chris's crash

video test

another weekend

Well it is Monday morning, almost afternoon... i am hungry. It was a busy weekend but one I would not have changed if you paid me. First and most important; i did not go into work.

I met my good friend Jeff for coffee on Saturday morning. It is amazing how similar we are. I love you Jeff.

I then headed downtown to pass out water to the homeless. It was 114 degrees and hot. I called Eli who was way to busy to think of a trip downtown. He went anyway. I woke up Kyle and Jerome; they were up until 2am but they got up anyway. And I leaned on my wife for help. She did not complain. (I think she wanted to get out of doing homework.) We passed out 600 bottles of water in just over 90 minutes. It is so hot and the need is so great. I love watching each of the guys with me reaching out, offering hope and love. I love seeing the face of God in those so willing to serve.

My wife had a crazy idea to "swap" rooms in the house. She wanted to move our entry room (office) and swap it with our living room. So she left with Kyle and ran some errands. When she returned the boys and I had it done. All the furniture was moved and a lot of the little things were back in place. Funny thing is... she was right. When you walk in our door you now she a great living room  that has room to entertain in and the office is back in an area that looks like it should be an office. I love my wife; she is almost always right.

Tried a new church yesterday, have to think about going back there again. In their defense, I have been spoiled with Dave and Matt as my worship leaders. These guys needed help. To loud, to long, to screechy and an organ solo. the message was as much fun as reading the tax code. Once again, in their defense, it was not the normal pastor but really; i saw three people sleeping.

I then went to Prodigal Home and had a great service, good friends, the music of Matt Beam and a video that just plan out simply rocked.

All in all; a great weekend that was centered around my wife and our family, my friends and Jesus. Thank you Jesus for all the gifts in my life.

Chris

The Find

"What you want to find, you will find."

             Rob Bell, Pastor--about an hour ago as he spoke on tour.

"What you want to find, you will find"

If you are looking for peace then you will find peace, if you are looking for pessimism then you will find it. If you look for a coincidence in the creation of the universe the you will find coincidence. If you are looking for Father God the Creator then you Will find Him.

I have found this to be so very true through out the years of my life. When circumstance told me my life sucks and I believed my life sucked then I always saw signs that my life sucked.

When my life sucked and I decided to make it better and spent days looking for the "better" I would always end up finding better.

I hope you take the time to find "the better" in your life. Slow down and look for it because if you look for it; you will find it.

Chris

need to post

I was told by my wonderful loving wife what a good blogger is and is not. She has spun off and started her own blog. It is very cool and very her; scrapbooking, friends and funny. When she set hers up her best friend asked if she was going to be a good blogger or a bad one. Teri asked for definition and this is what she got: GOOD BLOGGER--blogs at least once every couple of days  .                             BAD BLOGGER-- blogs once in a while with no consistency.

I am a bad blogger. I have waited around for a great idea to hit me and then if I have enough time I will write about it. Well guess what; I can change. I want to be a better blogger. So here is the deal; I will blog twice a week as a start. I am going to shoot for more then that but I think this is a great goal. The blogs won’t be as deep but I hope there is still something’s in each one that we all can learn from. I have also committed to working more with my photo blog page. I really love photography and most people I know say I have an eye for it. So... I will work on that a lot more too.

See more of you soon

Chris

"if only he had known"

I had a friend that I hired at my last job give up this week. Give up you might ask, give up on what? He gave up on everything. He made a choice to end his life on this earth with us and in doing so he left his wife and two kids to figure out this mess we call life without him. What drives a man to the point of "giving up" What makes someone think that answer, that carries so much finality with it, is the best answer.

I went to his funeral, I prayed at the start of the service, I read scripture that talked about strength for the family. I watched his wife cry from the start to the finish. I watched her jump out of her seat when the 21 gun salute started. I watched as his 5 year old son talked about loving his dad and the fun they had recently had. I watched and I kept thinking about my question, Why?

The service was over and a group of 150 family members, friends and about 30 officers filed out. At the door stood his wife. She spoke or cried with each person as they left. I had never met her before but I could see the love and the loss in her eyes. When it got to the end of the line and as she was finishing greeting officer after officer she got to me. She gave me a long look, she thanked me for the prayer and then she said it, "if only he had known" In a moment of complete stupidity I asked Knew what? She looked at all the people gathered and raised her arms, "this, all of this, all of you"

I left the service and drove home with good friends. Nobody said much. I kept thinking about what his wife had said, "if only he had known"; "if only he had known"

How many people do we pass by each and everyday that we care about, how many that we love? How many of them know how much you care? How many of them are near the end of a choice they cant ever take back? How many of them might change their mind if you slow down and tell them how much they mean to you? I am making a vow right now, I will not let another friend's wife ask me why her husband didn't know "about all of this, all of you"

Mike

I have been blessed with a gift from God. This gift came in different packaging. It came as a Mike. Some of you are wondering; what the heck is a Mike. Sometimes I wonder what a Mike is.

Let me tell you what I have learned.

A Mike is always there when you need him.

He is willing to let you vent at him.

He is willing to take abuse because he loves you.

He will drive to you in a minutes notice if you need him

He will open his house if you need a place to have a long chat

He loves you for who you are and does not judge you when you are an ass

He gives and gives and gives to those in his life

He loves Jesus Christ, his wife and daughter, and his friends

He talks to much, eats to much, drinks to much, smokes to many cigars

He is a Mike.

I love my Mike. I wish you all had one.

Touch Me

I think back to the time when Jesus Christ walked the earth. I think of the person He was and the example He is to me. I Thank God everyday for the price Christ paid for me by giving His life. I am overcome by the GRACE He has shown me. I think so many of us stop right there. We are saved from death by His sacrifice and that is it. I believe there is so much more.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost                                                                   Luke 19:10

Yes, Christ came to save the lost but He also came to save what was lost. I believe this refers to our hearts. Jesus brings us freedom! Freedom from our sin, freedom from our past, freedom from who we don't want to be, freedom to live life and live it to the fullest.

Jesus gave us several examples of living life. I have heard so many people in church tell me what it means to live life like Christ did. Different pastors and religious people I look up to have told me that living like Christ is to put away our desire for adventure and follow the rules. Kind of a funny side note; these same people usually tell you what rules they want you to follow.

I have met a new teacher. One that does not tell me what to do. One that shows me. His name does not matter. His life does. He lives with no real possessions, but with love. He asks for very little but gives what ever he can. He puts family first and makes no judgments of the people around him. He does not get all pretty before teaching; he wears a bandanna on his head and doesn't shave.

What lesson could a man like this teach us? Many, if we could learn to listen.

Saturday he taught me the power of the touch of the hand. I wonder if he read scripture to learn that Jesus touched the leper to heal him. Jesus did not tell the disease to leave from across the room. (Which He could) He walked up to him and touched him and healed him because the leper had never been touched. That is how Jesus showed love. I wonder if my new teacher stood in a church one day and heard the story of Jesus and the leper. Or I wonder if he just knows, knows deep in his heart that there is power in a touch.

When I approached this man Saturday afternoon he had a arm around his wife. When we talked he reached out for my hand nine times in a few minutes. He reached for a embrace three times in the same few minutes. When he walked away he went to help someone who was high on drugs in the middle of the street without shoes on. He hugged her too. He helped her off the street. He gave her love when he had nothing.

I do not know this mans religious background, I don't know if he believes in Christ. Right now, I don't care. I saw the face of the living real God in my new teacher. I can't wait for my next lesson.

Flat Tire!!!!!!!!!

Who likes a flat tire, let me tell you, no one. The flat tire is the worst thing that can happen to a perfect afternoon or an important meeting across town. I thought the only good thing about a flat was using it to lie about being late to work.

I had a flat tire today and I was not happy. I had it on my truck that I almost never drive. The truck that we use for church camping trips and helping friends move. The truck that has gone downtown every Saturday for the last five weeks to help the homeless. The truck that would have really pissed me off any other time in my life except today.

Today my wonderful wife and I went back downtown to help a couple we met last week. This couple has fallen on hard times and when we got down there they were lying on a small blanket in a little shade given from a brick wall. We cut in on their time together and told them we brought them a few things. We walked out to the truck and chatted a few minutes. We gave them a few items, not much at all really, they didn't ask for much. Shoe laces for his boots, maternity clothes, and maybe an insole for his work shoes is all they asked for. After a few more minutes we jumped back in the truck and drove home.

We pulled in the drive way back home, got out of the truck and we heard the leak. Not a small leak but a major, tire is dying, not going to last five minutes leak. Teri got out and I tried a can of "fix a flat", no luck, it just shot out the hole. I decided i had to change the tire. So I went to work on the dirty job. Teri came out and checked on me a few times, I was just working away. I had a hard time getting the spare down from underneath the back end. I had to check the owners manual that I could not find to get the job done. By this time I should have been really pissed off and complaining up a storm.

John said, "You can tell where you are in the battle by what you complain about" It was the best line of Wild at Heart boot camp this year.

I complain a lot about nothing, but not today, today I thanked God for a Flat Tire, I thanked Him for a home, for a family, for my friends, and for shoe laces.

a different kind of winnings

my husband and i look at the lottery differently.  i see it as "fun" way to throw away a few dollars that you shouldn't throw away.  a chance to play a game in a pool at work... stuff like that. my husband sees it as a financial planning tool.  okay, not quite, but we have spent countless hours planning how we would quit our jobs, or find fun part time ones, and share our winnings! 

i never really expect to win - not hugely anyway.  chris fully expects that we will have to make those big decisions at some point.

i ran into a scripture the other day that has really sat on my heart.  "If you need wisdom--if you want to know what God wants you to do--ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind."  james 1:5-6

how often i approach my requests as i do when i buy a lottery ticket, not fully expecting results.  i've forgotten who i am dealing with! 

see i know in my heart that God answers all prayer. i truly believe that.  but my little human, small-picture brain thinks that what i want is the same as what i need and that the things i pray about, might not be important enough to address.  i feel, sometimes, that my "requests" can be so... insignificant.  there is a website of a family who just found out their 15 year-old son has a deadly form of bone cancer and they are battling this fight every day.  how can what i have to say even begin to have any priority with those prayers being lifted?  i've forgotten who i am dealing with.

again, my human brain takes over and i forget - unlike me and my multi-tasking ADD-self that must prioritize and allow the same less important things fall back, He is everywhere always.  there is no prioritizing, no scheduling for free time next thursday...it just is for Him. 

expect Him to answer. 

james needs to also remind me - expect Him to answer... in HIS way.  not mine. but EXPECT it.  know it - with everything in you that He does answer.  He does listen. He does care - about every whisper you send to him.  every cry. every praise. every plea. 

today-my prayer is for larry.  larry has an interview today that could potentially get him and shelly off the streets of phoenix.  i pray that it is the time that they are to get out of there.  but if it isn't, i pray that He continues to use me, to minister to them, care for them and be a light for them in this time of unbelievable stress in their life.  and i know that no matter what - God is there with larry and shelly.  i expect that. 

expect Him to answer - talk about hitting it big!

--t

who is accepting whom here?

on a dirty, rundown corner in downtown phoenix, we have found a community not expected. 

a community of those that life seems to pass by.  time is a different contiuum here - each day is the same and they turn into months without it even being recognized. 

for people that are largely viewed as loners, they very much look out for one another.  and for those who are thought of as deliberately separating themselves from society, it only takes a few  visits and expressions of caring to be accepted here.  though you bring pieces of a world they are no longer a part of, they don't look at you differently for going back "there" at the end of your time with them. 

i don't know why God laid it upon my heart to call strangers "sweetie" and "love".  or why i can't help but embrace people i have never met before as they stand on a street corner.  i do know that i am so thankful that He has. 

i feel this strongest desire to let them know that they can count on us.  they have a constant, small though it very well may be, that the first day traffic lightens up downtown, when the sun is not quite at it's highest point, a caravan including a silver truck will wander into their neighborhood.  my desire is that they know, this caravan is one of help, of acceptance, of people, commissioned by Christ Himself, to love them exactly where they are.  to see them through the eyes of Jesus and feel every pain in their heart.  i only hope that on our next journey there, that one more person finds that Christ comes in the form of a group of people, bearing food, love, hugs...help with no strings. 

i am thankful for learning what that really means.

--t