A Christmas Feasting Thought

This morning I was thinking about what we had talked about and shared at our Matrix Christmas Feast last night. Scott encouraged us all to keep Jesus in the center of our Christmas season. A great reminder. We had a fun Christmas feast of eating and drinking that many believers have partaken of, in some fashion, for most of our lives. During the reading of the Christmas story I was reminded that our savior was born into a lower status household. That He was not a person of wealth, or power. And that He truly was an alien in a foriegn land. So this morning when I was reading through Zechariah chapter 7 and I came across this, it struck me pretty powerfully;

Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: "Ask all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?' And when you were eating and drinking were you not feasting for yourselves?"

And further down,

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'

I looked at this and I thought about the African men living here as aliens, selling their nic-nacks down by the beach. I thought about the orphans with HIV living at Casa Sol. I thought about the fragile little old ladies that I see walking down the cobblestone streets with their groceries. I thought of the homeless I see around Cascais and I wondered, do I remember Jesus when I see the least of these? Is my Christmas about feasting for me, or truly feasting for Jesus? Have I lived out the gospel during this Christmas season or did I go into auto-pilot and just start doing what I have always done for so many seasons? Yes, I have remembered that it is the birth time of Jesus. But I have to ask myself, 'Have I heard the words of the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets?' Zech 7:7

I know that there is no condemnation in Jesus, but I also know that as I wander along the narrow path ahead of me there are people that I can either become involved with or I can step over. So as we approach the season of Christmas may we as followers of the Christ truly make Christmas a time of feasting that is for Jesus. May they know us by our Love. And May You Be Blessed in Doing This.

The Remains of the Day or (Fire in the Attic)

Well here is our story. Last night Eden had a girl friend stay the night. They wanted to go up to the attic and hang out, so we let them. Noah went up with them and they talked him into getting the space heater from his room.
Flash to this morning. After getting up and starting coffee, I took Patches the dog for a walk to go to the bathroom. As we returned and entered the building I thoght I smelled a burnt plastic smell. When I got up to our flat I was sure I smelled something. It wasn't coming from any of the other flats. Right then I remembered that the kids were in the attic last night. I ran up there to check if the smell was coming from there. When I opened the door a wall of heat and thick smoke was in the air. We had a fire somewhere! I couldn't see a thing because the smoke was to thick, so I ran down stairs to grab a flash light. Running into the house I yelled "Paula, theres a fire! Where's the flash light? We have a fire up stairs!" Then I ran back up with the flash light.
As I rounded the corner to the attic again the smoke was heavier than before. I could hardly see a thing in there. I took a deep breath and plunged in to see what was burning. As I entered I could see that the area where the bed was was glowing orange through the smoke. We had a fire about three feet by three feet burning in it. My heart exploded and my mind whirled. We were going to burn to the ground was my first thought, then I thought I've got to put this out. There were people in the building. We had to call the Bombieros, the Fire Dept. I turned to run back down stairs and remembered that opening a door can feed a fire. So I shut the door.
When I got back down to the flat Paula, Eden, Noah, Deni, the cat and the two dogs were headed out. I grabbed my phone and tried to call the Bombieros but the number didn't work. I figured out later that I had dialed the wrong number. The emergency number here in Portugal is 112 not 911 and I think I dialed 211. Anyhow lucky for me that our friends down stairs at the photo copy shop called.
I ran down stairs to see if Antonio, the owner of the photo shop, had a fire extinguisher and he did. I ran back up to the attic trying to pull the pin from the extinguisher. It was not so easy. I stopped and banged the thing out and then took a breath to head in and hit the bed with a blast from the extinguisher.I was probably pretty careless, because I just threw the door open and rushed in. The smoke was so thick I couldn't see my hand infront of my face. I couldn't even see the fire. But I knew where the bed was and I hit it with the chemical fire extiguisher. The heat rushed up and the smoke burned my eye, but I knew that I had blasted the fire from the hissing sound.
Now however my chest felt like it was going to explode becuase I had been running up and down stairs and my heart was pumping adrinalie into my system in huge doses. I needed air. I had to get out of there. I turned to go and it was almost as black behind me as in front. Just a slight yellow glow from the light coming through the door. I need clean air, not this putrid plastic smelling smoke. I bolted for the door and the smoke poured out with me. I could barely see from all the smoke. Even the stairs were heavy with smoke to the point where it was hard to see. But there was a small window where I could stick my face out. I jammed my face to the opening and blew the stale air from my lungs sucking back mostly clean air. And then I cried out to Jesus for help with this. I was scared and all I could imagine was the whole building consumed in an inferno.
From the window I could see the Bombieros pulling up infront of the house. I headed down and found my self standing in the rain as swarms of voulunteer fire fighters buzzed up and down the stairs to save the day. It was cold. My neighbors were kind. I was lucky and so blessed that we were all safe. My wife, the little girl staying the night, our kids, and the pets. All safe. No matter what was lost, the important things were safe.
In the end the attic was messed up really badly. The bed was gone. The walls were covered in soot. The hall and attic stink like burnt plastic. Our landlords couch was ruined and proably most of the stuff up there will need to be gotten rid of. But on the other had we were so protected. Our house is completely smoke free and liveable. You would never know that there was a fire right above us. And there was very little up in the attic that was a great value, so thank you Jesus.
I've put some picture below for you viewing pleasure. Be Blessed
This is the view towards the door way. That's Terri, Zephne' and Paula looking at the damage. We have a great community of belivers who showed up to see if there was anything they could do for us.

That was a bed. We've had a number of guest stay the night there. The feathers were a blanket.

More bed, blankets, and burned up furniture.

I look like a coal miner because of running in and out of the attic trying to put out the fire.

Oh What a Night (Live Blog)

Ok so it's not a great picture, but this is my kitchen right this moment. Those are "Greek Gods" you're looking at. Guess what the high schoolers are studying right now at Corner Stone Academy?
So right now we've got the "Squirl Nut Zippers" blasting their Christmas CD on the surround sound and there is a whole bunch of groovin and waltzing going on in the living room. There is the heavenly smells of garlic and onions floating through the house from the kitchen and my neighbors are peeking up at my flat wondering what kind of craziness is going on up here. Earlier we all walked down to my local grociers and butchers, in "Greek God' to buy the fixins for some simi-greekish food. I'll see how they all treat me next time i'm there. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.
I have been so waiting for a night like tonight. A house full of young people in costumes, having fun, laughing and living in community together. What a great way to start the Christmas season. May you Be Blessed this Christmas Season

So Much Thanks

BUYING FRUITS AND NUT FROM A NAZARE STREET VENDER

You know it easy to be full of thanks on those warm sunny days when you have nothing to do but enjoy life. It's easy to say thank you when things are going my way. It's easy to count it all joy when time are good. But that is not the case a lot of the time. In fact it might be the case less than half the time in my life.
Every year this day of Thanksgiving comes around for America. And every year I have to stop and take a look at my life and think about being Thankful. I can imagine that with the economic situation in America this year there were a lot of people that were thinking about what they had to be thankful for this year. I hope that even if this has been a difficult season for you or your family, that you found something to be thankful for.
Our family had one of those hard life moments the day before Thanksgiving. While at the Corner Stone Academy, putting on an event called "Africa Day", we recieved a phone call from the states. A phone call from the states at 10:00 am is not good news most of the time. It was not good news. Paula's 102 year old grand father had pass away. And so we went into the Thanksgiving holiday under a dark cloud. We knew this would probably happen while we were over here, but it's harder to live it than imagine it. Roy lived a good life and at 102 he was probably ready to go hang out with Jesus. So that part was sad but not the hardest part. I think what was hardest for Paula was that she wasn't going to get to be with her family during this time. At the holidays, right after her grand daddy had passed away. And so we are left with that thought again. What do you do with thanksgiving when your not feeling all so thankful. Well here's a few things we are thankful for.

Thank you for keeping us afloat and supporting us even when the economy isn't doing great.
Thank you 5th grade 9:30 class for the care package that we recieved before Thanksgiving.
Thank you for the e-mails of encouragement.
Thank you that my friend Suz has gotten a clean bill of health and the cancer is in remission.
Thank you for the Hardy family who came over and shared Thanksgiving with us.
Thank you that we have a church community that really shares all things in common.
Thank you for my family and their health.
Thank you that the weather has been so nice for so long.
Thank you that Grand Daddy is hanging out with Jesus.
Thank you for the euro/dollar being closer in exchange rate.
Thank you for this crazy life.

I could go on and on, but I won't. Please keep praying for us and know that we are Thankful for you and will miss you this holiday season. Be Thankful and Be Blessed

Glory

This last weekend the core leadership team for the Lisboa Matrix traveled up to Nazare for our yearly leadership retreat. It was a time to gather together for work, fun and healing. We went with the expectation of growing together and looking at the direction we have been headed in as a church. What we discovered was our Glory

This weekend we looked at ourselves through the Father's eye. Who am I in your eye Father. How do you see me? There is a mythic reality that John Eldridge talks about in his book "Waking the Dead" that deals with the deep truth about who we are. It's a truth that sounds to good to be true. It is a truth that sleeps in us. A truth that must be awakened. A truth about our heart. It is a truth that calls us to be transformed from death to life. This truth comes in three parts.

1.Your Heart is Good.

2. You are in a Battle for your Heart the Heart's of others.

3. You have a Glory and that Glory is needed.

We entered into this search for our Glory this weekend. Zac gentlely walked us into the the shadowed waters of our heart. He asked us to listen for the Father's thought's about us. Spoke about Ireanus' quote "The Glory of God is man fully alive" Strectched us to think about how we think about our heart. Think about the fact that scripture says God has given us a new heart. And then he sent us out to listen.

I didn't have an explosive burning bush experiance, but there were things that I heard, felt though about and received. When we returned we shared and listened to how the Father might have shared or spoken to each other. And then I started to enter into my Glory.

Showing your Glory can be unnerving and almost embarassing, but it is how we enter into a full life in/with Jesus. As we processed our Glory and I asked, "Father, how do you see me? What is my Glory?" I remembered two seperate instances where people had spoken to me or had given me verses about a certain way they saw me. This is what they said, (get ready it really is out of this world), you are like David. WHAT!?!

The first time Scott Frazer gave me that Glory I thought, wow cool. Wish I was David. I mean King David rocks! But let's be real I am me. The second time was this summer at our CONNECT time for CAI. I had someone I respect a whole lot tell me. "You worship like David." Boy that felt good, and that's how I feel when I worship, but I know me. I'm a fake. I wish I was David, but let's get real. But it felt good to hear it. Then this weekend I realized that what is needed is my Glory and that my Glory is the new name my Father gave me. DAVID! Warrior, Poet, Lover and King.

Do I sound like I'm over the top here. Is it arrogent to think God would name me David? Is this really my Glory? Am I truley "A man after God's own heart" (I almost typed I don't know) but YES! I am. And I am going to dance, fight, pray, love, and create with the same heart of passion that God put into David. I am going to scream from the roof tops that my Glory, your Glory are needed in this epic battle. I am going to call out the broken hearted, and the chained and set them free from their shadowed hearts. I am going to reveal their Glory so that we can see them transformed. See them transformed like everyone who came into contact with Jesus. For it was not a yolk of slavery that Jesus came to bring, but freedom and life. Abundant life. Transformed life. You might have been Peter the fisherman, but now you are The Rock and I'll build my church on you. You might have been John, but now I call you Son of Thunder. You might have been Saul the murdering one, but now I call you Paul the Apostol. Jacob, you are Isreal. It all sounds so grand, to good to be true, but it's the mythic reality of being a child of God. A friend of Jesus.

Be what you were created to be. Let the Glory of the one who lives in you shine. Let all the world see it, that they might honor the Father who has given you your Glory. Fight for each others Glory, for each ohters hearts.

Be Blessed and Live in Your Glory

So Busy, But So Thankful

The weeks are flying by and we are flapping just as hard as we can. Sometimes being a Wild Goose is a rush and other times it just feels like we are in a rush.
I want to have a healthy rhythem of life. I want to enjoy these last few sunny days before it get's cold and wet. I want to stop and listen to the story that Noah has thought up in his head. I want to look at the picture of Nick Jonas glued on Edens school folder, that she wants to show me. I want to walk on the beach with my wife. I want to sit in Gods presence and worship. I want my beloved to have more free time. I'm waiting. It will come. It's already starting.

Here's somethings I'm thankful for this week.

1. A great family that loves each other.
2. The Matrix growing in healthy ways.
3. God re-lighting my heart to go deeper with Him again.
4. Denny and Maureen.
5. Paula's face not hurting today.
6. The Dollar getting stronger against the Euro.
7. Sun.
8. My journal that I read from 2 years ago.
9. Msking progress in the little things.
10. Getting the time to blog.

Here's my prayer for you...May the Lord Bless you and show Himself to you at a deeper level. May you hear His voice today, and may He say that he couldn't Love you any more than he already does. Be Blessed, Keep Flying, and Be Loved

I Don't Like it One Bit

The cat, Tiger Lily, has lost her mind. She is tearing around the house like she has just smoked crack or something. Down the hall, through the kitchen, aross the dog (who doesn't like a one bit either), and up the side of the leather couch. I repeat, I don't like it one bit, because the couch is starting to get these like cat claw spots in the leather. I DO NOT LIKE IT! I WILL NOT LET YOU CLAW THE COUCH!

This is why my dad never let us have cat's in the house. (Or dogs or hamsters, or horse. Well maybe we did have a horse in the house once, but that's another story) Why did we get this stupid, cute cat? Oh yes, now I remember, it was Eden's 12th birthday and we didn't have any idea what to get her and she found a tiny, scared,free kitten at a pet store. I should have known something was up, FREE from a Pet Store. It was a set up. And now I am paying for it with our leather couches. We can't have anything nice (Pout)

But wait...(Hold on I have to keep the dog from eatting the cat...ok i'm back.She ran up the back of the couch to get away)

Like I said, wait grumpy dad guy, take a step back. Take a deep breath, get some perspective. How much would I pay to see my little girl light up with joy that she gets a birthday kitten? How much would I pay for a warm little ball of fur in my lap when it's chilly outside and I'm sitting reading a book? How much would I pay to listen to my son laugh til he almost wets his pants because the cat is tickling his foot by licking it? How much would I pay to have a little purring thing crawl between P and I during the night and then to have P feel special because the kitten wanted to sleep with her? (Especially when P has been so tired and blue with this new work load) How much would I pay to see my family happy?

Let's see, we got the two leather couches for 400 euro and if you figure that appearance is only half their value and function is the other half, then I can only look at the damage that Tiger Lily is doing to the appearance, because they still seem to function. So let's say she's killing half the value of the couch so, 200 Euro of damage. Would I pay 200 Euro to bring a whole bundle of joy to the fam? You betcha!

Wow! I got a new attitude, for today, or at least right now. (I still wish she wouldn't run up the side of the dang couch) Ah well like AA says, one day at a time. Be Blessed and Let the cat run on the couch today. (Even if it's just once :)

Giving It All

I am so proud of my beautiful bride. She has been putting her heart and soul into her high schoolers and I can't believe how well she is doing. She would probably tell you that she is not doing as well as she would like, but she blows me away with her teaching.
For example last week she took her class to the beach for two days and nights so that they could explore ancient civilizations. On the first day they were a stone age tribe. They built fires, gutted fish for their lunch, cooked rabbit for dinner and engaged with the idea of people living in a culture before agricultre or animal husbandry. Day two they had root vegetables, grains, plus goat. (They had advanced and enjoyed their meals much more) On the last day they were in modern civilazation and went to the Dempsey house to shower and have pancakes for breakfast. Then they went to the mall and watch "Voyage to the Center of the Earth". It was a long three days for everyone, but I believe an experiance that they will never forget.
It's a new season with P working full time at the school, but we are starting to get our rhythem of life down again. With school taking so much time it has been hard to do much else. But things are evening out and the kids are happy. There is so much to be thankful for from the school actually functioning, to the relationships with the 6 high schoolers she is teaching. It will be interesrting to see how this year goes. Keep us in prayer as we press into this. Be Blessed, Pass it On

Seeking the Truth- Our story (Part 8)

Where to start...?
Things were going along pretty smooth for a change. We were in love and the baby was beautiful. Not a bad start for two crazy kids transitioning from hippy life to the real world. I was working for my dad in the honey bee buisness, which for a change wasn't killing me. And P was able to stay home and care for the baby. You know that place where everything is new and clean and you were able to make a break from the past and get a fresh start? Well that's where we were at. Paula was happy. I was happy and the baby was happy. Even our room mate Bradly, who had moved down from Orcas Island to work for my dad, was happy. Sure we still had a little wooden alter that I had built in the living room. But we were all happy.

It was a simple life. Get up and go to work. Feed and bath the baby. Cook dinner. We didn't have to much, but compaired to what we had just months before, we wer living large. My parents gave us their spare bed and P's mom had bought us a nice used car. My work was just down the road from our house and I could pop home for lunch from time to time. I loved feeding the baby girl on my lunch break.

At night we would get the baby to bed and talk about our lives. What did we want to be when we grew up? What was life about? What was our spiritual direction? It felt like we even had been given a new oppertunity to investigate the sacred/religious. I don't know how it all took place but we decided to read the great spiritual teachings. The Koran, the Bagavagita, the Bible...etc. It sounded like a great plan. I have no idea what the plan exactly was, but it was a great plan. I suppose the plan was to discover the truth. And as I have come to learn if you seek the truth, the truth has a way of being revealed to you.

One day while P was at home, a couple of Mormon boys came by the house. Wel lactually they came to our neighbors house and she saw them, so she ran over and told them what we were doing and invited them to come on by and share their stuff with us. The boys said they would come back. (They never did) We were going to find out what these guys believed. I'm not sure if it was that same day or a few day later that P was going out to take a walk with the baby, but as she came up our drive way she ran into that really nice Terri lady from the resturant I had worked at. Now if you remember, she was a pastors wife and she and P had made friends while I had worked at the resturant and there was the baby that P had been pregnant with. Terri happened to be jogging by because, as it turns out they lived just down the street from us. P and Terri started talking and I have no idea how the conversation went the way it did, but P shared how we were re-reading the great spitiual works and how the Mormon boys were coming over at some point and so forth and so on. ( I can picture Terri's face as she was listening to this) Anyhow, Terri say to P that this Sunday evening there are going to be a whole bunch of people who I had worked at the resturant with coming over to her house to have coffee and cake and talk about God and the Bible and ask any questions they had about that stuff. Did we want to come?

At their house we meet Scott her Pastor husband. He's this super tall guy who likes to surf. And Andrew thier son. Everyone from the resturant is there and we have coffee and desert and talk about God and ask questions. I remember one that I asked about Energy points in the body and how that related to the bible. Scott had no idea, but he said he'd see what he could find out. It was a nice night. A bunch of the stuff I had heard before, but that was ok. Scott proceeded to talk about stuff. I don't really remember what, but then some thing changed.

I remember, I was sitting on a bar stool at their counter listening to him. He must have been sharing about the power of Jesus to change our life andthen it was as if his words let something loose in me. That place in my heart, the center of my chest, awoke. It was like when you pour water over a dry sponge and it starts to swell and swell. I felt my soul move. The spirit came alive in me and I was sooooo caught off gaurd. Of course I didn't say anything to anyone, but I walked out of there shook. My world had been rocked. I had gone expecting to reject this Christian stuff, maybe learn a few things, have some desert, but this I had not expected.

At that time I was working for my dad, doing this repetetive job, in this super small, super hot/humid space. I was all by myself 8 hours a day with the work and my thoughts. And man was I thinking. I was thinking about what Scott had said about Jesus. I was thinking about what I thought about Jesus. I was thinking about what I had rejected and what it would mean to believe some of the things Scott had said. And even more I was thinking about the things Jesus had said. I was thinking about what it would look like to believe these things and I was thinking about how stupid I would look for believeing things had rejected for so long. I was thinking, and thinking and wrestling with God. Some one had left this old Amy Grant tape in the tape player where I was working and I listened to that. And I was thinking and I was wrestling with God and I was not working as much as I should have because I was thinking and wrestling with God...

And then it was clear. I was free. I knew. I had made a choice. A long time before, when I was a kid. I had choosen Jesus as my friend. And here he was still waiting. I was free to be who I was. I was free to be free. I was a...Christian. How long had I been pulling this weight, the guilt, this burden of destruction along with me and now I was free. Light as air. New. I couldn't wait to tell P. She was going to be so surprised.

A Whole Lot of Surprises or Head Lice Anyone?

Oh the joy of surprises. (Gifts in the mail)
And of the shock of surprises. (Bugs on your head)

We almost made it through the second week of school with no events, until we discovered that one of the kids had head lice. We there by promptly started checking all the kids heads at school for lice. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, ... you've got to be kidding me, 11, 12...how about me? Check me. No way!
All being said and done more than half the school and some teachers had head lice. So we promptly closed the school til Monday. The good news is that there is an out break of head lice across Portugal right now. (That's what the paper said) Not that a lice out break is good news, but at least it wasn't just us. Lots of nit picking going on right now. I just shaved my head it's much easier to deal with that way.

But that is not what the above picture is all about. That is a little piece of the gift package of LOVE that we just recieved from the Young Adults Team that came over to Serve the City here in Portugal. And it couldn't have come at a better time. See this last week I have been tired and fighting the blues. Sometimes I hit this wall and feel useless, like the darkness around is getting the best of me, getting to heavy. I was sharing some of this at our team meeting yesterday. We've been so busy for so long and I feel like we're paddling up stream a lot. It's good to have a group of people around you who know you and love you. And that's what our team is. But even then you have these days.

So because of lice we have been trapped inside for three day washing everything and on top of that, this morning I sent Paula to Philidelphia (for the weekend) to pick up the school books for CSA. So i'm just feeling tired and blue, when the door buzzer rang unexpectedly. Who could that be? I don't want to see anyone and my house is a mess. The postman? What's he doing here?
SURPRISE! Three packages from the good ol' US of A. Three package from the people who came here to work with us. No way! Cool! Look kids, letter's, books, candy, Halloween Oreos, STARBUCK!, Tapitio, games and more. I wish P was here to get to open this with us.

And then they came. The chills. The tight chest and tears. Stress welling up and being released. The feeling of love. Memories, faces and more thoughts. Am I this stressed out. My kids faces so excited to get these little gift. Tootsie Rolls. Little round chocolate like things that don't taste anything like chocolate and are so yummy. My Daughters face filled with joy as we pull out the third bag of Tootsie Rolls. My son saying can we play the game now, oh no way it's multi-player. Oh cool all the books. And My heart might pop. How can such a little bit be so hugh?

I am sure that some one was praying for me today, after yesterdays team meeting and I know that the package was sent way before yesterday, but I believe that God answered today's prayers when that package was mailed on the 19th of Sept., because I needed it today. Thanks you guys and gals. It feels good to be loved and shead a few tears in the process. I am Blessed, We are Blessed, you Be Blessed too.

The First Week of School at CSA

I was going to put this photo furthur down but it ended up here and I'm not moving it. This is the drama/art room. Were going to leave it rustic like this. The kids and I like it that way. What kids you ask? The students at Corner Stone Academy. Yes we have students. This room also doubles as one of the changing rooms for the kids at lunch. They like to go swimming in the pool at lunch time. Yes we have a great big pool. Isn't that cool. Student and a pool! Keep reading and check out more pictures below.

It has been a crazy busy these last three weeks. I haven't even had time to think about anything except opening this school.Who would have thought that we could start a school in three months, but it happened. The first week has come and gone. We have 21 students and 5 full time teachers. The Lisboa Matrix kicked in hard with lots of service time to get this thing pulled together.

P is teaching high school and has 6 students. I get to teach drama and run the Truth for Youth time for the k-6th and EPIC for the Jr High/High School. Truth for Youth and EPIC are our spiritual development times once a week. It's so exciting to see things going. We still have more to do, but one step at a time.

So this is what the new school looks like. (Looking down the hall from up stairs.)

Fresh flowers to brighten up the entery way.

The high school room. (Emily, Haley, Christien, and Thiago)

The first grade room. (Liz, Lucas, and Josiah)

The 5th and 6th grade room. (Carie, Noah, Clara, Dani, and Olah)

What a blessing to see this thing going. Be Blessed and Study Hard. (More to come)

My...Thoughts?

I have writers block. There is so much I want to say, but it all jumbled together in a mess of thoughts, feelings amd emotions. I don't know where to start. It's this constant noise, this stream of thought that just keeps going through my head.

It sounds something like this;
"How's that news..what news?...The news letter? I need to write a news letter...did I send the last one to everyone...what was it about?...That TV is so loud...What am I going to write for this one?...And why's the dog crying at me...He probably needs to pee. Oh, man my back is sore. What time was I supposed to be at the school to paint tomorrow? I wonder...man i'm hungry. What time is Paula getting back from the school today?...We need to...what was I going to write about...I think I need to get a blog out, it's been a few days...This is a stupid blog. I shouldn't post this... Why is the dog cry?... This blog is really lame! There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus...Corner Stone Academy... How in the world are we going to get all of this stuff done. I'm excited about teaching drama next year... Please stop crying dog, but don't pee in the house. I should be a better dog owner. ..I am going to post this! What am I going to write for our news letter?...Are we going to get everything done for the school? I need to call my mom. Ok...ok I need to spell check this. What are we having for dinner? Ok I'll take you to the bathroom!"

Be Blessed

Two Years Later

Yesterday was our two year anniversary here in Portugal. Above you can see a little photo journey from then to now. A lot has changed and a lot is the same with our family. We are all older. (I turned 40 this summer) Some of us have longer hair and some have shorter hair. (And some of us even have tan legs) As always we are on a wild adventure with God. We do not know what He will call us to next but we like it that way and we will be listening.

As we prepare for this next part of the journey we would ask you to pray for our endurance. Starting this school is all consumming. (The school was gthe latest call we recieved) Our family needs your prayers. As soon as we are not putting in 14 hour day there I will get a blog up about what is happening at Corner Stone Academy. For now just know that in the last 3 months we have put a school together from scratch. If that wasn't a Big Hairy Audatious God Sized Goal then I don't know what is. Love to you all and Be Blessed (And why doesn't my spell check work on blogger any more. It's revealing a deep flaw:)

Happy Birthday Nana

We have just returned from 4 days of camping near Setubal, a coastal area an hour from our house. After 6 weeks in the states, 2 teams from the states coming to serve for ServetheCity and a whole lot of preperation and travel in the midst of that, we needed a little family time alone.

Or camping trip was good for the soul. We swam in the freezing cold sea, collected shells, took a day trip to Evora (the old capital of Portugal), slept in tents, read books, and spent time filling up our families love tank. It's so easy to let yourself run on empty when you're doing this kind of work. We have a whole lot on the plate in front of us. The number one thing being the school that Paula will be teaching at next year. www.cornerstoneacademy.edu So it was important for us to take this time for ourselfs.

All that being said we were not around to celebrate a very special womans birthday. So, even though it's a little late, all four Wild Geese want to say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA! We hope that it was a wonderful day for you. We all thought of you on your special day. Hope the next 29 are as good as the... last 29?

Happy Birthday all you August babies and Be Blessed

I Left You Hanging...Our Story (Part 7)

When I last blogged our story things were starting to look better for Paula and myself. Love was restored and our little lives seemed to be headed in a better direction. My job at the resturant was going well. And Paula was beautiful as she grew rounder with our baby.

I had build her a little wood alter for our living room and she had placed all of her magical nic-nacs there. It was during this time that we really started to get to know each other. Up to this point we were just functioning out of the experiances we had had together for the last 5 months or so. It was a special time where together we started to learn what it meant to not just live for ourselves, but for others as well.

My time at the resturant was a step in our journey to Jesus. Because at this resturant, "150 Grand Cafe" I met a wonderful lady named Terri Last. She was the wife of a pastor. Now if you know Terri you know she is a lover of people and it doesn't matter who you are, or how out there you might be, she just loves you. To be honest with you I didn't see her like that at the time. What I saw was based on my preconsieved idea of someone who was a Christian and not only that but the wife of a pastor too. I mean I had gone to church once in awhile as a kid, I knew what Christians were all about. She was very sweet but nieve. The poor lady hadn't really been exposed to all the scum and wildness of the world. (Sex, drugs and rock-n-roll) Even so she was super nice. You just couldn't help but like her. And when she listened to you she really seemed to be interested and not judgmental.I really liked her. So did Paula. Paula would come and pick me up after work (we only had one car) and the two of them would sit around and chat while I finished my shift. They hit it off too because they are very similar people. I've got to say it was a very sweet time in our lives.

Once in awhile I would get the chance to work the dinner shift. That's where the real money was. The cool, wild thing was that when the doors would close and the customer were gone, the resturant/bar would transform into philosophical forum. That's when the conversation would turn to faith, God and the spirtual rhelm. In the cool blue glow of the vacant resturant/bars lights, we would all grab an after shift beer or glass of wine. As we sat there refilling salt and pepper shakers and folding napkins or just hanging around, we would fill the air with a buzz of thoughts, questions, and wise self taught answers about what we believed or didn't belive. It was the real deal. A safe place. Where we were a family. Letting our masks down a little. We struggled through the high stress of waiting tables together day in and day out. And when night fell we laughed, loved and longed together. But still we were alone.

But I wasn't alone. I had a lovely lady who was going to give birth our off-spring. Paula continued to come pick me up after my lunch shift and it was growing very near the time for the baby to be born. Now even though I liked my job, the people and the hours, I wasn't making enough money to really make ends meet. So with the baby on the door step, and the bills mounting my dad offered me a 2nd chance to work in the Honey Bee buisness with him. (It was more like a 30th chance because I don't know how many times I had quit working for him through the years. The long suffering of a fathers love. Thanks dad.) I accepted his offer. In August we had a baby girl whom we named Eden Rose, instead of Pagan Presley (that's another story) and I went to work for my dad in his Honey Bee buisness. Oh man was she beautiful. We decided to get married in February and moved into a little white house (no picket fence), just down the road from my parents, and not knowing it, just down the road from Scott and Terri Last. That sweet lady from the resturant and her pastor husband. Oh how things were about to change in ways we would never have expected.

Barbarians at the Gate (Of the School)

WARNING: RIGHT NOW MY SPELL CHECK IS DOWN ON BLOGGER, SO MY SPELLING IS BARBERIC!

Barbarian is not usally a title that we hope to acheive. The picture of the barbaian in my head is the image of a brutal, dirty, uncivialized warrior. So why would anyone want to be a barbarian? Who would choose "The Barbarian Way?" Do we really want to stive to be barbarians? To call ourselves a barbarian tribe?

I have just finished Erwin McManus' book titled "The Barbarian Way, unleash the untamed faith within"
Quoteing from inside the front jacket,
"In The Barbarian Way, McManus calls you to return to the ancient, primal, and dangerous faith of Jesus and his early disciples. Let go of a sanitized Christianity and get back to the powerful, raw and ancient faith that chooses revolution over compromise, peril over saftey, and passion over lukewarm and watered-down religion. Christ's passion drove Him to the cross; the cross of Christ drives you to His passion. Take up the challenge of the 'barbarian way,' and your life will never be the same."

Wow! That's just what I want. That touched a place in my heart. In a nut shell it is what God is saying to me right now. As you know we are in the process of getting this school, Corner Stone Academy, going by September 15th. Now if we were living a safe domesticated faith we would have said no way. This school thing is way to big of a beast to take on. It's unrealistic. But evertime we would try to walk away from it God would put it back in our laps, so we took it on. We went to the river, picked out 5 smooth stones and took on this giant of a task. In human terms it is a ridiculus task, impossible, but who would have guessed that little David would win. Or that when Moses pointed his staff at the waters the sea would part and the captives would cross through to dry land. Who would have even thought that Moses could have gotten Pharo to set the people free. Or that God would get His holy hands dirty by becoming human like us, and then sacrifice Himself for a bunch of dorks like us. And that through that barbaric sacrifice He would take care of all our junk. The most foolish actions, paying out the most amazing results.

We are barbarians at the school gates, making foolish choices in the eye's of the world. We have been working out our salvation through the development of this school, pursuing the barbarian way. As McManus says, "The land of promiss was not a land free from dangers. The milk and honey they were promised awaited them amid a land of giants." For the last few weeks I have been feeling that exact thing. When 12 spies were sent into the promised land to check it out, 10 of them reported back there were giants in the land, but 2 of them said sure there are giants, but the fruit in enourmouse. The land of promise was not a land free from danger. (They should have listened to the 2 not the 10 becuase they didn't trust God and ended up spending the next 40 years in the desert. )

So what shall I do? I want to live by faith not sight. I want to choose to "follow the One whose barbarian path lead Him to the brutality of the Cross." I want to face the giants in the land and see the enourmous fruit. I want to let go of a sanitized Christianity and get back to the powerful, raw, and ancient faith. I want to dance like David with all my might, half naked, before the Lord our God. I want to never be the same again. I want to live the Barbarian Way. Be Barbaric and Be Blessed

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

What a beautiful girl. I have been so blessed to be the father of this young lady. Today she turned 12 years old and she is well on her way to growing-up. (To fast) She is smart, kind, pretty and full of life, just to name a few of her awesome traits.
She spent the morning working at Casa Sol, the house for orphans with HIV, helping Serve the City clean, paint and do what ever was needed. (Check her out welding a few blogs back) Tonight we will have a small party for her. Princess I pray that the next 12 years will be as wonderful for you as the first 12 were. Be Blessed Sweetheart and you all Be Blessed too

You've Gotta be Kidding Me

Why do things like, the car not starting on the one day you're supposed to take your friends around Lisbon and sight see happen. It just seems so unfair. I walk out this morning to get the car ready to go to the city with our volunteers and the key will not go all the way into the ignition, no matter how hard I try. So what choice do I have, I have to stay home and fix the dang car because we need it the rest of the week. (No, that is not my car. It a car I took a picture of while back in the states, but I would like it to be my car)

So I stand there thinking, I don't have the money to pay for a mechanic to fix this thing. Just looking at the car cost who knows how much and I'll have to pay to get it towed to the mechanic. So what to do? Bright idea! I will try and fix it myself. I figure all I need to do is pull the ignition out and go get a new one, which will probably cost me 20 euro to do, but I figure I can swing that.

But car stuff is never as easy as that. First I had to remove the cover around the steering column. Not to bad. A little tight but do-able. Then I had to figure out a way to remove the ignition. That became a problem. I have no idea how you remove an ignition from a 1991 Peugeot 505 station wagon. They're like little tanks. So after a whole lot of deep breathing and a lot of struggle, I come to a halt, but I can't give up. I have to get the car running and it's going to be today because I do not have any other time to do this. So that's it. It's decided, I'm going to figure out a way to hot wire this sucker.

When I was in high school I had to hot wire my orange, tiger stripped, 1972 Datsun pick-up because I lost the key. So I have hot wiring experience but this time it has to be better than the last time. Last time I used a hair pin to hold the wires together and every time I went around a sharp curve it would fall off and the truck would start to stall out if I didn't reach under the dash and grab the wires to hold them together until I could get the hair pin back on. Go figure.

So this time I spend some time trying to figure out how to hot wire the old Peugeot and I succeed. You just shove all the wires together and it start, but then you have to remove the hot one that goes to the starter or it keeps cranking over even after the thing has started. Once I had that solved I had to go buy some switches to turn the thing on and off. I will not bore you with the adventure of looking all over Cascais for something that would work for switches. I would have liked to have gotten some toggle switches, but I couldn't find any. So I settled for these lamp switches that I thought would work. As long as they aren't to light and don't melt on me. We will see.

I hurried home with my treasure and got right to work and after a few hour I had a 91 Peugeot with 3 lamp switches installed under the steering column that will do everything you need to start your car, make the radio work, run the lights and turn the wipers on and off. And all for under 10 euro. If I don't fry the electrical system in the car I will be very happy and proud of my hack auto mechanics. Gentlemen, (And ladies too) start your engines. Be Blessed

Watching the Sparks Fly

Here are a few picture of our service day for Serve the City. We were out at Casa Sol, the orphans home for kids with HIV in Lisbon, doing more repairs and fixing a few things up. Check out all the chicks working those power tools. I just love the shot of Eden welding while all the dads watch with grins on their faces. There is just something about an 11 year old girl welding that brings a smile to your face. Serve with a passion and Be Blessed

Arrivals and Departures

When your living life as a Wild Goose on the field, you start to realise that the migration of people you love will become a natural part of the rhythm of your life, a painful reality. You also realise that you can't say good-bye over and over and over again or pretty soon you will have given your heart away bit by bit in little pieces, and so you don't say good-bye. You say see you soon.

But this time I couldn't help it. I had given a piece of my heart away to the Gregg family and they have taken it with them to Morocco. I am sure that this is the right move for them and yet it is still painful. They were such a joy to have around day to day here in Portugal. Their hopefulness was contagious. Their joy was inspirational. Linda Gregg is a beautiful, warm woman with a heart as big as Europe. She was an important part of seeing this school getting started even as she prepared to launch into the unknown. Jason Gregg is a rock, steady and cool in every situation. Leading his family with a tender warriors heart. The Lisboa Matrix will miss them, all 6 of them. They are the Jesus Gypsy's. Check out their blog on my blog roll to the right. I had to put this wonderful picture of Ezra up for you to see. That smile is what all of their hearts are like. Ezzy, Elisa, Sophia, and Elianah (sorry if I spelled her name wrong Linda) we will miss you dearly.

And so I am off with the teams that have arrived from the states, to serve the city of Lisbon with a little hole in my heart that is shaped like the Gregg family. Be Blessed Gregg's and we will be blessed too. See you soon.

We Serve

On Sunday we had two teams from EFCC, our sending church in California, arrive here in Portugal to do service project with us. The Sun Deo team is made up of 10 lovely ladies and a wonderful young man. Then there is the Post-college team, 7 women and 3 men who all slept in my living room Sunday night. Can you say slumber party?

This picture is of the Sun Deo team after a long day of cleaning, trash removal, weed pulling, and brush clearing. These gals put their hearts and souls into working all morning to prepair the surrounding area to get painted on Wed., then they headed off to do pampering projects ( hair cutting, nail painting, eye brow plucking, you get the picture ) for some Portuguese women. A very productive first day I would say.

Yesterday we headed into Lisbon to prayer walk. We spent the morning walking through Parque das Nacoes, ( Park of the Nations ) praying for an area where some friends of ours are doing out reach. It was a good time of prayer and bonding. From there we headed over to old Lisbon, had a traditional Portuguese lunch, talked about the spiritual dynamic of the area we were in and finished our day with a prayer walk through the city.

And now today we have just finished painting the afore mentioned wall. Plus they did two more pampering project. I'm only mentioning the Sun Deo team because they have been the team I have been working with. Paula, on the other hand, has been out at a camp for Aldiea SOS orphans at the beach with the Post-college team. They have been watching the Jesus video, doing crafts and having an over all wonderful time it sounds like. At least that is the evening report I have been getting from P each night as we have a quick meal and then fall into bed.

Oh and did you notice that the exchange rate has dropped some? I did. I was down to 1.48 today. What a blessing for us. You Be Blessed too.

Blogging at CONNECT

This is my friend Nelly. She is a wonderful woman and an awesome blogger. (Hello said Jenelle to the right) It was her job to put together a blog for our Christian Associates CONNECT conference.

I had the privilege of being one of the blogger's for the week. (You'll find my stuff near the bottom) If you would like to get a taste of what was going on in Hungry this last week and the journey we were on, you can go to this link, http://caiconnect.wordpress.com and take a look. There are some blog high lights, a few simple videos and and all the audio files from the speakers. Take a peek and enjoy. Maybe it will speak to your heart. It did mine.

Be Blessed

So finally we are home. (Actually we returned just over two weeks ago, but I flew to Hungry right away so I feel like I just returned home, after two months.)

The weather here in Portugal is warmand sunny. I wish I could just kick back and enjoy it, but there are about 5000 things we have to do.

Here are the top 10 things we have on our plate.

10. Pay bills

9. Go to the market and get food.

8. Fix the leaky faucet in the kitchen.

7. Clean the car out and check all the fluids.

6. Get the house ready for the team from the states that will be staying here Sunday night.

5. Wrapping up all the details for Serve the City.

4 . Work on all the details for our new school, Corner Stone Academy.

3. Write Thank You notes to everyone who helped us out or hosted us while in the states.

2. Blog (I get to check this one off)

1. Not freak out!

I want to blog about this last week at out Christian Associates conference, CONNECT, but I think I will just have you check out the Christian Associates website. I know we are going to have reports from bloggers there in the very near future. (I happen to be one of the bloggers that got to give their view point) So as soon as it there I will let you know. Ok, I have to go grab a couch for the new school right now, and put some minutes on our phones, so I have to run. Pray for us, please. I can feel the stress level eating me all ready. Be Blessed and Enjoy Life

Home Assignment is...

Life on home assignment is all about connecting, and reconnecting.
It's about hope.
It is about people you love and people your going to know.
It is about time and the lack of it.
It's about eating and eating some more.
It's about gaining weight.
It's about saying hello.
It's about meetings and more meetings.
It's about say good-bye.
It's about older parents and their health.
It's about the two years that have gone by and how big every one's kids will be in two more.
It's about emotions that swing from extreme to extreme.
It's about not getting to sleep.
It's about being wiped out.
It's about getting fired up.
It's about fear of what you haven't done, or what opportunity you might have missed.
It's about getting over it.
It's about surprises that you didn't expect. (Both good and bad ones)
It's about the kids being done with it all.
It's about you being over it.
It's about God being faithful when your done with it.
It's about prayer.
It's about vision.
It's about listening.
It's about a fresh wind and a fresh fire.
It's about getting excited again about what God has you doing.
It's about 'Starbucks'. (Oh don't roll your eye's. So I like 'Starbucks')
It's about trying to finding some time with God.
It's about the power of a believing community.
It's about changing your expectations and getting new ones.
It's about living in need.
It's about living in suitcases.
It's about living now.
It's about have more than you need.
It's about missing the dog back home.
It's about calling your host country your home.
It's about asking people to give.
It's about being humble as you receive.
It's about...

As I Sit in the Denver Ramada Inn

I am getting ready to go to bed after having visited with my buddy Joel this evening. Joel and his family took us to The Cheese Cake Factory. We had a awesome visit. What a beautiful family. It was so great to see him. We've been friends for about 20 years. (No way!) We love you Kneedlers. Thanks for letting us living in your house for the last few days.

This morning we were introduced and shared briefly about Portugal with Foot Hills Community Church, one of our supporting churches. Very cool church. Very cool people. We really felt at home with them.

Ok you want to know about the picture. Well first let me say thanks Beth and Nathan. We had a blast. This picture was taken yesterday on the Royal Gorge River. We were treated to a wonderful white water rafting trip. If I could share with you the joy we felt doing this I would, but I can't put it in words.

It was an hour of bumpy, splashing, stick your head down into the on coming wave and paddle, whoa are we going under, WHOAAAAA YEAHHH!!!, kind of fun.

Before they let you go, there is all this scary "you could get hurt doing this" paper work to fill out and an unsettling "here's what to do if you end up under the boat" speech, plus there was the flipped over boat that we saw come rolling down the river before we launched. But none of that would deter the fearless crew.

We bounced down the river for an hour and in the end arrived safe, wet and happy at our destination. Memories never to be forgotten. Tomorrow we get up at the crack of dawn and head to California. And to think were all ready 1/3 of the way done with our trip. WHAT?

Be Blessed

As We Journey

As we journey through our native home land I am struck by the feeling of being a stranger in a very familiar place. Nothing is really strange, but it all feels so unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. Things like driving feel a little awkward. I have to remember to stop at the stop signs. Stop signs in Portugal are a mere suggestion. And who ever thought that toilet paper could feel so soft? Or how about all the air conditioning; do I even like air conditioning? Not to mention 'Starbucks', one of the primary stops in every city we have visited. Oh the joys of a society that is geared around the desires and convenience of the consumer.

Our first 10 days were spent in Texas where the temperature was hoovering around 95 to a 100 each day, (That around 34 c for your Europeans),with heavy humidity. We visited many people from Paula's past (family and friends) and enjoyed the great hospitality of the South. The last day we were privileged to hang out with Nathan, Beth and Jack. We meet some great people there and were blessed to pray with Beth before her surgery the next day. Nathan shared the story of his journey to Jesus. It one of those wow stories. Nathan is Jewish and is a great story teller. (I think Beth should blog about it. Hint, hint.) We love you Nathan, Beth and Jack. Thanks for blessing us.

From there we headed out to Colorado. One of my best friend in the world, Joel, picked us up and brought us out to his house in Colorado Springs. Paula says this is the cleanest house she has ever been in in her life. (There is no way for us to leave this place as clean as when we showed up.) Joel and I would have liked to have spent some time together but, bummer, his whole family was heading out to take a family vacation the next day, so Joel and I didn't really get a lot of opportunity to hang out except for a few hours. But I am standing here in his kitchen blogging and house sitting while they are gone. It was nice to get to visit 'Garden of the Gods' today, which is just around the corner from their house. We do come from a beautiful country don't we. Sunday we will be speaking at "Foothills Community Church' in Arvada Colorado and then Monday morning we jet off to California. We will be there for the last leg of our journey.

Well that's a little up date on our trip. Looking forward to seeing you soon. No matter what ocean you live near. Be Blessed and leave a light on for us.

The Eye of the Storm

Thank you friend for coming and reading this. If you are here reading this blog then you must be a friend indeed because I have had no margin this last month the blog. I didn't even get our story up for Ms. Wittney. (Sorry Wit)

Check out those people in the picture to the right. We took that picture not so long after arriving here in Portugal 2 years ago. (Sept of 2006) Wow have we changed. The kids are bigger. Our vision of church planting is bigger. The world seems smaller. And time seems to be flying by. Two years is a long time and no time at all. Who were we two years ago? Who are we now? Noah keeps wondering what his friends will say when they see him. I am wondering the same.

Four days from now we will be flying to the States for a 6 week home assignment; 10 days in Texas, 5 days in Colorado and about 4 weeks in California. I feel like there is no way to get everything done here that needs to get done, but I suppose we'll do it some how. Our summer intern, who was going to stay in our house and watch Bingo (our dog), is not going to be able to come. That has put a kink in things. What do you do with a big black Lab for 6 weeks? (Prayer request) We have people visiting Lisbon right now and we have school finishing. We are trying to get the place cleaned-up for some families that are going to stay in the house for a week. We have all the normal get ready to go way for 6 weeks things to do. Plus birthday party's, regular life stuff, emergency pay the car tax stuff because they changed the law and the tax was due in February but who knew that? Blah, blah, blah...This is the whirl wind we are in.

"Mom when I grow-up I want to be a church planter!" Have you ever heard that country western song, "Mama don't let your babies grow-up to be cowboys" ? There is a line in that song that goes, "They're never at home and they're always alone, even with some one they love" I'm not sure the original idea behind those lyrics is what I'm talking about, but as we journey through this missional church planting life, there is an aspect of never at home and always alone...even with those we love.

So USA here we come. Were leaving home for 6 weeks to go home for 6 weeks. We will not be the people who flew to Europe 2 years ago and yet we are still the Farmers. (Will you know us now?)We will be with those we love and far from those we love, knowing that in 6 weeks we will be leaving those we love to return to those we love. Following Jesus has all this contrast; die to live, be the last to be first, to lead you must serve, the least is the greatest, and so on. Lead on Jesus.

If you want to hear about the last two weekends and our prayer retreats, just read the next blog. We can't wait to see you all in the states. See you in a few day, more or less.

Blessings upon Blessings to you

Prayer Retreat x2

For the month of May our community, The Lisboa Matrix, focused on prayer and fasting. We had it on our hearts as we went into May to see spiritual break through for The Matrix, Lisbon, Portugal and the World. If I could share all the stories from this month I would. Let me try to give a brief over view.

We started with the National day of Prayer in the USA. We prayed for the states and the church there. Then we continued day to day with specific prayer for each day of the week, praying for our community. We prayed for things like the Gregg family and what had happened with them at the International school. We prayed for Morocco and the people there. We prayed for our children and their future. We prayed for the International Christian School of Cascias. We prayed for the prayer retreats coming at the end of the month. Every day there was something to pray for. There was also the Global Day of Prayer in there on the 11th of May.

From our prayers, we recieved many answers. For example; The Gregg's were offered many teaching opportunity's, even though it was very late to be job hunting for schools. (Check out their blog Gypsy Jesus on my blog links for more about this) We saw some Junior High students, kids P and I have had opportunity to work with, receive Jesus at the Christian School. (You can read about that on the Gregg's blog also) And we were blessed by God at both our prayer retreats. I can't really put into world how this month of prayer/fasting moved here, but it moved things.

Then there were the two prayer retreats at the end of the month. Before this becomes a book, let me share some about the prayer retreat at Casa de Uhler. (Up at our team mates house. Thank you sooooo much for those of you who covered us in prayer.) There were 20 people or so at the retreat. We ate, sang, cooked, cleaned, prayed, learned and lived together for the weekend. The weather was supposed to be rainy, but we ended up with tons of sun and a little light rain. There was a mixed bag of followers of the Way and seekers of the Truth. It was great. Community was built with the Lisbon people and the Porto people. Sunday morning we entered into a time of prayer for each other. We had walked through the weekend together, so if was natural for us to go to prayer together. Even those who were seeking entered in. If I were to say that the Spirit of God showed up in a powerful way, I think I would be understating it. For two and a half hours we prayed. We prayed for individuals one after the other. It was mind blowing. At one point during the prayer time, I was drained and thought, "I don't know if I can pray any more." But then refreshing came and I entered again. Someone else said we needed to get some water in us, because we were dehydrating from all the weeping and tears. At the end I think we all walked away from the weekend having encountered God in one of the most powerful times of our life. I am not over stating this either. Myself, Marty, Vitor (from Porto), we all felt it was one of the most powerful prayer times we had ever had. And I know that he is still working on the people who were there.

Ok long blog, but I wanted to share. If you want to look of picture of the Uhler weekend or of our prayer retreat in Tomar, (that I didn't even share about), you can click on the LisboaMatrix link to the right and go to gallery.The picture at the top is from the Tomar weekend, which was wild and crazy. I'll have to share about that too soon. Thanks for supporting us through prayer and giving.

Be Blessed; Life's Short-Pray Hard!

How Did I Get This Busy

I have been wanting to blog about all of the stuff that is going on here right now, but something had to give, and it was the blog. Forgive me for the long silence. I think the best way for me to catch you up is to do a speed list. Maybe i'll throw a story in, we'll see. So hang on here it comes...

April brought the rain, and it wants to stay. On the 12th we gathered as a community to huddle and get a vision for our mission as a church. At the same time we were trying to figure out what our choices were going to be for school for the kids next year. (I'll talk more about that later) Teaching kept us busy with a lot of heart ache about some of the kids from ICSC in the upper grades not passing. On the 25th of April our house church gathered as a small group and worked out our vision for our group. It was amazing!
May came roaring in and we kicked off our Month of Prayer. We prayed for the states on the 1st and also kicked off our first Thursday fast of the month. (we are fasting on Thursdays for spiritual breakthrough here) Friday the 2nd Paula and I had a lock-in with the high school class at ICSC. We stayed up all night, ate ice cream, watched movies and had a great time. (We were tired) Saturday was Marty's birthday so we went to the beach and played volleyball. Then house church at our place on Saturday. Also Friday Peter from Germany came for a visit. He headed to Porto on Monday. Monday we went to a teachers meeting for ICSC to support our friend Jason Gregg because the school...i'm not going to go into it, but we may not send our kids to the school, or teach there next year because of the way they have been treating people. Please pray with us about this. It is major. I have no idea what we did for the rest of the week, but my head was spinning. And then Sunday was house church again and the Global Day of Prayer. (We had a prayer meeting for our city at the cross in Cascais) Today we taught and sent out e-mails, prayer retreat flyer's, school prep and more. Now I have to finish this so I can head over to another prayer meeting and share with them tonight. Pray with us that we would see freedom and open doors here in Portugal.
OK, that's a mess and a whole lot of info. Hope you can follow it.
Blessings
PS We will head for the states June 9th. Texas, to Colorado, to San Diego and back to Lisbon on July 18th, I think.

Come Like Little Children

Carey invited us to go the the beach with some kids from Aldia SOS today. Aldia SOS is one of the 2 orphanages we did restoration on last summer. I picked the kids up from school, ran home, grabbed some beach wear and headed out. (It seems like it's been raining for the last 3 weeks. Quit rolling your eyes all you folks in Northern Europe.)

One of the funny things about going to the beach with Noah is that he puts his wetsuit on before we leave the house. Then he's ready to hit the water as soon as he gets there. (The water here is very cold. )One of the draw backs of the "wear your wetsuit to the beach system" is that you also have to wear the thing home. (But that's another story)

So we buzz over to Carcavelos Beach to meet up with the Uhlers. (At least three of the Uhlers) Noah immediately hits the water and i sit there watching him. As he splashed around in the rolling white wash, my mind drifted into thought. The sun warm on my face. The wind just cool enough. Then a gentle thought, a small voice maybe. This is how the Spirit spoke to my heart. "Look at your son body slamming the waves. He doesn't even care if he doing anything special. He just likes to be in the water, without needing to accomplish anything. He doesn't need to learn to surf, or body board, or anything. He's just there with out shame, or expectation, enjoying the power of the sea. Do that with me."

It was a very simple, but profound lesson. Here are the steps;

1. Before you leave prepare like you are going to get wet.

2. When you arrive, don't hesitate.

3. The joy is in the experience of the moment, not in a goal or project.

4. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks, just get in there and get wet.

Children really are the best way to understand God. Get wet and Be Blessed

(By the way Noah is enjoying doing art on windows paint. He did the heart.)

I Feel Like Cinderella

I am working on living a simpler way of life. Chuck Swindol put me up to it. He wrote this nice little book called... (what is the name of that book? I'll go look at it and find out...Got it!) It's called "Intimacy with the Almighty" Cool title! He talks about four things he did to find a greater Intimacy with God. They go in this order;

1. Simplify, 2. Silence, 3. Solitude, 4.Surrender. (I could go into all the details but I won't)

So I read the little book again, (it's like the third or fourth time I've read it) and I looked around the house and said to myself, "Self this place is a mess, because it to messy. It's to messy because it's cluttered with stuff! Self, we need to simplify." So that's what I've been doing. Getting simpler. It is bringing a lot more peace to my life. Simple peace.

That was right after Easter. Then this week I started running. Lately God has been encouraging me to get healthier. Now I have never been an exercise freak, but I knew I should be exercising more than I was. The thing was that I didn't do it. I kept ignoring the "Why don't you start getting healthier?" feeling I was getting. I would say to myself (and God in the process) I'm working up to it. I'll do it soon. (Wink) So what does God do? He ups me by one. He has Derek Dempsey buy some Nike shoes in the States. Derek loves the shoes and brings them home. When he gets them here they don't fit any more. (They fit perfect in the states he said) He tries to give them to a few people, but no luck. So what the heck, see if they fit me. (Derek is 6' 4" and wears a size 11 1/2) I figure no way they're going to fit. I put them on. Perfect fit. It's like being Cinderella except there isn't a Fairy Godmother, but there is a God Father. (I'll make you an offer you can't refuse) SO...I am now running 1.8 mile in the mornings. Who would have guessed.

Three things I must keep reminding myself as I do this...

1.I want a simpler life, I like a clean house, so I have to put the work into doing it til it is a habit.

2. I want to be healthier, I want to live, so I have to push through the pain til it gets easier.

3. I want to respond positively to God, because He loves me and it blesses me greatly.

Looking around I see that my kitchen needs to be cleaned and the laundry folded. My legs are sore and shaky. And God is a very patient Father. Be Blessed and push on with the hard stuff.

Thrums () Thrums ( ) Thrums ( )

Simple
Nowtherushingpressingbuzzingchaosthrumthrumthrums
Still
Nowtherushing pressingbuzzingchaos thrumthrums
In solitued
Now the rushingpressingbuzzing choasthrums
Surrendered
Thrums
Here
This Moment
Moment to moment
()
Movenowor facethe oblivionthat waitsontheotherside
Comfort me
Here
In this moment
This that is before me
( )
Thrums
This
This alone
( )
Allthe lonleyness is isthe reality ofthe failure thatyou are
Stop
( )
Youwillnever stop
Wait
( )
Itis all empty
Listen
( )
To yourhead chatter
Moment to moment
( )
Here
( )
Only here
( )
Silent
( )
Wait
( )
Simple
(You are my beloved)
I breathe as I am
Silent
(You are my beloved)
I breathe as I am being
Solitued
(You are my beloved)
I breathe as I am being made
Surrender
(You are my beloved)
I breathe as I am being made new
(Beloved)
Simple
Thrums