december's news
December 27 2008
It's been seven years since we've been home for
Christmas. And even though we caught some February
snow two furloughs ago, Zach never remembered it.
So we all had a blast this past week when eight
inches piled up outside our window. We took it all
in. Sledding, snowmen, and snow-angels. Cold noses
and snow-ball fights. The works. Read
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How to waste a weekend
October 21 2008
I squandered my weekend. I had intended to tackle
that overdue prayer letter among other things. This
Saturday was supposed to get me further ahead, but
my best-laid plans went up against Zach's puppy-dog
eyes. Read
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where I've been
September 30 2008
We think of dad a lot. I think about the months
before May and how they slipped by too fast. And I
occasionally lose track of time. As if I just saw
him yesterday, and we talked like there were many
more tomorrows. Read
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Unforgettable
August 30 2008
We will not see Matt on this earth anymore. But
neither will we be able to forget him. And as we
laugh or offer up thanks at the random memories
when they come, he would wish for us to be
encouraged—to take courage. And perhaps, if we can,
go after some of those lost sheep he didn't have
enough time to reach—the ones who could rightly be
called forgotten, but to Matt were unforgettable.
Read
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heaven's gain
August 28 2008
Dad passed away on Monday; not unexpectedly, but
sooner than we thought. I was sleeping at the time,
while Renee kept watch over him. She phoned me to
tell the sad news. And her voice revealed a
tenderness and awe in the moment; Dad just stopped
breathing, she said. Were you there with him, I
asked. Yes. That was all I needed to know.
Read
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the envy of angels
August 12 2008
I could not articulate it then – or even now – but
somewhere in that spectacle was the answer. The
answer to the "problem" of pain. The answer to why
God's ways are so unexpected. Even the answer to
why dad had leukemia, and why we were now preparing
to say goodbye. I saw a glimpse of the mystery that
angels long to look into. A picture of the fall,
and the cross, mingled together with tears and
hope. Read
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a welcome burden
June 30 2008
Dad struck me as one like that. Not because of his
suffering, but because of what God has made of him.
And of how dad's life has, in the words of John
Piper, "made much of God." And at once I had the
sense of being beside someone famous. Read
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the other blog
June 29 2008
Renee has just updated her blog, and I thought I
would post a little advertisement here. It's on the
other page of this
site called "renee's journal". I've also
enabled the RSS for that blog. So if you know
what an RSS is, and would like to, you can now
subscribe. No promises on how much writing she
will do, but I will try to spur her on.
smalltown girl in the big city
June 17 2008
Her eyes were all alight with caffeine and
mischief. Her hair was coiling up in a frizz from
the humidity. And all together she looked very
cute. "You want to walk five blocks in this!?" I
said in disbelief. "Yeah, it'll be FUN!" she
replied. Read
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reporting from the mothership
June 12 2008
If this is a "sending office," the operative part
is in the word “send.” Which in the context of the
Great Commission is the indispensable other-half of
“go.” So I think as far as offices go, I’m in the
right place. I love what they do here. Read
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Remembering
May 25 2008
Sometime around Memorial Day, I usually get to
thinking about the parade of tyrants who have risen
to power over the centuries. And since I don't know
any of the soldiers who have fallen in the fight
against them, I think of Dave. Just one man who
knows the pain of the loss of just one man. And who
never, ever, ever forgets the treasure of our
freedom. Read
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ever wonder why
May 02 2008
But after talking to Jim, as I stood there with my
emotions stretched between two different worlds, I
began to get a picture of God working through the
wreck. I wouldn’t claim to know “why” this
happened. Or why it happen now as opposed to last
year. Or why it happened to someone else and not
me. But I could say for sure that I see God has a
plan. Read
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april newsletter
April 28 2008
The uncertainties in Kenya, as you can imagine,
were paralleled in our lives. Not only because we
were caught up in the emotion of everything
happening in Kenya, but also–maybe more so–because
we were swept away with the emotion of what was
happening back home with my dad. Read
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wheels
April 10 2008
Dad's been fatigued from his cancer, but otherwise
has felt pretty good. So we picked up a wheelchair
at the convention center and offered him a restful
tour of thousands upon thousands of square feet of
pure, glistening zoom-zoom. The New York auto show
is really incredible. Huge, bright, loud,
jam-packed, insanely rich – dripping with that
burst of adrenaline you get in the TV
advertisements: Control. Power. Read
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crossing the GW
March 20 2008
We arrived at a nondescript building but I saw
nothing. I just followed the back of dad's shoes.
He knew his way in this hospital which spanned a
couple of city blocks. Just the simple mistake of
choosing the wrong elevator, dad told me, would get
you lost. I wondered how that could be, for on an
elevator you can only ever be lost in one
dimension. Read
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february's flying–photos
March 12 2008
But the flights I did in February were a
reprieve... back to my sanctuary in the sky. I
carried the camera on a few of them. Read
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a "grait" day
March 11 2008
I woke up on the wrong side of the ocean today. I
could tell, in part, by the chill in the morning
air of this old house in New Jersey. In part,
because there's a glorious box of Captain Crunch on
the kitchen table. Read
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last leg out
February 22 2008
A goat ambles across the airstrip, like a wisp of
tumbleweed, oblivious to the tension around it. I
glance at the abort point again, and mash the
throttle forward swiftly. We roar, shutter, roll,
and eventually fly––clearing the trees just as my
cardboard calculator said we would. Read
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happiness is a bag well packed
February 15 2008
We will soon have the luxury of packing our
suitcases. Renee and I are preparing to head home
for an early furlough. I've booked tickets for
March 7th, and we'll arrive in New Jersey the next
day. And so, we are packing up a bit, which I
realized today, is something to be thankful for. In
Kenya the number of displaced or uprooted has
reached 600,000. Read
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displaced
February 01 2008
I've been to a few of these camps over the years.
In Congo, hidden in the lush green of the Ituri
forrest. The smell of smoke and palm oil and
humanity numbering tens of thousands. In Sudan;
humid, naked, dark. In Mozambique; wet. All of them
hungry. Some of them filled with the warmth of
people who hold fast to a sovereign God. Some of
them inconsolable. Read
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one tribe
January 28 2008
Pastor Timothy walked me around his mission field
for four hours. The Kibera slum is hard to capture
with words. There is no counterpart in the western
world. It bustles with life. And it provides an
ever present reminder that life is cheap.
Read
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thank God for Sundays
January 20 2008
Finally a Sunday. A number have gone by in recent
weeks, but at last this one feels like a Sabbath.
Nairobi is calm today. No doubt what millions of
Kenyans are praying for all over the country.
Peace. Read
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helpless vs. hopeless
January 07 2008
Being helpless is not entirely a bad thing I
realized. It opens the door for others to step in
and save the day. It allows us to be the community
God intended us to be. Help can come in many forms.
An Airplane. A gifted doctor. A neighbor or friend.
A church family. A stranger even. We would do well
not to be so independent sometimes. Read
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waiting, listening, praying
January 03 2008
Our bags are packed, sitting near the door
downstairs. We are poised for leaving the country,
by road, or by air. Read
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bad to worse
January 01 2008
Such sights are common for me. But not here. Not in
my hometown. This happens in other places like the
Congo, and Sudan. I never thought I would see this
in Kenya. Read
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