Well let’s see this was day four at Agape Orphanage and here is the run-down…

Lynn spoke for the second time at the conference…she spoken on prayer and got more amen’s and hallelujah’s than I did.  She did an awesome job.

The rest of the crew taught another day of Bible School, today’s topic was love and the craft was a bracelet.  Then Jake and Josh taught them “Red Rover, Red Rover” we’re lucky some little orphans didn’t get killed because a few got clothes-lined!

We ate at the Million Coin again and saw our first white people of the trip…a busload visiting another orphanage.  We laughed till our stomachs hurt watching Josh annoy Betsy!

We played with bubbles, listened to the testimony of a Buddhist man — and his family — who just became Jesus-followers.  We planned a baptism service.  We ate more rice.  We laughed.  We hugged a lot of kids, all of whom hugged back.  We spoke about prayer.  We prayed in the American New Year with our Burmese friends —  you were prayed for.  We sang and clapped and hugged some kids.  We laughed a lot, a few cried a little, especially when kids didn’t want to let go at the end of the day.

All in all, a real and good day.

Well, honestly this post requires pictures and youtube videos, because words simply will not adequately describe.  But let me simply say that last night we did New Year’s Eve — Burmese style — at Agape Orphanage.

We didn’t stay till midnight, just 9pm.  We didn’t have permission from the regional authorities to stay later.  So the kids moved part of the celebration up a few hours.  They divided into four teams, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Then they had a two hour plus contest to build a fire, finish cooking some variety of deep friend squash pieces — which the kids inhaled by the way — and sing and make noise and run around being as loud as they could for those two hours.  It was chaotic, mayhemic, play.  There was table dancing, Joel singing in Burmese, yelling contests, worship music, fires, and food.

What more could you want?

I have to say, it was a holy-blast watching these kids play.

Te Haw just came to the orphanage a few weeks ago, father died, mother cannot provide for him.  Aun Ong has been there a bit longer.  They found him by the side of the road, he has a speech and developmental problem so they don’t know how old he is, or where he was born.  He almost died from starvation by the side of the road, before Agape took him in.  Then  you have Abraham, you saw his story on the video, and a host of kids from whom Agape is their home.  Mix in Bible School students, who want to go back to their villages as missionaries and adults who are giving their lives to make a difference in their world.

And you look around and all you see are smiles, all you hear is laughter, a lot of joy.

It was a good New Year’s Eve.

Today at the orphanage, we will stop our meetings at 12:30pm and pray together for Calvary and our families.  That will be midnight back home.  This year we will have the chance to pray in the New Year in two places.

In this New Year, may you be blessed beyond belief so that you can be a blessing beyond compare.

It was the night before we were to fly into Bangkok – Monday night (Monday morning at home).  We needed to leave the hotel by 4:30am Tuesday to get to the Bangkok airport for our flight to Yangon, which meant awake by 3:30am.  All after a day of sightseeing in Bangkok, preceded by a 20 hour trip from home to Bangkok.

So I was in bed, easily by 10:25pm.  I figured I would fall asleep right away and get 5 hours sleep, not bad actually.  Instead I never slept.  From 10:30pm to 3:30am I was awake.  Did that ever happen to you?  You know you have to get up early, so you find it hard to get to sleep?

Except it wasn’t just that.  The flight into Yangon from Bangkok was the one that had the most question marks for me, which meant it also had the most prayer requests for me.  Let’s see…

• I had mistyped Sarah’s name on her Air Asia ticket – put Sarah Danielle instead of Sarah Nold.  I had typed her full name so many times for passport stuff that it was just stuck in my head.  Tried multiple times to contact Air Asia about it, but in 10 weeks was never able to get through.  Were they going to let her on or would her and I have a few more days in Bangkok?
• For our other three kids, Katy, Jake and Josh, we were using two different passports, a cancelled one that contained their Myanmar visa’s and a new one that they needed to get into Thailand.  Was that going to be a problem at Myanmar Passport control?
• Because of different baggage restrictions between Cathay Pacific and Air Asia we had excess baggage going into Yangon.  How much was that going to cost us?
• Nobody I had talked to had ever heard of Air Asia – except for Ginger and Theresa – who said, “Stay away.”  How was the flight going to work out?

So I figured, with all these prayer requests, I can either lay awake worrying or perhaps God just wants me to pray.  So for five hours I rested and I prayed.  Sometimes I sang – in my head of course, I didn’t want to wake Lynn.  Some time I spent tell Jesus thank you.  Some time I spent telling Jesus, “please help us.”   Some time I spent praying for the people in Bangkok and Myanmar who don’t know Jesus

But at one point, must have been about 3am — I just wanted to know that Jesus was there.  I was asking him to reveal himself, to make himself known to me.  Perhaps part of it was that I just wanted to know that everything that day would be okay – but even more at that moment I just wanted an encounter with Jesus.

At the end of my pleas – the words came into my mind – “I’ll meet you in Myanmar.”  It felt like a promise.  I felt at peace.

About 6 hours later, as we drove away from the Yangon airport – having had an easy and uneventful trip — we drove past a garbage dump.  A little girl about 3 was picking through the garbage.  A young mother and her son were gathering scraps of wood for cooking.  I heard Jesus words again – I’ll meet you in Myanmar.

Jesus’ story in Matthew – close to my heart – came to my mind, Whenever you serve the least of these my brothers and sisters you serve me.

I’ll meet you in Myanmar. Both a promise that brings peace, but also a challenge that brings conviction.   For if Jesus is to be seen in the eyes of the poor, everywhere you go in Myanmar, you have an opportunity to meet Jesus.

So last week, my daughter came home — was supposed to come home. She is going to Bethel University in Minnesota. She was finished with her finals last Thursday, drove to my folks for a day or two and was supposed to fly home Saturday — routing, Sioux Falls, SD to State College through Chicago and Washington D.C. — yep the same Saturday that that same D.C. got socked with snow.

So first the D.C. – State College flight was canceled. So after being on hold for about 90 minutes we got her a flight from Chicago to Harrisburg.  But morning came and the flight from Chicago to Harrisburg was canceled and we were being told that she couldn’t get home till MONDAY. This wasn’t good as we had a passport agency appointment in Philly on MONDAY.

So then our friend Steve Heinz — who has frequent flyer type influence with United — went on hold for 90 minutes and got her a flight from Sioux Falls to Harrisburg on Sunday, unfortunately it was coming in late on Sunday night which meant Katy would miss a big friendship opp with friends she hadn’t seen for many months. So she was slightly disappointed — read “falling apart” — about that. So we spent about 5 hours on hold trying to get her on standby for an earlier Sunday flight. After 5 hours of hearing — Thank you for your patience. Your call is important to us. Please wait for the next available agent. We gave up and my siblings got her on standby by going to the Sioux Falls airport.

Things were looking up. She made her first standby flight — Sioux Falls to Chicago. Unfortunately on her standby flight from Chicago to Harrisburg, she was number 37 of 44 on the standby list. So some more “slight disappointment” type stuff to work through. Then to make matters worse her appointed flight got delayed by 2.5 hours…and of course they did it 20 minutes at a time, drawing it out long enough so that we would wonder if it was just going to get canceled. Which gave us about 150 more minutes of “slight disappointment” for Katy. Katy finally got home about 11:30pm on Sunday night.

So what’s the point?

As a Father, the whole time, I just wanted to fix it. Make it right. If I thot it would have been quicker I probably would have driven to Chicago to get her. I didn’t want her to be disappointed. I wanted her to have what her heart desired. Then God put this thought on my mind, “What if there is something here more important than her comfort? In fact what if this isn’t about her at all. What if want to do something through her for someone else?” All that gave me a cool, teachable moment with Katy.

But then the next thought came. Wow. I couldn’t make it as God. I don’t think my love is often enough, strong enough to refrain from fixing stuff for my kids — so that they can be used to serve others, or so that they can grow in character and perseverance.

God loves me enough to let me suffer, if it will help me grow, or if I can find the joy that comes from serving someone else. In fact that’s what Christmas is all about. God let Jesus suffer…so that Jesus could serve us.

Wow.

Admired for her beauty, Jennie Jerome (Winston Churchill’s mother) found her way into the upper reaches of the social networks of England.  It is said that once within the same week Ms. Jerome dined with two of England’s premier leaders: Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and his chief rival, William Gladstone.  When she was asked to relate her first impressions of these two men, Ms. Jerome made this observation.

When I left the dining room after sitting next to Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But when I sat next to Disraeli I left feeling that I was the cleverest woman.

Gladstone & Disraeli

What impressions do we make upon the people around us?  Perhaps you know people like Gladstone — whenever you are around them, you can’t help but think about their talent and success and wit and intelligence. Perhaps they don’t even realize that all the focus is on them, they are used to it.  Perhaps you know people like Disraeli, whenever you are around them, it seems like they don’t take themselves very seriously, but they seem to draw the best out of you.  They may not even realize it, but they are very other-centered, not very self-centered.

I guess it’s fun to be able to say that you have met a Gladstone, perhaps it’s even a step up the ladder if you can say that you know someone like that.  But it is far more life-giving to be known by someone like Disraeli.  And I bet if you had a choice you would take Gladstone for dinner, but Disraeli for a friend.

So which are you?  When it comes to relationships, are you working hard at being impressive to others?  Or are you working hard to draw out the best in others?  One will have many people saying they know you.  The other will have many friends.

In relationships, be impressed with others instead of trying to make an impression. Throttle back on the urge to make your presence felt, and instead look for ways to esteem those around you. By expressing genuine interest in the people in your life, you’ll win friends and gain favor.

This Christmas season our Christmas teaching series has been entitled, “ONE Christmas…to get it right.” What if you only had one Christmas to get Christmas right, no opportunity to come to the end of this Christmas season and say, “Well it wasn’t all that I hoped it would be — but there’s always next year.”  This focus on ONE Christmas has led me to take some time to take a look at the inside and outside of  my life.

So here are some questions I’m asking myself, maybe they make a good New Year’s Evaluation?  If you have some good evaluation questions you use on yourself, send them my way.  Here are some of mine…

1)  Do I live like I’ve been invited by God to the greatest life imaginable?

2) Who am I trying to please…and why?

3)  What three core values do I want to become such a part of my kids that someday they hand those core values down to their kids?

4)  Does my generosity adequately reflect my gratitude for God’s grace and my faith that He loves to bless those who bless others?

5)  Am I redeeming time, wasting time, or just filling my time?

6)  Do my friends down through the years know how much of who am I, and what I have accomplished is because of their impact and influence upon my life?

7)  How much of my joy and peace is dependent upon my circumstances and how much is based in the fact that I have Jesus?

8)  If I only had one month to live, who would get most of my time?  Why don’t they now?

9)  Will my children remember my laugh when I am long gone?

10)  Who do I need to forgive, what debts do I need to cancel?

11)  What have I done lately that is an example of generosity, courage or wisdom (my three core values)?

12)  Am I investing my life in my wife in the same way Jesus invested his life in the church?

13) What memories/experiences am I giving my family that will last a lifetime?

14) What is my holy discontent?

15) I’m called to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, how close to 100% am I?  Where am I holding back?  Why?

Sometimes I think children get the friendship thing a little bit better than adults.  I know sometimes not — every child has gone through some of those, “does anyone like me” seasons.  Those seasons hurt, but part of the reason they hurt is because kids get the value/importance of friendship. 

So it got me thinking about one of Jesus’ classic statements on kids — which got me thinking about snow days and play…so follow along.  Here is what Jesus said,

But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. Luke 18:15-17  (NIV)

Don’t miss this.  This is potentially life-changing stuff.  Now what in the world did Jesus mean?  If you can’t receive the Kingdom like a little child, you don’t even get in.   What does it mean that Kingdom greatness is reserved for those who are kids at heart?

What does Jesus have in mind?  Well, when you think back to your childhood, what do you remember?  When you miss your childhood, what do you miss?  I don’t remember much about school, but I do remember recess.  Recess was the best part of my day — playing with other kids.  I remember playing King of the Mountain on the snowpile.  I miss kickball.  I remember vacations with my folks –which is just an extended family recess — especially one where we stayed in this run-down cabin near Yellowstone and it rained for three days…and we played hide and seek inside this little cabin.  I remember board games on snowdays.  I miss dodgeball.  I remember playing catch with my dad and tag with my mom.

The serious business of childhood is play.  When we were kids, a wasted day was a day with no play.  Here is what I think, “life is too short to miss recess.  Recess is the essence of childhood.  Without recess, without play, we miss the Kingdom of God.  A day without play is a wasted day.

What do you consider a wasted day?

In his book, The Effective Father, Gordon MacDonald wrote of Boswell a famous  biographer, that he often referred to a special day in his childhood when his father took him fishing.  The day was fixed in his mind, and he often reflected upon many of the  things his father had taught him in the course of their fishing together.  After having heard of this particular expedition so often, it occurred to someone to check Boswell’s father’s journal to determine what he had thought of that particular day.  Turning to that date the reader found only one sentence written; “Gone fishing today with my son, a day wasted.”

Life is too short to miss recess.  Play matters to God.  Play is not a waste of time.   God invented recess.  It’s more common religious name is the Sabbath, but it’s really just recess.

Okay…so what does that have to do with friendship?  Well I know you can play alone, and I know that you might possibly have friends that you never play with… but there are few things that will bond friendship better than play.  Maybe it’s table games like Settlers, or card games like UNO, or a good long board game of Monopoly; maybe it’s wrestling with your sons, or playing Wii with your daughters; maybe it’s getting a group to go tubing at Tussey; maybe it’s golf or ultimate frisbee or just getting together and laughing — but play is a good way to be friends.

When I was a kid growing up in South Dakota, some of my favorite days were snowdays.  Snowdays are freebies — it’s like getting a Sabbath where you don’t have to go to church!  Some of my best childhood memories are snowdays — fire in the fireplace, and adventure outside.  So today, we canceled our Saturday evening worship service.  Now I still have a sermon to write, but all of a sudden it feels like a snowday.    So if you read this today — maybe God’s given  you an extra Sabbath — so go play.

This one isn’t necessarily profound or deep — but it is about being a friend.

There was a father, who was trying to soften the blow of the death of the family cat — especially for his daughter.  He took her in his arms and said, “Dear don’t be sad, Tabby is in heaven now.”  The little girl looked at her father with a “what-are-you-taking-about look on her face.  “Daddy,” she asked finally, “What in the world did God want with a dead cat?”

Sometimes when it comes to being a good friend, I feel a bit like a dead cat.  What does a dead cat have to offer anyone?

Now equal time for dog lovers.  Some time ago, a newspaper in Tacoma, Washington, carried the story of Tattoo, the basset hound.  If you can put yourself in Tatoo’s place…(not the doghouse) Tatoo was in his master’s good graces, as the lease was put around his neck, Tattoo could barely contain his enthusiasm.  He was going for a walk.  His walk…ended up being a run.  Tattoo hadn’t signed up for a run, but when his owner shut his leash in the car door and took off with Tattoo still outside the vehicle, he had no choice.   Motorcycle officer Terry Filbert was the next person to see Tatoo.  He noticed a passing vehicle with something that appeared to be dragging behind it. As he passed the vehicle, he saw the object was a basset hound on a leash.  “He was picking them up and putting them down as fast as he could,” said Filbert.  He chased the car to a stop and Tattoo was rescued, but not before the dog reached a speed of 20-25 mph and rolled over several times.  (The dog was fine but wasn’t interested in evening walks for a long time.)

Sometimes when it comes to being a good friend, I feel like Tattoo the basset hound.  I’m picking-em up and putting-em down just as fast as I can, but I just can’t keep up.

Then there’s the squirrel.  I’ve been watching a lot of squirrels this fall/winter.  This year there was an excellent nut harvest so the squirrels have been going nuts.  You know if you think about it, squirrels have to be one of the most persistent animals in creation.

Once Lynn watch a squirrel take a nut all the way up a tree, out on a branch…and then dropped the nut.  It didn’t even seem to faze the squirrel — back down the tree, get the same exact nut and start back up the tree — persistence.

Think about this, squirrels are so good at persistence that they have birthed a whole anti-squirrel industry.  But I have news for you “squirrel-proof” bird feeders don’t offer long term proof.  They keep working it, and working it, trying this, trying that, until persistence wins the day and the bird food becomes squirrel food.

They aren’t rocket scientists, not even good engineers.  They just don’t give up.  they use all their squirrely qualities to get the prize.  They dig in with their toes. They balance on edges and use their tails as anchors.  With single minded-purpose, their minds are on the prize — nuts.

When it comes to friends, we all need a squirrel or two in our lives.  Someone who is persistently on our side.  Someone who will not give up hope even when it seems like you’ve lost the battle.  Someone who persistently calls you back to what’s good.  Someone who will use everything they have to help you, because they think you are worth their efforts.

So who are the squirrels in your life?  Who in your life, might need you be their squirrel?  When it comes to the power of a friend — N(ever) U(nderestimate) T(he) S(quirrels).   Sorry, couldn’t resist.  :)

Just realized that because of ice, a bunch of you –Calvary folk– were not able to make it to church this last weekend. Just wanted to give you an opportunity to keep up with our ONE Christmas series.

So click

Then after you listen, you can watch the video below.