Firstly – although cancer has intimately affected me and by marriage, Jennene and I are one, I do not physically feel what she feels, I do not always think what she thinks and know what she knows as we deal with this malignant visitor. However, I would like to share my perspective in case anyone is interested and I would welcome comments and questions as well. Each of these reasons is an ongoing lesson that I have not mastered in any sense but I am realizing more through this and extremely thankful for.
1. Cancer causes me to place more focused hope on the unchangeable Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His promises instead of in the changeable health, safety and comfort of this life.
2. It has caused me to ponder the vapor-length of this life, my impact (or lack thereof) and my priorities.
3. It has caused me to love my wife in more practical ways in the past 8 ½ weeks that I can ever remember the past 8 ½ years that I have known her.
4. It has brought more tangible blessings from friends and family than any other period of time in my life (we have had at least three “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition®” moments like when the families have at the end of the show while they are already in tears and thanking everyone in sight and the contractor comes up and says, “we would like to pay for your 8 kids and your dog’s college education with these full-ride scholarships!!!!”).
5. It has caused me to take my mind off of myself – perhaps my greatest ongoing sin.
6. It has deepened conversations without any effort on my part.
7. It has brought new people into our lives that we appreciate.
8. It has caused me to worry so much less about the little decisions of life.
9. It has deepened my desire to know God and His Word.
10. It has been the greatest source of comfort to know more surely than ever that God is not an unknowing father or blind watchmaker in the sky or a figment of my imagination but a sovereign, loving, just Father that has ordained this for His glory and our joy.
11. It has brought close friends closer and allowed me to see more answers to prayer than I dared pray before.

Shannon Hurley is a missionary I met in Uganda in 2006. I was looking forward to seeing him in person after we had spoken on the phone and emailed for months. There are countless reasons why I admire him, his work and his family.

Reason #3 – Shannon and Danielle Hurley and family provided an example to me of faithfulness of what God has provided them and a willingness and determination to pursue all opportunities with excellence for His sake. The aspect of their ministry that inspired me the most was the totality of their commitment. The family was as committed as the father. It was amazing to see a family so together and in the mission field with the common goal to serve. The orphanage on their property was an extension of their family and ultimately that is exactly what I see as the ideal ministry to enfold children left behind by their natural parents into a family that cares for them and loves them as God loves them. I hope to work with the Hurley Family the next time I am in Uganda.

Jason, Bobby and Laren. In August 2005 I was introduced to these filmmakers by my friend Adam. He brought a DVD to Bible Study that literally sat on the shelf for months. Eventually a few of us watched the 60-minute “Invisible Children: Rough Cut.” There was something that changed in us that night. We had compassion, we had some understanding of injustice around the world, we had motivation to help, we had a common passion but we lacked a model of how people were doing justice in the 21st century.

Reason #2 – The movie, mission and movement of Invisible Children Incorporated (IC) inspired me to make a difference in lives because if we wait for someone else to do it that difference will never be made. I think the NGO that IC has started has been controversial in many ways. Perhaps it is because it started with three twenty-somethings trying to “find a story” and being compelled to be part of the solution to the story they documented. Perhaps it is because they acted so quickly with relatively little understanding of the complexity of African issues. I admire them greatly but in no way aspire to work with IC, for IC or against IC. I support their cause because they put a face on injustice in a way that I had never seen before. They made it tangible and real and heartfelt with creativity and an investment of their souls that was so complete that it made all the other charities seem like they were in black and white while IC was in living color.

I met Jason in 2007 and we have exchanged some emails and I consider him a friend. Few friends have inspired me more to follow dreams, take little steps because eventually they make a big and live the words of Isaiah 58 for the watching world to see.

Jason’s calling is clearly to use his gifted storytelling through the medium of film. As I write and contemplate what roads to pursue I am not completely sure how I can serve the oppressed best. Many options exist but which ones suit the skills that I have been given? That remains to be seen. The difference is now this is an active search instead of a passive search.

Thanks Jason, Bobby and Laren!! I know you hear the thanks frequently these past few years. I know that many have been changed by your creation (I have seen that first hand as I have shown the film to over 150 High School students the past 2 years). I also know that God can accomplish mighty things through flawed vessels. The Lord used you, among others, to change my heart towards living faithfully instead of just believing faithfully!

Much as Kate was inspired by Pastor Bob to create a list of things she is thankful for – she inspired me to list some reasons why I will dedicate the rest of my life to victims of injustice:

Reason #1 – “whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” James 4:17. I know some people can learn about the injustices going on around the world and move on with life. I cannot. I know many people feel helpless and immobilized by the enormity of the task. I do not. I know many feel they lack the ability to do anything practical to relieve the suffering of people out of sight and often out of our minds. I feel the practical options to help are nearly endless and only my lack of creativity causes me to lose hope in how to help.

Every reason that I post, which I am not sure how many are coming, will come with a person and an organization that has played an instrumental role in inspiring me and helping me see the option to serve and the immense privilege of serving the oppressed.

In January 2004, yes nearly 5 years ago, Sam told me about a speaker at TMC Chapel named, Gary Haugen, who is the President of International Justice Mission (IJM). IJM’s work is founded on the Christian call to justice articulated in the Bible (Isaiah 1:17): Seek justice, protect the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. The Biblical mandate is easily pawned off to others that are more qualified and more able to reach the unreachable. After all, we can’t all be there for people in Rwanda, most of us didn’t even know about the genocide until a movie was made about it. But, IJM is that outlet for many that feel compelled to help but aren’t sure how. Their donor-supported ministry frees sex slaves and child soldiers and labor slaves and victims around the world – all in the name of Jesus Christ. Donating is hardly doing nothing. In a culture so saturated with materialism that we have millions willingly go into debt for a flat screen television, giving sacrificially to a worthy organization is a step of faith that few us take. I pray that more will take that step for IJM – lives (and souls) will be saved if they do.

Okay, so this week I mentioned two people that inspired me. I have not met Gary (I recommend his books – Good News About Injustice & Just Courage) yet but Sam is an example of someone that understands the Biblical mandate to love thy neighbor and her passion to serve has not waned! Thanks Sam! Keep inspiring!

I have been thinking about what to post for a while. I am still not sure what this blog does or should look like.

The movie Call + Response is something I would love to discuss and write about and inspire others to learn more about and be part of the solution of over 27 million people enslaved - TODAY around the world. I would love to simply explore the Cornell West phrase, “justice is what love looks like in public.” I would love to tell more about the continued struggle for survival in Sudan, Uganda, Congo, Somalia and surrounding areas as rebel armies commit genocide and recruit more child soldiers daily.

But, I realize my heart overwhelms my mind right now and nothing I say can be helpful at this point. Maybe later. Surely later.

For now, I sit in the comfort of the home God has provided and I am very thankful for an extended weekend. Thursday and Friday were set aside to have Parent-Teacher Conferences. Some teachers dread these days and can’t wait for them to be over. I was so thankful for the time to hear their perspective, get some insight on their kids and just be inspired by their stories. These are people that wholeheartedly believe in Christian Education, to the point that they are willing to pay for it. One father told me about his son’s changed heart over the last year, as his family has been praying for him the son has changed dramatically. The parent’s obviously see a bigger picture than me, so their point of view is crucial to how I teach and how I approach their kids. One parent called me a “good role model.” I was caught off guard and just tried to deflect the comment but he insisted, “I hear what my son says about you and you are making a difference.” How do you respond to that? Wow? Thanks? Praise the Lord, because it is surely not me, my words, my ideas, my insight nor my striking good looks which are making a difference.

I also had the chance to prepare for the week and catch up on grading. It was another Saturday of working several hours. I was again amazed at the fact that someone is paying me to learn. Learn some more. Keep learning and teach others to learn. I did it for years without getting paid. Now I get paid for it?!! Sweet!

Church was great this morning. The Youth Group led the service - with Lawrence leading worship and Tim preaching on the Proof of the Resurrection. The music was so worshipful and even though not all the youths on stage were not into it, the songs really seemed to stick with me throughout the day. Tim’s sermon was a great setting for our Bible Study to discuss. Twelve of us got together tonight and I was mostly left with just a sincerely thankful heart to know those people. To know their lives and the impact they are making. To know their hearts and their desire to grow. It is such a joy every time we meet!!

The title of this post is a momentary thought, not a plan of action. Some things when seen cannot be unseen and when heard cannot be unheard. I am thankful that God changed my heart and allowed me to see the truth of the resurrection, even though the evidence is ridiculously overwhelming, I needed faith from Him . It takes faith to see things through. Faith comes from Him. He calls us to do things that cannot be done in our own strength and that is why He deserves the glory when they are done.

There are so many joys that come with working with children. Maybe I should share in these joys and pass on some of the joy they have given to me. Since 2006 as a way to get to the know the students, make each other laugh and simply inject variety into the day I ask them a “random question of the day.” The questions are really not that random and usually give me some insight into how the young man or young woman thinks. Today I surveyed the Freshman class with the question, “if you could run the school for a year, what would you do differently?” While the below responses do not represent the entirety of the class, they do represent the majority of our little school. Enjoy the responses and try to think about what you were thinking about as a Freshman in High School!

1. Let the kids run free and do whatever they want as long as they can pass the test, throw candy around every class, salute the flag of CODY
2. Expel all those people that are bringing others down, make the entire school based on Christ, football, soccer
3. No dress code, better hot lunches like Wing Stop, you are required to watch Dodgers updates during day games
4. Redecorate the school, the classrooms are too bland, change the boy’s dress code (3 inches past their disgusting knobby knees), no rainbows with jeans, no sandals
5. Put chapel on Wednesday rather than Monday
6. Put more sports in and expel people I don’t like
7. More teachers, build new building (like a big skyscraper), add a football field, harder grading, weaker tardy system, expand the snack shop, better lunches, no dress code
8. More sports (Taekwondo), no tests (once a month or so) and quizzes (by none I mean just a couple every 2 weeks or so), just HW
9. We should be allowed to chew gum and eat in class
10. Secondary would get out 30 minutes earlier than the wee ones
11. Take away HW, make the snack shop free, give secondary recess, swings
12. Longer breaks in between classes and a longer lunch period
13. No tardy-system but you still have to come to class (4th-5th period is a chill time, hang out with your friends if you want)
14. A giant bonfire at the end of the year that we can throw our HW into
15. We should get like a bunch of money and take out that whack playground and those apartment complex thingys and put in fields and stuff, grass, Astroturf
16. We should put in a Cafeteria and have Emeril and Rachel Ray cook for us
17. I would change the dress code, add dances, add off-campus lunch, more camps and stuff like that
18. No dress code, you can eat in class, fire all teachers I don’t like, 30-minute breaks and 20-minute classes, every Monday is a free day, you can drink in class, everyone gets lounge chairs, EC for bringing the teacher a present and you can smack teachers in the face, students can vote to fire a teacher
19. Give suspensions for 3 Discipline Reports, if you get 5 Discipline Reports we will have lockdown, uniforms required
20. Only come to school 1 day a week
21. Allow more than 4 tardys for Saturday School
22. Make the break a little longer, make lunch earlier, no tech. lit., no tests, only HW
23. Shorter classes, no HW longer lunches, change the tardy system so you cannot get tardy
24. No tests, no tardies, no quizzes, if you get a question right in class you get $100, everyone uses laptops, Barbie conventions, Cheese Conventions, 6-hour lunch, personal slaves, make the teachers our personal slaves and they are shocked if we don’t like them
25. Make chapel more interesting and funner (for example – I had a hard time listening in chapel on Friday)
26. Have laptops, email teacher work, study on iPhone
27. Change the rules (different dress code), chapels (never get a guy like the guy that spoke on Friday – “he hurt my feelings because it feels like he picked on girls, it feels like he separated the good and bad people”) and events (camp was good because of the speaker, but the free time was horrible)
28. Perfect attendance = $1000
29. If you are involved in a sport = zero homework

I have been thinking about the recent so-called “financial crisis” and the ongoing wars around the world and the petty sins of teenagers. The wide array of crises all seem to have a common root. Too often we lack perspective. We see things from such a limited point of view that every little bump seems potentially fatal. As if a driver swerves into oncoming traffic because a pebble is lying in the road. Our reaction to the crisis compounds it instead of solving it. Christ never overreacted. When he was told of Lazarus’s illness he did not go to him right away. He saw the big picture. When Lazarus died Christ waited four days before He went to him. He saw the big picture. Martha said, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died” (John 11:21). Jesus calmly responded, “he will rise again.” He saw the big picture. He spoke and Lazarus came out of the tomb still wrapped in linen.

It seems to me that we too often respond immediately like Martha and perceive a crisis which we can justify so easily from our perspective (Lazarus was dead after all). But God hears when the godly call him (Psalm 4:3). I hope to rest in that and not in a reaction that seems logical but lacks all the information.

Thanks Maria for your lists. I especially liked, “Jamal and Jerome.”

As for me:

Things under $5 that I couldn’t live without
Toothbrush, saline spray, a tasty beverage (preferably cold), tissues, ice

Favorite movies
Chariots of Fire, Awakenings, Tommy Boy, Rushmore, The Matrix trilogy (YES all 3)

Baby names I love
Makayla, Margaret, Origen, Melchizidek, Lenae

Songs I could listen to over and over again
Jesus I my cross have taken, Everyday by Carly Comando, Love Song for a Savior by Jars of Clay, May Your Wonders Never Cease by Third Day, I’m Going Home by the Sacred Harp Singers (from the Cold Mountain Soundtrack)

People who have influenced me in a positive way
Brad Deckert, Joe Neimi, Lance Lefler, Craig Miller, Jennene Lenae Margrave

Things that are always in my money clip
Driver’s License, Student ID, Teacher ID, ATM Card, fat rolls of $1 bills

Moments that changed my life forever
Listening to Mike Singletary’s testimony (being rescued from the just consequences of my sin by the grace of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ), parents divorcing, breaking my knee in Junior High, being placed on academic probation at UCLA, going to Kyiv, Ukraine, going to Uganda, Graduation 2008 at SCCS, meeting Jennene (okay, that is few more than 5)

Places I would like to go
Ireland, Scotland, Germany, South Africa, Heaven

Appliances or kitchen tools I couldn’t live without
Butter knife, ATM card, Foreman Grill, ice tray, ice maker, paper towels

People who I would like to see their top 5’s
Jennene, Holly, Sam, Kate, Adam Powell

My summer reading list is well underway and I wanted to review some of what I have read because I have been so impressed and inspired. To start off, I read Do Hard Things by Alex & Brett Harris. They are teenage twins that started www.therebelution.com a website dedicated to breaking the myth of adolescence and the stereotype that all teenagers are simply too young, too immature, too selfish, too lazy to make a difference in our society and in our world (they are “rebelling against rebellion” as they put it). The boys explain their journey and the journey that many other “rebelutionaries” have taken. From a teacher’s perspective this book was refreshing in so many ways. The young men view the teenage years not as a time to slack off and enjoy the lack of real responsibility but as the “diving board into the pool of life.” Whatever habits and routine you make an effort to develop as a 13-19 year-old you are likely to continue those in your 20’s, 30’s and beyond. The book comes with a quote on the cover that I wholeheartedly agree with if people (especially teenagers) would pick it up and read the 232 motivating pages, “Will prove to be one of the most life-changing and culture-changing books of this generation,” Randy Alcorn. While quotes do not tell the whole story I have listed some below to give a brief impression of the book. It also has a foreword by Chuck Norris! What more can you ask for?

“The word “teenager” was coined in a 1941 Reader’s Digest issue.”

“Society doesn’t expect much of anything from young people during their teen years-except trouble.”

“Our current ceiling for students is really much closer to where the floor ought to be.”

“God does not hold two standards: one for young adults and one for adults.” (based on their interpretation of 1 Timothy 4:12)

“The myth of adolescence would have you think that now is your time to party beside the pool. But, the fact is, you’re already on the diving board.” (the pool is your future life)

“Doing hard things as young people prepared George Washington, David Farragut and Clara Barton for lives of incredible impact, lives that came with additional hard things that they wouldn’t have been able to accomplish otherwise.”

“What they mean by “hard things” is:
1. Things that are outside your comfort zone.
2. Things that go beyond what is expected or required.
3. Things that are too big to accomplish alone.
4. Things that don’t earn an immediate payoff.
5. Things that challenge the cultural norm.”

“There is something worse than discomfort, worse than the unknown, worse than failure. The worst thing is to never try at all.”

“All effort, even failed effort, produces growth.”

“Three strategies for stepping higher:
1. Do what is hard for you.
2. Be known for what you do (more than for what you don’t).
3. Pursue excellence, not excuses.”

“A lesson from the Vikings, “if we are willing to strive for excellence, even in the boring, repetitive tasks and responsibilities that others delegate or neglect, we will reap the powerful benefits that others miss.”

“If being a Christian doesn’t change way I act on the outside then how can I say that there was any real change on the inside?” Eva, a 16-year old rebelutionary in Germany

If you have read this far maybe you are thinking this hard stuff does not sound very fun. Well, Brittany Lewin a 17-year old rebelutionary in Colorado said, “Who ever said that doing hard things isn’t fun?! On the contrary. I feel I missed out by not aiming toward more hard things. You’ll find more joy in doing what God has called you to do than a trip to the mall or a night at the movies will ever bring.”

“Perhaps you could say their definition of fun is more inclusive-it includes serving others, making a difference, and pleasing God.”

“We choose to do hard things because Jesus has done the hardest thing-the thing we could never do for ourselves: He died in our place and paid for our sins. Apart from Him, nothing we attempt or accomplish will have any enduring significance. But, because He did something of ultimate significance, we can live lives that truly matter, not just for now, but for all eternity.”

This last quote is actually Francis Schaeffer but I think my favorite author explains well the motivation behind these motivators, “Christianity is not a series of truths in the plural, but rather truth spelled with a capital T.” Truth about total reality, not just about religious things. Biblical Christianity is Truth concerning total reality-and the intellectual holding of that total Truth and then living in the light of that Truth.”

One of the blessings of teaching is the whole summers off thing. Instead of working out in the morning and then being unable (actually unwilling) to continue the early morning routine I have been consistently going to the gym for the last three weeks. Holly gave me her old iPod nano and I have enjoyed it to the fullest during the gym workouts. Music is an amazing thing. It can inspire. It can encourage. It can provoke thought. It can aid in worship and awe. It can motivate. Below is my recent “workout playlist” that has provided much joy and made the 60-90 minutes fly by. Each song has that “I am totally unashamed to lip sync to this no matter who is watching” quality.

To get started:
“Mighty to Save” by Hillsong
“I Dare You to Move” by Switchfoot
“Blessed Be Your Name” by Matt Redman

To keep me going:
“We Trying to Stay Alive” by Wyclef Jean
“Killing Me Softly With His Song” by Fugees
“Everyday” by Carly Comando
“Etude No. 1” by Philip Glass
“Variations On the Kanon by Pachelbel” by George Winston
“Adiemus” by Adiemus
“How Great Is Our God” by Chris Tomlin

To cool down:
“Landslide” by Smashing Pumpkins
“All the Heavens” by Third Day
“Offering” by Third Day
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
“Hold Me Jesus” by Rich Mullins

I usually do 45-65 minutes on the elliptical and some weight lifting with a run on the treadmill to cap it off. Let me know if you have any special motivating songs and/or playlists that aid your workouts!