40 Day Fast - Day Seven

Music lover, list writer, dreamer, idealist Fay is writing about clean water and the organization, charity:water. It looks to be a very interesting organization. I look forward to learning more.

Expert international dateline crosser, Lorijo, at Bamboo Song introduces us, or at least me, to Paz y Esperanza in Lima, Peru. Their mission is to promote justice and the development of the poor and marginalized.

Off to Cornerstone

I'm leaving for Cornerstone. I don't know how my blogging will go from there. I'll be back in time for the Warped Tour to hit Dallas. Should be a fun few days.

40 Day Fast - Day Six

I am so excited about today's 40 Day Fast!

Crazy Disciple writes about Paris and the spiritual darkness there AND the revival that is brewing due to what God is doing with Christian City Church. It is a wonderful read and it thrills me because I have a "brother-in-love" that recently moved there from the South of France.

Jesus is Extravagant chose Gospel for Asia to share. My cousin, Mike, is going through their discipleship program. I spent the last two days next to their booth at a music festival. They were all sweet, helpful, and interested in what others are doing to further the Kingdom. Gospel for Asia has a lot going on. Find out more.

40 Day Fast - Day Five

Today our bloggers talk about needs here in the U.S. and around the world.
One is titled: Veronica and Her Baby Sister and Brother. Read it. Encourage others to read it.
The Hip Mama of the 40 Day Fast group has written: Out My Front Door. It is about children here in the U.S. that go hungry on the weekends and what you can do to help.

40 Day Fast - Day Four

The 40 Day Fast bloggers for today: Annie and P.D.

Annie writes about:

Luo, which literally means to “set free”. Their mission is to set children free from poverty by supporting them and connecting them with the local community.

P.D. tells us about the organization he started:

JesusGreaterThan.org and their campaigns. He is focusing on the Jesus>Thirst campaign.

40 Day Fast - Day Three

Brian Seay is today's blogger for The 40 Day Fast. He has blogged about the Global Food Crisis and has given practical advice on how we can all make a difference and help people live.

Go read his post. He is a very wise man.

$13 can feed a child for about one month

I've been combing the web reading about the global food crisis. Everyone has different reasons for why the food crisis exists. But, the fact remains, even though people might not agree on the cause, the Global Food Crisis is very real.

Our jobs as Christians is to help in any way we can. The Bible has over 600 verses telling us that it is our job to take care of the poor. And one way we can do this is to help get people fed.

Compassion International's Global Food Crisis Fund

The current global food crisis is being called a "silent tsunami" that could plunge an additional 100 million people on every continent into hunger. Food prices have risen as much as 100 percent in some countries since 2006. Many of the countries Compassion serves are among those that have been hit hard by rising food prices.

• Your gift of $13 can feed a child for about one month.
• Your gift of $78 can feed a family of six for one month.
• Your gift of $520 can feed 40 children for about one month.
• Your gift of $3,250 can feed 250 children (an entire child development center) for one month!

Provide lifesaving food supplies to our children by donating today to the Global Food Crisis Fund.

The Forty Day Fast - Day 2

Are you thankful that you can read? Do you take it for granted? Do you want to help someone in their struggle to learn to read? Amy has written a beautiful post, The Gift of Reading, about how we can all become involved in the battle against illiteracy.

Do you think you could skip your coffee shop mocha for a day or two (or more)? Did you know that the money you would have spent in that short amount of time could be used to change someone's life? April tells you how the Mocha Club works and how you can use your change to change the world.

40 Day Fast Is Here!

I am so excited to be part of the Forty Day Fast this year. It is one of those things that you want to participate in and try to make a difference in the world, but you really wish that there was no reason for the Forty Day Fast to have to exist.

Brant Hansen is kicking it off this year. Here is his blog, and as usual, it is great. He always inspires me or makes me laugh or both.

My thirteen-year old son and I went a week without fighting!

My 13 year old son, the one that isn't suppose to speak to me until his fourteenth birthday, and I went for 6 days without having cross words.

And then we picked him up from camp.

Phil and I are once again with child!

Hold your horses! Put down the phone! I don't mean that way. You don't have to call us and give us a lecture. Yes, we know what causes it. Me, walking too close to a Compassion International table and seeing the sweetest little face looking back. It is all Nathan and Cassie Tasker's fault! She was on their table at one of his concerts.

Her name is Grabiela Maria. She is tiny. I fell for her picture and then I saw she was from the Dominican Republic and that sealed the deal as far as I was concerned. Phil had to be consulted. Our Jason is from the Dominican Republic. They are from different areas and look very different. But, both are as adorable as they can be.

Corinn got a letter from her little girl in Guatemala and it was so sweet that we both teared up reading it. She has been sick and asked Corinn to pray for her because the doctor is concerned about her weight. Then she said that Corinn is beautiful, she loves her and wants her to visit her in Guatemala. If it were possible we would have both been on a plane so fast our heads would still be spinning.

If you can, sponsor a child through Compassion. There is no way you will regret it.

My Dad is in Iowa

I didn't talk to my dad on Father's Day. He is in Iowa with a relief/recovery team. I'm proud of him.

Father's Day Gift Ideas

I've heard a rumor Sunday is Father's Day. It dang sure doesn't get the kind of attention Mother's Day does. But just because the commercial world doesn't put the same amount of pressure on you to buy your dad a gift doesn't mean you don't need to get him anything.

I'm here to help you out. Maybe your dad is the kind that doesn't want a lot of stuff, as in more stuff to store in his closet, garage, storage shed, etc... The following things will not pile up. In fact, they will lift people up. So, for this Father's Day I make the following suggestions.

Free The Slaves works hard at ending modern day slavery. They have an amazing website with updates on how people around the world are being rescued from this horror. Give your father the opportunity to be a modern day abolitionist.

Compassion International has so many ways to be involved with changing lives. Browse through their website for ideas. There will be the perfect gift for your father, whether it be malaria prevention kits, food crisis intervention, or sponsoring a child.

Blood:Water Mission was created buy some great guys who saw a need and decided to do something. Donate in your father's name and help give clean water to those dying from the lack of it.

Toms Shoes will give a pair of shoes to a needy child for every pair you buy your father. There are a lot of choices on their website and you can read the history of the company and how they choose to run their business.

If your father loves t-shirts then this is the place to go. JesusGreaterThan.Org has great shirts. I got my cool one before they even had a website which makes me extra cool. Just thought you should know that. And no matter where Corinn and I wear them (not at the same time - that would be too cutesy, weird for a teenage daughter and her mom to do) we have people stop us and ask about them. So, your father needs one of these t-shirts.

Now, if these suggestions don't do it for you, then go to my Mother's Day ideas. Those will work also. Except make sure you say "Happy Father's Day". Don't confuse him with your mom.

Nathan Tasker in the House

Mr. Tasker is bringing his amazing musical talent to Plano on Wednesday night, June 11th. This guy is Australian which means he has a great accent, like my neighbors, Merv and Kelly. Sometimes I get so caught up in their accents that I don't catch what they're saying. They introduced me to Tim Tams so I will love them forever and ever! And Merv took me for a ride in his supped up Jeep. I had to climb the wheel to get in. It has a Hemi and my boys are never ever driving one!

Another cool thing about Mr. Tasker is that he was the 2006 Australian Christian Music Artist. He is good. Go listen to him, either live in Plano or on his website. He has a myspace and facebook also.

My favorite thing about Nathan Tasker is he supports Compassion International
If you go to their artist page he is listed right there in the "N" section. When I hear an artist truly supports something beyond themselves it makes my heart flutter.

Another great thing about this FREE concert is a kid named Aaron is opening the show. This guy gets every bit of his fantastic talent from his mother. Ask him. He will tell you it is true.

So, if you are in the area tomorrow night, Wednesday, June 11th, join us.
Prairie Creek Baptist Church
3201 W 15th
Plano, TX 75075

6:oo p.m.

Stupid Wreck

I just had a stupid wreck, because I was stupid and not paying attention. It was all my fault. I rammed into a car at a stop sign. One of those stop signs where the road is feeding into another road at an angle, so I was looking over my left shoulder watching the traffic when I should have been looking straight ahead while waiting on my turn to look over my left shoulder watching for traffic. GRRRRRR! Stupid, stupid, stupid. I must say though, the bumper on the Odyssey did a very good job. The license plate holder has seen better days. This is my third wreck like this, except in the past I have been the one hit. I did the exact same thing to this poor woman that others have done to me. Her husband was extremely sweet about it. She was a little rattled, which is to be expected. Her bumper didn't look as good as mine.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

The Sometimes Annual Family Campout

I’m at the Sometimes Annual Family Campout in cool, breezy Tyler State Park. If any of you have been to Tyler State Park in June you know that I am full of it when I say cool and breezy. We are all sweating like crazy, but that's part of the fun. Along with swimming in the lake and the little kids getting as dirty as they possibly can. There was the time Phyllis’ grandkids found the delightful cold fire pit full of black ashes. Then after a rainstorm my niece and nephew discovered a hill of slimy red mud. This year it is a plastic wading pool full of sand. Poor Faith got her undies completely inundated.

When the sun goes down the young'uns become terrors with their flashlights. No one is safe from their beams. Today someone gave the toddlers a huge bottle of bubbles which kept Trace busy keeping refilling the dipping pan. Then tiny little water guns that had to be refilled after about ten shots appeared. No one was complaining about getting hit. It was that hot. No one complained either when the water balloons came out for a girls against guys fight.

This Sometimes Annual Family Campout usually includes 50 or so people. We don’t call it a reunion because most of the people here reside in the same town and see each other on an almost daily bases. But a few of us that live other places join in.

Then there are the people that aren’t really related by blood or marriage, but by love, sweat, and tears. It can get real confusing for a newcomer trying to figure out how we are all connected. Some of those “related by love, sweat, and tears” are more involved with the family than the blood ones.

One thing about this family is that we are all crazy as loons. There are some individuals that say they are crazy, but deep down they believe they are the sanes ones. Hah! Those are the craziest of the bunch. They’re also usually the ones that stay up all night playing 42. Or the ones that decide to swim across the lake and then spend the rest of the evening wishing they hadn't decided to swim across the lake.

The 42 game wrapped up early this year. Seems to be all the players are getting a little long in the tooth. Meaning, they're getting too old to pull all nighters. We did notice it is a lot quieter with them not playing the night through.

And I have to say that one of the members of this family is a big wimp. Trace brought three fans and a window unit air conditioner for his screened in cabin.

I'm too old and don't how to do stuff or Life With a Thirteen Year Old

My thirteen year old son, the one that isn't suppose to be talking to me until he turns fourteen, informed me yesterday that I was too old to wear jeans with holes in the knees.

I didn't buy the jeans with the holes in the knees. I wore the holes in the knees. I earned those holes. I can wear those holes.

My thirteen year old son, the one that still isn't suppose to be talking to me until he turns fourteen, informed me tonight not to get the water too hot for MY yorkie's bath.

It's my dog. I've bathed him before. I've bathed the standard poodle. I've bathed the jack russell. I've bathed the thirteen year old's baby bottom and four of his older siblings. I think I've mastered the temperature of bathwater. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Okay, I feel better now.

Is Compassion International What It's Cracked Up To Be?

If you want to know the answer to that question, click here.

Life In The Fast Lane

Today, Clay, my nephew Clint, and I decided to live life in the fast lane.

We decided to live a little wild.

We decided to live recklessly.

We decided to live on the edge.

We threw caution to the wind.

We let Corinn drive us around town.

Good Golly, Miss Molly!
Before we even started backing up, I told the boys to start praying. She couldn't remember where the gear shift was. Down the road Clay made a comment not related to prayers for safety. Clint and I both reminded him he was suppose to be praying.

We survived.

We are in one piece.

Just a few years scared out of us.

"Warrior for the Right"

Sometimes we receive news that simply takes our breath away. We met the Rhea family on our adoption road. Our lives were intertwined before we even met. They paved our adoption road in prayer before we knew we were on that road. We grieve for them. I ask for your prayers for them. Adrain Odell Porier

June 24, 1982 – May 31, 2008 “Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127:3-5 Our Sweet “Bubba” was tragically taken from us early Saturday morning by one he knew “needed to be redeemed”. Adrain was kind to the despised and reached out to the outcast. He was our precious, gentle, soft-spoken, tender, thoughtful son, brother, grandson, uncle, nephew, cousin, and friend. Truly a gift from our gracious Heavenly Father. Providentially, he was named after his great-grandfather, grandfather and father. His first name means “Warrior for the Right”. He was son to Randy Porier and Akemi Rhea and stepson to Bill Rhea. Brother to 13 siblings. His biological brothers, Shaun Porier, Kevin Porier and Robert Powers miss him dearly. He was step-brother to Josh Rhea and wife Evan Moore and step-brother to Adrienne Rhea. Adrain was instrumental in encouraging Bill and Akemi Rhea to adopt and will be deeply missed by his adopted brother John, and his adopted sisters, Elizabeth, Maly, Maggie, Serah, Catherine, Monichea and Frances. We praise our Great God and Savior, the Mighty Sovereign, our Deliver and Redeemer, the only Living and True God, Creator of all things, Comforter, Healer, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords for gifting Adrain to us for 25 years—just a breath. We look forward to our future embrace in Heaven where we will celebrate together, the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. We now rejoice in Him for his saving work in Adrain’s life and in ours. Thanks be to God! Amen. Because of Adrain’s heart for orphans, we ask that in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to the: Adrain Odell Porier Memorial Fund set up by Asian Hope, a ministry to Cambodian orphans. http://www.asianhope.org

Gas Prices

I used to put $5 worth of gas in my car.
It was a lot of gas.
Now I put 5 gallons of gas in my car.
It's a lot of money.

I get giddy when I see...

anything about new projects that Compassion International has started or joined.

The video is from Brant's blog.

I Keep Waiting...

Aaron helped the tambourine player with his science video for school. I have been laughing my head off. I asked Aaron how he kept a straight face. He said that he couldn't see Kurt's face or he would have lost it.

Life without internet...

The router went out for our internet. I've been officing out of our church building, using the wireless there. Our family has been going through severe internet withdrawal. It's amazing how much everyone uses it and how crippled we all feel. Saturday found me sitting on the porch of the church with my laptop searching for an address and directions to Donna's gig. Since it was in the 90's I didn't stay long.

One of the most frustrating things for me has been not being able to catch up on the blogs I read. So, as a favor to me I ask for everyone to stop posting until further notice! Just kidding, the new router should be here tomorrow. I think we're gonna throw a "New Router" party.