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THE SCOOP - Haiti Day 6

I am nestled into a small bed, in the home of Joel and Yvonne Trimble, above the capital city of Port Au Prince, Haiti. I've had my shower for the day and am dressed and ready for church. The service will be here, just upstairs from where I am, and I look forward to seeing if I know any of the blancs who attend.

Life is damp up here on the mountain. Last night, as we returned from a lovely meal at a French restaurant in Pétionville, we were swallowed by a cloud along the better part of the mountain pass. Beautiful and haunting.

Along the way, a police car was perched quietly at a bend in the road. The lights were blazing through the fog and two officers stood at the front, watching as cars passed by and slipped up and away, into the blackness of the mountain. They were watching for mixed ethnicity in each of the cars. Had there been a Haitian in the car with us, they would have stepped into the road and made the driver answer a series of questions. They are cracking down on kidnappings. This is but one way they do that.

My time with Bobby & Sherry Burnette has come and gone. I thank God that it was very productive. I was blessed with a wonderful opportunity to lay down any personal agendas and just serve others in a cause that is completely their's and God's. If you've never done that before, I suggest you give it a try sometime. It is well worth the effort.

That is all I have for you at the moment. Thanks for praying for us during this time. Your prayers really matter.

THE SCOOP - Haiti Day 3

All sorts of bad things happen to me when I am away from my family.

I'm like a dinosaur on Jurassic Park; without them, I don't get the lysine that was genetically engineered out of me in the lab (JP nerds, bow at my supremely awesome callback!). When that happens, as part of the genetic initiative, I'm supposed to drop over dead. But again, like the dinosaurs on Jurassic Park, life found a way.

Unfortunately, in my case, life's way is mildly retarded. Observe:


Now that is one big pile of...

HAITI - JULY 2008 - DAY 2

*For those who don't like to read, there is some NEW VIDEO at the bottom of this little story. It's nothing fancy, so just calm down already!














(Click on the photo to enlarge)

Apparently my Creole has been improving.

I had a fascinating conversation with this pack of kids yesterday. The one in the Florida baseball jersey had been hounding me to give him something for the better part of the day. He was persistent... and I totally admire that about him! Anyway, I assured him (in Creole) that I would give him something if he would first give me his leg. The moments that followed were priceless!

It started with his strange look. There was a slight cock of his head as he tried to establish whether I actually knew what I had said.

He was kind enough to do me the honor of telling me that I had just spoken nonsense to him. I was happy to report that I knew exactly what I had said. I then playfully repeated that if he were to give me his leg, I would give him something.

We were all laughing (even him) so don't think me a total mule. It was PLAYFUL and we all had a blast.

Imagine my surprise when he hiked up his leg, offering it to me! All I could do was grab it and say "goodbye" as I tugged. He withdrew quickly, thereby saving me from having to pony up something in exchange.

In the end, it was a great time of fun. I am grateful to one of the team members (Deb) who snapped this photo, though I am not sure what on earth could have been so interesting off to the side of me.

So much for my charm!

Now for some re-capping...

THE SCOOP - Day 1

Day 1 went really well.

Made it in safely.

Did some video taping.

Ate some great food.

No real drama.

Look for another video post soon!

THE SCOOP - Headed to Haiti

Please leave comments. Let us know you stopped by.

A Great Challenge

"One has to choose between engaging in stylistic research or the mere recording of facts. I feel that a filmmaker must go beyond the recording of facts. Moreover, I believe that Africans, in particular, must reinvent cinema. It will be a difficult task because our viewing audience is used to a specific film language, but a choice has to be made: either one is very popular and one talks to people in a simple and plain manner, or else one searches for an African film language that would exclude chattering and focus more on how to make use of visuals and sounds."

- Djibril Diop Mambéty

My Favorite Color.

So I was walking with Samara today and we got to talking about favorite colors. I asked her what her favorite color is and she promptly named 4.

Now if a college-educated person answers like that, I do believe that you have every right to hit them upside the head with one of those giant, inflatable, squeaky baseball bats. *inflatable... make sure it's inflatable!

When a seven -year-old girl tosses you that answer, however, it is totally acceptable. The point (for her) was that choosing any one color was a difficult thing to do. As it turns out, she likes lots of colors for lots of reasons.

Apart from causing me a little bit of fatherly joy, the discussion got me to thinking about what my favorite color really is. Growing up, I had always just answered "blue" when someone asked me that question, but as we get older, it seems we find that so many things we once held to are just not applicable anymore. So I wanted to be sure. I wanted to know, "is blue still my favorite color?" For that matter... was it ever?

That's when it struck me... I don't really like colors when they are alone. What I mean to say is that, one color, just one lone hue, is not appealing to me in the least. The implications of this realization were staggering to me. For starters, now I have no appropriate answer when someone asks what my favorite color is. I have to be 'that guy' who says, "I don't like colors by themselves." Oh man! Who invited this guy to the party?!" The other implication is that I must now become comfortable with this as a fact... a truth about me... Luke Renner.

The truth is, I really LOVE colors... but mostly when they are placed alongside other colors. It's a pretty easy thing to get your head around, but I think that we rarely process it intentionally.

What is perhaps more alarming than this personal revelation of mine is that I am entirely, not alone when it comes to this. Graphic designers have known for a long time that good color combos can make all the difference between something being appealing or not.

For example (scroll down for more of my gripping text below):






























































































So all of this got me to thinking, "there is something really profound inside of this."

Life is so much better, so much easier to look at, so much more appealing, when there are combinations of colors. Even if that means a side-by-side expression of two shades of the same color.

As we go to Haiti, I plan to keep one color combination in the forefront of all that we do. May it exemplify what it means to be human... what it means to be lovely... what it means to be appealing.

For that, I can think of no better color combination than this:


















*please allow for variations in hue.

Keeping our head clear.

"Every major horror of history was committed in the name of an altruistic motive.  Has any act of selfishness ever equaled the carnage perpetrated by disciples of altruism?"

- Ayn Rand

God, help us today to be pure in heart.

May we serve others for the sake of service, and not of self.

May we reach far beyond what benefits us. 

May we strive for what will benefit others.

May our sacrifice be true.

May our love be pure.

Teach us to value a perspective outside of our own.

Teach us to acknowledge, to honor, and to embrace the same. 

Protect us (and those we serve) from our selfishness.

Even more so, protect us from our best intentions.

AMEN

Welcome to my family!

I just wanted to let all of my dearly beloved family know that this is THE SPOT where you can stay tuned to what God is doing in our lives.

We all returned from Indiana this last week and had a wonderful time visiting with friends and family.  At one point, we were able to stop by and visit with Paul, Patty, Eric, and Granny out near Sheridan.  It was during that visit that I mentioned our impeding move to Haiti (perhaps within the next YEAR!!!).  As I observed the subtle look of shock on Patty's face, it occurred to me that I should be doing a better job of keeping friends and family "in the know".

So here you go!

This is your one-stop-shop.  Please check here often... we're trying for daily... and we will give you one of two possible things:

1 - The latest, greatest, hot-off-the-presses info about our move to Haiti.

2 - Something to chew on and think about for the day.

Our job is to stay current and keep y'all informed.  

Your job is to leave comments and let us know that you stopped by.

Seriously, your participation (both in this blog and in our planning for Haiti), will give us the much-needed momentum to get this rocket off the launch pad.

LET US KNOW THAT WE'RE NOT ALONE!  

Why not leave a comment now?

Until then, here's what Washington looks like after mopping up a plate of leftover spaghetti:

Look for videos.

I just wanted to take a moment to point out a few things that you can expect from this blog.  

For starters, the views expressed within are often times riddled with sarcasm and should therefore be taken lightly.

We be lovin' life.  This be meanin' that we ain't gon be nun too serious from time to time (my silly spelling is but one shining example of the kind of quality humor you can come to expect here).  

I know, I know.  Just calm down.  I'll try to separate the jokes so you can catch your breath.

More things you can expect:

- Pictures

- Videos

- Favorite quotes

- Links

- LOTS of Haiti references

For now, I will encourage you to check out this little video of our new puppy. She will be making the journey to Haiti with us, serving as a friend and protector (and eater of leftovers). Her name is Maya.  Today, just as I was about to take a totally unnecessary afternoon nap, Samara pointed out a rather large turtle roaming through our neighborhood and the distraction was too great.  I missed my nap and Maya caught a glimpse of one smooooth turtle.  

I chose the accompanying song as I felt it matched the turtle's laid-back 'tude.  Despite Maya's barking and bouncing, my fancy camera, and Samara's hands, this easy rider had better places to be.

For more ravishing videos, check back for future posts (wherein I will spoon feed them to you). Otherwise you can exert a teeny-weenie bit of effort and navigate to my YouTube channel.

Either way, there should always be enough content to distract you from your totally unnecessary, afternoon naps.

Off to an early start...

Some very good friends of ours (the Livesays) have inspired Adrian and I to undertake the monumental task of starting our family's Haiti blog.  

True: We are not yet living in Haiti full time.

Also True: We will be soon enough.

As such, it seems like now is as good a time as any for us to begin journaling about the road that we are on.  At the risk of appearing completely narcissistic, this will serve as our way to keep you posted on what is going on as the days stretch into weeks and months.  

Eventually, with the grace of God, this journey will find us moving into our new life in Haiti.  By starting this blog now, we hope to be able to give some idea about the sorts of challenges that face a family that is working to transition into the life of full-time missionary service.

So there you have it for now!

Stay tuned for more.

Luke & Adrian (and a mess of kids & pets).