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No More Tears...

Have you ever done something stupid in the name of curiosity?  Recently I was borrowing a shower at a friend's house that has small children and my attention was grabbed by the new Johnson's Baby Shampoo packaging.  For some reason I zeroed in on the "No More Tears" label and almost without thinking, I set forth to see if it really was "as gentle to eyes as pure water". 

I got my hair good and wet, lathered up nice and thick, and then, without much further thought, opened my eyes and let the foam run right down into them.

Fortunately, the labeling on the bottle was as accurate as could be.  As crazy as it sounds, the shampoo cause no noticable irritation to my eyes.  Satisfied that my hypothesis was now proven however, I began to ponder what I later realized was the real lesson from this little experiment...

Are we, as those who label themselves "Christians", as forthright in our own labeling?  Can others count on us to be as gentle and tender as the One whose name we so proudly bear?  Please, share your thoughts with me!

And, by the way, feel free to try this on your own.  That fresh baby smell alone is worth it.  =)

Tricking Myself with the Weekly Update - December 12

I have not had time to write out all of the stories that have happened of late, but for the sake of committing myself ( and hopefully not OVERcommitting myself) I am going to write an update here where I promise to update the updates...  Ok this will make sense in a minute...

UPCOMING BLOG STORIES:
Speaking at Generations Church on Dec 7th
Serving at the Bread of Life Rescue Mission - DONE!
Blessed again by our Favorite Mechanic - DONE!
The Long Awaited PHOTO TOUR OF THE RV!
Another new "Caption Please" photo

So there you have it... I am committed. the ink is dry.  I've said it/typed it/spoken it, and now I SHALL MAKE IT COME TO PASS!

Its kinda sick how I have to trick myself into this stuff sometimes!  Oh well.

Be blessed.  We are in Oceanside, headed for Santa Barbara by Monday night.  The weekend is an unknow, but that is what makes this fun!

-Chad

Back HOME - FOR ONLY 10 DAYS

Well, after a bumpy flight, we are back home with the kids in Boise.  Two energetic little fireballs desperately want attention, so this will be short...

Two updates!

1.  After posting my last entry from the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, my mystery quotee fired me an email!  She (my friend Sharon Burcham) corrected the quote as follows, and it makes my point even better than I had remembered it with her paraphrase below.  Thanks Sharon!

"He has the whole filmstrip of my life in his view and not the snapshot of my present situation" .  Paraphrase....He has the camcorder and we have the polaroid!"

2.  The house is now a DONE DEAL!  Our property manager signed a lease for the house this morning, and we have 10 days to have it ready for our new tenants.  They seem to be great renters on paper, and we hope they are blessed with the house as we are on the road!

So there it is... 10 days and the house will no longer be a consideration in the budget.  We will now rachet up the search for the RV, and will spend this week moving our stuff to its temporary place at my mom's house.

Thats it... KID TIME!  Here comes DADDY!!!!

Week of Sept 13-20 Recap

One of the most consistant questions that we hear each week is "So what's going on since the last time we talked?"  That being the case, we have decided to try to do a weekly recap of what's going on, what the week held, what new ideas have materialized, and any new relationships that have begun.  Here we go for installment 1! 

THE HOUSE
The week began trying to figure out what was happening on the house front.  Should we continue to try to sell or move to the rental scenario.  On Tuesday, we decided to pursue both.  We reduced the house price to $218,000 and will leave it there until we either get an offer or a tenant.  We also signed with a property management company to represent the house and start to advertise it as a rental.  So there you are - bases covered.  Either we rent or sell... or sit vacant!  They don't call it an adventure for nothing!

THE RV
We contacted a gentleman in Tucson who has an RV that would be a good fit, and he is willing to finance, so now we would just need to have a resolution on some issues with our finances.  (need some stock to sell to make this one viable)  Is it THE one?  I don't know...If its still there when the finances are in place for it, then I guess so.  If not then it wasn't.  Guess we'll see! 

TRAVEL
We booked our tickets to Atlanta for the Catalyst conference, and  also got confirmation on a dinner meeting with Peter Greer and Quenton Mary with Hope International.  We plan to share with them an idea to try to facilitate getting the coffee bikes from Project Rwanda to coffee growers in Rwanda via microfinance loans funded via KIVA.org.  Amy and I will be flying in on the 7th, and returning from Atlanta on the 11th of October.

LOCAL
The first week of October should prove to be a fun and full one!  On the 1st, we find out about some financial decisions, attend a shareholders meeting at Unity Media, and make yet one more house payment  (hopefully our last before selling or renting it out!)  On the 2nd, Chad leaves for "Man Camp", the 3 day mens retreat for Life Church, our home church, and Amy has an Arbonne show that her friend Naomi is throwing for us, with all proceeds going to Share5.  Chad will return on the evening of the 4th, and then there is Church on the 5th, a new class starting at our church at 5-6pm on that night, and then a Hope International Desert banquet at 7pm with our new friend Mark Russell, Hope's Director of Spiritual Integration.  The 6th we'll chill here in Boise, and the 7th we fly to Atlanta!

Blessings to our friends, and thank you for your continued prayers and support.  Drop us a line!
Chad