Honduras 2008

OK, so I couldn't goad anyone into commenting on "The Shack". I'm surprised...but that's fine. I'm not sure anyone reads this anyway.

So, I've already put out the press release that I won't be in Hondo this summer, and it looks like it's catchy....Here are a few other notables that won't be down....

Judy Mitchell - knocked up and sweaty

Brett Mitchell - questionable

Leslie (Lester) Woods - getting hitched

Nate Reeves - will be hitched and whipped by then

Rudolfo Herrera - workin' for da' man

Joel Davis - Added one more to the Davis herd

It's looking like the "new breed" is going to have to step it up and take over.
The vets are joining adulthood (well, some of you), having kids, getting married, etc.

Pretty soon it'll be old man Reeves, his ever-present sidekick, GiGi (gee-gee), and a whole group of fetus'....did I spell that correctly...is it feti, fetusses?

Anyway...

Everone have a safe and happy holiday, Merry Christmas to all, and have a great start to the new year.

Peas Owt

The Shack

So, I'm reading this book. I'm enjoying it. I've read some of the criticism by outspoken religious leaders. I understand their point of view. I agree with it...if someone had been writing a non-fiction book. This is a fictional story people!! Why do people get all hot under the collar when someone offers a different perspective than what they've always been told? Why is it wrong to envision God as a black woman? If that's what it takes to shake you (me) from this tiny box that I put God in, old white man, with a beard, then bring it on. At the end of the day (book), do I still believe Jesus died for my salvation and was resurrected? Heck yes! Do I now have a more tangible view on what it may mean to love and what it could be like to have God dwell within you in complete intimacy? Heck yes!! Do I have a tiny bit of understanding of the Holy Spirit....well...not so much...BUT am I headed down to the local Universal Church to pledge membership? .....Ummmm, no. Once again....Fiction. I appreciate those that stand guard over the watering down of our principal biblical teachings. Just keep in mind....the guys isn't trying to rewrite the bible.

OK....bring it on...let me have it....

Decision Time

.....well....not quite yet, but inevitable. I'm leaning toward not returning to Honduras next summer. I know, I know....don't cry...it'll be OK. I've been thinking about it for the last 2 years, and as much as serving in Honduras means to me, my family comes first. Both Jaxon and Kaia are in school full time now. My wife just returned to work nearly full time, changing the dynamic that has existed for the last 6 or so years. We're going to need to go on a family vacation together in the summer. For the last 4 or 5 years, she and the kids have traveled to Indiana to visit with family while I went to Honduras. And it worked out well. She wasn’t home alone with the kids for 12 days and was able to do lots of fun things with my babies. But there in lies the problem. I missed out on all those neat trips to the Zoo, and to visit old friends, and hangout with family, etc. Not for MY entertainment, but to share those experiences with my kids. They are growing like weeds, and it’s scary to think about but we’re already 6 ½ years into this chapter of our lives, and we only have 12 years to go. We’re 1/3 the way through parenthood!! That’s unreal!! And the major formidable years are right now!! I’ve got to take advantage of every opportunity possible, before they slip away. This morning, before I left for work, I asked Jaxon to give me a hug so I could go. He climbed up in my lap, wrapped his arms and legs around me and just squeezed….and squeezed. I was touched. It made me think…that now matter how deep our relationship grows as he matures, there won’t be too many more opportunities for that to happen. Before I know it, he’ll be “too big” to be sitting on my lap, or kiss me in front of his friends, or whatever. Same thing for Kaia. She’s already so independent and she’s only 5!! I’m rambling….point is…I want to experience things with my wife and kids, together, as a family, not in a youth group environment, and the best time to take a long trip is in the summer, when work is slow and they are off school. There is an outside chance that I may go for 5 days or so, but that remains to be seen. I’ll still be the recruiter/point man for the area, keep my seat on the TORCH board (until they pry it from my cold, dead hands), and support the ministry in every way. That’s all for now. You can send your tear-soaked tissues to me @ bmcooper21@comcast.net

Post...just to post...

I'm sitting here waiting on an electrician to....well, I'm not really sure what he's doing. But I was sent here to help, so here I'll sit.
SonQuest is this weekend! I always look forward to this event. Not only is it a great weekend to develop better relationships with the teenagers in our youth group, but since it's one of the major events, lots of people that I've connected with in Honduras make it down for the weekend from all over the Southeast, so that's cool. If you're reading this, I hope you've already got your plans made and are ready to go! If not, you'll miss out on a great spiritually invigorating weekend.
Gotta jet...the electrician is ready for me. Peas!

Espadas

So....how lame and disrespectful was it for Lester and Terry to quit mid-game in their semi-final spades match against the former champion, Mark Hendrickson and his Labatts' drinkin, mullet wearin, hockey lovin' partner, Mr. Brett Mitchell? The excuse...."it's too late...it will take us another hour to finish the game". Are you totally kidding? Seriously? Here's two things wrong with that rational.

1. If they could actually play up to the level that they had professed to be able to play AT, the game shouldn't have taken as long as it had!! They each had like 8 bags and 150 points!! Were they bidding blind? No wonder the game was taking so long, they had probably gone back 100 points for bags already and were getting ready to roll again!!

2. Colby and I still had to play the championship game ANYWAY!! No one should have given up and gone to bed. They think that because they were "ahead" when they QUIT, that it was a victory for them. WRONG!! At one point (and only one point) Colby and I were behind in a game, adn came back. There is nothing to say that Terry and Lester would have remained on top...especially at the rate they were going!!

Poor form!! Boooooo....BOOOOOOO!! We shall settle this somehow. But don't think for a moment that this in any way or shape reflects on our championship. We dominated from beginning to end and hopefully silenced all those who spoke otherwise. We'll take on anyone at any time and crush them...except our wives...doggone it!! They beat us everytime!! Oh well....

The rooster would look good on my mantle (if I had a fireplace).

Viva El Campeones!!!

Rays - v - Sox

That's my BOY!! He's an idiot for swinging with his milion $$ hand, but he's got stones!!

And then there is me....

Honduras Thoughts and Preparations - Chapter 1

Who is totally bummed that we won't be flying directly into Tegucigalpa anymore? That was my roller coaster ride for the year! Since I have young children, Busch Gardens hasn't been on my list of priorities in the last couple of years, so this was my thrill ride!! Any flight that it's common to cheer after touching down is one to look forward to. Don't get me wrong at all...I am truly saddened by the loss of humanity due to the recent crash. That being said, I'm all for landing @ Toncontin again, rolling the dice a little. Let's be honest...what we do is already dangerous. We take American (insert naive and spoiled) teenagers, college students and able-bodied adults, most of who have never been out of the country (cruises to Mexico and the Carribean do NOT count) and take them to desperate, economically depressed countries, with a pocket full of Monopoly money. Only thru God's grace and favor has nothing horrible happened! Might as well throw some whip cream on top!! Anywho....

I'm getting really ready to go. I went through my clothes last night and put together most of the clothes I'll be bringing down. Every year I say that I'm going to leave the clothes that I bring down, there, but I never do. I spend the money to wash them and then I bring them home, wash them again, and stick them in the top of the closet until I get around to going through them and throwing out the ones that were permanently stained by the "poop mud" (BTW, I hate that term. It was funny the first time, but now, not so much) or blood, shed by The Carpet, when we did battle for the mighty spoon!! This usually happens 11 months and 1 week after I come back. Needless to say, I have 2 trash bags of clothes going to Goodwill today, and that doesn't include the stuff I had to throw away. Did I mention that we got a store called Steve and Barry's? Everything is $9!! Needless to say, I bought a few things and had to clean out the old closet!! Mind you, this was not an impulse buy. I've last some more weight, and had to get rid of the 38" waisted shorts and XXL t-shirts, and move into the 34" shorts and XL shirts. No offense to those of you wearing 38" shorts, I'm just over it. Even after I got rid of all of those clothes, I still have 15 t-shirts to bring!! That's just ridiculous!! Imelda Marcos thinks I have too many t-shirts (yes, I know her passion was shoes, but you get the idea).

I'm going to try and pack very light this year...not quite as light as Terry (1 bag for every occasion), but light. Have you seen Terry's suitcase? Doesn't matter if it's a weekend or 3 weeks, it's the same Alabama duffel bag. I think you can fit 1 large towel in there...I'm not sure how he does it, but he's always got what he needs. It's inconceivable!!

That's all for now. Hopefully more as we get closer. Pray that Bubba get's her job straightened out before Hondo. It's gonna be awfully hard to be the International Spades Champion from NashVegas. Later.

Peer Pressure

Apparently, I've been negligent in my blogging, so here is an update for those scoffers who say this is not an actual blog.

Trust - What is it going to take for me to trust? To trust that He will be faithful. Faithful in providing us what we need to do the work He's commanded us to do. If we are obedient, He will be faithful. Even when we doubt, He's faithful!! I know this already!! What is my problem? I've been totally sweating these fund raisers for Hondo this year. I'm convinced that we aren't going to be able to raise enough $$ to even meet our "required" $150 per person budget. The bills keep mounting. Terry is freaking out about the price of goods, wood, fuel, etc. Everyone is feeling the financial crunch. Donations are down. People are out of a job or in financial distress. And I'm caught up in the middle of it, trying to shoulder the responsibility of making us reach the goal. Why, why, why? Didn't He already tell me..."My yoke is easy...My burden is light...let ME carry it"? I have to learn to EXPECT God to come through, because HE already SAID HE WOULD!!! But I have to do my part FIRST. I have to give it over to Him. Not some of it, not most of it...ALL OF IT. Oh Ye of little faith. It was going to cost us $300 to rent the facility for our Skate and Praise Night. While this is not a huge amount, its still 60 people that need to walk thru the door for us to cover our overhead. God worked thru one of our missionaries and....it's been taken care of. Just like that! The employer of one of our ladies stepped up and covered the costs. "Ummmm....hello....God here....yeah...I'm working here....please get you, and your pride, out of my way so I can work in yours and the lives of other people involved" Is this a miracle? No. Does God say that if we have a financial need, he'll send us one big fat check? No. Is this God saying "I plan on involving MANY people in this ministry, not just 1, and each will have a small part in helping accomplish the goal"? Yup!! Praise God for being faithful, even when I'm not, and gently (sometime not so gently) scolding me when I forget what he's already told me.

Coop

Thankfulness

I just want to stop and thank God for being faithful. Prayers have been lifted regarding my need for compassion. God has really been working on my heart and I'm able to recognize some of the situations where...in the past I would make a snap judgment about someone who may look..less desirable or just different than me, and miss the opportunity to either minister to them or help meet a need, or just pray for them. I'm starting to take advantage of those opportunities. I'm trying to be mindful of the blessings He's given me and my family and be a better steward of those blessings. If that means using the health and strong back he's given me to push a truck down the road and get it out of harms way, instead of driving by and assuming someone else will help, then that's what I need to do. I want my instinct to be to serve, and not have to wage that war in my head before I respond out of love and compassion. I'm not sure I've stayed on topic or not, but I think I'm done for now.

Peas owt!!
Ben

“The 21st Time“

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, I changed all of the presets in my work vehicle from various stations to just 2 stations. Both are the local Christian music stations. Now, don't think this is me looking down my nose at secular music. I grew up on jut about every style of music available, even some OLD country...but I just wanted to try and immerse myself in positive music. FOr the last 6 months or so, all I've been listening to at work was old school rap (early 80's to early 90's). Not exactly inspiring or thought provoking!! So I'm still in the middle of this experiment, and I'm not really even sure what I'm expecting to happen...I just know that, to change my focus, I need to breakout from "the norm"...no offense to Norm. The point is, I know God's timing is perfect, and he puts in our path, the thing we need most or what he knows we need most, and for me, it's been a song by “Monk and Neagle” called “The 21st Time “. I won't tell you the story of the song, you'll need to hunt down the video on YouTube and check it out. It's about something I've been struggling with for....well....forever....compassion.

com·pas·sion /kəmˈpæʃən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kuhm-pash-uhn] - a deep awareness of and sympathy for another''s suffering

When I see someone suffering, I'm compelled to help, but maybe not in the way that they need help. I'm a "fixer" by nature, so my tendency is to try and "fix" that person or fix the problem. Then, they (and I) don't have to actually deal with the underlying issues. It's not that I don't care, it's that when you get involved in people's lives....it can get messy....really messy. The struggle within me is to fight the urge to say "I'm too busy". Letting the Spirit lead me, on His time table - not mine, grinds on me cuz I'm a schedule oriented guy. To be late because I might have stopped and helped someone is noble.....but man...I'm still late!! It's a control thing. I'm a controller. Controlling. Pray for me.

I think I've strayed far enough from the point that I'll close with these words of wisdom............Just kidding....I don't have anything thought provoking to say....I'm just an A/V service tech!! But God loves me.

Peas and Carrots
Ben

The title...

Why start this blog without a simple explanation of the title....So here goes.

I've been in this small group (and I do mean small) with an awesome guy. We meet every (well, almost) Thursday evening @ 9pm, sit on his back porch, spit sunflower seeds, munch popcorn and just be honest with each other.

There is a short list of questions well go thru and answer honestly. This is not a "truth-or-dare" type thing. There's an accountability aspect to it, but it's more than that (to me). We talk about the real things that Christian men deal with on a daily/hourly/minutely basis. If you are a guy ages...hmmm....12 to 90...you know what I'm talking about. Integrity, Honesty, Fear, Pride, Purity, Witnessing, Prayer, Family...did I miss any?

So anyway, the blueprint for this comes from some book, I have no idea what it's called. The group is called a "Life Transformation Group". Thus, the title of this blog....I know, I know...sheer genius.

I've been involved for maybe 8 or 9 months now and the first...I don't know...8 months.....I was just kinda in cruise control. I had revealed some pretty shameful stuff, but hadn't really felt any "life transformation". All it really did was give me guilt!! Thursday was my Italian grandmother!! But the last 2 weeks or so, God has really gotten up in my face and prompted me to examine my life and my walk with Him.

That's all I'll reveal for now...I don't want to tell the whole story the first time!!

Peas and Carrots
Ben