A house (if that’s what you call it) just outside the dump. We visited with an older woman and a young girl who lived here. In contrast to the filth, flies and smell were their beautiful smiles.

During the Jesus Banquet, people had the opportunity to come over and pick out some new (nearly new) shoes. By the end of the day, there wasn’t one single pair of shoes left.

This was at a house build. Very rarely do you build a house that a dozen or so little kids don’t come to watch. Haley came prepared for the kids. This was her second trip to Honduras and she has quickly become an expert at loving on little Honduran kids. She and others passed out little toys, candy and painted little girls finger nails.

In the bible, Jesus was unafraid to touch a leper even if it made him unclean.  The leper needed healing, but he also needed the physical touch that Jesus gave. This was Sawyer’s first trip to Honduras, and he sure reminded me of Jesus. Sawyer was unconcerned about the filth and smell of this little boy who lives at the dump … he just wanted to be his friend.

This is not a very good picture, but it’s a heart-breaking picture. Everyday a line forms at the gate of the Casa de Esparanza. Why the line? They’ve come with the same request … “We need a house to live in. Please build us a house.” Please pray for the poor of Honduras.

My friend, Troy Bradford, went with us on this trip. He is an amazing photographer. If you get time, you may want to check out his pictures.

Tomorrow I’m going to show you an AMAZING way to spend $1000.

My friend Randy

I do my best to describe what a trip to Honduras is like. I share on this blog stories and pictures of things that have touched us in ways so deep that we’ll forever be affected by then. As hard as I try, I’ll NEVER be able to fully explain what a trip to Honduras is really like without you personally experiencing it. It’s something you must feel, experience and see for yourself.

I brought 27 people with me to Honduras this week and 23 of them were first-timers. Nearly everyone of those first-timers have told me in one way or another, “This week has been truly amazing. I know you tried, but there was just no way to describe to us all of what we were going to see and feel, was there?” I told them there wasn’t, it’s just something you have to personally experience and when you do you fall in love being the hands and feet of Jesus.

Randy (pictured above) has made both trips with me this year. He’s been affected by Honduras and he’s allowed God to use his life in incredible ways. This year he’s used every drop of his vacation from work to go serve in Honduras. That’s just one of the many reasons he’s one of my heroes.

This morning I sat down with my good friend Marc Tindall, who makes all this possible, and we worked out all the details on my summer 2011 trip. I sure wish you’d seriously consider coming with me this summer to experience Honduras for yourself. In the next couple of weeks I’ll give you all the details on the summer trip.

In the meantime I’ll do my best to describe to you on this blog what we’re doing and how it’s affected us … but my words will fall way short of what it’s really like. Simply put …. Honduras is something you have to experience firsthand.

So how about the summer of 2011? Come be affected by Honduras.

It’s cold this morning. It’s been cold every morning and evening this week. We were totally unprepared for this kind of weather. I’m wearing my last pair of clean shorts, yes shorts. That’s because my only pair of jeans, that would be a little warmer, are filthy. So I sit here with 3 shirts on and my hands wrapped around a hot cup of coffee waiting for the sun to warm things up to the 70′s today.

Yesterday was amazing. We went and build a new house for a young mom and dad who have four children. One of the amazing things was this family had no idea they were getting a house at all until we showed up in their doorstep yesterday with the wood.
The house they were living in wasn’t a house at all, it was more like a shed. The front door wasn’t a door at all, but a towel that hung over the opening. Their tiny house was more like what we’d keep our tools & a mower in.

While we worked, kids from the neighborhood showed up. We handed out candy, toys and clothes. Some of the ladies painted the little girls fingernails (I show you pictures later).

The dad (in picture) was so excited when we showed up. He worked harder than anyone from start to finish. When we finished we all went inside to prayed. We asked God to bless this house, this family and John Helm, who we were building the house in honor of.

More later today …

Yesterday was an amazing day. I’m sorry I didn’t post this last night, we were all flat worn out. We were on the road yesterday by 5:30 am and picking up trash around feeding area by 6:30.

It was a full day of serving people … hungry, dirty people. Marc Tindall guessed that we served around 1200. The wind blew out of the right direction to constantly bring the pungent smell of the dump. After being on our feet all day we finished last night about dark. We were tired, sunburned and ready to rest.

Thanks for praying for our amazing day. I’ll include more pictures when I get home. Blogging on my Blackberry makes it tough (and expensive) to include pictures. (In the picture, a proud dad sharing a plate of food with his son. Dad’s wearing a new shirt that was given to him earlier that day.)

For those who have family working in Honduras this week, they are all doing well. You should be proud of how hard they have worked. They’ll return home with lots of stories, pictures and excitement. Thanks for letting them come.

Today we will build the John Helm Victory House. John is a Childress man, father of 3 and dedicated husband. About 3 months ago John got a staph infection that tried to take his life, and did get part of his body. Despite doctors saying he probably wouldn’t live, he has. He’s now a few weeks away from getting to come home. So today, in honor of John’s victory we build a house for a family that desperately needs one. Pictures later of the house.

We arrived this morning at 6 am to pick up trash around the area we would be serving the Jesus Banquet today. No one needs to have a banquet for dump people in an area that’s trashy.

The tables are ready, people are arriving, but the food has yet to get here (typical Honduras).

Picture was taken moments ago. A fire burns in the dump just behind where we’re going to serve.

More later.

I don’t speak Spanish and Hondurans don’t speak English, but we do speak the language of love. Today we spoke love. Today we spoke touch. Today we spoke the language of smiles. We spent time this afternoon in a little village just north of the capital city playing with sweet Honduran kids. We played soccer, [...]

Just wanted you let you know that we arrived safely in Teguc Honduras. Our plane landed perfectly on the 2nd shortest major runway in the world. The thunderous applause by everyone after the plane landed was a new touch. I’ll keep you informed on our trip several times a day.

I’m leaving for Honduras tomorrow, but before I go I wanted to give you an update on our Extreme Home Makeover project that we’re calling the “Augment Project.” We’ve made great progress on the house so far. When we started we were hoping to be done by spring, but everyone has kicked in and we’re [...]

A few days ago we did a post for the wives (“10 Things Your Wife Would Love”), so here’s one for the husbands too. Marriage isn’t about having a trophy mate, but having a trophy marriage. If you get any of these things for your husband this Christmas, you’re sure to get a thumbs up. [...]

  Here are a few things I bet your wife would like for Christmas, Valentines Day or any other special occasion. These are not things you would find in the Black Friday ads or 20% off at the department store, but I can promise you that your wife will love any of them this Christmas. [...]

My blog turns 5 years old today. I can’t believe I’ve stuck with this for five whole years. With Facebook and other places to share your thoughts, sometimes I wonder why I’m still blogging, but for now, I am.  I’d like to give a shout-out to a handful of people… Thank you to those who [...]

Yesterday was “fill-a-sack” Sunday. We shared a LOT of bags of groceries with those in the Childress community who could use one. I love the church in Childress and the way it serves the community.

“I want to de-clutter my life from material things!” ~ Me I love my Monday night bible study group. Every week a group of twenty-or-so people show up for a bible study at my house. For the past few weeks we’ve been talking about what God says about material things. We’ve talked about verses like [...]

Here are a few random things roaming around in my mind this morning… 11 months out of the year, I don’t lock the doors on my pickup when I’m at church. Reason? After church this Sunday morning someone had left a loaf of fresh bread sitting in my seat. YES!  FYI: I do lock my [...]

When I was young, my mom regularly told me to pray for wisdom. When I left home for the first time, every letter she sent me closed with this line, “And, don’t forget to pray for wisdom – Love Mom.” She’s a wise woman and she knew that true wisdom never stops learning. As I [...]

I love hearing about marriages that have lasted through the years. Long marriages always remind me how much more I still have left to experience in my own marriage and they anchor me in my own marriage. I see them and it helps me to say, “They’ve made it, we can too.” I want a [...]

How many times have you been asked, “Where is your church?” I know I hear that question all the time. Just yesterday when someone found out I was a minister, they said, “So where is your church?” But church isn’t about a location. So many of us associate the church with a place and not [...]

Went on my first deer hunting trip this morning with my buddy Randy Allen. We saw an amazing sunrise and some beautiful deer. I really enjoyed the trip …. well, most of it. Everything was cool except when Randy felt the need to cover our scent by whipping out a bottle of raccoon urine, and spraying the [...]

A couple days ago Lea mentioned seeing a “cute outfit” in one of the local clothing stores while having coffee with her friend, Glenna. Yesterday, without telling Lea, I sent Glenna a text message and asked her if she had any clue which outfit Lea was talking about. She did and agreed to meet me [...]

I think God’s got a huge sense of humor; why else would he put polar opposites in families. Our four boys are so different from one another. We have a couple who are strong-willed. One that is laid-back. Some who are VERY outgoing and another that will do anything to avoid the spotlight. Every person [...]

Sermon preparation is always an interesting thing. Ministers are always thinking, looking and studying for things that “would preach.” I’ve often thought how nice it would be if God just somehow “beamed” down the sermon wanted me to preach each week. That got me to thinking (scary, I know). If God sent me a message [...]

My favorite body wash and shampoos are those that are the cheapest. Yes, I’ll admit, I’m cheap when it comes to shampoos and such. I don’t need expensive name brands when the cheap stuff works just as well. This week when I ran out of body wash, I asked Lea to pick some up for [...]

The World Series starts tonight and for those who follow baseball, you may have noticed that the Texas Rangers often flash a “claw” or “antlers” sign when they do something good. I’ve had a lot of people ask me, “What are the antlers and claw signs that the Rangers do?” Whether you think it’s juvenile [...]

Last night I asked Lea to come and sit down so we could talk. She did and said, “What is it?” I said as serious as I could, “I need to know, what’s a better night for you and I to go to a World Series game, Saturday or Sunday?” I think she knew there [...]

I’ve mentioned before that part of my daily reading schedule is the book of Proverbs. I read the chapter of Proverbs that corresponds with the date. For example, today is October 25th, so I read Proverbs chapter 25. That allows me to read through the book of Proverbs every month. I found it interesting that [...]

Little red beans are the main staple source of protein in Honduras. Heavy rains this summer have destroyed the bean crops and caused a food crisis in Honduras. This really hurts the poor because the shortage has caused the price to go 5 times higher than they were last year, and there are some places [...]

My friend Erin is a single college girl. The other day I applauded her Facebook status that said something along the lines of, “I do not base my self-worth upon dating lots a guys. I don’t have to constantly be dating someone, to be someone.” She is 100% right, and I love her maturity. She [...]

God’s plan to save you and I wasn’t a last minute ditch effort. It wasn’t drawn up in the sand like some hail-mary to pull out a win at the end. No, the Father’s plan to save you and I was a perfectly planned out event that came to be LONG before the world was even [...]

Many of you have heard me mention my friend Marc Tindall before. Marc is the missionary in Honduras that I work with and a very special person in my life. Marc has started regular blogging on is ministry in Hondruas. I am always touched by Marc’s posts, but the one this morning really got to [...]

A group of ladies from church put these three boxes together. They weighed 66, 69 and 35 pounds. Inside these boxes are 58 individual bags of Christmas goodies for the dump kids in Honduras. I’ll be blessed to be a part of a group this December that gets to hand these goodies out to the [...]

John Paul Helm: A couple months ago my friend John had a staph infection take over his body that almost cost him his life. This young father of three has spent several weeks of being on a ventilator. He’s lost a leg and a large portion of his skin. He’s yet to get out of [...]

Last Monday we ordered tickets for the Texas Rangers playoff game that took place on Saturday.  Lea and I couldn’t wait to tell the boys we’d be going. All week long we talked about how much fun we were going to have as a family. I couldn’t wait to make some more memories as a family.  I [...]

For the last half of my life I’ve lived in communities with a population under 7,000.  There are both advantages and disadvantages to living in a small town. I personally think that the pros outweigh the cons. Here are a few things I love about living in a small town… I love that in a [...]

Augment: Our “Extreme Home Makeover” here in Childress is coming along nicely. Read about it here and here. This week we’re hoping the new electricity, plumbing & heat/air will all be done. The house is totally gutted and we’re ready to do something other than demolition. Soon we’ll be starting windows, roof and floors. Everyday [...]

I laughed when I read, “The only perfect thing in marriage is the airbrushed wedding photo.” Boy is that true. There will never be a perfect marriage because it’s made up of two imperfect people,but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a great marriage. Great marriages take work and knowing the facts. Don’t get sucked [...]