Day 137 - 1993 Saab (Tow and Throw?)

This may be premature, but my little car broke down today and I think it might be finished.  I had a lousy day at school, then play practice just made me anxious because opening night is just over a week away and students are still using their scripts as crutches (!!!), and then, driving home around 5:30 pm, my car radio stopped working.  The one thing that still functioned on that car!  But that was just foreshadowing.  The "Check Gear Box" light came on and I just wasn't getting any acceleration.  I was just about to pull over and restart the car (which has "solved" the problem in the past) when the car decided to beat me to the punch.  Fortunately, we were able to coast onto a long gravel driveway and out of the way of traffic.

Melissa had to come get us.  The car would only make a strange clicking sound when I turned the key.  We tried jumping it - knowing it was a slim hope that there was only a problem with the battery - but it didn't make one volt of a difference.

I've spent most of the evening alternately stewing and living in denial.  You can ask Melissa - I was not much fun to be around.  I'm feeling paralyzed regarding what to do next.  For a year now I have been anticipating that car giving up the ghost - I figured it was just waiting until the most unopportune time.  (It hates me.)  I have been dealing with its rough running mainly by pretending it wasn't that bad. 

Now I think it really might be dead. 

From the Drama Queen (age 8) and Dats (age 9) in the backseat came a suggestion that was already in my mind:  "Hey, Daddy, is this going to be your Throw of the day?"  Maybe so.

But what if it's not quite dead?  What if a couple of hundred dollars will get it back on the road strong enough to last another year or so until we're ready to move to Haiti?  On the other hand, what if I take it to a mechanic and spend several hundred just to get an estimate in the thousands?  I only paid $2,000 for it and it's already had its fair share of expensive repairs.  Should I just send it to the junkyard and see if I can get a couple hundred out of it to put towards some other junker? 

I guess that's the direction I'm currently leaning, but like I said, I feel a bit paralyzed about making the wrong decision.  We can't really afford a thousand dollar mistake.  I need to go to bed, pray about it, and maybe it will be clearer in the morning.


There it sits.  I was tempted to push it another quarter mile to the river.  Dats reminded me to take a picture of it for the blog, and I just happened to have my camera along, so I did.  Don't let its looks fool you - it's a junker!



Day 136 - Styrofoam (Give)

Found this styrofoam with some of my art supplies in a closet.  We might be able to use it in our production of "12 Angry Jurors".  There's a scene where a character is supposed to stab a switchblade into a door jamb.  Real switchblades are illegal - and I'm sure it would be against some school rule anyway - so we will be using plastic/medal switchblade combs!  A comb is not likely to stick into the wood like we need it to, so hopefully styrofoam will work.  The plan is to make the jamb out of styrofoam and then paint it brown.  Hopefully the comb will stick.

Opening night is just over a week away and I am finally feeling the ANXIETY that I have been dreading - because it always comes...

Day 135 - Pine Scented Candle (Give ... back)

Melissa suggested we give this candle back to her cousin, Angie, who gave it to us as a Christmas gift.  Melissa has a sensitive nose and easily riled allergies and the one time we lit this candle - it was when we lost power during the ice storm this winter! - it had Melissa sneezing her head off.

Angie has already gladly accepted back a couple of her gifts over the past 135 days, so I'm sure she'll like this one.  I bet she loved the scent and that's why she bought it in the first place. 

So here you go, Angie!  Just don't burn it when Melissa is around.

Day 134 - Fat Free "Italian Dressing" (Throw)

Into the trash where it belongs!

I think this is the first time I'm counting a food item as a Throw for the day (maybe not ... I have a bad memory and I'm too lazy to go back and look!), but it's been in the cabinet for quite a while - the sell date was last September (or I'd be tempted to give it to a food pantry or my mother-in-law, who apparently tolerates the stuff). 

(But if I weren't in the process of getting rid of stuff, it would have remained in the cabinet for several more years - I'm serious.  I keep picking it up, looking at the label and putting it back.  And I'm the only one around here that really eats salad.)

Let's be clear about this:  there is no such thing as Fat-Free Italian Dressing!  Who are they trying to fool?  What you have here is clearly SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY because half of real Italian Dressing is OIL and there is no such thing as fat-free oil.  It's impossible. 

Your taste buds get all motivated for a nice salad and ... Bleccchhhh! 

It's the same difference as between fresh peaches and canned.  At the word "peach" your taste buds get all hyped up anticipating a fuzzy, sweetly aromatic slice of heaven, but what you get instead is a gelatinous slab of corn-syrup-flavored rubber!

What a disappointment!  - canned "peaches" AND fat-free "Italian Dressing".  It does not even deserve to go by the same name, that's all I'm saying.

Don't even get me started on fat-free Oreos...

Day 133 - Home Maintenance for Dummies Book (Give - as a House-Warming Gift)

My friend Todd just received the keys to his first house just yesterday and the best part is that he is now living in town instead of 30 miles away.  I stopped by his new place today to give him this book, but he was out so I left it inside the storm door.  Looks like a great little house!

Congratulations, Todd! 

On other fronts:

Today marks the 3,000th pageview for this blog!  Can you believe it?  You're not the only one who reads this junk!  In fact, there's a stats page here that I check frequently out of curiosity and it even identifies what countries are represented in those pageviews.  For instance, while our friend Beka was on her trip to Africa, I knew she was checking in with us here because all of a sudden Burundi, Mozambique and South Africa popped up in the stats over the course of the two weeks she was traveling.  But even before that, I'd had hits from Costa Rica, Slovenia, Denmark, Russia, Singapore, the UK, Canada, Germany, Spain and even China.  Isn't that weird?  I'm sure some of those are accidental - someone does a search for "giant inflatable basketball" and up pops this blog! - but most are not.  And I know a handful of folks in a few of those countries, so maybe they found this blog through Facebook ... or maybe they are complete strangers who are fascinated with how much STUFF this one American has - so much that he has given or thrown or sold at least one item each day for the last 133 days and has hardly made a dent!

Who knows?  The internet is an amazing thing.

One last thing ... our next Open House is tomorrow, March 27.  The weather folks are predicting 1 to 2 inches of snow tonight!  That is just WRONG for the end of March.  Bleccccchhh!

Day 132 - Water Damaged Cellphone (Give)

We cleaned out the "junk drawer" last weekend - one of the many odd jobs on the list before our Open House.

I guess Melissa imagined people looking at our kitchen - inspecting the countertops, upper cabinets, then going to open a drawer to check the quality and ... "WHAT IS THIS?  An overflowing junk drawer?  Let's go, honey.  I CANNOT live in this house!"

It could have happened.  If anyone had shown up.

Anyway, I found the old cell phone in the junk drawer.  I ruined it last summer when I put it in my swim suit pocket.  Melissa was away from the house and I was going to take the kids out to the pool by myself and, in case of emergencies, it would be nice to have a phone on the deck.

I just forgot to put it on the deck before I started cleaning the pool.

I was swimming around for ten minutes before I remembered the phone.  It was a goner.  No chance of recovery.  (This meant that MELISSA, not yours truly, got a new phone.  How does that work?)

Anyway, the science department at my school has some sort of fundraiser that involves collecting old cell phones.  Not sure what they do with them, but I don't care.  At least it's out of the junk drawer.

As I write this, we have another Open House planned for tomorrow.  We are praying for an increase - even a slight increase - in attendance!

Day 131 - The Last Garfield Poster (Give)

Not much to say here.  I had one last Garfield poster in my classroom that wasn't claimed a few weeks back.  As a result, as so often happens in my room, it ended up staying exactly where it had last fallen - on the floor in the corner.  A student grabbed it and asked if he could have it.  Sure enough!

I love the days when I don't even have to put any thought or action into this little experience!  Makes it easy.

Day 130 - Old Picture of a Bunch of People I Don't Know (Throw)

This old framed photo came from my Grandfather's house ... I think.  I don't know ... maybe I got it at some garage sale.  All I know is I liked the antique look of the thing, but I've never found an appropriate place to hang it.  I guess I should check with my mom before I get rid of it to make sure it's not a picture of family...

But I will have time to check with mom because before I officially toss this photo, I am going to use it as a prop in the play I am directing at school right now.  We are doing "Twelve Angry Jurors" and we're getting close to production - just two weeks from tomorrow is opening night.

I've got a good cast, but it's always stressful to pull this sort of thing together.  And putting this much trust in a group of teenagers could cause me a stroke ultimately.  Pray for me in this!

I would write more ... and more creatively ... but my head hurts!



Who are these people?



Day 129 - Altas of World History (Give) and Day 130 - Toilet Paper Holder (Sell)

I had gotten this Atlas for a college class.  And if I remember correctly, I paid about $10 for it and it was never actually used in the course of study.

If it were a regular world atlas, it would be way out of date by now.  But it has historical maps - like how much territory comprised the Roman Empire at the time of Julius Caesar and so forth, so it will never go out of date.

I figured I would pass it on to one of the history teachers at my school rather than toss it in the recycle bin.  So I gave it as a sort of goodwill gesture to a guy I frequently get into political debates with on Facebook.  I love debating someone with polar opposite beliefs - it's such great mental exercise. 

And, of course, when you win the debate consistently, that's just icing on the cake.  ;-)

My history teacher friend was appreciative.

Today's object to sell is a toilet paper holder I found while cleaning out the garage.  It's still in the packaging and perfectly fine, except for the layer of dust and grime all over it.  I don't remember the circumstances of why it was neither used nor returned.  But I'm putting it with the garage sale stuff and maybe I'll get a buck or two out of it.

Day 128 - Nested Babushka (Throw) and Open House Disappointment

The best boss I ever worked for, Pastor Mark, brought this back for me from his trip to Russia years ago.  (No offense intended to current or other past bosses!) 

The kids always thought these things were toys ... and you can't blame them.  And over the years, several pieces have been lost.  Dats (age 9) feels personally responsible for permanently separating the nesters by dropping one down a furnace vent. 

Oh well, now I'm tossing all of it, so he need not feel guilty about it any longer.

In other news...

Yesterday was our Open House.  We spent all of our spring break week getting the house ready to go.

And nobody showed up. Not one.

But it wasn't a complete loss - I got a nap.  And there's nothing better than a Sunday afternoon nap. (Except maybe selling your house.)

Some of the small group guys had come over after church to pray for the quick sale of our house, but it wasn't to be.  Not yet.

To say that Melissa was bummed out would be an understatement.  In the shock of ZERO people showing up, she began to (briefly) question the validity of our call to Haiti.

But I look at it this way:  If you are on the right path, it doesn't guarantee that everything is going to fall into place quickly and easily and in your time frame.  What comes to my mind is all the trouble the Apostle Paul encountered trying to follow God's call.  He had one of the clearest calls in all of church history and yet he experienced one after another of the things none of us would want to go through: 

"23 I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶ I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. ²⁷ I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked." (2 Cor 11)

All of this while walking in the path God ordained for him!

So I'm not going to get too bent out of shape if my house doesn't immediately sell the first time we open the doors.  It could be worse, right?

And what was Paul's conclusion after relating all this hardship? 

"If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."

Day 127 - My Old High School-Era Artwork (Throw)

I was cleaning out the garage yesterday during final preparations for our Open House.  The leaky garage roof got fixed a little too late to spare my artwork stored in that particular corner in a cardboard box. 

It was all moldy.  Smelled terrible.

So it made it easy to part with.

But I thought I'd take a few pictures before I tossed it so I could share my artistry with the lucky handful of people who look at this blog! 

For your viewing pleasure:

A pencil drawing based on a photograph taken my junior year of high school.  I was part of a church trip to New York City and Washington D.C.   We were from the United Methodist Churches of southern Indiana.  On the left is a friend from my home church, Byron Brown.  I don't remember the vaguely Martin Short-esque guy's name, but I believe the next guy was Jay and then John and, I believe, Steve.  The pic was taken at an ice cream shop in D.C.  called "Steve's Ice Cream".  A bit of 1980s Indiana public broadcast trivia: John was the voice of "Charlie Churchmouse". 

Pen and ink based on a photo from my childhood.  That's me with a huge bandaid on my forehead after brother Spencer tripped me, resulting in my splitting my head open on the leg of a table.  I still have the scar.  I don't think he ever apologized.

Acrylic paint.  It's tough to work with because it dries so quickly. I actually kept this one.

Dats and Ida liked this one.  It's Luke Skywalker battling a swamp blob in a cavern.

I love birds.  This was actually transferred to paper from ink on an etching.

I found a couple of posters I did for our high school plays.

The duck, the butterfly and the rabbit are all screenprints.

Pen and ink and wash.  This was based on a National Geographic picture, if I remember correctly.

Charcoal.

Shoes??



An attempt at a cartoon.  The room shown is based on my actual childhood bedroom.



Scratchboard - it's like posterboard that is coated with a layer of fine white clay and then black ink.  So you create the image by scratching away the black.  I was always fascinated with the space shuttle.  It's hard to believe the shuttles are being retired now!

So there you go.  I didn't include everything I found, just the ones I wasn't totally embarassed by!  For example, I found a couple of images I created in a college art class when we were studying abstract art.  I just didn't get what made something "abstract".  And it's pretty obvious.  That's when I dropped my Art minor.  Because, in reality, I was pretty decent with the technical aspects of "art" but I don't know that I ever really had the SOUL of an artist.  A bit too conservative and reserved, I suppose.

It made me a bit sad to throw it all away, but not so much because of the parting, but because of the reminder of how little artwork I do as a guy in his 40s...

Maybe Haiti will inspire me.  And, who knows, maybe I'll even have the chance to teach some art classes at the missionary school... and that might give me a reason to get back into it myself.

Day 126 - Records, etc (Throw) and Progress Towards Haiti

Tired.  I don't have too much to write regarding things I've thrown away - I've been tossing a lot of stuff about every day this week as we get the house prepared for our Open House on Sunday.  For instance, I had set aside several records that I had various plans for.  They were on a table in the living room and I just am tired of looking at them, so I tossed them today.  Should have done that when I threw all the rest of those records away a few weeks ago.

More significant today were two steps toward getting the kids to Haiti this summer.  First, Melissa took the four to Walgreens to get passport photos and then we all headed to the post office to get the paperwork finished up and sent off.  Melissa had already printed the paperwork off the website, gathered birth certificates, etc.  Now all we had to do was write a big old check.  Ouch.

Poor Princess (age 4) wasn't feeling well... still!  She scowled at the photographer at Walgreens.  At the post office, she whined about wanting to go home.  Once she got home, she crawled into bed and ... promptly threw up.  It was ugly (But I've seen worse).  She's had a rough few days now.  After a bath, she finally got to sleep, clutching a tissue in one hand and her bucket in the other.

(Sorry to get distracted from the other step toward Haiti... but I had to work this picture in!) 

Here's the other step.  We belong to a church that takes missions very seriously.  Fifteen percent of what the church receives through offerings goes directly to support various missionaries - most of them homegrown.  Also, the church has the policy of giving 50% financial support to members who go on short-term mission trips.  The church supported Melissa last June and me in October and I got an email from the pastor today saying the church would fund 50% of the kids' portion of our trip this summer!  That will be a BIG help in getting us there.

Even though it's been stressful and busy, we've certainly had a blessed week of spring break!  God is good.

Day 125 - Shells from Myrtle Beach (Throw)

Last summer we used our time share to spend a week in Myrtle Beach.  It was a fantastic experience and the most relaxing vacation we'd had for a long time.  Our kids are finally getting old enough to make a vacation enjoyable ... instead of work in an exotic location.

We spent quite a few hours on the beach, of course.  And each time we hit the coast, the kids collected shells.  And more shells.  And more.  Until we had an entire bucketful of shells that just HAD to go back to Indiana with us.  Why?  Because we're going to make necklaces out of them and keep them all as souvenirs.  The kids insisted that, because each one was so incredibly beautiful and unique, none could be left behind.  I even accidentally spilled the bucket a couple of times during the week.  Still, we carted hundreds of shells back home.

Where they sat on the back deck.

For months.

Until i moved them down by the garage.

For a few more months.

Where they got spilled the other day.

And that's where I found them last night around 10 PM.  I scooped them up on a snowsled and took them on a short trip from the garage to the trash cans ... and none of the kids will even notice.  Although I feel bad about depriving them of neckware.

Day 124 - Homemade Bird Feeder (Throw) and a New Garage Roof (Receive... Gratefully!)

This was a productive day ... made all the sweeter by the fact that most of the productivity was not generated by me or Melissa!  Melissa's cousin Angie and her husband Phillip came to work on our garage.  Actually, Phillip's friend Tony and his crew worked on the garage roof while Phillip took his power washer onto the roof of the house to clean things up. 

Originally, Phillip had said he would be willing to reshingle the garage if we would buy the materials.  And we were excited about that possibility.  Afterall, that's a good deal: I would either be saving the labor costs or the time and effort of trying to figure it out myself.  (Tearing off the old shingles would not have taken too long, but putting it all back together would have taken DAYS if left to me alone.)

But when Tony came to look at the job on Monday morning, he said he thought he could get the shingles dirt cheap or donated, so I didn't need to worry about buying any.

Today they all showed up and got to work.  Melissa provided coffee and lunch, but beyond that, they refused any payment.  They didn't even want my help.  (I would have just been in the way and/or fallen through the roof at some point anyway.)  So that freed me up to get going on some of the yardwork that still needed to be done.

Since Phillip had a tall step ladder set up, I took the opportunity to get up into the front Maple and take down a birdfeeder that Ida (age 7) had made a couple of years ago.  I think we filled it with birdseed exactly once - the day we put it in the tree.  It wasn't the most convenient - or beautiful - birdfeeder around.  I don't think Ida has even noticed that it's gone. (He's been busy being sick the last few days.)

Anyway, we owe Phillip and Tony and the crew a HUGE Thank You!  Tomorrow we are planning to go apply for the kids' passports and it's going to cost around $500 to do them all.  We weren't sure how we were going to pay for the roof and the passports all out of one month's salary.  What a blessing!

We've got an Open House coming up on Sunday afternoon.  If you are so inclined, we'd appreciate your prayers for the sale of the house.  We're in unfamiliar territory ... not sure what we'll do if someone expresses interest in buying the house...we're learning as we go!

I had put off this job for so long that some of the decking was water damaged and had to be replaced...

Phillip - he's the man!

Day 123 - Cassette Tape "Walkman" (Throw) and Day 124 - "Through Painted Deserts" (Give)

Not much to report today.  Our day was thrown off by The Princess (age 4) coming down with a stomach bug.  Melissa actually had her at a doctor's office (a dermatologist though!) when The Princess first ralphed.  She has literally thrown up at least 20 times since.  It's so tough to watch her go through this.  At one point she looked up and said, "I just wish this day was over."

I have to admit that a little stomach bug like this can summon up a bit of anxiety in me over taking my kids to Haiti.  Even a little thing like this could end up with The Princess getting dehydrated and possibly needing medical treatment.  What are we going to do when there's not a fully equipped emergency room just blocks away from our house?  The easy answer is:  we'll have to trust God. 

That's also the tough answer.

There's so much more that could be said, but I don't even want to think about it right now.

I did make some real progress today on my application for One Mission Society - I probably have another hour or two of work on it to finish it up.  I'd like to have it complete and ready to send by the end of spring break.

As far as Giving, Throwing and Selling:  Nothing too exciting here.  Yesterday, at about 15 minutes to midnight, I went digging around for something to throw away!  I tell you, I am taking this seriously and I haven't missed a day yet...

So I found this old cassette player - just another example of outdated technology that I don't believe anybody else could possibly want.  So into the trash.

[It's 5 minutes to midnight and The Princess just went for #21.  Melissa and I prayed over her that it would be her last and she would get some solid sleep now.]

Today's give was another Donald Miller book.  My friend Todd (who went to Haiti on the same mission team back in October) received one of my first gives - Miller's book "Blue Like Jazz".  He texted me a few weeks ago that he had finally picked it up to read and was loving it.  Today I noticed on Facebook that it was Todd's birthday.  He usually helps out with kids' ministry on Tuesday nights at church so I caught him at church after he finished to give him Miller's "Through Painted Deserts" as a birthday gift.

Day 122 - Vaguely-Celtic Cross (Give)

Melissa and the kids and I drove to Shelbyville to attend little brother Russ' church.  Big brother Spencer and his family came too.  We gathered because Russ was taking the big step of joining the church and, more importantly, professing his faith publicly. 

Spencer pointed out that a lot of folks had been praying for this day to come for a long time.  Russ will tell you that he spent many years far from God, living life on his own terms.  This past year has been a spiritual journey for him.  Then, on a recent weekend, he attended an Emmaus Walk at the urging of his fiancee. 

It sealed the deal and he has surrendered.  He has posted numerous testimonies on Facebook about his experiences during that retreat and it sounds like God spoke some deep truths to him. 

Even better, it sounds like God really has Russ' ear on an on-going basis now.

Praise God!

I came across this small cross that I believe my mother gave me some years ago.  It's one of many things I can't hold on to in the long run, so I gave it to Russ after we all enjoyed a lunch together post-worship. 

It was a good day.  God is good.

Newspaper Article Published Today

As part of my job, I write an article now and then for the local newspaper.  Here is the original text - unfortunately, when they printed it today, the paper left off the information about the Starfish Kids website! 

Here's what I wrote:

This picture taken by our friend, Beka Mech, was published with my article.

                As the plane dropped low for landing, I peered out the window at thin cows nonchalantly grazing at the edge of the tiny runway and knew I was in a very different world.  The plane pulled up alongside three broken down aircraft at the end of the runway and within a few minutes our eight-man mission team was inside the tin-roofed terminal waiting to be officially allowed into Haiti.

                We came as guests of One Mission Society, a Greenwood headquartered agency which operates a Christian radio station, medical and dental clinics, and a seminary near Cap Haitien, a city of 200,000 (about 100 miles from earthquake-ravaged Port au Prince).  My school had graciously freed me a few extra days over fall break to enable me to spend a week working with OMS in Cap Haitien.  Yet I wasn’t in Haiti as an educator, but primarily as a learner … and I received an eye-opening education. 

                I could write endlessly about Haiti and its sights (motor scooters carrying five passengers each!) and sounds (late night voodoo drums on the mountainside!) and smells (sugar cane distilleries and open sewers!).  But since I write here as a teacher, I will limit my scope to the contrasts I noted between the Haitian and American education experience and the renewed attitude I brought back to my own classroom.

                First, physical resources.  The gulf between American educational facilities and those of Haiti couldn’t be greater.  As a teacher at Hauser, I already take our recent school-wide renovations for granted: the new field house, an auditorium and stage (with $50,000 worth of light and sound equipment), new lighting in the halls, and an expanded gym, among other things.  If the new HVAC system is off by a degree or two, we complain!

                Haitian schools, on the other hand, are doing well to have a concrete floor, an open window allowing air to move, some makeshift desks and a blackboard.  You see, Haiti has not yet established a public school system; it is pay-as-you-go. The forty to sixty dollars parents pay each semester is hardly enough to keep the doors open and pay a teacher; computers, air conditioning, and even overhead lighting are undreamed of luxuries in most Haitian schools.  Some “schools” are nothing more than children gathered around a solar-powered radio to listen to morning lessons on the OMS station.

                Given the vast differences in facilities, here’s the really startling contrast between Haitian and American education:  the Haitian students, all tidily dressed in their uniforms, seem eager – and even joyful- to be in school. American students, meanwhile, provided with top-notch technology and facilities, often complain endlessly about school. This seems a strange paradox until you consider that in Haiti, over half the population lives on an income of less than $1.25 per day.  As a result, only 50% of grade school aged children are enrolled in any school!  As is often the case, the more one has to fight and scrape for something, the more it is ultimately valued.  On my final day in Haiti, a friend and I were approached by a local teenager who begged desperately for $40 so he could return to school and finish the semester.  (It’s not uncommon to hear American high schoolers wish aloud that they could be PAID to attend school.)

                I returned to my Hauser classroom in late October with my head and heart full.  As a teacher, I decided to make every effort to appreciate my surroundings and resources all that much more and to complain less – much less!  Also, at every turn, I try more than ever to remind complacent students of the limitless opportunities they have been provided.  My overall attitude in the classroom now is this:  shame on us – teachers, students, parents, and politicians alike – if we don’t strive to consistently make the best use of America’s incredible educational resources.

                On a final note, while I work on my attitude here, I also feel compelled to offer a helping hand to our neighbors to the south.  If the plight of undereducated Haitian children creates in you, too, a desire to share some of your abundance, OMS operates a sponsorship program where your monthly donation of $25 can put a child in school and provide at least one nutritious meal a day.  For details, go to starfishkids.org. 

************
I was bummed when I looked in the paper this morning and noticed the Starfish Kids website had been chopped off.  But the cool thing is, that tonight I got a call from a random stranger in town here to ask for more information - she said she had been praying for Haiti and she wanted to do something financially! 

It's pretty time consuming to write these newspaper articles, but if a Haitian kid gets an education as a result, how awesome is that??

Day 121 - Washing Machine (Give) and Shelf and Computer Cabinet ...

It's the start of spring break for us so we need to get some work done around the house and see if we can really get this place sold.  We are hoping to get the garage roof replaced and do some other odds and ends and then have an open house next weekend. 

It was a beautiful day, so I started work on the garage - the inside.  It's worse than the outside. 

I wheeled out an old washing machine to the curb.  We ended up with an extra washer when we moved to Columbus and have had an extra one in the garage the whole time.  They were identical.  We used the one that came with the house until it broke down and then swapped them.

So this washing machine isn't currently operating, but I think an $80 part will do the job.  I investigated it at the time but then decided I didn't need to spend the money or the energy or the time when I had a replacement washer available. 

Someone must have been excited to get the washer - it was gone within an hour and a half!  The shelf went with it.

Melissa was certain the computer cabinet would not go anywhere.  I said it would.  It was a flimsy piece of Target-style "furniture".  But it was in relatively good shape - for sitting in the garage for four years.

Let the record show that I WAS RIGHT.  It took a little longer, but the cabinet disappeared sometime between Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.  I wasn't paying attention, so I don't know for sure. 

Day 120 - Change Buckets from Vegas (Throw)

MGM Grand.  Caesar's Palace.  The Venetian.  Mandalay Bay.

I'm not even sure which trip to Vegas these cups represent.  I think I've been three times.  I don't gamble, but I do get a big kick out of just walking around Las Vegas.  It's a people-watcher's paradise.  And a bizarre Disney World for adults.  No place else compares.

These cups were just sitting on a shelf in my closet and I went looking for something easy to throw since I was tired and didn't feel like dealing with the whole Throw, Give, Sell thing - but also didn't want to break my streak.  It has occurred to me ... that, at 120 days into this experiment, I am still mainly giving up things (like these cups) that I don't really use and have ZERO attachment to. 

The time is coming when I'm going to have to get more serious about this.

I read in my Bible recently the Parable of the Sower.  The third place the seed was scattered really struck me this time around:  "Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain." (Mark 4: 7)  This is the first time I've noticed that this soil DOES result in a plant that survives (unlike the path and rocky soil) but the plant does NOT accomplish anything worthwhile with that life.  In verse 19 Jesus explains this soil: "The worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful."

It's still hard to let go of THINGS, so I pray that at this point in my life that I would grow more and more desirous of being fruitful and less and less desirous of being comfortable.

Pray for Beka in Burundi

Our friend Beka is in Africa for a couple of weeks and I'm sure she would appreciate all the prayers she can get.  She works as a journalist for One Mission Society in Greenwood, Indiana, and they have her on a journey to get a closer look at some of the ministries attached to OMS in Africa.

I got to know Beka when she joined our church's mission team to Haiti back in October.  We have thoroughly enjoyed getting better acquainted with her ever since.  She is a favorite of the whole family - especially The Princess (age 4)!

Anyway, a day or two ago, on her way to Africa, Beka had hardly left the Washington, D.C. airport before God pulled her into a conversation with a Muslim man on the airplane as they flew to Brussels.  Take a moment and read her account of that conversation.  And you might want to bookmark her page and check back over the next few days.  I am anticipating that Beka will have many more good stories to tell. 

Stories worth hearing.

Speaking of stories worth hearing, if you are encouraged by current stories of miraculous healing which sound as if they were ripped right out of the Bible, I encourage you to check out Matt and Stacey Ayars' blog.  They work with OMS at the Emmaus Seminary in Haiti (and I hope to have the privilege of working in some way with this Seminary once our family gets to Haiti long term).  Anyway, to fully appreciate this story, you need to be familiar with the back-story first from a couple of weeks ago about a small community gripped by voodoo - just 15 minutes walk from the Seminary - and the bold students who have sought to introduce those villagers to Jesus Christ.  Then catch up on what happened recently on a return visit.

These are stories that will bolster your faith.

UPDATE:  Shockingly, the woman died the next day.  From our limited human perspective, her death would certainly seem to cast doubt on the miraculous nature of her healing the previous day.  Lots of people are in turmoil over this sequence of events - in the village and at the seminary - and it remains to be seen what God will draw out of it all.  I will be curious to see how it plays out.

Day 119 - Three Stooges Video (Sell)

I bought this two-tape set years ago when Caleb was just a toddler.  It may have been one of the first (of many) times when I tried to introduce one of my kids to something before he or she was old enough to truly appreciate it. 

I had always had fond memories of the Three Stooges from my childhood because 1) I'm a guy and 2) my brothers and I used to watch the Stooges on a little black and white TV after school in the upstairs of my parents' Five and Dime Store.  (The store was housed in an old movie theater and our hangout was what had been the balcony.  Every once in a while we'd get too rowdy up there and then we'd send a lookout to peer fearfully over the balcony wall to make sure Dad was not stomping his way back towards the stairs on his way to give us what-for.  The Stooges kept us relatively quiet.)

So I was all excited to share this bit of my childhood - and pure comic genius - with my first born son ... even though he was hardly communicating at the time.  I carried Caleb to the living room, popped the video into the VCR, turned on the TV and sat back on the floor behind him to observe his reaction.  Larry, Moe and Curly were in the midst of one of their fights:  Moe slapping Curly and then pulling Larry's hair, all three poking each other in the eyes, twisting each other's noses, etc.  Hilarious stuff (no matter what the women say!).

Caleb stared at the screen for a minute, turned to look at me over his shoulder, then glanced back at the TV before turning completely around and waddling toward me.

I thought, "Well, I shoulda known his attention span would be too short for him to GET the Stooges."

I opened my arms wide as he approached me... 

He grinned...

Pulled his right hand back...

And sucker-punched me in the face.

I couldn't have been prouder!  That's my boy!


Now the video needs to go into the garage sale tub.  Maybe some lucky kid will pick it up for fifty cents, take it home and discover for himself - maybe for the first time - the pure joy of random violence among imbeciles...

Day 118 - More Letters (Throw)

Can't write much tonight.  Too tired.  Threw away more old letters.

Heading to bed early so that I might actually have some energy tomorrow.  We got a call about the house today and they asked to see the place Friday afternoon or evening... so we've got a lot of work to do!  We certainly haven't been keeping the house in showing-shape.  Pray for us!

Day 117 - Pacer's Cup (Give) and Fat Tuesday

I got this Pacer's cup when we took the kids to Disney on Ice a few weeks back at Conseco Fieldhouse.  I paid a little extra in order to get refills since we had four kids and two adults sharing a drink!  I think it was around $6 (not sure exactly since I tried to block out the memory of paying that much for what my Dad used to always call "sugar water"!). 

If I understood the deal correctly, part of what I was paying for was UNLIMITED refills - for the entire basketball season.  If you know me, you know that was worth exactly zero dollars as far as my plans were concerned.  But they've announced at school a special Student Day for a Pacer's game over spring break - free admission.  I asked around today and found a sophomore who was planning to attend and I told him I'd give him the cup.  So it might not look like much of a Give, but - depending on how thirsty my young friend is - it could be worth ten to twenty dollars!

It's not as if we have a shortage of plastic cups in our kitchen cabinet at the moment anyway.

In other news...

I had my own little Fat Tuesday experience today.  I totally understand the mindset now. 

Every year I try to come up with something to give up for Lent.  I like it to be challenging.  I've given up meat.  I've given up ice cream.  And I've given up chocolate. 

Giving up chocolate made me cranky.  Giving up meat really inconvenienced my family (Melissa felt like she had to change her cooking). 

So ideally I would like to give up something this Lent that is challenging to me but without inconveniencing anyone in my family.  And after reading "Hole in Our Gospel" recently, I am considering going through the school day without eating.  So many people around the world feel fortunate to get even one meal a day.

Not eating during the work day would actually be a good thing for my health, since most of the eating I do while at school is snacking: potato chips, cashews, candy bars and M&Ms!  I have an entire filing cabinet drawer full of junk food.  I don't usually eat a normal lunch - the most nutritious thing I eat is a protein bar.

So I think that is what I have settled on this week ... which brings me to my Fat Tuesday experience today.  Throughout the school day today I consumed quite a few chips (salt and vinegar!), finished off a bag of M&Ms and munched enough Oreos to make me sick.  I rationalized it as an attempt to reduce future temptation (there's still a box of Triscuits in the drawer - not much temptation there!), but it was really a great excuse to pig out for the day.  I don't feel so great tonight.  Blahhhhhhhhhh.

I'm curious about your views on Lenten fasting:  Have you ever done it?  Is it worthwhile?  What is the value?  I know how I'd respond to those questions, but am interested in your perspective.  Leave a comment if you've got a thought to share....

Day 116 - Birdhouse (Sell)

Just another unfinished project.  I think I bought this last summer thinking it would be a fun project with the kids to paint it up and hang it.  I think I'll try to take it back to Hobby Lobby for a return, but I doubt they'll take it.  If not, it can go in the garage sale. I apparently paid $5.99 for it!

You want it?  Help out some homeless bird in your neighborhood?

Day 115 - Moose Antler Straw (Throw)

The Drama Queen tries to model the Moose
Antler Straw.

Got this straw at Six Flags in Southern California many years ago. Not sure of the specific timing, but it seems to me that my good friend, Mark, was attempting to hook me up with his (then) girlfriend's best friend. So I know it was more than 10 and a half years ago... I do remember I was living in Iowa at the time, working as a youth pastor - and I came back from CA with my ear pierced after a dare from Mark. But that's another story.

But back to the straw - I believe we at at a nicer restaurant that evening and Mark and the girls lied to the waiter and said it was my birthday.  I was so embarassed.  But I got a free straw and some sort of dessert.

 I have to ask once again, why do I keep things like this??

Anyway, I am reminded that I have not talked to Mark or his then-girlfriend, now-wife, Debbie, for a very long time.

Do you ever get into those movies like "It's a Wonderful Life" that explore the way life events build in chains that could so easily have been altered? If you think about it too much, it can really make your brain (and maybe your heart) hurt. And when I consider the impact each life choice has on subsequent events, it always reminds me to PRAY MORE.

Well, Mark is currently a teacher living (happily, I think!) with his wife and two kids in Hemet, California, and none of his current reality would exist if I hadn't befriended the dorm pariah, Phil, my freshman year at Wabash. Phil and I were both looking for summer camp counseling jobs during the spring of 1987. Major difference: he was looking for camps which catered to rich kids and I was looking for any camp that would hire me. Another difference: I don't think Phil was praying about his summer plans, but I definitely was. In fact, I had specifically prayed, "God, please show me what you want me to do this summer ... and put it in bold print, so I won't miss it." I said "bold print" figuratively, but then it seemed to me that God answered me literally within a week or so of that prayer.

Phil had gotten his name on some sort of camp mailing list and one day walked into my room and threw a bundle of letters on my desk: "Not interested in any of these..." On the top of the pile was a letter from "Morgan Memorial Camp" - a Goodwill-sponsored camp for inner city Boston kids located in the center of Massachussetts. The return address on the envelope was in large, thick blue letters.

It struck me that this was the job I was supposed to pursue.

To trace the consequent chain out in broad strokes: Got the job at Camp Morgan ... befriended a German guy, Kai, who taught martial arts at camp ... came back to Wabash and developed a close friendship with a new freshman, Mark ... kept in touch with Kai ... a few years later Kai gets a job at an outdoor school in California ... I end up with a few extra months after graduation from Wabash so I get myself a job at the same outdoor school (this would now be the fall of 1990)... LOVED it ... I recommend the same place to Mark when he graduates a year later (I'm working in Iowa by now) ... he falls in love with Southern California ... eventually starts substitute teaching to support himself ... one day he substitutes for a cute special ed teacher named Debbie...

And there you go.

Maybe that's why I thought it might all come back around to me and I'd end up falling for Debbie's friend, Janette, when I came out to visit Mark in California. We had a great time that day at Six Flags - but it had more to do with the roller coasters than any sparks between myself and Janette.

The only love interest I had that day was with the Batman coaster. It was gnarly.

Fortunately for me (and I assume for Janette as well), God had other plans.  Better plans.

Day 114 - Obnoxious Neon Yellow Shirt (Give)

This past week at school was "spirit week". On Thursday we were supposed to wear neon colors - and that's what reminded me of this shirt and how I've only worn it once. Over a year ago.

The teachers' association provided them to all the local teachers before we walked together in a parade. I guess they wanted to make sure nobody missed us.

I'm one of the few teachers in the building who is not actually part of the association - I sometimes enjoy swimming against the current. But I'm not going to get political here and my feelings about teachers' unions is not why I'm getting rid of this shirt.

It's hideous. My webcam does not really do justice to the exact color of the shirt. And I'm sure you can't tell that the lettering is PURPLE... but it is.

But the real kicker is the design itself. Look at it! I've created a few t-shirts in my day and I recognize 5 minutes of effort when I see it!

I'm not sure Goodwill is going to want this shirt - but I'm giving it to them anyway.

Day 112 - More Letters (Throw) and Day 113 - Chuck E. Cheese Crown (Give)

Trying to get caught up on my days, so not planning to write much here. Thursday I just sorted through another stack of letters and tossed a bunch more. In the midst of them I found two things of interest - a copy of my birth certificate and a notebook with a copy of all my letters I wrote back to these folks. I had almost forgotten that for a long time in college I had used carbon paper to make copies as I wrote letters. Those I'm not quite ready to toss yet - may be some interesting tidbits in there.

I've never really thought about it before, but I don't have single note or letter from my father. It makes me sad - in more ways than one. When I went to Haiti back in October, I made the effort to leave a bit of candy and a note on each of the kids' beds, knowing they would find them after school - when I was well on my way to Florida. Melissa says they carried those notes around for days. I'm guessing they all still have them tucked away somewhere. Fathers - write a note to your kids! Today!

I tried to throw away the Chuck E. Cheese crown from The Princess' birthday party, but Melissa stopped me. She wants to take it to school. Fine with me as long as it never comes back to the house.

Day 111 - Possum Jaw (Give)

Ahhh, memories!

I remember the spring afternoon I hopped up the steps and into the trailer I shared with my best seminary buddy, Tim.

Something didn't smell right.

I gathered up a mound of dirty laundry and stuffed it in the washing machine, confident the problem was solved.

It wasn't.

The smell got worse - especially in the evening when the furnace kicked on. Tim and I scratched our heads. What was that smell??

The next afternoon when I got home from class, the smell was stronger. Where had I smelled that stench before?? Then I remembered the time a guy in my college dorm kept a big old fat snake as a pet - under an overturned laundry basket on his floor. The snake escaped, crawled into the dormitory wall through a hole and promptly DIED.

THAT was the smell in our trailer: dead animal.

And we had a pretty good idea what sort of body was rotting under the trailer - for months Tim and I had joked about the troll that would bang around beneath our feet. We figured it was a possum that came and went after dark and seemed to like snuggling up against the furnace ducts. We had talked about plugging the hole in the skirt which allowed the possum to come and go, but we had never taken action.

Now we regretted it.

I still remember Tim's exact words: "Who do we call?"

I replied with something snide like "I don't know ... let's look up Dead Possum Removal in the yellowpages."

He left it up to me to crawl under the trailer. I naively thought I would find the possum corpse on the bare ground, fish it out and we'd be done. It didn't take me too long to realize that the trailer had a floor and a sub-floor ... and the possum was sandwiched in between.

For several days we lived with the stink by keeping all the windows open. We weren't sure what to do, but we were pretty sure it would take months for a possum corpse to dry up.

About five days into this, I returned from class, headed up the back steps and noticed a couple dozen flies gathered on the outside wall of the trailer. I knew where my possum was.

When I cut a section of the outside wall, there was no doubt I was on the right track! I reached into the darkness with both hands covered in Walmart bags and delivered the slimy possum like a baby.

Again, we didn't know what to do with the body, so I tossed it in the ravine behind the trailer.

And a few months later, I collected my trophy. Because ultimately, I WON.

Ever since, I take any chance I get to kill a possum.

I'm putting these bones in a letter to Tim so he can relive the happy memories too. Don't know what he'll do with them afterwards...

Day 110 - Modern Art (Throw)

This bit of modern art was brought home from school today by Ida (age 7). I mistook it for trash. Call me heartless, but I wanted to throw it before it became a fixture in the boys' bedroom. Ida protested, "It took me a long time to paint those toothpicks!" I had not noticed they WERE painted. But they are.

We came to a deal. Ida would allow me to throw his 'art' away if I agreed to take a picture of it first. It's another win/win situation because now it's physically gone from our house, but a much wider audience (including folks in Slovenia, the Philippines, and Denmark) gets to enjoy Ida's masterpiece!

This is what the internet was MADE FOR!