Deanna, Pastor Tito and me last summer in Chimbote, Peru


I am heading to Dallas today. I have the privilege of spending time with students at Dallas Christian College helping prepare them for the mission field. I am excited to be with them!

It is a mixed blessing to spend time with college age students at this point in life. My son would be a sophomore, were he still with us. As a parent, I suppose it is impossible not to count the time.

Lately, we have been missing him a great deal. There are times that we wish we could just have a conversation with him, or a dream about him. Though, no amount of time would ever be enough. We will always want for more of him. It sure helps us to appreciate the daughters we do have.

It also helps me appreciate these speaking opportunities. I know there are warriors for Christ out there who the Lord is leading. It is a privilege to be a part of their lives, no matter how brief the encounters.

I continue to hear stories of young men and women who served the Lord and then went off the deep end. They are finding their way a difficult one. As parents it's hard not to try to live their lives for them. As a friend or surrogate father, I sometimes have difficulty with compassion. Not something I am proud of, but I have to surrender these students and my struggles with their struggles to the Lord.

It is difficult for me to see others waste their lives, when one so precious to me showed a better way. I too, struggle with worldly pleasures and issues. It is not that I have somehow arrived. I guess it will always be easier to see the splinter in someone else's eye, than the plank in my own.

Anyway, I am so thankful for the opportunities the Lord provides to continue to pour into others... even as I need to be poured into. The Lord provides and fills me up, as He fills others up. Wow! What a cool concept! What a cool Savior!

Be blessed, and I will return next week!

God bless,

dad