2 Weeks to go...

Kara and I get married in just 2 weeks! We are so excited but still have so much to do. So today after lunch we took a break to relieve some wedding stress. Hope you like our little video!
And for the record Kara was terrified of Claxton 3 months ago! Aren't they so cute together!She's still a little afraid when he barks!

Unlovable

Who do you love that is unlovable? Do you have someone in your life that God has given you a burden for? Someone who others look at and say why are you spending time with them?

I saw this video today and it made me think a lot about the comfort level of my life. Does my relationship with Jesus make such a difference in my life that it even changes the lives of the people around me?

You might not know this about me but I've completed all of the courses to be licensed as a foster parent in the state of Indiana. I'm not licensed because I withdrew my name right before my last home visit check. I removed my name because I wasn't in a healthy enough place in life to take on this responsibility just yet. But during the process I learned so much about the foster system and the struggle these kids face. Are you living a life of love? A life that is making a difference?

Check out this video. Maybe God's calling you to love on some kids that no one else wants to love.

Foster Care Video from Cornerstone Church on Vimeo.

If you are bored...

I Just came across this article. Thought some of you might enjoy reading it. It made me laugh.

The article is about the Mayor of Kiev, Ukraine. He seems a little crazy, as illustrated by this quote - “My voters are ordinary people, and I speak to them in one language, the language of ordinary people, even though, of course, I am not an ordinary person.”

or maybe this one - “Who sings better than me?” he asked. “Nobody does, besides God.”

And if you read the article you will be able to sound smart in a conversation today. Just think what people will think when they hear you say, "I was reading an article today in the New York Times about Leonid Chernovetsky the Mayor of Kiev and..."

You can find the article here.

Wedding Stress

Planning a wedding is a pretty stressful thing at times! There are so many decisions to make, so many peoples lives to work around to make sure everyone can celebrate with us! Do we serve a meal or just eat cake? Do we have camels at our wedding or maybe just the rehearsal? What caterer do you choose? What do you do when every hotel in the area is booked? How do you pay for all of it? These are just a few of the questions Kara and I have been wrestling with in the past few days.

I'm also having a lot of fun! I know that in 81 days I get to take the most beautiful and amazing woman in the world to be my wife! If you had a few hours I could type away about how beautiful of a person Kara is. She has such a big heart, so much joy, an intense passion to follow Jesus and one of the most amazing smiles you will ever see!

I hope all of our friends and family will be able to celebrate this amazing day with us. Invitations will be out sometime soon! (We still have to set the time...did I mention planning a wedding could be stressful?) If you haven't yet, check out our wedding website you can find it here

And to lighten the mood a little I thought I would share this video with you. We are tossing around an idea like this for our wedding. I think our parents and grandparents would love it! What do you think?

No One Kicks A Dead Dog...

I've had a pretty difficult few weeks learning to deal with criticism. Criticism is not something that I've really had to deal with to much in my life. But as situations and circumstances have changed for me I'm now available for all to critique and examine and sometimes people can be pretty cruel.

Last night I was thinking some things over and trying to figure out how to respond or not respond to several different criticisms that have come to light recently. For some reason I picked up a Dale Carnegie book that I had laying on the floor in my office and began to flip through it. He had a section on dealing with criticism and I turned immediately to it.

Now I know that criticism can be a good thing. Many times in the past I have had to deal with criticism that was justified. I messed something up, I did something wrong, I was lazy, I was uninformed; I learned from those situations and they helped to make me a better person. I've never had to deal with unjust criticism before. It's a little different, it doesn't benefit me, it doesn't encourage me. Then I read this:

"An event occurred in 1929 that created a national sensation in educational circles. Learned men from all over America rushed to Chicago to witness the affair. A few years earlier, a young man by the name of Robert Hutchins had worked his way through Yale, acting as a waiter, a lumberjack, a tutor, and a clothesline salesman. Now, only eight years later, he was being inaugurated as president of the fourth richest university in America, the University of Chicago. His age? Thirty. Incredible! The older educators shook their heads. Criticism came roaring down upon this "boy wonder" like a rock slide. He was this and he was that - too young, inexperienced - his educational ideas were cockeyed. Even the newspapers joined in the attack.

The day he was inaugurated, a friend said to the father of Robert Maynard Hutchings: "I was shocked this morning to read that newspaper editorial denouncing your son."

"Yes," the elder Hutchins replied, "it was severe, but remember that no one ever kicks a dead dog."

Yes, and the more important a dog is, the more satisfactions people get in kicking him..."

The next time you feel unjustly criticised, first consider if the criticism is true and see if you can benefit from it. But if you are criticised and it is unjust, if it is meant to simply tear you down remember, No One Ever Kicks a Dead Dog! You must be doing something right!

Engaged!

Just thought I would let all of you know that I am no longer in Hong Kong and I'm engaged to the most beautiful woman in the world!!! Here we are,

Hong Kong!

I'm in Hong Kong right now!

Who would have ever thought I would end up in this city! Its so amazing! The city is massive and the people are so cool. We flew business class last night out of Tokyo. (which was amazing! My seat turned into a bed!)

We are staying in a pretty shady Hostel. The hostel isn't too shady, its just the area outside of it that is.

We only have one day here. We fly out tomorrow morning around 10. My schedule is pretty hectic. On my original ticket I had a lay over in Tokyo so I thought I could just skip the flight from Seoul and get on my connecting flight out of Detroit. Boy was I wrong! It would have cost $500 to change.

So here is my flight schedule for tomorrow and Sunday:

I fly out of Hong Kong to Tokyo in the morning. I have to go through immigration in Japan to pick up my bags, I paid to store at the airport. Then I go through customs again to leave the county.

I will then board a plane to Seoul. Go through immigration and customs in Korea. Check in for my flight. Then go through customs again to board the plane.

Then I fly back to Tokyo. Wait 4 hours then board a plane for Detroit. So I have 4 flights in one day! And two of the flights are to the same city!

Pray for me!

I need to run. I can't wait to be home in 3 days!

See you soon!

Love, Joy & Peace!