We’re heading home tonight. Here are some photos from today:

More to come. See you back in the states.

That’s MATH+(the letter)R+(the letter)E.

Imagine you’re trying to say “Mass sorry”, but you’ve got an awful lisp. Yeah…that’s it. Mathare.

Now take a look at what Mathare is.

Mathare is a slum. To be more precise, it’s the most dangerous slum in all of Kenya. It’s estimated that some 500,000 - 800,000 people live in this 3 square-mile area. There is no garbage collection. There is no running water. It is truly a disgusting sight.

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This is a store.

This is a street.

This is a home.

And this is a child. One of hundreds of thousands who live in the Mathare slums.

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We had absolutely no idea what we were getting ourselves into today. The weight of the most extreme poverty I’ve ever witnessed culminated as the stench of feces, rotting garbage, and the body odor of half a million people filled my nostrils. I stepped carefully over slippery rocks as I dodged used condoms, dead animals, and broken glass. Plastic bags known as flying toilets were everywhere. With no bathrooms to be found, we discovered that the normal process for nature’s calling in these slums consisted of expelling one’s waste into a grocery bag - swinging it around one’s head - and throwing it as far as you can. Culture dictates that wherever the bag lands is where it’s supposed to be. It doesn’t matter if it’s in someone’s home, or landing on a person. I truly wish that I were kidding.

In America, we believe that we have “slums”. We should stop believing that.

Mathare is a collection of sheet metal and cardboard homes, local businesses, and illegal operations. If there was ever a time when I regretted having my Tetanus shot renewed, it was now.

Compassion International has made it’s presence known in the slums of Mathare by setting up 3 different project areas. We visited one of those projects today. As we wound our way through the narrow openings between homes and businesses, I couldn’t help but think of this area as a living hell.

We eventually reached our destination, and when we did, I felt as if I had been holding my breath the entire way through. Finally we had reached some sort of sanctuary and I could breath again. I was never so happy in my life to reach this dingy project area.

Our spirits were conflicted as we were excited to see Compassion sponsored children moving about, and yet deeply troubled that there were Compassion sponsored children moving about. They lived there.

The room had many windows, but I have no clue why you would want to look out of them.

Beautiful children looked up at us and I found myself thanking God that they had shoes on their feet.

The heaviness of all that was around us began to lift as we got to the point of why we were there.

These children wanted to show some Compassion sponsors the difference that was being made in their lives since they have been sponsored. I can remember being excited in school when we got to break from our normal routine and host visitors of various sorts, but I was never as excited as these kids.

They even baked for us.

Then they sang for us to showcase their music classes.

Here’s a video I took of one of the songs:

Watch the video here.

They performed skits for us about crime and drug resistance.

People often wonder what their $38 a month is going towards with child sponsorship, but it’s not the easiest question to answer. What I’ve really learned during this trip is that the money goes towards whatever it needs to. Each project is different and depending on the area, it may go towards food, shelter, education, etc.. For these kids, it was clear that a lot of education was being implemented to help these children reach a goal of getting out of this place.

These kids were about as poor as you can get, but you couldn’t tell by the looks on their faces.

Psalm 34:18 says,
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

The weird part is…we were the brokenhearted! We were crushed in spirit! There was not one of us among our group that could keep tears from rolling down our faces as we saw these heroic children swim upstream towards a better existence. I could feel the compassion of God for these people as I’ve never felt before. His love and His presence filled the room and all of us were overcome with empathy.

My favorite part of the day was having plenty of time to talk with the sponsored kids about anything and everything. I had a group of 6 or 7 around me and they were firing off questions in perfect English.

“Is it true that you only study one subject at university in the United States?”

“How long do you have to go to school before you can attend college?”

“Is it winter where you are from? How cold is it?”

“What are your hobbies?”

“Do you have children? What are their names?”

“Do you sponsor children? Where are they from?”

These questions went on and on and I’ve never been so happy to be grilled in all my life. I must confess that I thought these kids would be less advanced than American children and I admit that I had that one backwards. These amazing children were getting everything out of school that they possible could.

Perhaps it is due to incredible people like Maurine and Rafael.

Maurine has just completed her fourth year in the Compassion International Leadership Development Program…or as they call it, LDP.

LDP is another opportunity for sponsored children to move on to become responsible and contributing members of society. It has to be earned, and so it places a strong emphasis on doing well in school so that you can move on to a university. Rafael has just completed his first year with LDP.

We were floored to find out that Maurine and Rafael have achieved success through sponsorship to the point that they are now volunteers with Compassion International - not only that, but they have pooled their resources with other LDP students to sponsor 10 children! They wanted to be sponsors themselves as they couldn’t imagine life without the opportunities given them through the child sponsorship program. To see something like this happening…in action…well, I’ll just say it. I cried. A lot.

To think, moving from SPONSORED to SPONSORING others. Incredible.

As we made our way out of the slums, it was interesting to see all the different containers lining the streets to collect rain water. A community of more than half a million people is living without any running water whatsoever, and yet - somehow - hope flows freely through the streets of Mathare.

One child at a time, we can change the world together. This isn’t fluff. I’ve seen it with my own eyes and you’re seeing it too. It’s time to stand up and make a difference. It’s time to do what is right and fight for those who are worth fighting for. In this case, impulse buys are a good idea.

* Baby Crocodiles are a common snackfood.

* No matter what what meal of the day, you are guaranteed to bite down on a bone of some sort.

* 84 degrees is “bundle up” weather.

* When you ask the locals what type of monkey that was jumping around in the trees and they look at you rolling their eyes to say, “It’s JUST a monkey.”

* Kids come up to you and ask if you know President Obama personally.

* Common refreshments on a 90+ degree day include; hot milk, hot tea, hot coffee, or hot chocolate.

* You’ve seriously considered several schemes to smuggle gorgeous kids home in your luggage.

* An offer of “fresh” lemonade in someone’s home feels a little bit like a nice gesture to ingest Anthrax. However, it would be culturally insensitive to decline.

* Prayers during a church service are so long that it’s possible to fall asleep twice before they’re over.

* You accidentally break the news to people that Michael Jackson is no longer with us. Oops.

* Large groups of people think you are hilarious just because you are white.

Check back in a few hours for a post about hope that flows through the most dangerous slum in Kenya.

In the meantime, check out what the other bloggers have to say about our experience by going to the Compassion Bloggers Kenya Trip page.

There is a part of this trip that has totally sucked for me.

It’s caused me to shuffle around nervously at times and hide behind my camera at others. The realization hit Allison and I that we were the only bloggers coming on this journey to Kenya who did not sponsor a child from Kenya. I had my reasons, and they were good.

We were contacted about a month before our trip asking us if we would be interested in sponsoring a child from Kenya since we would be going there and blogging about child sponsorship. I declined to sponsor another child because we are currently sponsoring two children; Miriam from Bolivia, and Ana from Honduras.

We were told that there was a good chance we would be able to meet our sponsored children in person if we chose to sponsor in Kenya. I thought about it for a little while, but decided it wouldn’t really be my heart choosing to sponsor a child in Kenya…it would have just been convenient for blogging. Not only that, but we can’t afford to sponsor another child right now. Plus, I wasn’t even sure what Compassion International really provided with our current sponsorships. I just didn’t want to do it for many reasons.

Today was terrible and wonderful at the same time.

It’s Sunday, so we went to church. Little did I know that we would be getting up during the service and leading the congregation in worship for a song. After our rendition of “Lord I lift your name on high”, of which I knew the words, but had no idea a dance went along with, one of our trip leaders spoke for a few minutes while we were still all on stage. Two things he said hit me pretty hard:

“Even though we have different skin color and we come from a different country, we are related to each other. We both have the same Father. Our Father in heaven calls us all His children and that makes us brothers and sisters.”


And then the crusher…


“Compassion International is trying to help release the poor from poverty, but it’s also helping to release us from our wealth.”

As I stood there in front of around 300 of the poorest people I’ve ever seen, I have never felt so rich in all my life. I thought about the $120 I had in my pocket as I stood there and how it could be used to purchase a home here in Kenya…and maybe a goat.

From the church service, we headed to a Kenyan amusement park of sorts. It had animals for us to see, rides, a nice restaurant, face painting, and all sorts of activities for people to have fun with.

Most importantly, it was where all of the bloggers on our trip got to hang out with their sponsored children. Some of the children were picked up from 4 hours away just so they could meet with their sponsors and have a day of fun. Some of these kids had never been in a car before. Most of them had never eaten at a restaurant before.

All of the bloggers on this trip had sponsored children to play with…except us.

Here is Chris (http://blog.compassion.com/) with his sponsored child:

LV (http://www.catalystspace.com/catablog/) with his sponsored child:

Jennifer (www.mckmama.com) with her sponsored child:

Brad (www.bradruggles.com) with his sponsored child:

Patricia (www.jonesbones5.com) with her sponsored child:

Kristen (www.wearethatfamily.com) with her sponsored child:

Kent (www.churchrelevance.com) with his sponsored child:

And there we were. Allison and I. Walking around looking at the animals and taking photos of the others with their sponsored children. I wasn’t feeling guilt. I was just thinking. Thinking that I had missed an opportunity. I thought that it would be ridiculous to sponsor a child from Kenya just before we go there so that it would look great on a blog as I met my child in a third world country.

I was wrong.

It wasn’t about that. It was about an opportunity to begin a powerful relationship with someone halfway across the world. Compassion International goes to great lengths at helping sponsors meet their sponsored children in person. There are stories of children being picked up and driven 8 hours just to meet their sponsor because it’s that important. Sponsorship isn’t about the money, it’s about letting someone know that they have value and that you are pulling for them.

It’s not about $38 a month. It’s about the letters you write and the dreams you instill in a child. I watched as several people began a deep relationship with kids that will last a long, long time today. I heard a voice in my head multiple times. It was saying, “It’s really hard to ask people to give until it hurts when you are not giving until it hurts.” It was a call to respond.

Allison and I got back to our hotel and we sponsored our third child through Compassion International.

His name is Kayoo and he has been waiting for a sponsor for a long time.

I really hope that we’ll meet him someday.

Today was different than our last two days. It was a day filled with activity just like the others, but I was able to hop off of the emotional rollercoaster I’ve been on since we arrived. Honestly…I needed it.

We traveled to a Maasai village that was not in our plans. Our original Maasai destination was mostly under water due to high rains and so we visited another church where Compassion International has partnered for 5 years.

This particular church has a huge number of children who are sponsored and being very well taken care of. Out of 300 kids, there were only a few that were without sponsorship. It gave us an opportunity to see what Compassion does on their “big day” of the week, which is Saturday. I realized that I am great with groups of kids when they are small, and I start having small panic attacks when the group is huge.

Kids were swarming on us for multiple reasons. They love visitors. They love attention. They love white people. They love asking questions about politics and Michael Jackson. They love having photos taken.

The people of Kenya love tattoos. I do not believe I am exaggerating when I say that I got far more attention than anyone else in our group. Normally, I love attention to a fault. I learned that I’ve got a limit though and it’s somewhere in between three kids pulling on my arm while two others try to lift my shirt up (to see if there are more tattoos) and a Maasai woman pulling the earrings out of my ears.

Inside the church, there was a welcoming ceremony for our group where people spoke, sang, and even performed spoken word skits for us. This country is truly the most hospitable, and polite place ever.

I wanted to place this baby up on a mantle in my house just so I could come in and look at her every couple of minutes. She was so small, but much more alert than a baby usually is. She looked to be 6 months old, but I am guessing she was over a year.

After the welcoming, it was time for us to visit some classrooms. Compassion has the kids all day on Saturday. Feeds them, teaches them, plays with them, and loves on them.

Today was an opportunity to see the good that comes from children being sponsored. It wasn’t the heart wrenching experience we’ve had in the previous days of seeing poverty’s grip, but rather the hands and feet that are pulling kids away from that grip.

We headed out to do a home visit…in the middle of nowhere. There were no other houses anywhere in site. The family was able to keep a piece of property because the child’s sponsors had given gifts of livestock to them. This helped them to become sustainable.

They had a photo of their Compassion sponsor.

And lots of letters.

This particular sponsor even had the audacity to come to Kenya with her family to meet their child in person. The nerve.

We finished our day by playing with these beautiful children, singing songs, and praying.

In a world where so many things don’t work the way that they should, I can say with confidence that child sponsorship does.

Today was a good day. The only thing that could make it better would be wild Zebras running near our van as we traveled back home.

Icing on the cake would be you committing to lift a child out of poverty. You know you want to.

2. Partners

3. Dance

4. Inform

5. Grips

6. Go

7. Here

8. Equipped

9. Comedian

10. Education

11. Hospitality

12. Antiquated

13. Subjects

14. Interviewer

15. Orphaned

16. Visitation

17. Sponsorless

18. Interested

19. Blessed

20. Joyous

21. Heartwarming

22. Dwell

23. Stalkers

24. Matriarch

25. Paper

26. Faithful

27. Friends

28. Miracle

29. Universal

30. Pack

31. Filled

32. Fascinating

33. Abandon

34. Sanctuary

35. Cling

36. Models

37. Contrast

38. Toy

39. Packing

40. Share

This post is written by my lovely wife, Allison. She had tears streaming down her face for a good portion of our day today. I thought it would be beneficial for her to share a story with you all.

Today, I was moved by a dream. As about ten of us sat in a dark room with a dirt floor and no open windows, Samuel and Paul’s mother, Martha, told us about a dream that her daughter had several years earlier. She told her mother that in her dream she had seen a helicopter flying over the city of Nairobi. When the helicopter landed she was informed that her brother Samuel was going to be sponsored through Compassion International.

Martha didn’t think much about the dream. Her son Paul was already sponsored through Compassion, and it is pretty rare for more than one child per family to be a part of the program. However, the staff at their project recognized Samuel as a child who was in great need of sponsorship. At the age of three he was not able to stand up or speak, due to his lack of a proper diet. The staff wanted to do something to help and were able to get him a sponsor through Compassion’s Intervention Program. A short time later Samuel was sponsored, by a woman named Cassie. Through this sponsorship Samuel has been able to learn to speak and go to school, and the staff has been able to work with his family on providing the proper nutrition.

I was overwhelmed by God’s awesomeness. I cried. In this tiny village in Kenya, he had invaded a young girls dreams with the hope of a better future for her brother. He showed up and provided for Samuel who was malnourished and developmentally delayed. The staff has worked at getting him proper medical treatment and trying to get him back on track with his peers.

God Loves Samuel and today I fell in love with him to.

With love,
Allison

Breakfast - 7am, Poolside (doesn’t feel like poverty yet)

Allison - still in shock and freaking out from the Eagle that swooped down, inches from her face to steal something off of our plates. I can honestly say that’s never happened at breakfast before.

Compassion staff meeting - 8am | Several people from Compassion International meet with us to give us a better picture of what they actually do. We had an opportunity to ask lots of questions and this was when I really started to dislike the program itself. This meeting began breaking down a wall.

You see, I’m a picker. I like to pick things apart and find out their flaws and quickly pass them off as being something my heart doesn’t need inside of it. Sure, we sponsor two children through Compassion ourselves and it’s been a great experience, but I still didn’t realize the magnitude of what this ministry is doing in the world. A few questions answered:

* 500+ people give their lives to Christ each day through Compassion ministries worldwide.

* Hindu and Muslim children are sponsored all over the world and there is no requirement to be a Christian whatsoever…they are given an opportunity to hear the word of God. What they do with that is up to them. Sponsorship doesn’t require Christianity…which means it can be real to people.

* 71,000 Children are currently enrolled in Compassion’s 287 project areas in Kenya. 3,000 of those children are currently waiting for someone to sponsor them.

* Each project area is centered around a church, which goes into all parts of Kenya (and the rest of the world) to identify the poorest of the poor in that particular area. Money comes in for sponsored children and then gets turned over to the church hub to determine the current needs…Food? Education?

* A “culture of independence” is a large part of Compassion’s vision and mission. They will not be an organization of handouts, rather, a ministry that educates and helps people to reach their full potential.

Lots and lots and lots of other information passed through my brain, but the part that really messed me up was the realization that I can’t do things the way I’ve been doing them. I began to really get uncomfortable with Compassion International when I KNEW that I need to sponsor another child myself and that I will forever be an advocate to this organization. Not only that, but coming to an understanding of just how important it is to communicate through letters to these sponsored children. Children who are communicated with, even if just a couple of times a year, do much better in their everyday lives. I have got to step up my game and invest myself into these kids. They’re so worth it. This is what I saw today:

30 minutes from our snazzy hotel and the scenery changes quite a bit.

As we traveled through a large slum in Nairobi, we began to hear cheering and singing as we turned a corner into a Compassion project area. Tears welled in the eyes of many as we realized the dancing was for us and our arrival. {video below}

People danced, and clapped, and sang for us. The only people who seemed to not understand why they were doing this…well…was us. After all, we’re a big group of dweebs. Bloggers. Same difference.

It finally hit home when Irene, who is on staff with Compassion Kenya, explained that she had already told this group of women and children that a group of people were coming to help them get the word out about the program they are involved in. She said, “…and they are going to write about it on the internet…” and everyone cheered and clapped. Apparently, these people believe we’re going to help more people become a part of their amazing program. I sure hope so.

A young woman shared her story with us and it was filled with hope and accomplishment. She explained how the Child Survival Program had changed the lives of everyone in her family. At the risk of sounding like a pamphlet…more info can be found here: http://blog.compassion.com/child-survival-101/ and here: http://rescuebabiesnow.org/

Heading over to the Child Survival Program’s “stimulation” area…

A safe place to play…

Here is one of the church buildings that Compassion is partnered with…600 Kenyans go here.

Best Hair Award of the day…

Hey buddy, where’d you get that meat?

Oh, I see…

Our team split up and walked a block or two up the road from the church project. We made home visits to mothers who wanted to share with us the work they had been doing since becoming a part of the Child Survival Program. This is Jackline with her daughter Flavian. This family couldn’t wait to invite 6 of us into their tiny, 8′ x 8′ home.

After talking and praying with Jackline for a while, she wanted to show us the business that she had started. She began by making her own charcoal briquettes out of coal dust, soil, and water.

Jackline buys an ear of corn for 5 shillings, grills the corn over the fire she’s made, and then can sell the corn for 15 shillings. She sells an average of 8 ears of corn a day, yielding her a profit of 80 shillings per day. She is doing this to pay rent which is about $20USD per month. 75 shillings is equal to one US dollar. She’s making around 1 dollar a day in profit and she couldn’t be happier…because she’s making something. She’s proud of herself. I was proud of her.

The sights and smells of Kenya were overpowering at times. So much poverty and yet so many smiles in an area of neglect.

Let’s just say that deodorant isn’t nearly as common as heaping mounds of dead fish.

Next, we entered the home of Caroline, who was nothing short of amazing. I’ll show you a few photos of her in action, but you’ve got to read Brad Ruggles account of meeting her for the full effect.

Her husband was so proud of her…

My favorite thing that Caroline’s husband said was, “This is our home for now.” He had hope in his voice and it was like he knew they were going to make it out of there. He knew his family’s circumstances were temporary. This was all hitting me as the rubber hit the road and I realized…we are sponsoring children and their parents lives are being changed. We can restore families by doing this.

There was so much to see in one day. So many photographs and so many not taken.

Some people on our trip got to meet their sponsored children. Talk about a lump in the throat.

I feel like Ron Popeil trying to sell people a Showtime Rotisserie on late night TV, but I just can’t help it. I’ve seen some things firsthand that we can help with. I’ve already been getting emails, Facebook messages, and text messages from people letting me know that they’ve made a decision to sponsor a child. All I can say is thank you, and you have no idea how worth it this really is.

Please consider Sponsoring a child through Compassion International.

If you do, leave a comment letting us know. It would mean a great deal to us and we would love to pray for you and you’re newly sponsored child.

Also, don’t forget to follow this journey with everyone else by going to the Compassion Kenya featured blog posts (scroll down).

* Amsterdam has a strange airport. I liked it, but everything cost a million dollars. I bought a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin and it cost more than $6 USD.

* Our plane from Amsterdam to Kenya was pretty ginormous. 250 people were on board and there were still plenty of seats unoccupied. Somehow, those empty seats didn’t help us though since we were parked right next to the super-endurance baby who managed to cry during our entire 8 and a 1/2 hour leg.

* 2 hour flight to Minneapolis, 8 hour flight to Amsterdam, another 8 hour flight to Kenya, plus several hours in layovers in between = worn out.

* We arrived to our hotel, which believe it or not is a Holiday Inn, just a few hours ago. First thoughts - Kenya appears to be a lot more LUSH then I had imagined…

* Please pray for hearts to be opened during this week as several bloggers try to bring awareness to their readers about the work that Compassion International is doing. This trip is apologetically reaching for as much child sponsorship as possible. Please consider sponsoring a child in your own heart if you’ve felt that tug to make a difference. From what I’ve seen so far, a great way to change the world for the better is to sponsor one of these kids.

More soon!

Things have been hectic, but I’m finally getting excited. It’s here. The funny thing is, it wasn’t like I was waiting for it to arrive as you might do with a vacation. Instead, I was trying my hardest to stop time so that I could get more of my life in order before we leave. Anyone ever try that? Don’t bother.

In the midst of preparing things for Kenya, we at Vineyard Westside have also been going after a major undertaking in the fund raising department. As a church, we have already outgrown a couple of venues including a high school cafeteria and a movie theater that we rented. That has moved us into our current home, which is an old “abandoned” church building that we have been leasing for the past 2 years.

The building that we’re leasing is more than just outdated. It’s in rough shape. BUT…it can become something beautiful. A place where the prostitute and the police officer can experience a community of faith together. A beacon of help, hope, and love in a neighborhood that certainly isn’t overflowing with positive influence. We are currently running 3 services, one on Saturday night and two on Sunday mornings. Lives are being changed all over the place. Marriages restored. Drug addictions overcome. Purposes discovered.

And so we bowled…

And we boxed, and we held raffles, and we auctioned off items, and we had chili cook-offs. We did these things to raise the cash needed to purchase our current building so that we can begin the renovation process. We need to create more seats, more opportunities for lives to be changed.

Slowly but surely, death by a thousand cuts, we are getting there. Even some of you have donated money towards our building purchase because you feel like you are part of this church community…even if you live in another state. For that, we’re grateful and humbled. I feel good about leaving as great things are happening.

We created our wills yesterday. We’re packing our things today. We fly to Minneapolis tomorrow, followed by Amsterdam, then our final destination of Kenya. With time changes, it will take us two days to get there. I’m planning on reading these books during the travel:

Some people fall into the category of asking way too many questions and obsess over doing way too much research when heading into an unknown environment. Kenya is very unknown to us right now, but we’re bringing mosquito repellent. Other than that…I guess we’ll see what happens.

One thing is for sure. I can’t wait to meet all the people who I am sure will become great friends during this journey.

Our leaders:

Shawn Groves

Patricia Jones

Keely Marie Scott

Chris Giovagnoni

And my fellow bloggers:

Kent Shaffer

Kristen Welch

LV Hanson

Jennifer McKinney

Brad Ruggles

The reality has really begun to set in that I’ve been writing a stupid blog for a couple of years now, thousands of people read it, and now we are going to do something we probably would never have been given the opportunity to do because of said stupid blog. The internets are amazing.

Love you all…please follow our journey and tell you’re friends. This is going to be an adventure.

So here’s Finn, creeping in on 7 months old…

Part deux…

The artist wouldn’t whisper lest the workings of his hands could surely glean. “You are mine! I want all the world to know and see!” In his splendor, he provides ownership and seals his pieces as his own with a signature on the hearts and sleeves of what he has accomplished. “It is finished and it is glorious!”

Warmth and carelessness blanket them like a freshly cleaned down comforter. Just out of the dryer.

He fills his creation with confidence and floods them with desire. Dreams and possibilities surge throughout the in between beats of their hearts as he assures them that “everything will be okay.” His promises echo deep into souls not yet tainted with the doubt the world will bring.

A vision is planted along with a seed of required independence. It’s followed by the question, “But, why would we ever leave?” The aim is not to hurt us. Rather, to illuminate the sky. “You are chosen!” is the affliction, and leaving the nest is the only possible remedy.

“Go with us!” As much a question as a demand. Our maker, His pledge to always be near.

Naysayers rise up from the lowly places and work tirelessly to change the story. They alter realities with a well-placed “if” and begin to chip away at the rock that is our compass. Slowly what was sure is soon to be blurred and the chosen ones begin to question. Everything.

Wax compounds on the ears of those formed as the artist’s voice slips away. “Where are you??” they scream, but the shouts overwhelm that still, small whisper. Over time a path of ease is discovered. No longer does the heart beat with ambition, instead, a reach for mediocrity. Just. Fit. In.

“You were made to shine like the stars!!” The designer beckons and reminds. An opportunity arises within and a curiosity peaks. “Could it be?” That, and so much more. A glimmer of hope is compounded by a supernatural sense of urgency. Fear competes for the affection of many.

“I can’t do it on my own!!”

Just then, the architect of everything responds, “I would never ask you to do it by yourself.”

The worst part of selling a bunch of photographs would be the part where you have to keep track of orders, get them all printed…and then some re-printed, package them properly, and ship them out. Thank you to all of you who have inconvenienced me in this way…in all seriousness, I appreciate it greatly! You’re purchasing of these photos is helping my wife and I leave for Kenya in 8 days!!

(If you bought a photo recently, I appreciate your patience! They are all being shipped out this week.)

Speaking of the winter Olympics - you may have seen a Liberty Mutual Ad during the games that had a catchy song to it…here’s the commercial:

The song is called “Half Acre” and it’s from a band called Hem on their album Rabbit Songs. It’s been in my head for about 2 weeks now and I thought I’d give you an opportunity for the same. Here’s the full song below:

I love this band. Maybe you’ll love them too.

Speaking of Organic eating…

Remember how I had that goal to buy 100% Organic in 2010? Well…

I failed.

We just couldn’t do it.

The quality of the food was excellent in most cases, but it was literally twice as expensive. We would have eaten organically all the way to bankruptcy. Last week I purchased a $1 microwaveable pizza for the first time in about 3 months. I felt strange, disappointed yet satisfied at the same time. And it was delicious. We’re still going to continue to buy as many Organics as possible, but it’s not currently sustainable for us…and yes…I tried all kinds of buying methods.

Experiment failed, but as we continue to buy the organic foods that we can - more and more of these products will become available and drop prices along the way. For us, the “must be organics” are:

* Baby Foods
* Produce
* Dairy

I’ve also got a list of items that “I’d buy even if they are made out of plastic and hair”:

* Chex mix…oh how I love thee
* Campbell’s Creamy Tomato Soup for Grilled Cheese dunking
* Lucky Charms

Over and out.
Ryan

We’ve all been caught doing the wrong stuff.

Sometimes it’s blatant and we fall into the category of BUSTED.

Other times it’s the less obvious things. Speaking poorly of others comes to mind. We say things about other people that we would never dare to say them directly. We’re willing to tear someone apart behind their backs, but we smile when we see them and act like nothing ever happened.

Wouldn’t it be a far sight different if we got busted speaking well of others? What if people caught us doing the right stuff instead of the wrong stuff?

It happened to me this morning. I pulled the rather loud Mr. Finnius out of his bed and took him in the living room to let my wife sleep a little bit longer. As we played, I kissed him and whispered tiny secrets into his tiny little ears. “You’re smart! You’re strong! You’re handsome! You’re funny!”

Just as I was rubbing his little belly and giving him kisses, Allison scared me half to death by sneaking up on us. As I turned towards her I already knew the story. She was watching us and she was loving what she was seeing. She had that look on her face that said I love these boys.

Any chance of this being a brag is quickly trumped by the fact that it doesn’t happen nearly enough. I get caught doing the wrong stuff way more often than I get caught doing the right stuff.

It reminded me of a verse in the bible though. It’s in the book called Hebrews, chapter 3:

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

Well…it’s called TODAY, and I want to get caught speaking well of others.

I want to get busted doing the right stuff. Way more often.

Valentine’s day was spent this year as unromantically as possible. Our family was recovering from a terrible stomach flu that attacked all of us. Any time the human body starts to mimic a bad plumbing job, you know you’re in trouble.

The worst part for me was that I was scheduled to speak 3 times at church this weekend and I had a funeral service to officiate on Saturday. I’ve never prayed so hard in my life. I confess that after I made it through my funeral service, I walked outside and did a dance with a little song I had written in my head. It went like this: “Hallelujah! I didn’t throw up! I didn’t throw up! Hallelujah!”

Saturday night, I was feeling rough as I gave my message. I am thinking that the entire bottle of Pepto Bismol I drank didn’t help anything. Sunday, I was feeling quite a bit better, and if you’re interested you can listen to that message here:

I’m excited to be going back to Honduras in April. I’ll be in the best shape I’ve been in a while and this trip is one of the most physically demanding experiences I can think of. I’ve been doing the P90X Program consistently for several weeks now. Early each morning, we’ve got up to 5 guys in my living room doing anything from Yoga, to the Ab Ripper (which believe it or not is actually WORSE than it sounds), Plyometrics (jump training), or a variety of other things. It’s been great accountability to have guys who are going to show up at my house in the morning to work out. I’ve got no excuses. I have to get up…I have to work out. I’ve lost some weight, but I’m also stronger than I’ve been in years.

P90X is legit. Tony Horton for president in 2012.

The generosity of you all is nothing short of astounding! I created a page just a few days ago to sell some photographs to support the finances needed for our upcoming mission trip to Kenya. I’m amazed to announce that we are almost completely covered for that trip already.

Anything over and above the amount needed for our trip to Kenya will go directly towards my next trip to Honduras. Thank you all so much for buying these photographs and giving towards something that is much bigger than us. I’ve seen the way God works, and I’m expecting incredible things to come.

I just hope I don’t get killed with mutant Poison Ivy again.

It looks like we’re getting another 6-9″ of snow today. Small group is canceled tonight. Time to take the kiddies to Chuck E. Cheese…where a kid can be a kid, and an adult can eat bad, expensive pizza.