God Stories: 4theVoiceless at One Year

I can hardly believe it, but this month the 4theVoiceless blog hits the one-year mark.  In a year, I have gone from writing once a week to twice a week and occasionally a little more.  I have written about adoption, foster care, children's homes in the U.S. and other countries, the value of the family, and many other topics -- almost a hundred posts in all.  I have had the privilege of hearing some pretty amazing God stories and passing them on to you.  The challenge to begin writing was daunting, but there are so many stories to tell and so many who need to be awakened to this world's orphan crisis.

A few of you have been with the blog from the beginning, and others have just begun to read this week.  I am grateful for you all.  Last month, we had over 1,100 page views, a new record that may be broken this month, if the start of the month is any indication.  We have also gone over 8,600 page views in a little less than a year.  Awareness continues to be one of the major challenges of the call to care for the voiceless, so thank you for your continued readership. 

Take a look back at the most popular posts month-by-month over the last year, according to you, the readers.  If you have recently found the 4theVoiceless blog, I invite you to read through posts that seem to define the last year on the blog and for the ministry.  If you have been around for a while, I invite you to click on the links and reminisce as I did while preparing this compilation.

May 2012:  "My Taco Bell Moment"

 

June 2012: "So Check My Man Card Already"

July 2012: "Our Missions Pastor Is an Enzyme (Now I Am, Too)"

August 2012: "Hope for Haiti: You Move, God Moves" 

 

September 2012: "My Lowest Point As a Pastor"

October 2012: "Do You Have a Personal Mission Statement?"

 

November 2012: "Haiti Mission Trip, Day 3: Build Us Back With Precious Stones"

December 2012: "4theVoiceless Photos: Top 12 in 12 (#1-4)"

 

January 2013: "And Suddenly . . . Orphan Run MS"

February 2013: "Stuck on a Cruise Ship: First and Third World Problems"

March 2013: "Ain't Nobody Got Time for That"

April 2013: "Coach Hammond: Man of Many Hats (and One Very Special One"

"Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of those who have been dispossessed."  (Proverbs 31:8, HCSB)

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Ain't Nobody Got Time for That!

You’ve probably seen the YouTube video commonly known as “Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That” and probably some of the many spin-off videos that have followed the original.  In it, a woman whose apartment complex caught fire apparently got bronchitis as a result.  Also, apparently, she could not squeeze the bronchitis into her busy schedule.

Since the video went viral, “ain’t nobody got time for that” has become a popular part of our lexicon:

• It can be used to humorously decline the invitation to do a chore around the house:  Take out the trash?  Ain’t nobody got time for that!

• It can be used to point out the busy little extra things to do in our lives that we would rather not take the time to do:  Change the oil in the car?  Ain’t nobody got time for that!

• It can be used to avoid things we don’t want to do, even if we had all the time in the world:  Root canal?  Ain’t nobody got time for that!

• For my friend Mike, it’s a statement of his strong will to fight for the more important things in his life: Cancer?  Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Ain’t nobody got time for the inconveniences in our lives.  We have our regular schedules, and we don’t like for our routines to be interrupted.  So that begs the question:

What DO you make time for?

 

Let me invite you into part of my schedule over the last few months:

• Getting up a little earlier to drive my son to school (We had homeschooled him until this year.):  Got time for that.

• Getting up a little earlier to drive my son to school on Fridays (my day to sleep in):  Ain’t nobody got time for that!

• His getting his driver’s license and a truck (with lots of my time to find a good one) to drive himself to school:  Make time for that!

• A regular night’s sleep in my bed with my wife:  Got time for that.

• Waking up in the middle of the night to take her to the emergency room for kidney stones:  Ain’t nobody got time for that!

• Setting aside part of our family budget so that we can have regular dates:  Make time for that!

Next Friday, a team of nine of us from Colonial Hills Church will go to Haiti to serve the Lord at the House of Abraham in Jacmel.  We will set aside our first world problems for a week and allow God to use us as He desires in a context foreign to us on so many levels.  Nothing about a mission trip is convenient.  Everyone will miss a week of work or school.  Three parents will be away from very young children.  One son will be away from a very sick dad.  It has and will cost a lot of money, a lot a time in preparation and shopping for items that we will need, and a lot of effort in fundraising.

But these are the things that Christ-followers make time for.  You see, we will not effect as much change in Haiti as Haiti will effect in us.  Some of us who are going are going because we have already experienced the life change that comes through missions, and we have made it a part of our lives and, consequently, our budgets; it’s part of the norm in our lives now.  Others are going on their first trip.  I can already tell they’re going to be good at this, but I am very much looking forward to how God enters into this week of their lives to change it forever.

Going, serving, and telling others about Jesus in a context different from our own?  We make time for that!

Pray for us as we prepare this week to fly out next Friday at 6:05 A.M. 

6:05 A.M.?  Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Stuck on a Cruise Ship: First and Third World Problems

Is your biggest gripe a legitimate life issue or a first world problem?  There are a number of Twitter accounts dedicated to bringing first world problems to light, problems such as:

• I need to go to the bathroom, but I cant find my phone. (from @F1rstWrldPrblms)
• There are so many remixes of the song I want that I can't find the original on YouTube. (from @FiWoProblems)
• It was 30 degrees on Monday, 60 today. my sinuses do not appreciate this change in the weather. (from @frstworldprobs)
• Had trouble finding a parking spot at McDonald's this morning.  Too many people parking outside and using the free wifi.  (from . . . well, that's not important).

The recent Carnival Triumph power failure and resulting deplorable conditions has gotten much press in recent days.  I can only imagine the treasure trove of #firstworldprobs flying around that ship!  Having been on a cruise myself and also having at least seen third world living conditions up close, I wonder how I would have responded if I had been on that ship. 

I have a bottom-line reaction to what happened to all the first-worlders on that cruise, but I'll save it for later in the conversation.  I would like to know how you think you would have responded.  That conversation is taking place here.  Join in!


Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Check out posts from the last week or so on what seems to be a continuing trend on hope and hopelessness.