Lessons I’ve Learned since Friday

Posted on June 14, 2009 by David

In an effort to alleviate any possible injuries that you might have when moving furniture, setting up tents or washing cars I made a list of a few things that I was able to learn this weekend.

  1. Dollies should always be required for moving heavy furniture in a box. Lift with the dolly, not your back or legs.
  2. Just because there is empty space in the minivan doesn’t mean there is room for more weight.
  3. Lowes loves to take huge return orders, but only when you called the day before and spoke to another manger who knew he would be off duty when the return arrived.
  4. It’s always better to have an engineer available when setting up a new tent for the first time, especially when the directions were created in a foreign country in a language that resembles English. It helps even more if the engineer owns one of these tents.
  5. Always look at the front of the box to see what the final tent should look like before joining pieces together.
  6. Three sodas and three hours of jumping in a bouncy blowup tiger do not cancel each other out, but will cause a four year old to miss a nap and have a twitch for the rest of the day
  7. Drinking a soda to wash down a hot dog is OK for the first one but after the 3rd hot dog there will be a price to pay later.
  8. Snow cones melt, and the paper cup cone that holds the snow cone falls apart at the same rate of speed as the ice melts.
  9. When you see a bottle of sun screen, put it on. Clouds do not offer good protection from sun burn, they might keep you cool but your skin will be hot later.
  10. Always volunteer to dry the cars when you have a choice, unless you enjoy getting soaked all the way to the bone. If washing, make sure you are in control of the hose.
  11. If you have a choice between carrying chairs up the stairs or using the elevator, use the elevator. It will take longer but your back and legs will thank you for it.
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Google in Sub-Saharan Africa

Posted on June 11, 2009 by David

Google is always working to improve their Gmail which I have used for years and even forward my other email accounts to my Gmail account. Today, I read about another cool feature that was developed in Africa and they explain it on their Official Google Africa Blog in English or En Français! They sent engineers to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to sit in Internet cafes and determine what they could do to help people with slow internet connections, now I haven’t had a slow connection for at least a decade, but it’s good to be prepared so I turned on the Inbox preview so I can read my ten most recent messages while the rest of my email loads. If you’re not using Gmail you don’t need an invitation anymore and they give you over 7GB of online storage for free.

But even cooler then that I read that on Monday, Google just updated their African maps to include more details! I tried to check out street view in Cameroon but I don’t think the Google mobile has made it over there yet to drive around and take pictures of everything. I’m also pretty sure the eco-friendly green car they were using in Pleasant Hill Missouri would have a difficult time with some of the roads.

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Worth IT | JAARS

Posted on June 11, 2009 by David

This is a great video to show the importance of IT (Information Technology) in missions and critical role that it has. This video is 8 1/2 minutes long and shows just a glimpse of what is happening in the world of missions and computers.

My favorite line in this video is, “God created computers for missions, he just lets the rest of the world use them.”

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Worth IT | JAARS“, posted with vodpod

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Laptops for Cameroonian Translators | JAARS

Posted on June 11, 2009 by David

I once was given $50 to advance the Kingdom of God and God multiplied the money to get 2 laptops to translators in Sierra Leone and finish the translation task for the Kona language.

Many are still waiting.

Please PRAY or GIVE or BOTH to support this project!

Laptops for Cameroonian Translators | JAARS

Shared via AddThis

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God’s Creation

Posted on June 10, 2009 by David

On the 6th day God created the Woodlouse, also known as a roly-poly. This wonder of creation loves to play in damp dark places. I remember growing up that they loved to hang out by the backdoor and when they somehow made it through the cracks they quickly rolled up into a ball and became a crunchy little dead poly.

Tonight Joshua and Jonah, who suffer from Entomophobia, miraculous were cured from this aliment. They stayed up 30 minutes past bedtime catching and counting the roly-poly bugs that were minding their own business in the mulch in the front yard. But this nocturnal detritivores met their match today when Jonah realized that they tickled when he picked them up and let them crawl on his hand. Joshua thought it was more fun to see how far they could crawl up his arm before they fell off.

I suggested instead of seeing how many they could hold in their hand to build a special house for them. Jonah was able to hold 30 at one time but some of them paid a high price to spend time with Jonah and will remain all rolled up. We had a Dairy Queen Sundae cup that is now serving as an eco-system for a hundred or so bugs with some dirt, mulch and a few leaves.

Who needs toys when God has already blessed us with so much in his creation, we just need to take a step back and look and maybe not try and crush all the roly-poly bugs.

Time to catch the bugs

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It’s time to finish the task

Posted on June 9, 2009 by David

Cameron Towsend was asked, if your God is so big why doesn’t he speak Cakchiquel? This simple question changed not only Uncle Cam’s life but changed the pace of Bible translation. I found the graphic below and I just wanted to share it and show that God’s Word is spreading exponentially.

llc09_wycliffebibletranslators_web

“God’s work done His way, in His timing, for His glory, is never lacking His supply.” – Jim Elliot, missionary to the Waodani, martyred in Ecuador, 1956



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Swimming Lessons

Posted on June 8, 2009 by David

The boys swimming lessons were canceled last week because the pump at the pool was not working. The swimming pool, or someone that works there, called us 15 minutes before Joshua’s lessons were to begin and 15 minutes after Jonah’s had started and wondered why we weren’t there. I thought because, “they told us not to come,” was a pretty good excuse for not being there but I guess I didn’t read the small print when I signed up that we were supposed to be watching the pool on the other side of town for when it was fixed.

Happy SwimmerSo put away the crayons and grab the bathing suits it’s time to learn how to swim. Joshua thought this meant that we were going to take him to the deep end and throw him in and see what happened. He wanted us to blow up his water wings and put them on before we left the house. Jonah just cried because he didn’t want to go. This is from two little boys who want to go to the swimming pool all the time.

So we got there and waited, apparently everyone seemed to have the same excuse that they were called and told not to come. Jonah’s lessons were first and he started off good until one of the little girls started screaming which is contagious in 4 year olds in Pleasant Hill once one starts they all start. One of the seasoned instructors took the 2 sad little children and sang the children in the pool to the tune of the people on the bus go up and down and she was able to calm them down enough to get them to kick their legs and swim with the foam noodles, not really sure why they call it a noodle since there is no way that any type of sauce would make this edible.

Joshua going underJoshua was in the next class up and once he realized that he was able to touch the floor of the pool the anxiety about being thrown into the deep end left him. He had fun seeing who could make bigger splashes when they kicked. All five of the kids in his class seemed to enjoy splashing the instructor’s notebook. I would too if she left it so close to the edge of the pool. Hopefully we will make it on time tomorrow, especially since I’ve already used up the excuse someone called me and told me not to come. I guess I could try I didn’t think the water was wet enough to swim in.

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Sharing Sunday

Posted on June 7, 2009 by David

Today was a sharp contrast from a few Sundays ago when I shared our Sunday morning confessions. Today we had two little boys that slept in, that is a miracle for those who don’t know our boys. They also enjoyed their breakfast without complaining that I didn’t give them candy or chocolate cake for breakfast. I think they were excited that they would get to not only go to another church this Sunday but an opportunity to share like Mommy and Daddy, but not on the big stage but just with the kids like them. Big people don’t seem to smile as much as smaller kids do when people are talking according to Joshua.

We have been sharing with other churches and families homes for almost a year now and every time they get to sit and listen to Mommy and Daddy share the story of God’s call on our lives in varying lengths and varying forms, many different modules and videos and I’m pretty sure they would be able to talk about our story without any help from Mommy and Daddy.

Today they were able to hold up the map and show everyone in children’s church where France and Cameroon are on the map. They also were able to pass out a penny to everyone in the room, which we use to help explain what a missionary is. They were also able to help with assembling a prayer cube that helps with stimulating prayer for the Bibleless people groups. [Download the cube here]

I’m very thankful for my two little helpers!

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Power of hearing the Word of God

Posted on June 6, 2009 by David

I love when I read in Acts 3 how Peter and John were going to the temple and the crippled man was healed through the power of the name of Jesus Christ.

I read a story today about Emmanuel who lives in Sierra Leone who began praying for healing after hearing the Word of God.

“Brother Paul asked us to give this to you. A man in the village gave it to him. He wanted you to have it, since you are the pastor, so you can share it with the people. He said it is the New Testament in our language.”

Emmanuel turned it on and heard Mende, his language, the language of his people, the language of his ancestors, coming from the black box. He listened, entranced—God’s Word, in Mende!!

He began listening to God’s Word through the Proclaimer every day. He remembers the day he heard Acts chapter three. Peter and John met the crippled man at the temple gate called Beautiful and said, “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” When Emmanuel heard this, he felt his faith stir. He says, “I started trusting God for my healing. Most nights I would wake up to pray and claim my healing. I said, ‘Lord, you healed that man that was crippled from birth, you can heal me who is only four months crippled.'”

As he continued to pray, he slowly felt life coming into his feet. Then, one night, he had a dream. He says, “I dreamed somebody was standing before me but I could not see his complete figure. He introduced himself as the angel Gabriel. He assured me God would heal me because of my faith. When I woke up, I called the other pastor to pray with me. The next morning, at about noon, I realized I could do much with little or no support from anybody. After sometime, I began doing my usual work. As you can now see, I am working normally, although I do sometimes feel slight pain in my veins. I am brushing a farm and also burning coal as you now see!”

Skeptics have asked him, “How do you know that you weren’t helped by the medical facility?” To which he responds, “I didn’t go to a medical facility.” And when they ask, “How do you know it was God’s special intervention?” He tells them how his faith was stirred by hearing God’s Word, and how God sent an angel to him in his dream.

Read the entire story at Faith Comes By Hearing.

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Fun Devotions

Posted on June 4, 2009 by David

We have been going through Fun Devotions for Boys – Gotta Have God and one of the really fun items about this series is that they have hands on crafts and experiments. Two days ago we talked about playing and that it can be fun and educational. “Play skillfully” Psalms 33:3

Egg and vinega bathThere was a story about playing, but what really captivated them was the hands on example.

So our example was to turn a normal egg into a rubber ball and that the shell would come off in the jar. We took an egg out of our refrigerator and let them hold it so they could feel that it was a normal egg. Then we let them take turns filling the jar with vinegar and in 48 hours we told them they would have a rubber ball. Joshua said that 48 hours was going to take forever so we told him in 2 days so the number didn’t seem as large. They watched as the egg was covered with bubbles and checked on it every few hours to see how the shell dissolving was coming. Today he woke up and ran to the jar and said we get to play with the ball today. I’m not really sure how much play we will have especially since the instructions to the parents say “Dispose of egg after the activity.”

I guess we will learn what it means to play skillfully when we remove the egg from the 48 hour vinegar bath later this morning.

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