Tanks, guns, and soldiers

So, last Saturday after running a few errands with Martin my friend we turned the bend down near our house and guess what we saw? An armored vehicle with a high caliber gun strapped on top manned by a guy that looked about 18 years old and on the other side of the road a military truck that carries troops half full of soldiers, the other half being in the road and on the side of the road. So we took a detour to my house that was only a couple blocks away.

Martin said,'You have a neighbor that is a very bad guy.' That was putting it mildly. Those soldiers were waiting on someone to come that way and then the hammer was going to fall.

Most of the day we kind of hung around the house, partly because we needed to rest a little, and partly because I didnt want to find that very bady guy who is a neighbor. Kind of weird to see armored vehicles, soldiers, and automatic weapons right around the corner, right? But it's life here in Mexico.

Then Monday I mailed some packages to Hungary for a missionary friend Rusty. I commented to the lady behind the counter that one day soon I hoped to go there, maybe this summer if God works it all out. She said, 'Why do you want to go there? Aren't you afraid of the terrorists?'
I didn't know they were there. I also commented to her that I lived in Matamoros, no big deal, right?

I guess one day I will get used to seeing tanks, weapons, big guns and soldiers. Maybe I should start learning their names?

Receive food from a prostitute?

Sometimes when you receive food from someone who has a checkered past, like a prostitute, you should just pray. And I don´t mean pray a blessing for the food, although that is a good idea. No, I mean you should pray for the woman who sells herself, who is holding out a plate to you. You should pray for her that God will show her a different way, a better way, a hope and a light. You should pray for her two children who you see playing in the street and the empty canal nearby with other kids. You should pray that any blessing you receive will be passed onto that lady who lives a life of pain.

Why would you ever be in a situation where a lady like this could even offer you food? Well, it´s simple, live in Matamoros, go visit a friend, sit outside on a bucket or old chair. Then when the fiesta for a birthday gets started, just wait and finally a plate of food will come your way. Sounds simple enough, right?

Isn't this like some of the situations Jesus found himself in while he lived on earth? Didn't he get in trouble by the religious right, I mean religious leaders of the day because of whom he associated with? But how else was he supposed to give away mercy, grace and love, compassion and forgiveness to those who needed it most? How else can a doctor heal the sick if he is not among the ill and infirmed?

I did not plan to be sitting right where I was at that moment last Saturday, but I was there. I think a lot of living for God is just being in the right place at the right time. Being, as opposed to doing, someone once told me. We can do and do and do, and go and go and go, but if we never 'be' where God wants us to be then we might miss out on some pretty incredible things in this life.

I could have turned the food down, but I didn't because here that is an offense, especially from someone whose family has so little. So I ate and I said a prayer and Martin did too. In fact, I am still praying for this lady and her family, her two boys, that they desire and seek after God. That they SEARCH for truth.

I am praying that her son who is 3 years old will come back to preschool again. The door is open....

Tired, but what do you do, part 2

I just received news from my friend that his family member who was at risk has decided to follow Christ's path of truth and light and not fall prey to the enemy. She has returned home and is choosing the way of God over the way of pain and lies.

This is why we do what we do and we keep making an effort to help those who seem to have no hope, live in poverty and desperation and will try anything to escape their situation. Simply put, we do what we do because of those who get God and His way and walk in it. The ones who don´t we give over to God regularly that some day, near or faroff, they will find His path.

Amen!

Tired, but what do you do

If you are like me there are certain times when you just get tired of stuff piling up and up and up. Maybe it's the junk we hear over the news online, on tv, radio, does anyone still listen to a radio? Maybe it's the load of work in your job that keeps coming at you. Maybe it's the struggle to balance family, work, hobbies, rest, and life in general.

I get tired of what I see or what I hear about the bad choices in people's lives here in Mexico. The past two weeks I have heard of three different situations where a young woman was making terrible decisions that could totally destroy any hope of a good life or future. Two of them I know, but one I have never seen or met. So, what do you do? Pray first. Well, at least it's a good idea to start there. Then what? Talk to them, support them, what????

Sometimes talking works in these situations. Some people actually listen to the counsel of others and make an attempt to salvage their life from the mess they have made. Some think it's just too hard, they've gone too far or messed up too badly. Some just don't care anymore, they are too far gone. So, what do you do?

Try. Do something. Don't quit. Pray again. Try. There are those few who do want more than a life of pain. They listen. Pray again.

When is enough, enough?

Sometimes it gets hard to live inside my head, because my brain goes places and thinks thoughts that make me struggle for answers to questions like, "Am I doing enough to help alleviate hunger, pain and suffering in this world? What else should I be doing? Am I doing enough to cry out for those who are oppressed or facing huge injustices? When is enough, enough?"

Some days, like one day this week I had a sense I was doing enough, because we took food boxes to families in need. Made me have a sense of accomplishing something significant. We fed kids and families.

Then some days I see a website, read a news article, watch a video of suffering children in Africa and I wonder, "Am I doing enough?" On those days I say, "no", there's so much more I could be doing. But what, where, how, and with whom? Like I said it's hard to live inside my head some days.

Tired of the flu and government

Is it okay to be tired of hearing about the flu here in Mexico and school being closed and the government threatening to fine churches, restaurants and schools if they don´t abide by their rules? Is it okay when we don't agree with the way the powers that be? Are we supposed to always agree with what government tells us and do it like sheep following along blindly a shepherd?

If it is okay, then I say I am tired of how the Mexican media and government has threatened and bullied the people of Mexico. They get bullied and oppressed enough, why does their own government have to do this to them as well? Illegal immigrants get bullied and discriminated in the US on a regular basis by those who live in ignorance and fear. Many legal aliens from Mexico and other Latin American nations are treated poorly by many Americans, including some businesses who treat them as slave laborers and not creations of God.

Maybe I am tired of more than the flu, maybe I am tired of other things too, like racism and ignorance and hatred. Yes, I think I am tired of all of these and oppression too. What's oppression? When someone of a higher economic or political status places burdens and weights too heavy to carry on others who are less fortunate or have lower status. I better stop there, because I have other things I am tired of that the United States government does to its own people and to people in other lands. So, let's stop so that I don't get placed on someone's naughty list.

I do think it is okay to admit we don't agree with how something is done or how our governing bodies are doing their job. It seemed like the American people cried out for a change in government this past election, but somehow we got more of the same, but much worse. It appears we are going to be taxed into oblivion by the government that is in power, and mind you, it's not just one person, it is two houses, two parties, and many men and women in control. So we should spread the blame around, or credit.

I think I should stop here. Somes like I am complaining. Freedom of speech allows me to, I think...

Slow down

SLOW DOWN...I just wished someone had gotten this message through my thick skull when I was younger and my kids were small. If you are wanting to listen to me blubber all my regrets of life, not going to happen. But I do wish that I had learned how to slow down, breathe in every moment, make my family my first priority, and live a full life.

However, I am glad for the days when I let the kids stay out of school because they 'said' they were sick or skip preschool when they were little because they just didn't want to go. (I hope my wife doesn't read this.) I am glad that I coached their sports' teams. Well, I'm glad a coached most of their teams, there were a few of those kids....okay, you know what I mean. I am glad we took family vacations to the mountains and the beach. I am glad that we took our kids on all those youth retreats and CCF retreats. I think they had more fun on some of those trips than the students.

There were points in my life that I could have lived a little slower, worked a little less, taken another day off, but those days are past. We live in the present right? So today I enjoyed eating breakfast with my daughter and running errands with her and driving slowly not the opposite. Hey, one more thing....

Slow down.

You won't regret it.