Homesick... or Home Sick?

Well friends, I have returned home from the BEAUTIFUL country of Guatemala. It was a FAST and FURIOUS adventure that included flying through quasi-hurricanes, sleeping in quasi-fancy hotels, enduring quasi-long car rides, and meeting some totally great new friends.



Now I am home again and surprisingly, sick. I won't bore you with the details of my sickness. Let's just say, it goes "squish - squish" about as often as I eat or drink. Get the picture?



Ironically, this sickness was HERE AT HOME, waiting for me.


I obtained it courtesy of my dear family who has been enduring the biometric "slip-n-slide" since my departure.


Not too fun.



Add to that the insult of my iPhone, which suddenly has a cracked screen and doesn't work! Your guess is as good as mine. No idea why this happened. I'll be going to the Apple store to complain about my misfortune with this less-than-one-year-old piece of crap-nology.

BACK TO GUATEMALA...



The group that I was able to volunteer my services to is really up to some amazing stuff. As this blog is primarily dedicated to garnering support for what WE are doing, I shall spare you any external links for now. If you think what we are doing is stupid beyond all reason and desire a REAL cause to get behind, just email me and I will send you a link to the place where I just was.

On the trip, I was able to show my TV program to someone who's opinion matters to me. He thought that it was "powerful" and had a couple of pieces of constructive feedback for me too. All good thoughts that shall inform the final piece.

In the end, it was a real "Indiana Jones" style adventure and a worthy expenditure of my time and resources.

Now that I am home again, I will be taking stock of where things stand (financially) and give you a full report tomorrow (Sunday, August 24, 2008).

BIG STUFF IS HAPPENING! I am SO EXCITED about what lies ahead.

You guys are helping us give birth to an AWESOME thing!

Stay Tuned!
Luke

A Good Day.

Sometimes, in the face of what you're up against, it's easy to lose sight of who is running the show. This year, I had someone ask me just how I planned to come up with the money that we require to get this media school off of the ground.

As I contemplated the question, I couldn't help but notice Haiti's majestic mountains, spiring toward the sky, just over the person's shoulder. Calmly, I pointed to the mountain and said, "If God can make that mountain, then the money should be no big deal."

But the questions come hard and fast and a not-so-subtle disapproval is delicately weaved into their precise wording. Most are well meaning, I suppose. But rarely do any assume you are really hearing God. I think most folks believe that they will be the one to save you from your soon-to-be, opus of a mistake.




I could try and explain just how very much this process has been like trying to run through a dark forest with no light of any kind. I could try to make you understand what it feels like to be after something, so completely, so committed, that you are always teetering on the brink of total failure and a hard-to-define success.

I could attempt to express what it feels like to force yourself into a mold that society doesn't approve of, abandoning all constructs of what makes for a "a good man" or a "good woman". I could try hard to express the hollow feeling of reliance upon God, each and every time you look into the eyes of your child and accept that one misstep could cost them their life, coupled with the constant nag of doubt that tells you this is all a HUGE mistake... that you have lost your mind... and you are positioning your family for certain destruction.

Then there is the constant awareness that some people are just mad... out of their mind... clinically insane... and that you are never above being one of them.



There are always real, practical, concrete reasons why you should not continue onward. The reasons for moving ahead are invisible, intangible, and private... never enough to satisfy the critics and sometimes, barely enough to satisfy ourselves.

Defeat is met often. To stand up and dust oneself off is a constant ritual. Morale fails to survive for long. You find other reasons for continuing. "Because I want to" is silently replaced with "because it's easier than going back."... and that is ugly and hard to even admit.

But we pick up one foot and drop it hard in front of the other. There's no water in the tank... no vacuum of space to cushion the fall. It's all gravity. Like the surface of the sun, I suspect.

Weighty.

Intense.



And then a moment comes. It's usually private and quiet. It's private because all that makes it special is connected to deep secrets of your heart, things you don't typically share with the rest of those looking on.

A vision from years past finally comes true. A dream you dreamed actually happens to you. A gut feeling that you banked on, eventually pays off.

In no uncertain terms, a day like today happens. Today was a good day. We are one step closer to Haiti. One big step. Suffice it to say... it's enough to keep all of that "crazy talk" at bay.

All the chips are on the table.

Everything is at stake.

and I'm still banking on the God that made those beautiful mountains.




*thanks to Troy Livesay for the last two photos.

THE SCOOP - Haiti Day... ah screw it... I'M HOME NOW!

How encouraging it is to get griped out by the very people who inspired me to resume blogging in the first place!

Thanks Livesays for the not-so-subtle kick in the pants. I have to blog REGULARLY in order to please my readers and keep them coming back for more yummy morsels.

And while I'm on the "thanking people" trip, I really wanna give an enormous shout-out to all of my friends in Haiti who assisted in this recent adventure. It starts (and ends) with a massive THANK YOU to Joel and Yvonne Trimble (and family). Joel, without your bird's-eye view of the people and places of Haiti, the reason for this trip never would have materialized. Thanks for putting it all together.

Bobby & Sherry Burnette are next on the list. What an amazing duo you both make. I cannot begin to express just how impressed I am with what God has done in you and through you in Haiti. Thanks so much for allowing me the opportunity to come into your organization and lend a helping hand. It was an honor and my privilege. Like I said before, anytime I can help, just ask.

Back to the Trimbles. Thanks AGAIN. Thanks for hitting my curve balls, thanks for the amazing food, thanks for the bed, thanks for the assistance, and THANKS for the birthday of a lifetime!

Thanks to Berge for risking your life along with Joel and I to travel into hell, at my side. Your MANY trips back to the truck were VERY APPRECIATED. I was glad to hear that even you got to experience a Haiti that you'd never before known about.

Thanks to the people of Haiti who so beautifully received me and my crazy requests. Encore. Encore.

And then there's the Livesays! No doubt about it, you guys rock the face off of a goat. What a glorious time of irreverence and fun! I really appreciate the pre-production you logged on my behalf and the time and energy expended to haul me around, feed me, and endure me. I would be remiss if I didn't give a HUGE shout out to Robenson for teaching some English and working with the kids so hard.

Next in line... my dad, for the help upon my return. It goes without saying what I owe you, both figuratively and literally! I love you. Your patience is ASTOUNDING!

Finally, I thank all of my family and friends who prayed for me during this trip. To say that it was productive would be a GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT. I will have more to show and report in the coming days. For now, just know that you prayed me through some UNBELIEVABLE spots. I am forever indebted to all of you.

Okay. I'm current now. I'll try to stay regular in the coming days.

Cheers!
Luke