Debtor To All

Debtor To All

As we finish packing, I came across a quote I had written down awhile back. I think it gives a good explanation as to why we would want to leave our comfortable home with its surrounding beauty and mild weather.

"When you are a starving man among starving people and you discover a banquet in the wilderness, you become a debtor to all. And the payment of that debt is delightful in proportion to the magnificence of the banquet."
-John Piper

Senders

Senders

Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:19-20

For the past few days we have been telling people about our plans to move to Hungary and then on to Ukraine for long term missionary work. The response has been incredibly positive. Not once has anyone told us that it's a bad idea or acted like we were crazy for wanting to leave the warm coastal weather for sub zero climates. From friends and family to strangers, everyone has been so supportive.

Through it all, my parents have been the most supportive and encouraging. I can't say how much of a blessing they have been to us over the years and especially now. While we are being obedient to the Great Commission as "goers", they are serving as "senders". We couldn't be more thankful and proud of their response to our needs as we begin our journey. I know that they are making a huge sacrifice to send us, not just financially, but emotionally. Their only child, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren will literally be on the other side of the world. We can’t just jump in the car anymore and go see them. They know this and are still willing to help us answer God’s call.

As we have shared with them about how our hearts break for the orphans of Ukraine, their own hearts have been touched. In fact, they are so moved by this that they are willing to send their only son to bring Hope to these children. That reminds me of another Father who was willing to send His Son far from home so that others might be saved.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

We’d like to thank everyone for their prayers and support that are helping to make all of this possible. And Mom and Dad, if you’re reading this, thank you for all that you have done and the life that you have given me. Most importantly, thank you for sharing the love of Christ with me as a child.

Goodbye SLOIt is with both sorrow and Joy that we will be leaving our home, family, and friends. On February 2nd the four of us will be leaving for Vajta, Hungary. We will be attending Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe, Missions Training Program. From there, we plan on moving to Ukraine. We will miss all of our friends at Calvary SLO who have become family, but we know that God has a greater plan for us in Ukraine. I was born in San Luis Obispo as were Dominic and Joshua. Edna grew up in San Luis Obispo from a young age, so we all have deep roots in SLO. We will also miss my parents and the ranch where I grew up on in Visalia. As much as we would like to stay and be close to those we love and the places we know, we understand the greater Joy of being obedient to God's call.

Goodbye SLO


It is with both sorrow and Joy that we will be leaving our home, family, and friends. On February 2nd the four of us will be leaving for Vajta, Hungary. We will be attending Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe, Missions Training Program. From there, we plan on moving to Ukraine. We will miss all of our friends at Calvary SLO who have become family, but we know that God has a greater plan for us in Ukraine. I was born in San Luis Obispo as were Dominic and Joshua. Edna grew up in San Luis Obispo from a young age, so we all have deep roots in SLO. We will also miss my parents and the ranch where I grew up on in Visalia. As much as we would like to stay and be close to those we love and the places we know, we understand the greater Joy of being obedient to God's call.

And yes, it snows there.

Missions Conference

Missions Conference

We just got back from four days at a missions conference at Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta. The campus there was beautiful beyond our expectations. Everyone we met was so friendly and helpful. The messages that the various missionaries shared were amazing and extremely encouraging. We listened with tears in our eyes to the stories of how God is working around the world.

We expected to make new friends and bonds at the conference and we did, but some of the bonds were unexpected. Our children surprised us by making their own bonds. We thought that they might get tired of all the time they had to spend in classrooms, but it was just the opposite. We often had to drag them away from their new friends and had to listen to them beg to go hang out with them durring any free time. We felt so blessed to see our children become so interested and passionate about the missions field. They eagerly repeated the stories to us that they had heard from their friends about places like Brasil and Hungary. We were truly blessed in ways we had never expected.




Abraham and Joshua wanted to go everywhere together after they met in their class.




Dominic made several new friends who all spent hours together creating Lego empires.




The last night was the hardest when Joshua had to say goodbye to Abraham and his sister Bethany who had come up from Brasil.

Would the real Santa Claus please stand up

Would the real Santa Claus please stand up

This year my boys decided to corner me on the Santa Claus issue. They know that Christmas is about the birth of Christ not a man in a red suit, but they asked the tough questions like who is Santa Claus and where did he come from. So this year I did a little research and answered the tough questions for them.

Santa Claus

a. Nicholas was born in Parara, Turkey in 270 AD and later became Bishop of Myra. He died in 345 AD on December 6th. He was only named a saint in the 19th century.

b. Nicholas was among the most senior bishops who convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD and created the New Testament.

c. In 1087, a group of sailors who idolized Nicholas moved his bones from Turkey to a sanctuary in Bari, Italy. There Nicholas supplanted a female boon-giving deity called The Grandmother, or Pasqua Epiphania, who used to fill the children's stockings with her gifts. The Grandmother was ousted from her shrine at Bari, which became the center of the Nicholas cult. Members of this group gave each other gifts during a pageant they conducted annually on the anniversary of Nicholas’ death, December 6.

d. The Nicholas cult spread north until it was adopted by German and Celtic pagans. These groups worshipped a pantheon led by Woden –their chief god and the father of Thor, Balder, and Tiw. Woden had a long, white beard and rode a horse through the heavens one evening each Autumn. When Nicholas merged with Woden, he shed his Mediterranean appearance, grew a beard, mounted a flying horse, rescheduled his flight for December, and donned heavy winter clothing.

e. In a bid for pagan adherents in Northern Europe, the Catholic Church adopted the Nicholas cult and taught that he did (and they should) distribute gifts on December 25th instead of December 6th.

f. In 1809, the novelist Washington Irving (most famous his The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle) wrote a satire of Dutch culture entitled Knickerbocker History. The satire refers several times to the white bearded, flying-horse riding Saint Nicholas using his Dutch name, Santa Claus.

g. Dr. Clement Moore, a professor at Union Seminary, read Knickerbocker History, and in 1822 he published a poem based on the character Santa Claus: “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in the hope that Saint Nicholas soon would be there…” Moore innovated by portraying a Santa with eight reindeer who descended through chimneys.

h. The Bavarian illustrator Thomas Nast almost completed the modern picture of Santa Claus. From 1862 through 1886, based on Moore’s poem, Nast drew more than 2,200 cartoon images of Santa for Harper’s Weekly. Before Nast, Saint Nicholas had been pictured as everything from a stern looking bishop to a gnome-like figure in a frock. Nast also gave Santa a home at the North Pole, his workshop filled with elves, and his list of the good and bad children of the world. All Santa was missing was his red outfit.

i. In 1931, the Coca Cola Corporation contracted the Swedish commercial artist Haddon Sundblom to create a coke-drinking Santa. Sundblom modeled his Santa on his friend Lou Prentice, chosen for his cheerful, chubby face. The corporation insisted that Santa’s fur-trimmed suit be bright, Coca Cola red. And Santa was born.

So now I can confidently point to a holiday can of coca-cola and say, "Kids, this is Santa Claus."



At the end of the day after all the presents were opened, we all agreed that the best present was still under the tree.

Starbucks everywhere?

Starbucks everywhere?

Dominic has come to the conclusion that there must be a Starbucks everywhere or atleast one place in every city where you can buy a Starbucks product. He asked that we document his findings with photos.




In the Space Needle in Seattle,



In Leavenworth, WA,



And on the streets of Vancouver, BC Canada.

Sleds, Sleighs, and Carriages

Sleds, Sleighs, and Carriages

No matter where we went in Leavenworth, there always seemed to be some type of ride you could take. They actually had a horse drawn open sleigh.

The boys and I went looking for the sleigh ride and we stumbled on to a bridge that went to an island. We discovered three dog sled teams on the island and the owners were happy to let the boys play with the dogs when they weren't working.

Leavenworth, WA

Leavenworth, WA

We just got back from an action packed weekend. I'm still not sure how we crammed all the things we did into just a few days. Just yesterday we were sitting in Starbucks in Vancouver, BC sipping hot beverages. None of us had ever been to Canada, so we decided to drive there for lunch, but I should start from the beginning.

We drove up to Leavenworth, WA to meet with Steve Cassidy, the founder of Orphan's Hope. We met to discuss possible partnerships and ways to reach more of the orphans in Ukraine. We were very excited with all the possibilities that God could be leading us to.






An added bonus to the meeting was that we were in town for the Lighting Festival. Leavenworth is a Bavarian Village that pulls out all the stops for Christmas. We were blessed by all the family activities they offered. Sleigh rides, dog sled rides, sledding for the kids, chestnuts roasted over open fires, Bavarian music and costumes, lots and lots of German cuisine, and much more were all there to the delight of Dominic and Joshua.





The lights for the buildings came on as a shining star passed them while being carried down the street as the entire town sang "Silent Night". It was a beautiful sight to behold.




Edna sporting her new winter hat. It was a little chilly, dipping down to 19 degrees.




Of course Joshua was out making new friends with one of the town characters.


Over the next few days I'll post more pictures including the ones of Seattle and Vancouver. We all had an amazing time, (except for the marathon drive there and back, 48 hours and 46 minutes of total driving and 2625 total miles!), and the boys will never forget it.

Christmas Lights

Christmas Lights

I finally got all the Christmas lights and decorations up. Edna was surprised to come home to all the lights and a tree all decorated. I figured it was time to throw out the pumpkins and put away the fall decorations.


I took a picture of this cross at the Benedict Castle. I liked the way it came out. I think it captures the true meaning of Christmas better than any tree or wreath.

Benedict Castle

Benedict Castle

We had a very busy weekend of traveling and speaking. I was asked by Joshua's school to represent the military as they remembered Pearl Harbor. So, I started off Friday morning by saying a few words about why we remember Pearl Harbor. All the children met at the flag pole to raise the flag, say the pledge of allegiance, sing the Star Spangled Banner, and hear a little about Pearl Harbor. It was an honor to explain the price of Freedom to all the children at Hawthorne Elementary.
After that we drove down to Riverside to speak at a volunteer appreciation dinner hosted by Teen Challenge. It was held at the Benedict Castle on Friday and Saturday night. Edna and I gave our testimonies and shared how God had blessed our lives. We spoke both nights and were blessed to meet so many wonderful people. The Castle itself was like something out of a fairy tale. The pictures don't do justice to all the work the men at Teen Challenge put into all the Christmas lighting and decorations. But, by far the most beautiful thing was the change that God has made in the lives of the men going through the Teen Challenge program. I was touched by their stories and the new hope that was in their eyes.



Everything was so beautiful and we felt really blessed to be there.



Sunday morning we started our trip back home. We knew we wouldn't make it back in time for church at Calvary SLO, so we stopped by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.
We enjoyed hearing Pastor Chuck and Edna was mesmerized by all the selections in their book store, but we missed home. The four of us soon piled back into the car for the trip home. We finished our weekend by making it back in time to see the Christmas performance at Calvary SLO. It was a beautiful celebration of God's love and a perfect ending to our weekend travels.

December Sunset

December Sunset

Today we watched the sunset at Port San Luis and then enjoyed dinner together as a family. We could see the twinkle of lights from Pismo Beach as the moon glistened off the water. A beautiful ending to a warm December day.

I told Dominic that he should have ordered from the kid's menu. "It hurts. I can't eat anymore. I didn't know it would be so much."

Christmas Photo

Christmas Photo

How hard can it be to get a family photo? It turns out that it's harder than we thought it would be. Our dog, Spencer, was able to hold a better pose than the boys. Dominic and Joshua were trying to see who could make the funniest faces without mom or dad noticing. We took about thirty pictures before we got one that was "good enough". To give you an idea of our frustration, it was bright and sunny when we started and almost dark by the time we snapped the last shot. We might try again tomorrow, or not.



Just a few of the many faces of Joshua and Dominic.

I discovered today that Spencer is fascinated by the camera and the sounds it makes. Here are a few shots of Spencer being himself in front of the camera.

We just got back this morning from a camping trip with our church at Lake San Antonio. It was also our first weekend with our new addition to the family, Spencer. Spencer is a four month old Jack Russell Terrier who quickly secured a place in all our hearts with his loving and playful personality. He made our camping trip even more fun. Our favorite moment was when he discovered several deer eating his dog food and proceeded to fend them off with vicious barking and determined snarls.




Right after I took this picture of Joshua, Spencer, and Arabella, Spencer decided to dive into the lake after a rock one of the kids threw. Atleast we know he can swim.

We encountered lots of different wildlife over the weekend. The main attraction Friday night was a tarantula that someone had picked up on the way out to the lake. The roads were crawling with them in the late afternoon.

The kids got more brave with each picture. The adults were the ones who were creeped out.


Dominic walked around with the tarantula on his hat trying to get a reaction out of people. Most people didn't notice until it was too late.


If there was one thing we learned, it was that Smores are sticky, but they're so good. It seems that everyone was left licking their fingers.



Even the adults weren't immune to the lure of molten marshmallow and chocolate squished between graham crackers.



Deer like Smores too?