops were outside on Church St. There were good sales and the good thing about buying clothes in Vermont...no sales tax :^) I also noticed that there were a lot of people speaking french. My sister said a lot of people come down from Montreal and Quebec.
My sister and I both used her Norditrack when we got back and it's "Dancing With The Stars" finale :^)
We fly back to Dayton tomorrow afternoon.
It's been a nice visit but it will be nice to be back in my own bed and I have missed Darrell and Zach.

Vermont...Day 3

This is a picture of the outside of my sister's church. She attends a very traditional Presbyterian church. Her pastor is on a sabbatical so they have various people in the congregation doing the sermons.
Today's sermon topic was Lost in the Wilderness
He used the scripture which dealt with the Israelites in the wilderness ..Deuteronomy 8: 11-20 and the scripture that dealt with Jesus and his 40 days ..Matthew 4:1-11
We go through various stages of our life where we may we feel like we are in a wilderness here on earth...birth,marriage,children, and even empty nest.
The bottom line:We can't escape the wilderness. We need to be at home in the wilderness and let God be in control. We need to help each other during those hard times when the wilderness seems to invade our lives.

During their service they use Congregational responses which are sung.
The following was my favorite.
It's called "Words" by Desmond Tutu

Goodness is stronger than evil, love is stronger than hate.
Light is stronger than darkness, life is stronger than death.
Victory is ours; victory is ours through Him who loves us.


After church we helped my sister plant some flowers for her baskets. My brother in law has a 1999 Porsche boxter which he took me for a ride in...NICE!!!
We're just hanging out tonight and watching movies.

Vermont ...Day 2

The picture above is the Farmer's Market in Montpelier. There are a lot of organic farmers with eggs,vegetables,granola,etc. There are also artists with paintings,glass,beads,etc. There was one social activist with a booth to close down a nuclear plant. We walked through some of the shops. I found some earrings and we bought some soap that was made in Vermont. They also had a very really quaint bookstore where I bought a mystery book.
It was beautiful weather here so we sat outside and got my sister's flower planters ready to plant. My brother in law cleaned and removed the cover to the pool and began to fill it for the summer. We grilled out chicken, my mom made potato salad and we have 2 movies to watch.
A very relaxing day :^)

Vermont ...Day 1

These are pictures from the back of my sister's house...beautiful and peaceful.
She lives in Barre, Vermont which is about 5 miles from the capital,Montpelier.
We got here around 11 on Thursday. The last time I was here 2 yrs ago there were 2 ft of snow on the ground so it was nice to see the green scenery. Vermont is a very "green" state. They are very ecologically conscious. In the airport they had separate trash cans for trash,bottles, and newspapers.
Today we went to downtown and walked around and then went to Morse Farms where they make maple syrup and sugar. I LOVE maple sugar candy! My sister and brother in law took us to eat at a really nice steakhouse in Montpelier. Great food. We walked around downtown to walk off some calories.
We plan to go to downtown Montpelier tomorrow which has a lot of independent artists and a farmer's market.

"Don't Waste Your Life"

The Sermon from Apex was done by Rennis Bowers this weekend. He's an awesome speaker. He's the chaplain for the Dayton Dragons, a long time firefighter and an elder at Apex.
His sermon is a continuation of a sermon he did about a month ago on missions/discipleship. When Rennis was diagnosed recently with cancer he read a book by John Piper called "Don't Waste Your Life".

"God is glorified when he is the greatest treasure of our lives. That is discipleship"
You don't make disciples by listening to a message on a Sunday morning sitting in a pew next to people you may not know.
Disciples are made in the intimate environments where you share your lives...your struggles, your victories, and where your spiritual gifts are strengthened. Our work is done in the "trenches" where we love,forgive, and pray for others.

1 Don't waste your money
You don't own anything. You are the steward of everything . God owns everything
We need to trim down.
Ask yourself..How much of the Lord's money should I keep for myself? not how much should I give. "Where your treasure is, there your heart lies also"

2 Don't waste your robbery
He told the story of a man who reached out to a man who had robbed him...gave him his coat and took him to feed him. There's opportunity in any situation..homeless situations...He talked about how he gives to the homeless.

3 Don't waste your aging and retirement
Invest your life in those younger.

4 Dont' waste your youth
1 Timothy 4:12
Be an example
"Do hard things: A Teenage Rebellion against low expectation" is a book written for teens that challenges them to use their life. It's written by Alex and Brett Harris from Dayton Ohio.


5 Don't waste your sexuality..
Purity before and during marriage

6 Don't waste your job
It's not what your job is...it's how and why you work
Don't go just to make a living or to make money
Be a light there. Be a missionary in the workplace.

7 Don't waste your neighborhood
God put you where you are for a reason. Make relationships with your neighbors.

8 Don't waste conflict
Acts 14:22
It's through the tribulations/trials that we grow and impact others

Mathabo

"Feel the sting of abandonment as one girl faces hunger,assault, and disease...alone in the highlands of Lesotho"

This is the profile of the child I experienced tonight. Her name is Mathabo.
I went to the World Vision Experience on AIDS exhibit tonight. It's very well done.
They have reproduced an African hut with several rooms that represent each child.
There are actually articles such as clothing and pictures from that child..they are based on true life experiences.
At the end when you reach the "clinic"and you find out if you are HIV + or - and they stamp it on your hand.
There is a chapel with several pictures of actual people in Africa who have died from HIV and then there is a prayer wall that you can write your thoughts.
The statistics that are given for HIV and children who are orphaned is unbelievable.
It's an absolute crime that this continues to increase.

Phil Wickham..free concert on webcast on May 9th

This is so cool! I love his worship songs esp. "Divine Romance" and "Cannons". Those are the ones we sing at Apex.
If you're a guitar player go to his blog...he shows you how to play "Cannons" on a recent you tube video he did.
His webcast is May 9th at 7:30 pacific time so it's 10:30 pm if you live here where I do :^)

"Violet Hill" by Coldplay

Coldplay released their new single last week. If you go to their website you can download it for free.
Here's a video with the song:

"and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you"

These are my notes from Rob's sermon
Matthew 28:16-20

We are all teachers..the question is:
What are you teaching? Look at the fruit around you
The life you produce in other people is the life you have inside you

There is no greater teacher than Jesus Christ
The impact he had in 3 yrs time doesn't compare to the great philosophers years combined.

You have the responsibility to come along side believers and teach them to obey.
How do you do this like Christ?

In order to teach like Jesus you must:

1 Invest your life in willing people
Jesus didn't invest his life with everyone. John 15:4 John 2:23-25

2 Call for commitment
Accountability Matthew 8:22
Need to weed out those who aren't committed
Attrition isn't always a bad thing

3 Focus people on a bigger story than their own
We tend to live our own agenda and in our own "little rooms"

4 Know who you are trying to please
If you are a big "people pleaser"..you will only invest in people a short period of
time. Your serving them may not always please them Mark 12:14

5 Embody what you teach...You live it...Jesus was the content John 1:1-3

6 Pursue a radical commitment to pray..Jesus often retreated to lonely places to pray
Pray for yourself as well as the person you sre discipling

7 Place people in situations that require risk.. i.e asking someone to lead in prayer
Going out to serve the homeless

8 Be willing to die for the people you teach..a good shepherd lies down his life for
his sheep.

As I read through these again this morning..some are easier than others. I think #8 is the hardest one to grasp...not as far as discipling my children..but others who aren't my family ...I started to think of those people I know...would I be willing to die for them?

"To find you"

Last night we went to the concert at Apex to support the adoption of a child from Ethiopia for Phil and Amber Wing.
What a great experience.
They had a couple from Beavercreek who had adopted 2 children about a year or so ago share their experience. Their kids were adorable..they have a boy and a girl.
Charis,Blackburn,and Phil Wing Band all performed.
My favorite was when Phil Wing sang a song he wrote for his new child. It was beautiful.
There was a speaker from World Vision who also came and spoke of an event that will be in Dayton next weekend which sounds like a really cool thing so I'm going to post the website you can go to here.
It's called Step into Africa The Aids crisis: Can you survive the journey of a child?
It's an interactive audio tour in a 3,000 square foot exhibit that puts you in the experience of what it's like to live as a child in Africa in an AIDS affected community. It is coming here Friday May 9 through Monday May 12 at the Christian Life Center...www.clcdayton.com. If you go to that website you can print out a free ticket to attend the event. It's also a nationwide tour if you live in a different state(Adam...they have a tour in Colorado in July)

1 back.....1 to go

We went and picked up Zach at Lee yesterday. 12 hours in a van is a long trip but it went smoothly. We left about 5:30 am and had very little traffic on the way. It is a pretty drive once you hit Tennessee. We packed up Zach's stuff and then went to eat at a little country restaurant called "The Farmhouse" that had homemade southern cooking :)

We went and checked out the apt where Kristen will be staying in May for summer school.
Very nice. She is staying with 2 other girls. She leaves for her trip to Chile on May 31st and will come back July 5.

We got back to Dayton around 9:45pm. Knoxville was crazy at 4 in the afternoon!

It's nice to have Zach home but the nest isn't complete until July :^)