You're not my enemy.......You're my brother!!!

As a parent there are many times that my children say things that stand out from their normal banter. Some times it provides conviction and other times it just provides a laugh. This is a story that provides both. Also, please note that the pictures have nothing in particular to do with the story. They are just included because they make me laugh.

Before I begin my story I want to mention the dangers of teaching your children the difference between right and wrong. The danger is this: If you ever mess up (not that you ever would) they will be the first to remind you about it.

Now, this story takes place (as most of the interesting ones seem to) on a day when it is just me and the kids. My wife was out with her mom and sisters. I decided to take the kids and go to Costco for lunch and groceries. To brag on them a little, they actually did great at Costco. And to brag on my accomplishment for a minute I fed all 5 of us lunch with dessert for under 12 bucks. That's the beauty of a Costco dogs and frozen yogurt. Leaving Costco is where the the title of this blog comes from.

I got the car loaded with all the kids and groceries and start to back out. As I am about half way out of my spot another car comes rushing up behind me like they are not going to stop. I hesitate my backing because I am not looking for a wreck or anything. At that point the car stops...just close enough to make it really awkward to turn any further as I continue to back out. Well, I managed to finagle my way the rest of the way out and as I do so I comment to nobody in particular, 'That guy is being an idiot."

Just then my daughter speaks up, "Dad, you said we are supposed to Love our enemies. That means we shouldn't call them names."

OUCH!! Correction from my seven year old. As I am thinking of what to say my boys come quickly to my defense.

"If you're not supposed to call them names, then why are you always calling us names," they said.

Without missing a beat my daughter responds, "You're not my enemies....you're my brothers!"


That response made me laugh a little. Then I made my apology and acknowledged that my daughter was right and we are supposed to Love our enemies and do good to them, even when you don't feel like it.

So there are a few things that I learned from this conversation. 

1. If I teach my kids something I better make sure that I practice it or I am going to find myself asking them for forgiveness (which is bound to happen sometimes anyway).

2. My boys will come to my defense (at least if it means verbally attacking their sister)

3. Apparently siblings are in a different category from enemies, so it is OK to call them names

They were supposed to smile

They were supposed to be serious

They were suppose to be funny

If you have anything kind of funny that you have learned from your children please comment below. I would love to hear it.

Fiji - Things are coming together!

Bula friends & family! It has been awhile since my last update on our Fiji mission trip. All is going well and things are coming together nicely. Nicole and I have purchased our plane tickets, we have a schedule for who is watching the kids while we are away, and we have been trying to catch a few sun rays to avoid getting totally burned when we get there. And most importantly, money is already rolling in to pay off the van for Island Encounters (for more info see my last update). We are already over a tenth of the way there!! At last count there has been $590 donated.

There are also a couple of new things that I have to share with you. First, I need to graciously thank Katrin Duckworth and her mother who have been hard at work setting up a website filled with information about our upcoming adventure. Please check it out at www.wrightministries.social and let me know what you think.

Nicole has also been hard at work putting on garage sales to try and raise some spending cash for us on our trip. Thank you to all who have donated stuff to these. She will be having a couple more before the summer is up. If you are interested in donating anything top help us out or coming to one of them out please email me and I will get you more information.

If you haven't had a chance to give to the Fiji van fund, or even if you have, we now have a way you can give and you will get a pie in return! A couple of the ladies from our church have organized a pie fundraiser (Thanks Zena & Kristen). These pies will come from Shari's restaurant and are $25 apiece (keep in mind you are giving to a good cause). For each pie that you purchase you will be entered into a drawing to win a second pie. All profits will go directly to the van fund. So to sum it up, you get a pie and help the people of Fiji at the same time!! It doesn't get much better than that!

If you are interested in purchasing a pie to help out Island Encounters please email me or just write a comment to this blog and I will get you an order form. This fundraiser will go through June 27th - or June 28th if you drop it off at Connection Church during the service. See order form on the right (or I can send you one) for more information and pick-up details.





Nicole and I would like to thank all of our friends and family that have been helping to make all this come together. You are amazing and we couldn't do this with out you!!

If you want to keep up to date with all that is going on with our Fiji trip just add your email in the 'Follow by email' box that is in the right hand column of my blog page and you will get an email every time I post on here.

Fiji: You can't get any further away, before you start coming back.

Of course that is not entirely true, but until a couple years ago this quote from the Truman Show was all I knew about Fiji. That is about the time I reconnected with a couple of old friends on Facebook. I met these friends, Ray and Laura Pittman, about 15 years ago when I spent some time in Kona with Youth with a Mission (Y-Wam). While many of the students in our discipleship training school were still searching and trying to discover who God was and how that would play into their future, Ray and Laura were grounded in faith and knew what God was calling them to do next. They were going to Fiji to minister to the people that live there. That was their plan and now 15 years later they are living out their vision of "Equipping students and the poor for greater life encounters" everyday in Fiji with their ministry Island Encounters. I encourage you to check out what Island Encounters is all about by clicking here to watch a video and then explore their website, www.islandencountersfiji.com.

Now, comes my part of the story. Ever since I first did overseas missions with Y-Wam I caught a bug. For awhile that was all it was and I knew it was not the right time to pursue it, but in the last couple of years it has gotten worse. It slowly became an itch that I couldn't scratch away. That is about the time I reconnected with Ray and Laura on facebook and started to get a peek into what they are doing in Fiji. As they would post pictures and make comments my heart was drawn to what God was doing through their ministry. This summer God has opened the door for my wife and I to make the journey to Fiji and check out Island Encounters first hand and reconnect with some old friends. We will be leaving in August and will be there for about two weeks.

That's where you all come in. We would love to have you connect with us on this new journey we are about to make. There are a couple of ways that you can do that. First of all and most important, we ask that you join us in prayer. Here are our prayer requests:

1. Pray that God would use us to further His kingdom in the land of Fiji

2. Pray that we would be attentive to all that God wants to teach us through this adventure

3. Pray for safety for my wife and I as we trek half way around the world

4. Pray for our children as this is the longest we have ever been away from them

5. Pray for Ray and Laura and Island Encounters that they would be blessed in their ministry

6. Pray for the people of Fiji that God will open their hearts to hear His message  

Help us pay off their van which they use to transport teams
to ministry locations and to get around on the farm.

Here is the second thing we need your help with. As we are going to Fiji we want to join with them in their vision of meeting practical needs as well as Spiritual needs. In saying that we have decided we want to help Island Encounters in one of their biggest practical needs. We want to pay off their van. Recently they had to take a loan to get a vehicle that they use to transport student teams around the island as well as basic transportation around the farm. In order to pay off this van we need to raise $5000 and we want your help. Anything and everything helps.

If you want to give to Island Encounters you can do it in a couple of different ways. First, we have a fund setup at Connection Church where you can give and you will also receive a tax deductible receipt. To do this, just make a check payable to Connection Ministries and mark Fiji in the subject line. You can give this way through our offering on Sunday mornings or you can mail it to:

Connection Ministries
PO Box 1973
Oregon City, OR 97045

Or if you just get it to Nicole or me, we will get it into the fund. All of the money that you give, unless specified otherwise, will go directly to Island Encounters.

The other option is that you can go directly to their website and they have giving options there as well. To give from their website click here.

Be sure to check back as I will continue to update what we are doing and our progress on paying off the van. God bless and thank you for partnering with us in this adventure!!