The only time I ever bought clothes for my children without a guardian present, I bought two dresses in Mobile – this one and a green one.
Actually, I bought the same dresses twice, for a special reason. Earlier that day my twin girls were born.
Little did I know how quickly they would outgrow them.
Today this dress – and the girls who wore it – turns 25. Time moves even faster now. But the love that filled my heart that July day is stronger than ever.
Happy Birthday, ladies. May you change your world as much as you’ve changed mine.
There’s an old colloquial saying in Thailand that has become something of a joke. Makes for a great t-shirt, too. When foreigners would travel to the Land of Smiles, and ask if this whatever was the same as the whatever where they came from, or the whatever from another part of the country or town, the standard reply was, “Same same, but different.”
Why do they have the same two kinds of markets sitting right next to each other? Same same, but different.
Are the people on the southern coast the same as the people in Chiang Mai or Bangkok? Same same, but different.
Do the cooks turn out that Thai cuisine they way their grandmothers did it? Same same, but different.
Today those who deal with the realities of change in this, the only nation in Asia never colonized, face great challenges and great opportunities. And yet, they hold on to a culture that is the friendliest form of fierce independence I have ever met. Same same, but different. [click to continue…]
Have a dream? A vision of what could be, if only…? Do you have a vision of something greater to come, which you passionately long for? This past Saturday night, on what was as much a holiday weekend in Thailand as it was in the U.S., a visionary, passionate Christian leader taught me a priceless lesson about how God brings vision to reality. Here’s how I described it, straight out of my journal.
Saturday night Dui and his wife Gift invited us to join them for what he called a home Bible study. Pastor Preecha and Nit joined us as well. When the van came to pick us up, it was already loaded with an army of others – Dui’s father and stepmother, brother and sister-in-law, and a couple of kids. As we made our way, we stopped at a roadside chicken roaster’s stand, where a woman had five cooked chickens on a rotissarie. Gift picked the best looking one, the middle one, and the lady whacked it off and gave it to her. That, Dui said, was going to be our dinner. [click to continue…]
Robin and I landed in Bangkok on Friday night local time. As we left the jetbridge, we noticed a beautiful Thai woman holding a sign with Robin’s name on it – the kind you usually see limosine drivers holding. This wasn’t at the street curb – she met us at the gate as we exited the plane.
She had some unfortunate news, she said. Robin’s suitacase didn’t make the transfer. We were to meet someone at Baggage Claim 21 for further instructions, she said.
We passed through customs, and there was another smartly-uniformed agent, again holding up a sign with Robin’s full name on it. We filled out all the paperwork (which means SHE filled out all the paperwork while my wife practiced her native Thai language and I tried to look humble).
Good news: The other two bags made it.
Bad news: The one with Robin’s hair care stuff didn’t.
Making the good news bearable: Somebody actually treated a passenger like a customer or an honored guest, and thought in advance about what OUR needs were. The bag will be delivered tonight, when we can tell them exactly where to bring it.
Hey, lost luggage happens. But has anybody ever printed YOU a limosine sign and displayed it at YOUR gate?
“What are you teaching them about?” my daughter asked – referring to our upcoming pastors and leaders training in Thailand.
“Leadership,” I said.
“Well, can I ask you something? Is there a way – I’m not sure how to say this – is there a way to ‘dumb down’ leadership training?”
My pause meant, “Keep going.”
“I have to train these fifth-and-sixth-grade leaders every day at FROG camp for about 30 minutes on being a leader, and I was wondering how I could explain biblical leadership on their level.”
I did a random brainstorm with her. Talked about David and Joshua and Paul and Jesus. Hurled out Bible passages like Joshua 1:1-9, 2 Timothy, 1 Peter 5:2-4, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. She said “thanks,” but I hung up with the feeling that I hadn’t “dumbed down” anything.
That got me to thinking later. I have a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership. I’ve spent years studying theories and models, biblical principles and best practices. But none of them – none – involved fifth- or sixth-graders.
Maybe we have it backwards. Rather than presuming to teach 11-year-olds all about leading, maybe we should try to learn some things from them. [click to continue…]
For Sale: Parachute. Only used once, never opened, small stain.
You and I were created in a stainless image. Our first parents appeared on the outside as what they were on the inside – innocent in the likeness of their Creator.
Then came the Stain.
Soiled and discolored, we instinctively knew something was wrong. We tried soaking it out and scrubbing it out. But the Stain never went away. Like silver is discolored simply by exposure to the air, we were forever tarnished by the choices we made, and those made upon us:
Passion stains. Anger stains. Gluttony stains. Pride stains. Fear stains. Rejection stains. Deception stains.
Our buddy Tim Hawkins is back with a new DVD, “I’m No Rockstar” – a 90-minute combination of stand-up, acoustic guitar comedy, and “rock star moments.” You can order it, along with his other awesome stuff, here. Meanwhile, here’s a hilarious tribute to the place where cows encourage you to “Eat Mor Chikin.”
“The time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way” (John 4:23)
For centuries Christians have broken fellowship and broken God’s heart in the name of worship. We have argued over form, anguished over the opinions of others, and attacked those who looked or acted differently. Meanwhile in Heaven, the search goes on…
When you can sit at the feet of Jesus and rivet your attention to him, even when life is incredibly distracting around you… [click to continue…]
Okay, you students of all things gloriously stupid! Time for another round of Hanukkah Hams. In case you’ve missed previous episodes, a Hanukkah Ham is a reminder of what can happen when unlicensed people are left free to drive an imagination without supervision.
What better place to discover colossal displays of “what-were-you-thinking” than in the hallowed halls of academia? I once had a college professor that said, “College is the only place where people don’t want to get their money’s worth.” See if these true stories, drawn from the actual testimonies of college professors, don’t restore your hope in the future of America.
Remember, friends – these people will be managing your nursing home. Or running your country. [click to continue…]
Things got a little weird that day at the Taco Bell in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. A customer tried to pass two 1928 five-dollar bills as cash to pay for his meal. The clerks had never seen such old money before, presumed it to be counterfeit, and called the police. Here’s the sad part – as currency, the cash was legit. As collectors’ items, they had to be worth way more than a bean burrito combo or a chalupa.
What a waste, right? Right up there with Esau, selling his birthright for a bowl of peas. Or the prodigal son, wasting his inheritance on a never-ending party.
But another part of my brain wants to defend our fast food shopper. After all, maybe he was hungry, and that was the only cash he had. Maybe he had no idea what he had! I’ve learned that if you don’t know the value of what you possess, it really doesn’t matter to you what you waste it on. Esau and the prodigal learned that, too – the hard way.
The only time I ever bought clothes for my children without a guardian present, I bought two dresses in Mobile – this one and a green one.
There’s an old colloquial saying in Thailand that has become something of a joke. Makes for a great t-shirt, too. When foreigners would travel to the Land of Smiles, and ask if this whatever was the same as the whatever where they came from, or the whatever from another part of the country or town, the standard reply was, “Same same, but different.”
Saturday night Dui and his wife Gift invited us to join them for what he called a home Bible study. Pastor Preecha and Nit joined us as well. When the van came to pick us up, it was already loaded with an army of others – Dui’s father and stepmother, brother and sister-in-law, and a couple of kids. As we made our way, we stopped at a roadside chicken roaster’s stand, where a woman had five cooked chickens on a rotissarie. Gift picked the best looking one, the middle one, and the lady whacked it off and gave it to her. That, Dui said, was going to be our dinner. 
Robin and I landed in Bangkok on Friday night local time. As we left the jetbridge, we noticed a beautiful Thai woman holding a sign with Robin’s name on it – the kind you usually see limosine drivers holding. This wasn’t at the street curb – she met us at the gate as we exited the plane.
“What are you teaching them about?” my daughter asked – referring to our upcoming pastors and leaders training in Thailand.
For Sale: Parachute. Only used once, never opened, small stain.
“The time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way” (John 4:23)
Okay, you students of all things gloriously stupid! Time for another round of Hanukkah Hams. In case you’ve missed previous episodes, a Hanukkah Ham is a reminder of what can happen when unlicensed people are left free to drive an imagination without supervision.
Things got a little weird that day at the Taco Bell in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. A customer tried to pass two 1928 five-dollar bills as cash to pay for his meal. The clerks had never seen such old money before, presumed it to be counterfeit, and called the police. Here’s the sad part – as currency, the cash was legit. As collectors’ items, they had to be worth way more than a bean burrito combo or a chalupa.