Wander in the Moment...

While in Kenya this last March one of the things we got to do was take the school on their first field trip. We took them to the Bomas of Kenya. Boma in Swahili means home. At the Bomas they have many tribal dances you can watch and then tour homes of the various tribes of Kenya. The kids and adults at the school were so excited. You could smell the excitement in the air among them.
After we arrived at the school we hung around waiting to arrange things for the 225+ that came on the trip. While we were standing around two of the boys came to me and asked for a picture. They are actually the two boys in the back left of the picture. When they lined up the other boys saw what was about to take place many of them came running to get in the picture or in one of their own. As the "mob" grew and I got ready to take the picture an airplane from a nearby airport flew over. Many of the kids LOVE airplanes and want to be pilots. As the plane flew over they all became distracted looking at and pointing at the plane forgetting the chaos around them. I caught them in their excitement and awe pointing and forgetting why they were standing where they were. The were lost in the moment.
It was so much fun to see their excitement as each plane passed. It was these things that we are far more used to that were first time experiences for them that were highlights of their trip.
It made me recall how we often become calloused to things we have seen/experienced before and no longer appreciate them. We miss something. Something amazing. Simple. Incredible. Something awesome that leaves children with their eyes wide open and jaws hanging. I hope that in our life of experiences and new things that we don't forget to stop and appreciate the things that once amazed and value and learn from them.
May we be in awe and in wonder of "the plane in the sky" once again where we forget all that is around us...just for a moment.

Until Dukey Drops Again....Much Love

In the midst...

In the midst of the unknown sometimes there is somethings that are known. Sometimes we just don't know them yet or see them.
In the midst of my personal unknown and what I feel is a real time of searching in my life I took off to Kenya. I hadn't planned on going honestly and felt rather content not going. So I prayed about it and went. Read the previous post for the story.
I went back to work with Christ Academy. Porfirio had been there since the middle of January and Jessie, Jennifer and myself went at the end of Feb to work along side the school and Porfirio. It was a short trip that went fast lasting only three weeks but I believe we made the most of our time there and went away feeling like the trip was longer than three weeks.
We spent the first part of our trip catching up with P, networking and focusing for our time with the school.
The following two weeks we busted our butts to be at the school and do as much ass we possibly could. We went hard. There was so so much.
Over the next few days I will post some pics on here and maybe share a story or two.
For now I'm off to another random job to make a few dollars to get by for today.

Until Dukey Drops Again......Much Love

The Hype...The Hustle

Here is a couple pics of a young moose that was about 10yds from my cabin in January.



Since flipping my Xterra on its top much has changed for me personally. I've gotten caught in the hustle tryin to figure things out and not stopped to post anything on here. I've had many things change from m previous situation but yet have taken much time to stop. To stop and breathe. To stop and listen. To stop and think. Its been trying to sort out the Hype and hustle to make ends meet.
When I last posted I was living in a cabin between Boulder and Marbleton, WY near the New Fork River. It was -10 to -30 degrees most nights and my pipes were frozen in my little cabin. I was forced to take a cooler and go out to a well runoff pipe and collect water that felt like if it slowed it would freeze in order to shower. I would take the 32degree water in and pour it in to my electric skillet to boil it so that I could have some warm water to shower off with. I didn't have a stove and my microwave had just went out during the work week so I didn't have time to go buy a new one. It took 2hrs to boil enough water so that I could clean off a bit and go to bed.
The flow of mice in to the cabin had ceased and I guess the water felt left out to decided to join in. Then I rolled my Xterra and that made life just a bit more challenging. I got done with work the evening of the 22nd and got a plane to Kansas City to make it home for Christmas thanks to my parents offering much assistance with making the arrangements. I drove 20min to a gas station that had wireless so these circumstances made this very inconvenient. I didn't have a TV either...not that a TV would have helped at all but there wasn't lots of extra frills and they were getting less and less.
I was wondering about my time in Wyoming and felt like there were becoming fewer and fewer reasons to stay. I missed being around community with other bothers and sisters of which I had pretty much NONE of. So as I prayed about the struggle I flew to visit my family for Christmas. I was off 3 weeks and had time to prioritize a bit. I was going to go back to Wyoming work if they were working then pack up and move back to Kansas. In the meantime I needed to find a vehicle. God provided and I headed back to Wyoming to work a few days and pack up.
As I left Wyoming I sent an email out to friends and family who have supported and prayed for my as God has opened up opportunities to do ministry here and overseas. I shared a brief story about Christ Academy, a school we served at in Kenya in 2007 and then a bit about the impending changes and said I am flexible. That evening I received a call telling me there was a group in Rock Springs that had been meeting discussing how they could have me come share about Christ Academy again. When they went home and checked their email they found that a few of them had received an email from me opening the opportunity. Feb 8th Jessie Hock, Brady Peters and myself drove to Rock Springs, WY to share at a small church of 40 or so.
I had been praying about going back to Kenya as Porfirio had left on Jan 16th and Jessie and Jennifer Follis were planning on going at the end of Feb. I told only 3 people that I was stepping in faith to go to Kenya. Two of those people were Brady and Jessie the other was at the church we shared at. We got done sharing about the school and I was informed that $584 was given toward the school and $2010 toward me going to Kenya. I could not believe it! I was stunned. Prayer ANSWERED! I called my parents and Porfirio to tell them I was on my way to Kenya.
Four weeks prior I could have told you I was very content with not going to Kenya right now and that I was going to need a miracle to go. I guess I got what I prayed for.
Once again I was looking to return to Kansas because I wanted to remain in community knowing brothers and sisters in Christ, them knowing me and living life together.
I came back to Hays, KS and found myself staying in a spare room(laundry room) on an air mattress. Not exactly in the lap of luxury. I had quit my job in Wyoming and still was searching for something around here. I was again finding community but without a job. A price to pay? I don't know. The hype, the hustle that misses what God has for us is not worth it. To run a race on my own is not why I was created. I was created to live among others, with others and share the journey. The hype, the hustle...its overrated.
When you have lost something or taken away is when you most often realize what you had. I realized this and had to figure out a different way to live because my priorities were not what I want them to be.

Until Dukey Drops Again....Much Love