June 8th, 1996

Lord, thank you for such a safe trip to Guatemala. The plane to Houston was great. Also from Houston to Guatemala City. Thank you, no delays in departure times. The children here are so precious. They always seem happy, even though they don't have parents. They appreciate what they have. I think that we all can learn from how the children are happy even though they don't have everything they want. They are just content with what they have.
I pray tomorrow will go smooth. That we have no rain and cool weather. I hope that the children will be open to what we have to offer them, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Protect us from harm Lord. I have faith that no one will be threatened or injured tomorrow.
I'm thankful that we have a place to stay and a roof over our heads. And people to prepare the meals for us. Let us be rested and in a good mind set for tomorrow.

Happy Birthday to Me

Another year has passed and I am now 29. One year closer to the big 3-0. Birthdays are a funny thing. When we were kids it was a great big deal to have a birthday. Let's look at some milestones for our birthdays. When you turn 13 that is the first milestone we reach. We always want to be a teenager, but midway through our teenage years we don't want to be a teen anymore. 18. When we turn 18 it is yet another milestone because we are "officially" an adult. I use that term officially an adult very loosely because most people do not have an adult mindset at the age 18. Aww, 21, this might be the best birthday of all. It is the first time we can "legally" drink alcohol in the United States. Enough said. Then we hit 30 and by societies standard by the age 30 we are suppose to be married. Our next milestone is when we turn 50 "over the hill". Over the hill to what? Then a select few of us our lucky enough to reach the final milestone of 100. Can you imagine being born in 1906 an witnessing all the change which has taken place during the last 100 years?
Peace out and stay cool today.

I need pants

Aww, a great sunny afternoon the best time to spend time playing softball. I love playing softball. I think I may have mentioned this in a previous post. When I play I don't hold back, I am very agressive out on the field. If I think I can make a diving or sliding catch, I will attempt it. Sunday I made two pretty good catches, (I don't want to really talk about the ball I let roll between my legs. The second good catch I made, I dove head first and nabbed the ball inches off the ground, that catch didn't hurt. My first catch hurt and still hurts. I made a sliding catch and now my lower right leg has a 2*6 inch raw area on it. It looks like a real bad carpet burn. I have come to realization that I either must not be very aggresive in the outfield (yeah right) or I must buy some baseball pants to protect my legs a little better. The reason I am saying this is because I am heading to a power plant Tuesday night. And will be there until probably 6 in the morning on Wednesday. I sore is tender as it is, I can't imagine what all the heat will make it feel like. I will have to tough it.

Later from the one who forgets his age.

Hell

This week I visited hell. Yes you guessed right, I was at a power plant. This particular unit has 8 corners on each level. Now you might ask how can a unit have 8 corners. Good question. There is a super heat side and a reheat side. It is actually like 2 boilers together, if that makes sense. I was up on the "C" deck and it was hot. There was little air movement and the temp was around 130. We were up on the deck for several hours. I drank 4 32 oz bottles of fluid and was still very thirsty when we left. I get to visit hell again next week. Except this time I will be working during the night and it should be a little cooler. Now, don't get me wrong here. I enjoy going to power plants. It is a great learning experience for me. I actually get to see how our products work in their environment. Besides, it's a great incentive to keep me focused on my faith as not to end up in eternal hell.

PK

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a Promise Keepers event. It was a great time with great speakers and most importantly great worship. Worship is so important to me. Worship allows for an emotional connection to take place between God and myself. I haven't experienced great worship like I did at PK for a long time.

While at PK God revitalized a desire I have had for 8 years, in my heart which was pushed to the back burner. I have had a desire to open a non-threatening Christian youth center to reach out to teens from middle school through high school. I would like have x-boxes, pool tables, a computer area for kids to do homework on, tutors, good Christian rock/hip hop/rap music blaring through out the area.

While praying and doing a little research on this idea I came across a great website. The Mill - Youth Stop, which is in Toledo, Ohio, is an organization I would like to model the youth center after that I open up. Except I would like to call it: IGNITION - Sparking the Soul. You can view The Mill website here.

-More Later

Jude's Toe

Tonight I decided I would go out to the garage and continue to build my shelves. I took Jude and Elise with me since Delilah was still at work. Elise was doing great, I put her in her little bike thing and she was having a great time trying to motor around. Jude instantly jumped on his John Deere tractor and started driving around the driveway. I thought this is great, both kids are occupied and I might be able to get the front part of the shelf finished. I place two 2*4's on the ground and was walking back into the garage to grab the tape measure and pencil to make some measurements. It wasn't long before I heard the clunk, clunk sound of the 2*4 being dropped then waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh. I knew right away what happened. Jude had dropped the 2*4 on his right big toe. It almost immediately turned black. I will not be surprised if it eventually falls off. While holding Jude I hurried to put the toys and my stuff into the garage and then grabbed Elise and carried the both of them inside. Jude wanted a band aid for his toe. So he got one. Most of the night he was whining about his toe and had to hobble around with his toe not touching the ground.
I felt so bad for him. I know it has to hurt. Maybe next time he will think twice about picking up a 2*4. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

Aww Power Plants

I work for a company whose business it is, is to solve problems which power plants run into. I was at a power plant on Thursday in southern Ohio. I was there for the WHOLE day. We arrived at about 10:45 am and did not leave until about 12:45 am Friday morning. I didn't get home until almost 3 in the morning. Luckily I work for a great boss and he gave me Friday off. Now don't think I am complaining here, I'm NOT. I had great time of learning about the boiler front. It was a great learning experiene for me. This particular boiler has 6 elevatitions of 8 lighters. Needless to say it is a good size unit. I was able to observe setting up oil guns and spark rods. I actually was able to set one elevation's spark rods and oil guns at the correct length. There is a lot that goes into lighting off a boiler. Pretty much it comes down to have the correct oil and air pressure to produce the best flame. (There is more to it than just that, that was my simple explanation to it.)

The fire that is lit is like no other fire I have ever seen in my life. It is intense. Bright. Not as bright as looking into the sun on a clear day, but none the less it is bright.

I can't wait until my next opportunity to head back to a power plant.

-later from the "pink house"

Religous Leaders

16Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 17If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.
John 7:16-18 NIV

In my Bible under the application section to verses it states the following:

Those who attempt to know God's will and do it will know intuitively that Jesus was telling the truth about himself. Have you ever listened to religous speakers and wondered if they were telling the truth? Test them: (1) their words should agree with, not controdrict, the Bible; (2) their words should point to God and his will, not to themselves.