The Power of Plants; Our Story (Part 6)

When I started telling our story it was just going to be a little blurb about our journey to Jesus, but somehow I can never just tell a short story, and so as some of my beautiful friends have suggested, it has become a short novel or one act play. If you will forgive me, I have to finish at this point or I will feel incomplete. So with out further ado, the saga of two star crossed lovers will proceed.

There I was back on the islands in Washington, Orcas island to be exact. I was trying to recapture some of the magic I had lost since I had left, but something was missing. I was all twisted up and no amount of drugs was really taking the bleak, black feeling away. So I did what I always do when I feel like that, I wrote.

I don't really remember the majority of what I wrote. I suppose it was short stories and dark beat style poetry along the line of Lawrence Ferlinghetti, but for the most part I don't remember. There is one story I do remember. It went something like this, there was this Father and he had a teen age daughter. He loved his daughter very much, but she became sick with cancer and died. So the Father, who was a lumber jack, found this giant old tree that had been struck by lightening and died and he carved the dead tree into a beautiful angel in memory of his beloved daughter. The End. It may not have been Tolstoy, but for me it was to be the start of a journey home. The story was an expression of the pain I was in and somehow that pain was manifesting in the loss of a child that I didn't even know yet. I had a black hole in my soul and I didn't know what to do about it. I was lost and now somewhere out there, there was going to be a little baby who would never know this jacked up person who was her Father. How had this happened? I had always imagined that I was going to be an awesome Dad, but that was so far from the truth now.

If you believe in God, and you think that it is possible for him to use any circumstance to reach out to His beloved, then you will understand what I am about to say. It was at this point that I felt Gods Spirit reach out and shake my heart. Mind you I didn't know it was Him at the time, but looking back I can see Him all over me. I couldn't take it. I called up Paula, back in San Diego, to find out how she was.

Well as you can imagine, being two dysfunctional people as we were, we felt like things were better. I missed her. She was lonely living in my home town were she only knew my parents. After a few phone calls back and forth it was obvious, we had to get together again. The problem was that we were three states apart. I figured it was a no brainer she should come back to the beautiful San Juan Islands where we had met. The beautiful islands where you could live life how ever you wanted. The magic islands. She would have loved to, but she couldn't leave her fern. See she had this beautiful Boston fern that she had bought and in all reality it was her only friend in San Diego. (Remember I was going to be a plant Shaman so it didn't seem so weird)

Well I tried, but she wasn't coming with out the fern, so either I was going back or it was over. Somehow I had it in my mind that it wasn't over, so that meant I had to go back. I looked at the consequences of going back. If I went back and if blew-up again I would have nothing. I would be forced to leave and figure out what to do with my life. Being that I had nothing right now and I didn't know what to do with my life I figured I didn't have much to loose, so I went for it. I flew back to Escondido.

It was amazing. She was a different person. She was nice. She was sweet. We liked each other again. Life was great. I decided to not go back to work for my dad again, (Nothing like being ashamed) and looked around for waiter jobs. There was one great restaurant in all of Escondido at the time that was of the caliber of restaurant I had worked at in New York. I applied and got a position as a lunch staff waiter. I figured I would work my way up to nights where the real money was. Paula was pregnant. We were back in love. We lived in a cheep little apartment and I was making minimum wage, plus tips. Life was great.

How Do You Title This?

Things are never dull around here, as you can see. We have giants and hobbits, Prince's and Princesses, and Delirious concerts that rock the house. Friday night was a great night. We took a group of Portuguese friends to see Delirious in concert. The band was great and we worshiped hard. It was nice to get to worship in a big way. We don't get as much big group worship these days.

The other pictures are of my little girl goofing around. I love how big Scott looks standing there next to her in Hobbit form.

School starts back up tomorrow, so we will all be busy again, but I'll still try to be regular with the blog. Be Blessed

It's the Simple Things

The kitchen is warm and smells like fresh cook tortillas. If you could feel the joy that we felt when I cooked up this batch of tortillas...well let's just say that I made them last night and again tonight, except tonight I made burritos. Last night we ate them with butter and cheese. Tonight I made salsa, and beans to go with them.
One of the things I remember about the first few months we moved over here was the lack of pleasure I found in eating, nothing tasted yummy. But these tortillas were out of this world. (If I do say so myself) They were the right texture, the right color, the right consistency and the right flavor. They are also the right price. Flour, milk, oil, baking powder, and salt are all affordable in the quantities it calls for. What a treat. Thank you cooks.com, that's where I got the recipe. So we may get sick of tortillas and never want to eat another one, but who cares, right now were loving it.
All you folks in So Cal enjoy your Mexican food and Be Blessed

Our Easter

Look at these two Godly women enjoying the sun on Easter morning. The weather had been really cold and rainy all week, so the sun was a wonderful sight Easter morning. (It's cold again)

Good Friday was great. We meet at Ali Baba's, a Moroccan Hookah bar. There were about 30 people or so there, including kids. I presented an interactive drama/Seder/Last Supper. We worshipped and walked through the last meal of Jesus and then had some wonderful Moroccan food that the owner of the place, Mustaffa, had prepared for us. It was a great time. The best part for me was how much Mustaffa enjoyed having us there. He asked if he could get pictures of the event and really extended himself to make sure we were taken care of. I hope we can build a friendship.

Easter morning was also great. We cancelled the sunrise service because they were forecasting 0' degree temperatures up on the mountain. Pancake breakfast was all ready planned for after the sunrise service, so we just went with that. The sun came out strong and we feasted on pancakes, fruit, breads, jams, eggs with real American sausage and more. The kids hunted eggs and ran around like a pack of wild monkeys. Scott shared about the resurrection and the implications of it if it is true. And we worshipped. We sang, laughed, danced and lifted our voices in praise. There were smiles, and tears. It was a great Easter weekend. We hope yours was beautiful as well. Be Blessed for He has Risen.

The Prince of Egypt

This is what my living room looked like last night. (I know it a horrible picture) Our community gathered in our house to watch "The Prince of Egypt" There was lots of root beer, provided by one of our NATO families and more pop corn than you can shake a stick at.

Tonight we are going over to Ali Babas, a hookah bar/restaurant, for a interactive dramatic Passover/Good Friday event. I got to create it and I am really excited and nervous about how it is going to play out. It should be really cool, if it goes the way I am picturing it in my head.

For Easter morning we are going to go up the mountain for Sun Rise Service. The forecast is calling for it to be 0' that morning. (That's 32' for you folks in the states) So it should be quite invigorating. Then well head on down the mountain for pancake breakfast at the Uhlers. I love this.

I'm hoping that I can get a copy of the Easter drama my 5th and 6th graders performed yesterday. Maybe I can get the guy who videoed it to post it to You Tube and then I could get a link. Got to run so I can put the finishing touches on tonight's stuff. Be Blessed for He has Risen

Anywhere but Here! (Our Story part 5)

The Journey from the state of Washington to San Diego, California was a three day push. Forced to be with each other hour after hour, we soon discovered that "all was not well in the land of Nod." Morning sickness combined with travel sickness caused our nerves to get raw. By the time we reached San Diego things were not as rosy as they had looked before.

We pulled into Escondido with three cans of soup and $8.00 in our pocket. I figured I could work for my dad for a little while, make some cash and then we would head off to Mexico. When I say a little while, I meant a little while. The last thing that I wanted was to be back in Escondido where I had grown up. I mean hey, I had lived in New York, New York. I was a man of the world. I wasn't going to get stuck back in my home town.

Paula on the other hand suddenly had a different plans. They went something like this; Get a job, get an apartment, have the baby in a hospital instead of a cave and then go back to law school. Huh? The old nesting instinct had kicked in and we were not going anywhere. WHAT!?! How had this happened? Had I been tricked. Was it witchcraft? Stuck back in Escondido with this crazy girl who was going to have my baby. Stuck here? Where had the freaky wild hippy chick gone? And what did she mean she wanted to go to Law School? Was she kidding? You don't decided to go to Law School when your having a baby. Do you? What was going on?

We did get an apartment and I kept working for my dad. She started nesting, preparing to have the baby, but we were getting further and further out on a limb. Our relationship was going down to tube. Basically it went something like this; I hated working for my dad. She wanted me to buck-up and be a man. I wasn't ready to be responsible. She wasn't ready to give up her independence. We fought more and more until she decided that maybe I could live in an apartment next door, but she and the baby didn't need me around. I on the other hand had a few choice thoughts about her. Things were about to explode.

So one day after work I told my dad to get me my money and drive me to the airport. I wasn't talking about it, there was not going to be a discussion. Just give me my money and take me to the airport. I was going back to Orcas Island to live with my sister and her husband. I was gone. Good-bye. So long. Good riddance.

The State of Things (And a Few Pics)

Well here is a little photo log of what we have been doing the last few weeks.

Top left; Eden on the beach with a bunch of kids from the Aldiea SOS orphanage learning to surf.

Top Center; is Noah's black eye from getting punched by one of the Nigerian kids at his school.

Top Right; The volunteer fire department parade coming up our street on Sunday morning.

Bottom Left; Kelton, Branson, and Noah at the beach. Kelton and Branson were visiting from Amsterdam.

Bottom Center; Saying good-bye our German friend Eddie, and our American friend Jared as they got ready for their walk about to Spain and on...

The Euro is strong against the dollar ($1.57 as we speak) and oil is $109.00 a barrel. Americas banking institutions are standing on rocky ground and the stock markets across the globe are on a roller coaster ride. Kosovo is seeing fighting again. Tibet is going crazy. And who knows what kind of darkness waits around the next corner.

Yet this is exactly why we are doing what we do. In the words of Jesus, "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have over come the world." Earth quakes, famine, cancer, war...they're not going away. The poor will always be with you. Trouble, trouble and more trouble, but Jesus, he's the great Lover of our Soul. The Comforter. The Teacher of the Good Ways. The Over Comer of the World. In this crazy world, we are bring the crazy upside down kingdom of Jesus to people who need Hope.

So pray for us. Pray with us. This Easter may we have beautiful feet as we bring the Good News.

Be Blessed