7holycrap Holy Crap, Orphanage Trips, Orphanage Update

The Kids In Our Nepal Children’s Home Are Growing Up!

Yolanda and I love coming to Nepal to see the kids at our children’s home in Kathmandu. We are currently here celebrating Christmas a little early and having a big party.

We had a pizza party last night with all of the kids and the people that work here at both the homes. I made a startling yet pleasing discovery while watching the contrast of our older and younger kids. Something that gave me hope in the process here of not just saving kids from the street but helping to properly educate and cause them to become productive members of society.

We have a group of younger kids that are recent compared to all of the others who have been with us since the beginning of starting the home. I can remember the first time we came over to Nepal and watched the kids react to mealtime. It was something I will never forget. ALL of the kids would eat so fast and go back for seconds as many times as they could almost like a subconscious result of being an orphan and not knowing where their next meal would come from. I saw a complete contrast of those older kids, now almost ten years later, and their reaction to our pizza party. They sat with their friends and ate at a normal pace, not shoving in their food and not pushing and shoving to get back in line for seconds. In fact, we had three pizzas left over from our party when in the past, every single crumb would be devoured by our kids. I mention this because I saw a contentment and security in the older kids that they knew they were taken care of and not worried about getting enough to eat. It was like they had a kind of peace on them that they were not in an orphanage but in a home where they felt safe, secure and knew that their basic needs were being met.

When I saw this, I had a full “aha” moment and realized that the team here and the work CTN has been doing is not only worth it in making us feel better about helping those less fortunate but that the kids were feeling the support and sustainability of the people and system here to help guide and direct their lives.

Now compare this story to your own life. How do you react to God and the system he has for taking care of you? Do you live in fear that what you are receiving from him today will run out tomorrow and you will be left in the cold and not supported anymore? Or have you “grown up” and are now trusting that the same care that God gives you today is enough for your tomorrow and especially for your eternal future? I believe this is moving from the “milk to the meat” of the word in trust with God. I can think of many times where I was in a situation and thought that God may have forgotten about me, but then he ends up meeting every need in a perfect way.

As we begin to wrap up our trip here in Nepal, I know that I needed to see the growth of our kids and the trust they have in us and the system that is set in place. It has once again helped me consider my own life and how I can continue to trust that God will take care of my EVERY need according to HIS riches in glory!

7holycrap Holy Crap, Life Lessons

Focus in Life

focus_inschool
Did you ever consider that it is impossible to focus on two points at the same time? If you put your hand up in front of your face and try to focus on it and whatever is in the background it is impossible. You can notice what is generally there, but it will not be in focus. I think this is an amazing thing that God instilled in us as human beings. Not because of the physical ability of the eyes but because it is an example that translates into life in general.

What is your life focused on? Maybe you are focused on your career and ambition to be the best in your field. Is it focused on temporary things like the newest smartphone, a new car, bigger house or even just money? Maybe your total and complete focus is on your family or friends and making them the highest priority.

There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these things but the advantage in life comes from keeping a focus on Jesus and knowing that he is taking care of all those other things in the background. This is not saying that you can be lazy in your vocation, that you don’t need money to pay bills, a form of transportation, a way to communicate with people or that family and friends can be ignored.

The supernatural element of being a true follower of Christ and his teachings in the Bible is that when you put God first in everything and keep your focus on Him, all of your needs are met and all the people in your life get the BEST version of you.

A couple of GREAT scriptures to keep in mind about the focus of your mind and the power of the Bible!

Isaiah 26:4 – You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

2 Timothy 3:16 – All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Focus in life can be evaluated on a few levels. What do you spend the most time thinking about? When you are alone with your thoughts and nothing is pressing on you, what is the first thing you think about? If you are naturally a worrier (as I am, but I am working on this area of my life) then the things you worry about are probably things that you think personal actions can change or control.

One of the MOST important things I stress in my Holy Crap book is that the “control” we feel in life is a myth. The only thing we have control of in life is how we spend our time. Spend it focusing on Jesus and everything else will be taken care of! Today, do a “focus evaluation” and consider some changes in life and this coming new year.

 

 

7holycrap Life Lessons

I Gave Shoes To The Homeless This Weekend

shoes-mix
Yolanda and I participated in an outreach to the homeless of Denver this weekend and it was exhilarating. I LOVE being able to connect with people who don’t need a handout as much as a firm handshake, eye contact, maybe a hug and a smile to let them know that someone cares about where they are in life. Yolanda and I helped hand out shoes to people and to hear the thankfulness in the voices of people we helped was priceless.

I am not writing this blog to try and make myself look good or to guilt others into doing something in their community to help people in need. I want to bring up a few points to consider while helping people who are homeless or just in transition in their lives.

1. Don’t treat the homeless LIKE human beings treat them AS human beings
People who are homeless are not a lower level than anyone else and deserve the respect of people who are volunteering in some way. The best way you show respect is by not patronizing or taking down to them. Ask them their name, shake their hand and make eye contact. You would be AMAZED at what a smile and a firm handshake will do for someone.

2. Ask them to tell you their story and JUST LISTEN
Yolanda and I sat with two girls during lunch and had them tell us their story. We just sat and listened to them and let them know we were there to support them. Not to preach to them. Not to make sure they cross the proverbial “Jesus finish line” to make sure they were going to heaven. Just to listen to them and be a part of their journey in life. An important thing to remember is that showing love and meeting a practical need in someone’s life can speak more “Jesus” to someone than all the talking in the world. Yolanda and I love people first and let them ask us why we do the things we do. Jesus always comes up in conversation and we didn’t have to force any “religion” on people.

3. Don’t just help during the holidays
It is easy to get motivated to help during the holidays but the fact is that people are not just homeless and/or hungry during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. All of these organizations need help year round and would gladly accept the volunteer help at other times than just the end of the year. I think there is a Godly impact in a person’s life who commits to helping year round and not just as a give back during obvious months. The TRUEST form of being like Christ is looking for those in need and filling that need.

Have a great holiday season and I encourage each of you to look for ways to go outside yourself and meet practical needs in your community and then continue those things year round. Remember what Jesus did when he interacted with people; He met the practical need FIRST and that was the path to helping meet the deeper Spiritual needs.

 

7holycrap Life Lessons

The FAA And Your Relationship With Jesus

airplane
I did this blog on my business site earlier today but it was so good that I wanted to share it with my “Holy Crap” family as well! Enjoy!

We have flown a bit over the holiday season and it is still amazing to me that anyone can travel anywhere in the world in hours by getting into a giant metal tube that really should be too heavy to fly anyway. Just to think about how far technology has come and how air travel has improved in the last forty years is really astounding.

The one thing that has really never changed, and probably never will, is the reactionary nature of the airline industry. When there is some kind of airline disaster the first thing the FAA does is create some kind of rule that tries to remedy whatever happened. The incidents of 9/11 created a greater scrutiny of anything sharp or what could be conceived as a weapon. The shoe bomber incident created the smaller quantities of fluids that can be in your carry on. The Samsung phones smoking on a flight last year was the genesis of banning the Samsung Note 7 on flights.

I am not saying that any of these rules are bad in and of themselves because the airline industry is just trying to make sure that air travel is safe for everyone, but when safety is thought of as a RESULT of negative actions then it becomes a reactionary response only.

In our relationship with Jesus, we can fall into some of the same traps. We can think of our actions with Jesus only in terms of the negative things that are happening in our lives. Maybe we don’t spend time reading our Bible and learning about his love until we are feeling a lack of love in some way in our lives. We get into some kind of financial trouble and then decide it is a good time to give to God and see if we can get some kind of financial blessing when we are not a consistent giver in the first place. This can become a terrible pattern of only doing things for/with God when we need something or trouble hits our lives.

Today, don’t wait for pain or discouragement to hit your life before you decide to spend time with Jesus. When we make the investment in our relationship with him preemptively, we set the stage for success in life not based on circumstances but in knowing that no matter what happens, our lives are in God’s hands. The things we do to help get through difficult times end up being birthed from our foundation in Christ and not on our surrounding circumstances.