So here’s the quick stats from the last couple of days:

Family visited: 2 grandparents

Surprise meetings: while visiting Michelle’s grandparents at the manor where they live, we found out that their nurse was my mom’s college roommate.  Crazy

Cases of pop purchased: 7 (so far).  3 Cherry Coke, 2 Dr Pepper Vintage (made with real sugar) and 2 Mountain Dew Vintage

Military ships visited: 5.  Did a full tour of a Vietnam era Destroyer, then stopped in a parking lot that was right beside 4 aircraft carriers that were docked.  Jared also spotted a submarine through a fence at the navy base we drove past.

Number of degrees reached: yesterday was in the mid 90′s and the rest of this weekend will be the same.  Nice.

Today we’ll be heading into Salem to visit some friends and do a little more shopping.  And since I probably won’t remember to write tomorrow, we’re heading to a family reunion in Vancouver, WA.  And it’s our anniversary.

/RD

Right, pretending.

So I actually woke up on time to go play.  It helped that I kept having dreams that it was time to get up, then I would wake up and check my watch and see that there were still hours to go.

Playing actually went well, the criteria for that being the fact that I didn’t get injured.  Much.  Just a couple of blisters and sore muscles.  And I made a couple of baskets.  And overall I don’t think I embarrassed myself.  Not that I’m aware of at least.  I still am not a huge fan of playing shirts and skins for teams.  WAY too much other man sweat gets on you.

The kids enjoying the sand, surf and sun in Port Angeles

After that we all decided to head to the beach.  We had the luxury of using a friends private beach.  Very cool.  And the sun even showed up for the afternoon.  Nicest day by far we’ve had on the trip and we spent it sitting beside the ocean.  The kids spent a few hours playing in the sand (rocks?) and surf, and the grownups just sat there.  Perfect.

Michelle and Judy also found a dead seal.  Michelle thought it was cool, can you see why I love her?

The rest of the day was filled with games.  Catan, Ticket to Ride and Monopoly City.  Good times.  And supper was TWO kinds of enchiladas.  Oh man, that was good eating.

Today we’re hoping to stop off in Bremerton and visit the navy base.  There is a pretty cool tour of an old destroyer we want to take and then there are a few aircraft carriers docked close by that we want to go see.  Then off to Newberg.

/RD

Day 3 was the third day of our trip.  And being the third day, we decided to ensure that everything was done in threes.  For example, when we woke up this morning we found that we had three children.  Crazy.  I remembered to brush my teeth 3 times; and I also forgot to brush my teeth 3 times.  I had three muffins with breakfast and we got exactly three rounds of play done on the Axis and Allies game.

(Can I submit the line “Day 3 was the third day of our trip” to some kind of bad writing contest?  Because that had to be the worst of many incomprehensible statements I have made.”

Yes, Axis and Allies.  Featuring Jeremy, Jared (the older), Jared (son of me) and me (father of Jared, son of me).  (Did you catch the three J’s playing?).  (Did you notice I a really abusing brackets lately?)

I was able to teach my son how to play Axis and Allies today.  That’s so cool.  Sure I’ve taught him how to ride a bike, play Guitar Hero and poop in a toilet, but Axis and Allies is cool.

OK, the next attempt at turning everyday dreariness into a clever tale is of how I tried to find a camera at Wal-mart today.  And I wanted to get a better price on it so I printed up the Target ad that showed them selling the camera for $30 cheaper.  Simple price match situation.  Except that the closest Target to the Port Angeles/ Sequim area is an hour away.  So Wal-mart told me that they couldn’t match the price since Target is not a local store.

Right.  And Wal-mart is.  I wonder if they are aware that they have numerous locations across the USA, Canada and the world?  And most of them are close to a Target?  So in reality, you pretty much compete with them all of them, right?  But when you are at the Sequim Wal-Mart you cannot price match against Target because they aren’t the “competition”.  Also, you are a maniacal, local store destroying monster (who allows me to save money) so you cannot also be a “local store”.   Brilliant idea Wal-mart.

I’ll show them, I’ll just do what every other smart shopper does and drive an hour away to save $30.  They are going to miss my $150.  Enjoy bankruptcy!

Idiots.

Tomorrow I get to discover what it is like to play basketball at 5:30 AM.  IN THE MORNING.  I can understand playing hockey at that time, but basketball?  I play basketball about once a year.  And lately I’ve been about as effective as a drunken frat boy at Mardi Gras, whatever that means.  But that would be playing at a regular time in the day.  5:30 is wrong, just wrong.  It would be like taking that same drunken frat boy, putting him in an inflatable bouncy room with a bowl of chicken noodle soup and then telling him not to still a drop.  And also releasing 3 three year olds into the same bouncy room.  But I’ll be doing it anyways.

And playing basketball in the US is also stupid for a Canadian kid.  In Canada, I’m tall.  In the USA I am average.  In Canada, we play hockey first and laugh at basketball second.  In the USA, they play basketball quite well I am told.  So my only chance is to play up the whole “I’m just a simple Canadian, eh?” thing until they get relaxed.  Then I pull the jersey over their head and do a nice lay up.  And then run my hoser butt out of the gym before they catch me and do whatever they do to foreigners who make them look silly.

And if that doesn’t work, I’m going to keep yelling “Ladies and gentleman, your 2010 Olympic SILVER medalists in ice hockey…”  That should get enough anger in them that I can play.

Did I mention that basketball at 5:30 is gonna be a bad idea?

/RD

We’re here hanging out with the Fodge family and not driving for a few days.  Should be a good time.

Highlights of today’s driving…

1. Hanging out with Paul and Heidi H in Abbotsford.  Had some AMAZING lunch.

AMAZING lunch!!!

Thanks guys.  Fully enjoyed our time with you.

2. Playing “that other car doesn’t know we’re playing tag tag” on the interstate.  We played the game today with a red Hyundai for a couple of hours.  I thought we had lost them, but they kept showing up.  Come to think of it, I suspect they knew what we were playing.  I beat them, again because I decide when the game ends.

Take that you silly Hyundai.  Never take me on in my own made up game.

3. The drive from Kamloops to Port Angeles is filled with amazing place names that will make any normal human male laugh.  Or at least giggle enough to make his wife stare at him in disbelief.

Chilliwack

Chuckanut

Luckakuk

Nooksack

Kitchen Dick

See, you can’t stop laughing.  They’re awesome.

/RD

(Oh ya, the killing of the bird is typically performed by it flying into or neglecting to get out of the way of our van.  We don’t hunt down a bird and perform a sacrifice.  That would be strange.)

(this is an abuse of brackets)

I think we’ll be ok though.  Day #1 was pretty good.  Away on time, no problems in traffic and arrived here in Kamloops earlier than expected.  Katria even took a nap, even if it was for 10 minutes before we woke her up to eat ice cream and see the caged animals.

That’s just the kind of parents we are; on vacation ice cream and zoo creatures are WAY more valuable than sleep.

Uneventful is probably the theme of the day.  Any fun stuff would be misunderstood, but here are the highlights.

1. Playing highway tag with a couple of cars between Calgary and Canmore.  I’m not sure they knew we were playing the game though.  In fact they may have been pretty ticked the way I kept passing them after they passed me.  And they had to be REALLY annoyed that I eventually won in my mini-van.  The key in “They don’t realize that we’re playing tag tag” is to declare the finish line while you’re winning.

2. The rain was pretty steady once we entered into BC.  Except in two specific places.  Revelstoke, where we stopped for a picnic lunch.  And at the dairy where we got ice cream.  We decided it was a God thing.

3. Meeting a nice family from England in the hotel pool.  The kids played and we chatted.  I guessed he was from the UK and he said “Oh, most people think our accent is Australian!”  To which I replied “Oh no, that’s obviously an English accent.”  But what I was thinking was “I’ve never seen an Australian with teeth like that.”

I’m such a jerk.

Tomorrow it’s on to Port Angeles, WA with a stop over in Abbotsford, BC to see the Hursts.  Should be fun!

/RD

Q: Don’t you take too many vacations?

A: Well, I don’t think I do.  In fact the last time I took one was WAY back in April went we went to Oaxaca.  That’s like 5 months ago!  But at work yesterday I had several conversations that went like:

Me: I’m on vacation starting tomorrow!

Random Co-Worker: Again???????

Q: So why get up early on the first day of your vacation?  Isn’t that 98% idiotic and 2% just plain odd?

A: Well, here’s the thing.  I haven’t blogged in a long time.  In fact the last post was that silly “Birthday Breakup” thing which was a really strange and abstract attempt at humour.  And I suspect it was 4.6% funny, 10% confusing and 85.4% just plain weird.

Q: But why blog early in the morning?  I feel like you’re avoiding me here.

A: I’m not avoiding you.  It’s early and I was up late.  So it takes a while for thoughts to form.

Q: Ya right,

A: OK, there’s plenty of thoughts.  But most of them don’t make any sense.

Q: Can we get back on topic?

A: Sure.

Q: And you’re blogging because?

A: Because I’m heading on a road trip tomorrow.

Q: Really?

A: Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaad Trip!

Q: Oh no.

A: That’s not a question.

Q: You remember that one time you road tripped?  And you went a little crazy?

A: Ya, but that was that insane trip to Tlaxiaco by myself.  This time it’s a lot shorter.  AND I have Michelle and the kids.

Q: You think having three kids in a van for 8 hours a day will keep you sane?

A: Hmmmmmmm, good point.

Speaking of sanity, there are two things I absolutely have to do before leaving on a trip.  First, I need to ensure the house is clean.  I hate coming home from a long trip to a dirty house.  Also I need to clean the van.  It needs to be spotless before we leave.  I know it will get dirty, but I refuse to allow the road trip dirt to pile up on top of the regular dirt.  Road trip dirt is special and deserves to be treated that way.  I washed the van last night, which gives us the answer to the question:

How come you’re already $15 down on your trip budget?

Q: So when do you leave?

A: Bright and early tomorrow morning!

Q: Why not today?

A: Because the older two kids have been at camp all week.  We go pick them up this afternoon.

Q: What’s it like having only one kid for the week?

A: Oh man, SO easy.  Although poor #3 kid was bored out out of her mind.  Turns out mom and dad just aren’t that fun for a three year old.

Q: Isn’t it stupid to announce to the world that you’re leaving your house for a prolonged time?

A: First of all, how is anyone surprised that I’m doing something stupid?  But also, I feel that it is ok for a number of reasons.  Like because I have nothing of value in my house, so any of you people reading this who are considering breaking in might as well not waste your time. Which brings up another point, I don’t believe my “many” readers (aka my mom) like to steal stuff.  (although here’s a little known fact, my sweet mother LOVES to play practical jokes.  And she can be pretty ruthless.  Crazy, huh?)

Oh ya, and just in case someone decides to figure out where we live and break into the house to steal our worthless stuff I’d just like to mention I’ve also left behind three pit-bulls at the house.  I won’t tell you what rooms they’re in, but I teased them, starved them and made them watch re-runs of Full House before we left.  So they’re pissed.  Good luck!

Q: How many birds to you expect to kill on this trip?

A: Only one.

Q: Care to explain further?

A: Little known fact, on many of our road trips Michelle and I have hit a bird with our vehicle just as we were leaving.  So now we consider it an omen of good luck!

Q: Any other numbers you wish to share?

A: Maximum number of times I can listen to the Barenaked Ladies Album “Snack Time” in a row: 5.  I think I’ve done more, but I’m a little older and less tolerant now.   Number of Cokes we’re bringing along: only 2 I think.  That’s because the second we cross the border I’m going to buy 10 cases of Cherry Coke.  Number of Tommy Boy quotes thrown out?  Sadly I suspect there won’t be many as I’m not traveling in convoy with my buddies Dave and Dan.  If they were coming along then I would have to say we would quote the movie at least two times fully.  But there is an awesome chance of Michelle telling me to be quiet when I through out a “Holy Shnikees!”

Q: You’ve been writing for a half hour already, do you think it is time to stop?

A: I suppose.

/RD

But, all of a sudden it left me.  One day it was here, the next it was gone.  Now it’s just a memory.  It’ll never come back no matter how hard I try and beg and plead and bargain.  Never.  I guess I just have to accept it.

But I’m going to be ok with you leaving me, 31.  Because if you can just disappear like that than I don’t need you.  Besides, I have 32 now and it is everything I’ve ever wanted.  It has promised to be good to me, and I will be good to it.  Together, we will achieve more than I ever could have with that, ugh, 31.

And 32 won’t just up and leave me like 31 did.  Never.

I need some music on, be right back.

Ahhhh, Hillsong: All of the Above.  Good choice.

So here’s a brief and vague summary of what has been going on in my life lately.  I’ve been facing some “difficult” challenges in regards to how I serve God.  I’ve tasted what true devotion to God is like, and it is good.  I’ve been challenged in my mind and heart to be completely sold out and dead to myself.  Alive to God and NOTHING else!  And I look at life in this place I am in and I wonder if it is possible to be fully in service to Him here.

First thought, the Great Commission commands each of us to go “into all the world”.  But many, well most Christians have interpreted that as staying home where it is comfortable.  “Hey, the bible says Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.  So I’m staying right here in my Jerusalem until it is reached.”  That’s a pretty common thought, right?  (I’m not saying this is wrong, maybe a little skewed though since the disciples were foreigners from Galilee in Jerusalem.  So even THEY had left their own culture).

But what I truly have been challenged is the idea that we have all been called to be involved in missions and so many choose to stay home.  So if I am completely willing to leave, is it possible that God would rather have me stay home?  I mean, how many are out there in Christendom that are actually willing to go?  The ones who want to go, should just go, right?

Is it possible that God is saying “I’m glad you want to go, Ryan, and it’s been noted on your file.  But you’re to stay home in Canada.”?  Is that possible?  I guess, since He is Almighty and all.  It just doesn’t seem likely to me.

And so I struggle on what our next step is.

Second thought.  I’ve agreed to join the leadership team for our church’s Contemporary Campus.  This is essentially a brand new church plant being formed out of the current established body and building.  In fact, it will look, meet and worship in pretty much the same way that our current assembly does.  But our goal is to establish a couple of new mindsets within the membership:

1. Church is not an event that you go to on Sunday morning.  It is not the one time in the week you set aside to worship God.  It is not the only “feeding” you get.  Worship is not to make us feel good.  In fact, there is nothing about church that is about you.  God and the lost are our priorities.  Worshipping God 24/7  because He is worthy is our goal.  Showing the world that God is real and worthy of worship is what we do.

2. The ministries of the church always need to be focused outward towards the lost.  We are not an establishment to serve ourselves and validate how “refreshing” a church service is.  Glorifying God by bringing the Gospel to those who have never heard it is our one and only ministry.  So every member of the congregation needs to have an active role in reaching out to the world.

2a. There are no seat filling ministries

3. The “old” way of doing church didn’t work.  Sure, some people got saved.  We got butts in seats.  But they stayed in those seats.  We need to get people to realize that we have a command from the Lord God Himself to reach the lost and the only way to accomplish this is to GET OUT OF THE BUILDING.  The lost see nothing in our church buildings, which is hurtful to think.  So it’s time to reimage what the church service is for and how it is just a part of the greater mission.

And so I wonder, how do I lead people to embracing these mandates?  Are there many people in our church today who will willingly accept these and kill everything in their lives that prevent them from fulfilling their purpose as Christians?

The parable of the fertile soil looms large here.  How many members of our churches, of “my” church are truly fertile soil?  When the instruction comes out to get to work and start finding the lost and telling them about Christ, will the growth inside of them wither and die?  Am I prepared to accept butts leaving seats and going someplace else more comfortable since we’d be left with the truly fertile ones?

How do we encourage, motivate or even flat out push people into this way of thinking?  Do I have the ability to be the leader that is needed for this endeavour?  Can I live up to the words I speak and write or will I be just one more big failure?

(Music break:  All I wanna do is worship You.  You are worthy, You are worthy Lord.  I will live for all my days to worship You.)

Ah, that puts it into perspective.  Thanks God.

I want to put so much more down here, but I can’t.  Privacy demands that I keep quiet on other topics until their proper time.  But I ask that you pray for Michelle and I as we seek the leadership of God moving forward.

Oh ya, next week we’re heading back down to Tlaxiaco for a little R&R&E&DC&BWG.  That’s Rest and Relaxation and Eating and Drinking Coke and Being With God.  We’re looking forward to celebrating the graduation of this year’s MTS class and assisting the Farr’s and Windham’s in cleaning up and getting ready to move to Houston to start the MTS there in the fall.  Interested in more?  www.globalfrontiermissions.org is a great place to start.

Wow, 1028 words of babbling.  Not bad, not bad at all.  And there’s a good chance of stuff flowing out of me once we’re in Mexico next week!

I meant words, not something related to how many tamales I am going to eat.

/RD

And I’ve been losing at poker lately.  And not my typical making it to the final two and losing.  This is all out, first hour, never saw a card over a 2 losing.  It sucks.  I am not a good loser.

(which is different than being a total loser, because we all know I am that!)

So of course, I’ve started to look at God as a poker player.  And the process of discerning what to do in a major decision as a poker game.  A heads up game: me versus God.  Both of us want to win, but only one can.

(queue inspirational music….now)

When you play poker, typically you are faced with trying to figure out if your hand is any good.  And if it is any better than the other guy’s.  You base this decision on how people bet, on what cards are coming on the flop, turn and river and by any “tells” that the other player has.

(I’m assuming everyone knows poker lingo.  I apologize if you don’t.  Google it.)

But how does God play His hand?  Let’s see if I can make some sense of this.

I’m holding two cards, God has two as well.  We both think we have a chance so we both call the blinds.  The flop comes down.

And it’s not bad.  I maybe hit a middle pair, nothing fantastic.  But it definitely has a chance.  My plans for my life are looking good!  I maybe bet a small amount.  God calls, or maybe raises a little.  Almost asking me, “Are you willing to keep believing your cards are better than mine?”  I’ll call that, it isn’t costing me too much.  I may even try to push back with my own raise as if to say “Please, my hand is easily better than yours.  You should respect what I’m doing here.” If I just play this properly, I will come out on top!

Then the turn card comes.

Uh oh, that’s not a card we wanted.  Now our hand isn’t looking so good.  But we’re committed here.  So I bet a little more, trying to impress on God that my plans are going just fine and He won’t be able to beat me here.  But he calls, or maybe even raises a little more.  Nothing big, just enough to not scare me away.  I may even start to think I’ve got him scared.  Silly me.

This is God slow playing.  I like to do it when I have a fantastic hand, but I don’t want to let on it is so good.  I know I’m going to get paid, but I want the other player to think he’s doing better than he really is.  This way, I make more money.

(God is really good at slow playing.  REALLY good.)

Meanwhile, I’m starting to look at Him for “tells”.  Those things that He may do to give away just how good a hand is.  Is He blinking, stamping His foot, unwilling to make eye contact? I need to know if I am in deep trouble, because I’m starting to think I am!

(God doesn’t have any tells.  Darn it.)

But I’m not going to fold.  I’m committed.  It could also be pride or stubbornness, but I’m not walking away from this hand.  If the river card could just go my way, then I’ll have it made!

And the river comes down.

And I know I am done for.  My hand is worthless, and I have bet a lot on it being worth something.  “But maybe He’s just as bad off as I am?” I think.  So I bet a little.  “This will scare Him off.”

Nope, God just bet it all.  He went “all in”.  Daring me to call Him and perhaps lose everything I have or fold and lose the amount I’ve already committed.  And it is a lot at this point.

This is the point in decision making and seeking the will of God where many of us fold.  Are we truly willing to give up all of our desires and plans?  Literally to die to ourselves and live however God wants?  Folding sure is easier; because then we don’t lose everything we have.  Just most of it.

Can you call the bet facing an almost certain loss?  God is daring you to push in your possessions, your family, your desires, EVERYTHING to match His bet.

You decide to call.  You have to see what His hand is because it must be amazing.

And this is where the poker metaphor kind of loses itself.  Because of course, God is going to win here.  And if it truly was a poker game you would lose and walk away empty handed and dejected.  You would see His cards, throw yours down and leave the table.  (I’ve done that a lot in poker games.)

But in this game you see His cards, muck yours and CELEBRATE!

Huh?

It gets better.  When it comes time to hand out the prize money, you are awarded the prize.  Somehow in this game the one who willingly puts all they have on the table facing a certain loss walks away the champion.  Richer than they could ever imagine.

This is the way I’m seeing our future.  I suspect we’re somewhere between seeing the turn card and before getting the river.  My plans are rapidly falling apart and I know God has a much better hand than mine.  But I have to keep going in this game; just to see what He has.

So when the river cards comes and God goes all in I pray that I won’t be too afraid to call.

Besides, I’m driven to follow the example of Christ.  Jesus was challenged the same way when God called Him to the cross for my sins.  God pushed all in and Christ called that bet willingly, lost the hand and changed the world and my life forever!

Praise the Lord I’m glad He did.

/RD

“I don’t know, something Incredible!”

I think I can understand that thought.

I’ve found myself becoming increasingly unsatisfied with what my life looks like at the moment.  I can’t say there is anything in particular, it’s just the lack of…something.

Something.  But what?

I wish I knew what it is.  It could be a lack of excitement, it could be a dislike of the daily grind and all it’s “joys” (ugh, transit), or it could just be winter.  Winter is really making me angry this year.  I’ve always thought that the cold weather and snow is what made Canadians more manly than Americans; but after spending a year out of it?  I don’t care.  I am totally willing to give up frost bite, blizzards and frozen vehicles.  Yup, I am ready to leave the snow behind.

But anyways.  Back to the main idea!

A few months back we made a choice about out future and how we would be serving God at this time.  We were confident that we had followed His leading and direction.  But now, I don’t know.  I’m pretty sure I know, but there is a slight chance some doubt is creeping in.

I wonder if these feelings are God’s way of getting us ready for a change.  Or perhaps it is a spiritual attack to keep us from fully doing what we should be doing.  Or again, perhaps it is that stinkin cold weather.  Man, I wish I could figure it out.  But if a change is coming, I have to ask God:

“What are You waiting for?”

I’d sure love something big and amazing to happen.  Because I think I would be smart enough to figure out what to do afterward.  No guarantees of course!

In the meantime we keep slugging away.  Waiting for cool stuff.  Shouldn’t we see plenty of really cool stuff when we serve the Lord?  I think so.

[here's a question for you: If you believe in God, what is He capable of doing? Then if what He is capable of doing is not what you are seeing, why?]

[If you don't believe in God, pretend He exists and then ask the same question. ]

This has a good chance to be cool.  This weekend we are hosting a “celebracion de navidad” with our Latino house church/ bible study/small group.  Michelle is making a turkey and we’ve asked everyone else to bring something from their country.  We could have anywhere from us to 20 or more people.  We don’t know.  So we’re praying for lots of people.  And we’re praying for God to move.  The last thing we want is normal.

I’m so sick of normal.

Blow it up, God.  I’m ready.

What are You waiting for?

/RD