Happy Birthday Marcy

Today, is Marcy's birthday. I'm in Chicago, so I won't be spending it with her, but I wanted to post a little "I love you" for her. She's not only a fantastic mother, but the best wife. Her love for kids, all kids, is amazing. I'm proud to call her my wife. As we approach our tenth anniversary, I want to thank her for being there for me when I needed her, and for allowing me to travel the world. She stays home to care for the boys, but never complains, at least not to me:) She has to put up with me, my sense of humor (which isn't always appropriate)and my quirky ways. I picked out a few of my favorite pictures of her. I could have done with out the goofy dude that is in some of them, but the rest are good.









Through all the storms, know that I love you!

And finally, here best work ever.


I love you and happy birthday!

On my way

So I'm off to Chicago this afternoon to reconcile one of my warehouses. I'm taking Brian, my only current employee, for his first physical count. This particular warehouse has a lot of material, so we will be busy. I went to the airport yesterday to pick up our rental car. I always seem to show up just as 5 planes have landed and everyone on the planes needs a car, and they all use Hertz. The couple in front of me had 1/2 hour to prepare for their turn, but when it arrived, still needed to have a 5 minute conversation on which credit card they should use. I was just about to reach over the woman's shoulder and pull one of the many she had visible, when they settled on one of the 2 American Express cards I could see. Then, they need each step explained to them, the charges, the damage form and the insurance, oh the insurance. If you have ever rented a car, and listened to the insurance sales pitch, now imagine that you asked for a detailed explanation on each different coverage. You can see where that might take a minute or 20. Then, on top of that, they didn't speak very good English AND they wanted to chat up the lady behind the desk, who was on her own I might add. There is road rage and now there is line rage. Let's go people, I have a life. I spent this morning getting the pool ready for my absence and packing for the trip. The good thing is, I get to wear jeans and t-shirts for the next three days. Amazing what little things make me happy. Hopefully, this trip to Chitown, I won't blow through any toll booths or do anything that may cause me to make the papers. And pray the warehouse is in better shape than I fear it is.

Let me be clear.

I just realized something, and it was bothering me, so I wanted to clear it up, even if I am the only one who picked up on this. I have written about me trip to Africa. I tried to paint a small picture of what we did, but I realized that most of my posts dealt with the animals, housing, food and fun that we had. Make no mistake, I was there to serve the kids of Molatane, the people of the area and the church whose land we built on. I was there to serve God, pure and simple. I just don't want anyone, especially those of you who so generously donated to this trip, to think that you gave so I could have an awesome vacation in Africa. You did, and I did, but that is not the reason I went. I can tell you as a matter of fact, that the rest of my team felt the same way. I specifically remember having the discussion with Chad after our first day, with a not so impressive build result, that we would skip all extra activities, (shopping, animal drives, walks) and work, to be sure we finished the houses. I have to say that the trip was so much more than I had ever dreamed. Chad and I discussed the animals we "might" see on a regular basis, but we both knew the real reason to go. I don't want to speak for Chad, but I'm positive I know his heart when it comes to this subject. Once I spent a few days with the rest of the team, I know with 100% certainty, they would have passed on everything else as well. I hope none of you had the wrong impression, I'm guessing you didn't, but like I said, needed to get it off my chest. If I try to do this again, I'll have to ask for help. Marcy and I are in no financial position to pay for an entire trip on our own. I'm not sure if I wrote about this or not, but I had a friend talk to me about mission trips that leave the area and how they are paid for. His thought was, why don't you keep the money local and serve people here? I agree that we need to take care of our "own," but the big picture is, there is hurt all over the world and why are we, as Americans, more important than 16 kids in Africa? If I can find enough people who believe in what I am doing, and want to send me, shouldn't I go? I'm guessing my friend doesn't listen to God either, or at least not on the big things He is trying to tell him. I respect my friend and his opinion, but I dis-agree. So now I have to decide if I want to hit everyone one up for money again, or do I just wait for a different opportunity. Plus, I have El Paso in Feb. and I have asked Marcy to try and go with me. I'd love for her to spend time with my Mission Rio Grande family (the mission was renamed to reflect our service to the area, not just Juarez or El Paso)and to see what God is doing through our church to help His children. Rio Grande is my true love, the trip I will always do, but Africa pulled on my heart a lot. I hope my pictures have done a little justice to what we saw, but to be there was mind blowing. Our first morning walk, Chad and I got up early, not wanting to waste a moment we were in Africa. We both commented, "We're in FREAKING AFRICA!" Our first breakfast was on a patio, in 40 degree weather, in FREAKING AFRICA! Day one, I went for a walk and saw a FREAKING GIRAFFE! Are you shitting me, the best I see in Iowa is a freaking deer and that is usually just because it ran out in front of me and I almost killed it and my family. It's like a FREAKING KUDU running out in front of you, but in FREAKING AFRICA! This wasn't a game park in Orlando, Florida, owned by Disney. No, this is FREAKING AFRICA, created by God. OK, sorry for all the freaking, but that was the excitement in my head. Still is.

New kind of house.

I think I may have mentioned that Doc Blessman is considering a change of building materials from the Abod's to actual blocks. The machine is made by an Iowa company, Vermeer, and it compresses dirt and a little concrete mix and water to form these blocks. Here is an article explaining the machine far better than I could. I received an email from Doc the other day, and he is leaning this way. He has been working with Entebini, the park we saw the lions at, to use their machines, they have 2, to build the blocks and build the next homes. He is also working on getting a pre-school built in Polokwane, which is where I think we went shopping, but I'm not 100% sure on my African town names. I'm anxious to see what comes of all of this. The bricks have to cure, according to the article, for a minimum of 7 days, but it appears 28 days is optimal. That would mean 2 teams would have to work on this, a month apart, or labor would have to be hired to either form the bricks or build. We'll see where God leads.

Nice to have a ref on my side, for once.

I play a game with the boys where we take a rubber ball, the size of a volleyball, and Makiah and I kick it as high as we can to each other. Mason has decided that he will award points, depending on the performance of the kick, catch or objects struck by the ball, he calls himself the ref. I think he might be a bit biased. My point totals are anywhere from 1,000 to 12,000 per kick. Makiah, on the other hand, gets a point range of 12 to 18 per kick. Seems to be a slight difference. Damn Russian judge.

First to die!!!!!!

Now that I am back and have had a chance to settle back into the routine of life, I've had a chance to reflect on my trip to Africa. I was amazed at the beauty of the area we were in. It wasn't that I didn't think Africa was going to be beautiful, but the mountains in the area were awesome, way different than I had imagined. The drives every morning to the work site were filled with views of God's incredible creation and some of his critters that you just don't see in Iowa. There were several days that we would see baboon sitting on the side of the road, like we would see raccoon in the US. The first one I saw was a quick glimpse from the "first to die" seat, a lone baboon running down the side of a hill just off the road. I mentioned this seat in an earlier post, thought I would explain the title. On our first morning drive to the work site, Terry (seen here with Krista in the "First to die seat"),
our fearless leader, was chauffeuring us on a foggy morning. I was trying to soak in the sites of Africa, but also keep my breakfast down on our hilly drive at speeds that aren't recommended for a 1986 VW bus. I'm not aware of a turbo option on a VW bus, but this thing must have had one. Terry drove this thing like he was at the Indianapolis 500, which I have a little knowledge of seeing as how I lived right by the track for several years. He made the kombi fly up and down these hills, hugging corners and scarring our Missions Director, who was in the truck waaaaaaay behind us and giving us a lot more to look at than just the nature sights. I happen to be in this famed seat on this first morning and man was it foggy out. This didn't slow down Terry Andretti (Indy reference), he acted like he didn't even notice. He was passing cars like they were standing still and doing his best, it appeared, to loose the other vehicles in our convoy. When you are leading a line of vehicles, and you are the only one who knows where you are going, try not to ditch the other vehicles in your line. Don't run yellow lights, don't weave in and out of traffic, and please, please, please don't pass semi trucks on a hill, on a curve on a really foggy morning. Terry did, thus giving the passenger seat the name "first to die." I love Terry and I gained a new respect for his driving, later, much later, but this morning, I damn near wet myself, this time it wasn't laughter. I looked back at my co near death participants and they all seemed to have a wide eyed view of how close we were to meeting God on that very day. I wouldn't mind meeting God, but in a VW bus, in Africa, with baboons nearby to rip the flesh off my body wasn't how I pictured my last moments. It would have made an awesome obituary though. How many have you seen written up as death by baboon? We have had cancer deaths in my family, old age, but you get a baboon mentioned in your obit, people are going to remember you. Too morbid? Sorry. That same day, I was again in the "FTD" seat when Terry was trying to text while driving. We were 10 feet away from rear ending a car that had slowed for a speed bump when I said "Terry." I said it calmly, but I tell you now, I was a bit frightened. I will say, the rest of the week was either uneventful on the driving front, or we built an immunity to it. Oh, we did side swipe a fence pulling into the work area, but that seemed so trivial compared to the near flaming death on the foggy morning, I nearly forgot. On another, more important front, I still have the picture of the kids that will be living in the houses in my mind. Here it is.


I received an email from one of the people I went with. He had asked the names of the kids chosen to live in the house, here are some of them, you tell me if you see something in common.

Melita Tale female 13 years old
Thapelo Tale male 14 years old
Seilo Tale male
Nono Tale male 3 years old
Thabo Moomi male *special needs

Seems to be a lot of Tale kids. Appears that this is a family that has to grow up with just each other, no parents. I hope the houses we built, plus the great work that Blessman ministries is doing to educate, feed and care for these kids, can show these kids that they are loved. We may not be their parents, but they can always count on God to be there for them, he is our Father, all of us no matter where we are from. Just looking at this list and this picture, how could I not want to go back? How could anyone?

Check it out

Hopefully you can find the picture of us on the DSM Register site.