i’ve been part of many hours of helping students better understand this whole thing of bullying. i remember on session at the end of the last school year with some middle school students and as the presenter walked through building an awareness of those who struggle with their place in life i was truly reminded that at the core of most of these bullying acts is the reality that it comes down to being unfamiliar with each other…and out of the unfamiliarity comes a sense of fear for some that results in bullying. the resolution to the issue of bullying is somewhat easy, but takes effort and courage. a courage very similar to young Jonah…a willingness to tell our stories…to build friendships and begin to better communicate with each other. there is such hunger for a person’s life to matter and sitting on the reality of two recent suicides of teens in our community it only paints the picture with more starkness. so thanks, jonah. grateful for your facing your fears and offering literally your scars to offer release and break through for so many…a reminder that our stories matter.

I’m not sure how much posting i’ll get to do…i hope daily to journal our exploits, but a couple things you can be praying for beyond the Present:Hope Tour itself…as we got in last night, Jim got a phone call from his bride Jeannie saying that his brother had been admitted to the hospital for chest pains.  Jim left early this morning for the 12.5 hr return trip and is concerned.  I talk to my bride (of 32 years!) melinda and she and our emmah are home sick this morning.

had a short conversation with a mother and her son, here at the hotel from the UK after breakfast, the son is considering attending a local university…but in the conversation she mentioned…”life is really about the journey,  is it not?” yep…heard that before.

i’m headed off here in about an hour to connect with the rest of the team.  several are en route via airplanes and will be on the ground after lunch…then we start training.  grateful for your following and investing more later.

choices

got to be honest…there’s been a lot of strange emotions setting into my journey the past couple of days.

• the adventure begins the 32nd anniversary of the most amazing journey i’ve taken yet: marraige to my Rose- Melinda.
• the realization that i’m going to be away from my home and family longer than anytime ever before
• humbled by the generosity of people who i don’t even know
• doubly blessed by those i know who have invested in this adventure
• wondering whether i’d reach the threshold goal of $5,000 for this trip.  (which was just confirmed about 5pm Fri/9/16 – God is good!)
• realizing the weight of one’s life.  yesterday at a hillsdale middle school i listened along with 300 middle-schoolers and teachers to Rachel’s Challenge (named in the memory of rachel scott, the first student to loose her life at columbine).  It was an amazing 45 minute multimedia presentation on all that turned from that horrific day at columbine high school.  to watch the archived video news reports in the presentation in front of an audience of students who weren’t yet born…there was an odd sense of emotion that well over me.

the picture above is from last nite’s training ride.  didn’t see it til i played the video back.  was struck by the reality of coming to a point and having to decide: to turn right or left.  how so many times if life we are lead to opportunities.  either turn leads in a different direction.  like this intersection either turn will utitmately return me to the safety of our home, both with some effort,  but you have to choose.  So with the an unsettled Samwise-leaving-the-comfort-of-the-Shire sort of sense, i’ve chosen this current adventure with the goal of leveraging my small part in a larger story.  several unknowns remain yet before the Present: Hope Tour begins in less than 7 days.   Providence has shown up in so many ways.  Glad you’re along for the ride…stay tuned.

here is the video from Aaron’s message at the memorial service just days after the destruction…amazing words from his heart and story…and testimony to Jesus.

henry clay's home in lexington, ky - the Ashland

its been a whirlwind month since my last post. (and to add i had a bug in my blog and lost access for a week…thanks to the amazing tech team at bluehost… i’m back)and we’ve traveled to FL to support one of melinda’s students who competed in the national health occupations students of amercia conference.  then back for a week long “home” mission trip with 25 students and then jumped off for a 36 hour jaunt to the first ever “children’s ministry expo” hosted by the good friends at kidzblitz.

the trip to FL was great and a good time away.  we visited Disney World for three days… a trip there is always good to prime the “creative” pump.

this was our second year partnering with our mothership, berean baptist on a local home-based mission trip.  our students joined another 60 from three other churches and got some real mileage in helping several non-profits leverage their impact…habitat for humanity, homelessness coalition, salvation army.  all were great places for these teens to find their place in serving others.  great stories still being told.

the kidz blitz expo was a good time away…short, but had a chance to connect with several amazing kid’s ministry folks… old friends like jim wideman, alan root, michael chanley and the team from kidz blitz. got a chance to meet and spend some time with ronnie caldwell and doug & linda tidwell.  it was good to see what’s coming up the ladder from the kids ministry folks.  good stuff.

on my way home i drove by a cool historical place, about 3 minutes from the convention center.  when folks ask me where i’m from they always think that “ashland, ohio” is named after “ashland, kentucky”, but the truth is our hometown takes its name from the estate of  famed orator, and Kentucky son, Henry Clay.  his home sits today as a museum and testimony to a great statesman.  fun stuff.

(Source: Christianity Today)

Let us pray.

Almighty God, our Father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you. It all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory.

History is your story. The Scripture tells us, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is One.” And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now, today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hingepoint of history with the inauguration of our first African American president of the United States. We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.Give to our new President, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.

Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race, or religion, or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all. When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us. And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.

Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all. May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you. We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus, who taught us to pray:

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

and the closing remarks from president obama himself.  i pray that God’s blesses his steps and actions.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

“Let it be told to the future world … that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it).”

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.