That’s how many more weeks I have until I return to Colorado for vacation.

It’s hot in Decatur. I never really enjoy starting my truck, looking at the temperature gauge and seeing anything starting with a 9, much less numbers in triple digits which is what I saw yesterday.

My baby girl is in Ft. Worth this week visiting Fortress. Fortress is located in a rougher area of Ft. Worth and is a mission field started by several churches in the North Texas area. It serves underprivileged children and our kids are down there this week working with these kids and showing them that there are people who care about them. Some of these kids don’t know their parents, some of them have parents who are in prison or have been killed in violent crimes and some just live in poor conditions. I know it will be a great experience for my daughter and the kids that went from Decatur and I pray that it will be a time of planting seeds about God that will one day bear great fruit.

Yesterday, we heard from a missionary working in Ecuador. His family runs an orphanage and a school in a very poor area of the country and are doing some incredible things. What most struck me was his heart for what he is doing and the fact that he gives God the glory for everything that is working. It was an uplifting time. Justin Snyder is the missionary and they have a web site you can see at http://www.hohministries.com. Justin is in the states raising money for a new building to house their growing school and we were fortunate to have money to help with their cause.

I’ll be on the road for the next couple of days visiting one of our stores so I’m not sure I’ll get anything posted but you never know.

Have a great week.

It seems like the 6 days since I came back from vacation have flown by. I’ve still got so much work to do and it seems like a lot has been done. I remember the 2 week vacations we used to take when I was a kid and can’t imagine what it would be like to come back in the office after two full weeks – but I might still like to try!
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I wonder what the attendance figures will do at Ranger games after Josh Hamilton’s show at the All-Star Weekend. I’m ready to get back out to the ballpark and hope they have installed air conditioning units in the seats. I talked to a guy who went to the game last Sunday, a day game, and he lasted about 6 innings before the heat drove him out. Yikes.
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The price of crude oil has been dropping. Yahoo! I wonder how long it will last and when it will show up at the pump? I noticed diesel in Decatur was 20 cents a gallon higher than in Saginaw yesterday. It almost seems like it’s worth a 20 mile drive to buy diesel. Crazy.

Have a great weekend.

It’s tough getting back in the groove after a vacation. I’m struggling to do that now but I witnessed quite a groove on TV Monday night. Did you see Josh Hamilton in the Home Run Derby? WOW! It was a show though the ending was anti-climatic with Hamilton seemingly worn out from his first round phenomena. Just goes to show it’s not how you start but how you finish.
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My trip to Colorado was wonderful. We stayed at Fun Valley, our regular hang-out since 2003 and met up with the Medford family that has been in the cabin next to us for those years. We enjoyed camp fires at night (can you believe that if you are living in Texas?), good fishing during the day in 40-50 degree water, good food (not the best but the hamburgers are cooked on an old grill and come out juicy) and plenty of games of air hockey. We had a family tournament. I was the #1 seed going in to the bracket play and came out in 4th place. My son won barely beating my daughter for 1st place. Just 51 more weeks before I go back.
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How ’bout them Rangers? They probably won’t contend for the World Series but I’ve been with them through seasons where I couldn’t give away tickets in July and August but the guys are playing good ball through the first half of the season and making it fun to go to the ballpark. I’m looking forward to the August 2 game against the Blue Jays. If all things work out, I’ll be there with my son playing catch in the outfield before the game. Fun stuff and great memories.

Today is my last day in Colorado and I am not happy about it. I love it here. The weather has been cool to warm and the fishing has been decent. I don’t look forward to heading back to Texas but all good things must end and regular life will take over. I look forward to sharing some moments and maybe a few pictures when I get back.

EDIT NOTE: After writing my blog, I went to Melissa Taylor’s and saw that she is posting pictures of our Brazil trip. Check them out at http://thetaylorfamilytree.blogspot.com.

The last day of work before a vacation is always hard. I feel like I have started to mentally check-out but still need to get some things done today while my mind is already headed up 287 on it’s way to cooler climate, fish and camp fires. I’m looking forward to our annual retreat and what it always does for me mentally and emotionally. I can’t wait.

One of the things I always appreciate the most about this time is seeing the majesty of God in His creation. The mountains and streams of Colorado are also my picture of heaven (my picture includes bigger fish and more stamina to get up and down the mountains) and when I am there, I can’t help but take time to just look and see what He can do. It’s a beautiful place and when I am there, I always feel pulled closer to God.

If the campground has any Internet access, I might blog about something going on but for now I plan to be taking the next several days off from blogging. I hope to have lots of good fishing stories when I get back.

A thought that has been rolling around in my head since returning from Brazil is “what did we learn while we were there?” We saw several things while we visited a foreign country – from poverty to joy, from sensual influences to pure love. I guess my question isn’t as much about what we learned as it is about how our lives will be affected, how they will be changed as Christians. I hope my life is changing everyday – more towards Christ and away from evil. It’s hard at times though. I get desensitized to so much of what is around me, to the hurting, to the hungry, to the poor, to evil. I see it so much it becomes a blur in the speed of life. Too often it happens with those closest to me also. I don’t slow down to see them and to hear them. I bounce from one thing to another lost in a sea of business – not hearing God. I hope our trip opened many eyes and is working on many hearts. I know it happens to me each time I visit and I thank God for the opportunity I had that let’s Him into my heart more and more.
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From one trip to another. I am headed out of town again this week and hoping my destination still has little, if any, cell phone service or Internet access. It’s nice to get away and decompress, to stop living in the things that occupy my day and see God’s glory around me. I may get another posting or two up before I leave but if not, I hope you live in the peace of God and His forgiveness and mercy.

I’m back in Decatur and had a good night sleep in my own bed. It was a wonderful feeling to be home and without much problem. Our trip to Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil was wonderful and I believe God was active in everything we did. We saw and experienced some wonderful things and met old friends and made lots of new ones. I hope the seeds we planted in Aracaju bear fruit and the church there grows in spirit and number. Just in case you missed it, check out http://decaturmissions.blogspot.com for information from our trip. I hope to have some pictures and video posted online before long but need to get caught up in several places first.

It was so nice to see my wife and children when I stepped off the bus. Being home is a great feeling after being gone so long. It was also nice to ride in a suburban and truck some yesterday after going everywhere in either a subcompact taxi or on a bus.

I’m still in a bit of a fog. My exhaustion from the trip hit me hard yesterday afternoon and I sure haven’t recovered yet. I came to work a bit earlier than normal today because I’m sure this afternoon will go downhill mentally at some point.

I’ll try to get back in the posting groove before long but bear with me. I’ve got a busy 6 days ahead of me before leaving for a Colorado vacation with my family.

Today’s scripture hit me right between the eyes and is seeping into my heart as I think about it. Even in our evil ways, if we are working to do good, the Lord gives us the Holy Spirit to help us. God is good. I have been overwhelmed in the past few years as I have studied and prayed for God to reveal Himself to me by His mercy and love for me. I am slowly realizing that no matter what I’ve done, no matter what has happened to me in this life, there is One who will give me anything and everything I need – even though I do things I shouldn’t, things that are not in God’s will – I can return to Him. I have learned what it is to feel His forgiveness and I feel like the next step in my journey is to learn to use the Holy Spirit to help me be strong in times of weakness.

I ask for your prayers today. Sunday I will be leaving home and family for Aracaju, Brazil. I ask for strength to focus on God’s call for me while I am there. It’s hard to be away. I also ask that you pray for my family while I am gone and that they feel my love for every one of them even though I’m not there for a period of days.

I am brimming with excitement and fear as I leave for this journey. I am praying that God will use me and mold me while I am gone and that He will prepare the way for me when I return.

Last night’s lesson was what it would look like if we truly let our love for God show. What kind of (seemingly) crazy stuff would we do? What have you done in the past for/with people you love? Stay up all night talking? Do things with them or for them you don’t normally do? Change your habits, your appearance, your talk?

What would the world look like if we put God first and our desires and dreams and problems a distant second?

When the question was asked last night, “what would doing something crazy because you love God look like in the eyes of the world?”, the first thing that came to mind was the young girl at Columbine High School, who when confronted with a gun to her head and asked if she loved God replied yes knowing the answer would get her killed.

If I were willing to give my life for God, what would I do while alive to live in His will? What would I do for my family? What would I do for Christian brothers and sisters? What would I do for complete strangers?

I pray that I will live crazy in the world’s eyes – that I will overcome, that I will change directions, that I will go where I’m not comfortable – that I will do anything I can to live a life that is worthy of the love God has shown me.

I’m just 5 days from leaving for Brazil. What a whirlwind. There is so much going on, so much to do and life’s problems in between. Today’s scripture on my blog was one of my favorites – from the book of Psalms – “Be still and know that I am God.” There are things going on around me right now that I simply can’t control, much less even keep a handle on. All I can do is turn to God and trust Him but it is hard. I want to keep thinking of something I need to do, ways I need to respond but my prayer is that I will let God direct me.
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I am hoping to blog about our trip as much as possible. The mission blog space can be found at decaturmissions.blogspot.com. I hope you will visit it during our trip (leaving 6/15 and returning 6/25).
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I hope to post a couple of times before leaving but I ask that you include me and all those on our trip in your prayers.