I’m trying to quit wasting time on the internet. Not an easy thing to do. But usually, I’m 20 links deep before I even realize how much time I’m burning. So, I created this little reminder for myself and made it my safari homepage. Hopefully, it’ll keep me thinking a bit about my internet usage.

You can find the full-size version at this link:

My homepage

Today I was reading in John and stumbled across John 5:13. It’s interesting.  Jesus had just healed a man who had been ailing for 38 years.  Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be well.  When the man said, “Yes,” he was immediately healed.  Jesus told him to pick up his mat and walk.

This all happened on the Sabbath.  When some of the Jewish leaders saw the man they reprimanded him for carrying his mat on the Sabbath (something he hadn’t been able to do for 38 years) and he told them that the man who healed him told him to carry his mat.  They asked him who healed him but the man didn’t know.  Why? Because Jesus slipped away into the crowd before the man could figure out who he was. Jesus did this sort of thing on a number of occasions, especially after healing people.  He would heal someone and then ask them specifically not to tell anyone who had healed them.  Jesus just wasn’t into self-promotion.  He knew his time was coming.  More importantly, he didn’t heal people in order to make a name for himself.  He healed them so that they would be healed.

Every day on Twitter, Facebook, etc., I’m inundated by shameless self-promoters telling me all the great things they’ve done or re-publishing all the great things that others have written about them. I’m tired of it.  In my opinion, if you do what God made you to do and you do it well, you shouldn’t need to promote yourself.  If you’re faithful, God will find a way to promote you.  People will find out about you because of the work you do. You shouldn’t need to promote yourself.  Just do good work and let that speak for you.

I’m about to thin my twitter herd a little.

Apparently Crossroads Church has taken down the India video they released in order to do some  more rigorous fact-checking.  We’ll see what comes of it.

“Why so many kids?” We get this question, or some variant of it all the time – in the mall, at restaurants, from complete strangers as well as our friends and family.  It’s a reasonable question.  Not many people are doing what we’re doing and we recognize that.  For whatever reason, it’s become more the norm for a couple to have two or maybe three kids, and space them apart over several years.  Because of that, a lot of people are surprised when they see us rolling into a restaurant with four kids under four.  Most people smile or laugh, but some give nasty looks.  Not often, but that does happen.

And the question remains.  ”Why so many kids?”

Well, the answer is pretty simple.  We think God wants us to do this.  Not only that but we believe that these kids aren’t just a responsibility but that they are a huge blessing.  Take a look at Psalm 127:

1 Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.

2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

3 Behold, children are a gift of the Lord ,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.

4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.

5 How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
They will not be ashamed
When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

To me this says that real worth isn’t measured by the size of your nest egg, but by the size of your nest.  Or something like that.  Your bank account isn’t going to give you a full life, but rich relationships with a family that adores you can.  Not only that, but having a “quiver” full of “arrows” is a sign of power.  Your kids are arrows you launch into the world to defeat the works of the enemy – and the more arrows the better. If you love them well, raise them up in the admonition of the Lord, and prepare them as best you can for what awaits them in this world, then when it’s time for them to launch out on their own, they’re going to be strong and have an impact.

For me, I never care to have my name on a building or a fat bank account.  I want my name on a bunch of kids who are living for and loving Jesus wherever they are. That’s why we’re having so many kids.

Yes I know it’s disgusting.  But what about abortion is not disgusting? Click on the picture if you want to order one.  Really.

[Editor's note: At the request of the folks from DrawnFromWater.org, I've removed all mentions of the country they are in and the tribes they are working with.]

I’ve been sitting here this morning trying to make sense of a world where something like this can happen:

The people of [a certain] tribe in rural [Africa] have a culture rich in tradition.  However, the tribe lives in fear of evil spirits who they believe bring ill fortune to their villages. They use the word “Mingi” to describe persons they consider cursed or otherwise imperfect. Those deemed Mingi face severe consequences, as the [people] believe the presence of these children on their land curses the tribe. Their solution to this perceived threat is to drown Mingi children in the river. Last year, 7 percent of [the tribe's] children were associated with Mingi, resulting in the deaths of 77 children. If the two other nearby tribes practice the Mingi tradition at the same rate as [this] tribe, then the [other] populations may have a combined 3,000 children whose lives are at risk.

I read that quote at DrawnFromWater.org.  They are a ministry in Africa literally saving young children – toddlers and infants – from sacrificial drowning due to their tribes’ superstition.  The video in my previous post illustrates their work there.  I was sitting there reading all this, thinking about it, and I began to pray that God will help me to understand this and what I could or should do about it – if anything at all.  As I prayed, God reminded me that I, too was drawn from water.

When  I was just a little guy – maybe two or three – we were visiting my cousins house in Houston.  My parents and my aunt and uncle were going to a wedding or something like that and we were staying there for a few days.  My aunt and uncle had a pool and on the day of the wedding we all spent the day playing in the water, having a great time.  As the day wore on, the time came for everyone to go inside so that the adults could get dressed and ready for the wedding.  The baby sitter was on the way and all us kids were playing inside until she could get there.

I was the youngest of all the cousins and probably couldn’t really keep up with whatever games the bigger kids were playing.  Regardless, somehow I ended up on my own looking through a plate glass window, into the backyard, into the pool, at the red ball that was floating there.

I had been playing with that ball in the pool and I really liked it.  There was something special about that ball and I really wanted to play with it again.  I knew I wasn’t supposed to go out there alone, but I was just going to get a ball, right? No big deal.

So, I went outside and knelt at the pool’s edge to get the ball. I couldn’t quite reach it, but I did touch it – just enough to push it to the other end – the deep end.  Luckily, it wasn’t that big of a deal.  The ball floated down to the other end of the pool and stopped just underneath the end of the diving board.

So, I crawled up on the diving board – still completely alone and unnoticed by anyone else – reached out for the ball-

and fell in.

I couldn’t swim.  I couldn’t dog paddle.  I couldn’t even float.  I had never been in the water alone before.  I can still remember the absolute terror of literally being overwhelmed as the water closed over me.  Forty years later, my heart still races as I think about it.

And then an amazing thing happened. Someone reached down and pulled me up.  I can’t remember a lot from that time in my life, but I do remember the sight of that hand coming down and drawing me out of that water.

Here’s what happened.  The babysitter had come to the house at about the time I climbed out on that diving board.  When they opened the door to let her in, she could see out that same plate glass window, into the backyard, into the pool, and she saw me fall into the water.  She rushed through the house, out the back door, and saved my life.

It’s funny.  I don’t think about that all that often.   I was afraid of the water for a few years after that, but I got over it.  I went on with life.  Kids are resilient and all that.  But I do remember that day and when I think back, I can’t help but wonder why.  Why did that babysitter come right at the time I most needed her?

I was talking with Desi about this a few weeks ago and the only thing I can think of is that God has a plan for me and my life and he didn’t want me to drown that day.  I could be wrong, but the timing was amazing. It seems like something too big for mere chance.  God was involved.  I told Desi that I think God wants me to help kids like that babysitter helped me.  I’m not sure what that means, but I’m trying to figure it out.

I was drawn from water.

Maybe I can help one of these kids be drawn from water, too.

Maybe you can, too.

www.drawnfromwater.org

How cool is this thing? EasyBloom Plant Sensor I think I want to get one just to see if it works. This kind of gadgetry is one of my favorite things

Hey, if you don’t know about my obsession with Burpees and the 99 day challenge yet, get yerself over to my other blog, the99daychallenge.com on the double-quick.  This means you, mister!

Our vacation to Fort Worth has been really great. The zoo was wonderful. Downtown is really happening and kid friendly at the same time. Definitely has it’s advantages over Dallas. I’d say the trip has been just about perfect and totally memorable But what happened tonight at dinner was something we’ll talk about in our family for years.

We were at Joe T Garcia’s. Unreal place that you should check out if you’re ever in Fort Worth. Anyway, we were sitting next to a middle aged couple with their daughter. She obviously had some special needs. Probably in her mid thirties and functioning at a five year old level. I couldn’t see them but could hear bits of their conversation. They’d been at Disney on Ice and she was wearing a “Flounder” hat which looked like Ariel’s sidekick in Disney’s Little Mermaid. We’d seen lots of little kids wearing them around town today.

So we were eating and they got up to leave. When they did the daughter decided to talk to us a bit. Nothing big. She just said “Hi” and started a conversation. Told her I liked her hat and she put it on my head. The kids laughed. She laughed. Her parents laughed. We sat there and talked with her and them for a couple of minutes. Her name is Chastity. Didn’t catch her parents’ names.

As they were leaving she leaned in and I hugged her and then she hugged Abbie. It was really sweet and no big deal. We just went on with our dinner.

When we were done and the time came for us to pay the bill the waiter came and told me that there would be no charge. Someone had paid our bill. I was dumbfounded.

I can only guess that it was Chastity’s kind parents who paid our bill tonight. I don’t really understand why. Desi and I have talked about it quite a bit this evening. While we are thankful for their kindness we hope that it wasn’t because they don’t experience warmth or kindness when Chastity engages with other people out their I’m the world. We really did nothing special. We treated her like people treat our kids all the time. Maybe that’s unusual for them. I hope not. Chastity is a very sweet lady. Hopefully others see that.

Never forget what a gift kindness is to people. I think we were rewarded somehow for something that didn’t really deserve compensation but you never know how simple acts of kindness will impact people.

We hope that Chastity and her parents get worn out by all the kind acts they experience in the future.