God, Canoes, and Kids
“Hey, would you be interested in taking kids out in canoes next Wednesday for Camp Shalom?” the email read. Sounded like a great idea at the time, so I agreed. After all, where there are kids, there’s God. My first two “passengers” were my friend Ella, and her friend Uwera, both eight years old. I sat in the back, Ella sat in the middle, facing me, (talking the whole time), and her friend Uwera sat in the front… also facing
Wanted: “As-is” People
If you type the term, “As-is” into the small search box on Craigslist, thousands of random things will show up. Chairs, computers, cars, houses, mattresses…basically anything you can think of, someone’s selling in “As-is” condition. Well, shopping for a used motorcycle, I figured I’d start there. A “fixer-upper.” I sold my last bike, “As–is“ after a small encounter with the pavement…in the church parking lot. The pavement won. My prize? A broken arm, 2 cracked ribs, and a bru
Peddling for Peace
The travel book said that the really cheap place to stay in Kolkota India was Hotel Circular. Almost directly across the street from the place I’d be working. Great! All I wanted was a quiet place of peace to chill. Instead, I opened the door after my first day to see visitors. Roaches…everywhere. They were crawling around the bathroom, in and out my shoes, and under the sheets. One even appeared to be sleeping on my pillow. At least someone found a peaceful place. I walked o
Hey I do That Too
“Hold on a second. I’m parking my tree.” I had intended to say to the person on the phone, “I’m parking my car under a tree.” A friend later said, “Oh, I do that all the time.” Reminds me of the C.S. Lewis quote, “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” A therapist once told me “You need a few friends with garbage/sins as bad as yours or worse…then you can help one another.” Just after coll
A Bunch of Thanks
I had too much to write so I decided to jot down 12 things I’m thankful for. You can add your own too.
~ Lord I thank you for this place called The Gathering @ Estreet. It feels more like a family than a church. They help me know what compassion looks like. It’s good. ~ Thank You that there was one seat left on the flight back from India. It got me home in time to sit with Fran in the hospital and share pictures of the place in K
