Friday, February 29, 2008

Still No Word

It is Friday morning, just after 10:30 and I still have not heard from Ben. He was to meet with the US Consulate today. Please pray for Ben's health. He sounds worn down and sick from many sleepless nights.

Michelle should be home this evening from LA. She has an MRI at noon.

Prayer and Praise

Dear friends,

I wanted to share some big answers to prayer. First, it looks like we may have a good chance getting Carolina soon. Ben has found an advocate who works in the US Embassy’s office. Plus, two pieces of paper work that came through today that are crucial to here coming. Ben and Caroline hope to have a meeting tomorrow (Friday) at the embassy. Please pray! We have been close several times before only to have the enemy snatch her.

Second, Michelle and a good friend traveled to LA yesterday to meet with one of the top research pituitary doctors. They met from 7 pm until midnight. Michelle will be running test until Friday afternoon. Her doctor called her the “perfect patient” and invited her to join his research at UCLA. This means all her expensive tests will be paid for, plus they are going to pay a little stipend along with travel and hotel expenses. I knew there had to be some way to make money out of our adventure? The real good news is that he believes there is real hope for major improvement in Michelle’s health. He has already dramatically changed Michelle’s treatment plan. It was good to hear hope in Michelle’s voice today.

Oh, by the way, the OB plant is jamming along. We have had two launch team meetings and both went great. Dick Kaufmann said I set two Harbor records. First, I had the largest number of attendees to our initial launch team meeting and second, the largest decline from week one to two, so much for records? We did have several families out last week but we also had several new folks too. What is really cool is the diversity the group and how our Heavenly Father is knitting us together.

Now, I just want to show off. It’s been in the 70’s and beautiful all week. I’m so thankful the Lord called me to San Diego !

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Did It Really Take?

For a few months, Faith and Isaac have not been interested in praying. In the mornings, we do our Bible time over breakfast then pray for the day. At bed time we do individual Bible time and prayers. They come up with excuses like, "I'm too tired to pray, you pray daddy." I don't want to force them into loving God, so I have been praying for wisdom.

This past week one evening, I put Faith and Isaac on each side of me on the couch told them I wanted to tell them the greatest story ever told. I took out a pen and paper and started drawing pictures of creation. My rendering of Adam and Eve was something to behold. Our time was pretty special. Faith tracked with me and had good questions. She even wanted to draw Jesus coming out of the tomb. Isaac was doing cartwheels and wanting to play with his trains. At then end, I asked Faith if she should tell me the story using the pictures we drew? She got it! Faith asked me if she could pray to receive God's free gift of eternal life? We prayed a sweet little heart felt prayer.

Faith is six years old. Would there be any real change? Overall, she was already a pretty amazing little girl. I just put Faith to bed a few minutes ago. She prayed one of the most beautiful prayers I have ever heard. I asked her why she like praying more? She said, "I love praying to God, now that He's in my heart. It is like getting a big hug from God!"

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

What is the real "stink" about skunks? M Huster

OK, it has been a really long time since I have posted anything on this blog. Unfortunately, my health has been terrible because I seem to catch every new bug out there that my kids bring home from their germ infested schools!

However, this post is not about that. We have noticed something very strange around here lately and it seems that no one is really talking about it. Most every night, we start to smell that aroma that is not pleasing to the nose. It is that distinct smell of a skunk. At first we thought it was the San Diego river that is just a few blocks away but our security guard finally solved this puzzle for us. He came running over one night trying to avoid being sprayed by a skunk. Just the other evening this also happened to Jim.

So, my question is, why do we never see skunks as "road kill" on our streets? Back east you couldn't drive down a street without coming across a skunk in the road. I mean the east coast skunk has so much more wide open spaces and places to hide. There is more land than road...But here in the city we are all crammed up against each other in our houses, busy streets, big city, buses, trains, cars, you name it, it is really congested here. So why don't we see dead skunks in the road?

I guess our Darwin theorists would say that the west coast skunk has evolved and made adaptations to its' environment. Maybe it has a new sensory system that has evolved to let it know when oncoming traffic is approaching. Could it be that this system has improved the skunks eye site to see and understand the colors of traffic signals? These skunks are not afraid of man. No timidity here. They actual approach humans. Maybe they have developed a sense of humor too, like, "Let's see how fast this guy can run." and laugh about it over a couple of drinks at the bar down the street. Could it be they have a neighborhood watch program? Since everything in California is so regulated to the point where we have to pay to park in our driveway, the skunks may have also bought into this regulation system as well. The west coast skunk has become an environmental conservationist. They keep our roads free and clear of debris. However,work still needs to be done about our air quality.

As for the east coast skunk, well, it is still just a shy, small brained animal with a bushy tail that can't seem to stay out of traffic even when the odds are all in his favor.