You moved me where?

I just glanced at the date of my last post and realized just how much has happened since last June.  It was about that time that I began speaking with the fine people associated with FBC in Artesia.  Little did I know then that the plant in my front flower bed that I had to dig up due to a plumbing issue in McKinney would end up being a Yucca plant… a real clue as to what was to about to unfold in my life.  It just so happens that the Yucca is the state plant/flower of New Mexico.  And if you follow the progression here, New Mexico is our new home.  Complete coincidence?  Yes, but can we at least refer to it as foreshadowing in the narrative of my life’s story?

We have just about landed in Artesia, New Mexico.  I won’t say that we have completely settled because our stuff is still in storage on a trailer somewhere in North Texas as we wait for our home to be built.  So no, we aren’t home just yet because I don’ t have all my clothes, files, etc.  Thankfully our house sold in just over a week and that my family is here with me.  It was a rough fall given that I was commuting and didn’t see my family except for once every 10-12 days.  Not fun… The boys have come to know this place as home, and it amazes me just how adaptable little children can be.  

We have found this quaint little town in SE New Mexico to be full of wonderful people and promise.  The church, too, fits that description and I look forward to going to work each day.  It has been a lesson in patience at times, and a lesson in discovery daily.  Though this community could easily pass as a West Texas town, yet it still has a distinctive New Mexican feel. 

As I have time, I will continue to fill you in on life here in the high desert/oil field region of Southeast New Mexico.  I promise it will be raw, honest and filled with humor.

Continuing on a similar vein…

On a good run of material relating to healthy application of the Gospel… just another good piece of clarity of how human-defined morals aren’t the answer to life’s trials.  

Dechurched… Thanks Shappy

I think the church in the Bible Belt has a HUGE challenge before it… detoxing ‘believers’ and reorienting them towards the Gospel. 

Swallow that comment

Ever thought something about church, Christianity, religion, etc. and was too afraid to voice it?  An innovative blogger asked this question some time ago and is now posing it again.  Read the responses here.

Yellow Joy in Africa

If joy was a color, it would be yellow.

After living in South Africa for seven months, I experienced an overflow of joy in the yellowing eyes of my friend, Siyanda Mbebe.

Siya, as her friends call her, is a radiant, yet frail 28-year-old victim of HIV. She lives in The Dignity House, an around-the-clock hospice center, in the heart of balmy East London, South Africa.  MORE

Let’s all just slow down…

This photo was sent to me by my dear friend in West Texas.  Sometimes in life we are like this pigeon… flying at mach 3 just hoping that every “opening” is actually just that and not some mirage of freedom. Don’t let your pace today kill your judgment… apparently it terminated much more than that for this poor bird.