treasure-hunter

i’ve got a new hobby:
treasure hunting at the flea market!



i’ve been going after daddy-daughter-time
for the past few weeks.
first i pay my quarter to get in,
i pass by the live band
playing music
that you would hear on spanish radio-
then i pass by the farmers selling the fruits
and vegetables and nuts-
and then i just browse.

there are lots of old tools,
clothes, furniture, VHS tapes,
video games, stuffed animals,
but what i’m after is toys!

janie has this doll house-
and there are lots of
different sets of people that live in it-
ariel lives in it, with eric and her friends,
winnie the pooh lives in it
with his friends from the hundred acre wood-
mary poppins lives there,
mickey mouse lives there with his friends
donald and goofy and pluto-
polly pocket and her friends live there-
and so does elmo
and his friends from sesame street!
it’s a pretty crowded place,
but they all seem to work it out.

all of those toys can be found at the flea market!

there are these really, really big bins there-
full to the brim with little toys:
old happy meal toys,
old souvenirs,
and pieces of bigger sets.
and i spend all kinds of time
digging through those bins.
i transfer the toys from one bin to the next
so i can see each and every toy.
its hot under the sun-
i get sweaty, and about 90% of it is junk-
but then there is that 10% that is priceless.
when i find it, i try to keep my cool,
so the price stays down.
for every bin i look through,
i find only 3 or 4 toys that i want-
but those toys are perfect for the dollhouse,
and they would cost me a fortune on e-bay.
when i find that rare toy,
endorphins shoot through my brain
i want to just hold it up and admire it.

i show the handful to the seller and they say
“eh- a dollar.”
music to my ears!

yesterday i found a bunch of trains for jane’s trainset.
5 trains for a dollar-
i took them home, sanitized them,
and she hasn’t stopped playing with them since!
i’m thinking about starting an e-bay business
and becoming some kind of part-time
treasure hunter-
and not just for the money-
for the thrill!

the bible talks about treasure hunters-
proverbs 2 starts out by saying:
“my son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.”

what a challenge!
to search for wisdom-
like i search for those toys-
to dig for it,
hunt for it,
sweat for it,
sacrifice for it,
and cherish it once its found.
sounds like i need to step up my game
and intensify my search.

he ends that passage with the promise-
if i search for wisdom,
like i search for a treasure,
i will find it:
“the knowledge of God.”

cool-

happy hunting!

hot august night...

hallelujah

next time you're bored-

and you don't have any toys-
just play with some tater tots!
its just as fun!

walk on

hilarious

flowers

hey janie! let's plant some flowers!
first- we have to pour the dirt:



then we have to plant the flowers!



next, we have to WATER the flowers!



wow! they turned out nice!



"consider how the lilies grow.
they do not labor or spin.
yet I tell you, not even Solomon
in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."
-luke 12

isn't it weird-

isn't it weird
that michael vick is going to jail
for killing dogs at his house-
but its legal for people
to terminate their pregnancies?

do we care about pit-bulls
more than babies?
don't get me wrong-
i'm not in favor of killing dogs-
or babies.

fyi bro-

after enjoying several episodes
of my new favorite show,
the rock life(on VH1)
i'm now replacing "dude" with "bro."
i feel like its a more connective
and intimate way to describe a friend.
so thanks for reading my blog bro-
(i'm still working on it-
it doesn't feel quite natural yet.
hopefully it will soon).
peace, bro-

track star

did i mention that this girl loves to run?






where is she going in such a hurry?





oh- the horse!

jethro's advice

today i read exodus 18
in my days as a travelling conference speaker,
we used to use this passage as an ancient argument
for the need for small groups.
and it still speaks that message to me-
but today as i read it,
it had more to say-


setting:
moses has just walked out of egypt-
with all of pharaoh’s slaves-
then when they chased him,
he watched them all drown in the red sea.


after that, he watched God
miraculously provide, food and water
to the travelling hebrews.


he goes back to his father-in-law
to share the news.
this is the same guy who he fled to
after he killed that egyptian;
40 years earlier.


his father-in-law, jethro
watches moses at work:


“the next day moses took his seat
to serve as judge for the people,
and they stood around him from morning till evening.
when his father-in-law
saw all that moses was doing for the people,
he said, "what is this you are doing for the people?
why do you alone sit as judge,
while all these people
stand around you from morning till evening?"


moses answered him,
"because the people come to me to seek God's will.
whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me,
and i decide between the parties and inform them
of God's decrees and laws."


moses is a celebrity.
people love him and want to be around him-
he loves being around them.
he loves their attention, and they love his.


“moses' father-in-law replied,
"what you are doing is not good.
you and these people who come to you
will only wear yourselves out.
The work is too heavy for you;
you cannot handle it alone.”


-pause-


worn out leaders.
worn out people.
heavy loads
that can’t be carried alone.
its not good.
ok- i’m listening.
was moses?


“listen now to me and i will give you some advice,
and may God be with you.
you must be the people's representative before God
and bring their disputes to him.
teach them the decrees and laws,
and show them the way to live
and the duties they are to perform.
but select capable men from all the people—
men who fear God,
trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—
and appoint them as officials over
thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
have them serve as judges
for the people at all times,
but have them bring every difficult case to you;
the simple cases they can decide themselves.
that will make your load lighter,
because they will share it with you.
if you do this and God so commands,
you will be able to stand the strain,
and all these people will go home satisfied."


jethro says to moses:
“stop being a rockstar!”
“its not all about you!”
“get some good guys and have them help you.”
and he makes some promises:
:: your load will be lighter
:: you will be able to stand the strain
:: people will go home satisfied.


that’s a great thought.
happy leaders-
happy people.
share the load.
i need to listen to that.
did moses listen to that?


i mean,
did he really need to?
i mean- he’s moses!
does he really need to take advice
from a guy named jethro?!
he has stared down the pharaoh
and walked through the red sea
he has beat on rocks
and made them gush water.
he was called out by God
from a voice in a burning bush!
i think he could have gotten away with saying
“that’s nice- that’s for those interesting ideas.”
and kept on doing what he was doing.


verse 24 says:
“moses listened to his father-in-law
and did everything he said.”


to me this passage says:
share the load and enlist others-
but it also says
that sometimes the best advice
comes from unlikely sources.
and there are times in life
when we need to stop thinking
that we have got it all figured out
and listen to someone else’s advice.
and that advice
may not be coming out of a burning bush,
but it may be from God just the same.