St. Pete Slice

The title comes from our new language of Patwah.  We prefer this language, so be prepared for some Patwah action coming your way.  Trouble is -  if you thought you didn’t understand the sermons before…you’re in for some real trouble now.

Once again, sorry for the delay in updating the blog.  Yesterday was a full and busy day, plus there were internet problems again.

Nontheless, we were able to spend the day at Water Valley School doing a lot of teaching and playing with the students.  The morning consisted of the entire group teaching a course on “Respect.”  We began by gathering in the auditorium and doing a puppet show for the children.  Then all the students returned to their classrooms, and we split into groups of about 4 or 5 so that we could go into each classroom and present our material in a more intimate setting.  Finally, in the end, we gathered back in the auditorium for another puppet show.  The kids loved it, and we had a great time.

At the end of the day, we had an end of the year party with cake, ice cream, balloons, music, goofy dancing, and the special Jamaica Juice. 

After our return back to Galina Breeze, our evening was spent enjoying “Culture Night” where a number of vendors came to the hotel, as well as a band that played the night away - that is until they had the power turned off on them.  But we won’t talk about that.  You’ll have to ask us later. 

Today was our free day, and we went to Ocho Rios, where we hung around in the city for a while.  It also included a trip to Burger King and the Straw Market across the street where we learned to barter.  So watch out. 

After spending as little money as possible (with the exception of Victoria), we boarded back onto the bus and headed to Dunnes River Falls, where we climbed the largest man made waterfall in the world (we think).  The climb to the top was about a 45 minute trek through the water and rocks.  Needless to say, the day was a blast for everyone.

Our highlight for tonight is we are expecting to see Hazel Hyatt from church, as she is visiting her family in St. Mary’s Parrish.  I talked to her last night, so our hope is that we will be seeing her soon. 

Well, tomorrow morning we head back out for Florida.  And get this - lunch is on Carl.  We can talk this guy into anything. 

In conlusion, we’ll be seeing you tomorrow, and we can’t wait.  Except that we’re going to miss this view.  Speaking of - we’re gonna go back out and check it out some more.  With Juice in hand.

Irie, Mon!  (No Worries Mon’)  

Hi everybody.

Sorry for the big breaks in time between the blogs.  The internet is only available briefly, and it’s hard to find the time and availability. 

If you read the past blogs and thought that we were being too spoiled, and even kind of secretly wished that our insanely beatiful view would be clouded with a lot of laborious work, then your wish has come true.  We’re working and working and working some more.

Tuesday was a day for the whole group to work on a construction project together.  Half of us continued to build the tuck shop and teachers lounge at Water Valley School, while the other half of us managed to move a mountain.  Seriously.  Kind of.  There was a huge mound of rock that had to be spread out in the yard in an effort to get rid of the low spots.  To tell you the truth, just about all of us had a hard time finding a low spot when we started, but then again, maybe our USAmerican eyes aren’t as good as Jamaican eyes.

 After the work and sweat, we went on a hike to Teki Falls - a pretty cool waterfall in the countryside.  The hike was pretty intense with a lot of obstacles.  Pretty cool.

Today, Wednesday, was another long day of work, just like Monday.  The group was split in three as some of us did construction, while others worked on visual art projects with the students, and the others led the PE class.

After we finished, the group made another trip to the infirmary, and it was truly another trip to remember.  This time we served them juice and were given bottles of lotion to rub onto their arms and legs.  The touch between one person to another does something for you.  Pretty incredible. 

 To tell you the truth, relationships are being formed with the men and women at the infirmary, and we really enjoy our time there.  That’s kind of a surprising comment to make, given the conditions of the infirmary, the strong odor, and the bugs.  But then again - relationships between people - between people who were created in the image of God - are truly amazing.

I’ve been sharing your comments with the group and they love to hear from you.  So if you write anything, I’ll be sure to share.  You are all very missed.

Alright, we have something to tell you - The juice here would knock the flippers off the feet of a deep sea diver.  We get this juice at every meal, and you can find our group standing with our empty cups, ready to catch the first drip of delicious goodness from the moment the juice cooler makes its appearance.  To be quite honest, we think we’re in the process of making a profitable business decision.  If we can get the recipe to this juice and sell it to the good people of St. Petersburg, we would be able to solve any church budgetary shortfall.  Seriously. 

Yesterday (Monday ) we had a day to remember.  (By the way, sorry for not writing.  The internet was down until early this morning).  We spent most of the day at Water Valley School, where we were divided into 3 groups.  One group tutored students in visual arts and computers.  Another group did construction on a tuk shop at the school, while the third group ran the PE class for the day.  This meant lots of running, craziness, and playing football (soccer). 

We’ll have to tell you more about that later or when we get back.  We’re in a time crunch right now. 

 By far, the most eye-opening ministry opportunity of the day was our trip to the infirmary.  Absolutely an incredible sight.  Now don’t think that I’m saying this because we viewed an incredible amount of love and compassion for people.  Instead, we saw the other side of that coin.  We saw things that we thought we would never see.  And you know what?  We’re going to grow from it.

The infirmary is the place where the poorest of the poor who are elderly or suffer from mental handicaps are placed.  They sit in a warehouse looking room with no AC, open windows, and flies that swarm the room.  Our job was to provide them with watermellon and give them drinks of water with a plastic cup and straw.

You would be overwhelmed while watching our youth reach out, speak to, and serve these people who we never thought we would have a chance to meet.  It was an incredible interaction between people. 

People loving people.  That’s what faith, service, and love is all about.

Alright, sorry for the short blog.  We have so much to say, but the bus awaits…

We have arrived.  After a day of flying and riding on bus rides that can only be compared to a James Bond film, we have arrived.  Oh, and we’re all safe too (just in case you were wondering). 

As a matter of fact, our accomadations are absolutely sick.  (for those of you over 27, that is a good thing- a very good thing).  Imagine this - a hotel seated on a mountain that overlooks a jaw dropping view of heaven that involves rocks, waves, crystal clear yet turquoise water, and white caps that resemble whipcream on top of your favorite flavored ice cream Sundae.  Keep your imagination on overdrive because it continues.  You wake up from your afternoon siesta and find yourself walking past a pristine swimming pool, on your stroll down a pebble lined path that leads straight to the ocean, where the waves crash against the rocks right before your very eyes. 

And the best part about this whole thing is that we’re not pulling your chain; we’re not trying to be slick; we’re not even trying to stretch what is true in this world - we’re just giving it to you straight.  How do you like those apples?  And you were worried about your child’s safety…

To be quite honest, what we have written above is true, but our mission and intent remains to be of service to others.  As a matter of fact, we will be heading to a meeting very shortly where we will receive further orientation and instruction concerning our work for the week.  Tomorrow morning will be here awfully fast, and we will be ready to reach out to the people of St. Mary parrish, while serving through construction projects, tutoring in Water Valley School, and teaching other classes there as well.

 Before we end this blog, it’s important that you hear about our worship experience this morning.  First, you should know that Carl now goes by Pastor Carl (so you know how to properly address him when he gets back) thanks to the pastor who dubiously called him this, and I am now his assistant.  Anyway, after boarding a bus, we rode to The Glad Tidings Church of the First Born.  Upon entering the humble looking building, we were warmly welcomed by the church inside. 

 Together, we sang songs, listened to the tambourine, drums, and keyboard - prayed together - greeted each other - and enjoyed the company of those we previously never had the pleasure of meeting.  But things are different now.  We have met them.  And we appreciate them more than they could ever know.

 Afterall, they reminded us of what the church really looks like, what it sounds like, and how it feels.  

And if I can say for myself- it’s awfully Jamaican. 

**Be sure to check back every day for your update on our mission trip**

As I was proofreading this coming Sunday’s bulletin, I noticed that the congregation’s confession of sins was worded in a way that threw my brain for a loop.  It said something along the lines of ”forgive me of my waywardness and my sin.”  After I read it I stopped and thought for a minute, “what in the world does that mean?”  I mean, I get the sin part.  Yeah, I’m a sinner and I need forgiveness of my sins, but what does ”waywardness” mean? 

 Now before you think I’m a complete fool, it’s not like I haven’t ever heard that word before, but it is true that I haven’t ever used it in a sentence before.  Therefore, in my moment of pause, I started to wonder if anybody ever really used that word.  And if they don’t, then what are we doing using it in our intimate and heartfelt moment of confession?  When I am telling my wife something that I consider to be really serious, I don’t just throw in words that I don’t normally use, or have never used.  If I did, I would be considered inconsiderate - right? 

In the end, I had the word “waywardness” removed from the confession.  And it’s not because I was avoiding confession, but because I was avoiding not understanding my confession.  Does that make sense. 

Also, just so you know, when I was discussing this with Sarah, she knew exactly what “waywardness” meant.  At least that’s what she said.  Whatever. 

This morning when I left the house Espen was awake.  Most of the time,  the morning pattern at our home goes something like this - I wake up and get in the shower.  At some time when I’m in there Espen wakes up and cries so Sarah goes to get him and puts him in my spot in the bed.  I get out of the shower and start ironing my clothes for the day.  Espen hears me at the ironing board, sits up in bed, stares at me through the dim sunlight coming into the room, and makes a sqeaking noise.  This means, “Hi dad, what’s up?”  And I tell Espen, “Sshh, quite buddy, mommy’s sleeping.”  Then Espen gets excited that I’m talking to him and he starts crawling toward the foot of the bed, closer to where I’m standing.  At the last moment I grab him so that he doesn’t flop onto the floor.  Then I finish getting ready for work with him clinging to my upper torso.  In the end, I lay him back down in my warm spot on the bed, where he curls up next to his mom, sucks on his pacifier, and closes his eyes while I slip out the door.

Sounds kind of strange, right?  Well, I love it.  I crave every second of it - every mili-second of it.  And the thought of those few moments in the morning does something to me.  It’s kind of like they fill me up with a lovey dovey feeling and an overwhelming amount of desire to be a dad all the time.

But then in the case of a day like today, the rest of my time with family goes kind of like this.  I walk into house at about 9:30 pm and greet Sarah.  Espen’s in bed, so I peek into his bedroom just to see him breathing for a few seconds.  Sarah and I talk a little, and then we go to bed.

Days like this start off so perfect…in fact I couldn’t write a better script if I had rented a cabin in the woods on a lake and spent a month trying to come up with the opening lines.  But then somewhere shortly after the opening attention getter, the whole thing crumbled into pieces.  Now that’s not to say that I had a terrible day, because I didn’t.  I actually had a very fine day.  But what does it mean when we go through an entire day without spending any play time with our kids?  Not only what does it mean to us, but what does it mean for our kids?  Did Espen understand that I had to work today, and that I had meetings tonight?  Does he understand that I was thinking about him all day, and that I missed him terribly?  Does he realize that something inside of me makes me want to play with him all day long every day?

 Becaues if he doesn’t know that, then he probably went to bed tonight feeling kind of hurt.  And I don’t want that.  But today my actions (or lack of actions) told him that what he’s feeling is true. 

I guess these are the struggles of every working parent.  But it’s a struggle that should be taken seriously because my feelings and your feelings are not the only ones in flux - the feelings of our children are affected.

You’ve probaly noticed that I haven’t written about this because I have some great answer for the crux of parenthood.  I guess it’s just where my mind is at right now.  So, HEY EXPERIENCED PARENTS, how did you do it?  what helps? 

Alright, I’m really sorry that I haven’t written on here in quite a while.  To be quite honest, a lot has happened since the last post, so the neglect was not due to lack of material.  I guess you could chalk up the reasoning to laziness and a lull in creative thinking. 

On a different note, Espen’s now walking!  Which could actually be another reason that I haven’t written - I spend all free moments chasing the kid down.  For a couple months now Espen’s been holding onto the finger tips of stable adults and leading them all over the place, but this past Sunday night while we were over at some friends house, he just started walking.  I think he was finally willing to take the risk because their whole house is carpeted while ours has hard wood floors.

Anyways, I think that Sarah and I are now in for trouble because Espen is an extremely curious kid.  I always say that he’s crazy, but that’s really not what I mean, because he’s not a spaz.  He’s curious and he’s willing to take risks, hence the trouble that Sarah and I are now in.

 But I got to tell you something - Sarah and I are truly blessed.  We have each other.   We have our son.  And we have an unshakable faith that the reason we have anything is because Jesus has us. 

This past weekend some people from Grace & Our Savior went on a camping trip together.  Needless to say, it was a blast.  Then again, that’s what typically happens when people - parents, grandparents, kids, and young couples get together with a goal of relaxing and having a good ole’ time.  When we take the time to sit down next to people we might not have sat next to in the church pews, we find out that we have lots of stuff in common - enough that we probably just made a new friend. 

On Friday night the group started to piece themselves together as people arrived.  The drive there was about 3 hrs. and most people had to work or pick kids up from school, so people got to Ginnie Springs from about 4:30 - 9:00 Friday night.  While we waited for people to arrive we spent our time doing what campers do - we sat around the fire & grilled food. 

 Saturday was a day for pure relaxation and enjoying what the North Florida woods have to offer.  The day began with breakfasts being cooked over the fire, or small grills, or on a stove if you’re one of those “sleep inside a camper with air conditioning and electricity” types of people.  I woke up Saturday morning to see the armadillo tracks that wandered around the tent right where my head was.  Don’t worry, my family and I were protected by a heavy sheet of nylon about a millimeter thick. 

From there, people went in all kinds of directions for the day.  Todd took off on his bike to hit some mountain-bike trails a little ways away.  No worries though, he only left his wife alone in the woods for about 2 hours or so.  I saw Dan Evans and Dave Wilds on their bikes too.  They say they were getting fresh air, but I also happen to know that they just spent the last night sleeping in a camper with 7 people in close quarters.  I saw the Murray family walking down the road wearing life jackets and holding canoe paddles.  They ended up paddling for a couple hours around the springs.  And you’re not going to believe this - I saw Pastor Krauss riding in the back of the Redmond’s truck on his way to the spring and river.  I guess he had seen his fair share of people having a north Florida hillbilly good time and wanted in on the action.  I still haven’t asked him if he got the enjoyment he was looking for out of that ride.

Then of course, the kids from all the families had a great time swimming in the spring and tubing down the river.  People keep asking if Sarah and I took Espen along with us - the answer is “of course!”  He had a great time and slept well and all that good stuff.  When we were canoeing down the river and were passing all the college students on their tubes, holding their choice beverage, Espen was even sure to give out a few hollers to let em’ know he was coming and show them where the party was.  Angie and Doug Meissner brought their little one, Auston, too; and he’s younger than Espen.  It’s great to have friends who are willing to have a blast, take a risk, and bring their kid along for the ride.  By being a little older, Espen is currently more coordinated than Auston, but when you look at the size of these two kids, I don’t think Espen has too much longer to pick on Auston.  Auston might just take him out in a couple more months.    

Saturday night everybody got together for an evening of grilling out burgers, dogs, and brats, and sitting around the campfire.  We even set up a big outdoor movie for the kids to watch while the adults did their thing around the fire. But wouldn’t you know it, the adults got sucked into the movie too, and couldn’t talk until the movie was over.  I guess we’re never too old to sing along with the umpa loompa’s and wonder if Charlie will really win the chocolate bars at the end of Willy Wonka’s tour. 

Finally, on Sunday morning we had an abbreviated version of church under the Murray’s awning because it didn’t seem to want to stop raining.  Yet what can be better than ending a camping trip together by receiving holy communion and thanking the Lord for such a great weekend.  

After that - packing was a pain - but it always is - and then we departed for home.  The good thing is, we’ll see each-other again this weekend.  This time inside a building and in the church pews, but with a whole lot more stories because that’s what camping’s good for. 

What in the world is going on here?  Is the world changing the way it views life and I didn’t see this coming?  Is right becoming left, left becoming right, black becoming white, and white becoming black? 

I have to tell you - I’ve been floored lately by what I’ve seen on television.  No, I’m not going to expound on the use of nasty language, or the amount of skin that’s visible on the pretty ladies, or poor taste in humor - I’m talking about American Idol displaying Jesus to the public as clearly as a bunch of nuns going to a ball game.  Has anybody else noticed this?

Last week was Dolly Parton week, where just about every singer mentioned the name of Jesus through crystal clear notes.  A few weeks ago, I heard similar lyrics declaring Jesus to be a compassionate and personal God.  And now this week on Thursday night all of the finalists, together as a choir, sang “Shout to the Lord.”

What’s the deal?  I mean, I love it.  At least I think I do.  Or should we not?  Where are they getting these songs, and why are they becoming cool enough to sing on the most popular show on television?  Let’s not forget, “Shout to the Lord,” is not a vague song.  It’s a Christ-centered piece of music that used to bring tears to my eyes every time I sang it.  It’s just that beautiful.   

How is this happening?  Why is this happening?  Is anybody else wondering the same thing?  I think I’m going to have to think about this for a while…because it seems too good to be true.  Could all of these contestants be Christians that have a message to share?  You wouldn’t think so, but then again, why should I feel compelled to judge?  At the same time, if they’re not Christian then why are they singing those words? 

Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
Let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King;
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,
Forever I’ll love You, forever I’ll stand,
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.My Jesus, My Savior,
Lord, there is none like You;
All of my days
I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love.My comfort, my shelter,
Tower of refuge and strength;
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You.

Could somebody who does not believe those words really sing them?  In our USAmerican culture we don’t sing, say, write, or pretend that it’s okay to religiously confess something that we don’t believe is true.  If anything carries even a small scent of being religious and I disagree, it is perfectly fine for me to avoid the odor.  Actually, it would be perfectly acceptable for me to not only ignore the odor, but profess my hatred for the odor.

So what’s going on right now on American Idol?  Should we be excited about this because the name of Christ is being professed and confessed from quite possibly the highest mountain in television and USAmerican culture?  Or is there something going on here that we should be cautious of?  Let me know what you think.  I’m anxious to hear from you.

Some people may think that Easter has come and gone, but in reality, because Easter has happened once, it happens again every day.  That’s kind of a cool thought,  you know?  Martin Luther teaches in the catechism that because we are sinners who have been baptized, our old Adam daily drowns in the water of baptism, and daily we are raised again to new life.  And there you have it, an Easter that happens every day. 

 Every once in a while, I think that Martin Luther is worth checking out.  Or am I just supposed to say that because I’m Lutheran?   

I’m really writing this post in order to thank all of you who made our Easter worship services special this past weekend.  There’s a lot of church that just happened, and every service was made unique and experiential because of the volunteers who made it happen, from the musicians who showed us their passion while reminding us of Jesus’, to the ushers who welcomed people and escorted them into the sanctuaries of Gethsemane, Golgotha, and the open tomb, to the Wooten family who simply know where everything is and make things run like clock work because they’re willing servants.

Espen really enjoyed his first Easter and Sarah and I have a lot of wonderful people to thank for that.  Thank you volunteers; thank you Easter Egg hiders; thank you breakfast cooks; and thank you to our whole church community for sitting in the pews and worshiping with us.  It wouldn’t have been the same if any of you weren’t there.