Meandering Moudy

Waking the Dead

2009-02-01T23:36:00.003-06:00

I just finished reading "Waking the Dead" by John Eldredge. If you haven't checked out this book, I would highly recommend it as it has definitely earned a place in my Top 5 books. I don't know if it is mostly a timing thing or what, but the subject matter of our hearts becoming fully alive in God resonates deeply with me. If you've read it, I'd love to hear your comments!

Updates from the Big Gap

2008-11-11T21:19:00.003-06:00

As you may have noticed, there has been a rather big gap in time over the past months in my blogging. For your convenience, amusement, bewilderment or whatever else you'd like to call it, I've gone back and used some "Great Stuff" as a 'big gap filler' and blogged about some of the fun and more interesting things I did during those months.

Just to keep things in chronological order, I posted them on the dates they actually happened, so feel free to scroll backwards and catch up with my life. Thanks for looking - both of you!

Communion Joy

2008-11-02T21:05:00.003-06:00

I had a wonderful communion experience this morning at church. We do communion quite a bit differently than what I grew up doing. For one, we do it once a month or so and that makes it extra special instead of a routine that is void of meaning. (For me, anyway. I'm not commenting on how it makes anyone else feel doing it every week - just what I always struggled with.) Another difference is that there are different stations around the auditorium and a couple is in charge of serving from each of those. During first service, we had communion during the middle of the service as a bridge between our praise time and the message. I was serving on the altar team, which means I am one of 6-10 people who stand at the front stage and receive anyone who would like prayer. We did our altar time in conjunction with communion and it was so poignant to watch my brothers and sisters take communion together and some receive prayer. I don't know what it was, but God touched me as I watched the church celebrate the Lord's Supper!

During second service, Avery, Jill and I served communion and that was especially meaningful. Jill broke the bread and offered it saying, "This is the body of Christ, broken for you." I held the cup while the members dipped their bread I reminded them, "This is the blood of Jesus that gives you life." Avery held a cloth napkin for anyone who needed to wipe their hands. Sometimes the juice dribbles. :) What a great picture - our little family serving that holy meal and being blessed in return!

Group Life Conference 2008

2008-10-21T20:06:00.004-06:00

I had the chance this past weekend to attend a great life group conference that was hosted by the Willow Creek Church in Chicago, but broadcast to us via satellite at the Live Oak Community Church in Lubbock. Jill and I attended along with our great friends Sonny Smart and Brad & Julie Snellgrove and had a great time. The conference started on Friday evening, so we all met in Lubbock for a great dinner at Abuelo's and then to the conference. Avery had a great time staying at her Mam's house.

The conference was a great encouragement as we work with the Life Group ministry at Harvest. This has been one of our passion's for a while and there were some really good training tools offered at the conference.

Off Road Trip to Cloudcroft, NM

2008-09-08T19:19:00.003-06:00

While Jill and Avery were in DFW this weekend, I decided to run off to the mountains for one last camping trip before it got too cold. I left Friday afternoon after many unforeseen delays and ended up arriving about 930pm. I met my good friend Jaime Swift there and since he lives in Las Cruces, he had camp selected and set up when I arrived after dark. I hate setting up camp after dark, so this was a great blessing.

We stayed up visiting too late, but woke up Saturday morning and hit the trails after a great breakfast burrito warmed over the fire. (Thanks Ginger!) I brought Moose (my Honda 200 dirt bike) on the back of the Land Rover and Jaime brought his Honda 300 4-wheeler behind the Land Cruiser FJ-80.

Jaime and I had a great day riding trails all around the Sacramento Ranger District, primarily around the Lucas Canyon area. There are some fantastic OHV trails out there and we had a blast riding, resting, enjoying the scenery and catching up on our visiting while stopped.

Moose performed great and I took great pride in my $300 ride as we meandered around the mountain. Jaime's ATV did great as well and we enjoyed comparing the vastly different riding experiences these two very different machines had to offer.

This was also the Land Rover's maiden voyage after receiving an Old Man Emu suspension upgrade and 32" BFG Mud-Terrain tires. It performed great even at altitude and we spent Sunday morning exploring the 4x4 roads of the area on the west side of the wilderness overlooking the spectacular drops down to White Sands Missile Range. I look forward to many more trips in the Rover and figured out several more ways to improve it for future overland travel and camping. This is meant to be a budget off-roader, so those improvements may come slowly.

It was great to be in the mountain wilderness once again and I look forward to next spring when I get to go again!

The 1412 Ebeling House

2008-09-07T21:33:00.004-06:00

One of the biggest activities that has consumed most of our extra time lately has been the purchase and renovation of our house in Plainview. It is a great house over looking the draw out west of Plainview, but needed some updating as seen in the 'before' pictures below.

The bathrooms, laundry room and kitchen have a fantastic pink and baby blue square linoleum pattern. Maybe we'll just keep that....don'thinkso!

My favorite feature of the house is the vaulted ceiling in the living room combined with the huge windows on both sides and the skylights. It doesn't feel like being inside at all!

Now the Plainview is officially "wet", I guess we could put the wet bar to use. Or not. It's got to go.

The now INFAMOUS octagonal gazebo kitchen. This is the weirdest kitchen we've ever seen! It's full of odd angles, horrible countertops, useless drawers and dangling cabinets. The upper cabinets have to go immediately - the rest of the kitchen will follow as we can afford it!

Can you say "browngold" ? Avery's bathroom will be lightened by painting all the woodwork white, removing the wallpaper and eventually replacing the countertop.

And finally, the office. Avery got to have a little fun during the repainting process!

Farm Progress Show - Boone, IA

2008-08-27T19:57:00.001-06:00

I was able to attend the Farm Progress Show in Boone, IA this year - my third year in a row to have a Trimble meeting to attend that was held in conjuction with one of the nation's premiere farm shows. While I was only there for a day, it was fun to visit some of the booths and see what machinery was on display.

For some reason my camera hardly made it out of my pocket this year, but I did manage to snap a few pictures of these interesting tractors at the Case display.

1976 Case 1570 Spirt of '76 - this tractor celebrated the bicentennial of our country with a special stars and strips paint scheme. This tractor has been restored to impeccable standards and it was very interesting to see one in person.

Case MX180 - similar to the original stars and stripes tractor, this newer version was created to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Case company. A much more modern graphic job was fitting for a much more modern tractor!

McKenzie Madness

2008-07-05T20:56:00.000-06:00

One mean motorcycle riding machine!

Caleb "Rooster" Lewis - no longer called rooster because he gets up at the crack, but now called rooster because of those "rooster tails" he kicks up behind the dirt bike!

Over the 4th we had a GREAT Saturday out at Lake McKenzie riding ATV's and dirtbikes with Uncle Iz, Caleb, myself and my friend Danny Hooks. Since Danny is a professional moto-cross racer, I was a bit nervous that he was our tour guide, but he was a great host and it's always good to have the designer of the course to show you around!

Iz did an incredible job of posing as a well-experienced ATV rider. It wasn't until he nearly tipped over backwards and screamed like a little girl that I realized he was a little out of his element. :) Seriously, he was incredible and Caleb only jumped off in fear a couple of times. ;}

Taking a rest - Danny (in white T-shirt) showed us lots of cool places and gave Iz and Caleb a great FIRST ride. They were tag-teaming on the Polaris 350 while Danny rode his racing Kawasaki and I brought up the rear on Moose (my Honda 200).

Here's the Lewis boys giving her *ell at the river crossing. Iz rared back, juiced the throttle and shot across like a crotch rocket. Not bad at all for a boy from East Texas!

Caleb and Iz had an absolute blast riding the ATV. I had a ball riding Moose. And I'm pretty sure Danny got lots of chuckles at us 'green' riders as we learned the tricks of the trade.

I can't wait to go back!

Monday, June 6th - Kadzitsoni

2008-06-29T07:41:00.004-06:00

On Monday, we all loaded up the vans and headed into the bush. We drove for about 2 hours to Kaloleni and met Fredrick Kaingu and others at the MCRC youth center and then split up to go on our ministry tours. My group went with my good friend Charo Gunga to his village at Kadzitsoni. We spent many days here during our ministry time in Kenya and love the people here. It's extremely remote and took us a while to drive to a place close enough to park the van and walk from.

This area is much more arid than most we've been in so far. The trees are much smaller and farther between, but this is rainy season afterall and there was lots of lush green vegetation to tromp through. I don't know if the Aggies were worried or not, but that grass sure concerned me - looks like prime snake habitat to me!

Upon our arrival, we were warmly greeted by Charo's family. Charo is in the pink shirt. He showed us all around - it's Giryama custom to visit each house in the village and greet the habitant. That took a little while, but I knew most of the people and it was great to see them all again.

Charo had a surprise for the group - it was time to start preparing a special lunch! Ryan volunteered for the "preparation" duty as an honored guest. I declined as I wanted these guys to get the full experience of African hospitality - that includes killing your own lunch.

Wade was eating this up - figuratively at first, literally a couple of hours later. Most folks never get to taste meat this fresh. I must admit - this was the best goat I've ever eaten!

This is Duncan Ziro hard at work preparing the goat. This was Duncan's first visit to Kadzitsoni. It was a good trip for him as his home area is much like this - arid and remote. He felt very much at home and that was obvious as he helped the students experience traditional Giryama culture at its finest.

As you can imagine, lunch takes a while to prepare from scratch. Waiting is one of the most experienced activities for visitors in rural Africa. We sat around and visited with the folks there, toured the farm, and sat around some more. Christianna was THRILLED with the forthcoming madafu (drinking coconut)!

It's a good thing Craig was around. He single handedly consumed a majority of Charo's coconut crop. I think there was quite a bit of switcheroo going on since Craig loved the madafu and everyone else didn't.

After a while, lunch was ready. Traditionally, guests are seated in the host's home around a community table and left alone to eat while the host is absent. We were prepared a great smorgasboard of food and then the students were left to enjoy it with gusto. Starting with the purple bowl at the bottom of the picture, we ate boiled goat in coconut milk, the white stuff is wari (ugali) which is cornmeal boiled in water to a consistency similar to playdough. This is pinched off and dipped into the soup and is the main staple food for Giryama people. The purple bowl with red stuff is kachumbari - tomatoes, onions and peppers mixed with vinegar as a side dish. Delish! On the skewers was roasted goat that was seasoned and very tasty! And finally, in the blue bowl at the top of the table, the premiere dish for visitors - the tubers! Giryama custom dictates that the guests get the best parts of the animal being eaten - which means that the internal organs, being the delicacy they are, are cheerfully given to the guest. We had stomach, intestines and liver. I was very proud that every single student tried a tuber. I've been there done that and didn't indulge. Aren't I a great leader?

It was a fantastic day! We had lots of fun with the kids and the students really got a taste of life in a traditional Giryama village.

Way to go guys! You did well and I was happy to get to share the basis for my years of ministry with them. This was my "office" for 5 years and it was a joy to get to re-experience that again by sharing it with first-timers. We were all astounded by the generous hospitality of our hosts and that makes Jesus' teachings about loving your neighbor more than self much more profound. Thanks to our Giryama friends for hosting us and challenging us to know God more intimately through their generosity!

Sunday, June 1, 2008 - Worship in Malindi

2008-06-12T05:52:00.003-06:00

Sunday was a great day. Mostly because it is my anniversary and so it's a day to celebrate one of the world's all-time best marriages ever. But that has nothing to do with me - it's all about my wonderful wife Jill!

We spent the night at Uzima - a hot, muggy night that I spent without a mosquito net. I didn't worry about it too much, but certainly doused myself with plenty of Off before going to bed. Sunday morning we enjoyed another breakfast of chai and a loaf of bread before the morning session that wrapped up the Youth Meeting. I was able to teach this morning and enjoyed spending about an hour encouraging the youth that they play a vital role in the body of Christ, using the Body metaphor and illustrating the youth as the legs of the church - the ones who move it forward and give it motion.

As such, the youth spent a lot of good time "in motion" after our worship services.

Chase gets ready to nail it.

Greg was all about showing his goalie skills.

Notice where the ball is in this shot. Sorry 'bout that Greg.

The guys had a great time trying to get a kick past Goalie Master Greg!

And Goalie Master Greg had a GREAT time fending them off! I thought about using this picture to illustrate how much Greg gets into his teaching, but...that just wouldn't be right.

Chase takes a break to look over his shoulder and ward off the picture taker.

We did lots of waiting and sitiing. I'm pretty sure we were waiting for another dose of those excellent beans and rice right here.

Wade was really good at sitting with guys, like Emmanuel Mwambire, and visiting about life. Thanks for being so open and ready to share, Wade!

Saturday, May 31st - Youth Retreat in Malindi

2008-06-09T05:02:00.009-06:00

As you can see, we've skipped an entire week of ministry since the last update. I'll fill those gaps in later when I have some pictures. For this installment, the pictures aren't all that great but it's what I got. I was having issues with working the camera and was really wishing for my photographer sister Robyn's assistance.

On Saturday, May 31st we woke up very early in the morning and traveled about 1hr north to the town of Malindi. Friday night the brakes on our rental van failed, so we got the privilege of taking a public matatu all the way. Thankfully, our friend Duncan Ziro arranged one that we filled up ourselves and that would take us directly to the Uzima Christian Training Center instead of dropping us off at the public bus stage and then having to find another means - probably a tuk-tuk, or lots of them - to get us to UCTC.

These are tuk-tuks in downtown Malindi. They are cute little 3 passenger vehicles that have suddenly appeared in Kenya since we moved away back in 2003. I "borrowed" this picture from the Internet, but thought it was a good view of the streets there.

Once we arrived at Uzima, we were greeted by the director of the training center Jeremiah Muramba. They had kindly prepared chai and bread for our breakfast and he oriented the students about the facility and the program for the day. This was a one-day youth seminar that had about 100 youth in attendance! This was a fantastic number considering school is still in session this time of year.

Youth from local churches came to Uzima for a weekend of encouragement, teaching and games. Fun was had by all!

This is Jeremiah leading the group in a few songs as the Aggies for Christ group prepared to teach.

Lindsey Waites got a chance to share her testimony and a 30 minute lesson with the group of students, as did the other AFC students. She and Crista both felt this was a great opportunity for them as ladies to prepare a lesson and give a testimony that they don't often get in the US.

Crista's going to kill me for posting this video...

Our American group quickly learned that Kenyan students have a much greater attention span than kids at home.

The sessions seemed to drone on for hours and hours and hours, didn't they Wade??

It wasn't boring for the Kenyan students at all. The AFC group prepared some awesome lessons and there was much time for games outside and other activities. It does get rather difficult, however, to participate in day-long events that are conducted in a language you don't understand!

"Hey, Mike! Dude, you got something really shiny hanging out your nose! You might oughta check that!"

While I didn't get any pics of it, we ate some great meals at Uzima. Beans and coconut rice for lunch was a big favorite among the AFC group. They were amazed at the portion size, however. Each of us got a HUGE helping of the steaming meal and only SOME of us were able to finish it!

I like this shot of Jeremiah. It appears he is focused on the best thing possible - the cross of Jesus.

Saturday, May 24th - Arrival in Kenya

2008-06-08T17:32:00.004-06:00

I finally made it home from my trip to Kenya! It was a long journey home, but well worth it in the end. I had a great trip and was so thrilled to share it with 13 NMSU students and their campus minister, Greg Bowles. They were an incredible group of students and truly exemplified the spirit of Christian mission while in Kenya. I was proud to be with them (well, except for the matching T-shirts they all wore while traveling! :) I'm glad you guys were so excited!) and was blessed to show them the country and people that hold a special place in my heart.

On our trip we had two designated photographers and one videographer, so I didn't really take too many pictures. Until I get copies of those, I do want to share what I have as its fresh on my mind.

So - let's get started! I must make a disclaimer here - I like to take humorous shots occasionally, so if my lens found you in a compromising position, please don't be offended. I did it on purpose. Ha!

We arrived on Saturday, May 24th in Nairobi. After going to our guesthouse and cleaning up a bit, we took an afternoon game drive in Nairobi National Park. It's a game reserve right on the edge of a city of 3 million people - not sure you'd want to be in the suburbs here! And yes, there are lions in the park, though we didn't see them.

Looking out over the savanna - now where are those lions??

Our fearless leader Greg - contemplating how on earth he got himself into this mess.

Wow. I don't think you can get that close to a giraffe even in a zoo!

Rhino's are a rare sighting on any safari - and we saw 2!

What are they looking at, you ask? See the video clip below...

These Marabou Storks looked cool as silhouettes roosting on top of an Acacia Tree.

A really cool scene - wild Eland and Cape Buffalo with Nairobi City Center in the background.

Now that the required safari is out of the way, on to the real reason we came - the people!

3 minute phone calls!

2008-06-01T21:28:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone, it's Jill again just letting you know that I've had a few short emails from Gabe and a couple of phone calls over the past week. I haven't gotten just a whole lot of information, since the phone calls have ranged between 3-5 minutes each, but it's great to hear from him and he says that it has been a really, really good trip. I know they have pushed themselves very hard and have had a busy schedule.

Only two days left, in a very rural area called Kaloleni, helping a church there to build a kitchen so they can host area-wide teaching events. The students will also be involved in a "bonding" experience with their assigned families, staying the night with them and being immersed in the culture.

When Gabe gets home, I know he will share his trip with you all via this blog, but for now, just wanted to update you that things are going well.

Today is our 12th Wedding Anniversary and I sure have missed Gabe! Can't wait to have him home...

Gabe on the Lunatic Express!

2008-05-27T07:54:00.022-06:00

This is Jill, writing on Gabe's blog to update you on his trip: They arrived safely in Nairobi on Saturday morning and Gabe was able to call me later that day for a short phone call. They have spent a couple of days in Nairobi working with a slum area with a ministry that helps Street Children. This is an email he sent me about that experience:

"We are getting ready to head to the train for our ride to Mombasa. MITS (Made In The Streets) was great. It was difficult for all of us and the students were very moved by the experience. One of the guys at MITS did a debriefing with the group and there were lots of tears expressing how they were affected. We went out on foot and visited several of the locations where street boys congregate, shared testimonies and prayed for them. It was very shocking for most folks - especially when they heard there are poorer parts of Nairobi than Eastleigh. Thanks for your prayers - they were much appreciated. Nothing bad happened at all so I know we went under God's protection."

As he said, they should now be finished with their 14 hour overnight train ride from Nairobi to Mombasa. This train is called The Lunatic Express and is the railway that the movie 'The Ghost and the Darkness" was written about. You get on the train at 7 pm and after supper in the dining car, you sleep in your train car in little beds that fold down from the wall. It's a pretty neat (although somewhat dangerous, based on the wreck history the last few years!) experience. It's an economical way to travel and since you travel through the night, it is a good use of time.

The Lunatic Express

Train going through Tsavo Game Park

Train car where you sleep

I'll post more as I hear from Gabe. He should be in Kilifi now, which is where we lived for 4-5 years, so I know this will be the most special part of the trip for him - to see old friends and spend time with some of the brothers and sisters there who are very dear to us.

Thank you for your interest, and your prayers. Avery and I are being well taken care of with my family here in the Dallas area.

I'm Off!

2008-05-21T06:16:00.003-06:00

Just a quick post to sign off for a while. I'm headed to El Paso today to meet up with the group, then tomorrow morning early we head to Denver, then London. We have 14 hours in London, then fly all night to Nairobi. Whew. It's a long trip, but well worth it!

I'll try to email and/or blog as I can to update you on my progress. Can't make any guarantees there will be much computer time, though. If you do need to email me, please use this address: kachejefwa@hotmail.com. It's much easier to check while I'm traveling.

Thanks for your prayers as I travel - both for my safety and for Jill and Avery!

Kenya Bound!

2008-05-18T15:45:00.003-06:00

It's time to load up and head back to East Africa! This coming Wednesday I'll be heading out to Kenya for a 2 1/2 week excursion leading a group of ambitious university students from Las Cruces, NM on the mission adventure of a lifetime. This trip kind of sprung up on me - my former colleague from Kenya, Jaime Swift, called me up about a month ago and said his church was sending a group of college students to volunteer at the MCRC (Maarifa Chrisitan Resource Centres) that we helped begin years ago on the Coast. They had a better turn-out than expected and needed an additional "experienced" guide to come along. Of course I had to say yes! Thanks to the church there, the college minister Greg Bowles, Jaime and Intercede (the non-profit that continues to support and administer work at the MCRC locations in Kilifi and Kaloleni, I have yet another chance to continue my involvement with what God is doing along Coastal Kenya.

Please be in prayer for our group as we travel and try to be of service to our good friends in the Kilifi Area. God is good and we are looking for a grand time of serving our brothers and sisters!

The group from New Mexico State University.

A "dhow" is a traditional Kenyan boat commonly found along the coast where we will be working.

Our ministry will largely focus on helping MCRC, who in turns focuses on working with Kenyan youth.

The Board of MCRC has planned 2 weeks full of activities and we really appreciate their willingness to host us and get things organized! From left to right are: Fredrick Kaingu, John Kenga, Duncan Ziro, Daniel Kahindi, Mike Thethe and Luganje Nyale.

Avery's First Camping Adventure

2008-05-05T20:38:00.005-06:00

Avery has been having lots of first lately. This weekend we decided to renew an old passion - camping out in the wilderness. I had a full set-up of gear when we lived in Kenya, but we chose to give all that stuff away to people who needed it more than we did when we moved home. It's been nearly 5 years now and we are just now able to afford replacing alot of the gear, but mostly Avery is now old enough to enjoy the experience!

We took a quick overnight trip to one of my favorite places in the Texas Panhandle - Caprock Canyons State Park near Quitaque, TX. It's a beautiful place, right on the edge of the Caprock and full of Canyons - as you might have guessed from the name!

One of my favorite parts is the fact that it is the home of one of the Texas State Bison Herds. The American Buffalo is one of my all time favorite animals and you can see them in the "wild" here at Caprock Canyons. They have recently added an interpretive center with a full-body mount of a buffalo and Avery was very impressed.

We decided to camp at the Little Red sites. They were atop the South Prong of the Little Red River. They were nice, secluded spots with a shelter and picnic table. Avery had the time of her life - as can be seen here "helping" to set up the tent. We actually picked a horrible evening to camp. Friday night the wind blew and blew hard as a Norther' crashed in. Every time you'd nod off, the tent would be whacked with a huge gust and feel like it was going to go sailing off into the nearby river. We had fun, anyway.

Whoa. The green wrinkly man popped in from the darkness...

One of the best parts was cooking out. There is a burn ban in effect, so we couldn't have the traditional campfire, but it was fun trying to come up with supper (Frito Pie) and breakfast (biscuits, sausage and eggs) over a gas burner in the WIND.

Saturday morning was actually gorgeous and we took about a 3 mile hike into the canyon. We traveled along the Canyon Loop Trail because it is wide and relatively easy - very important when you are pushing a 4 year old in a buggy. I was glad I went to the trouble to fix the 3 flats on her buggy - it made the hike really fun for her and I didn't have to carry her on my back the whole way!

We would love to explore some other parks in the area and would always love to have camping guests along! If you are interested, let us know and let's plan some quick weekend trips over the summer. There are lots of places within about a 2 hour drive so its easy to go after work on Friday and be back for church on Sunday - or stay all weekend!

Avery's First Boat Excursion

2008-04-21T21:18:00.003-06:00

During our weekend jaunt to Ft. Worth, Uncle Matt was cool enough to round up some boating dudes to take us out on Eagle Mountain Lake. This was Avery's first ride in a "motorboat" as she called it and she was pumped!

Micah was really looking out for the fish!

Avery deep in thought with a Tangelo.

Noah and Matt getting the lures ready.

She had a great time driving the boat, fishing for bass and playing around but the most fun was dangling her feet in the water with Chloe. She asked several times if she could jump in, but we didn't wear swimming suits and it was a bit too cold for that today!

Kitchen Remodel - Tuesday Report

2008-03-18T22:57:00.003-06:00

Tuesday morning started out looking like this...

Along about lunch time...

And finished up looking like this!

We got all the cabinets installed, the microwave in, the dishwasher mostly in and the countertops ready to mount. Once the stove is put back and the sink installed, it will be a fully functional kitchen again!

The story of the day - Matt working hard and me standing around holding things up. (and it appears that I've been eating WAY too many of Mam's chocolate chip cookies this weekend!)

This is the corner cabinet and dishwasher. (dishwasher isn't fully installed yet.) The sink will go to the left of the dishwasher - we didn't get that cut out today. The cabinet base will be painted and a facia will be added as a kickplate to blend in the cabinet bottom and base platform.

Kitchen Progress - Monday Report

2008-03-17T21:48:00.003-06:00

We made lots of progress on Sunday and Monday. Dad came over and helped on Sunday afternoon and Mother brought supper again. What a big help!

Dad learned a little electrical and wired in some plugs for us.

Matt worked hard and we got all the electrical finished. There are a few "extras" that took some additional time, but will be well worth it when we get done. Keep your eyes open for some special effects...

Noah is our resident garbage collector and chef extraordinaire - but not at the same time or using the same materials! He's making a big pile on the haul off trailer.

He's also been busy trying myth-busters stuff. I showed him an article about using Cheetos as fire starters in an off-road magazine - so he bought some Flamin' Hot Cheetos and tried them flaming hot - literally! It made a little mess, but did burn. And smelled. Bad.

And, last but not least, here is the results at the end of Monday. Two cabinets are up, the lower cabinet base is in, the electrical is done, the plumbing didn't need changing afterall, and the gas line for the stove is modified. Tomorrow - we'll hang the rest of the cabinets, upper and lower, and get the counter tops on and plumb in the sink. A lot of work, but it should go smoothly!

Time for the Kitchen to Go!

2008-03-17T07:23:00.003-06:00

Jill left for Spring Break and will be coming home to a new kitchen. Noah and Matt are here and we are having a blast. Well, at least we are enjoying being together!

Watch out for the maniac on the drill!

Out comes the sink...

Down come the old cabinets...

Gutted kitchen. Now we have to start putting stuff back!

2.5 Month Update

2008-02-23T07:47:00.006-06:00

As you can imagine from my lack of blogging, it's been crazy busy over the past 2.5 months. Here are a few of the highlights:

Back in January, we took a trip to Abilene with our friends Bill and Jara Dubose to attend a Casting Crowns concert. It was a GREAT trip! It's been years since we travelled with friends like that and it was such a nice get-a-way. Many thanks to Mam and Granpappy who welcomed Avery for an overnight visit! The concert was absolutely incredible. I've not been to a more worshipful event that I can remember. Their music is focused on Jesus and their ministry is truly about the listener and not their fame. Towards the end of the concert every one of the groups members sat on a stool at the front of the stage and prayed over the crowd. It was really moving. So, if you get a chance, you'll be blessed to attend one of their concerts!

Over the Christmas holiday, we travelled to Albuquerque, NM with Jill's family. We had an absolute blast just relaxing and eating great New Mexican food (way different from Tex-Mex). This is Avery with her Uncle Mike and Aunt Julie atop Sandia Peak.

The vistas from the top of the mountain were incredible. It was gorgeous heading back down the tram and sunset.

While on the top, Iz and I journeyed out to a lookout point. It was all we could do to stand up the wind was blowing so strong! Since the temp was 3 at the top, the wind chill out here must have been way down there! That's the coldest I've been since climbing Mt. Kenya...

As you may know, I'm a Land Rover nut. It turned out that Land Rover Albuquerque was just a few blocks from our hotel! I went by to check it out and had a great time perusing the dealership. It was WAY different from any other car dealer I'd been to. If I were in the market to spend the value of my house on a vehicle, this would be the place to go. As it was, I bought something more in my budget - an orange Land Rover cap.

While at the Land Rover dealer, I picked up a magazine called Overland Journal. It's designed especially for those of us who appreciate travelling the backroads and dirt roads in 4x4 vehicles. This is one of the best magazines I've come across and fits me very well! Jill is so sweet - she notcied how much I liked it and I now have a subscription to it for my birthday present!

There's probably more, but that's enough for now. In case you were wondering, the bathroom was finished in time for Christmas company. I'll have to get some "finished" pictures and share them in another blog entry. I hope you are enjoying this journey we call life as much as I am!

WC Remodel - 7

2007-12-05T06:23:00.000-06:00

More success! This has to be the slowest remodel project in the history of the world - at least in this house! We are getting so close, though, and it feels good. If you remember from installment 6, I had a few things to check of the list and I got 3 of them done this weekend, plus several other things.

The shower panel came in so I was able to get the entire shower installed!

I still need to do some trim work along the top edge and sides. The instructions were not clear on measuring how to place the panels, so I was off pretty bad. This goes all the way back to the texture stage because I had to tape off the wall so as not to have texture behind the shower panel so the glue would stick good. It didn't come out quite right, but its nothing some trim won't hide!

I guess you are supposed to pull that blue stuff off the chrome at some point. We'll wait until its good and finished!

This picture doesn't really show it, but the grout is finished and I also got the light covers put on. Now the plumbers need to come do the toilet and some trim work will be all that's left.

All that was done on Sunday and Monday evening because I spent Saturday doing other projects - like getting Avery's new bunkbed put up! Thanks to Uncle Vernon's donation of his childhood bed, she is one happy little girl! She has slept on the top AND bottom - quite possibly in the same night, but I'm not sure about that.

We also got our Christmas tree and some lights put up as well - that was really fun with Avery this year. She was so excited to get the ornaments hung it was hard to keep things under control! She's been quite disappointed that we didn't make a paper star for the top. After all, Caillou (her best cartoon friend) made one for his tree this year. She even suggested that since we obviously didn't know how to do it, we should travel to his house for lessons. We told her we were pretty sure Caillou lives in Canada and she thought that sounded like a fun weekend trip!

One other thing - on the way to buy the Christmas tree, Avery was looking over Jill's new cell phone and reviewing which number called who on speed dial. She said, "Mom - number 1 calls you voicemail." Voicemail?? How does she even know what voicemail is? So we asked her how she knew that and she gave us the most ridiculous look while replying, "Well, it does have an envelope on the button, you know!" Oh my. Reckon what our phone bill will be when she is 13?!!?!

Membership Class - Harvest Christian Fellowship

2007-11-30T05:45:00.001-06:00

Over the next couple of weeks I would like to post some of the materials we have covered in the membership class at Harvest. I want to do this for two reasons:

1. It helps me to process the information if I can try to restate and/or explain it to you, and

2. I would like your honest opinion on the materials. If you read something that causes you concern - biblically or personally - I want to know. We have not committed to this church yet and should we choose to do so, want to make sure we are making a well-informed and biblically based decision.I should have posted this material immediately after receiving it, but I did not. So - it may be a little dusty in my mind as I try to reconstruct it for you here.

The class was divided up into 4 sections:

1. Who is Christ?

2. What is the church?

3. What makes Harvest unique

4. Ways to get involved - specific ministry opportunities.

We were also given some preliminary information about the church and that is where I want to start today. Please give me your honest opinions/views about this.

Harvest Christian Fellowship - Statement of Faith

We believe the Bible to be the revealed will of God, the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice.

There is one God, externally existent in three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God the Father has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. In Jesus, God became man to reveal the Father to us and to save us from our sins. Forever He is fully God and fully man.

Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, became our atoning sacrifice through his death, and was raised from the dead bodily, ascended to His Father and will personally return in power and glory to the earth.

Although we are created in the image of God, we have nonetheless "all sinned" (Romans 3:23). Until we call upon Christ to forgive our sins and become our Master, Scripture claims we are under the dominion of Satan and are members of the kingdom of darkness. Only through faith in Jesus Christ and the cleansing of His blood can we be saved. When we believe in Him, our sins are forgiven, and we are rescued from the dominion of darkness and transferred into His Kingdom (Colossians 1:13).

The Father and the Son have given the Holy Spirit to regenerate us, transform us into the image of Christ, and equip us for service. Personal holiness, healing, the fullness of the Spirit and all the spiritual gifts received in New Testament days are available now and should be eagerly desired (1 Corinthians 14:1).

We long for the return of Christ, at which time He will rectify everything that is presently wrong. Until then, we are to work faithfully to bring the world to Him through evangelism and discipleship. (Matthew 28:18-20).

When Jesus returns, dead believers will be physically resurrected. Believers still alive will also receive their glorified bodies. Unbelievers will also be raised. Then there will be a judgement. Those who are in Christ will live with Him forever. Those who are not will be cast into Hell.

The church as the body of Christ has been given special gifts (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc.) to equip every member of the body to do the work of ministry. The Church is entrusted with the ordinances of baptism in water, holy communion, the anointing of the sick, the marriage ceremony, the appointment of called persons to specific ministries, and with the preaching of the World.

Ultimately, we believe whatever the Bible teaches on any subject. it is our absolute and infallible authority in all matters of faith and conduct because God inspired every word of it in its original form.

Harvest Christian Fellowship Membership Covenant
Having received Christ as my Lord and Savior and been baptized, and being in agreement with Harvest's statements, strategy , and structure, I now feel led by the Holy Spirit to unite with the Harvest church family. In doing so, I commit myself to God and to the other members to do the following:

I will protect the unity of my church by acting in love toward other members, by refusing to gossip, by following the leaders, by understanding biblical standards for correction or church discipline.

I will share the responsibility of my church by praying for its growth, by inviting the unchurched to attend, and by warmly welcoming those who visit.

I will serve the ministry of my church by discovering my gifts and talents, by allowing the pastors of this church to equip me for service and by developing a servant's heart.

I will support the testimony of my church by attending faithfully, by living a godly life and by giving regularly.

I have read and understand the biblical expectations Harvest Christian Fellowship has for each of the members of this church. I agree it is my responsibility as a member of this church to embrace and promote these standards of living. I will live by these principles and encourage the other members of this church as they do the same.
________________________
Member's Signature and Date
_________________________________________________________________

I think it is pretty cool the church has a membership covenant and doesn't just accept every Tom, Dick and Harry who wants in. There are high expectations of membership and from what I've seen, the membership works hard to live up to them. Worship is dynamic because everyone there is committed to the church and more importantly, to God and His service. Pew warmers are not welcome to stay for long here, and that is refreshing to me.

So - what are your thoughts? Anything here that puts a burr under your saddle? I'm all ears...

WC Remodel - 6

2007-11-20T22:39:00.000-06:00

Jill summed up my latest "progress" quite well in three pictures.

1. Here I am thoroughly reading the instructions for how to properly install the shower wall panels.

2. Here I am doing a really good job of applying the glue.

3. Here is proof at how well I follow instructions.

The bathroom did NOT get finished as planned this weekend. Another panel is on order and so - we have to wait until after Thanksgiving for success.

I DID get the tile laid and most of the painting and caulking done!

Bado: (that means what's left)
Grout.
Shower walls and door.
Light fixture covers.
2 pieces of trim.
Reinstall vanity.
Install towel racks, hooks, etc.
Paint doorframe.
That's it!

WC Remodel - 5

2007-11-06T19:47:00.000-06:00

And then it was the 412th day and Gabe said, "Let there be light!" And there was. So much it blinded you to be in the room! And also on the 412th day, Gabe said, "Let there be water!" And there was. So hot it was scalding!

Unfortunately, Gabe is not God and when he said "Let there be light!" there should have also been power for drying hair and charging toothbrushes. There was not. Since Gabe is not God, he can't tell the difference between two identical yellow wires coming out of an electrical box whe wiring in the outlet. Nor can he remember to read the cleverly written label on the end of said wire before he cut that extra length off. Oh well, Gabe the Master Water Closet Remodeler can't get everything right on the 412th day! There must be something left for tomorrow...

WC Remodel - 4

2007-11-04T21:56:00.001-06:00

I was finally able to make some progress on the bathroom this weekend. It's really starting to take shape! Here's some pics...

The door is finally hung. I had to remount the hinges onto the other side of the door. While I was at it, I stripped the 10 layers of paint off those hinges - they look like brushed nickel now. I wish they could stay that way! Now I have to reverse the latch and move the catch to the proper height so it will stay closed.

I really, really wanted to show off these lights turned ON! I got all the lighting and electrical done and was ready to connect it all - only to discover I had the wrong breaker. What a dud. Lights should be functional tomorrow. We went ahead and hung the mirror to get the look going. The brown still has to be painted as does the beadboard.

In case you hadn't seen it, this was what the corner from the mirror picture above looked like before we started. Big improvement!

I was able to get beadboard up as well since the last post. I've been waiting on the plumber to do the shower, so I'm hoping the edge of the beadboard matches the edge of the shower. We'll see...

The vanity and sink are mocked up, but not installed. I want to lay the tile first and then mount the vanity to gain a little extra height. Every 1/4" helps, you know. As you can tell, it was a tight fit for the 49" vanity top. I'm not sure it will come out. I got the hardware on the vanity as well. Question here - should the hardware for the vanity and cabinets all match? I vote yes, Jill votes no. What do you think???

This is beadboard on the commode corner. You can see my biggest mistake of the weekend at the bottom left of the light switch box. It's impossible to know where the studs are in this house because of the thickness of the wood behind the sheetrock and wouldn't you know it - there was a stud right where I drilled for the corner of the box. I drilled and drilled and never broke through - this is a bad sign. Sure enough, I was square on the stud and had to move over. I guess a little patchwork will fix this easily enough. Next time, I'll be sure to drill a small test hole!

This is the ceiling above the shower and commode. I put in recessed lighting and I hope it works OK. I think I'm finally done with crawling around in the attic of this house doing wiring! YEAH!

Next time...

The plumber comes this week to install the shower and toilet.

Tile will get laid.

Caulking will be done.

Painting and finish work will commence!

Stay tuned!

Willys Trailer

2007-10-19T05:41:00.000-06:00

I'm sure you ladies who read my blog won't appreciate this post, but there are some manly men out there who need to hear this news and see the pictures. Since I got my Land Rover, I've been thinking it would be cool to have a 4x4 trailer to go with it. These were popular in Kenya with Overlanders - folks who were traveling around Africa or just going on safari as they could pack all their gear in the trailer leaving the vehicle available for passengers or just free to drop the trailer and go exploring. Often the little 2 wheel rigs had a tent that folded out on top of them and you could leave everything set up and go exploring without breaking camp. They are full of little nooks and crannies for storing things - water jugs strap on the side, kitchen utensils - everything you need for camping. Plus, you can just leave it all packed up in the trailer when you get home and it's ready to go next time!

The only problem with these commercial rigs is that they are very expensive. And, I've not seen them for sale in the USA. That doesn't inhibit me, though! I'd seen some on the web that were homemade and got to figuring I could do the same. About this same time, there was a community farm sale near Abernathy where a neat little green trailer appeared. It was just perfect - small, lightweight, high off-road stance and had lots of little extras like tarp hooks, parking break, swivel hitch, shocks, etc. It was very old looking and had lots of rust damage in the bed. One of the tires still had the tread on it, which was the old military tread from way back when. It was a purpose built military trailer obviously. I went to the farm sale intending to buy it - if it was cheap. Only one other person bid against me and I won it for $100. I also happened to buy some good mud tires for it at the same auction - $2 each.

Happy with my bargain, I brought it home and got on the Internet to do some research. It turns out this trailer was built by Willys specifically to go behind the M38A1 military Jeeps from WWII. It uses the same axle as the Willys Jeep so the bearings and tires would be interchangeable for easy maintenance. I discovered my trailer was missing several features - such as the parking brake handle, a fold down jack, a fitted tarp and the orignal pintle hitch has been replaced with a farm type hitch. The original trailer also didn't have the tailgate that somebody made in mine. The little trailer was originally watertight and would float with up to 500 lbs of gear inside. Judging by the design and features on mine, it was actually a post-war model produced in the early 1950's. Good restored models bring over $1500 on the net these days, so I got a steal!

Now for the pictures. It's not pretty, but it will be a good little trailer once it's fixed up a little.

The rims are 16" , which match the Land Rover for now. I'd like to change the LR to 15" because tires are so much cheaper for that size.

Notice the little hooks all the way around it. You can buy a fitted replacement tarp for it that had bungee sewed into it to match these hooks.

The hitch is actually on upside down. That bracket on the top should be on the bottom and holds the kickstand jack. I'd like to cut off the farm hitch and replace it with a 2" ball.

It's really rusty inside. The kicker is that whoever parked it with the tongue on the ground could have opened the built-in drain plug in the floor and prevented this!

My trailer had a custom-built tailgate. I think that makes it much more functional. You can see the tires I bought inside it. They look pretty cool mounted, though that little project cost me $60 for mounting and new tubes!

The little trailer pulls real nicely and I think will be perfect for hauling camping gear to the mountains!

WC Remodel - 3

2007-10-14T14:40:00.000-06:00

Here are a few more pics from this weekend's work. Well, actually the painted bedroom was done the day Jill got home from Dallas!

The bedroom is now khaki colored - I'm sure Jill can tell you the official color's name if you are so inclined. This is the view looking at the closet door.

This is looking at the west window.

And this is looking at the north window. You can't really see the texture, but it looks 100% better!

I got some work done in the bathroom yesterday. This is the vanity in place for measurement. It will be removed before I lay tile. I want the tile underneath it for the extra height.

This is the linen cabinet that is set back into the wall between the studs.

Looking into the linen cabinet, I had to notch out one corner to go around the corner stud. It will be caulked and the stud was sanded and sealed. It doesn't quite match, but once it is full of towels you will never know!

This is the commode corner. Mother Jill suggested a chocolate brown color above the beadboard wainscoting, so we are trying it. Not sure if we like it or not. It is much easier to paint before all the trim is up, though!

Here is what happens when you take the cheapest plumbing bid. I got ready to install the shower and put down the base. There wasn't a drain pipe in the hole. So, I drew a circle where the drain pipe should be. It's way off. I told them to center the pipe at 12"x12". they did it at 15".

Finally, I got the medicine cabinet installed. It is right above and to the side of the vanity and the shower will be in the big white spot beside it. Since the linen cabinet butted against a wall, I didn't need one piece of the crown molding. I was able to redo it a bit and make it fit this cabinet, which didn't have a molding. It turned out looking much better and seems to help it match better too.

We went to Lowe's after church and picked up the beadboard and electrical supplies. Soon it will be looking much more finished and have it's own lights!

WC Remodel - 2

2007-10-14T06:15:00.000-06:00

It's been quite a long time since I updated my blog, so I thought I'd post a few more pictures of the progress in the bathroom. I've been able to make some relatively steady progress and things are starting to shape up! These pictures are from 2 weekends ago while Jill was out of town. I was able to get all the sheetrock finished and textured! Last weekend nothing much happened since it was Avery's birthday and Jill's folks were here.

Since I was going to be doing texture, and it is SO messy, I decided to go ahead and do the bedroom and closet while I was at it. So - it took A LOT of blue tape and plastic to keep all the flying texture off the things I didn't want textured!

Looking into the closet - I had to add sheetrock on the back wall of this closet. When that wall was added to create the hall bathroom (10 years ago according to the date and signatures written on the studs) they never finished the job. Now its done and textured to boot!

The bedroom door and air conditioning vent hole. Lots of patching was done to cover up all the cracks and dents. This room had no texture on the walls so you could see every little hole and dent.

Like I said, lots of tape and plastic.

It was REALLY messy! Everything was coated in fine powder dust from sanding the sheetrock. I found out too late you can wet sand sheetrock and avoid this!

This hole in the bathroom will be filled with a set-in linen cabinet. I had to use the stud space inside the wall so the cabinet would set back enough to clear the door opening. That was after making the door 6" narrower and adding that length to the wall you see here beside the blue tape.

Once I got the texture runny enough to flow through the machine, it worked great and went fast. My arms were sore for days from holding up 20 lbs of mud above my head!

Looking into the bathroom from the Master Bedroom. On the right, where all the white is, there used to be a door leading to the staircase. Not anymore!

We had a good time together. Avery is working in the "shower" area. Right above me you can see the hole where a cabinet will be set into the wall.

Avery was a BIG help and LOVED the mud!

I'll post more pics of this weekends progress soon!

Video Experiment

2007-09-14T21:45:00.000-06:00

I'm trying something new here - posting a short video to see if it works. This is a bouncy shot of Tsavo elephants taken near sunset inside the Tsavo East National Park in Kenya this summer.

WC Remodel

2007-09-09T20:28:00.001-06:00

The WC (Water Closet, or bathroom as you may know it) is coming along! After sitting vacant and empty for 1 whole year, I'm back at it and making progress. The plumbers came about a month ago and got our pipes sorted out, then I've been working on the weekends to get it up to speed. It's hard to take pictures in a 6x7 room with no lights, but here's a few to show the progress.

Working on the floor. I had removed the floor down to the dirt and went back with new joists since the old ones sag and are somewhat rotten.

Working on the door. We needed more room to fit the vanity in, so I "borrowed" the 24" door from the stairwell and replaced the existing 30" door. I suppose any of you who visit in a wheelchair will be out of luck, but it works for us for now! The hole where the old door was is being covered up, since it was useless anyway.

Originally there was a window in this bathroom. Somewhere along the way, the office was added and the window was covered up, but they cleverly left the opening and used it for shelving. I had to reduce the size to fit a standard 18" cabinet that will be recessed into the spot since the new shower will cover part of the old opening.

Jill was a really big help putting up the sheetrock over Labor Day weekend. It actually looks like a room now instead of a dark, dingy cave!

This weekend was spent taping, bedding and sanding the sheetrock. It's definitely coming along and texture is next! While we do the bathroom, we are also going to texture the adjacent bedroom and we also finished out the closet as well. The people who remodeled that closet, who didn't put sheetrock on the inside of it, did the work 10 years ago according to their note on the wall. I added my own note to point out I'm not the only nor worst procrastinator around this house!

Stonebridge Fellowship

2007-09-02T19:48:00.001-06:00

September 2, 2007
Most of the churches we have visited so far are fairly large - maybe 500-2000 members. These are the ones that seem to be easier to learn about remotely - i.e. the internet - before attending, and ones that we feel would have good stuff going on with Avery. Stonebridge doesn't really fit that mold. It is a very new church planting effort located in Plainview - it's only been together about a year and has maybe 100 in attendance on Sunday. One of my employees, Aaron Ainsworth, attends there and invited us to try it out - so we did.
As usual, we did a little research on the internet (http://www.stonebridgefellowship.org/). Stonebridge is a church plant by the First Baptist Church in Shallowater of all places. We thought it very interesting that a small town church on the South Plains would be planting another church in a bigger town in the same general area. When asked why FBC is doing this, their response is "For years, we have encountered a number of people longing for a contemporary church, one in which they can identify with. We know that a vast majority of college students, young families, and people of all ages and cultures do not attend church anywhere. We want to offer an exciting alternative." So, they have a neat little church plant going on right in the town where I work and we showed up.

One of the cool things about Stonebridge is their meeting place. They borrow the antique Fair Theatre. "Located in the heart of Plainview's National Historic District, the Fair Theatre was built during the roaring 1920's as an all-purpose theatre for vaudeville and medicine shows.Today, the Fair Theatre's tradition is still alive. It has been restored to its former glory with beautiful balconies and a spacious auditorium that seats over 500 patrons." It's a really neat old building and I really like the idea that this church is recycling it - using a facility that is mostly empty anyway and using it for God's purposes without spending tons of money on a new building. We met Aaron at the front door and he introduced us to a few of his friends that were hanging around the lobby. I was disappointed the concession stand and popcorn machines weren't turned on :). It would have been a cool place to have coffee before church - and I told him he should suggest it. One of the members we met told us about the children's program and that Avery would be with us for a little while and then go to her class after the kid's sermon during the service. He actually went and got her teacher and brought the girl to meet Avery so she would be comfortable going with her when it was time. We really appreciated the extra effort to make us feel comfortable. After waiting for Aaron's wife for a while, it was time to begin worship so we filed into the theater. I was halfway expecting it to be dark and for previews to be showing on a screen!
It wasn't dark, but there was a screen. Not a movie size one, but big enough for us to see the words of the songs. I was a little disarmed by the huge counter running on the screen that ticked off the miliseconds, which i assumed were until worship started and not for when we would blast off into heaven or something. It kind of gave you an edginess that something was going to explode. I'm not sure if that was pursposeful or not, but boy were we ramped up by the time the thing hit zero! And when it did, several college age kids appeared on stage and welcomed us to join them for worship. The worship leader had an acoustic guitar, there was a girl singing back-up (and sometimes lead), some drums and a keyboard I think. It was actually a really good band that led us in a good semi-acoustic worship time. They were really talented, especially considering their age.
The children's pastor invited all the kids onto the stage for their lesson, so Jill took Avery up and sat with her. After they were done, they all trotted off to the upstairs classroom for the remainder of the service and we continued worshipping. The pastor talked about community that morning and important it was to be together and share our lives with each other. Toward the end of the lesson, he invited us to do something really different - and he warned us we'd be uncomfortable and possible not like it. I was thinking, "oh no. This is too much for a first visit!" He wanted us to look around and go find someone else in the church that we didn't know. (That was easy enough for us!) We were supposed to share with that stranger what God was doing in our life at that point in time and then pray together. Then he told us that communion had been prepared down front and he wanted us to come down and take communion together as an experience in community with our new found brother/sister. Some girl came up to Jill immediately, but I looked around and all the guys were already paired up. Being the social butterfly that I am (ha) I started to get butterflys in my stomach. About that time, my friend Aaron popped back in from taking the baby out and we broke the rules and paired up. I must say that the pastor's idea was a really good one and that was a really neat way to experience communion. It's just pretty cool that even though there were strangers all around the room, in acuality they are family because of our relationship with Jesus. That means we aren't (or at least shouldn't be) strangers at all!
While Stonebridge was a neat little church that has a great mission, we really felt like we need to be a part of a more established church at this time. The youthfulness of this church is pretty exciting, but it also means the leadership is very young and there will be lots of growing pains. Not that we are looking for an easy church to just attend and not grow with - just the opposite. We just don't feel like this is the ministry God is leading us to tackle right now. We applaude their efforts and their small group ministry. Aaron keeps me updated on what they are doing - things that are often non-traditional and attractive (like going out and doing community service projects on Sunday morning instead of sitting in their theater). I'm anxious to see what God does with this little group!
Posted by Gabe Moudy at 6:23 AM 1 comments

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CityView Christian Fellowship

2007-08-26T20:01:00.000-06:00

August 26, 2007

We are a church with a vision toward:

Becoming a catalyst in bringing spiritual transformation to Lubbock and West Texas.

Breaking the American tradition of being primarily a “come and hear” church to become a “go and tell” church.

Equipping our people to see themselves as full-time ambassadors of the Kingdom of God where they live work and play.

Endeavoring to influence pastors and church leaders through encouragement, friendship and training, to get outside the four walls of their church.

Penetrating the marketplace with kingdom principles.

We figured a church with this kind of vision must have something good going on. It's located in a new building out on Milwaukee near the new Target - nice building, but kind of unassuming and not flashy with a big sign. You kind of have to know what it is since its not well marked. I kind of like that. We drove into the parking lot and though there were clearly marked "guest Parking" spaces, we opted to be stealthy and parked as though we knew what was going on. I didn't want some greeter guy who spies on the guest parking to prey on us as soon as the car door opened. that probably doesn't happen, but that is what having guest parking makes you feel like will happen when you are a guest. The building is nice and modern, set way back from the street and surrounded by undeveloped land. It was obvious where the entrance was (which is not always the case with a church) so we went in it. I guess our stealthy approach diminished upon entering the building because the man who greeted us at the door immediately asked if this was our first visit. Maybe he asks everyone he doesn't recognize that question, but probably we just looked lost.

He made a little small talk, welcomed us to the church and asked how old Avery was. He personally escorted us to her class area (which is a really cool thing for a visitor in a big building) and introduced us to the children's staff. They got us all fixed up and even let us go beyond the "sacred" check-in desk which parents are not allowed behind. She wanted us to feel comfortable leaving Avery and to meet her teachers and that was really great and much appreciated. I was surprised to find that her teachers (a couple team) was one of my customers. I didn't know he attended church there and we had a nice visit. I hoped she acted nice! We wandered back toward the big room and were again greeted by a guy handing out a paper for the worship service. He opened the door to the room and...

...it was filled with round tables! That is not what we were expecting. Not only that, but there was the smell of coffee and breakfast burritos in the air. We looked around and everyone was eating at those tables! Someone pointed us to the food and encouraged us to load up. We'd just eaten breakfast so, we got drinks and some fruit and cautiously looked for a table. I don't know about you, but I have some anxiety about finding a table in a big room full of complete strangers. We found one that was mostly empty (I'd hate to be told a seat we wanted was "reserved") and sat down. The lady across the table was alone and we introduced ourselves - deciding making small talk was our way to ease the tension. Rather Jill decided this - I probably would have just sat there staring at the stage. Turns out she was a visitor too and was a little thrown off by the circle table set-up. She'd visited one other time and assured us it wasn't like this the first time she came.

As we ate, there was a couple milling through the crowd meeting people, but we didn't notice that before they met us. Jill asked how long they'd been members here and they replied, "Well, I guess since the beginning when we started the church." Jill was mortified to discover that he was the Pastor and we had no idea! No wonder they were circulating and introducing themselves! Soon two other couples joined us and we had a really nice chat with them. They told us a lot about the church, its history and mission. One of them happened to be a farmer from New Deal, so we were able to connect and that made it much easier. After about 45 minutes, the Pastor got up and welcomed us. It turns out that every year the church celebrates their anniversary this way by having a big birthday bash. The church turned 7 this year and it was a really neat thing to see them celebrate their community like this.

Since we had eaten breakfast, there wasn't a musical part of the worship that morning. We watched a video about the the summer basketball camp the church had recently hosted in East Lubbock. It was pretty neat to see them reaching out to the community that way. One of the camp leaders got up afterwards to talk about the experience and to do that, he needed 8 volunteers to help him. Once they got up front, he borrowed an object from each of their pockets and proceeded to make up a rap, on the spot, about those objects. It was definitely my first rap in church! He did a great job and I applauded the church for not being afraid to tap the talents of the membership, even though it be nontraditional, and share that with the body. While he was rapping, one of the girls who is a cheerleading coach had a little group of girls on stage behind him doing their "choreography" to the rap. It was really neat!

The Pastor got up and shared a message with us after that. He had a lot of details about the church's history and God's hand in getting them where they were. He told an interesting story about how they came to own the land where they are and it was a good way to learn about the church and their mission. He introduced a class they offer called "Directions" that promised to help Christians learn their spiritual gifts, ministry styles and find a place in the Kingdom (not specifically in this church) to use those gifts. It was compelling enough that we attended the course on Wednesday nights throughout September and have been blessed very much by it.
Even though this was a very different Sunday to visit the church and we didn't really get a feel for their worship time, we are very glad we cam eon that day. It really gave us an opportunity to see the heart of the church by participating in their celebration, by visiting with members for an extended time and by enjoying the fellowship and their laid back style. This visit has been a highlight for us so far and we definitely want to go back on a "normal" Sunday. If we choose to worship in Lubbock, this is a very real possibility . We enjoyed the warmth and friendliness of the people and appreciate very much the heart and vision they have for ministry in the workplace and "outside" the church. That is what all churches ought to be focusing on!

See more at http://www.cityviewlubbock.org/
Posted by Gabe Moudy at 8:00 AM 1 comments

Thinking About Church (and Faith)

2007-08-20T19:42:00.001-06:00

I've been reading a new book that's rather intriguing and am wondering if anyone else out there has read it. The basic premise is that the author, a self-professed atheist, wanted to give Christianity or other religions a fair chance to convince him of their legitimacy. So, he set up an auction on eBay. The winning bidder could have the author attend 1 hour of worship service for every $10 bid. Interestingly enough, the winning bid was over $500 and the winning bidder had the author attend various Christian churches of all sizes and denominations and give his observations in blog format. You can look at this at http://friendlyatheist.com/ . He makes some very interesting observations about how churches approach sharing their faith with those who do not share their church background or upbringing. Stay tuned for more, and send me your comments if you've heard about this book.

Fishing Moguls

2007-08-04T07:21:00.000-06:00

It's been a month since my last post, so I can safely add something here without spoiling my reputation for terribly infrequent posts!

One of my favorite parts of living in Kenya was being close to the sea, something totally new for a drylander like me. There was always so much to learn about the maritime culture - the tides, the boats, the fish, the salt air. I think the locally crafted Kenyan dhow's were my favorite. These little boats, or canoes as you might imagine them, were carved from a tree trunk and fixed with a small sail and maybe an outrigger or two for stability. Early in the morning 2 or 3 guys would make their way to the beach and push their boat out into the aquamarine water for a day's work of fishing. It was always such a calm, serene process that happened every morning just down the hill from our house. No noise, just ancient wooden vessels being pushed into calm water and silently slicing out of the bay into the wide blue yonder of the open ocean.

One morning as I watched the dhow's pull onto the beach after a day of fishing, I watched the men pull their catch from the boat and stretch their nets on the beach to dry. These men who were so poor - barely clothed, no income but the sale of a few dollars of fish, no other way to make an income because fishing for a living is a last resort. Fishermen in Kenya are uneducated, they barely survive, they are at the bottom of the career ladder. Then it hit me - something I'd never really thought about before. These are the exact guys that Jesus called to be apostles, his best friends and disciples, as he began his ministry that rocked the world. Peter and Andrew, James and John - they weren't the fishing moguls I'd always imagined them to be. They didn't have a huge boat with a rowing crew. They weren't professionals, just local guys trying to scrape a living from their canoe. You know that story when they caught 132 fish and it swamped the boat? I always thought those must have been big fish! That wasn't it at all - the boat was just tiny!

Jesus picked the local guys, the ones at the bottom of the career ladder so to speak. He picked simple guys - guys with little formal education, guys that maybe tried to make it in rabbinic school but failed because they just didn't quite have what it took, guys that knew hard work and weren't afraid of it. Why? Why didn't Jesus pick the educated, or religious, or upity? Why were these guys willing to drop their nets and follow him? Why did he pick them?

And what about me? I don't really fit the mold that Jesus picked from. I'm not at the bottom of society - I have money, I have an education, I've grown up in the church. I don't have a shady career like Matthew, I'm not a revolutionary like Simon the Zealot, I'm pretty plain. Does he pick people like me? Does he pick people like you?

I'm convinced that he does! Jesus picked normal folks from all walks of life to be men and women that abandon everything to follow him. Can Jesus pick a wine-tapper who spends his time atop palm trees collecting the ready-made brew for his buddies? Sure! Can Jesus pick the American Mom who spend her time wrestling kids and running errands? Sure! No matter where we come from, who we are, what our background is - Jesus has picked us to join his team. What a great privilege to know that even in spite of our inadequacies, He asks us to join his mission in the world and make this place better for everyone. That is what fishing for men, I think, is all about.

American Citizens, this line. Welcome Home!

2007-07-01T12:47:00.000-06:00

I never thought the US Immigration Service would hire impersonators to work for them, but that big man in the green jacket and golf hat at DFW airport sure did sound like James Earl Jones! His greeting sure has a nice ring to it - Welcome Home! I always enjoy my travels, especially my international ones, but it is always good to come home - to know that I have a home to come back to. There is something to be said about belonging somewhere - whether that be in a family, a church, a city or a country. It's a basic human need that God created us with and, oddly enough, one that can never really be satisfied while here in this life. I'm always reminded as I travel that even though Texas feels like home, it really isn't. We are all foreigners here - those of us that belong to the family of God, anyway. We are here for a visit, and then we get to go home - our REAL home - to be with our Father. I just thought the airport welcome felt good! I can't wait to here those words from God - Welcome Home, Son!

We had a great trip to Kenya and really saw God at work through the people we invested so much time in during our stay in their country. One of the highlights was visiting the Maarifa Chrisitan Resource Center - Kaloleni and seeing what God is doing for youth in that area. We traveled with two of my good friends, pictured above, Jeremiah Muramba and Duncan Ziro to visit Fredrick Kaingu, the director of the center. Jeremiah leads a similar organization in Malindi, Kenya and Duncan is the new coordinator for Maarifa Christian Resource Center - Kilifi. MCRC-Kaloleni has built a permanent building for activities in the area and we helped by building some much needed benches for the center. The structure still needs completing - a concrete floor, plaster on the walls and other items, but they have made a great start and hope to host the first area wide youth conference during the school break in August.

One of the things that is different, which you can see in the picture, is that nearly everyone has a cell phone now. 9 years ago when we moved to Kenya, cell phones didn't exist there. I imagine 50% of the households have access to a phone now - even those in remote village locations. I had 5 bar service from the national park and called Jill to let her know I was watching a couple of lions (just so she'd be jealous!) It really is amazing and phone service is one of the techonologies that helps economic development progress extremely rapidly. Now if they'd just fix the roads....

These are the board members of MCRC from left to right - Fredrick Kaingu, John Kenga, Duncan Ziro, Daniel Kahindi, Mike Thethe, and Luganje Nyale. They are providing some awesome leadership for this initiative in Kilifi and Kaloleni and I really anticipate seeing God do some amazing things through them. Just a little more information on MCRC: it originated from two different directions and has merged into one organization. The Kilifi project began while I was in Kenya when I moved my library into town and opened my office for the general public to have a place where they could come and access all sorts of educational materials - from community health, to agriculture to biblical studies - for free. We called it Mijikenda Christian Resource Center and it was open for anyone who wanted to come. Pastors and leaders from the community did come and spent many hours preparing lessons and studying in our office. When I left Kenya, the board voted to change the name. They felt Mijikenda, which refers to the people group who live in the area, was too limiting and exclusive. They chose the Swahili term Maarifa, which means knowledge. I admit - their name is MUCH better than mine! This is a project they have valued enough to staff and maintain on their own, with little outside help, after I left. I am super excited to be a continuing part of this project and we have determined some great ways to support their ministry into the future.

The Kaloleni side of the project began while I was in Kenya as well. Our mission team, along with local church leaders, determined that a regionally positioned center for youth ministry would really promote church development into the future. 3.5 acres of land was purchased and slow but steady progress has been made to develop that land since 2000. Fredrick Kaingu has spearheaded the project and its now positioned to lead youth and promote leadership development in local churches. It was decided by the local leaders to combine the two projects as MCRC and the future of them both looks bright indeed.

HARAMBEE!

2007-05-21T22:26:00.000-06:00

Wow - I'm terrible at blogging! I hope you guys who read this aren't counting on really knowing what's going on around here through my blog. If that is the case, you better be reading Jill's blog! It has all the current information.

I just wanted to post a quick blog to start the process of processing my upcoming trip to Kenya. We (myself and two buddies from church) leave June 10th and return around June 26th. God is good and has opened the door for me to return to Kilifi and visit old friends and encourage the Christians there.

One of the key cultural principles in Kenya, in fact its such a part of their culture that they put it in the official seal of the country (see above) is called HARAMBEE. It's the Swahili word that means "Let's Pull Together". It was traditionally used when men worked together to accomplish a huge task, much like we might chant "Heave, ho!" In modern times, it expressed an event that celebrates the community coming together to support a cause or special project. We often encountered them when people were building a church building or providing school fees for a student's higher education. I'm asking you to join with me in the spirit of HARAMBEE for my trip. God's provided the finances, but would you join in praying for us?

I'm not sure what God intends for this trip, I just feel like He's called me to go. Pray for guidance - that God will reveal himself and his purpose for our visit. Pray for our safety and pray for our families here. Pray that God will be glorified and his Kingdom lifted up through our travels.

Stay tuned for updates...

2007-03-13T05:09:00.000-06:00

This past Sunday was tough. I'm not exactly sure what precipitated it - whether it was the backside of the peak from the worship conference, situations at work that were distracting, a heady realization that what I've been preaching to myself as a panacea isn't true, or just a low moment following the showing of a powerful video in our class time Sunday morning. Whatever it was, it was all I could do to immobilize my legs and keep them from walking out the door during the middle of the service. And I really don't know why I stayed. Maybe it was because my nephews were there and I didn't want to answer questions when they got home. Maybe I was scared - scared that someone would ask what was wrong. Maybe I was really scared - really scared that no one would notice I left nor ask why nor understand when I tried to explain myself.

I've been preaching to myself that our (that's a global "our", not a "Jill and I" our) experience with church is primarily about relationships and worship is a state of mind, an action of lifestyle rather than an hour on Sunday morning. Our church is wonderful when viewed that way - we've made some good friends in our church and relationships are continuing to get deeper the longer we stay. Good things are happening that are drawing our church closer together and causing them to think about reaching out. But as I looked around me on Sunday morning, I couldn't help but think, "Why would I EVER invite someone to this? That gathering seemed so irrelevant to real life, so plastic and cheap, so depressing. I'm not opposed to tradition or even ritual. When done with the right spirit, these things are liberating and useful. Men have a hard time throwing out their favorite easy chair because its familiar, comforting, and has always been there. We cherish antiques that bring meaning and their age only adds to their value to us. Yet there are some things that are just old and outdated. That avocado green couch from the 70's isn't cherished - it's trash, even though it's a perfectly good couch.

I know comparing my church experience with an old couch is extremely dangerous and fraught with opportunity for misunderstanding, but bear with me. When that couch becomes unattractive, we do two things. Our culture today throws it out and gets a new one. Many people have done that with church as well. I don't really want to go there. I think recovering is a better solution. If that old couch sits well, and is paid for, why not update it with a covering that is appealing? But what if it doesn't even sit well? What then?

Even this analogy falls short, for I don't really intend that our church should be recovered with an appealing exterior. What I long for is changed hearts - a renewal that comes from within. Changing the songs we sing and the style we sing them in does nothing for creating authentic worship. Authentic worship comes from the heart of the worshipper being transformed and open to God. Authentic worship can come from any song, any format, any audience - if that audience really wants to worship. And I guess that is why I'm feeling depressed. It's pretty easy to change worship styles or the songs we sing. It's pretty difficult to change our hearts, mine included. I guess that was what was so convicting about our class time Sunday morning. Here is the trailer for the NOOMA video we watched, called Sunday -

"Why do we do the things we do? Why do we go to church or give money away? Because we’re supposed to or because we think God needs it? Do we honestly put on our best clothes for an hour once a week, stand and sit at all the right times, and sing all the appropriate songs for God’s sake, or because it’ll make us look better to the world around us? We’re tired of all the empty rituals and routines. And so is God. God hates it when we call ourselves Christians but ignore all the things he really cares about. He hates it when we go through hollow religious routines out of some feeling of duty or obligation. God doesn’t want the meaningless rituals. God wants our hearts. "

That is our mission - to change hearts for God and the only way I know to do that is through authentic relationships with people as we experience life together. I love where we are - I love our church - I love what God is doing in our hearts as we learn what it means to be in community with Him and with those we live amongst. It's a journey full of peril and adventure and that is the point - we live in the midst of a journey. We hope to reach our destination. We long for it, we dream about it, we create it in our minds so we can continue moving that way. But living the reality of our destination isn't meant for the here and now - that comes when this life transistions to the next and all things are returned to how God intended them to be. And yet, we still work towards that goal while we are here. We don't wait patiently, we work furiously to bring a little bit of heaven here on earth.

Zoe Group?!?

2007-03-06T06:40:00.000-06:00

OK - I'll admit it. I was a skeptic.

When we first heard about the ZOE Group Leadership and Worship Conference hosted by the Monterey church last weekend, I was interested in the attending the Friday leadership sessions about small groups, but not the worship conference. I eagerly signed myself and our other small group leader, Steve Gauntt, up in anticipation that we might learn something useful about how to continue our small group ministry at church. And, I wasn't disappointed. The tracks were helpful and I came away feeling good about what we are doing and the direction we are going.

Jill's folks were here for the weekend as well and they were all planning to attend the Saturday worship conference while I eagerly volunteered to keep Avery all day. I'm just not a big fan of acapella music and the thought of attending a whole conference on the subject kind of gave me the heebie jeebies. Anyway, after Jill had signed up, she got a call from one of our long lost college friends who happened to be one of the conference organizers. She had noticed I wasn't signed up and kindly suggested there might be a scholarship available for Avery and I to attend. Great, I thought (did you catch the sarcasm there?). My plan was ruined. I felt compelled to accept this generous gift and attend as a family.

I'm glad I did! The conference was far more than just acapella music stuff. There were some great worship times, Jeff Walling did an outstanding job speaking, and my favorite part was the breakout sessions. I was thrilled to discover there were classes for guys like me - classes that had nothing to do with praise teams, singing, music, or drama. Now - don't get me wrong here - I'm not a worship ogre. I greatly appreciate quality worship and the effort that is put into it. It's just not what I do well right now. I got excited to attend the sessions on Contemplative Prayer. Over the past few years I've been exposed to some of the more mystical forms of Christian discipline and practice through my readings in graduate school and through friends we've made during our international travels. Contemplative Prayer is an ancient practice that I really wanted to learn more about - and I did. We spent three sessions talking about the practice and then actually doing it. It was just what I needed! I was able to block out my hectic life and work responsibilities for the day and just focus on God. In the end, I guess that is really what "worship" is all about - focusing on God, in whatever form that might take.

Thinking Out Loud

2007-01-28T07:26:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it helps to think out loud. I guess that is what this blogging thing is all about -people want other people to validate their thoughts, or at least hear their thoughts. They want the thoughts to be out of their head and real in the world. That sounds rather scary to me. I'm not quite so sure I want you to know what I think about, at least not all the time. But I have discovered in my short time around this planet that things seem so much more real when they are out in the open - out where others can hear them, see them, touch them, validate them.

We were out at Mother and Dad's place last week and for some reason, Mother drug out her huge 4" notebook that contains every single email I every sent home during our stay in Africa. I've known about the book for quite some time now, but hadn't bothered to look at it. The whole idea that every thought about Kenya I'd put on paper was kept in that book was a bit daunting. In fact, the reality that there was a permanent record of such things scared me a bit. But I got over it. I opened the book and casually read through some of the entries. It jogged my memory. I had flashbacks that took me back to the place or event I was describing - I could feel the muggy air, smell the body odor, see the shimmering ocean, touch the roughness of that mud hut wall. I was reminded of, and able to relive, the experience because it was written down. It was real - not a figment of my imagination, not something I thought existed but didn't. It actually happened and I can remember it, but only because I wrote it down.

Thinking out loud on a blog might be safe. Afterall, I'm not imposing my thoughts on anyone who doesn't want to know about them. If you are reading this, it is because you chose to. You have an interest in my thoughts and that is humbling. So, since you are here, you must not mind too much if I share. And maybe, just maybe, that will help us get to know one another just a little bit better.

It snowed AGAIN!

2007-01-20T19:39:00.000-06:00

We had a blast making Avery's first snowgirltoday. It only snowed about 4", which was about 4-6" less than predicted. It did have a layer of ice in the middle, though. We all had a blast doing it, but there was a literal "blast" this afternoon and the beautiful pink cowboy hat blew away! Now the snowgirl has a weird looking round lump on her head that was packed into the hat to hold it on.

Last night after it started snowing, Avery kept opening the back door and getting handfuls of snow to eat. Only later did I look out the door to see footprints all over the backyard - footprints made by her little bare feet! So, we've discovered that Avery has a more multi-ethnic genetic make-up than we thought. She must be 1/3 Moudy, 1/3 Monkey and now 1/3 Eskimo!

Icy Chill

2007-01-16T06:57:00.000-06:00

It's been a cold one here in Texas the past few days. I woke up yesterday morning to a temperature of 10 degrees. Windchill was around 0. It hasn't been that cold here in a long, long time. Along with the chill came ice. No snow, just solid sheets of ice everywhere you look. The streets and sidewalks look like an ice skating rink. (They walk and drive about as well!) Going to work yesterday morning, there were tracks across the medians about every 100 feet or so, all 30 miles. I witnessed a near head-on collision, many trucks jacknifed on the roads and lots of slip sliding away. One of the more humorous things was a truck parked on the up portion of an overpass. As we approached, we noticed his back wheels slowly turning in place - spinning just to keep him from sliding back down the hill because he sure wasn't going anywhere!

Avery enjoys the cold. She can't seem to keep socks on those little feet - even on our chilled wooden floor! Seems she inherited her daddy's temperature gauge and certainly not her mother's! (who is chilled when it drops below 90!)

The layers and layers of ice on everything are absolutely beautiful. I'm pretty sure my sister Robyn and my folks would disagree. The storm meant the closing of the airport, which meant the cancellation of the folk's trip to see said sister in Alabama. I've enjoyed the change and the landscape and trees in it are absolutely stunning. It reminds me of the majesty, and creativity, of God who is able to create such a magical, and temporary, masterpiece.

2007-01-07T15:04:00.000-06:00