Do It Again!

Both Hudson and Josiah are attending an amazing, private, Christian school where each week they have a chapel service.  If you are want to worship with spiritual giants show up at 10:25am on Tuesday morning and get rocked by these amazing kids!  Every week students from each class get up and share testimonies about what the Lord is doing in their lives.  After each kid shares a testimony all the kids shout “do it again God, do it again!”  I’ve recently learned that the Hebrew word for “Testimony” literally means “do again!

This week a second grade boy got up front to share his testimony.  “Next month, I get to get a new dad!  I haven’t had a dad in a long time and I’m so happy.” 

We live in a fatherless generation and there are so, so many young men without a father.  So Lord, we just declare the testimony of this boy for those without fathers.  We also pray that the fatherless would enter into relationship with their true Father by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and the power of His resurrection. 

Do it again God, do it again!

This is what's it's like for me sometimes going into class... little kiddos lined up blessing us and praying for us as we enter!  Is that awesome or what?!

Amazing Gift Givers

Do you know who is absolutely amazing at giving? We have a large and growing list of the Lord's amazing provision that he has given to us through all of you. Gearing up for the Thanksgiving holiday, I turn my heart to express the gratitude that has been welling up in me for quite some time.
We have been here in Cali for three months now and it has been such a blessing to hear from so many of you on a regular basis. Some of you have sent a timely text or card saying that you are praying for us or just thinking of us. Many have encouraged us in support of this adventure the Lord given. Some days trusting him feels like slipping on ice. Other days I am soaring on his unbelievable tangible presence.

A big part of living as the body of Christ is really a dance of tying hearts, a unity, a togetherness that I guess leaving has made me feel even more aware of. So thank you to so many that have made it possible for us to make the transition. For Joben to be even more equipped in the calling God has placed on his life.  For Hudson and Josiah to go to an amazing school that teaches them to dream with God, thank Jesus daily and to recognize what the Holy Spirit is up to.  We have all benefitted from this time devoted to knowing our Lord in a deeper way.
Thanks to our parents: Mike & Susan and Jack & Desie for your amazing support of us practically, financially, and with your love and prayers daily.

Thanks to the following for your support.  Your reward is eternal as you sow into the Kingdom of Heaven.  Your support has been made all the difference to us!

Changing Seasons

The temperature here finally dropped enough to feel like the season has changed. It's been mid-seventies up til a few days ago. Until today the California fall feels more like and Oregon summer. We woke up to an overcast sky, very strange not to see the sun filtering through the trees on the horizon. I worked outside trimming some trees and stringing up a rope swing until lunch time when we took the kids to the $1.50 movies.  When we emerge from the theater the rains had come and fall was here. 


The cool temperature, the moisture in the air and the fragrance of the neighbor chimneys made us all miss home today.  I’ve never been away from Oregon, or Springfield for that matter, for this long ever. 


Everyone has their favorite season, but for me I truly love the changing of the seasons.  Each new transition holds anticipation for the coming holidays, hunting trips, camping trips, yard projects, bundled next to the fire with your favorite hot drink... you get the idea.  The changes are marked with the signposts of budded sticks, bright-green leaves, vibrant color displays and piles of debris piled into to compost for the season ahead. 

 Life, growth and death come naturally and sometimes expectedly amidst these changing seasons.  The perpetual summer weather up to November would spoil any Oregonian as it has us.  Our family has experienced so much life and growth in our short season here, but the familiar feel of the cold, wet weather makes us miss home in a way we haven’t experienced until now.

Helmet Cam Zipline

Nothing's ever boring in our backyard.

Picnic Table

We had some really high winds come sweep through here a few weeks ago. When I looked outside I saw that our umbrella to our patio set was laying on the other side of the back yard. After retrieving it I walked back over to our table to find the glass top shattered into four billion pieces (approximately). We love sitting and dining outside and to be without a table has stirred Mica to appoint me as project manager. 

We looked for patio furniture that might be on sale with the changing seasons but we were a bit too late to get in on some of that action. We decided a picnic table would be cool and I set myself to build one. I landed on some plans on found online, wrote down the shopping list and headed to the Home Depot. Now, if you're from Eugene/Springfield you are incredibly spoiled. I guess I've just taken advantage of the fact that our "Jerry's" is the largest privately owned home improvement shopping center in the country! They not only have everything you could possibly want they also have an incredibly well-trained staff with years of field experience, and they do customer service like non-other.  So I'm down at "The De-pot" looking for lumber for my picnic table and they don't even sell cedar deck boards! Ha!  Therefore I resorted to Doug Fir while the boys and I proceeded to sift through two units of lumber until we obtained all the best-looking boards.

I spent the next day cutting and sanding in preparation for the application of some kind of wood treatment (stain, sealer, etc.), which I wanted to apply prior to assembling. So I'm back down at "The De-pot" in the paint department talking to a surprisingly knowledgeable sells guy who told me that I had plenty of options, that is until I told him my table was being constructed of Doug Fir.  Shaking his head he told me that it was unfortunate I had not gone with Cedar, for now I would have to go with a full-color stain because Doug Fir does not take stain very well.  I call this “The De-pot Paradox.”  I miss you Jerry’s.

Swedish Fashion Is Here!

I’ll try to introduce you to some of the amazing people we’ve met here and share their incredible stories with you.  Right now I’d like you to meet Bijörn (as in the Swedish “Baby Bijörn” front pack), Nina and Lewis (pronounced Luisz).  They are such an incredibly fun, young couple with such an awesome story!

Nina has always had a dream to transform the fashion industry for the Lord.  They decided they were going to do this through jeans.  Through a series of unbelievable stories that reveal the supernatural favor of God on their lives they have started their own line of jeans called “Ninaqui” (pronounced Nina-key”).  A generous chunk of all their proceeds go to charity and each pair of jeans is personally numbered and individually prayed over.  The anointing of the Lord over their endeavor has brought international attention and unprecedented advertisement without costing them a dime.  One such story showcased of the winner of “Swedish Idol” (similar to American Idol) who wore their jeans at the final round of the show and which flashed several images of their design logo continuously over national television in Sweden. 

Check out their website and if you’re feeling spicy order your own pair of Ninaqui’s!

www.ninaqui.com

School Overview

October is just around the corner but summer is very much alive and “hot” down here in Redding with temperatures remaining in the upper nineties.  As you can see from the picture we’re still rocking the pool in the backyard (I’m so glad we brought it!).

I realize I have yet to write anything about my schooling other than “it’s begun.”  I’m two-and-a-half weeks into it now and this experience has been so much to take in.  The Lord is doing such a powerful work in me through the gentle moving of his Holy Spirit in my life.  He is affirming so many things in me through so many different ways through so many different people. 

Picture of the main building from across the parking lost 

The school is comprised of first, second and third-year students (interns).  There is over nine-hundred first-year students, over one-third of which are internationals.  First-year students all have the same lecture sequence and course-work curriculum, but get to choose “Activation Groups,” where first-year students are combined with second and third-year students who facilitate a variety of weekly, community-wide outreach programs that integrate the classwork with hands-on experience to see God release the supernatural in the lives of people through ministry in the marketplace.  There are over five-hundred second-year students and a hundred-some interns who have separate classes but work directly with the first-year students as part of their leadership development training.  Bethel has a discipleship school over on the coast, but the school we are a part of here is specifically designed for leader development for ministry deployment.

We meet corporately, all nine-hundred first year students for general sessions four days a week, Monday through Thursday.  We always start with worship, which every time is the most incredible concerts you’ve ever experienced!  Imagine nine-hundred people, whom most have sold and left everything to travel half-way around the world, who are desperately hungry to see the Lord move in power ways all gathered together praising the God of the universe, all led by some of the most talented musicians you’ve ever heard… it’s worth the tuition right there!

The general sessions are lecture style classes with time allocated questions at the end.  We have a rich variety of really top-notch teachers including senior leaders Bill Johnson,Kris Vallotton, Danny Silk, Paul Manwaring and many others (you can google their names to learn more about them).

We also are assigned to “Revival Groups” of about sixty to seventy people who are overseen by a Revival Group Pastor and an intern.  We meet with our revival group twice a week.  Even in the short amount of time we’ve been together we’ve got to know each other really well. 

I hope to “unpack” some of what I’m learning along the way through this blog. 

This is a picture of the "Alabaster House" which is a 24 hour prayer chapel on the property

Back Yard Moments

Having kids there are so many funny moments in everyday life that are such a treasure. Now days, with the convenience and capability of "phones," you can capture these beauties on film in an instant and share them with the whole world, or anyone who's willing to watch your backyard videos, mostly your own parents, at least not until our boys are old enough to do backflips off the roof in the pool on their bikes or something amazing. I suppose the rest of the world can wait for our back-flipping-boys-on-bikes while the grandparents enjoy their princess on the trampoline.

The Lodger

I told my British “mate,” i.e. buddy or bro, James, we were going to be getting a guy moving in with our family and attending school as well.  He refers to a roommate as “a lodger.”

Colton, “The Lodger,” was our neighbor back home who just graduated from Thurston High School in June.  I was his mentor this past year with “A.S.P.I.R.E.,” which is a program that helps students prepare for college and apply for scholarships.  Linda, the wonder gal in charge of the Career Center who oversees the A.S.P.I.R. program was concerned that Colton was not getting his stuff done to get into a four-year school for this fall.  It was kind of funny breaking the news to her that Colton wouldn’t be going to a four-year school right out of the shoot, but going to Bethel’s school of ministry… oh, yeah, and I won’t be here next year either because I’m going too J. 

When we were building our house five years ago I never imagined that I would be “college roommates” with the eighth-grade kid down the hill. 

Colton and I rode our bikes to our first day of school today.  Powerful, powerful stuff.  I still can’t believe I’m here experiencing all of this.  Truly incredible!

Oh, yeah we had to get our pictures taken at registration.

Skype

Oh the wonders of modern technology.  Can you believe skype?!  I had never used it until we moved here.  Now we’re part of the space time continuum where life and relationships are visually connected instantaneously through high-speed fiber optics. 

 

So far I’ve given my sister a virtual tour of our home, Grandma Desie has read the kids a bed-time story and we pulled one of Josiah’s front teeth before of a real-time audience (Papa Mike & Grandma Susan) all with my laptop over skype.

(Josiah before tooth pulling)

(after)

Behold, the trophy!

(Hang on to that puppy... it's worth a whole dollar at our house if you stick it under your pillow)

Lassen Peak

Labor Day morning came early with a 5:20am alarm clock.  Dean arrived at my house at 5:45am and we drove over to pick up two other guys, Justin & Josh, and then headed over to Adam’s house by 6:00am. 

Justin, a coffee connoisseur, brought two French press’s along with him of some freshly brewed black magic of some beans he had roasted the night before.  Josh, a purist health nut, brought a box of doughnuts for everyone else to eat so that he could feel better about his own health conscience choices encouraging us to “eat up.”  Dean, who is half French, half Cree Native, is easily identified by his Saskatchewanian-Canadian accent (eh?), in the same way Adam, who hails from North Carolina, is recognized by his “ya’ll.”

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Mica and I have connected very well with these guys, their wives and children.  This would include James, who was unable to make this hike, and his wife, Fiona (read Blog Entry “English Pool Party” to meet them).  We have only been here three weeks now but have shared some incredible memories with these families already.  The common link that we all share is Bethel Church – the Christian school that all our kids’ are attending as well as the school of ministry.  The common bond that unites us is Christ and our desire to see Him continually shape us and use us to fulfill His kingdom work. 

In moving here I quickly learned that our “sacrifice” in putting our life on hold back home in Springfield was not much compared to our new friends.  They have left good-paying career occupations and businesses, sold most all of what they own to travel across the states and around the world to Redding, California.  About the time I start to think they’re crazy, I realize that I’m here too. 

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We had all taken our families up to Lassen Volcanic National Park the previous Saturday to tour around: picnic, swim and hike, when Justin had suggested “the dad’s” come back to hike Lassen Peak -- the stoic, volcanic mountain standing 10,400 feet into the atmosphere, situated at the very center of the park. Turns out Labor Day was the last day the trail would be open for the summer, re-opening July first of next year (some kind of government scheduling deal), so we made it a date. 

We drove from Redding, which is about 600 feet in elevation to the base of Lassen Peak at  8,500 feet.  We arrived by 8:00am and started hiking by a quarter after.  We shared all kind of stories on the hike up, mostly guy stuff – bear attacks and cougar siting’s.  By 10:45am we had reached the summit of 10,400 feet.  This was a much more enjoyable experience compared to my hike the previous Monday up the mountain that will remain my nemesis, Shasta.  I could see her towering over 14,000’ on the horizon glaring back at me.

Standing on top of Lassen, I got a pure sense of satisfaction knowing that I had stood atop both snowed covered peaks that can be seen from Redding.  Beyond the ego of “conquering mountains” there is overwhelming closeness to our Creator that is gained from such a perspective.  The dichotomy in standing on such a vantage point is seeing my significance swallowed up in the vastness of His creation yet realizing He created all of this for me to enjoy.  The only response is a heart of worship!

Lassen Volcanic National Park

We’ve connected really well with some really amazing families in the past couple weeks we’ve been here.  The Rugg’s from England, the Carr’s from North Carolina and the Collins’ who moved here from New York a year ago.  We all decided to go up to Lassen Volcanic National Park.

We made it an all-day event, caravanning from Redding 45 minutes East toward the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.  We stopped briefly at a small, stoned-mason building, paid our dues to the park ranger and Yogi Bear, and continued on.  Brilliant, blue high-mountain lakes were off both sides of the road every so often and wonderful views of Lassen Mountain opened above bright green meadows spotted with late summer flowers.  We continued climbing in elevation as we traveled around to the East side of the mountain, where we stopped to have lunch near a lake.

Summit Lake is really amazing -- about 50 acres and about 7’ deep all the way across.  Although it is a high-mountain lake (6695’ elevation) the size and depth of the lake allows the sun to keep the feel of the lake at a perfect swimming temperature – refreshing!

After lunch we packed up and headed further around the mountain, while continuing to make significant elevation gains as we ventured on.  Creeks, meadows, grand vistas… it just kept getting more amazing as we got closer and closer to the mountain.  I had no idea we were going to be up so high!  Finally we crested between a small pass that opened on the main ridge of the mountain at 8,511’.  A bit further we pulled off and parked near a magnificently colored blue lake, with large patches of snow between the road and the lake. 

We set off on the trail to take us to our final destination “Bumpass Hell,” named after some dude that fell into a boiling pit and torched his leg… I’m supposing his name was Bumpass. The mile-and-a-half trail takes you to a “concentration of hydrothermal features,” as the signs say, which means the place looks like the surface of an alien planet and has large cauldrons of boiling goop that reeks to high heaven of egg salad.  All the kids did awesome on the hike, and the main highlight was the snowball fights that ensued at the same stopping point at the half-way mark.

We ended the day gathered around the campfire back at Summit Lake, roasting hotdogs and eating smores.  As darkness fell and the stars shown bright under the clear sky we sang worship songs as Josh lead us with his guitar and head-light illuminating his sheet music.  This seemed the most appropriate way to end the day – giving praise to the Creator who made all of this possible.

Hiking Mt. Shasta

If you’ve read any of the previous entries you’ve learned of my new friend from England, James.  He mentioned to me about a week-and-a-half ago that he’d like to do some hiking.  My friend Jesse had just told me about this amazing backpacking trip in the Trinity Alps, less than two hours from Redding.  Lassen National Park is also very close and offers spectacular hiking attractions.  I referenced these destinations as being great hiking options but James simply pointed North to the snow-covered volcano towering above the skyline and said in his classic English accent, “What about that mountain, I reckon I’d like to have a crack at it.”

We talked to the National Forest Rangers, as well as a few locals and figured we could do it.  The following Sunday (Aug 28^th) I picked up James from his house at 10:30pm and drove an hour-and-a-half north to the Clear Lake trail-head located at the South slope of the mountain, situated at 6,400 feet in elevation, nine miles from the asphalt highway at the end of a maze of dust-covered, jeep roads (I was surprised we actually found it in the middle of the night by the directions we printed off the internet).  We started hiking through the black forest under the direction of our head-lights at 1:07am.  I can’t remember the last time I’ve pulled an “all-nighter,” never for a hiking trip, that’s for sure.

By 3:00am we had cleared the alpine and found the Clear Springs where we refreshed our water and continued climbing.  We were indebted to the GPS “App” I downloaded for the handsome prince of $9.99 to my iPhone the night before which showed our climbing route and current location continually throughout the night. 

The night sky held no moon and brought forth the most brilliant stars I have ever before seen in my life – truly amazing.  We had the entire mountain to ourselves and praised the Lord, prayed for our sleeping families resting in the valley below and prayed for each other intermittently as we shared with each other. 

By 5:00am the first dull, red haze appeared on the on the Western skyline and over the next hour we watched the most spectacular sunrise – the full spectrum of colors scrolling up from the horizon until the sun pierced the darkness and started the day. 

The climb that ensued was the most difficult physical challenge I have ever endured, including the marathon I ran last spring, which was absolutely brutal.  Hiking up loose volcanic rock is almost equivalent to trudging up a sand dune.  I’m unsure if it was the 14,000 foot elevation at summit that messed with my head or simply my “lack of” current physical conditioning at the time being, but up and down that mountain in one day was a tall order.  We reached the top by 11:30am, snapped a couple pics and started our descent. 

Downhill’s better than uphill by a long-shot but still incredibly abusive to the body.  I could not believe how far it seemed going down being that we hiked up so far in the dark we lost perspective of the enormity of the mountain.  Stopping at the springs I had the bright idea to slide down an fifty-foot snow drift on my back-side using my trekking poles as a make-shift braking system.  Let’s just say the “braking system” failed and the rocks below did the stopping of the gravitational pull on my body.  I was grateful to only end up with a boo-boo on my knee and shin which didn’t do any major damage for my stupidity.

We were a bit too delirious hiking back downhill to enjoy the incredible view along the wooded ridge into the tree line, but it was wonderfully beautiful.  The Creator sure is masterful in His handiwork.  We made it back to my pick-up by 3:07pm, 14 hours from the time we started, and ready for a break.

Two thoughts I’ve taken from this experience:

1.       I’m sure if we were able to see just how big that mountain really is up close, as we did when driving away in the daylight, we would second guessed our attempt to tackle that beast as a day hike.  However, we were not intimidated because we could not see anything until we were halfway up the mountain that morning.  Sometimes I think the Lord conceals the magnitude of some obstacles He wants to have us go through in order to reveal more of His greatness that we would have otherwise missed by succumbing to our fears.

2.       Partnership is required to undertake great challenges and genuine camaraderie is the outcome.  I’m looking forward to building more friendships this year by climbing more mountains.  I just hope the size of the mountains don’t limit my faith – not faith in what I can do, but what my God can accomplish through me.

The M-Strike

Washing dishes at the kitchen sink after our casually late Saturday morning breakfast, I saw the stealthy, charcoal gray Toyota Prius turn into our driveway.  I announced to the household, “Kids, The M-Strike is here!”  All of a sudden shouts of excited panic erupted as three energtic kids bolted down the hallway to assemble their battle positions and stage an ambush. 

We greeted Matt and Emily at the door with excitement – dear friends of our from back home whom we’d been anticipating spending the day with since we learned of their planned trip to visit their family who live just a short distance from us.  We chatted as we showed them around the house but as Matt traveled down the hallway he was met with a hail storm of rubber-tipped Nerf missiles!  Matt, given the battle name “M-Strike” by the kids at a previous war scene back home, sprang into action making short work of the children.

After Matt and Emily left from their morning visit, our good friends from back home, Beth & Joe stopped by on their way home from their California family vacation with their kids: Emma, Easton, Zoe & Ezekiel (Zeik).  We had a great time catching up with them, playing with their kids and eating a few otter pops.   

By late afternoon it was up over a hundred degrees out and we headed over to M-Strike’s mom’s house… I suppose her official title is, “Momma-M-Strike.”   They have a sweet pool and we had another killer pool party.

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My dad’s birthday is today.  We called to sing him happy birthday and emailed him the link of a video we made and uploaded to Youtube.  The distance of separation from family is felt in a much greater depth when you’re sharing experiences over speaker phone.  We’ve been here two weeks to date.  Little homesick today.

Whiskey Town Lake Reunion

When I first mentioned that I was moving to Redding, CA  to my friend Sam he said, “Sweet, Whiskey town Lake.”  I had no idea what he was talking about, but just nodded and smiled.  Today, however, we were invited to go out with the Stevens Family to spend the evening there.  About fourteen miles from our house, West of Redding, up in the hills about a thousand feet higher in elevation, off a road that winds up to the top of a ridge there is an absolutely gorgeous lake below as you crest the point to turn into the park by the Ranger Station off the main highway.  Driving around the dam of the reservoir we could see amazing, tropical-colored-blue rocks deep in the clear waters dispersed casually along the shoreline.  We arrived to our destination which was a scenic beach front in a wonderful cove of the lake surrounded by tall ponderosa pine trees.

My good friend Aaron, who is truly responsible for my being down in Redding (okay, him and Jesus) along with his wife, Crystal, and their son, Judah, try to make going to the lake a weekly outing.  Aaron’s parents, his two brothers, wives, kids, girlfriends, etc. all came.  It was a great time.  

Aaron & I at the Lake 

A mutual friend of their family came along, that once introduced I said, “I know you from somewhere but I just can’t place it.”  His name was Tom.  I knew his face and his voice so strangely well but I could not place where from.  I introduced myself as “Joben” and later as we were all sitting around talking he said, “Wait, Joby Jarvis, why do I know your name?!” as we could both see the connection start to come into focus.  We narrowed it down to Springfield Faith Center, where we both been attending during the same time.  Tom is fourteen years older that I am and as we started to figure age and placement it clicked!  He was my leader in “Knights” when I was in the fifth grade!  Knights was a mid-week bible-memorizing-youth-program that was part of our church during the Wednesday evenings, kind of like Awanas I suppose.  “I spent the night in your backyard!” I announced as it all came flooding back, and detailed exactly where his old house was at of 73^rd Street out in the Thurston area where we had our end-of-the-Knight-season sleep over, or whatever it was. 

Tom moved soon after that and I had not seen him since I was ten-years-old until today, twenty-three years ago.  The Lord has done some really incredible “relational re-connecting” lately.  Crazy!

Zipline Addition

Yeah, so we came over to hang out with our British Friends this afternoon and into the evening to play in the pool since it was a nice 101 degrees... oh yeah, the first cloudy day we've ad here too. James reminded me to bring over the zipline I had mentioned to him that I decided to bring down here with us last minute. It took a bit of engineering, but when take a little British ingenuity and an American who thinks he can do anything, you know you'll come up with something spectacular. Check this out! click here for video

Kiddos School Day 1

The boys’ first day of school was today.  Three hundred elementary school kids from across the country and around the world converged in the gym, which doubles as the sanctuary of Bethel Church, to listen to the state of the student body address from Mr. Mayor followed by his commissioning prayer – pretty awesome.   I chatted with parents who had all recently moved to Redding to attend the school of ministry that I will going to and in turn had enrolled their kids at the Christian school as well—a guy from Florida, a gal from Taiwan, another from England and others from everywhere else. Richly diverse that’s for sure.  I stood beside Hudson as the boys lined up beside the girls before entering their classroom.  "Okay boys, we'll let the girls enter the classroom first because they are true gentlemen," Ms. Rust instructed -- right on teach, right on!

We bumped into our English friends from the pool party, James and Fiona, and invited them over for a cup of coffee (we did offer tea).  They are in a bit of a crunch looking for a car while they’re here in the states for the next couple of years and lucky for them Mica is a car shopping champion.  Mica and Fiona sat at the computer busy with craigslist and autotrader while I ceased the opportunity to show James my pistol.  He was pretty impressed and I promised to take him out shooting in the near future.   I guess in England you have to go to some kind of club and rent guns to shoot there.  I told him that was lame and that back home you just shoot in your back yard.  Here in the city though you just can’t go shooting, but you can throw knives!  Lucky for James I brought my throwing knives and a freshly painted cross-section of a Doug Fir tree for just an occasion.  I had him throwing knives like James Bond in no time.  I alluded one of his first attempts as “weak throw” in a joking way and he responded, “I cannot believe you just called me a Nancy” – classic.

Today was the first day of Lily’s new found liberation from the boys.  Don’t get me wrong, she loves her boys and they treat her good, but today was different in that she was home hanging out with mom and dad all by herself while the boys were at school.  She watched a “Kitty-meow-meow” cartoon for a bit when we got home cause that’s what she wanted to do.

We picked the boys up from school, came home, played in the pool and finished the day with dinner at In-and-Out Burger.  I’m not trying to make it a habit, but man those burgers are good!

Summer Bust

First day of school starts tomorrow for the kiddos (way too early if you ask me).  The school of ministry I’ll be attending doesn’t start until the second week of September but we moved down a month early for the kids’ sake.  Lily will be rocking pre-school at home with momma, Josiah’s taking the plunge into first grade & Hudson’s stepping up to the big leagues as a third grader.  Being that we are in full-time ministry made us eligible for both boys’ tuition to be cut in half -- Two for the price of one!  They’ll get a quality education at a private Christian school this year and we couldn’t be more blessed about the whole deal.  Great teachers, awesome staff all lead by a stellar principal named “Mr. Mayor.”  You can’t go wrong with a name like that, plus he use to sell hot tubs… beat that!

We did a lot this last week to squeeze out the last bit of summer break before the kids got back into the full swing of things, even in the midst of getting all settled into our new place.  We brought our own pool with us, one of those inflatable ring-topped Costco jobs.  It’s pretty awesome and provides us a lot of entertainment in the summertime.  That got filled up day one, along with the trampoline of course, especially with the sprinkler shooting up from below. 

We went on a pretty sweet, exploring bike ride too.  We’re really close to open expanses of “green space” with all kinds of bike trails criss-crossing to connect adjoining neighborhoods.  The boys loved the neighborhood curbs that sloped like one continuous ramp of BMX excitement compared to the square-edged curbs back home that seek to wipe you out.  The neighborhoods were adorned with warm-weathered species of flowering shrubs and the occasional palm tree.  The evening air was a warm invitation and the gorgeous sunset was graced by a pair of gyrocopters flying low overhead.  Josiah was convinced they were remote control model plans from his perspective.

The grand finale summer-end event was going to “Water Works” water park.  I’m not gonna lie, the place is pretty sweet.  The kids are at a really fun age to enjoy it and the boys did all the BIG rides.  I rode backwards down the “Avalanche” with Hudson on a double-tube… his facial expression of grimishing thrill-seaker-borderline-freaked-out-but-it's-okay-cause-dad's-here will be forever etched in my mind. 

However, summer break for the kids has come to an end.  In the last two hours we’ve laid out clothes, packed lunches, cut hair, did bathes, brushed teeth, read books and said prayers… and I helped J.

English Pool Party

We’ve been here a week now and we feel pretty settled.  Both Mica’s and my parents moved us down last Saturday, but my mom stayed through this last week and just headed back this morning.  I worked in the front yard tiding up the shrubs, mowed the grass and had a bit of fun watching the phone service repair man fighting a wasp nest in the phone box twenty feet up pole.  He went through five or six cans of bee-spray contending with those demonic insects and finally won after a fifteen minute battle.

It was ninety-five degrees around one o’clock in the afternoon when Mica came out front and told me a of an email invitation she received.  A parent in Josiah’s class that just invited all the first graders to come over to their place for a pool party, “Do you want to go?”

“Are you kidding?!”

Mica baked chocolate chip cookies, we packed a bag and let the GPS guide the way.  Mica told me from the email that the family was from England and just moved here to go to the school of ministry as well.  We pulled up to this large house in this nice neighborhood and made our way through the open front door toward the sound of pool activity in the back yard.  We were instantly greeted by a wonderful couple with the most remarkably authentic English accents – James and Fiona.  We had a really fun time just getting to know what each other were referring to.

They were so impressed they we brought cookies, or should I say “biscuits.”  Fiona said it was so American of us and “absolutely lovely.”  Chips are called “crisps,” the oven is a “grill” and the garbage is “the bin.”  They came from a “village” in England and have two kids – Cocoa and Caspian, the sweetest most polite little ones you have ever met, honestly.  For example, here’s Cocoa asking for more water: “Mummy, I’ve finished my glass, may I please have anuther.” 

James told me a bit about his life story going from the stock exchange in London to becoming a circuit preacher in rural England and I told him about Springfield and Young Life.  He told me all about Cricket and fox hunting with hounds and I told him about hunting bull elk and trapping bobcats. 

We stayed long enough into the evening that we had to make dinner plans, so James and I drove to the local store to get stuff to make burgers.   He actually told the cashier “Cheerio” as we turned to leave!  This guy is the real deal, I’m telling you!

We had a great time with our new friends and I expect I’ll write more about them in the near future as we promised to have them over for “biscuits” and gravy.

Blessed & Blessed

We have been so blessed in so many wonderful ways as we have moved in this direction:  encouragement, financial gifts, physical help moving our stuff, etc.  But there were several things that happened each day during the week leading up to our departure that I wanted to share.

Monday Aug 8: I needed to get a bike before we moved.  I started looking on Craigslist for a total “dad” bike, you know, something with one of those sweet hard plastic seats to strap in the smallest member of your family that can’t keep up on their own.  I finally found one for $160 out Fall Creek, but was having trouble finding time to drive all the way to the location to make a purchase.  Finally after our Young Life meeting on a Monday evening I drove up with one of my old YL leaders, Mike, who was in town visiting.  We had a great visit on our drive out and nearly got lost after going to the wrong house and driving through someone’s front yard (the guy said it was okay).  The guy selling the bike, Scott, was a super nice guy.  Through our conversation I told him I was moving to California to go to a school of ministry this next year.   His response was, “Praise God, that’s awesome, the bike’s yours!”  He totally just gave me this awesome bike!  Schwinn, cruiser, five-speed & killer kid seat on the back! (Lily loves it.)  Mike and I prayed for Scott and his family, we loaded up the bike and praised the Lord as we drove off.

Tuesday Aug 9: My laptop crashed the week prior and I had to get a new computer before we left.  A good friend, Doug, who helps us out with our computers at the YL office took my laptop to see if it was salvageable.  He diagnosed it and told me it had a pulse but suffered severe brain damage.  He directed me to Office Depot to take advantage of a couple rebates they were offering.  While purchasing the cahier suddenly realized something, left for a moment and promptly returned with a $100 visa cash card and said it was one of their promotions they were doing! Ha!  Doug was able to transfer all my information off my old computer onto my new, like I never missed a beat!  If my computer would have crashed down in California I would have had to pay sales tax and I wouldn’t have had Doug!

Wednesday Aug 10:  My friend Jesse has a drift boat and has been telling me at summer that he’d be glad to take the boys and me fishing whenever we wanted to go.  I made plans with him Wednesday for an evening float and went to Bi-Mart to get the boys new fishing poles as a surprise.  I ran into a friend of mine named Doug (Different Doug than Computer Doug).  I coached his son in wrestling back in the day and his wife works in Sporting Goods at Bi-Mart.   He asked about the fishing poles for the boys and said he walk them up to the front for me.  I grabbed a few more things, came to the front and discovered the Doug had bought the fishing poles for the boys! 

Thursday Aug 11:  I’ve met every Thursday morning for breakfast at “Steve’s Breakfast & More” with a group of guys for the past three years.  When Betty, the owner and our waiter every week, handed out the checks she skipped me.  When I asked for it she said, “It’s on Steve!”

The Lord loves to bless us with the little things.

Blogging This Endeavor

I have had this tugging on my heart for the past several years to attend the school of ministry at Bethel Church in Redding, CA.  My first introduction to Bethel was through my good friend Aaron, who moved down here the summer of 2006 to go to school.  I remember that summer as somewhat of a "busy season"... having child number three, living above the garage at Mica's parents' and building our dream home in the woods up the beautiful Mohawk Valley outside of Springfield, OR -- the community in which we feel called to do ministry in forever.  Young Life has been our life and calling for basically the past fifteen years since I started volunteer leading.  We consider ourselves missionaries to our Springfield through Young Life and see oursleves serving our community long term through this mssion.  However we felt strongly that we were suppose to leave for a season to recieve further training in order to more effectively minister back home.

So... here I am.  Sitting at a borrowed table in the dining room of a rented home in the state I swore I'd never live in, "blogging."  I've packed up my family, rented out our dream home and moved to a foreign land where the water taste terrible and they sell hard liquor in the grocery stores.  As long as my family still loves me and we come out of this experience with some good memories we'll call this whole deal a success! 
Seriously though, this truly is and already has been an incredible adventure.  The Lord has has proved Himself so incredibly faithful like he always does.  The "borrowed" table is an incredible blessing, the house we've rented is so much more than we expected -- really nice -- and the weather here in Northern California is pretty awesome : )

Our vision is to not merely survive and adventure, it's to live out a dream!  When the Lord puts a dream in your heart that's so ridiculous you laugh  outloud and then suddenly get so freaked out that you might actually allow Him lead you into some distant, unkown land... BEWARE!  You might start living life the way He's intended you to live.