Archive for the ‘Pictures’ Category
Off-Roadin’ Kid…
November 22nd, 2010 | Comments Off | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
If you know my son at all, it’s pretty clear to you that there’s one real love in his life right now… basically anything with four wheels. Pretty high on that list is riding his ATV… off-roading, not necessarily racing (thankfully!).
Sadly, there’s just not much opportunity on a day-to-day basis for Jeffrey to ride. Living in town does that. While I’d love to turn him lose to tear through the neighbors’ yards on his ATV (I certainly wouldn’t want him to tear up mine, now, would I?), that probably wouldn’t do much for neighborly relations. Thankfully, though, my folks do have quite a bit of space for him to ride, and we visit pretty frequently, so we’ve recently left the ATV there for him to ride when we visit. Aside from just being at Grandma and Grandpa’s, this always adds an extra measure of smile to his face when we visit… after all, it’s not just Grandma and Grandpa time, it’s ATV time.
It’s great to be able to enable him do what he loves.
This weekend was even better though. My dad found a great deal on a used ATV this week, and bought it for “the family”. Obviously, that raised the joy level for Jeffrey even further… now Grandpa and Dad were able to ride with him and share in what he loves. It was an awesome time… we drove around the property for hours, even made a couple trails through the brush around the pond (allowing Jeffrey to more truly do some off-roading). His smiles were uncontainable and contagious. I’m still grinning about it as I write this.
I’m telling you, dads… there’s nothing better than getting into your kid’s world and doing what he loves. If you don’t do something with your kids regularly, straighten up your act and figure out how to get into their world. You’ve got limited time with them, so make the most of it.
So here’s a few photos of Jeffrey and I doing just that… making the most of time together, doing what he loves. If these aren’t encouragement for you to get off your butt and get into your kids’ worlds… I don’t know what would be.
School’s Here Again…
August 24th, 2010 | 1 Comment | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
Another summer has passed. Already.
Yes, that means school is here again, and we now have a big second grader and a kindergartener!
And new photos! Enjoy…
Eight Years Already!
August 15th, 2010 | Comments Off | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
It’s amazing to me, but today is Jeffrey’s eighth birthday! It seems like just yesterday than Nancy and I were sitting in the hospital holding our newborn son, amazed at how God had blessed us with such a precious child… yes, even wondering a bit at His wisdom in allowing us to be parents.
Now? I can’t help but reflect on all the amazing memories, and be amazed that we still have countless more yet to come.
Some things haven’t changed as Jeffrey has grown. He’s on the go every moment of his waking hours… obsessed with cars, trucks, and anything else with wheels… funny like no child I’ve ever known… a smile that lightens every room. Independent as always… strong-willed as ever.
Some things have, though mainly his height and mode of transportation… from tricycle to power wheel to bike to scooter to ATV. I can only imagine what it will be like when that list includes his first car!
Anyway… eight years already. We’ve been blessed every day to be parents of such an awesome kid.
Dominican Republic: Refugees
August 3rd, 2010 | 1 Comment | Posted in » God at Work, My Life / Family, Pictures
As I reflect back on the mission trip to the Dominican Republic, there are certain mental images I can’t get out of my mind. Certainly, there are ones I’d LIKE to rid myself of… but the memories of the refugee area, difficult as they are to process? These memories are certainly not amongst those I’d like to forget. No way.
You see, I’ve written about the poverty I witnessed in the Dominican. In no place was this more dramatic than in the refugee area. It’s difficult to process, but critical to remember. These memories and mental images are simply too powerful… too impactful in shaking up my world and in molding my heart.
So, the refugee area…
I’m not exactly sure I understand the ins and outs of this place. I’m not exactly certain what the people in this area were taking refuge from. I’m not exactly certain how or why these people ended up here. But I do know one thing… I can’t help but wonder what kind of place these people lived in before if THIS is a place of refuge for them.
Seriously.
How can shacks with leaking tin roofs, drafty cobbled-together walls and dirt floors, housing families of five or six in 80 square foot areas… how can this be a place of refuge?
How can a place with mud streets flowing with polluted water be a place of refuge?
How can a place with starving, parasite infested, scabies-covered children be a place of refuge?
How can any people allow this kind of place to continue to exist?
How can God allow this place to continue to exist?
What can I do to make a difference in places like this?
What can we, as Americans, do to make a difference in places like this?
How can we, who have so much, live with ourselves knowing we have so much while people living in areas like this have so little?
What response should I have to witnessing this?
There is so much I just don’t understand… so many questions for which I have no good answers.
But I do have images burned in my mind… images that impact me deeply.
How do they affect you?
Dominican Republic 2010 Video…
August 1st, 2010 | 1 Comment | Posted in » God at Work, My Life / Family, Pictures
This afternoon, I took time to create a brief video from photos taken by our missions team, in an attempt to convey the life-changing experience we had while we were in the Dominican Republic. Hopefully the video impacts you at a heart level, much as going impacted me.
Dominican Republic: Kids
July 20th, 2010 | Comments Off | Posted in » God at Work, My Life / Family, Pictures
As I’m reflecting on my first couple of days here in the Dominican, I can’t help but be amazed by how many kids we’ve seen running around everywhere we go. When our bus pulls up anywhere, we’re practically mobbed by them.
They want to hug us, hold our hands, tug at our shirts… anything to be close to us. They want to be held, played with… loved. And, amazingly, they all seem to be filled with joy.
Yes, joy. Though so many of them live in conditions most of us here in America wouldn’t subject our pets to, these kids are filled with joy.
It’s simply amazing. I’ve been almost completely overcome by emotion by seeing the poverty in this nation, particularly as it pertains to children. Yet these kids shine with joy unlike that I’ve seen almost anywhere. It lifts my heart.
And to see them play, particularly with Jeffrey? Wow. They can’t speak a single word to communicate with each other, yet they connect with each other so well as they play. They speak the universal language of fun. It’s just awesome.
I wish I had more eloquent words to describe what I’ve seen and how I’ve felt. However, like so many things I’ve seen down here, it’s just not possible to communicate the thoughts, feelings, images, and experiences through words, or even through photos. You’ve got to see it to understand.
Poverty
July 18th, 2010 | Comments Off | Posted in » God at Work, My Life / Family, Pictures
As I’m processing what I’ve witnessed here in the Dominican, it’s pretty clear what jumps out about this nation and these people at first glance: this is a place of immense poverty.
It’s difficult to witness, let alone process.
I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials on television for Haitian relief, or for save the children, or for some charitable relief organization trying to make a difference throughout the world in places like this. Most of the time, when we see these things, we have no sort of emotional response… we’re more likely to simply change the channel to check out what else we can find to fry our brains, or to wonder if the scenes shown are staged. If we do have an emotional response, it’s usually of irritation… how dare these organizations try to wind us up emotionally to extract money from us!
But witnessing poverty first-hand?
There simply isn’t much that will move you more.
You can’t help but be affected by seeing families living in 4′ x 8′ shacks constructed of whatever materials they happen to be able to find. You can’t help but shed tears as you see children with distended stomachs, running around naked and playing in mud puddles. You can’t help but want to do something… anything you can think of to help. You can’t help but be overwhelmed because the need is so great… where can you start?
You can’t help but question how and why God would allow this. In the United States, even the poorest of the poor have a roof over their heads and somewhat regular meals. They’ve probably even got a television to watch, clothes to wear, maybe even an old beat up car to drive.
The contrast between “our” impoverished and the impoverished here is so dramatic. Here, the impoverished don’t eat for days. They pick through trash dumps to find whatever supplies they can for subsistence. They cobble together shacks for shelter made of old vehicle hoods, cardboard, scraps of tin. They have parasites living in their stomachs. Bugs and lice living in their hair. Scabs and scars arising from all sorts of nasty things we can’t begin to imagine.
Even the “average” person here rarely works, for there simply aren’t jobs available. We complain about a 9% unemployment rate, how “awful” our economy has gotten, how horrible our 401K has performed, how “health care reform” will ruin our nation. Here, unemployment is 75-90%. Savings and retirement are foreign concepts. Health care is virtually non-existent.
I could go on and on, yet never adequately communicate what I’m seeing. Take a look at some of these photos, though, and allow these images to move you emotionally. Consider how God would have you personally respond to what you’re seeing.
