This Week at-a-glance

Short-term missions (our summer season), Discipleship Training School (DTS), worship prep, lots going on down here my first full week back at the base. I'm excited to see what God is going to do this summer!

We also have some friends coming down to visit and a lot of prep work for our upcoming Discipleship Training School (DTS) season. Please pray for all the work ahead of us. I will be trying to post pics out here regularly so stop back often. Right now, we have pretty typical office hours, meetings, planning, etc. In a week and a half (June 2) our summer seasing kicks into high gear. Pray for all the students coming down. We will be hosting 22 teams between June 2 and mid-August. Pray that God will use them in and around Monterrey and give them a glimpse of His heart for the lost.

Heading Back Down South

Today it was up early, to Panera for b-fast with my mother who is really struggling over the loss of her 2nd sibling, she is the eldest of 3 and only surviving sibling in her family. Please pray for her!

Got back to McAllen and reunited with Sandra and the children. Made some quick plans and headed to Spider Man 3. It was a blast! I even found a devotional online to go along with it so I have all kinds of great teaching examples for the children. Noah had his shirt over his head and his ears covered for most of the fight scenes (it was loud and violent, should have followed the ratings or screen-it more closely). The kids loved it, though!

An Incredible Service

Today was the funeral service for my uncle. It was a celebration and reflected God's love and grace. My cousin Brian, who I was very close to growing up, in 6 words said it all as he reflected on my uncle Henry. He said, "Dad, you were my best friend." As if that wasn't enough, by about the 3 time he repeated it, I completely lost it. Man, God has placed and entrusted us with so much with our wives and children. I hope and pray that I am as faithful as my uncle Henry with those entrusted to him.

I recall about 5-6 years ago when I was working for a pharmaceutical company. They brought in a speaker who was addressing the work/life balance issue and they said, "Look around this room," which was made up of everyone in the company at a certain grade-level and above. And then they said, "I want to ask you a question,...how many of these people do you think will be around your bedside when you die?" Basically, the point was, yeah work is important, yeah it's critical to maintain positive relationships, but don't let your focus on work get so out of hand or become so unbalanced that you neglect the people and things that mean the most in your life.

I really feel like the loss of my uncle has made me reflect on this subject once again, how much time do I spend in the ministry, how many of those people are going to be around my deathbed, and am I neglecting Sandra and the children, or am I spending appropriate amounts and quality of time with them?

Happy Mother's Day

What a strange day. It was wierd to be back at River Valley Church this a.m. after saying goodbye to everyone last week and driving down to McAllen, TX. Now I'm back. Pastor Rob did a double-take this a.m. and came over and said, "Man, I was just coming over to tell this guy that he looked just like Ron Wilson." Turns out, it was Ron Wilson. He was more surprised than I was, although it did almost feel strange that I was there. We had a good laugh, he added some encouragement and onward to St. Cloud this afternoon for Uncle Henry's wake and funeral tomorrow. Did I say I love my home church? You should check 'em out at www.rivervalleychurch.org.

I had lunch today with Leo and Carolyn Campero. Leo is from Venezuela and Carolyn from MN. They are an awesome couple and also YWAMers. They are interested in helping us open the base in Cuernavaca. I really feel blessed to have these guys on our team. They have such a heart to serve the Lord and I believe they are going to do great things for God's Kingdom (as they do on a daily basis today). Please pray for them as they have a lot going on right now between work, ministry, etc.

This evening it was up to St. Cloud for my Uncle Henry's viewing. The service was held at St. Mary's Cathedral and I believed glorified God in every aspect. It was a celebration of Henry's life, his commitment to his wife and children and his undying passion of serving his King. What a great example he was for all of us! He was also my favorite boat pilot for water-skiing growing up. Whenever I'd dump, he always had something funny or encouraging to say. I miss you Hank!

They Wouldn't Let Me In

Well, it's my own fault, really. Today we were going to head to Monterrey (Mexico) where we serve with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Got to the border and realized that I had a visa issue. Also have flight arrangements to head to MN for my uncles funeral. So, Sandra and the children will camp out at Melody Lane for a few days (it's a place that provides housing for missionaries). I will fly Sunday to MN and return next Tuesday for my uncle's funeral.

Made it to McAllen

Well, it's been a long 3 days of driving, with some awesome visits sprinkled in between cities. We arrived at about 1am in McAllen, TX and got up and had breakfast with some dear friends this a.m. We went to IHOP (House of Pancakes, not prayer) only to discover that everyone from Monterrey and McAllen had the same idea. We got a table, though and had a great time.

Now, it's the public library where we're stocking up on books for the children prior to crossing the border to head to Monterrey. We expect to arrive in Monterrey before dark.

Turns out, I may be flying back up to MN for my uncle's funeral, I'll write more later.