Dharma & Greg

So, one of my guilty pleasures in the mornings as I get ready for work is to sit in the middle of my bed and watch t.v. as I put on my makeup. Generally I sit and flip between four different shows: Crossing Jordan, Angel, JAG, and Dharma & Greg. Eventually, I land on a episode of one show that will hold my attention long enough to make me almost late for work.

Anyway - as it turns out, this morning it was Dharma & Greg that caught my attention. In this episode, Greg stayed up all night reading a bunch of books by different "spiritual" leaders trying to "find himself". He looks at Dharma and tells her that he is going to read the bible next. Dharma replies something to this effect, "Let me save you some time: First half - don't mess with God; Second half - be nice to everybody."

It was at that point that my brain really started processing for the day. At first I wondered if you can really boil it down to two simple phrases like that - and if you could, those two phrases didn't seem anywhere close to accurate. I believe that the bible is written in simple enough language for us to understand, but, it would be very difficult to choose two specific phrases to "sum up" what the bible is about. And maybe those two phrases would change throughout my lifetime. My very first try was: First half - God loves his people. Second half - God loves his people. Then it switched to: First half: God loves his people. Second half: God saves his people.

Still not exactly right. I'm going to have to ponder this some more...

Holy Pogo Stick, Batman!

It was a view similar to this one that I was treated to on my way home last week. A quiet street, families arriving home, and a small child on a pogo stick. The memories that came flooding back made me smile.

I'm sure the pogo sticks of my childhood were much simpler than the one in this picture. I dare say though, that we probably had more fun on them "back in the day." I must admit that I was really surprised to see a kid outside on a pogo stick. It just doesn't seem like it is a very popular toy these days - which is a sad, sad statement.

I loved jumping on my pogo stick. What one would do to have back just a few minutes of that time!

Note: Did you know that there is a sport called "stunt pogo"? According to wikipedia, some form of stunt pogo has been around for 50 years!

If only we'd known.

A view of Uganda: New Year's Eve

We were blessed to celebrate the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008 in Uganda. Our team, as well as Jeff and Andrew, had made our way out to Camp Saaka to begin setting up for Faith Quest Uganda 2008. Joining us at Camp Saaka that night were the youth from the Ft. Portal area Churches of Christ. It was a great chance to get to spend some extra time with these youth from the immediate area before the rest of the youth groups from around the country arrived.

It was a busy day - and included a lot of packing, unpacking, and setting up of tents. As we had brought tents and sleeping bags with us in our luggage, we got a chance to get those out and set them up. It was entertaining watching the boys attempt to put up one of the tents - because of course, they didn't want to read the directions first!


What a blessing it was to celebrate and worship as a group. While we waited for the matoke (our dinner) to finish cooking, we were all entertained by Mark Long and his crew from Kampala with what we called "Brazilian fireworks." They were fabulous as you can see by these pictures:

The evening ended with a devotional around a campfire and lots of singing. The highlight was definitely the singing group from Rwebisengo. They are amazing! One of these days I may post the video I have of them - but that would require the ability to figure out how to make it shrink enough to post (currently it sits at about 500 MB).

I will say that as I lay in my sleeping bag, being lured to sleep by the youth as they continued to sing the New year in, that I believed it was one of the best ringing-in's of the New Year that I have ever experienced.

Spring Fever

So - I had to run home today to let the guy from NW Natural Gas into the house (that story is a whole other blog!). As I was returning to work, I looked at the thermometer on my rear-view mirror and it read 68 degrees! I had the windows open in my truck - and the music blaring. Who, I ask you, really wants to work on a beautiful day like today? Not I, not I.

When I arrived at the office, I checked weather.com - which said it's only 60 degrees outside - but at this point, I am going to defer to the thermostat in the truck! My Spring Fever is so bad that the other boss has given me permission to go out and work in the flower beds outside our office for the afternoon! I think I may just take her up on that!

Here's a kgw.com article on the warm weather today: Portland weather

Did she really just say that?

So - Stacey and I went the new movie "Fool's Gold" last weekend. One of the charcters in that movie is this really ditzy girl - whose character seemed over the top with ditziness. THEN - I was washing my hands in the restroom and heard the following:

"I thought Italian was just an accent. I didn't know it was a language."

I couldn't believe my ears!

Really? Are there people out there that are just that stupid?

Although I realize the answer to that question is YES.

A view of Uganda: Anaiah

For now, ignore the funny-looking guy on the right - I will blog about him later. Take this moment to appreciate the beauty that God has created in the beautiful child in his arms. Miss Anaiah Martin - what a beautiful, sweet spirit this baby girl has!

Many people might think that such a young child does not have much of a role on the mission field. I would greatly disagree with you. On a continuous basis, Anaiah provides the following:

For her dad (Andrew) - A way to show other men how they should love their children.

For her mom (Aimee Jo) - A way to be grounded, focused, and to grow in the special, God-given privilege of motherhood.

For the Cash Family - A way to be reminded of how special and beautiful life is with just one smile.

The Faith Quest Uganda 2008 team was so thankful to have little Anaiah to love on. She made us laugh, she reminded us of those we missed at home, and she provided us with a reason to be goofy.

I know it is difficult for her family back in the States to watch her grow from afar. And for those grandparents, aunts, uncles, counsins, friends, etc., who are so far away from her, I leave you with this: Thank you for letting her touch the family of God in Ft. Portal. She is a breath of fresh air to all who worship there. I know God is using her to help His kingdom grow.

Anaiah - we love and miss you. May you grow healthy and strong. May you be an ambassador for the Lord. May your heart always overflow with love for those around you.

A view of Uganda: Matoke

They look like bananas. But let me guarantee you this - they do not taste like the banana you are probably thinking of! These, my friends, are 'plantains' or as they are called in Uganda: Matoke.

Matoke is a staple of the Ugandan diet. Raw, it is white and firm - and fairly sticky to peel. Cooked, it is soft and yellow - and in my opinion kind of tastes like squash.

It takes a lot of matoke to feed a group of almost 200 people at Faith Quest Uganda. The number of peels on the ground is pretty amazing. The cooks would peel the matoke, then they would wrap the whole bunch up in the large leaves of the matoke trees. The whole large lot is then steamed in a pot over an outdoor fire.

The result? a soft, yellow mash of matoke. Generally, it's served with a sauce of some kind - maybe a ground nut sauce or sause with a vegetable base, and if you're "lucky", there just might be some kind of meat in the sauce (usually boiled beef).

I like it. Really, I do. I just can't eat a lot of it. I would sit and eat a bowl of matoke, rice or yams, and ground-nut sauce - and could hear my brain shouting at me as my blood sugar started to rise dramatically from the high starch/carbohydrate content.

But I like it. It's simple, filling, and for a Ugandan, something that grows in the back yard.

I think we should eat matoke here in the U.S.A. Maybe for one meal at Faith Quest Oregon this year.

Unless, of course, we could serve millet instead!

Just kidding.

But I liked the millet too.