Trail of Life

So we are all on the trail of life…what does yours look like?  Mine has and continues to be full of surprises.  Last October, I started working with a local outreach helping to lead an after school program for under privileged kids.  For two months, I went every afternoon to help with homework, play games, mentor, and walk with several children and youth down their own trail.  I loved it and saw such transformation!  But then in December, due to financial strains, I had to take on a part-time job while only going to the program twice a week.  I didn’t understand.  Why was God taking me away from what I loved to do (working with kids and with LWI) to something boring (working at a recycling plant)?

The first day at the recycling plant, I began to understand.  In all, I work with about 10 other men (3 who speak English and the others speak only Spanish so I have gotten some practice in) who as the days passed by began to share with me their stories  Two were recently out of prison and recovering from drug/alcohol abuse, another was a new father, and another had many personal issues and hurts he was battling.  I found myself in the midst of a great deal of pain and turmoil with men needing someone to listen to and walk with. Who would have thought?

So in the midst of having a new baby, starting a new job in January (the recycling plant), teaching part-time, working as the International Coordinator, the Lord was using me to bring peace and healing to the hearts and lives of these men through His word and Spirit.  No, it’s not in the jungles of Colombia or the mountains of Nepal but in the industrial part of Fresno that these lives are changing.  And there lies the beauty.  No matter where we may be , all we have to do is listen to find someone who needs us.  It has been such a joyful privilege to see what a few kind words and listening ears can bring.  Like I said, the road of life continues to bring unexpected twists and turns.  Many times I think it much like traveling through a foggy valley on the way to the top of a mountain.  You can see just enough ahead of you to stay on the path but you don’t realize the true beauty of what you have gone through until you get to the top.  At the peak we can truly appreciate how amazing the trail has been.

And for any of you moms out there, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Non-understandable

First off, I think I just made-up a word for my title.  You grammar folks may not be too happy with me, but I like to think of myself as a bit creative so we’ll just go with it.  Due to our boy being due soon, my mind has been on the topic of fatherhood and all that goes with it.  For some, this post may confirm what you experienced in childhood with your own father.  For others, what I am going to share will be completely foreign because your own father, if he was there, showed nothing of my own thoughts on fatherhood.  And then for others, it could be a combination of both.

For those in the second group I mentioned, I am sorry.  I will not try to rationalize or make excuses for a father not fulfilling his role as he should.  My prayer is that you find healing from the wounds you must deal with each day.

Like I said, my mind has been on fatherhood.  With a little one on the way, I can only pray for the wisdom to teach, train, love, discipline, and guide my children (and try to listen and read from those who already have).  But a couple of days ago, I couldn’t shake the idea of why it is I love my children so much.  While I love my wife just as much, I can put to words better my love for my wife.  Yes, it is a daily choice but I love her for all the little and big things she does, for the way she makes arepas, the way she smiles and makes up English words from Spanish ones, the way she cares for our son, the look on her face when she really wants something.  I love her for all these things and countless more.  But with my kids it is different.

Samuel has never in his life done anything for me.  He never offered to clean his room, take out the trash, wash the truck, or do the laundry.  He can’t clean the kitchen yet, vacuum, clean the windows, or run to the store.  Basically, all he does is take and consume.  The biggest thing he gives now are smiles and laughs.  But that doesn’t explain why I would lay down my life for this little child since the day he was born.  It just is.  My love for my son is non-understandable.  I look at Samuel and love him just because he is there and is.  He offers me nothing.  He does nothing in exchange for this love.  He is simply mine and I love him.

As humans, we accept this concept of parental love every day.  We see parents playing with their kids, teaching them, showing them how to drive, eat, and throw a ball.  And we immediately reject the idea that to not love one’s child is a normal thing.  When we witness examples of child abuse or neglect, we automatically know that there is something wrong.  It goes against something that has been implanted in our DNA.  Our children are to be loved.

But why is it that we have such a hard time imagining a God who loves us just for being His children?  I know that often times it comes from hurts from our own earthly fathers but think about it, especially those who have kids of your own.  There has never been any doubt from the moment you knew you would have this child that the child would be loved.  And it was never a matter what that child would do for you or whether they would get in trouble or hurt you or wreck your car or date the wrong person or make any of a million mistakes.  It was a non-negotiable….the non-understandable love would always prevail.  Our Father in heaven is the same.  But why is it so hard to accept.  We strive and strain and read and obey and act and sing and fall on our knees and all these other things trying to gain approval when God, our Father, is simply saying, “It is not what you do, my love for you simply is.”  Non-understandable…

Below is a music video form one of my favorite Latin artist.  If you understand Spanish, all the better.  If not, just focus on what you see.

Simplicity of Obedience

This will be a short post.  As I talked to a good friend not too long ago, we shared what all the Lord was doing in our lives and how those things are changing us.  We ended up on the topic of how we gauge success in life and ministry.  I think for each of us, the temptation is to compare ourselves and our lives with those around us (whether it be with friends,  neighbors, people we hear on the radio, etc).  Why we do this is beyond me and whole books have been dedicated to the subject.  But the more my friend and I talked, the more we found that the greatest success gauge lies in our obedience to what the Lord has called us to.  Outside of that, we are just attempting to accomplish something for our own gain by our own strength…and to be honest, while I may be a strapping young man able to lift small cars and bound over 2-story buildings saving babies and damsels in distress all at the same time, I’m really not that strong.  It is Christ in me.

Oh…and if you are wondering about the picture…well, I just thought it was fun.  Have a blessed day.

Moldability

This being my first post of the new year, I want to wish everyone HAPPY NEW YEAR or as is said in Spanish FELIZ ANO NUEVO!!!!  My family’s Christmas and New Year were wonderful as I had the chance to take a few days off to spend with family.  We also had a wonderful Christmas party for the kids at the SMART Center including games, dramas, music, gifts, and an awesome gift exchange game!

We reopened the Center last Monday and have had a constant stream of kids coming in and out as they are still on Christmas break.  It has been a blast!  Just yesterday, I had a divine chance to share with three of the younger kids the story of Christ’s birth, his life, his death, and his resurrection.  As we talked, they asked so many questions about who God was, His story, and all He had done.  Then they shared some of their own beliefs about God.  I realize that their young minds are influenced/molded so easily and that each of them deals with a lot of fear that comes from false teachings and superstitions.  To see the look on their faces when I shared with them that they don’t have to fear when they have Jesus in their hearts was the highlight of 2011!   We also took time to pray with one young boy who suffers a lot from nightmares.  In the midst of the hour we spent together, I knew God has set that time apart for those young hearts and minds to get to know their Father and creator.  To be a part of it was a joy and a pleasure for me.  Have a blessed day.

Venezuela Prayer!!!!

Hello friends…We are asking you prayer for Venezuela as they have experienced horrible flooding over the past couple of weeks, leaving thousands homeless and taking the lives of many.  Below are pictures taken from a coastal area where Emili and I ministered just this past August.