IWAN's song

For those of you who are familiar with Iwan Surna, the POWERHOUSE of Indonesia. (OK, Cheryl, since you're the only one who reads my blog, this is for you...) Recently a group doing Tsunami releif visited and wrote this song about IWAN...oh, it goes to the song Louie, Louie..

Iwan, Iwan
Oh Baby I said
We need Iwan

Every day at four he translates some more
Indonesian into the English
Sometimes it’s confused, sit sighting keeps me amused
It’s Iwan, Iwan
Oh baby
We need Iwan

He tells us what they say, takes six showers a day
It’s Iwan, Iwan
He likes Durien & Dog, he sleeps like a log
Untill his wife calls, I hear through the walls
It’s Iwan, Iwan
Oh baby I said
We need Iwan

Move To Portland

Ok, I haven't posted in quite some time so here goes. We'll we did it. We moved to Portland. 9 months ago we thought the idea of moving to Portland was CRAZY! We had other ideas about how our life would look. BUT, we felt the SPIRIT urge us. Ever had that happen? Has the SPIRT ever urged you to do something that didn't make human sense? Portland made NO sense to us! It was risky. It defied what we felt would be "good" for our family. Yet this is how GOD works. He loves to defy human imaginations. "The intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate". He does this to show us that we must trust only HIM in this life. "Trust not in your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your path straight". And we are discovering that this is exactly what he did in this move to Portland. There are blessings here literally around every corner. In fact, the Pastor of Southwest Bible Church is my neighbor. Literally, I chat with him almost every day. He is an incredible man of God who has an IMMENSE passion for God's Word! Also, I am meeting Russians, Iranians, Greeks, and people from all over. God is faithful. He called us to do something we initially thought was impractical...stupid...nonsensical. And now we see afresh that He indeed is worthy of following. God knows best where to take us in this life. I shudder to imagine where my life would end up if I were calling the shots. YIKES!!

Africa At Its Best

This is definitely the coolest You Tube video I have ever seen to date. You absolutely must watch this in its entirety. WOW!!!

Awkward Good Samaritan

Ever find yourself in a situation where YOU have a chance to be the good samaritan, but you don't know what to do? The other day I was in such a situation. I was at a popular theme park in the area cruising with my son (pushing him in his stroller) toward the exit. The crowds were too much that day and I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to leave, and NOW! In fact, I was in such a hurry that Kristen didn't see any of which I am about to explain, she was too far behind me. I was on Disney's Main Street when, ahead of me, almost in slow motion, I noticed a VERY rotund man on a mechanized wheelchair up on the sidewalk make a costly miscalculation. He got too close to the curb. His left front wheel went over and then it was all over. Horror filled his eyes as he felt the wheelchair tip in the direction of Main Street. A girl nearby screamed. The man's wheelchair turned on its side and ejected the man into the street. I was one of the first people on the scene. But, when I arrived, I immediately grabbed the wheelchair and began to lift. The man was too big for me to handle by myself. He also had the wheelchair pinned down so my feeble attempt to wrestle the wheelchair free was totally ineffective. Finally, a crowd had gathered and a group of people lifted the man and his wheelchair back to sitting position. A lady behind me was coaching me and the rest of the group through the process. I hadn't a clue as to how to handle the situation tactically, all I had was a will to help. After the whole scene was over I felt good about being able to help, but a little perturbed that I was so awkward in that moment. But, like I said, the will to help is what counts I guess, but I would like to be more "effective" the next time...and perhaps a little stronger.

Brave German Kid

Ok, I heard about this, but here is the whole story. What guts!

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/05/25/003.html

Moscow 1941

I'm reading a book right now written by Rodric Braithwaite, English Ambassador to Russia from 1988-1992 about the Battle for Moscow during WW2. Absolutely a fascinating read about the advance of Hitlers "Wehrmacht" (War Machine) into Russia. What's fascinating is the sheer numbers of men that were involved. Russia was unprepared for the invasion mostly due to Stalins deluded belief that Hitler was bluffing...big mistake! But Russia still had 4 million men available to throw at the Wehrmacht. 4 million men! Wow! But get this... within the first 2 weeks, Germany had taken 2 million prisoners of war! I just can't imagine those kinds of numbers! I wonder what this would have looked like if you could get a satelite picture of the area in 1941. I'm sure it would have been clearly visible from space, just like Napolean's army of 2 million would also have been visible. It would have appeared as huge dark mass moving across the terrain like a storm cloud or something. Another interesting fact: the Germans had taken so many prisoners that it severely impeded their ability to fight. They had absolutely no plan to feed their prisoners which meant huge numbers simply died of starvation and disease. Nevertheless, Hitler repeats Napoleans mistake and underestimates the will of the Russians and the geography of Russia. If you were to compare the Russian Army with the German Army, clearly the Germans were superior. But, in this book one gets the impression that the "Rodina" or Mother Russia herself is the factor that both Hitler and Napolean underestimated and eventually led to the demise of their vast armies.

The gospel according to Anna Nicole

What the spank is wrong with America that we are so engrossed in the tragic life of Anna Nicole? What did this woman give to our culture? Did she write a book I should know about? Did she create a famous work of art? No. So what is it then? We'll I have a theory on this and I would love to hear yours. But its my blog, so I'll tell ya my thoughts on the matter. America is fascinated with Anna Nicole because America finds a sort of sadistic comfort in the whole affair. Sadistic because America is fascinated with death right now. (Note the pleothera of crime scene investigation shows that open with some "joe" dead on the floor. ) But Anna Nicoles pursuit of significance and love is the real locus of the fixation. Here is a woman who was filthy rich. Her net worth was somewhere around 400 million, yet she still couldn't get away from the pain in her life. She turned to drugs, materialism, escapism, and other isms's to find comfort for her wounded soul. Anna Nicole is a metaphor of the psyche of many in America today: we are desperately seeking to be loved and accepted yet frustrated when we discover that money, wealth and power aren't enough. One more time I'm reminded of the words of Jesus who said, "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest for your souls." Until we do just that, I'm afraid we'll keep repeating the tragedy of Anna Nicole millions of times over in America. What do you think?